---

The morning sun rose over the largest city in the western hemisphere, the noise of the beginning workday filled the sky. Silence was difficult to find, but other than the burbling of the water beneath, the pedestal island of the Statue of Liberty was quiet as the top of a Himalayan mountain at midnight.

Of course that was because every moving organism had been killed except for one man, who stood in the crown of Lady Liberty, overlooking the city with a wicked smile. He yawned and pulled out a cellphone, dialing a number with silent glee. He held it up to his ear and blew out cigarette smoke.

"I'm here, she has a pretty skyline," he said into the phone with a slight giggle.

"Good, I trust you have a plan?" a gravelly voice replied, audibly shifting in a creaky chair.

"Fuckin' duh! I've got a plan, I just need tunes... what's a good song to destroy New York to?" He gestured at the city as if he were talking to someone in the room with him, spinning and sending a white scarf spiraling and glowing in the sunlight.

"Well that depends, if you want irony, you could do New York New York, but I'm a fan of the classics, End of the World as we Know it comes to mind."

"I was around for the nineties, so irony is in my blood... but I think you're right, sometimes a cliche is a cliche because it's good... you know what, fuck that! Irony but in another way! In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel!"

"This bodes poorly..."

The man atop the statue pulled out a speaker, and after a few taps on his phone, had everything all set up for the perfect soundtrack to destroy a city to.

"Alright New York..." he said, turning on a bluetooth speaker and setting it beside him. "Let's get romantic on this bitch!"

As the soft sounds of eighties synth blared to life, the man's shadow blanketed the statue below him, crossing the water towards New York at great speeds, it blanketed the whole city within moments, then faded away once more.

As policemen discussed tickets with speeders, as workers laid on their desks wanting death to take them, nobody except for a few lucky souls noticed their own shadows slowly growing from the ground beneath them. They presented at full height behind their owners, now fully proportioned humans, and they wordlessly moved towards them. Hundreds of people found themselves suddenly stabbed through the hearts by their own shadows.

As their corpses fell to the ground, their shadows moved to aid those of others, spearing the hearts of some, smashing the heads of others, just violently killing everyone within reach. A few pulled guns and shot their shadows, only to inflict wounds upon themselves. Lucky few who had been in shadowy areas could only watch in horror, waiting in the dark, realizing that if they entered the sun they'd share the same fate.

The instigator of this massacre performed a slow dance with his own shadow in Lady Liberty's crown, jumping around the bronze in childlike glee. His handlers would be pleased if everything went off without a hitch, a statement, a truly awe-inspiring statement of intent. Exactly what the Cynics desired. If all went well, a powerful opponent would rise up to try to save the day, and be struck down, then he would leave. If the heroes came to them, it would be a lot easier to take them down one at a time, then destroy the world easily! A foolproof plan that nothing could ruin! It totally wasn't stupid!

Well, the shadows' master was too busy having a boatload of fun to think on the efficacy of their planning, it wasn't his job, and he preferred to use his brain to focus on more important things, like looking through the eyes of innocents' shadows to watch them in action, laughing all the way.

God it felt good to be a gangster.

---

---

---

---

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Within the seedy, secluded underbelly of New York, two unfortunate souls fall dead to the floor like a sack of flour as panicked screams erupted from within a crowded building. The third shot would puncture through a window, allowing one of the survivors to leap through the window in an utter panic. The man in question - a seedy-looking gang member in blue - stumbled as his foot got stuck on the window frame, causing him to trip and fall onto the grimy alleyway belly first into a dirty puddle. His shirt and jeans would be covered in wet bacteria-infested shit water, but this was only the least of his issues. Quickly getting onto his feet, he makes a mad-dash down the dark alley as he ran like hell.

He knew what was coming.

As he looked back, he saw a shadowy figure leap into the air and disappear into the volley of hanged clothing. His heart continued to beat faster in terror as he proceeded to run faster - to run as fast as he could. Faint clacking could be heard from above, as if a person in heels was running parallel with the apartment walls, slowly getting louder and louder no matter how fast he went. Gun shots rang out close behind, nearly missing him by inches as he looked for a clean way out.

Turning a corner into another alley way, the man dashed into the darkness and planted his back towards the wall in hopes to hide from her. However, he instead found himself falling backwards as a loose door opened behind him. He rushed to quickly slam the door shut and lock it accordingly. It was not the most noble of escape plans, let alone elegant, but he could hear the clattering of footsteps slowly seeming to go farther and farther away into the distance.

Did he loose her?

Did he actually loose her by sheer luck alone?

It seemed too good to be true. He paused motionlessly before backing his shaking body towards the shadowy wall. He couldn't quite tell where he was, being that it was nearly pitch black, with only a hint of light coming from a tiny window. It felt oddly humid and damp, almost as if he was suffocating in his own sweat. Every little sound he heard was magnified by his paranoia - every creak, every crack, thump, and any other insignificant noise kept him on edge. The clacking of heels may seem to be gone, but that doesn't guarantee that he's out of hell just yet. He has heard horror stories from word on the street and even regarding a few special figures of his gang about this woman.

She could be anywhere now.

She could be far away... she could be nearby outside... she could even be right behind~

*Clock*

"Boo."

---

---

The gang member was thrusted out the door as he skid across the gravel pavement. As he came to a stop, he panically proceeded to crawl to the edge of the perimeter, still blinded by the sudden change of lighting. Yet as he reached over the smooth ledge, he found no ground to press his hand on. He'd soon realize where he was... on the very roof of the building he entered. The man looked back at the approaching shadow that covered his body - greeted in a feminine figure in bright crimson holding two twin flintlock pistols.

The Scarlet Butcher - Marie Lockhart - was upon him.

"Ya got nowhere to run this time, bud." the bounty huntress remarked in a cold expression as she glared towards her victim.

The man stared back at Marie bug-eyed for a few short moments before attempting to dart past her left and brace for the stairway ahead. However, his plan was cut terribly short as he was met with a red boot crashing into his skull. He fell back onto the gravelly pavement and issued a painful groan as blood ran down his nose. Marie squatted down and grabbed the man by his hair, raising his head up until it met her's.

"Man yer one quick lil' fucker aint ya." the huntress sneered, "Quit actin' like a lil' bitch, it won't save ya."

The gang member's face trembled as he finally began to speak.

"W-What do you want from me?" he asked weakly as a cough escaped his throat, "W-What could I possibly h-have that you want...?"

Marie lightly chuckled at the man's fleeting statement.

