A Dirge for Derrick Cork: The Warren

[Mia Cobol]

"I can teleport myself in there and bring in a couple. If there's time I can bring in everyone." Another tremor shook the ground, making Mia stumble. "But I can't do that and work on a shielding barrier to hold off any falling rock."

[Cassandra Finch]

"The shields are more important. Focus on that." Cass glanced at Sam. "I'll go. Better chance if there's something on the other side."

Without waiting for argument or confirmation, Cass climbed through.

[Twitchcraft]

The opening was a tight squeeze, even for Cass.

After no small amount of twisting, turning, and wiggling, she worked herself through. Dropping to the floor again was easier. You couldn't call what she entered a room -- it was more a modest depression in one of the cavern walls. It appeared stable, though. For the moment.

The pile of scrap and electronics was wide and deep. As she moved toward it, Cass saw it shift, even without the motion generated by a tremor. A closer look revealed the reason -- a Troll. One who'd very possibly been buried in the junk during the initial shockwave. The creature was semi-conscious but reviving fast.

Cass circled around it as quietly as possible. The battered camcorder was almost in reach -- and then the Troll groaned and rolled onto its side. The camcorder tumbled downward, rolling into the crook of the creature's arm.

Muttering under her breath, Cass crept forward, sidestepping all the objects that might make sounds to give her away. She leaned down -- slowly, slowly, inch by inch -- and lifted the camcorder away.

The Troll grunted once, but didn't move again as Cass slithered back into the narrow opening.

[Cassandra Finch]

Cass extricated herself from the opening again and held up the camcorder.

"Got it." She frowned at the rock walls, all her carefully memorized turns useless now. "Any idea how to get out?"

[Lauren Lombardi]

Lauren waited impatiently for Cassie to return. Every moment she was gone left her alone and without any form of backup. Lauren couldn’t repress a sigh of relief when Cassie squirmed back through the opening.

“Can you get the tape or memory card out? Just in case we have to ditch the camera or toss it as a distraction.”

Lauren stared down the tunnel behind them. “As for getting out, I guess we’ll just have to play like rats in a maze?”

[Eternal-Equinox]

As the others watched Cassie exit the hole Sam looked around the tunnels watching for any Troll ambushes. There were a few tunnels leading out from where they were but which one would get them out of here and quickly.

They had the camara in hand and as the others tried to get the the tape or memory card out Sam started checking down each of the tunnels, one of them had to lead out of here.

As she looked around she caught a whiff of something rank, Trolls smelt bad but not -this- bad. It smelt like the sewer? They had gone down a ways but had they gone far enough to get clost to the Baumton sewer tunnels? Sam searched around the walls and found a tight gap.

"Guys, y'all gotta come see this. Do you think this'll get us outta here? Smells like a sewer tunnel or somethin' in there."

[Wyatt Wyborn]

While Cassie retrieved the camera, Wyatt kept one hand on the tunnel wall. He could feel tremors rumbling through them. For all he knew, Mia's barrier was all that was keeping the whole thing from caving in. Whatever they did, they needed to do it soon.

[Lauren Lombardi]

“The sewers are better than this place right now. Let’s go!”

[Twitchcraft]

The gap in the stone wall led, just as Sam had guessed, into the Baumton sewers. The stench was nearly overpowering, but the tunnels there seemed in far better shape than those of the warren.

That was borne out by the low, distant rumble as the Westbrook group scrambled for the makeshift exit. Wyatt was the last out, waving people through, unable to do anything more than watch as the warren collapsed in on itself.

Finally he charged into the gap, his strength and momentum widening it just enough to allow him passage. He toppled into the sewer tunnel, bringing with him a thick cloud of dust and smoke.

They were in motion again after that. No way to tell whether the warren's destruction would cause any sort of chain reaction. Nothing to do but run.

The first exit door they found was sealed, the second blocked by debris. But the third brought the group to a steep set of concrete stairs.

Even the acrid smoke-filled air of Boomtown seemed fresh and sweet as they reached the scarred surface landscape. In the distance, smoke and flames from the crater. The warren was gone.

[Twitchcraft]

(The camcorder does, against all odds, still work. In fact, after emerging onto the surface, you have time to make a hurried check of the contents of its memory.)

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A cavern of some sort. The warren. A troll leans into frame. It becomes obvious he's holding the camcorder, pointing it at himself. He taps the lens with one thick finger.

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Motion. Tumbling. Images roll past. Finally, the picture stabilizes. Still the warren. Bits of debris and metal take up most of the frame. Trolls in the background. They carry various objects closer, toss them in the direction of the camera.

