When last we met, our heroes fought their way through the
Dreaming, only to emerge out of a dressing closet in a gay club.
“You sure know how to make an entrance,” the dancer in the
dressing room says, directly to Gareth.
He clearly knows him, although Gareth has zero recollection, and just
stands there, staring, as the rest of the group tumbles out around him. The dancer puts down his hair brush and pulls
a cigar box out of a drawer. Then the
SWAT team arrives, and he shrieks, throwing the box in the air. When it hits the floor, a lighter, spoon,
baggie, and two syringes spill out, one of the syringes full of brown substance
cracking and emitting purple smoke when the air hits whatever is inside.
Wally tries to reassure the flustered dancer, and Drake asks
where they are. “The Candy Bowl”, he
replies; Gareth, Alia, and Drake (because he remembers everything) know this place to be in Brooklyn.
The whole motley crew exits the dressing room to the stage
beyond, though Gareth stays behind, still trying to figure things out, and Goom
sticks with him. On stage is a man in
Barbarella drag writing atop the face of a shirtless man in low rise
jeans. One of the SWAT guys comments
this isn’t the strangest thing he’s seen today, and moves on stage, the rest
following suit. The club patrons,
predictably, freak. Drake puts on an air of authority and shouts that they
are the police, but if everyone clears out without issue, no one else will be
called. The club is promptly
vacated.
Back in the dressing room, Gareth starts asking the dancer
(his name is Steven) questions, trying to figure shit out. Steven is still panicked over the appearance
of the SWAT, but makes it clear he thinks Gareth is mental, as these are all
things Gareth should know. The junk is
Gareth’s, he paid for it, and they were hanging out just recently. Gareth finally pieces together that Steven
must know his double, meaning that his double is still somewhat local. Steven says that Gareth can keep the drugs
but please, can he please just be allowed to leave? Gareth lets him go as he crouches down to
collect the paraphernalia, and Steven passes Wally in the hallway as he exits. Wally lets Gareth and Goom know that people
are getting ready to leave. Goom
suggests that the drugs should come with them, to be analysed, and Wally
collects the mess from Gareth, prompting him to grumble that he really can be
trusted with the drugs without breaking.
The soldiers, thugs, and others remove their body armour and
place it and their weapons into whatever assorted duffel bags, boxes, and other
totes can be found around the club. They
depart in staggered groups of five or so, a group of soldiers and thugs
escorting one of the rubes, and meet up several blocks away at a warehouse
owned by Harajuku Importers. They know
they need to get back to Manhattan,
but the evacuation is still in progress (it has only been about 16 hours since
they left) which complicates things significantly. Madame Butterfly’s crew makes contact with
her to figure out their next step.
While plans are being made, the group questions Alia about
what happened with the root-headed woman.
She explains the offer for information on defeating the Hand Made Man,
the supposed bloodline that M. Butterfly is withholding, and the root-woman’s
request to be named and freed. Upon
learning that Alia gave the creature a name and touched it, they of course
react with the appropriate amount of indignation.
The soldiers come back from their private chat, announcing
that the situation changed while they were away – now the FBI, Homeland
Security, and EPA are on the scene, in addition to the island being evacuated. Drake demands to talk to M. Butterfly, and is
eventually granted his request. He
confronts her with the information they obtained in the Dreaming, and while she
agrees it is all interesting and merits further investigation, she denies
hiding any sort of bloodline. She has
news for them: the feds have converged
on a building in which she has financial interests. It seems one of her companies, dealing in
pesticides, has found a loophole in EPA requirements that as long as the
building residents agree to their building being sprayed with this untested
chemical, the company is free to test the effects on humans. Apparently the EPA has taken notice.
She provides an address, which Alia recognises as being in
her neighbourhood. M. Butterfly can
arrange for a news helicopter (the only way in or out of the island) to pick
them up, although the soldiers and thugs cannot go with them as the chopper is
only so big. Drake asks for two hours
before the pick up, and M. Butterfly agrees.
He departs, looking for a suit shop.