"Someone paid me gooooood money to come and find ya," she replied with a mischievous tone, "Well, I suppose I didn' need ya in particular. You just happen'd to be here at the right time. Heard yer gang was hidin' some stolen funds from my client. He wants em back."

Her victim seemed initially confused by her reply.

"F-Funds...?" he asked nonchalantly, before being pistol whipped by one of Marie's guns.

"Don't start playin' foul on me, pal." she interjected violently, "Yer be only wastin' your time and mine. The Caliban Mafia wants their money back and yer gang's way overdue. Tell me where they're hidden and I'll spare yer life, otherwise I'll be poppin' one straight into yer skull. Capiche?"

The bleeding member coughed again as he struggled to let out a wheeze of pent up air to clear his throat.

"You... you won't let me go..." he blurted out before having another coughing fit, "I know you enough to *cough* to know that... you won't let me live the tale. So why does it matter whether I... tell you or not. I-I'm a dead man either way!"

A sly glance emerged from the bounty hunter's eyes, with a light smirk curling across her lips.

"Wanna bet?" she playfully asked.

The man paused for a moment, contemplating on whether this was worth it in the end. But just as he was about to reply, they two could heard hundreds of faint voices crying out in terror from below. Marie shifted his glance towards the edge of the building as she slowly raised to inspect the odd noises. Her victim would begin to stand up, until a cocked pistol was pointed in his direction.

"Move and I'll kill ya." she bluntly barked, forcing the gang member to slowly kneel onto the ground.

He wouldn't move from his spot, not even to see what his captor was about to witness. And when Marie looked down from atop the 12th floor of the high-rise, her face warped into a confliction of confusion and dissatisfaction. Out of all the crazy batshit things she had seen in the Big Apple, nothing seemed more ruthless than the onslaught of hundreds of shadowy masses violently emerging from their host bodies and murdering them in cold blood.

"What the hell?" Marie muttered to herself as she scoured the carnage taking place.

She couldn't help but to feel a sharp pang of dread vibrate through her body, yet all of this didn't seem to make sense. Just minutes ago she was hunting down her captive and now, out of nowhere, she was witnessing a mass genocide with shadow-people murdering everything in their sight.

In fact, she was so ingrained on the entire situation that she almost forgot about her captive... and her senses immediately detected something off. Without hesitation, Marie turned to load two shots straight into her victim's head. However, instead of the victim's body... the bounty hunter saw an oozing black, shadowy humanoid mass with its hands over her head - as if it was about to catch her. However, it was too slow to dodge the lead that entered its body. The creature released a deep, booming, groan before falling onto his back and having his dark essence dissipate into thin air. She glanced back at the body of her real victim, only to see a gaping stab wound oozing directly from his chest cavity.

"Ugh." the huntress groaned frustratingly while lowering her pistols, "So much for gettin' paid."

She leaves the butchered corpse behind as she readies herself for combat.

"Time for ya'll to start chuggin' my bullets..." she breathes under her breath as she lock and loads her flintlock pistols.

She makes a running head start before leaping off the edge. Suddenly her heeled boots would ignite as she found herself descending towards the shadow army. And before she would land, she proceeds to unload on the enemy. The battle has only just begun... and it's gonna get messy.

---

"It is such a nice day out today." Nathan said to himself, his back against a tree.

Yeah... Nice...

"C'mon you gotta take a break from violence every now and then."

I mean you're probably right, but there have to be more exciting things to do than just laying about in some park.

"Hey now this is Central Park, not many parks are big enough to have a bloody zoo in em. Also, you can entertain yourself. Now shush."

...

Nathan smirked and closed his eyes, absorbing the peaceful atmosphere. Though he didn't get to rest for long as he heard some screams in the distance. Groaning he leaned up and was a little shocked by what he saw. The green grass stained red with blood, and shadows standing over the corpses of the recently slain.

"What the fuck." Nathan said as he shot to his feet, there was some serious voodoo nonsense going on here. Letting out a sigh Nathan rolled his shoulders and got ready for a fight. Looked like Anny was going to get some violence in the end anyway. "Alright you pricks, come and get some!" Nathan had already garnered the attention of a pack of shadows, he sighed as his hands transformed, his fingernails extending out and sharpening into vicious claws.

Stepping out from under the tree Nathan jutted a hand forward and instantly perforated one of the charging shadows through the chest, it's body evaporated shortly after. "Huh not the toughest things are ya?" Nathan shrugged and cleaved the head off of another shadow. "That just makes my job easier." Nathan continued to cut down shadows, their frailty making it rather easy to dispatch them. Honestly, it might've been therapeutic if it weren't for the hundreds of dead bodies lying around. "Yo Anny you know anyone who's capable of doing something like this?" Not off the top of my head no. Give me a bit, I'll give some of the guys a ring. See if any of them managed to get their asses summoned and are throwing a party.

Babble
Meanwhile, in New York City...

---

Even in her dreams she could hear it all. Every footstep, every engine, every voice, every heartbeat, even the beating of a fly's wings. It's wings were like the engine of a massive jet, a deafening roar of membranes upon air as it lazily drifted over her nose. All the same it was impressive that she could make out the very sound it made out of all the mingling noises that was New York's bustling city life. It was like hearing a quarter drop a block away in the middle of a hurricane. This was all audible to Babble through her dampening field which cut the effective volume of the sounds approaching her down to just 0.0000000000000000001% of it's original potency.

She awoke after so much sleep, blearily unwinding in a dark cement corner behind a truck inside some sort of warehouse looking arrangement. Sitting up she came to the realization that she was certainly not where she last went to sleep, that much was certain. Instead of the destitute warehouse she called home back in Hope City she was in what appeared to be some sort of rusty worn down... garage?

Standing up from the floor she stretched and yawned in complete silence. Well, complete silence for anyone that wasn't her. Coming out of her sleep everything was already several shades confused. Distantly she could hear the public panic as things attacked them. She really couldn't identify what these things were since nothing was really familiar to what these were. They actually reminded her of marshmallows or crustless white bread. They were sorta soft like people but didn't have all that gross stuff in them. Just through and through solid something, a something she couldn't really identify.

_
The air was quite still here. What little sound must of been around here had died out before she had awakened since she could hear no other voices in her general vicinity aside from the sound of her own breathing. Dust particles danced playfully in the sun's rays which poured the open garage door. Just looking at the light from the dark space she had just awoken in hurt her eyes but for her it was just another discomfort to weather through. In bare feet she staggered forth, navigating with ease around the scattered debris and tools all the same despite her early awakening sluggishness.

