Match of the Millennium

Description: Thanks to a keycard left behind by Lisa, Kenzo and Ishida are able to gain access to the research facility. Searching for Zack and John Doe, the party splits, with Shock and Roll and Wild Things finding themselves in a laboratory full of recently-deceased scientists and one still-living security captain.

[VERONICA]
After following off-road tire tracks through the jungle for some time, the group led by Tom arrived by Jeep at the entrance to the facility at the base of the volcano deep within the jungle. A keycard that was left behind by Lisa, the traitorous scientist who had kidnapped Zack, allowed Ishida and Kenzo to provide access to the facility for all of the NFG fighters, while Tom stayed behind to make sure the Jeep wasn't stolen. Strangely, despite evidence of a complex security system, a computerized voice had greeted them on presentation of the passkey:

"Greetings, Doctor Hamilton. Biometric screening is currently suspended. Please proceed through decontamination."

Like an airlock, a set of doors had opened automatically to allow access to a brightly-lit hexagonal corridor, and all of them had been sprayed with antibacterial mist. Fortunately, no lasers had appeared to slice anyone in half.

Inside, the facility was strangely quiet. There was an unmanned security station behind bulletproof glass as the only form of reception. Within, the walls were strangely unmarked other than a logo of a simple DNA strand framed by a hexagon and lines marking the paths to areas labeled Containment, Laboratories, Security, Offices, and Maintenance.

With their numbers sufficient to merit splitting up, Ishida, Kenzo, Max and Buck were chosen to investigate the Laboratories and Security for signs of Zack or John Doe while the others would check in Containment.

Normally, one would expect the main laboratory of a company that's gone to the time and expense of basing their facility in a volcano to be exceptionally well-lit, as conducive to scientific pursuits. However, the primary lighting in the laboratory is disabled, and the emergency lighting only flickers on when it's first stepped into, revealing the black grates running along the floor and air vents along the tops of the walls. Long, curved workstations are set up in the centre of the room, each with a computer screen and scientific equipment on them. All of the computers seem to be in a locked state, each with a bar reading 'Backup in progress...' Chairs on wheels are positioned in front of each station. Along the sides of the rooms are storage cabinets locked by keycard access.

And throughout the room, in various postures, are dead bodies.

All of them are wearing lab coats. One is lying in front of the door, apparently having been trying to get out when he died. One is slumped in a corner, apparently having been trying to hunker down. Most have fallen on the floor; some appear to have fallen out of their chairs at their stations, possibly with little warning. The only signs of what killed them are prominent purple veins and milky irises.

They all appear freshly deceased.

[KENZO]
As Kenzo in particular makes his way through the PrimoGen facility, the ninja was quiet. He had his combat specs recording as much as it can record as he possibly could. After watching the footage of the fight and having the recording of Lisa kicking him while he was down, he was feeling more vengeful than usual.

The fact that the security station was unmanned was the first sign that something chaotic happened. He still continues to move on, waving Ishida, Buck, and Max to follow on the pathway leading to the laboratories. That leads to the second sign of chaos. The flickering emergency lighting made the ninja draw his warfan with Kenzo opting to lean more on the side of defense. His eyes go right to the 'Backup in progress...' messages. This then leads to the final and probably the most striking sign of chaos. The bodies on the floor. He immediately switches to his thermal overlay on his smartwear.

"The bodies haven't gone cold yet. Whoever or whatever did this is still probably here."

After saying that much, Kenzo gives one more glance around just in case before going back to the normal vision function on his combat specs. He then moves off to the side so he can keep a lookout for the room entry points while the rest of the crew make their way inside.

[ISHIDA]
Ishida is out of his element. He's got a bit of a limp due to his makeshift splint -- a fabrication of tree branches and bandages used to keep his leg from getting any worse. But moreover -- he doesn't have a fancy drone, he can't see in the dark, and he has no idea about any of the technological marvels that present themselves in brief flickers of light.

"Mm," is his response as he surveys the area, doing little more than shadowing his mentor through the laboratory facility. He'd raised his fists when that flickering had started, but without any immediate dangers presenting themselves, he's just... on guard.

He wrinkles his nose. He can't smell anything yet -- but that doesn't mean the thought of something in the air hadn't occurred to him. He draws one flap of his jacket over his nostrils.

His voice muffled, Ishida asks, "Would there be a chance that what killed them was an airborne pathogen?"

All the while -- he keeps his eyes on the darkness. And he watches the darkness, prepared to strike if the opportunity arises.

[BUCK]
Buck follows after Kenzo, happy to let the techno-ninja lead the way. His eyes glint a reflective green as he glances around in the faint emergency lighting, his own brand of night vision helping him navigate as he steps into the lab. The usually boisterous American is decidedly sober, who wouldn't be when faced with the scene spread out before them. "Well, this is grizzly." He murmurs softly, picking his way into the lab, careful not to disturb anything as he walks light on his feet. As light as he can be anyway.

Finally, he crouches by one of the bodies, his hand hovering inches above it, careful not to make actual contact. There's one thing about Buck most aren't familiar with. He may act like a country bumpkin often enough, but he's no idiot. And biology is his thing, or at least what he's studying, its part of how he uses his abilities the way he does.

He takes his hat of his head and rests it on his knee as he continues to glance over the body. "To spread like this? Maybe." He says in response to Ishida. "Though the look of them." He says, drawing a line in the air over one of the purple veins. "I'd almost guess some sort of hemotoxin from a snake or a spider. Makes the blood jellify in the veins. Gruesome way to go." He says sadly, but with perhaps a touch of morbid curiosity. After all, what aspiring biologist wouldn't be a little interested by this?

[MAX]
When the words 'stealth' or 'camouflage' are considered most people's first thoughts would probably not trend towards the notion that bright pastel clothing, neon pink hair, and fuchsia claws the size of a gorilla on steroids would offer many advantages towards achieving a heightened state of detection avoidance - unless perhaps their destination were an amusement park or cotton candy factory. And yet, as the group makes their way into the seemingly abandoned facility it only takes a few moments for the small brightly colored bio-weapon among them to vanish quite thoroughly into the shadows.

Max offers no warning to her companions when she darts out of sight. The humans seem far more interested in scanning their surroundings than trying to chaperone her and for once she doesn't have much to say. Everything about this place feels strange and yet somehow familiar. The unnaturally sterile air offers little for her powerful olfactory senses to pick up on save the distinct smell of fresh death. It's a bizarre mixture of clashing scents that constantly fight for dominance in her nose, like trying to cover up a bad odor in the bathroom with fruity aerosol - all you get is lemony ass.

More importantly, she can't sense the presence of any obvious airborne threats, and thus doesn't bother to warn her companions to cover their noses. Unless they have particularly weak stomachs a little miasma isn't any danger.

The lack of decent illumination makes it easy for the Gear to follow the group clandestinely, clambering up the walls with the aid of her mighty talons. A combination of magic sound dampening and padded digits make her antics all but silent. Only when she pauses to glance down at her allies from the ceiling do the twin blazing neon eyes give away her position for a brief moment before she scampers to a new location.

Death has never really been something that bothered Max. She was, after all, designed to kill things that quite often looked remarkably similar to humans. It would be rather silly for a bio-engineered assassin to be squeamish. However, the sight of the piled up technician corpses manages to unsettle the young Gear somewhat. The sterile environment, the lab coats, the banks of computers and machinery, all stashed away in some hidden little base that the world never knew about. It's a little too close to her memories of the place she was born. She can't figure out why but it makes her fur stand on end.

Buck's quick and dirty analysis of the bodies doesn't help. It would take a creature of truly gargantuan proportions to create enough venom to do that to a full grown adult, much less a dozen of them. But, considering the stories that she's heard of the encounters other people have had with this island's more monstrous denizens that possibility can't be ignored. Perhaps it will finally be her turn to tangle with whatever it is that got their fiery kidnapper all worked up.

[VERONICA]
Notably, a door on the far side of the laboratory is labeled 'Security,' with the words below: 'Arctel Personnel Only.' However, consideration of that route is interrupted as a slightly tinny announcement system crackles to life from the wall high above it with a masculine voice with an American Hollywood accent.

<< Very astute. It's always a pleasure to meet a budding young biologist. Imogen, could you please inform our guests whether the air in the main laboratory is safe to breathe? >>

In response, an artificial, feminine voice that wouldn't be out of place reading the weather on a home electronic device speaks over the same system.

<< Certainly. It appears that the airborne toxic event that began twelve minutes ago in Main Laboratory has now fully subsided. Atmospheric scrubbing and ventilation completed two minutes ago. It is now safe to breathe without personal protective equipment. >>

<< Excellent. In that case, welcome, guests from the New Fighting Generation. You've arrived just in time for the next phase of our experiment. Imogen, begin phase two of Osiris Protocol. >>

<< Certainly. Beginning phase two of Osiris Protocol. >>

As the voice speaks, the doors to the laboratory slide shut behind the group, green lights switching to red to indicate that locks have engaged.

<< Now, if you notice a mist starting to fill the room, don't be concerned. It's perfectly harmless. >>

Sure enough, a hazy lavender-hued mist is starting to seep into the room from grates along the floor like dry ice.

<< It's a catalyst, essentially. It's a chemical naturally present in a very rare form of parasite. When fully depleted of the chemical, the parasite goes into a sort of stasis. However, when exposed to sufficient levels of the chemical, it becomes - well, metabolically supercharged, you might say. And, according to my theory, with sufficient saturation, the parasite becomes capable of miraculous feats. For instance -- >>

The body that Buck is leaning over starts to twitch, subtly at first. Soon, other bodies are also starting to twitch as the gas reaches them.

<< -- it can even kick-start the nervous system and motor functions of a recently deceased human subject. >>

The bodies start to rise, lurching as their heads each turn toward the nearest living being. Their limbs and necks are loose and limp at first, as if they exert only the minimal effort needed to achieve their only present goal --

<< Of course, the reason for this is straightforward - with all of this metabolic overclocking, these parasites require the host bodies to immediately locate sustenance. >>

-- finding food.

Moans start to sound throughout the chamber, triggered by random synaptic firings in the dead brains of the parasite hosts. They start to shamble, crawl, clamber - using whatever limited mobility the rigor mortis in their limbs allows to shift their soulless husks toward the nearest source of fresh meat.

<< Do feel free to fight for your lives. >>

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists has started a fight here on the top side.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------

COMBATSYS: Kenzo has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |======-\-------\0            Kenzo

COMBATSYS: Max has joined the fight here.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Max              0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0            Kenzo

[KENZO]
Kenzo's smartwear clad eyes immediately go to the Arctel Personnel sign. It immediately brought to mind Lisa's mentioning of the fact that his sponsors weren't exactly clean. That was proof of it right there seeing as Arctel was Metal's main sponsor in the first half of the season and then took on a secondary role for the second half when Ultratech joined in. He doesn't have time to consider that further before the announcement system above kicks on and the voice becomes audible. The more he hears, the less he likes the situation even less.

He sighs before saying in annoyance, "Of course, it's the Osiris Protocol. Why wouldn't they name a zombification process after a god of life, the dead, and resurrection. The only way they could be more cliche is if they named it after Lazarus."

Kenzo quickly puts away the fan and replaces it with the weighted chain and sickle that most know as his main weapon. He turns to the others and having learned from his mistakes with dealing with Arisa, he says to the others, even glancing towards Max and Buck as he says it, "I suggest that we go at them hard and mercilessly. They are no longer living, do not feel as though you need to hold back."

He looks to a group of bodies well away from the one that Buck is close to that are twitching on the ground and drops the metal orb on the ground before taking a step away from it. After a few seconds, it releases a stored payload of electrical energy to any zombies in its burst radius to start things off.