Ah, this must be the junkpile. The camcorder records nearly half an hour of footage until it's jostled again, cutting off the power.

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One of the Freakshow -- a Chopper with a purple mohawk -- leans into frame and picks up the camcorder. He shakes it, raps on the casing, scratches his chin.

An out-of-frame Troll begins to haggle over the price. The Chopper bickers with him. Finally, the Chopper shakes his head and tosses the camcorder back on the scrap heap.

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Wait, this is different. Outdoors, for one thing. Night. Definitely Boomtown, though. The camcorder is trained on a fallen skyscraper, one that's still burning.

Then it's swept around to reveal a trio of figures wearing scarlet hoods and flowing capes. Two guys, one girl. All teenagers.

GIRL BEHIND CAMERA:
Hey, Al? Join cheer squad.

GIRL IN FRAME:
Change the record, Jenna.

GIRL BEHIND CAMERA (JENNA)(snickers):
Can't blame a girl for trying. Okay, so it's Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
and we are in the Baumton district. Woohoo, right? Anyhow this is
Challenge #12 for Caerus. In moments, he'll enter the building you see
and attempt to retrieve the object hidden there. But we've seen to it
that it's not going to be a cakewalk. Right, Heph?

FIRST GUY (HEPH):
Well, that's right, Pandara. Let me tell the audience at home what
we've got in store for Caerus. We've got smoke, we've got fire, we've
got smoke and fire. It'll be coming at him from all sides, too; triggered
by the motion sensors yours truly rigged the smoke bombs and incendaries
with. It should be more than enough to keep him on his toes.

GIRL IN FRAME:
I hope it kicks his ass.

JENNA:
Fearless leader has spoken.

GIRL IN FRAME:
Come on, seriously. Is this asshole the one you all want leading the group?
He'll run it into the ground!

HEPH:
I wouldn't worry. He's pretty ragged, Alyssa. We've put him through the
ringer and then some. I calculate the odds of his being able to pull this one off as --

GIRL IN FRAME (ALYSSA):
I don't give a shit about the odds! This better work!

SECOND GUY:
He's in.

The trio turns its attention to the building.

ALYSSA:
Asteria, use your vision mojo. Loop us in.

SECOND GUY (ASTERIA):
He's on the move. Slipped past a sentry. Outcasts don't even know
he's there. He's actually pretty good -- uh, sorry. He's still moving.
He's two floors up now.

ALYSSA:
Come on, come on...

ASTERIA:
Okay, he's headed to the room.

HEPH:
Showtime.

ASTERIA:
He's in. Cautious, though.

HEPH:
Won't matter. He still has to move. And when he does...

ASTERIA:
Here he goes.

Something flares in the frame. A burst of fire and smoke. Jenna nearly bobbles the camera.

JENNA:
SHIT!

ASTERIA:
Jesus! What the hell was that? Alyssa? What the hell was that?
Nobody said anything about an explosion!

ALYSSA:
Heph! What the fuck did you do? What the fuck, man?

HEPH:
I -- I -- I don't know. I don't know! There -- that shouldn't have
happened! I mean, I stoked the mixture and all -- but that shouldn't
have happened!

ALYSSA:
Where is he! Asteria! WHERE IS HE?!

ASTERIA:
I don't -- I can't see -- no! There! He made it! He made -- oh shit.

Asteria points, and Jenna tries to follow that. The camera swings wildly until it halts on a tiny figure in the night sky. A figure that would be invisible... if it were not aflame. The figure tumbles downward... downward... downward...

ASTERIA (can no longer look):
Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!

HEPH:
Oh man, did you see that?

ALYSSA:
Of course I fucking saw it!

HEPH:
No, no, no. That! Dude moved. He's still alive!

ASTERIA:
We gotta call somebody! We gotta call somebody right
the fuck now!

He goes for his phone, but Jenna reaches into frame to swat it away. The camcorder dips, but you can still tell who's who.

JENNA:
The hell we do! That right there -- that is fucking manslaughter,
dude! Maybe murder! And I am not doing time! I'm sure as hell not
doing time for Derrick fucking Cork!

ASTERIA:
Alyssa, tell her. Tell her that --

ALYSSA:
No.

Heph and Asteria stare at her.

ALYSSA:
She's right, Jimmy. This was an accident. You know it. We all
know it. But nobody'll ever see it that way. There's too much at
stake -- for us, for the group. Let's just -- let's just get the fuck
out of here. Move!

The camera whips wildly again, passing across the fallen form of Derrick Cork one final time before it goes dark.

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