Though the sun stung her large tired eyes she peered out at the world around her. For her the world looked much different than it would for those with less complex perception. Sound wasn't just noise for her, it was a physical medium in it's own right. Visually all was the same as anyone else could see in her mind she could 'Feel', in a sense, the world through the sounds around her. Put in simplistic terms it was like a blind man's cane combined with a bat's echolocation but with a universally distributed point of reference instead of a single central sensory receiver. She practically had a 3D map of New York right in her head. Like any map though it was only as useful as the user interpreting it.

As such her eyes were more a tertiary means of seeing the world around her anyway, not that it helped keep the sunlight from stinging her eyes for the time being. Looking around she could clearly see this was a warehouse in front of the bay. Looking past the rusty iron fence she saw a sign. Erie Basin Auto Pound It read. That explained why there were vehicles stashed inside.

_
Without needing to look she could already detect a few of these weird human-looking guys gathered around one of the several dead bodies scattered across the property. Well, several is a relative term given that the population of this immediate vicinity consisted of a couple attendants as well as a few of the stray pedestrians caught in the street beyond. This dreary little dead end of a dock was far from a bustling hub of activity like downtown was.

Not that the general distribution of New York's population was of any matter to Babble. She could only wonder how she went from a warehouse a hefty few kilometers away in a different city all the way to this bay side little hole in the wall. Conditions weren't too far off from her old haunt but this place didn't scream home to her. It didn't scream at all actually, she'd hear that if it did.

Now there remained a question: What do I do now? she wondered in her silent little internal dialogue of hers. She could try going home but that was pretty far away. It'd take a while and all these dying people, gun violence and weird not-people might get in the way. Everywhere she could here there were awful things abound. Radios, engines, crude machinery all making terrible amounts of noise. It was heart breaking really.

Not too far off though there was one thing that did stick out to her. There was an island where it was unexpectedly quiet. There was nary a voice nor engine with one exception. Somebody was blaring music out of speakers! How rotten of them to spoil a patch of nice silence so thoughtlessly.

Of course it was a simple fix. All she needed to do was find some way to cross the water and then it'd be a simple as breaking the electronic nuisance. Of course the natural answer would be to take a boat. Luckily for her there were several shipping barges a mild traipse away! Of course she didn't know how to pilot one but she figured she could just push it on over to where she needed it to go using sonic pressure. Making her way over to one of these barges she looked up at the oversized hunk of metal.

_
Welp, there it is! Now how do I get onto it? She wondered. It was really quite large and there was no planks down for her to walk aboard on, just a ladder and unfortunately for her it was still raised and sat upon the ship. That left the docking restraints, large cables keeping the barge tethered to the dock. While it was fortunate that they led up onto the deck it was still a fairly tricky climb. Babble was no stranger to danger but falling off this thing looked like it would hurt if she didn't hit the water. If she did hit the water she hadn't brought any floaties. Talk about a lame way to die, drowning from lack of pool accessories... Also not knowing how to swim.

Swallowing her fears she approached the thick line, determination and perhaps a little reckless overconfidence in her own capabilities gleaming in her eyes as she wrapped her arms and legs around the big cable. Of course her feet did most of the work hoisting her along the line since she didn't exactly have a grip seeing as her grip was probably still laying in a pool of her own blood back at the asylum. It meant she was essentially clinging for dear life while slowly inch-worming her way up the line. This little misadventure came to a head when the lip of the deck drew near. Having stayed atop of the line for this climb had given her a definite advantage but it was one that could be of been squandered at any moment should her weight shift even slightly askew atop this line that was clearly not meant for climbing on.

Moving her chin up atop the deck she very carefully let go with her arms, her legs fastened tighter than before around the large metal tether, and wrapped the handless limbs around the bolt which fastened this cord to the deck.

Alright, it's time to make it or break it. In this case 'It' being either the deck or all the bones. She assured herself, teeth grit as she steeled herself for the finale. In a decently impressive feat of agility and flexibility she kicked off the cable and bent her legs all the way back until her feet were set right next to her head on the flat surface of the deck. From there it was a simple shift as she unrolled herself forward, taking her head out from between her big toes and uncoiling herself until she was back to laying flat on her face like a normal person with a normal spine, neither of which she was or had. Depends on whether or not you consider the spines of gymnasts and yoga practitioners normal I guess.

_
Taking a short breather she swiftly was back to her feet, already jaunting her way up to the bow of the ship. While making it up on top of this ship alone was an impressive endeavor for a frail fourteen year old like her the real magic was going to be getting this thing moving. The tethers she had used to climb aboard were also responsible for keeping the ship from floating away after all and then there was the fact that the thing was massive, weighed several hundred tons and she had nary a clue as to the controls for it. As it turned out for her none of that really mattered either.

Transmitting her sound through the metal of the ship she focused on the bolts holding the cables to the ship. Like ripples in a pond made alive the waves centered around these metal constructs of man, their vibrations honing in on the crystalline structure comprising the metal itself. As she focused her mind listened for the tune, the musical hum that indicated a harmonic resonance. At the very moment the pitches aligned with a mild push of her powers the metal fractured along it's crystalline lattice. As Babble was in control of the sound's alignment so to was she in control of the direction of the fracture. She created a perfectly smooth circular cut through metal so thick even an industrial welding torch would struggle to cut through it.

At the very moment the cut was made the cable whipped loose with tremendous force. The nearby cars over in the parking lot were sheared in twine by the force of the cable, the pieces scattered from the dock by the force of the whipping cord's blow. Babble did this again for the remaining cables and with a weighty sway the ship was shorn free of the dock. The massive tub of a structure rocked in the water and Babble quickly realized something of note.

Oh yeah, I got to not fall off too.

An important step to overlook she found as she quickly found herself sliding into one of the sides of the boat. With a muted thud she collided with a metal railing, a small barrier between her and a long fall into the waters below. As the ship swayed once more she found herself sliding back in the other direction. Instead of passively falling however she decided to act. Using her power over sound she generated a small shock wave through the air, using the air's displacement as a buffer to lighten her impact against a metal wall down in one of the depressions in the ship. The impact still hurt but not quite as bad as if she had just fell. She was still sore from the first landing.