COMBATSYS: Ishida has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Max              0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
Ishida frowns. Airborne pathogens would be bad -- and when Buck doesn't immediately discount them, he feels secure in his decision to act upon his limited toxicology knowledge. "Ahh..." Though, he -is- comforted by the idea that it would have been actual venom.

He takes an opportunity to look around. And at one moment, he catches sight of the blazing neon eyes overhead, staggering backward in surprise. It's only when he reminds himself that, well, Max isn't currently accounted for that he breathes a sigh of relief.

He's soon reminded that relaxation is a luxury for someone not in this room. The voices provide an answer to his question, but he doesn't feel any more comfortable at all -- particularly when the doors slam shut to lock him and his companions inside.

He waits for Kenzo to deliver his assessment of the situation.
And the instant he suggests to not hold back...
The Shaolin student breaks into a loping stride.

He leaps towards the nearest re-animated scientist. And he hurls his elbow into the creature's windpipe, in an attempt to take full advantage of its momentarily limp neck. He'd then stomp his foot on the floor for balance, so that he can snap his arm outward, aiming to send the scientist sprawling backwards, and maybe even send them flying across a console!

COMBATSYS: Buck has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Max              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
Buck barely blinks as Max diappears. He's getting fairly used to her by now. He can sometimes tell when she's around, at least is he keeps his senses working at peak performance, a habit he's maintained on this island to keep his head up for danger, even if he can never actually pinpoint her. A small point of annoyance for him personally, but it's served their team well.

As for Ishida and Kenzo, well, he doesn't know the former, but the later is certainly a welcome companion and for once he gets to work alongside him. But as the voice comes over the speaker he looks up, distracted from his study of the body, his mouth etching into a frown at the compliment.

Though he's quickly moving to his feet as the mist begins to flood the room. He's not taking their word for it that it's non-toxic. Too bad he doesn't have a way to make himself stop breathing.

"Probably worried about a lawsuit from the Batman comics people if they went with that one." He can't help but quip to Kenzo as he brings up Lazarus. The Oklahoman just has joking in his nature, probably now as a form of stress relief.

"Zombies, and I left my shotgun back home with Boone." He says with another effort at stress reducing humor, unsuccessfully as he takes a few more steps back from the lurching scientists. "Right, no holding back." He semi-echos, turning to face one of the zombies, the back of his jaws and cheeks seeming to puff up for a moment, and then he opens his mouth, launching a glob of his own chi-infused toxins at one of the walking dead.

[MAX]
Max freezes in place as an unexpected third party decides to chime in on the conversation, her entire body going unnaturally still out of sheer reflex. The disembodied voice speaks to the group on the ground with the air of a super villain that has lured an unsuspecting group of heroes into a trap; arrogant, aloof, and almost comically detached from the implications of their insane statements. The Gear's mouth twists into a wide grin at the absurdity of it, far more amused by this turn of events than her human companions.

Of course, she has much less reason to be concerned than they. As a magical construct she's all but immune to any mundane form of contagion. Whatever mad scientist nonsense is behind this massacre would have to be magical in nature to pose any real threat. Add on top of that the lack of needing to breathe, eyes that can see in complete darkness, and the ability to simply sit neatly out of reach of any potential threat and the young bio-weapon finds herself struggling to come up with a reason to worry about her own safety. Those reanimated meat puppets can flap their soggy fingers at the wall all they like.

The humans, on the other hand, lack such convenient means of ignoring the threat posed by this undead ambush. She could probably lift one or two of them off the ground and hold on for a while but that would still leave an odd man out and there's no telling how long it would be until someone came to check on them. Said rescuers would just walk right into the zombie horde any ways which circles them right back around to the current circumstances.

Not that any of her allies seem inclined to try and make a break for it any ways. Everyone reacts to the stirring corpses with various forms of violence each wielding their respective techniques against the former humans without hesitation. While eager to finally test her claws against an actual foe, Max does not immediately move to join in on the beat down. Up until now, she's engaged in nothing but mock battles with people who had no intention of hurting her seriously. This is her first time facing a foe that could potentially cause actual harm, a foe that none of them know anything about. Sure, she's seen plenty of zombies in movies and video games, but the real monsters tend to be far more unpredictable than the concepts envisioned by superstition and pop culture.

So, the patient assassin does what she was programmed to do in a situation such as this and observes. Her neon eyes widen as she adjusts her focus to take in a larger view of the room below, keeping track of each of her allies and the effects that their attacks have on the stirring bodies, biding her time until a more opportune moment to strike presents itself.

COMBATSYS: Max calculates her next move.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Max              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[VERONICA]
The speaker crackles to life again with the woman's voice as the fighters start to engage with the risen dead.

<< Phase two deployment is complete. Entering diagnostic mode. >>

The other voice cuts in a moment later.

<< Again, well-spotted. I do think I deserve some credit for avoiding a tired Judeo-Christian reference. And you are quite right; they are not living, and they do not feel pain. Please, don't let moral compunctions interfere with the integrity of the field test. They certainly won't. >>

All around, the undead can be heard wheezing and inhaling deeply, some even sounding as if they're sobbing between sighs and moans.

<< And please don't be distressed if it sounds like my departed colleagues are struggling to breathe. That's expected behaviour. It's not oxygen that they're after - it's the mist in the air. The parasites are using their bodies to try and respirate as much of it as possible. It was quite unsettling the first time I witnessed it. Now, I'm going to stop interjecting while you deal with this challenge. Not for lack of interest; I'm simply a busy man. >>

Indeed, the mist levels in the room are being depleted as the dead bodies breathe deep of it - all while lurching and shuffling and shambling toward the NFG fighters!

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Zombie Scientists with Spit Take.
- Power hit! -

                 [   ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Max              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists blocks Ishida's Aggressive Strike.

                 [    |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Max              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists blocks Kenzo's Pulse Device.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Max              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
Unseen behind his reflective combat specs, Kenzo rolls his eyes at the compliment at spotting the reference. Hooray for Justice High/Southtown University education.

The zombies sway and jerk erratically knocking over odds and ends. The wild and likely uncontrolled movements even manage to upend one of desks right on top of Kenzo's device, saving them from a large portion of the blast but in turn sends it flying, clipping a zombie before it smashes into a wall, barely breaking its stride. So much for getting any quick and easy information from the computer that was there. There are still more computers in the room but that is secondary to getting out of this in reasonably good condition.

Kenzo notes that the zombies seem to be going for Ishida, Buck, and Max but not him. Kenzo would be horrible ninja if he didn't take advantage of it. He slips behind an unaware(?) zombie and wraps his arms around it. Normally, it would be belly to belly but he's not risking getting bitten in this zombie jamboree. He takes to the air taking the undead scientist along for the ride before tilting backwards to drive it head first into another zombie head.

In the aftermath, he manages roll out of it before making some call outs mainly for the benefit of his kouhai, though he figures Buck can benefit from it too. He suspects Max has already noticed it, given she hung back to study their adversaries.

"Whatever that process did them seems to make them tougher."

COMBATSYS: Ishida blocks Zombie Scientists' Medium Punches.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Max              0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
Indeed -- Ishida finds that the deceased scientists are tougher than they first appeared when his elbow slams into much sturdier stuff. Part of that is due to the creature standing up straight. Well, -more- straight, anyway. And part of that is because the scientist was able to raise both arms and defend itself!

Ishida does, however, find it to be quite annoying that, while their captor has effectively sentenced them to death, he's just declared he won't even be paying attention in real-time.

"I think I would like to meet the man behind this experiment."

By this point, a second scientist has decided to start moving in on Ishida, lurching forward with both arms raised upward. Ishida backs towards a console, meeting the grappling attempt with his forearms and shoving backwards. But when the zombie lurches towards him, Ishida leaps backwards. His feet land on the console -- and for a moment, he just pauses to wait for the zombies.

"Oh, by the way, Max -- we would appreciate your assistance."

A small smile spreads upon his face.

And then he springs forward, launching his knee into the scientist! His momentum is such that, if he succeeds, he'd be driving one zombie into the other with the intent of knocking them -both- down like bowling pins! Time to see how the zombies handle brute-force impact!

COMBATSYS: Buck just-defends Zombie Scientists' Medium Punches!

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|----===
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
Buck lets a satisfied grin grace his face for a moment as his projectile toxin takes one of the zombies right in the face, causing it to stumble away. "Well, that works." He says, looking over at his compatriots. Kenzo's move his him wincing in memory of being on the receiving end of that particular maneuver more than once.

"Let us know if that brain of yours comes up with any tactics." He shouts towards Kenzo, "Not sure these husks are smart enough even if we do talk in front of them."

Ishida's call to Max just has him shaking his head. "Don't worry about her, this is her element as a monster hunter, she'll be kicking butt in no time." He speaks in confidence for his mentee, sounding like he fully trusts her to do just that.

As one of the zombies lurches his way he smacks the animated scientist on the wrist knocking away the punch almost by reflex, before he spins to face it, horns sprout from his head in a flash, his skull thickening and taking on a slightly bovine appearance, before Mino-Buck snaps forward to drive his reinforced skull into the face of the zombie that tried to punch him.

COMBATSYS: Max blocks Zombie Scientists' Medium Punches.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[MAX]
From her perch on high, the Gear watches the opening salvo of blows get exchanged and lets out a faint sigh of relief internally.

These zombies appear to be the more mundane variety, seeing as the non-magical strikes of her allies are actually having an effect on them. What most people don't realize is that reanimated corpses brought back by powerful necromancy are far more than just shambling mounds of mindless flesh. They are nigh indestructible killing machines that make the Terminator look like a cheap aluminum prop. The human body is capable of astonishing feats of strength but pushing it to the limit causes incredible strain and inevitable damage. Normally, there are safeguards within a human's subconscious that prevent it from surpassing these safety limits - zombies have no such barriers. Throw on top of that an unhealthy dose of reinforcing dark magic and you have a recipe for a nightmare.

Fortunately, whatever biological phenomenon was used to reanimate these corpses isn't nearly as dangerous. Which means that it should be relatively safe for her to stop hiding and engage the enemy. Buck's vote of confidence in her ability to handle this situation puts a grin on the girl's face as she drops from above into the middle of the fray.

Apparently, despite her attempts to hide, the zombies had already sniffed her out. Two of the undead turn and lash out at the Gear the moment that she drops to the floor, pale fingers raking at her body like claws. Max avoids the first strike with a nimble shift to the side but the second comes at her before she can slither away. One fuzzy purple arm is thrust up to stop the monster's advance, sacrificing her forearm to a rather nasty bite as the hungry corpse attempts to take a chomp out of her magically reinforced hide without much success.

"Heh! Didn't think zombies would be my first real monster fight but I guess it's better than giant rats!"

Tanwen would appreciate the joke.

A quick thrust of the Gear's foot into the zombie's gut kicks it backwards hard enough to dislodge the gnawing fiend from her arm. Without wasting a breath Max whirls in place and swings her giant claw around in a circle, hammering the meaty paw down on top of the former scientist's skull with enough force to dent steel.

"Hope you brought some plastic because those of you in the first few rows -will- get wet!"

COMBATSYS: Max successfully hits Zombie Scientists with Hammerpaw.

                 [        |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Buck             0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists endures Buck's Bullheaded ES.

                 [           ||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|--=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists barely endures Ishida's Under Pressure.

                 [             ||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Zombie Scientists with Izuna Drop.

