No place like home...

[Rojo]

The dust motes fell in that peculiar slow-motion way they do in the shafts of light that shone in through the borded-up windows. The halls were old and in disrepair. Many of the exhibts were vandalised or had been stolen. But the ones Zero liked the best, he had kept. Inside the museum was an enormous room, and when I say enormous, I mean absolutley eye-poppingly super freakin' huge.

It had been the home of a collosal model of a Kraken, so realistic children hadn't been allowed into the exhibt due to the frequent cases of child defecate on the floor. But it had been dismantled, and now it was just an empty room. But beyond this room was another room, this one too was huge, but this one had the crumbling remains of a castle in it. The Castle of Monte Frank, a British lord who had killed all who apposed him and hid there bodies in the catacombs hidden beneath his estate.

The entire exhibt had been air-lifted in, even part of the catacombs was built into the floor, but most of them were man-made, reconstructed from accounts found in the journals and log books of the people who had done the dirty work of hiding the bodies. Before the museum had closed down, people had been allowed to wander among the ancient ruins and travel down to the catacombs, where an anamatronic Monte Frank had jumped out, brandishing a plastic knife.

It had been too big and expensive to airlift out again, and it couldn't simply be dumped because of historical relevence so it had just been left to crumble. Monte Frank had supposedly actually been a demon, and had been banished from the castle in 1587 by a brave knight by the name of Sir Daldin, who there was also an anamatron of down in the catacombs.

Now though, the castle belonged to a new owner...a dark figure with a leather coat who roamed the museum at night and killed anyone who dared go near the castle-room.

***

Project Omega smiled thinly with its monstrous excuse for a mouth. It had just killed a group of teens who had decided to climb up one of the castle walls and paint on the gargoyles (knocking two down in the process). He had heard this all with the microphones he had placed all around the museum. They had been dealt with. He wiped blood off his claws on a rag he kept.

The area that would pass off as a bedroom if anyone asked was a large chamber with an altar in the middle. Monte Frank had piled the bodies on this altar and around the room.

Zero used it as a bed, alchemical worktop and surgical table all at the same time. Around the chamber were tables he had dragged down from the castle. On them were various things such as speakers, a sewing machine next to a box of fabrics, a toolset and for some reason a music box.

He looked at the music box, placing the rag on the table and sheathing his claws. He moved over to it, kneeling slowly, and carefully opening it with one of his hands. "The Nutcracker" started playing, and a ballerina started twirling on a little podium slowly, revolving in a pose. His hard, cold, metallic eyes softened somehow, and a synthetic sigh left his cold lips.

[Seven]

((I just have to comment really quickly that your post is brilliant and I would make love to it if the idea of making love to an inanimate piece of virtual reality/cyberspace wasn't so perverse.
....Just forget I said that and enjoy the compliment.))

The homophonic sounds that emitted from the dainty music box would be interrupted be the less poetic noises of what sounded like two teenage boys bumbling around the premise. A confirmation would have come moments later, as they began to speak rather loudly. Their voices echoed down the mostly empty halls.

"My god--where'd we end up this time? This place gives me the chills!" The sentence was followed up by a mock "Brr!" to emphasize the point.

"Oh knock it off Shiku, you're not helping." A moment of silence passed, then more stumbling.

"Aww, come on now, mate, you were the one who wanted to come to this place! Are you going to blame me for having a little fun?" The voice previously identified and Shiku called after the sounds of a few angry stomps.

The irked stomping faded, replaced by a sigh. "I suppose you're right Shiku, but I'm trying to get some readings, and you shoving me left and right isn't helping."

"What's wrong Sceatto? I've been meaning to ask you for a while, but you seem different lately. Less carefree, more saddled by doubt." A few more steps came. "I can't pinpoint why..."

A pause. Then the one named Shiku gave a loud yelp of surprise, which was followed by Sceatto's boyish laughter. "Really Shiku, you should know better to leave your guard down on'haunted grounds...Ooowooo.' "You could practically hear him moving his arms around dramatically. "Seriously though, you're getting paranoid--I'm fine!" His tone was sincerely chipper.

"Pft---so why'd we come to this place again?"

"I told you, I'm looking for something..."

"Here?" Shiku asked in disbelief. "This looks like a tacky horror house in my opinion."

"No--but this was the only position I could break through to."

"And...we're here again because...?"

Sceatto sighed in minor annoyance. "Because the horror look is obviously just a front for the best bar with the most gorgeous chicks in the 5th-Range."

"Really?"

"No."

Shiku blew a raspberry at Sceatto.

"Prmeaow!" a third noise intruded.

"Hm?"

A couple more meows followed.

"Really?" Sceatto's voice asked.

"Hey--don't leave me out of it--what's she saying."

"Sh!" is all Sceatto said, and the two fell silent.

[Rojo]

The Twisted Metal Demon that called itself Zero snapped the music box closed in an instant. It whipped around and stared at the old wooden doors leading out of the chamber.