_
After the initial rocking from the sudden departure of the massive tub of a boat that was now her barge steadied due to it's sheer weight opposing the sway of the water. Having learned her lesson she retreated into it's interior where she'd be far less likely to get launched into the depths. Within she could feel the sound of it's motion, the crashing of waves and straining of metal coursing through it's being. Though she could not see outside in the room she shut herself within she was able to lock onto the song projected from the statue of liberty. Her destination, her target. She would end the music and make the island her sanctuary. A short-sighted goal perhaps but she was never much for dwelling on the long term. Why despair over the future when the present looks so bright?

Reaching out through the metal of the boat she directed her sound into the liquid medium it floated within. Like the ripples of the pond her sound rippled through the bay. While the barge was initially unswayed by the force of the sound below what started as ripples grew into waves. Manipulating the flow of the water surrounding this vessel she created her own current, the massive barge slowly lurching forth like a lotus drifting across a pond.

In due time she would reach the island. What she sought was peace but what she'd find was revelation.

@Pyxis

"This is baaaaaad~! Master Morgan~! Wake up~! Big news~!" Cadbury hovered into Morgan's room on their flying cupcake wrapper, waking up the young necromancer. "I was calling my good friend, Belphegor, on the great white telephone, when he told me that something ~BIG~ was going down in New York City. Not sure if it's demons or not, but The Game is afoot~!"

Cadbury reached out a stubby chocolate paw and smacked Morgan's grimoire, causing the book to glow, hover, and flip open, the pages flapping ominously. Having been to Madison Square Garden in the past, Cadbury could take themself and Morgan straight from Paris, where they currently were, to New York in the blink of an eye. "Let's go~! There's no time to lose~!"

---

INTERRACTIONS: CADBURY - @Stern Algorithm

---

Morgan was fast asleep just minutes prior to Cadbury's burst into his room. The day before had been a pretty important one for the young man. London's Fashion week was just weeks away, and Morgan had yet to find suitable outfits for every day of the week. He had been invited to attend by Herny Holland and his husband and oh my gosh, was Morgan exited to finally be recognized by someone from the fashion industry and by someone who's fashion he liked, which was why he was still asleep at almost eleven in the morning. The day before he had spent all of his night trying to plan outfits and eating candy, which in result kept him up till five in the morning. It wouldn't have been a problem for Morgan if it hadn't been for Cadbury.

And so Morgan found himself in the middle of Madison Square Garden in his pink bunny pajamas. Luckily his Alexander Wang Attice Soft Mini Fanny Pack was strapped across his chest and the old leather-bound grimoire on his hand. Morgan stood there for a second or two trying to adjust to the sudden brightness of the world around him. He remembered falling asleep around five in the morning at home, so the concept of time seemed so alien to Morgan right now. It had been morning then, and now it was morning all over again?

"Cadbury?" Morgan yawned and continued to look around, still trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. "Where the fuck are we?" There was no time for his cute companion to answer Morgan, though. Screams erupted around them, and people ran frantically. Morgan's eyes snapped open to the sudden sense of death all around. He could feel the gooey and slimy feeling of souls just being ripped away from their bodies left and right. He could hear people's screams cut short just as their lives ended by the hands of what seemed to be their own shadows.

"Fuuuuuuuuu... ck." Morgan took one quick look at Cadbury before opening the spell book on his hands as quickly as he could. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What the hell is this?! Why didn't you warn me? You could have at least let me change out my pajamas!" Morgan continued to complain as he flipped through the pages of his book. First, he needed to know what the hell was happening and why. And how. Though the why was something Morgan would rather find out now than later, the how would be left for later.

Morgan closed his eyes momentarily and began casting Omen Reading, within seconds, he saw the first few seconds of what had transpired. The whole thing started close to Liberty Island, where the source of this madness was most likely still. It didn't matter right now, though, as Morgan noticed, shadows approaching him and Cadbury with speed.

Morgan tugged Cadbury's teal cupcake wrapper and motioned the little bunny to follow him as he took off running. Gosh, how he hated running. Even more so without shoes! How he wished Cadbury had woken him up. As soon as this whole thing was over, he was going to give than chocolate bunny a piece of his ear: Cadbury and their stupid game.

Oh, Morgan could kill for some breakfast right now. Anything.

Oh, right.

Morgan came to a halt to dish out a jolly rancher from his fanny pack and popped it into his mouth. The sudden sweetness almost made him forget about the dying people around him. Right. Cadbury had brought him here to start their little game of theirs and win. He also almost forgot about the shadows chasing them. Morgan turned just in time to extend his hand and summon a barrier of undead to protect him and Cadbury from the incoming attacks of the shadow things.

People? Demons? There was so much death around him that he couldn't tell if these shadows were undead or ghost or demons. Or anything. The sense of death was just so overwhelming and almost disgusting. Almost.

"We need to find someone, anyone still alive." Morgan put both hands up as more shadows began to surround them. The wall of undead would only hold for a limited time, and Morgan was not ready to fight so many in one go. His only option was to summon a wave of his minions to wipe out the surrounding area. Morgan needed time and help. So with the wall still around them, Morgan pushed forward down one of the bloodied and body covered paths of Central Park. Morgan was used to death. The smell and color of blood was not something he was unfamiliar to him, but he had never seen death to this scale. It made his stomach turn despite the jelly rancher in his mouth.

"I wish I was back in Paris in my big bed with all of my stuffed animals getting ready for fashion week. Dummy Cadbury, couldn't your game wait a few more weeks?" Morgan whined just before of the shadows forced itself through the protective wall of the undead. The shadow, covered in blood, wasted no time and pushed its black hand into Morgan's shoulder. The young man only managed to dodge in time for the attack to brush his shoulder and into the pajamas and his skin.

Morgan gasped loudly and looked between the torn fabric and the already attacking shadow. "No! My silk pajamas! These were five hundred dollars you cock!" His hand glowed a bright shade of pink before a knife of crystalized blood appeared; it almost looked like it was made out of ruby, on his hand and cut down the shadow. "I am so mad. No breakfast. No clothes. No fashions week." He wanted to get enough cute and fashionable outfits before this game of Cadbury's even started. Now he was going to be forced to fight on his jammies — not the greatest first impression.