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[VERONICA]
As the battle continues, there's a thumping sound from the door that the group entered the room through, like someone - or something - is trying to break through. The door is holding fast for now, though. Meanwhile, the zombies continue their ragged gasping - by this point, having sucked most of the mist out of the room - and seem to be starting to shake off some of the effects of rigor mortis as they renew their assault.

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists successfully hits Kenzo with They Just Keep Coming.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
While it is true that the process is still making the zombies more resilient, none of the scientists were fighter calibre in life and still not so in death either. So when Kenzo smashed the heads together, their skulls sending bone fragments into their brains ending those two in particular permanently.

As Kenzo rises from the roll, he gets caught by errant swipe from one of the zombies. This leads him to stumble into another zombie's series of wild thrashes before another two go into a tandem tackle sending the ninja onto his back. Are the zombies somehow good at coordinating or did they just happen to randomly take actions that worked well with each other? Kenzo honestly doesn't know.

The two tackling zombies attempt to take a bite. They end up getting in each other's way keeping the ninja unbitten for now. Kenzo digs himself out of the pile and spares a glance at the others. No. They don't seem to be a hive mind. Not with the way there doesn't seem to be an overarching strategy.

"Other than don't do anything stupid, they're too erratic to create a strategy around. Judging by the sound though, we might want to make sure we keep enough in the tank for the next round."

He then whips the the weighted end around going for headshots on the closest zombies. He is not trying to let this fight become a war of attrition if he can help it.

COMBATSYS: Ishida blocks Zombie Scientists' They Just Keep Coming.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
The former scientist kicked by Ishida practically splits in two from the impact; its lower half continues onward to bowl into the ex-scientist behind him. The trouble, though, is that the zombie's top half is able to endure the attack by clinging onto Ishida's shirtsleeve. Ishida looks... more than a little aghast at that, swinging violently to his side in an attempt to break the scientist's hold on him.

So, he decides to lean into it -- grabbing hold of the bisected zombie by the head, and bashing its skull into the nearest surface.

"Understood..."

Of course, the monster that had disembodied hips and legs tossed its way isn't happy either. Picking himself back up, the more-or-less intact creature lurches forward in an attempt to grab hold of Ishida...

And if Ishida still has a hold of his half-zombie, he'd use the skull as a bludgeon to bash against the hanger-on!

"... It seems the gods are laughing at me for not learning a weapon..."

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Zombie Scientists' They Just Keep Coming.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
The zombie's head meet's Bucks and whips backwards with the sound of a snapping neck. No, these were not combatants in life, and Buck isn't holding back either. He interposes the floppy headed zombie between himself and another zombie that comes lurching at him, bracing himself as they seem to be trying to just pile on.

"Train yourself as a weapon and you're never unarmed." He retorts to Ishida. Besides, Kenzo is the only one in this group that weilds a weapon.. technically.

He does grumble softly as he hears the pounding on the door behind them. "Well, feck." He's been around Hawksley too much.

He reaches out to smack one zombie with an open palm strike, followed up be a second to another zombie, webbing slipping from his hands as he does so. He literally weaves himself between a few zombies, attempting to knit them together in the spider webbing as he lashes out with strike after strike.

COMBATSYS: Max auto-guards Zombie Scientists' They Just Keep Coming.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-------
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0           Ishida

[MAX]
A sickening crunch fills the room as monstrous paw meets undead skull. What should have been a durable mass of solid bone explodes like a rotten watermelon in a manner that makes good on the small Gear's warning to those nearby of the impending danger. Sticky chunks of grey and red erupt out of the fractured head in a disgusting spray of gore that coats everything nearby indiscriminately.

Max shows little concern about being coated in viscera, hardly sparing a moment to shake some of the congealed gunk off her furry arm before turning to deal with the others. Now that the miasma has fully energized the corpses they come at the living interlopers in a tidal wave of bodies without regard to the horrific injuries being inflicted upon their fellows. The lack of formal combat training likely has little impact on how the mindless creatures hurl themselves forward without strategy or fear; whatever skills they may have had in life doubtless would not have made the trip over the River Styx. Regardless of the reason, the only real danger these creatures pose is sheer numbers.

Not that such an advantage is to be dismissed out of hand. Were they able to pin her down even the Gear wouldn't be able to hold out forever. Fortunately, the primary advantage of zombies - namely increased strength, durability, and fearlessness - is one shared by the other bio-weapon in the room. And she -does- know how to fight.

Moving in a whirlwind of constant motion, Max begins to throw her weight around the battlefield - quite literally. Every time a zombie comes at her the agile chimera tackles it aside or leaps over the wild lunge, bouncing nimbly off the bodies of her attackers and throwing them into each other. Unable to coordinate in any meaningful fashion the mass of corpses attempting to pin her down is quickly reduced to an impromptu dogpile of comical proportions with nary a hair on the girl's head touched.

"This would be funny if it wasn't so embarrassing. How exactly are these clowns supposed to be dangerous? This is what you get when you order discount minions!"

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Zombie Scientists with Fierce Strike.

                 [                    |||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-----==
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists blocks Ishida's Combo Grapple.

                 [                     ||||||||| ]
                 Scientists       0|-------|-----==
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Zombie Scientists with Spin Doctor.

                 [                       ||||||| ]
                 Zombie Scientists0|-------|----===
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Max successfully hits Zombie Scientists with Fling.

                 [                          |||| ]
                 Zombie Scientists0|-------|---====
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists can no longer fight.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[VERONICA]
There's one thing that's clear about these newly-resurrected dead: they have very little sense of self-preservation. The carnage that results is intense, but the four trained fighters are more than a match for the wheezing monstrosities, reducing them to soon-to-be-fallen remnants within a minute or so. There's still a dull thumping coming from the door when the masculine voice returns to the announcement system.

<< Well, that was faster than expected. Congratulations: you've survived, and provided me with valuable combat data. A win all around. >>

The lights on the doors shift from red to green, and a woman almost staggers through the entrance that was being pounded on as it opens in front of her. The brunette looks almost as pale and haggard as the dead scientists. She's dressed in a black tank top and combat uniform pants, her right arm wrapped in bandages that appear to have been recently drenched in blood, which still seems to be freshly coating her knuckles. She's barely recognisable as the security captain from the Mermaid. She has a gun held in her left hand, which she starts to raise, but seems to struggle to choose a target.

"Atticus?!" she yells hoarsely. "What the hell is going on here?"

<< Ah, Captain Sullivan. You're just in time to join us. >>

The door slides back shut behind the security officer, the panel next to it changing back to red.

"You field tested your goddamned monsters on my security team, you bastard!" the formerly-composed captain shouts.

<< Oh, no, Captain. I was field testing you against Project Hunter. Your team were largely irrelevant; otherwise, I wouldn't have had Bravo team shoot down your chopper. >>

"You... what?!" The bloodshot whites of Veronica's eyes go wide at the revelation. "No. That was the firebird. They would never -"

<< Oh, don't feel too betrayed - they didn't know what they were doing. They had no idea that Alpha was coming to nest. I told them you were an Ultratech chopper coming for a smash and grab. >>

The security captain looks as if she might be sick, her breathing becoming heavier and heavier. "When they find out, they'll be shoving a rocket up your ass faster than you can -"

<< I'm afraid it's far too late for that, Captain. Here, why don't you see for yourselves? Imogen, open the door between main lab and mission room. >>

The door at the other end of the room slides open with a hiss, the emergency lights flickering on in the room beyond to reveal what appears to be a room full of seats and a screen, along with a small armory. The screen is fixed on projecting a simple instruction:

'PLEASE STAND BY...'

The emergency lighting and screen illuminate a scene much like that in the laboratory when the NFG fighters first arrived - security team members, this time, denoted by their black uniforms, splayed and slumped and crumpled around the chamber, victims of the same airborne toxin that killed the scientists in the lab.

"No... no...!!" Veronica falls visibly further into despair at the sight of her former comrades-in-arms. She moves through quickly to the mission room, looking around.

<< They did, of course, have the discipline to equip gas masks when they realised what was happening. You trained them well. Unfortunate that the filtration on the masks was tampered with, per my instructions to your second-in-command, who you will see is notably absent. >>

Veronica's face flashes with anger. "Domingo...?! You fu--"

<< Language, please. The New Fighting Generation is a family programme. Now, Imogen - begin Osiris phase three. >>

<< Commencing phase three. >>

Suddenly, the door to the mission room slides shut again.

<< Apologies, but interference can't be allowed - however, I do want you all to see this. >>

The screens of the lab's computer stations all change to show the security camera feed from inside the mission room. At first, Veronica can be seen running back to the door and pounding her hand against it - the sound audible from the other side. Mist quickly fills the sealed room through previously-hidden vents in the walls, steadily obscuring the security captain. The bodies start to twitch and move, silhouetted in the chemical fog. The captain starts to cough as her own body starts to twitch, her right arm swelling under the bandages.

<< Now, you've seen what the larval-stage parasites were capable of when interacting with a dead host. Captain Sullivan's case is more unusual - an adult of the same species bonded with a living human host. It's almost as much symbiosis as parasitism - except that, when exposed to the same chemical, the alien entity gains significant control over the host - and a lust for more biomatter to assimilate. >>

The pounding against the door is renewed, now with more limbs banging against it - one of them almost hard enough to bend the metal.

<< Be thankful that the doors were soundproofed at considerable expense. The sounds are quite unpleasant. Don't worry, the undead won't attack her, nor vice versa - not when there are uninfested targets in the room. >>

With that, the doors unseal, the fog seeping into the laboratory as figures start stumbling, lurching, crawling and stalking through - chief amongst them Officer Sullivan. Her right arm has become a mass of flesh and exposed muscle, the right side of her face shot through with purple veins and her right eye yellow and inhuman. As her arm flexes its swollen digits, more eyes can be seen blinking open along its length. The captain leaps ahead of her undead cohort, the hand morphing into a set of massive, wicked claws as she spirals, attempting to rake them across Kenzo and Buck in the same swipe!

COMBATSYS: Veronica has joined the fight here on the top side.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|-------
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security has joined the fight here on the top side.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|-------
                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Kenzo blocks Veronica's Hunter Morph.

                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|------=
                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Max              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
The scientists better hope that they don't get off the island at this point. Even if they get away with the unethical testing and literal mass murder, who in their right mind would want to work for them when they do that to their own employees?

Kenzo finds himself incapable of speaking while watching the security team having their figurative backs receive acupuncture by sharpened dagger. Tampered masks, shot down helicopter, and everything else they've done made it hard to find the words to adequately describe how fucked up this is. As a result, he goes for snark instead to keep what little of his sanity he has left.

"Ahh... I can see you've completely given up on the Best Place to Work award."

Veronica Sullivan, the sponsor that he had never met until now, takes a clawed swipe at him, which he manages to deflect with a quickly drawn war fan. Even while defended it still causes Kenzo to slide back a bit.

The ninja doesn't seem inclined to be satisfied with just defense. He closes the fan and delivers an electrified jab to her collar bone.

COMBATSYS: Zombie Scientists successfully hits Ishida with Don't Let Them Bite You.

                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|------=
                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
Train yourself as a weapon and you're never unarmed? "That is easy for you to say." Ishida grimaces, as his attempts to bash one zombie with the skull of another is thwarted by a swiftly-raised guard. "You can pop out extra limbs on command..."

Unfortunately, his attack leaves him open for a followup strike, as the former scientist lurches forward and snaps its jaws at his arm! Overextended, it's hard for Ishida to get out of the way in time -- and teeth pierce through his sleeve, forcing him to drop the remains of the other scientist! "Nngrh!" grunts Ishida, reeling backwards -- but thankfully, Max's rampage of attacks ends up cutting down the zombie he -had- been brawling with.