Strange...how had these humans slipped past its microphones? Maybe they had some teleportation powers. Zero smiled thinly again. Despite the fact it had been created to feel no emotion, there were those fleeting moments when it was filled with joy at the prospect of slaughter.

It unsheated its claws, making a nice metal-on-metal noise as he stalked towards the doors, then stopped. It opened them, not bothering to be quiet. It knew once it had its sights set on a target that there was no hope. No matter how far you ran, or how well you hide, those heavy footfalls would always be right on your tail.

Zero moved down the corridor with purpose, completley in confidence it would slaughter these humans with ease. It turned a corner and spotted its quarry: two young men and some furry creature...it (Zero) did a quick scan through his database and discovered it was was Felis Domesticus, or a "cat" as the humans called it. No matter. All three beings would be dead within a minute. Zero did not care why they were here or how, all it knew was they would soon be dead.

[Seven]

The two stood dumbstruck at the sight of the strange being, neither having seen anything quite like it before. Now, it didn't matter how strong the two were together, or how many battles they had fought, or how bravely they were, or how many devils they had conquered---perhaps it was the cold and grimy ambiance of the area, perhaps the small glint of light that revealed bloodied metal where fingernails should have been---in any case, Shiku started turning frightfully pale.

Sceatto peered over with a sort of innocent curiosity. This didn't last long though, as suddenly a hard and thick throbbing pain emerged in his head. His gloved hand went up to his forehead, his teeth grinding, his eyes feeling fuzzy, and nausea overwhelming him. It was not a pleasant experience. He couldn't think straight--he couldn't see what was right before him. All he could do was hear was the silent wailing, feel the despicable pleasure at the same time as the condemned's pain. For a mere moment, he opened his eyes, only to see blood forming and spreading on his brown, tanned leather gloves. He felt sick.

Psychic empathy was a downright crappy power to have.

Shiku, on the other hand, was not at all reassured seeing his friend swaying sickly right and left. Sceatto hardly ever had such strong reactions--but then again, the negativity was so thick in the atmosphere, you could cut it with a butter knife. Well, Shiku didn't think to do the smart thing, which would have been to attack and show that he was neither cowardly or weak. But he was still young, and seeing Sceatto in such a disheveled state wasn't exactly restoring confidence to him. So instead, he opted to freak out.

"WE'RE IN A FREAKING HORROR MOVIE!!!" Shiku roughly grabbed the woozy Sceatto by the wrist and shot off like a banshee out of hell. Believe me when I say you usually never see Shiku so stricken by fear, but somewhere along the way, he left his rationale behind. That, and everyone knows its impossible to kill the horror movie villain! Or at least, that's what Shiku might have said, could we have paused time to interview him. Sceatto was dragged through the corridors, flailing helpessly behind Shiku, like some sort of sad little kite. He was still to out of it to fully recognize what was happening now, and being pulled along at friction-defying speeds never helped.

Keekoos on the other hand, seemed to have just gotten comfy on Sceatto's head, and was a little less than pleased to discover the sudden burst of motion through her off. She made an annoyed cat sound, looked at Zero for a second, observed him, and seemed to shrug before calmly walking off. Hell, it wasn't as though she could die anyways.

[Rojo]

The half-machine-half-demon trailed them, not picking up speed. A useless waste of energy. It would catch them. It had wired all the doors to itself wirelessly, and had shut them all and locked them the moment its quarry had started to run.

It turned a corner, the flame from a torch shining off his metallic skull underneath its hat. Zero wasn't angry at all that more of its time had been taken up by their flight, nor was it delighted in the feel of the hunt. It turned a different way, tracking their path with the microphones (Which were also wired to it) in a hope to head them off.

Soon they would be dead.

[Seven]

Though the place was riddled with negative energy, Sceatto started to come to. The fact that Shiku had run so fast and far so quickly away from the negativity's source probably also helped. (Speaking of which, Zero would have noted the very unusual speed of the boy, who had already managed to gain quite a lot of distance.) It only took a moment more for Sceatto to open his eyes fully and readjust. "Shi...ku? Shiku? ...What are you doing?" He looked about him, noticing the corridor seemed to fly right past them at the high speeds. At that moment, Shiku immediately stopped, wondering the same thing himself. Though, by the laws of physics, Sceatto had to much momentum to stop, and the two crashed into each other and ended up like a small mess on the floor.

Shiku groaned. "Get off of me."

Sceatto, despite having the remains of a nauseating feeling, couldn't pass up the opportunity to poke fun at his best friend. He did so by literally poking his cheek. "You were scared--no, terrified even!"

"Was not!" he retorted indignantly, shoving Sceatto off by force.

"Oh? Then what about the running?"

"You passed out for some ungodly reason, remember?"

"...Ah....yes...." his hand went back to his forehead automatically. "It was overwhelming, all those horrible deaths, and dying with so much fear." Shiku watched as Sceatto's face contort slightly in sorrow and dismay, and ended up mirroring his own, though his more riddled with embarrassment from running.