The rest of the group takes body armour and automatic firearms
each, although Drake declines either – it will mess the lines of his suit, and
if he’s going to sell whatever deception they’ve got going, he needs to look
official. The helicopter arrives and
takes the group plus the tattooed man over the deserted city. They fly near Alia’s building, and focus on
what is surely the object of the feds’ attention – an apartment complex that has
been covered in white tarp, with emergency vehicles and figures in yellow
HAZMAT suits swarming about orange triage tents. They discuss acquiring clean suits of their
own as the helicopter departs to land on a building near the Chrysler.
The building is abandoned and the streets are empty as the
tattooed man leads them through the Chrysler lobby and to a private elevator
that takes them directly up to Yuri-ko’s.
Once in her suite, they can smell spray paint. On the floor are several clean suits, with FBI stenciled on. Madame Butterfly appears, explaining that it
isn’t the best, but with the time she had it is enough for Drake to bluff them
through.
In her safe office, she explains to them that there will
likely be a child in the building, one which may need to be eliminated, and
that they’ll need to make sure they are up to that task. It may also be necessary to confront the Hand
Made Man in the child’s dream. The
tattooed man says it is easier to go in and out of an individual’s dream as
opposed to the Dreaming where they had been, so this shouldn’t be as daunting a
task.
Drake inquires if Yuri-ko has a way of replenishing his Glamour as he’s spent a lot of it
recently. She says yes she has something
he can access, but only as part of an agreement, which he must never divulge,
even to his death, and takes him aside.
Once again, the rest of the group feels that tingle in the air as Drake’s
pact is made, though this one is far more intense – great power is at work
here. Drake returns looking positively
flush with Glamour.
They get in a van and suit up on their way to the
apartments. The group of them strolls in
with purpose, tattoo man included, until Morgan stumbles, drawing
attention. Someone waves at them and
runs over, but Drake is on him in an instant, telling the guy to back down,
that he never saw them here. He comes
off so convincing that the fellow doesn’t even argue, just lets them pass. Drake tells him to keep everyone out until
the group exits the building.
Inside they find that all power has been cut as they stare
down an empty dark hallway. An old
fashioned cage elevator is in the centre, with stairs spiraling around it. Wally looks for purple haze, weak spots
between worlds, but finds that the whole damn building is full of it. Goom hears a sliiiideTHUMP sliiiiiideTHUMP coming from the floor above, and they
ascend the stairs.
At the landing they can all hear it clearly, and Goom
removes his helmet to smell the
air. Though he can’t smell anything at
first, he eventually smells both stale and fresh sweat, dried urine and faeces,
rotting bodies in the apartment with the noise.
There are living people in the other apartments, but they head to the
one with the obvious noise. They arrange
themselves around the door, weapons drawn.
Whatever is inside starts rapidly thumping towards the door, and Goom
kicks it in.
Inside the room is a crib, and a TV with an armchair, with a
corpse reclining in it. The face and
most of the chest have been eaten away. In
the crib is the body of a half eaten child.
The thing coming toward them
has a frog’s head, a human’s upper body, and a large umbilical cord that is
leaking blood and clear fluid. Wally
fires an automatic burst of bullets into it, spraying goo everywhere. It deflates and contracts, turning into a
broken bath toy. Alia pops her claws through
her suit and begins slashing at any other child’s toys in the space, ensuring
that nothing else from this room comes after them.
Alia and Goom, both with open clean suits, both begin
feeling sleepy, surely an effect of whatever Dream substance is in this
building. They manage to seal up their
suits again, and carry on. In checking
the rooms with the living, they find that everyone is asleep, having nodded off
in the midst of their daily activities.
They proceed room to room searching for the child Yuri-ko
mentioned.
That’s when they hear it, out in the hall. Something is coming down the steps from the
floor above. Something big. They take cover in a doorway and aim.
A sick sadistic voice echoes at
them, “Have you come to play?” The cage
around the elevator shaft shakes with every step it takes. One enormous furry leg comes into view, then
another. There is the sound of knives
dragging against the wall. Finally they
see it.
It is another giant teddy bear, easily seven feet tall, though
this one with long curved black claws.
When it finally turns to face them, revealing itself to be truly
gruesome.
The mouth in the torso shrieks, “IT’S TIME TO PLAAAAAYYYY”