Exhaling sharply as he pulls disembodied teeth out of his arm, he reels backwards -- growing a little alarmed at the thing he'd been trying to -avoid- having, unfortunately, happened.

"Scientists were... hired for their *brains*, not their *brawn*, Max..." He scans the room, looking for signs that one, -any- of the scientists may have had some hydrogen peroxide around.

"It is regretful that such a fate was their reward for jobs well done."

But, wait! That's not all -- and the familiar, loathsome voice comes over the speakers again. But not only that-- he recognizes the voice of the security officer.

On the Mermaid, Security Officer Sullivan had been -- purportedly -- working to suppress the claims of monsters jumping around the atrium and people bragging about body counts. And now...

He closes his eyes once more. And lets out his breath.

Normally, he is more patient.
"Is that supposed to impress us?"
He snaps, eyes glowering at what he presumes is a camera.
He hears Kenzo's retort -- and he joins in.
"I will be thankful if we can find you a soundproof box."
He tenses his muscles. Readying for combat.
"Six feet underground."

The door opens. And Victoria is first to emerge -- coming out swinging for his mentor.

In lieu of an immediate assignment, he launches in to assist, leaping off a wall to swing his fists in an overhand hammer blow at the back of Victoria's head. His intention -- disable, and disorient.

"I pray that we can make this as merciful as possible!"

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Buck with Hunter Morph.

                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|----===
                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
"Popping extra limbs is harder than it sounds." Buck gives a tug on the spider silk connecting a few of the scientists, causing them to slam into each other and drop to the ground as the others fall beneath the assault of the other NFGers. He reaches behind him where his hat dangles down his back by the chin strap and plops it back on his head where it belongs as their host starts getting chatty again.

"I'll never understand. If you put half this effort into curing disease instead of making a weapon out of it...." A small growl escapes his throat, punctuating the sentance. "I'm gonna take great pleasure in tanning your hide when I get my hands on you." He grumbles.

He watches the security team with what seems to be a passive expression, but for Buck, the fact that he isn't smiling means he's probably furious.

As the security chief comes at him and Kenzo he tries to slip out of the way, but he's not quick enough, getting knocked back a few steps and stumnling into a desk on which he catches himself. "Great, more of them." He mutters in annoyance. Reaching besides him, he grabs one of the office chairs by the arm rest, then with a grunt and a straining of his muscles, he hucks it through the air at the oncoming undead behind Veronica.

COMBATSYS: Max endures Zombie Scientists' Don't Let Them Bite You.

                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|----===
                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida

[MAX]
---edit--- remove previous pose

"More like their love of brains," the Gear retorts, kicking one of the stragglers onto the pile from behind. The corpse's spine snaps with an audible crack and it folds in half, flopping like a ragdoll while its limbs continue to writhe feebly under the power of the parasites within.

Obviously, the connection between these abominations and her mother have not escaped Max's notice. If Dr. Maeda had been among those subjected to this horrific experiment her attitude would be a great deal different. But Max isn't human and her empathy towards every living thing is far from automatic. Only those with whom she has formed a strong bond evoke any sort of meaningful reaction.

"Kinda feels poetic to me," she says. "Getting transformed by the virus they created. That's how karma works, right?"

Using one of the fallen scientist's coats to wipe the gore off her arm, Max glances around to make sure there aren't any stragglers that got missed in the maelstrom of violence. If the Internet has taught her anything about zombies it's that there's always that one that everybody missed lying in wait on the floor ready to gnaw on some unsuspecting ankles. Her inspection is interrupted by the voice on the intercom once again addressing them, drawing the Gear's attention back towards the sealed bulkhead.

Max's eyes widen a little in recognition at the sight of the battered security chief. She didn't really get to know the woman all that well but the memory of her stepping in to defuse the situation on the Mermaid when her mother had tried to introduce her to everyone is fresh in her mind. That's enough of a connection for her to show concern at the poor state Veronica seems to be in.

As the brief drama unfolds before them the little Gear's expression grows more and more tense, brows furrowed in obvious irritation. While she doesn't have all the details of what's going on it's clear that the owner of the voice behind the loudspeaker has committed a despicable act of treachery that goes far beyond testing his new toy on some unsuspecting eggheads. Of course, why the security chief of the Mermaid would be involved with this individual well enough to be on a first name basis is another point of interest, one which she intends to fully pursue once all of this is over.

That, of course, requires that Veronica survive whatever has been done to her. Perhaps that isn't even possible but the way 'Attiticus', as he was referred to by the captain, described her condition made it sound like she is being controlled and therefore might be able to be separated from the parasite. Wild speculation but worth a shot.

"If we can sever that arm we might be able to rid Miss Veronica of the parasite's control," the bio-weapon posits, speaking quietly as shuffles up behind her allies before all Hell breaks loose again. "I'm not positive of that but we might be able to get some information from her if we can help."

Leaving the horde of former security personnel to the others, Max quickly bounds to the side and scampers along the wall at breakneck speeds. A few of the zombies are drawn to the motion and turn to rush towards the Gear, boxing her away from her target. With a determined growl she bounds through their flailing arms and raking nails, ignoring the bruises and scrapes they inflict as she pushes past their shoddily constructed human wall.

When Ishida rushes forward to try and brain the former captain turned abomination the Gear attempts to take advantage of the distraction to lunge at Veronica from the flank. Razor-sharp claws extend, slashing and gouging at the bloated muscle connected to the woman's shoulder in an effort to start carving it away. Even if her theory proves wrong and she is beyond saving depriving the monstrosity of its most obvious weapon can only be helpful in their fight.

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security blocks Buck's Large Thrown Object.

                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|----===
                 [ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Veronica with Lightning Ward.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Veronica dodges Ishida's Kids Wanna Rock.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-------|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Veronica full-parries Max's Wrecking Claw!!

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|----===|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Ishida

[VERONICA]
<< It may surprise you, but we don't usually compete in business awards. I did win the company's 'Boss of the Year' back in April, though. >>

The voice itself competes with the sounds of rasping breaths filtering through gas masks as the fresh wave of undead lurch closer. Kenzo's closed fan jabs into the transmogrified security captain's sternum, causing her body to twitch violently. Her body is still shuddering, the flesh of her monstrous right arm flowing more rapidly with the electrical impulse, as Ishida leaps down at her and Max lunges from the opposite flank. But even though she can't see him or Max, the parasite can.

The infected security leader spins away from both attacks at the same time. While the zombie horde seem to have no impetus to avoid pain or damage, only protecting themselves incidentally in their aggression, the parasite in Veronica's body is apparently much more interested in keeping its host in one piece, allowing her to function on a predatory animal instinct already honed by combat. And as she spins, her arm is already shifting shape, stretching out and unifying like a long, red tentacle ending in a bony barb and whipping across the short distance between Veronica and Kenzo and Max, aiming to strike both in one snap!

<< It's true that they did their jobs well, but I couldn't have had you taking any of them alive. Really, I was just proactively enforcing our Non-Disclosure Agreement. And besides, they were all happy to donate their remains to scientific research. >>

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Kenzo with Lasher Morph EX.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|--=====|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
Kenzo draws back the fan, no longer crackling with electricity as he watches both Ishida and Max fail to connect with theirs as well with Veronica even seeming to use Max's to reposition in a way to set up for the arm to lash out at both her and Kenzo himself. Kenzo would have to be on his S-game, forget about an A-game, to avoid it. At the moment, Kenzo is probably on his B-game, maybe B plus if one were to be generous, and so Kenzo gets smacked across the jaw with the bony tentacle arm. His vision practically swims, his ears start ringing, and he stumbles almost drunkenly.

While it feels like took forever to him, to the rest of those in the room and those watching, Kenzo manages to pull himself together relatively quickly. He tries to catch Ishida's eye for a moment not willing to risk verbalizing what he's trying to communicate. He taps his combat specs with two fingers and then lowers his hand and turns it palm facing upward as if holding something in it. If Ishida, was paying attention, he might have noticed Kenzo holding his tablet that way when he was reviewing footage first days on the island or in preparation for departing for the island. What Kenzo is trying to say is, 'Make sure you get the data from my specs to my tablet should I go down.' Whether the message is received is another matter altogether due to the two not having really worked on non-verbal communication.

Communication attempt completed, Kenzo decides to respond to the voice by saying, "You know, most companies enforce NDAs with lawyers, not Geneva Convention violations."

He then chooses to hang back this time to make sure the last opportunity he gets counts for something. Maybe he'll be able to make things easier for the rest of the group.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo takes a moment to study his combat specs readouts.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|--=====|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-------
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Max              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Ishida endures Zombie Security's It Came Out Of Nowhere.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|--=====|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|------=
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
With Ishida's rushed attempt at a takedown bringing him uncomfortably close to the business ends of Max's razor-sharp claws, the Shaolin student hops backwards in recovery. No sense in imperiling himself unnecessarily.

"She's fast..." he notes quietly, trying to put Atticus' oblivious comments out of his mind. It's .. a bit of a challenge, that, as the man seems to love the sound of his own voice.

But, as much as he'd like to deal with the points raised, the horde of former security agents is swarming in. Zombies rush in at him, whipping their limbs out in an attempt to catch him once more. Unlike before, though, Ishida seems to be in no particular rush to get out of their way, letting their wrists crash into his shoulders and upper arms. In a mere moment, he finds himself in the shadow of three zombies at once, bearing down upon him.

This is where he grins, ever so faintly, with hopes of leveraging their zeal against themselves.

He reaches up for one zombie, in hopes of rising to slam his knee into the guy. If he manages to do this, his center of gravity is already a bit higher than normal -- which he'd exploit, by swinging his knees up and using the bashed zombie as a balance beam. He'd then unfold himself fully in mid-air -- slamming his doubled palms in one direction, while snapping his feet in the other! With a full-extension strike, he's hoping that he can take out two or more of the horde at once!

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security successfully hits Buck with It Came Out Of Nowhere.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|--=====|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|----===
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             1/----===/=======|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
"Hang in there, Kenzo!" Buck shouts, trying to be encouraging, though he's not sure how much the stoic ninja might actually respond to someone cheering him on, but it's Buck's style regardless. Hoping the lobbed chair might interfere with the lesser zombies more than it turns out it did, he keeps most of his attention on Veronica, seemingly trying to gauge an opening, but with this many... bodies on the battlefield its more chaos than he's used to dealing with in fights. More like a messy barbrawl. With zombies.

Instead, while focusing on the chief, he takes a tackling zombie from the side, knocking him into a stumble where he lands in a kneeling position, shaking his head.

"Will someone shut that arrogant blowhard up?!" He shouts in regards to the man on the speaker, even as he turns his glowering attention back on the zombies, smoke beginning to drift from the corners of his mouth and his nostrils.

They want to play rough? Well, he remembers one thing from zombie killing video games. The flamethrower is usually a good option.

HE opens his mouth, cracking it wider than any human should be able to, as it extends into a semi-maw of jagged teeth. The faint glow at the back of his throat is like an ember in the darkened room for just a moment, before the lab bursts to light, flames rushing from his open mouth in a roaring wave towards the zombie horde.

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Max with Lasher Morph EX.

                 [     ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|=======|=======
                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|----===
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/-------|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

Max's eyes go wide as the security chief proves far more agile than she had anticipated, deftly avoiding both the strikes intended to take her down a peg. The Gear's wicked claws nearly find purchase in her comrade instead forcing the bio-weapon to twist at the last second and land in an off-balance crouch. The whip-crack of the newly formed tentacle arm slams square into the girl's back before she even has time to recover sending her flying across the room like a small fuchsia rocket.