---

Ah New York, or Old New Amsterdam, was worthy of its nickname ‘The City That Never Sleeps’ (not to be confused with the Empire On Which the Sun Never Sets). You would be hard pressed to find a time the city wasn’t jumping. Night or day there was an abundance of people out and about and a lot of activities to be done. It was the Big Apple since everyone wanted to move on up and get a piece of that pie. It was a city full of lovers and dreamers, movers and shakers, and people from all walks of life. It was a jungle out there in the sheer amount of people and infrastructure present. The Four Boroughs, Coney Island, Broadway, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Yankees Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Scenic Views of New Jersey were just some of the many bites of entertainment that could be enjoyed in this city. It was no wonder then why there were so many tourists who frequented this locale.

Among those visiting the city was the Maulusk. He was sitting in a distinctive yellow cab in the front passenger seat, the back and trunk were filled with a variety of duffle bags and rolling suitcases, littered with tags from previous destinations. He was currently dressed in a light blue cardigan, brown trouser pants with matching loafer shoes, with a white button down and a tie with ‘I ♥ NY’ gaudily plastered onto it. Much to the chagrin of his cabbie, a burly man with a buzz cut in a black harrington jacket with a sweaty wife beater underneath, Maulusk presently had one of his tentacles holding a camera and was taking pictures of the scenery. The loud clicking and flashes of the camera drowned out the radio, which had long been turned off, but at least with the window open the cabbie could smoke the cigar clenched between his teeth. And despite the fact this tourist was one of those kind of tourists, the cabbie appreciated the bowl of caramel candies.

Crunching one of the caramels the cabbie cocked his head towards Maulusk as he continued driving forward. “So-“ he began his accent thick and strong, “-What brings you to city?”

Maulusk’s brow raised up as he used a tentacle to gesture around in an unspecified manner. The cabbie rapped his fingers against the steering wheel as a shadowy figure lunged in front of the taxi. The amorphous humanoid blob stood in front of the taxi as the driver blared the horn. “MOVE IT! I HAVE FARE!”

Twitching from this display the humanoid shadow-man shambled towards the taxi, as Maulusk stuck his head through the window and took a picture. Like a deer in head lights the creature froze as there was a gurgling sound from the Maulusk’s maw. Flinging out of his mouth was a jet of ink which shot through the neck resulting in the figure collapsing upon itself and leaving a dark puddle on the city streets. The cabbie smirked as he let out a fresh puff.

“Is good shot. I hate jaywalkers.” He reached over to grab another hard caramel and began chewing it. Meanwhile the Maulusk took the physical photo from the camera and began to frantically wave it around. Eventually it settled and the photo of the shadow creature formed and was tossed to the back with many other photos. Once again the Cabbie tried to spur conversation with the Maulusk but found him too enraptured by the sights to join him in conversation. The journey was wrought with traffic lights and multiple turns. The destination, the hotel which Maulusk booked to stay at, would surely be worth the hassle the cabbie and him were facing.

Eventually the duo of driver and passenger found themselves in a long line of traffic where the cacophony of pissed off motorists was clear.

“C’MON! I HAVE FARE! MOVE IT!” As the screaming between motorists waged on, Maulusk proceeded to step out of the cab, bringing his bowl of caramels and cameras while leaving the rest of his items in the taxi, and held up a tendril to the cabbie to prompt him for some action. Reaching underneath his seat the cabbie pulled out the sports section of the newspaper, shifted the cab into park and began to read and smoke. Now out of the vehicle, and still far from his intended destination, the Maulusk noted the gaping hole in the city’s road which gave an glimmer into the subway system. Here Maulusk noted two individuals who breathed ‘that type’ and so he walked towards the precipice that used to be streets.

Staring down at them, the Maulusk took a picture before waving a tentacle towards them, while using the other to prepare the photo.

[Felicitation Gurgling.]

This greetings to Marie and David was followed by a quick gesturing towards his bowl of caramels, while idly using another tendril to constrict the head of another of the shadowy figures trying to ambush him. Much like the other it reduced into a thick gooey puddle.

But those creatures were not of much concern to him; fights against critters happened all the time. No, his concern was regarding those two individuals below. Hopefully one of them was a native to the city who could provide him an insider tour! At the very least, truly, the Maulusk has nailed down exactly what these types were and more importantly what they desired at this moment. There was plenty of caramel to go around after all!

@Lmpkio @Kyuuzen

---

There was a soulful humming heard down 5th avenue as bodies began to pile on, a voice which sounded like David Bowie's singing in time with the rhythm of a firearm shooting in a three-round burst.

"Busier today, huh?" Rui asked as his arm was dragged toward the left. He turned his head, squeezed the trigger, and a shot was fired into a man's chest.

"I hadn't noticed." His weapon replied to him in a gleeful tone, barely able to contain its laughter each time a round fired out its barrel.

For a gun, Rui's firearm looked a bit too flamboyant, painted blue and covered in yellow stars. It looked more like a plastic toy than an actual firearm and the way its bayonet sparkled made it look almost as if it had been wearing make-up. That is, if knives could even wear make-up.

The gun pointed itself forward, ready to fire once again, until someone had appeared, apparently out of a tree to stab his target with a set of claws. ( @LemonZest1337 )

"Excuse me." A voice sounded out from the direction of a shy-looking Japanese man in a business suit carrying a pastel-colored weapon in his arm and a wooden plank on his back, but it did not sound like the man in question. As far as anyone could tell, it had a British accent, and indeed, the man's mouth didn't even move. "That was going to be my kill. If you would be so kind as to go somewhere else, I might even-" the voice stopped itself as the Japanese man was dragged forward, leading by the bayonet and toward the clawed man.

Rui huffed. His nose was stuffy and he wanted to go home, yet there he was. His legs moved reluctantly as his weapon lead him toward danger, ready to stab another person, the bayonet aimed squarely toward Nathan's chest.

---

---

---

---

Emerging from the smoke and oozing shadowy essence, a giant hammer smashed into the skulls of various shadow creatures completely decapitating them with brute force. Landing right in the thick of battle, Marie proceeded to bludgeon all who opposed her with devastating ferocity. Despite wielding She was jumping too and fro, not standing in place for more than a few seconds at most, taking out several creatures at once with a single swing before leaping towards the next patch of enemies. They weren't too much of a threat, other than the fact that they were numerous.

Of course, Marie's war hammer wouldn't be enough to keep all of them at bay. Leaping onto a lightpost, the Scarlett Butcher could see a volley of shadow-creatures running straight at her from a distance. Their ravenous cries and screams rippled through the concrete jungle as they mindlessly approached their prey with such haste. She smirked at the mere mass of flesh before she extended her hammer to her right and began to twirl it around. Right in front of her very eyes, her hammer began to quickly transform - its machinery morphing the weapon into something new. Steam rose from the transformation, and before anyone could figure out what happened, bullets began firing at the shadow figures.