"I'm starting to wonder if psychic abilities are a pro or a con..." he suddenly added in mock seriously, teasing Sceatto again.

Sceatto frowned, punching Shiku in the face. "You jerk. Like you're so useful yourself, Mac Wetty-Pants."

"Hey! That's low! I did not---yeah, I admit, it was creepy."

"Well, hate to break it to you, but he's not too far away again," Sceatto said, finally standing up.

Shiku stood up after him, smirking with sudden confidence. "So...you're not going to pass out on me this time, are you? I'd hate to pay a babysitter after all."

"I won't as long as you promise not to cry," he said back, grinning cattishly from ear to ear.

"Pft--I'll hold you to your word."

Sceatto prepared himself best he could for the sudden surge of darkness he'd be feeling again. He tried to tense himself a little. It may seem like a contradictory thing to, since warriors usually try to relax as much as possible to be calm for battle, but he did it so he wouldn't be as receptive to the feelings that swarmed around the place. Suddenly, a thought popped into his mind.
"Hey, where'd Keekoos go?"

[Rojo]

Zero stepped out from the turning behind the two. It got right up close to them, then stoppped. Where was the Felis Domesticus? Prehaps it was trained and was coming in for a sneak attack...Zero would have heightened the microphone's volume incase of footfalls, but a cat's paws made no noise...

No matter. After all, what could a cat do? Then he swiped for their necks, trying to pick them up.

[Seven]

Both Shiku and Sceatto stumbled backwards to avoid the lethal attack.

"Sheesh--this guy gets straight to the point, doesn't he?" Shiku said to Sceatto without taking his eyes off the creature. "Do we have any weapons on us?" He asked one more question.

"No, I hadn't the chance to bring any over--you?"

"What'd ya think?" Sceatto rolled his eyes.

"Looks we're doing this barehanded...." That's all Sceatto got to say before Shiku lunged at the creature.

[Rojo]

Zero just thrust out his claws as one of the young men flew forward, foolishly jumping towards spiky and painful death.

[Seven]

Shiku's eyes widen, and then he shuts them tight, preparing for the worst. Nothing happens though. He opens an eye, and the all too familiar bubbly barrier is surrounding him. Sceatto, with his lips pursed to the side, just raises an eyebrow at Shiku. "Care to think a little next time before you leap?"

Shiku lspins around (not worried now that he's in Sceatto's protective bubble) with his hands folded and laughs nervously. "heheh...my bad!" Sceatto rolls his eyes, as if in annoyance.

The end of the bubble facing Sceatto opens and Shiku leaps out, back by his partner's side. "So...new plan of attack?"

"He's...he's a spirit. Maybe we can exorcise him?"

"Psh--not my field."

"You're so useless..."

It doesn't matter that they're in a dire and serious situation. Shiku can't resist it. "That's not what you said last night..." he says in a mock-hurt tone.

Sceatto clasps his hands together, turning to face Shiku. "You know I didn't mean it that way, my darling..." he says in an overly dramatic tone, continuing the dumb joke. It seems that the two have gone right across the spectrum, from being terrified/sick to perfectly fine and joking amongst themselves.

[Rojo]

Zero simply steps back when the barrier closes, but the second it opens again, it rushes forwards, slashing with pinpoint (literally) accuracy.

There is no emotion in those orbs it has for eyes, just the empty black void, threatening to swallow the boys whole.

[Seven]

"Eek!" the boys mini-melodrama is broken up as the being comes slashing through.
"This thing means serious business!"
"Yeah, I can tell," Shiku says in a 'Thank You Mr Obvious' tone. "So what do we do, oh wise one?"
"I'd suggest magic. Can you whip something up?"
"Sure can--cover me Sceatto."

[Rojo]

Their mysterious attacker goes on the offense again, trying to jab and slash, always ever moving forward, trying to cut them into ribbons with his razor-sharp and ligtning fast claws.

[Seven]

Sceatto has been mainly trying to play "keep away," in this scenario, the 'keep away' item being his body. But even with all of his speed, this too was becoming a difficult task.
"Are you almost done Shiku?" he said, becoming slightly impatient.
"Quiet--I'm trying to concentrate!"
"You're SLOW...(as always...)"
"Shut up--don't you bring ANY of your magic items?"
Sceatto falls silent. "Just one," he says sheepishly.
"....Anything useful?"
"Hey! My video camera is PERFECTLY useful!" he retorts indiginantly.
"Useful for battle?"
"...no."
"well there!"
In all this conversation, Sceatto becomes distracted, getting clawed by their mysterious demon-machine hybrid. He tumbles back, wincing in pain.

[Rojo]

Normal precedure would be for a villian to say something like "You've met your end, meddlesome hero!" But Zero didn't say anything, it just used Sceatto's momentary stumble to its advantage, bringing one of its clawed hands down with extra (13% extra) speed and precision. There would have to be divine intervension, a sudden power faliure in his core, or his CPU crash, and all of those were unlikely.

This was it. That other boy better come up with something fast, or his friend was dead.