Again, Max's landing proves anything but smooth. Her body slams into the far wall plastering her in a spread eagle pose against the cold steel for a few moments before she comically face plants on the equally unyielding floor.

"Nnn...nyaowie..."

Pushing off the floor onto her knees, the Gear wobbles unsteadily as her vision swims forcing her to lean on her oversized arms for support.

"Does anyone else hear boss music? If they start chanting in Latin, I'm officially tagging out."

Well, that didn't go as planned. Whatever they were feeding the parasites they gave to Veronica it apparently had a lot more Wheaties in it. Forget rescuing the captain, they might need a bail out themselves if she can hit -that- hard!

A quick inspection of the injury site reveals that nothing seems to be broken. She'd chalk one up for bio-engineering but considering their opponents that score card might get a little confusing. The faint trickle of blood soaking into the back of her shirt is a sobering realization, however. It takes some serious power to get past her magical hide without an enchanted weapon.

Looking around to see how the others are doing reveals that the tide has turned against them quite quickly. Between a whole new batch of minions and Veronica's unexpected transformation everyone seems to be hurting. Cold logic would dictate that this would be a smart time for her to dip and go seek reinforcements even if that means leaving the others to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, with the room completely sealed, that isn't even an option, even if she would consider it a last resort. That means its imperative that everyone stay on their feet and fighting for a long as possible.

Seeing that Kenzo, still reeling after his own encounter with the tentacle monster, has chosen to hang back for a moment, the Gear quickly shakes off her own funk and scampers over to his side. The last time she had tried to use her healing talents on someone they had turned and fled from the room. This time she tries to make the experience a little less awkward by expelling the contents of her alchemical gland onto the surface of her massive paw rather than coating her tongue with it. Because hocking up a slimy loogey is a lot more appealing.

"Hey, Scuba Steve," she says, tugging on one of the cables protruding from his tech suit. The goop-covered paw is held up to Kenzo, the strange substance shimmering in the halogen lights with a faint rainbow sheen much like an oil slick on the pavement.

"It puts the healing potion on its skin," she says, delivering one of the creepiest lines in cinema with a completely straight face.

After a couple of awkward moments she helpfully adds, "I made it myself."

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security blocks Ishida's Cornerstone.

                 [     ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|=======|=======
                 [   ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|---====
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/-------|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security fails to interrupt Burn Out ES from Buck with There's Too Many Of Them.
- Power fail! -

                 [     ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|=======|=======
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/-------|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

[VERONICA]
Veronica's extended limb sucks back into its socket with a sickening slurping sound as the flesh binds back together in a fluid motion, digits forming out of the mass of biomatter as it assumes a hand-like shape once more.

"K-k-k-kuhhh," Veronica seems to try to speak as her breathing stutters.

<< Most companies don't achieve the results we do. Most governments don't grasp the forces that we work with. >>

Veronica is still breathing heavily as she snaps her head toward Buck. The display of incendiary power that he's putting on marks him as an obvious threat to the parasite and its nascent kindred.

"G-g--graahhh!"

The berserking captain charges forward and brings her massive arm to bear, attempting to snatch Buck in the grasp of the overgrown appendage and squeeze, lifting him off the ground with the single hand before she'd try to slam him into the ground!

COMBATSYS: Max successfully aids Kenzo with Emergency Grooming.

                 [       ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|=======|=======
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Buck             0/-------/-------|=======\=====--\1            Kenzo
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
Kenzo reaches out his hand to make contact with Max's potion coated hand. The tech-nin was grateful for this delivery method. While he knew from seeing the readouts that it was working to heal Ishida, he'd rather not have it applied by tongue unless it was someone he was intimate with.

"It puts the healing potion on the skin? You had to make it weird, didn't you? Let me guess, 'Or else it gets ko'd again?'"

Kenzo rubs it in on the point of impact on his jaw, feeling it work instantly. He then rubs it in on his forehead feeling the sensation of a possible concussion fade away. The surprising discovery though, was that inhaling the vapors of it was helping his breathing too. When it is all rubbed in, Kenzo grips the chain once more.

Well, then. Kenzo has nothing else to say seeing as this company sees themselves as above International, National, Regional laws let alone common decency.

Kenzo then brings his attention back to Veronica. She's breathing heavy. Why not make it a bit worse?

Kenzo sends out the weighted end of an electrified chain to wrap around the neck. Should he manage that, he'll pull her right into a shocking side kick to the stomach, whip her up and over so she lands on her back, plant his knee on belly to make it difficult for her to get her breath back, draw that metal fan of his back out and repeatedly whack her across her jaw in a bit of revenge for the hard shot he took there.

[ISHIDA]
Ishida had been able to lean on one zombified security officer for support. But when he delivered his two-pronged attack, the security officers were able to bring their respective guards up. Rotting flesh can still hold up pretty well once it's dosed with enough of that mist, it would seem.

Max takes a bad hit, but manages to provide aid to his focusing mentor, while Buck's able to set the zombie horde on fire. The soldiers may have returned back to life, but the urge to panic may just be something that's hardcoded into the survival instinct, as many of them flail their ignited limbs about in panic!

Fire... well. It doesn't bother him as much as it might most. But he also wants to make sure that the shapeshifter's attack achieves the maximal benefit -- and that's why he takes long, loping strides towards the less-immolated of the zombies. He takes a running start - and then he leaps in with a slammed elbow strike to the back of one zombie, before twisting around to deliver two rolling sobat kicks with the intent of crashing the zombies into one another like bowling pins!

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Buck with Gigant Morph.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0            Kenzo
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
Buck is not used to fighting two pronged fights, he's very much mostly done one on one brawls and his only experience otherwise he had the distinct advantage of being fully rested while the others in the brawl had already been exchanging blows for a while. Not to mention, putting all his energy into breathing fire may delay his responses a little, so when Veronica comes for him in a gurgling frenzy, he doesn't quite manage to get his guard up in time.

As he's picked up off the ground, he glares daggers at the zombie captain, but there's not much in the way of squirming, in fact, he seems to have resigned himself to what's coming, and instead works on his retaliation, a thick reptilian tail seemingly uncoiling from his spine.

He grunts as he hits the ground, something crunching or snapping rather audibly, but Buck's a tough boy, and it's likely not something that will leave any permanent mark. But it doesn't bode well for how long he may remain in this combat.

Still, as soons as he has the ground to brace himself against, he swings that thick tail around at Veronica's arm, the massive spikes at the end of the tail turned to drive point first into parasitic flesh.

[MAX]
The little Gear's stoic mask cracks almost immediately at the retort, a Cheshire Cat grin splitting her face in half.

"What, I thought you humans liked pop culture references! Perhaps 'wouldst thou like to live deliciously?' would have been more palatable?"

Not that the potion she offers particularly tastes of butter but there's a distinct lack of quotable lines referencing the acceptance of questionable substances in the movies that she is familiar with so a little liberty is required here! Fortunately, the ninja proves much less squeamish about taking his medicine than her last patient, despite the creepy line, and the miraculous goop goes to work within seconds.

With Kenzo given what assistance she can offer Max turns to assess the battlefield once again. Between the armored zombies and the mutated captain everyone is looking a little rough. The smart thing to do, in her mind, would be to whittle down the competition. If they can get rid of the zombies then everyone can focus on subduing Veronica as a team which should make it a lot harder for her to pick them off with her deadly strikes.

"I think we should dispatch the minions before we focus on the captain," she offers, since no one else seems to be trying to coordinate any sort of strategy.

The girl's tail curls around to her front and she rubs the remains of the healing slime on its tip before flicking it back to smear it across her own injury. There isn't enough of the alchemical substance to get the full effects normally but for some reason the air in here is particularly dense with seithr. Focusing her magical aura on drawing that lingering power inwards, Max absorbs the ambient energies and funnels them into her wound, amplifying the restorative power of the healing potion to near full effectiveness.

Rolling her shoulders experimentally, the Gear lets out a soft sigh of relief. "Much bett-"

A sharp popping noise nigh on akin to a shotgun blast fills the room as something inside of the girl's body shifts back into place. The girl's neon eyes go wide as dinner plates and she slowly tips over, flopping bonelessly onto the floor.

"Don't... mind me! Just... just need a moment...!"

COMBATSYS: Max gains composure.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security blocks Ishida's Rolling Stone.

                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
                 [           ||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Veronica with Violent Electrocutioner's Snare.

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Veronica dodges Buck's Thagomizer ES.

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[VERONICA]
Veronica leans over Buck after slamming him into the ground, the swelling in her transmogrified meat-mitt rapidly going down as she breathes rapidly. The expression on her half-ashen, veined face is almost as blank as that of the zombies, but there's still some spark of life firing behind her glossy eyes that causes her to twitch with a moment's hesitation. The tail driving toward her causes that brake to release with sudden violence, the captain slipping the strike with a sudden twist to let it thrust past - but she (or the parasite operating her controls) has made the crucial mistake of taking her attention off of a ninja. Kenzo's chain wraps around her neck, diverting her hands from defense to trying to wrest the electrified weapon away as her body spasms with shock. The kick connects with her stomach, and despite her inhuman strength, Kenzo manages to leverage her onto her back and plant his knee on her belly.

*THWACK* *THWACK*

By the time that Kenzo is done smacking her with the fan, blood is trickling out of her mouth, giving her an even more zombie-like appearance. She wheezes horribly as she pushes her hand up, trying to grab hold of Kenzo's throat - and if she can manage to, she'll use her strength, still prodigious even with the ravaging effects of electricity on her muscles and strained respiration, to lift him up off the floor while staggering to her feet. Then, the back of her tank top would explode open as six secondary limbs of bone and sinew would burst through like so many spider legs or segmented serpents, each tipped in blood-soaked bone spikes that would assault the ninja while her hand tries to hold him there!

Meanwhile, the speaker crackles again. << Oh, I should have paid closer attention. That's Maximum, isn't it? You and Doctor Maeda would be welcome to join us, you know. We've just had quite a few openings become available for someone with her expertise. Of course, you'd have to help Captain Sullivan subdue your friends. >>

COMBATSYS: Kenzo dodges Zombie Security's Power Grapples.

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|---<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Kenzo with Hydra Evolution.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|---<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
Kenzo stops his onslaught on Veronica to reassess the situation. It was a good thing too since a zombie tries to grab a hold of him. He only manages to slip away from zombie's grip and into the waiting grip of his ex-sponsor. Kenzo grits his teeth as he gets assaulted by the bone tipped limbs.

He eventually rips himself free and brings himself to standing. He wobbles slightly as he spins his chain. The chain for the final time this fight crackles with energy as he lashes out at zombies close to him rapidly and brutally before turning his last bit of energy to smash with quick and hard attacks from the weight on the end of his chain.

With his energy spent, the ninja falls. And Ishida will find the combat specs at his feet.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo can no longer fight.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|---<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0           Ishida
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/=======|

[ISHIDA]
Ishida's sobat kicks batter the security forces against one another, but doesn't manage to knock any one of the zombies over. The only thing he manages to do is get them clustered up into a tighter group, it would seem.

He answers Max's suggestion with a grim laugh. "Working on that, yes." It's not really -meant- to be rude -- he's just stymied by his determined attacks providing only limited gains. Overall, the team seems to be doing better: while Veronica -did- manage to avoid Buck's stegosaurian strike, Kenzo's barrage of tessen strikes seem to fill the gap effectively.

Ishida prepares for another strike against the zombie onslaught -- only to find a bespoke pair of combat specs clattering against his foot. Grimacing back to Kenzo, he gasps in horror to see the Eldritch horror formerly known as Veronica Sullivan -- and understands entirely.