One by one, they began to fall or simply disappear into thin air. They screamed in agony as red-hot titanium bullets pierced through their skin as they waited for darkness to fully embrace their corrupted essence. In just a few short seconds, the first wave had been defeated. And there Marie stood, wielding a shiny-new machine gun as she blew on the muzzle and perched it over her shoulder.

"Heh," she scoffed, "That the best y'all simpletons got?"

As the bounty hunter dropped back onto the sidewalk however, she would be approached by another figure - a man in blue wielding a double-bladed sword of some kind. He too was fighting furiously against the horde and was doing a fairly good job at it. As the man asked her what was going on, a shadow beast attempted to lunge at Marie while her back was turned, only to be quickly put down by a well-placed bullet.

"Not a damn clue, hun!" she answered back before kicking back another shadow back, "Just anotha' Sunday evenin' for me."

As she commuted with a fellow "hunter", she would barely be able to overhear the sound of tires skidding across the bumpy asphalt nearby. But as Marie was about to head right back into battle, he saw a brief flash cross her eyes, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone's camera going off. Still on hight alert, the huntress turned her machine gun towards the direction of the disturbance, where she saw a very, very odd-lookin' figure...

"Oh you gotta be shittin' me..." she muttered to herself in sarcastic inquisition, as she glared up at the tentacled freak wearing your traditional New York tourist outfit and all. But rather than attacking, the creature began to wave at the two, gurgling some intangible language and offered them some caramel candy.

"Excusez-moi?" Marie asked in visible confusion.

Marie couldn't understand what the creature was saying, but judging by its movement, it seemed friendly enough. He too seemed to also be fighting the shadow beasts. She had seen many weird things in this melting hellhole pot, but rarely has she encountered individuals like this one. She cautiously lowered her weapon at the squid person, still keeping eye contact on him and her surroundings, before popping a caramel in her mouth. She might as well delight herself with a gooey chewy at this point.

"I don't know a god-damn word yer sayin', but I suppose I oughta' thank ya for the offer, monsieur calamari ." the huntress replied before turning to her newfound... copains? Sure, she'll go with that. "Listen up! Y'all oughta keep yer heads high and yer weapon's ablazin. We gotta find out what in tarnation is goin' on and the fuck-face who's started this 'hole charade! Follow me if ya wanna get outta 'ere alive, whether ya like it or not."

With that, Marie reloaded her machine gun and proceeded to run down the street in search for the culprit behind this. She couldn't help but to wonder how much she's gonna get for baggin' this sick fuck...

---

Oh well, this was a delightful display! Maulusk had pegged them correctly. It appeared as if the bowl of candy The American Revolution re-enactor has taken one of the candied treats. During the process he simply stared blankly at Marie. There was no other expression from the dark form of the mutant besides the blank stare.

The other man had not yet, but that did not stop the Maulusk from keeping the bowl in tentacle ready to serve a piece to David if he so desired. Slowly that tentacle writhed to make the candies clatter against it to draw the man’s attention. Surely he too would appreciate a piece of candy.

As he cleared his throat, Maulusk noticed that the musketeer woman was running off hoping, perhaps expecting, the other two to follow. Well Maulusk surely could not let her roam all by her lonesome without providing a tour. That would just be wrong. Slowly the Maulusk approached the taxi cab and gestured with, the more humanoid limb, an arm for the taxi driver to lower the window. Puffing our some smoke the Cabbie lowered his newspaper slightly as he looked at his fare annoyed. Clearing his throat the tourist mutant spoke.

“My pardons Coachman.” Maulusk gingerly enunciated to the cabbie who stared slightly less annoyed.

“I am going to dive in on with the BAM and gravel agitator on this tour. I will be Corral-ecting a few of my things early. Would you bring my things to the s’Pacific destination we were heading to without me and note the concierge?”

Stroking his chin the Cabbie thought on it as he lowered paper. There was a distinctive lull in conversation before the driver spoke up. “I tell you what.” begun the cabbie as Maulusk stood there patiently with an occasional crane of the head to see how much ground the woman covered running.

“I end fare now. You pay me, I get back I bill for rest. I keep meter running until I see you at hotel. Deal?” This was followed by his arm reaching out to shake the cabbie’s as a tentacle began to hand out some cash. The handshake was accepted as he stuck the bills in his own pocket and reset the fare. The Maulusk plodded around to the passenger side door and procured three duffel bags, one of which was opened to grab a mat alongside a harpoon and boat hook before the bag was zipped up, which were being lugged around by his tendrils.

Opening up and holding the map with his human appendages he tilted his head and the map several times trying to establish his location. This was also followed by the loud shutters of the camera as he continued to take pictures. He had so many places he wanted to visit on the tour! But he was not the local of this city, as noted by the attention to the map alongside all the pictures. He looked up slightly towards David and Marie.

[Inquisitive Gurgling.]

@Lmpkio @Kyuuzen

@KOgaming

---

Nathan continued cutting down more shadow creatures until a voice caught his attention. He turned to see some dude standing there complaining about having his kill stolen. Though the man's mouth wasn't moving, a ventriloquist perhaps? In the end, it didn't matter because the dude was running at him with a bloody bayonet.

"What do you think this is? Fuckin league of legends or something?"

Nathan said raising a clawed hand to intercept the bayonet, hopefully being able to catch the blade before it poked into his chest.

"Honestly we've got the whole city being murder by shadow things and you're gunna try and stab me for killing a shadow first? Man people call me a prick."

---

---

The room he awoke in was dark and the floor felt slick, covered in a layer of something. The room was small, and was probably was once used as the office for the small, abandoned store he had found his refuge in for the last few days. There was a broken computer sitting atop a desk with some much rot in it's wood, it defied all logic that it'd be standing still. In the corner of the room, next to the computer desk was a small safe, on top of which was an ashtray and a lighter. The safe itself had been pried open long ago, and now held nothing but a layer of dust and a few cobwebs. Otherwise, the room was bare, aside from the sleeping man and the wet, wet floor.

Six Nine awoke quickly, and silently. He shot off the floor quickly when he noticed the wetness of it, and looking down at the ground he could see that it was blood, much more than one person could lose without dieing. He looked down at himself and saw that his clothing, an asylum straitjacket and plain white trousers, had been torn to shreds, and were thick with coagulated blood. With a huff, he peeled the loosely sticking clothing from his skin, and walked out of the office into the rest of the store.

