Below the floors of the Offtopic Senate Building, a bird laid in a cell. A dark, damp, disgusting place where only dead things lived. Yet, here he sat, defying expectations of reality. Nighthawk looked toward the wall with pictures of all those he had murdered before. Tiger, Graviton, Toaster, Xombie, and more. While he holds some regret for killing some like Tiger and Gravition, seeing the other pictures only infuriated him more. Ring, ha! He thinks that he got away, that he will continue getting away with this. When he gets out of this damned cell, he will have his revenge. He will wish had died that night so that the violent stink would leave Nighthawks nostrils, take over Offtopic, and quite possibly get a few playboy magazines. Especially the ones with- *BEEP* An elevator door opening towards the end of the hall stirred him from his thoughts. He knew who it would be, coming down to taunt him as he always did. Nighthawk turned his back to the cell door. He heard footsteps, too many for one person. “What now, Ring? Came back down here to mock me again for my failure?” A haggard, angry voice replied back. “Actually, we came down here to beat the shit outta you, Nighthawk.” That voice…it sounded like… Nighthawk spun around to see Traffic cone, Giant Slayer, and Liam_Gue, dirty and battered, staring back at him. The other two looked…nervous? Yes, nervous. But Liam…he had a fire in his eyes. A murderous intent. Vengeance for something. Nighthawk decided to probe for information. “What? Did Ring relent and finally give you the keys to the castle? You gonna beat me up as he did. Why I bet…wait, why are your hands covered in blood?” “You would know since you rigged the turret trap Nighthawk!” Liam yelled. Nighthawk was surprised. Turret? Trap? “To try and kill both me and Ring! You may have partially succeeded but-“ Nighthawk stood up fast. “Hold on, what happened now?” He looked at Cone and Giant. Both of their metallic eyes shifted uncomfortably. “Where is Ring?” He suspiciously asked, although thinking he knew what the answer was. ________________________________________________ Demon, Saber, Dr. Titan and Aku stand in the main hall, all of them staring at the disabled turret which now laid on the floor, yet still menacing. Eagle rolled out from underneath the turret, his suit dirty with soot. “I’ve got good news and I’ve got some bad news.” “Lay it on us Feather man,” Aku stated. Eagle glared at him. “First, don’t call me feather man. Second, the good news is that this is a 44 Sion turret, bought and sold commonly on the Virus Black Market. They heavily rely on computer data to function and paint targets. Usually, it is quite traceable.” “Usually?” Saber asked. “Yeah, this is where the bad news comes in. Someone had scrubbed all computer data on this thing along with whatever physical traces. Whoever it is, they know what they’re doing.” “Damnit…” Titan muttered. “I’ll go tell Liam this is a bust”. He began walking away until he notices his bag. He grabs it and as the others look on, he pulls out brass knuckles. “Just in case,” he shrugs. Titan leaves the room after that. “Hmm. Let me take a look at this, maybe I can connect to the interface and find some more data that didn’t get scrubbed.” Saber responds to Eagle. Eagle stands up and dusts off his suit. “Be my guest Saber.” As Saber kneels down, Demon stands next to him, as if to assist. Aku pulls Eagle to the side for a private conversation. “Hey, Eagle. I got two questions.” Eagle looks at him. “Alright, shoot.” “First off, who the -blam!- is this Demon guy? I’ve been around Offtopic for a long time, and I’ve never even seen or heard of this guy! He looks like Satan if Satan went on a diet after being called a fat obese shithead by God!” Aku hissed under his breath. Eagle turned to look at Demon, who was handing Saber a wrench, then back at Aku. “I’m not sure. Supposedly he was a good friend of Speaker and Ironninja before they got killed, I think? I haven’t really paid much attention to him.” “Well, we better. Just the way he looks, speaks (or lack thereof speech), and even acts like he’s got something to hide. I don’t trust him so we need to-“ “EUREKA! I got it!” Exclaimed Saber, forcing Demon to back up a few paces in surprise. Both Eagle and Aku looked back toward Saber sliding back out from underneath the turret. “I got a partial data byte referring to a signal coming from somewhere inside the main building.” Saber explained. “Whatever it is, it’s connected to a few traps, but I got no clue where they are.” “That’s great Saber!” Aku praised. He looked back at Eagle. “I’ll ask the second question later.” Together, the four of them headed toward the main stage entrance, leading to a stairwell going down. “The signal is coming from this way.” Saber remarks. “Well, at least we’re not like that fat shit that died last time.” “You know he died on a treadmill, not stairs right?” Eagle dryly remarks. “Yeah yeah, let’s just get this over and done with.” ______________________________ SilencerSix, Charles the Deputy, and Davy Timns moved quietly through the halls, checking the corners, looking behind them. They pushed into a break room, everything still put away and untouched since the last occupants earlier today. “Clear?” Six called. “Clear!” Charles called. Timns was a little slow on the draw. “Automatic Dishwase-Uhhhhh….I think clear! Yep, clear!” Six pushed the door closed and moved a desk toward it. “Alright, settle in! If this murdering -blam!- wants to get us, he’ll have to get through this barricade. Charles, grab that chair!” He called. “You got it!” Charles began pushing a Lazy-Boy chair toward the door. “Okay, wait hold on,” Timns asked. Six looked at him. “What what is it?” Davy Timns looked around the room, then back at Six. “There were four of us originally. Where the hell did Tilman disappear to? You think he-” All three looked back toward the door, as Tilman's voice called out, “I was using the bathroom! YOU MOTHER -blam!-ERS LOCKED ME OUT!” Six looked at Davy Timns with exasperation. “There he is.”