"I'll do what I can, Kuroiwa-sensei..."

In one motion, he drops low to scoop up the specs. And just as he's about to strike...

He hears Atticus trying to draw in Max. And he grunts, in disapproval.

"Don't trust that trash heap, Max. We're nothing but pawns to him."

He sweeps the specs close to his abdomen, keeping them secure as he delivers a blistering punch to the first zombie within reach. A second main-hand punch is quick to follow -- and then he unleashes a brutal forearm strike to the next. He's hoping that, maybe this once, he can leave his mark on the team!

[BUCK]
"She'll tear through us if we ignore her." Buck retorts, not quite agreeing with Max's assessment of which target to take out first, uttered in the middle of a coughing fit as he tries to get to his feet.

He stumbles a bit but he manages it using that thick tail almost as an extra leg to keep him upright before letting it retreat back into nothingness, nodding to the two mentees. "Work on them then, I'll try to keep her busy." Said with mild confidence even though he perhaps looks the most roughed up right now. Well, beyond Kenzo. Though when the ninja goes down, Buck's face etches into a deep frown.

He closes distance to Veronica once more, trying to buy at least a little time for the two to take out more of the security drones.

HE comes in swinging, no fancy tricks, he's just throwing punches, sweeping hooks trying to make at least one land past the security chief's defenses.

COMBATSYS: Max blocks Zombie Security's Power Grapples.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|---<<<<
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

[MAX]
Still lying flat on her back, Max stares up at the ceiling blankly as their antagonizer calls her out by name. Strange, her mother had never mentioned anyone named Atticus when she spoke about her previous colleagues. Then again, she didn't like talking about it all that much except when she was in a bad mood and needed something to vent about. There were plenty of names that had made repeated appearances in the doctor's grumblings but none of them were Atticus.

Perhaps it's a pseudonym? Fake names are pretty common among criminals. On the other hand, all the super villains in the comics and movies are possessed of an exceptional amount of hubris and like people knowing who they are. And if creating a lethal virus that turns people into undead soldiers doesn't count as super villainy then she's badly misjudged human morality.

"What gave it away," she offers sarcastically in response, pushing back to her feet with another noisy pop from her back. "It's the pink hair, right?"

Seeing that she was momentarily vulnerable, several of the zombies shift their attention to the Gear. The brief respite was more than enough to put the pep back in Max's step and she promptly resumes engaging in a reckless tussle with the numerically superior force. Her efforts are largely successful, the massive paws swatting her assailants away two or three at a time. But for every group that she discourages one of the creatures manages to slip past her defenses via sheer numbers. By the time that she's put the group near her on their asses temporarily there's a dozen small wounds leaking milky pink blood all over her arms and shoulders.

"I don't know," the Gear offers in light-hearted counterpoint to Ishida's warning, grunting with effort as she pitches a wriggling zombie into the main body of corpses like a discus. "I think you could at least be a rook. Maybe a bishop if you play your cards right."

With her own issues momentarily dealt with, Max turns her attention back to her allies just in time to see Kenzo get overwhelmed by The Thing. She grimaces openly at the aftermath of the nightmarish assault while secretly tucking that idea away for use later. She is going to scare the pants off so many people this Halloween.

"Hey, I -just- healed him!"

With a growl the girl bounds over to the ninja's fallen form, kicking away a few of the straggling zombies that had turned to feast on him like a bunch of vultures. The human is hoisted over her shoulder with ease and she quickly ferries him to the furthest corner of the room she can find, dumping him gently behind one of the large computer banks. After a quick check that the dead zombies nearby from the previous batch are DEFINITELY DEAD the bio-weapon rushes back over to support the remainder of her allies as best she can.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Zombie Security with Whirling Chain Blitz.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|---<<<<
                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|-------|=======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ishida successfully hits Zombie Security with Clean Slate.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|---<<<<
                 [                 ||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|------=|=======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security blocks Max's Fierce Slam.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|---<<<<
                 [                  |||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|-----==|=======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Veronica blocks Kenzo's Whirling Chain Blitz.

                 [                 ||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         0|-------|-<<<<<<
                 [                   ||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|------=|=======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Veronica full-parries Buck's Fierce Punch!!

                 [                 ||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-------|<<<<<<<
                 [                   ||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|------=|=======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

[VERONICA]
Veronica detects the approach of Buck from behind her, turning her head to one side so that her monstrous yellow right eye can regard the Oklahoma shapeshifter. The distraction allows Kenzo to rip himself free of her monstrous grip, and she turns herself around fully to face the approaching challenger. The chain swings through the air, snapping off two of the barbed appendages on her back with sprays of fluid that resembles blood - but in their place, two more grow.

Buck comes in swinging, but with her adrenaline levels now surging with the inhaled mist absorbed into her parasitic partner, her eyes have a renewed focus, even if she's still breathing heavily. Slouched slightly as she keeps her gaze on Buck, she sparks to life with each punch thrown, sudden violent but precise jerks of her body bending her out of the way every time he takees a shot. The eyes covering her right side allow her to disregard her own vision as a consideration in her defensive positioning.

"Sorry," she breathes out, her back bent to stare past Buck's fist at the ceiling. It's the first intelligible word she's managed since being exposed to the chemicals.

And with abrupt, murderous aggression, she stabs her right arm forward toward Buck's midsection, the end of which has shifted in the space of a moment to the shape of a single long blade of bone, threatening to impale him on the sharp end as it springs out to greater length!

COMBATSYS: Ishida fails to interrupt They're Surrounding Us from Zombie Security with The Hard Place.

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-------|=======
                 [                  |||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|-----==|=======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

[ISHIDA]
As light-hearted as Max may be, it's hard for Ishida to see any sunshine on the horizon. He's not the tallest, he doesn't have any neat aerial tricks, and even his bread-and-butter attacks aren't proving to make much of a dent in the zombie horde. Perhaps his greatest contribution is giving them something to focus on while Buck, Max were able to clean up shop.

He seems to -- at one point -- relish the attention. He positions himself deliberately, in an attempt to draw the former security officers away from Veronica and Buck -- and to keep the heat off of Max as she keeps his mentor safe. His goal is to lure them back -- and then use a Chinese boxing method to pepper them with a series of blows.

But Ishida does not, in fact, play his cards right.

His attempts at a short-throw punch barrage are short-circuited when two zombies lurch out of the horde to latch onto his arms. Without even that minimal wind-up, his strikes are rendered ineffective. And while the remainder of the horde -is- momentarily occupied with him... the ensuing dogpile also obscures him from view, as he bears much more than his usual helping of zombie-inflicted abuse.

COMBATSYS: Buck dodges Zombie Security's They're Surrounding Us.

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-------|=======
                 [                  |||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|----===|=======
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Buck just-defends Veronica's Impaler Morph EX!

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-------|=======
                 [                  |||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|----===|=======
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

[BUCK]
Buck lets out another soft growl as his punch is deflected, but his andry expression softens just a touch as Veronica manages to speak. "If you're in there, fight this damn thing!" He shouts right into her face, and he's got a good bellow for calling across the farm.

Even locked in a close melee with Veronica, he shifts out of the way as one of the security zombies tries to lay hands on him, slipping away like a fish. The blade proves more of a problem, his brow furrows for a moment and instead of sinking into flesh, the blade sparks off a covering of boney scutes that rise up from under Buck's skin in seemingly an instant, more a reflexive measure than a shift he's controlling.

Surprisingly, instead of trying to back away fromt he chief, he seems to try to move in even closer, his fingers hooking as wicked claws slide from his nail beds.

With furious rage, he begins to swipe, lashing out with the claws in a raking frenzy trying to land strikes any which way he can.

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security successfully hits Max with They're Surrounding Us.
- Power hit! -

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-------|=======
                 [                 ||||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|--=====|=======
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-======/=======|

[MAX]
The Gear grins fiercely as she scampers back into the fray, her emotions a mixture of excitement and fear. No, fear isn't quite the right word, for she wasn't created to experience terror. Far too many dark stalkers could exploit such a weakness for her to be effective were she to know fear. Anxiety might be a closer approximate, in particular for the fate of her comrades, who have been suffering far worse than she during this engagement.

Her attention first goes to her mentor and his heroic attempt to keep the twisted abomination that Captain Sullivan has become at bay. More than once the creature has displayed horrific capacity for turning its bloated anatomy into wicked weaponry and the bone-blade that she thrusts at Buck is no less lethal in appearance. Fortunately, the American proves quicker to respond this time, adrenaline perhaps pushing him to new heights. Max cheers mentally and turns to the other warrior still on his feet.

Ishida likewise tries to hold his own against the onslaught but the sheer numbers difference proves difficult to overcome. Snarling, the Gear bounds forward and throws herself into the mix, attempting to dislodge as many of the zombies as she can from the fallen monk. But her haste proves a rash decision and she only ends up being buried beneath the pile as hungry undead swarm like rabid dogs on fallen prey.

Things are quickly starting to get ugly. If she and Ishida are crushed by this tidal wave of flesh then Buck will be left alone to contend with Veronica. And, not to throw shade on the shape shifter, but she wouldn't put bets on him coming out of that on top unless he has some serious tricks still hidden up his sleeves.

Well, when fighting monsters the best counter is usually another monster. Time for things to a get a little bit ugly.

The familiar snap-crack of bones rearranging emanates from beneath the pile of flailing zombies as the Gear's transformative magics go to work, augmenting her tiny body into something more formidable. Thick cords of muscle swell in her arms and legs with fresh power and she quickly begins to smash her way out of the meat pile, sending zombies flying in every direction. Pearly white teeth elongate into jagged fangs until her mouth is practically filled with dozens of shark-like serrated triangles. Claws start to rip and tear even as Max begins to take massive chunks out of her assailants, all but unhinging her jaw entirely to bite entire limbs off in a single chomp.

More disturbingly, not all of the rotten flesh that she frees from its owners falls to the floor. The bio-weapon crunches and chews whatever makes its way into her distended maw, feasting on the zombies much as they had intended to devour her, displaying the enthusiasm of a small child unleashed upon a mountain of candy.

COMBATSYS: Max successfully hits Zombie Security with Snack Time.

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-------|=======
                 [                    |||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  1|=======|=======
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Ishida
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Veronica full-parries Buck's Raking It In!!

                 [               ||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|----===|=======
                 [                     ||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|----===
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Ishida
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-======|

[VERONICA]
<< This is quite the spectacle. >>

Against the hopes of those who might have thought he'd disconnected the line, Atticus voices his thoughts with some admiration.

<< Two protean organisms locked in rapid evolutionary one-upmanship. Imagine if the parasite had access to that genetic database that you possess, Mister Finley. If only we'd had you as a host in the first place. Well, there's always time. >>

As Buck slashes at her with his new-grown claws, Veronica twists and jerks back and forth, backpedalling while narrowly avoiding each attempt to claw into her. Finally, she brings her bone blade limb up, catching his swiping nails with it and forcefully reversing the momentum of his limb as she spins in the opposite direction. By the time that she's made the split-second revolution, the blade has retracted and the stump of the arm rounded into a shape more akin to a tetsubo, aimed to clobber Buck in the head!

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security successfully hits Ishida with They're Coming To Get You.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|-----==|=======
                 [                  |||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|----===
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Buck             0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1           Ishida
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-======|

[ISHIDA]
It's said that whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. In the back of Ishida's mind, he's been wondering why the infection that -did- kill these soldiers seems to have made them so much stronger. ... There's something faulty about that logic, but the Japanese fighter's got the excuse that he was just bitten by a zombie not too long back. There's bound to be a few loose wires as a result.