He grimaced as he faced the flood of sunlight streaming through the store's glass-windows, protecting his eyes as he groggily stumbled through the store, searching for something he could wear. After a few minutes, he had changed into a simple pair of black jeans and a black T-Shirt, however his feet were still bare. He'd have to find a pair of shoes elsewhere.

Walking back to the office of the store, Six Nine spotted a large figure, standing on the edge of his field of view. On reflex Six-Nine turned his head to look at the figure, but he knew what would happen. His entire life he had seen this figure, just out of the corner of his eye. This time however, was different; This time, when facing the figure, it did not move or disappear. This time, it stood still, and for the first time in his life Six-Nine could see it, fully, in the center of his vision. Six-Nine approached the figure, hand outstretched.

---

Two Hours Later

---

The sound of two pairs of feet were loud, as Six-Nine and his new companion, this "Black Ghost," ran side by side, an ungodly number of shadow creatures trailing in a rage behind them.

"You know what to do, right?" Six Nine shouted, his lungs protesting at the exertion of his sprinting.

"Know what to do."

"Alright, wait for my - " He stopped himself short, standing still and staring at something in the distance.

"This way! Come on!" He shouted to the ghost, tearing away and sprinting in a new direction. People, he thought to himself as he ran, looking over his shoulder to see that Ghost had already caught back up to him.

As they ran, the herd of shadow monsters followed even closer.

"There!" He shouted to the ghost, pointing at a small group of people that seemed to be facing their own hoard of these shadowy beasts. These people however were fighting them, and doing so pretty well.

"There." Ghost confirmed, nodding understandingly.

Six-Nine looked back to his companion as they came closer and closer to the herd of shadows this group seemed to be facing off against, and he smiled. Then, furrowing his brow he shouted, loud enough for the group (@Kyuuzen@Sneep@Lmpkio) to hear.

"NOW!" He roared, leaping into the group's herd of shadows, within moments hundreds, if not thousands of these shadows were charging into him, moments from tearing him to shreds.

"Now" Ghost mimicked before hurling a package the size of a cinder-block into the awaiting arms of Six-Nine.

He caught it and knelt down, covering the package from the advancing shadows as he pulled the lighter he had taken from the store out of his pocket, flicking it quickly. As it lit, he fumbled for the short piece of string and ignited it, just as hundreds of the shadowy creatures leapt onto him.

What followed was an enormous explosion, that sounded off with a deafening BOOM!!! that could have been heard for miles. The explosion had vaporized the army of shadows that had converged upon him, and although few stragglers remained, it seemed like the explosion had taken care of the majority of the creatures in the area.

---

@LemonZest1337

---

As the blade of the bayonet touched Nathan's claw, it seemed to rattle in place, making the distinct sound of lips smacking together. "That's interesting." Said the British voice. "You're a demon. While it might be good fun to kill you, I'm afraid you're just empty calories to me, what with the lack of soul and all." It remarked, apparently without a single thought paid to the situation at hand. After it finished its brief explanation, the rifle began to saw back and forth, meekly at first before Rui finally got the picture. It was then when the selector switch flipped itself from semi to burst.

Rui put on a nervous smile, looking very redundant to do anything. Even then, his shaking index finger wrapped itself around the blue-painted trigger and his entire hand squeezed into it. He raised his shoulder and closed his eyes but the sentience of the rifle kept it trained on its target. While still being held in Nathan's claw, the barrel heating up as three rounds of bullets flew in rapid succession straight toward the demon's throat.

Nathan

---

---

Nathan frowned at his assailant they were as crazy as Anny it seemed, killing for fun still wasn't something Nathan could understand. "Ok first of I'm only half-demon, secondly I-" Nathan was cut off by the sound of David blasting three bullets into his neck. The burst of bullets completely severed Nathan's head off, and his now limp body fell onto the ground. His body lay motionless for a few moments before convulsing and springing back to life. Smoke started to pour from the neck wound as the headless body clambered back onto two feet, then a massive puff of flames burst from the neck and a new head had grown back.

"Gah fucking goddammit! Do you have any idea how much that fucking hurts! Stupid fucking monkey! Jesus Christ!" Nathan rubbed his neck with one hand and conjured a fireball in the other. Nathan threw the fireball behind himself killing a couple of surviving shadows. "As much as I want to kill you, these shadow fuckers are kind of killing everyone in the city and that's not good for business. So I'll give you this oppotunitiy to piss off. Because honestly, I don't have time to deal with you and all this other bullshit." Nathan stopped rubbing his neck so he could summon another fireball, getting ready to blast the next wave of shadows.

---

"NOT SO FAST!"

The cry rang loud and clear, well above the distant din of chaotic screams and sounds of varied carnage, echoing in the silence of the New York waters. It was accompanied by the rapid beating of feet on concrete as the figure that had called out dashed with singular purpose, building up speed in its charge before dramatically launching itself sky high. You could just swear there was a powerful cry of a bird of prey mixed with the whistling rush of the wind as the leaping shadow soared through the air, if not for the fact that there were no birds around or indeed any such sound made. There was only one of the finest warriors from the Land of the Rising Sun. There was only Housen.

The masked warrior so flew, clearing the water beneath him with inhuman grace, sure that he was coming into conflict with the perpetrator of the shadowy massacre engulfing The Big Apple. The decidedly suspicious look, the strange activity on such a remote yet oddly abandoned area, it was all so obvious. Steeling himself for battle, the wrestler flipped his body forwards so that the spin brought his feet to bear on his target to maximize the effect of his dynamic entry. With a defiant cry Housen crashed forth, dropkicking his way through metal, wood and glass that found itself explosively torn asunder to make way for the warrior and his perfect on-his-feet landing.

Standing before Housen in the now rather demolished cabin of the sailing boat was a small, creepy looking creature akin to some manner of child, which reminded him of stories of ghosts and other lost souls. His determination unwavering, knowing full well the innocent forms evil might take, the japanese man raised his hands into a loose guard stance as he spoke his challenge: "I'll not allow you to flee the scene of the crime, undo the vile curse you have placed upon New York! Know you stand before Housen, to yield or face defeat are your only options!".