Not only that -- when he's just trying to get back up, with Max's assistance (which he is incredibly thankful for!), the weight of the undead army seems to be bearing down even harder upon him, bashing him down with repeated strikes to the face and shoulders. The only thing that could make things worse is knowing that they're taking down Max as well...

Thankfully, as his assailants haul him off his feet and threaten to tear him limb from limb, he remembers that the sounds of breaking bones from his former opponent is not -necessarily- a bad thing. It could just be the glimmer of hope that he needs to make it through.

Hope starts to vanish, as the zombies wrench the Shaolin fighter's leg in a way that the splint was -really- meant to help protect against. "NNG-NGYA..." he cries as his already-injured leg becomes even moreso. But in the midst of his outcry, the falling splint proves to be a moment of salvation.

The zombies, not knowing any better, descend on the fallen splint.
And Ishida's able to wriggle free, for one last hurrah.

Twisting loose, he lands on his good foot in one of the now-rare expanses of floor. Throwing both arms out to the side for balance, he draws in one long, ragged breath. He -ought- to be unconscious by now -- and prey. But he thanks the gods for just one more attempt.

He leaps forward, throwing his knee into a leaping strike at the nearest zombie's head! He'll then try to lean forward to deliver three rapid Wing-Chun style punches as he lands -- however unsteadily upon his good leg -- and then steps sideways to smash his forearm into the next zombie in his path. He'll then leap upwards, spiralling around into a rolling sobat kick to crush his next target against the laboratory wall...

And then -- he leaves his fate in the hands of the gods.

COMBATSYS: Buck fails to interrupt Brutus Morph EX from Veronica with Medium Punch.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|---====|=======
                 [                  |||||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|----===
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-======|

[BUCK]
"Screw off!" Buck shouts to Atticus as the man starts gushing about his fight with Veronica. Not that he's even sure how much his powers would work in that circumstance, but he's not about to get into a biological or philosophical debate with that wackjob.

His shifting does seem to be coming in more infrequent bursts as the fight drags on. It takes a lot out of him and each successive time means he needs a little bit more to recover. Or he just needs to go for smaller adjustments.

As Veronica twists away, he tries to get in close despite the attack coming in towards his cranium. He holds on to the claws, curling his hand to drive them like a dagger at the chief. But he's just not quick enough, instead taking the blow to the side of his head with a resounding crack.

Luckily, Buck is thick skulled even normally, and the blow isn't enough to bring him down, but it also keeps him off balance for the moment.

[MAX]
Things just seem to keep getting worse.

The plucky attitude of the colorful Gear strains as she watches both Ishida and Buck get the raw end of their latest exchanges. She does what she can to fend the ravenous horde away from her human ally but even while being literally ripped apart and eaten piece by piece the corpses do what they were intended to and keep on coming regardless. She'd be impressed if this demonstration of unholy fortitude wasn't at the expense of her allies.

"I don't suppose," she quips, trying to bolster their spirits with a bit of off-color humor, "that either of you happen to have a truckload of garlic packets on hand? I have eaten some pretty foul things but this definitely takes the cake."

Max's joke is punctuated by a sickening crunch as one of the zombies tries to lunge for her only to get its arm bitten off at the shoulder. Foul ichor oozes out of the rotten nub adding to the steadily growing smear of disgusting gore spreading across the floor as a result of her efforts. And, in true zombie fashion, the loss of one of its limbs hardly seems to slow the damn thing down and it quickly turns to flail at her again, reaching hungrily with its remaining fingers.

Ishida's resurgence from the pile brings a brief but wide blood-smeared smile to the bio-weapon's face and she hurls herself into the shambling mass of bodies from behind even as he unleashes a mighty whirlwind of strikes. While she's sure that such a display of martial prowess is certain to bring down several of the fiends for good they've already shown themselves to be annoyingly hardy so a little extra effort to seal the deal is probably in order. Besides, the monk is literally on his last leg looks like he could use the help.

Buck's plight is not forgotten and, between pouncing on the distracted zombies and hurling them like hackey-sacks into the nearest solid object, the Gear tosses the occasional glance at her mentor to make sure he's still on his feet. Hopefully their efforts will put the last of these cannon fodder down and everyone can finally focus on dealing with the real threat.

"Hang in there, boss, we're... grrah! Almost done here!"

COMBATSYS: Ishida successfully hits Zombie Security with Hard Rock Buffet.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|---====|=======
                 [                     ||||||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security endures Max's Cat-a-pult.

                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|---====|=======
                 [                        |||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-======
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

[VERONICA]
The undead have been thinned nearly to extinction - other than one more that lurches out of the mist...

Meanwhile, Veronica is left hunkered over after lurching with the follow-through of the clubbing attack. The spined, fleshy tendrils protruding from her back start to wilt and droop before slithering back into her skin. There appears to be a war going on behind the single green eye and its yellow counterpart as they wander the room.

<< Well, what are you waiting for, Captain Sullivan? Finish them. >>

There is another compulsion overriding the voice from the speaker, though. One that hungers. And it's there that the captain's fading will finds a compromise.

Veronica straightens her posture as marrow and bone retreat into her limb for redistribution throughout her skeletal structure. In its place, a strange, thick wet red tendril of flesh extends from it like a trunk, several small tentacles protruding from the end. Then, the body horror intensifies as the end of the large tendril opens to reveal a mouthful of lamprey teeth. The lamprey limb lunges out, stretching to attach to one of the bodies of the security officers on the ground. Veronica turns her head away as the parasitic arm lifts the lifeless corpse into the air.

Then, the limb starts to pulse as it sucks biomatter in like a giant leech, the corpse rapidly going pale from blood loss before deflating as horrific crackling sounds signal the maceration of the tougher parts of the anatomy on their way down. A sob wracks the security chief as the body of her former subordinate is defiled and consumed.

<< What are you doing, Sullivan? Deal with the ones that are still breathing first! >>

The security chief only closes her green eye and clenches her teeth as her guard is left open and the parasite feeds.

COMBATSYS: Veronica drops her stance and pants as her wounds rapidly recover.

                 [       ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|---====|=======
                 [                         ||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|--=====
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Buck             1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

[ISHIDA]
Fortune finally smiles upon Ishida as each of his determined attacks manages to hit its mark. The Shaolin student parts the sea of flailing zombie limbs, knocking down one after another in his mission of dealing as much damage as possible to their number. Broken bodies (and parts thereof) litter the floor in his wake as he pulls to a stop. His condition forces him to lean against a wall for support, as he turns back to survey the devastation wrought by the attacks from both Max and himself.

He doesn't have long to consider, though, before Atticus' voice draws his attention to a new development. He's mad. And if Ishida has been able to glean anything from the disembodied voice, it's that whatever angers that man is -probably- a good thing. Especially considering the way Veronica's body language is telling her she wants no part of this feeding frenzy.

"It's now or never," answers Ishida dispassionately.

He shoves himself away from the wall. He puts all his strength into his good leg, leaping into the fray -- not at the last remaining zombies, but at the grotesque parasite latched onto their captain's arm. He aims to slam a flying forearm strike at the parasite, followed by a brutal elbow smash, and a disabling palm strike -- all to try and batter the parasite into breaking its hold on the captain while it's most vulnerable!

[BUCK]
%Buck pants heavily as he takes stock of their situation. It's not good, he can tell that much quickly and without Kenzo's specs, but maybe they still have a chance. The display from Veronica oddly doesn't seem to both Buck, bodily horrific as it may be. Even before he took up biology he worked on a farm and some things when you raise animals, well, you get used to a certain amount of gross.

Instead he focuses inwards, his body beginning to swell with muscles as his bones audibly crack and shift about, not as horrific as Veronica's transformation, but it's eerie in its own way. His clothes strain against the growth, but the thick pelt of fur that covers him sticks through the tears and gaps in the seems. And by the rules of Hulk, he stays decent, at least.

Hands twisting into massive paws with wickedly long claws, he shoves off the desk behind him and launches himself at the security chief.

There's no subtely or grace to this assault, he's simply swinging his massive paws about, relying on his enhanced musculature and bulk to deliver devestating blows, trying to rain down one battering smack after another.

COMBATSYS: Max dodges Zombie Security's It's Right Behind You.

                 [       ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|---====|=======
                 [                         ||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-======
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

[MAX]
Between her bloody claws and the monk's bone-crushing martial arts, Max and Ishida make quick work of the remaining zombies in true action movie fashion.

While she has never trained alongside the human and encountered his fighting style only once in the past that was more than enough time for her brain - specialized in observing targets and extrapolating data - to figure out his flow. Even while wounded the man's art doesn't change much and she quickly steps in to support the hobbled warrior. Every time a zombie comes rushing forward from a flank, threatening to exploit his limited mobility, she lunges to tackle it to the ground or slash it apart only to retreat and wait for another foolish undead to fall for the same trap.

Precisely how the monk feels about being used as bait is probably something to be discussed later. For now, the plan works, and in the aftermath of their devastating teamwork only a single member of the previously staggering horde remains, hidden out of sight for the moment.

With one threat dealt with, Max takes a moment to assess the battlefield. Between two separate gaggles of gangrenous goons the room is in an utter state. Corpses lie piled in messy heaps atop fetid pools of black oily fluid, most dismembered or with body parts bent at unhealthy angles. Were they living people at the time of their deaths this scene would be a ghastly sight of horrific mass murder; as it is they can probably consider it more of a biological waste disposal site.

Or in Max's case, a snack buffet, apparently.

Snatching up a fallen limb, the Gear's wicked teeth crunch through the bones with ease as she bites the hand off entirely, chewing the rotten flesh with idle disinterest as her neon eyes sweep the room for threats. The girl's posture seems slightly different than before, her motions having more in common with a feral animal than a sapient entity. The long spotted tail flicks back and forth with agitated snaps and the pupils of her feline eyes have narrowed into razor thin slits within the neon sclera, hyper focused on whatever part of the room her gaze is directed towards.

As she lifts the desecrated arm back to her mouth for another bite the teen suddenly blinks and a shiver runs down her body from head to toe. Intelligence returns to her eyes and with a look of disgust she tosses the rotten flesh away, spitting something black and foul on the floor.

Atticus's voice draws her back to the present. Whirling around to locate the security captain she quickly identifies the source of the madman's distress. Somehow, despite the overwhelming influence of the parasitic entity dragging her around like a puppet, Veronica is fighting back.

"Clever girl," Max says, her gory-smeared lips parting in a Cheshire smile.

Exploiting the parasite's overwhelming desire to feed and grow, she has distracted it momentarily with the bountiful feast that has been provided. She doesn't bother pointing this out to the others - one look at both Buck and Ishida makes it clear that they've already grasped the opportunity being handed to them. Now or never, indeed.

Breaking out into a quick sprint on all fours, the Gear hurries to catch up with her companions and lend her aid to bringing this twisted game to a close. Max's eyes nearly pop out of her head as a shambling figure hurls itself at her from behind one of the piles of corpses, arms out stretched, blood-slicked jaws gaping wide in mindless hunger. Caught almost completely off-guard, it is only by virtue of sheer animal instinct that the bio-weapon hurls herself flat instantly, sending the angry former security officer tumbling ass-over-teakettle as it trips across her back.

"I'll deal with you later," she grunts, scrambling back to her feet and bounding towards their primary target of opportunity.

Buck's wild frenzy of slashes proves almost as much a danger to the rest of them as it does Veronica, claws swiping through the air like swords. Max only barely avoids catching some collateral as she slips up from behind the shape shifter forcing her to fling herself to the side like she's in a John Woo movie. Too bad she doesn't have any doves on hand.

Deciding it better to give her allies a chance to do their thing rather than adding to this fuster-cluck - her mom doesn't like it when she swears -the Gear drops into an eager crouch and waits for her chance. When both of the humans have finally exhausted themselves, Max explodes forward like a coiled spring, latching onto Veronica's swollen parasitic arm and trying to outright tear it off! Jagged teeth, razor-sharp claws, and inhuman strength all work in tandem to rip through the thick mutated organism, carving flesh and bone with the last of her stored up magical might.

COMBATSYS: Veronica blocks Ishida's Fierce Punch.

                 [           ||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Veronica         1|=======|=======
                 [                         ||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-======
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Veronica with Bear Arms.

                 [                         ||||| ]
                 Veronica         2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
                 [                         ||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-======
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Veronica endures Max's Excessive Force.

                 [                               ]
                 Veronica         2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
                 [                         ||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-======
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

[VERONICA]
The infested security commander opens her eyes to gaze up at a small, almost inconspicuous device in one of the upper corners of the room. The small camera blinks red to indicate that its feedback is being recorded as it watches the sick security chief. Her parasitic limb continues to suckle the flesh and blood and marrow out of the cadaver, swelling as it takes on more and more biomass.

The eyes of the parasite turn toward Ishida as he approaches. The alien sentience struggles against that of the waning brunette, fighting to force her into action in self-preservation. It's only with great effort that the creature manages to dominate her into raising the limb to deflect the forearm strike aimed at the parasite. Each blow from Ishida sends the limb bending in different directions - not quite managing to land flush against the weak points. However, it's that barrage that opens the security captain up for the next onslaught.

Massive claws bear down on Veronica, raking bloody wounds across her as she flinches with each blow. One massive paw slam sends her into an aerial spiral as the parasite lets out a shriek from its lamprey maw, losing its grip on the crumpled corpse of the security trooper it was draining and regurgitating some of its remains through the end of the infested arm.

Then, Max lances in, slashing and ripping at the parasitic arm. The limb thrashes in response, asserting its self-preservation instinct on the security captain with an insistence that elicits a scream from Veronica. It transmogrifies, sucking up whatever loose biomatter it can from the immediate area like a vacuum as it grows and grows, thrashing about as it reforms into an enormous tentacle, large enough to stretch across the entire chamber - and then swings back and forth violently, threatening to batter about those who are still standing with no discrimination between living and dead!

COMBATSYS: Veronica can no longer fight.

                 [                         ||||| ]
                 Zombie Security  0|-------|-======
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Zombie Security with Leviathan Strain.

                 [                               ]
                 Zombie Security  1|-------|=======
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

The final remaining security guard is slammed against the far wall by the force of the massive tentacle slamming into it, neck snapping audibly and internal organs pulverising before it falls inert to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security takes no action.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Zombie Security can no longer fight.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Ishida with Leviathan Strain.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/------=/=======|

[ISHIDA]
It's probably a good thing that Ishida's face is both (a) smeared with ichorous fluids and (b) suitably distracted by the zombies that he doesn't really notice what Max is doing between attacks. He'd probably dry heave if he'd seen the happy-go-lucky Gear feasting on corpse flesh the same way the parasite had been.

He's a bit alarmed when Veronica's flesh-and-blood arm imposes itself in the path of his strikes. But with his balance being offset by his injured leg, he doesn't have the freedom to revise his attack vector: he's absolutely committed to his selected sequence of strikes. So - it's a good thing that Buck and Max are able to make the most of his distraction. He's perfectly happy to rip aggro away from the more vicious attacks, such as they are -- Max shouldn't have anything to worry about there.

He does wince, somewhat, when he hears Veronica scream. He genuinely does feel remorse for her -- there's no telling the battles she's facing within. As he hobbles backwards, he breathes a silent prayer that the security captain will be able to win her freedom against that hideous parasite -- and if there's any way he can help, he resolves to do everything he can. Maybe Dr Maeda would be able to be of assistance, he ponders...

As it is though, when he sees the biomatter recomposing itself into a gigantic tentacle, he throws up one arm in a sad defense. Unable to carry out any particular feats of athleticism, he opts to fall to the floor in hopes that the tentacle will whip past his reduced profile.

He's caught in mid-fall, though -- swept right off his feet and slammed into the laboratory's observation window. The glass spiderwebs beneath him from the impact; Ishida tastes the familiar tang of rust as he erupts into a sequence of wracking coughs.

A saving grace is that he'd managed to keep two technological treasures safe for the moment -- Kenzo's combat specs, and the keycard that -might- still yield access to the storage lockers throughout the area. It's just that the former might need to be mended and/or bent back into position. And he's losing consciousness too quickly to do much about the latter.

As he slides down the window onto an adjacent control panel, he slowly loses consciousness. Though -- if Buck, Max, or even Kenzo happens to be able to look his way, they might see the ghostly hint of a smile upon his expression for the last moment before he succumbs to darkness.

COMBATSYS: Ishida takes no action.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1              Max

COMBATSYS: Ishida can no longer fight.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1              Max

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Veronica's Leviathan Strain.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1              Max

[BUCK]
Were this a normal fight, Buck would be grinning from landing the blow he did, but this isn't a fight for fun, and so it's only grim determination etched on his features as he batters away at Veronica.

He flinches at her scream, moving those massive paws to the side of his head to block it out, luckily he recovers from the sonic shockwave in time to bring up the ursine-reinforced arms to take the brunt of the blow from the lashing tentacle, only tentatively lowering his guard once the noise of the fight seems to ebb into silence.

He looks around at the carnage, taking a moment to take stock of who is still left standing among all the fallen bodies allies and otherwise.

He doesn't let his guard down quite yet, instead waiting to make sure none of the bodies start stirring again. Well, none that aren't supposed to.

COMBATSYS: Veronica successfully hits Max with Leviathan Strain.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|=======\=======\1              Max

[MAX]
At this point it's almost a miracle that anyone is still on their feet at all.

As the resident non-human among the bunch Max being among the few able to endure the continuous onslaught doesn't surprise her much. Dealing with situations like this is literally what she was created for. Of course, being restricted to the lowest tier of her potential by her mother's magic in order to keep the tournament organizers happy has proven to be a slightly awkward decision considering recent events. Being able to tap into the full spectrum of her transformative powers would have made this entire ordeal play out much differently. She wonders how arrogant their pompous antagonist would have been if he could see what an actually talented scientist is able to create.

Such are the thoughts running through the Gear's head as she wrestles with the tenacious parasite. Despite her enhanced strength the angry tentacle proves unexpectedly viscous in its response. Perhaps sensing that the walls are closing in it flails about like a cornered animal, whipping back and forth so ferociously that Max can barely hold on. But hold on she does, digging claws and teeth into the tumorous flesh, even wrapping her prehensile tail around the slimy appendage for extra grip.

"Let... her... go," she snarls at the stubborn abomination.

Rather than be intimidated by her obstinate refusal to be dislodged the parasite only grows more frantic in its efforts, expending every last vestige of its stored up strength to swing the Gear at the far wall. A literal whoosh fills the air from the sheer speed of the sudden burst of motion followed by a horrendous crunch when the tiny bio-weapon's body collides with the solid barrier for a second time. While the teen once again finds herself plastered to the steel surface the impact is much less comical this time and far more disturbing. Bright pink fluid explodes onto the dull metal as if Max were a paintball that had been fired into it, the chimera's unnatural blood splattering in all directions.

For the first time that any of them have ever seen the Gear looks genuinely stunned by the damage inflicted upon her. Her neon eyes first go wide in shock, a strangled gasp bursting from her open mouth, then slowly flutter closed as she slumps into a half-conscious heap on the corpse-riddled floor.

COMBATSYS: Max gets distracted by something shiny...

[                       \\\\\\\  <
Buck             0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Max can no longer fight.

[                       \\\\\\\  <
Buck             0/-------/-======|

[VERONICA]
When the limb finally stops thrashing, its stores of energy spent, the security captain staggers backward and slumps against the wall. The monstrous limb starts to shrink, retreating and reforming slowly into the rough shape of an actual human arm - albeit one still clearly riddled with infection, discoloured and streaked with visible veins, and covered with scars and fresh wounds. At the same time, the infection appears to retreat from her face, seemingly contained within the limb itself once more. The room becomes oddly still and quiet with Buck the only one still standing.

The speaker crackles to life.

<< Well, that was educational. >>

There's a momentary pause, then -

<< It seems that division of purpose is the primary weakness in the Sullivan symbiosis. Meanwhile, the deceased do not contradict the parasites, but lack the sharp edge that self-preservation instinct provides. Perhaps that is the key - its full potential can only be attained by a living, willing host, unfettered by moral compunction. >>

After being interrupted briefly by the sound of Veronica coughing up blood, 'Atticus' continues. << Do avail yourselves of any equipment you can find. I'd hate for you to be at less than full capacity if you're intending to continue your crusade. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a final phase to begin. >>

"Take this," Veronica says, having pulled an identification card out and holding it out to the others. "It'll unlock that."

She tips her head toward the armory wall, where what appears to be a rocket launcher is mounted under security glass with keycard access.

"There might be more medical supplies in storage. You'll need one of the top-level scientists' cards to access it, though..."

[BUCK]
Buck responds to the idle chatter from Atticus over the loudspeaker by flipping it off with one big bear claw poking up into the air.

Reverting back to his normal self, he lets his innate healing take over now that he doesn't need to focus his body on other tasks, the wounds beginning to stich themselves up and each step seems to come easier as he moves about the room to check on the other companions, making sure KEnzo's specs are still neatly tucked away on Ishida. He doesn't exactly now how to read Max's biology, but he's going to assume as long as she still seems to be breathing that she's alright for now, and its only then that he makes his way over to accept the card from Veronica. "Thanks." He states simply, tucking that card away. He begins to pick through the carnage, looking for said scientist that may have a card to get said medical supplies, more concerned with making sure his fellow competitors are at least tended to before he goes looting rocket launchers. As much as Buck would normally be gung ho to play with one of those.

"Gonna blast that.." Grumble grumble, "In his stupid face." He mutters as he rummages through ichor stained lab coats.

COMBATSYS: Buck has ended the fight here.


[KENZO]
While Kenzo lays unconscious and thanks to Max's intervention, safely in the corner, one might notice the thigh pouch Kenzo keeps on his combat tech suit. Along with the various tools he carries for repairs and/or technological sabotage, there is a keycard belonging to Lisa Hamilton in there.

[MAX]
Max is, in fact, not breathing.

Not because she's dead but because never needed to breathe to begin with. Silly human limitations!

Upon Buck's approach the motionless Gear suddenly gives a start and sits bolt upright - then promptly falls over as said shift fills the room with a sound that can only be described as an entire professional football team all cracking their knuckles at the same time. Peering up at her mentor with that creepy unblinking stare of hers, Max regards the last man standing with an expression that mirrors the single word that forces itself out of her halfway open mouth.

"...ow."

Never more in her short life has the bio-weapon appreciated the fact that her mother didn't make her able to feel pain than she does right now. Because she is absolutely certain that she should be in about three truckloads of it at the moment.

*crack*

Scratch that - three and a half.

Fortunately, even ridiculous amounts of damage such as this aren't enough to actually finish off a Gear. Immobilize and incapacitate, yes. Even if she wanted to try and stand up to go and help Buck secure the room her legs don't seem to want to respond at the moment. Possibly related to the massive spinal trauma but she's no doctor. Either way, she just needs about five...

*CRACK*

TEN. Make that ten minutes!

Log created on 08:26:34 09/12/2024 by Ishida, and last modified on 17:24:24 09/27/2024.