@A Lowly Wretch

---

Tonight was looking like it was going to be a solid night for tourism! Besides getting a tour guide to the city, the Maulusk had a live showing from a suicide bomber, in its natural environment, here the dense population center. As the man was taking the package of the explosive, the genetic freak turned around as he aimed his camera up high. The key to this photo would be taking it at the right moment. In his tentacle he was aiming his camera as he tilted his head up from looking at the map. Finding further directions to big spots of the city could wait until the performance was concluded.

He waited for the suicide bomber to get into position. The Maulusk lurched above several of the shadowy figures which were swarming around the man, clearly trying to get a better view of the show, but proceeded to wrap his tentacle around a shadowy figure that stood right in front of him. Much like all the others it collapsed into nothingness.

No one was going to interrupt the Maulusk’s shot.

And so the deed was concluded as the Maulusk took a single photo, with a loud shutter, and proceeded to wave it around frantically to make sure it was developed. Tilting his head he checked the composition of the photo before unzipping one of his dufflebags and shoving the photo in there. Spinning around the Maulusk once again opened his map fully and began to look for the directions he needed from the map. Who knew what other encounters laid in store during this vacation tour!

@StateApe @Lmpkio

Babble
On route to the Statue of Liberty...

---

It's not like his approach was a secret. His footsteps, his heartbeat, she could tell she was being followed before she had even left the docks. As he smashed through the roof of the cabin she was on the opposite side of the room from his landing point. Sharp shrapnel of wood and metal were shed forth by the impact, decorating the room in shallow perforations. With a quick jitter of a move she moved her arms away from her sides and separated her legs to avoid the long shards of wood and metal from impaling her limbs to the wall behind her. One particularly long stake ran through the wall mere millimeters over her head causing her to sink down a little seeing just how close she came to an impromptu trepanning.

She was able to tell the man approaching was in costume but getting a firm read of what this guy's gimmick was proved more difficult without being able to read the wavelengths of his colors. Now in sight she could see him more clearly.

"I'll not allow you to flee the scene of the crime, undo the vile curse you have placed upon New York! Know you stand before Housen, to yield or face defeat are your only options!".

His words came out but there was no doubting that he was much quieter than he ought to be despite the enthusiasm with which he proclaimed his challenge. Standing this close to Babble's dampening field all noise would be diminished to a significant degree. It was to a point where the sound of the boat sloshing in the bay's water was fainter than a whisper from across a room. The sounds of destruction, explosions and mayhem from the city itself were nonexistent to a human's ears. While his own voice might of sounded subdued to him to her he was crystal clear. She looked at him through narrowed eyes, peering at him as she attempted to figure him out. Her face lit up with excitement when it finally struck her.

Oh! he's, like, a professional wrestler!

With that she decided to have some fun with this situation. Moving over to the corner opposite to him the stage was set. Slowly fading into audibility the sound of a cheering crowd surrounded Housen and Babble. It was as though they were in the middle of a fully fledged wrestling ring with throngs of eager spectators all cheering for the mysterious wrestling ninja man.

"In the red corner, standing at six feet and two inches, weighing two hundred and twenty five pounds, returning to defend his title as world champion this man needs no introduction! Let's hear it for Housen!"

The crowd's cheers only heightened as people roared with excitement to see their supposed champion, the announcer hyping up the enthusiasm with this vigorous proclamation before moving onto the challenger.

"In the blue corner, too short to ride the roller coaster and weighing less than a box of styrofoam peanuts it's the challenger who's come up from the frying pan and into the fire! It's!... Babble."

As soon as the focus turned to Babble herself the crowds cheering quickly turned to booing and jeers. Even the announcer's enthusiasm drained as he announced her name, delivering it as flatly as was humanly feasible. Even still despite the displeasure of this purely auditory crowd she smiled and waved to all her not-fans, relishing in the scene as it was set.

"Let's have a clean fight! The rules are simple! No biting, no eye gouging and first person down by the count of ten loses!"

Babble adopted some wobbly approximation of a fighting stance. Having only popular media to go off of her stance only really involved lifting her sleeves where her hands would be if they were still there.

"Ready? Three... Two... One..."

While Babble was all caught up in this fictional wrestling match with this very real wrestler she had very much lost track of her boat's current progress en route to Liberty Island. Before the announcer could say go the barge suddenly stopped with a loud crash! The whole thing lurched forward as it was brought to a halt sending everything upon it not tied down flying forth. Seeing as how Babble was very definitely not attached to the ship she was launched into the air, her straight jacket's sleeves fluttering in the air as she soared. Given the roof to the cabin was destroyed by Housen's dramatic arrival she was thrown clear from the ship through the hole, falling towards the island like a dead pigeon.

THUD!

Babble hit the concrete path all at once, sliding several feet along the stone before the friction ceased her momentum. There she laid like a heap of old laundry with a Babble located within. Having hit her head, along with her entire face, upon the cold hard ground she was out like a broken light bulb in an Amish house.

Thus, the empty dark laid claim once again.

...

She wasn't dead though.

_
@Zero Hex

@A Lowly Wretch@Zero Hex@LemonZest1337

---

"Tata then." It said. Rui lifted his leg up and kicked away from Nathan before nonchalantly walking off. He seems uninterested, largely in the shadow creatures, shooting them as they come close but not treating them with very much care. In all likelyhood, it must have been because they had a bad taste, or maybe whatever magic created them must have left them without a soul, if anybody had thought that far. The knife calling himself David Bowie also seemed to have some supernatural intuition, and it definitely scared Rui a little bit as it dragged him from one street to the next in search of food.

It wasn't long after Rui and David had left the half-demon behind. They were moving quickly, with the blade seeming particularly intent on finding a good meal that night more than others. Just a few streets down, there was another fight. As the rifle pointed its barrel across the Hudson River and planted the buttstock against Rui's shoulder pushing him slightly back, Rui's head slowly followed the line of bore towards a tall ninja and a short girl only for the girl to be hurled off the boat at his arrival.

Rui looked down the river and back, buttstroking one of the shadow creatures as he did. "Boy. Find a boat.
"Huh?"
"Find. A boat."

Rui was stopped for a moment until he was dragged again toward the river. He closed his eyes and jumped only to find that he was on the gangplank of a tourboat.

"Ticket please?" A suited man asked, only to be shot through the chest. Rui made a disgusted face as he ran in amongst the panicked masses toward the captain of the ship, pointing the gun at him. "Drive us to Liberty Island. Now." the voice came out of the rifle. As the captain panicked, the blade was shoved forcefully through his skull. Rui screeched like a small girl as the body collapsed, meekly kicking it away so that he had better access to the wheel.

Just like that, they were off.