As Jack stormed in behind the Yeti, he in and held it, making himself appear even larger than he already was. His expression turned sour as he lowered the sword, keeping an arm at the very least between Jack and Samma. Sizing the leader up, he scoffed and sharply glanced back at the basement.
"几卂卄. 几ㄖㄒ 爪ㄚ 卩尺ㄖ乃ㄥ乇爪."
Contorting his face, he spit before the leader, yet ultimately backed down from the fight. He harshly brushed shoulders (or in his case, an arm) with Jack, shoving the still-burning sword against his chest. He accepted the order, but not without clearly conveying his disdain as he marched outside.
Cherry hadn't waited a moment later to bolt upon hearing the boss's roaring voice, and Kazuto was swift to move from the doorframe.
Jack swayed in place for a moment after being forcefully passed. "Not your problem is correct." He growled, seething.
Stepping outside behind Nate, he pointed at Cherry and Conri as they mounted their horses. "Do not bring back Nate's armor, he's no longer a part of this." Turning and looking up at the man, his eyes were dead.
"This mission no longer concerns you. Leave now. You'll be lucky if you're welcome back in the manor." Without moving his eyes to aim, Jack lifted his crossbow in the direction of Nate's horse and shot the creature dead instantly.
He snarled, throwing his arms back behind his head as he cracked the joints in his neck.
"YOU'RE GONNA BE THE ONE TO REGRET NOT HAVING ME AS BACKUP, I PROMISE YA. I HAVEN'T TAKEN ON ANYTHING I CAN'T HANDLE."
Holding himself back from bubbling over with anger, the Oni ripped away his mask and shoved it into his massive pant's pocket. Each step he took left a slight indent in the earth, dirt tracks left of his boots.
"OH, REEEEEAL NICE, JACKASS. CHARLEY DIDN'T DO SHIT TO YOU!"
He spit, spinning around to flick the mob boss off from the distance. He sniffled, but kept that to himself, saddened for the life of his lost horse as he mumbled and grumbled off.
All Kazuto could do was shake his head, knowing he was about to get in the middle of Jack's aggression-- likely only to worsen as Nathan walked away.
The other horses whinnied in concern as Nate's steed crumpled to the ground. Jack didn't throw a single glance at Nate as he left. Samma had hurried out of the house, looking aghast. "Y-You can't just-" She stuttered, only to have Jack silence her sharply.
"You won't be telling me what I can't do. If you can't live without him, just say so." There was a quiet click as an arrow pulled itself back in the boss' crossbow. Samma shut her mouth tightly and bowed her head. "Alright then." He growled, waving her away from him and returning to the house.
With his weapon held close, Jack took a few cautious steps into the area Nate had cleared. Other than the lashings of the web, the cottage was clean and cozy. The woven art on the walls was familiar, but Jack couldn't quite place how. Outside, Micah sat on the front steps. He patted a spot next to him for Samma, but she just folded her arms and watched Nate's figure disappear with tears in her eyes.
* * * * * *
Far beneath them, in the deep dark of the Aviary, Nicodemus stood and listened carefully to every footstep and every uttered word. He was calm, with a smile pulling his lips tight. "They've gone for armor." He said quietly to himself, before looking down at Zion- whom he'd called to his side as soon as he'd heard the gang disturb the house.
"It will be a while longer, little prince. But when our guests finally decide to come down, we must be quiet indeed." He gestured to the cages surrounding them. "While the lovely birds distract them, you must help me, yes. Help me snap our guests pretty necks."
Far below the squadron, Zion crouched down, listening in wait of their attackers. He'd felt their noisy vibrations much easier than that of his father's, but the sound was perplexing. On one hand, he could easily tell of their movements, but on the other, the strength of their footsteps echoed, as did the monstrous voice. It was much easier to hear from the home than vice versa. Once the basement doors were locked, all noise remained trapped.
Zion nodded in response to the birdkeeper, taking note of the already well-familiar cages surrounding them. They would make plenty distraction for the sun-walker guests, especially when rattled or should its contents begin to scream.
"yES, yEs, fatheR."
The spider whispered, reaching a hand out to clutch onto Nicodemus' pantleg.
The first sight Cherry had set her eyes on as the duo returned was that of the dead horse. She had heard its thump behind them as they departed, but hadn't cared to turn and see what had happened.
"Hey, Samma, I've got yours."
As her steed came to a halt, she hopped down from the side and fiddled with the armor she'd strapped down slightly to keep it from falling. She was already wearing her own armor, though she felt stuffy in the décor so rarely used by that of Oni staff.
Conri returned a few seconds behind Cherry. He jumped down from his horse and fastened the reigns to a nearby tree, whispering "I'd never let him hurt you." softly to his steed, giving it a loving pat on the neck before joining the others. Samma was quiet, fastening her armor tightly. Micah took his chest plate from Conri. "Could you-" He started, before Samma came and silently helped him secure it on.
Jack had pulled a large bowie knife from his boot and was slashing at individual threads he'd come across in the house, ducking and occasionally getting snapped hard in the face by one. "Anyone who's joining me, get in here." He said loudly, his boots making the floor creak as he walked over to the mysterious basement. Conri hurried in, followed by the rest. He stood close behind his boss, eyeing the door cautiously.
"There may be more traps down there." He said quietly.
"I have the feeling everything we're looking for is down there, too." Jack replied shortly. Reaching out, he took the handle of the heavy wooden door in his armored fingers and pulled. To his and everyone's surprise, the door shifted open. It's massive frame dragged across the hardwood and Jack pointed his crossbow down the opening. It felt as though everyone was holding their breath and leaning back. Nothing happened. Before them was just an empty blackness, with cold air blowing softly against their faces. "Get a torch." Jack said over his shoulder to anyone listening. Micah snapped his fingers and hurried back through the house. Outside, he splintered off a good-sized branch and lit it in the small fire Cherry had made. When he returned, Jack took the torch and pointed it slightly down the basement opening.
Stairs. Wide and embossed stone stairs. Samma exchanged a nervous glance with Cherry as their leader took a step down. Then another. Jack cleared his throat before full on descending the stairway, holding the torch in one hand and his knife ready in the other. Conri followed, taking long inhales. One by one the group was swallowed by darkness.
"H-Holy shit..." Conri muttered.
Jack could smell it too. Waste, filth, and rotting human remains. He grimaced, waving his torch. In the low light, he could see that the stairs emptied them into a huge hallway of stone. There were rooms branching out on either side, from which he thought he could hear whimpering. "The children...!" Samma whispered urgently, but Jack held a finger up to stop her from passing him.
Taking slow, wary steps, the boss entered the room to the left and held up his torch.
"...fuck." He whispered to himself, his eyes growing wide. He could hear the others gasp behind him.
Before the group, hanging in variously sized cages, were children. Many children. Most of them were dead, just bones wrapped in shrunken skin with their mouths still open and screaming. Some, however, were moving. Their eyes were white and glassy, their hair was long and matted and their nails were gnarled. They winced at the brightness of the torch and cried out to them.
The amount of dreaded impatience Cherry felt as she followed down the steps from behind Micah was excruciating. She wanted to be at the front to see, so she clung at Micah's back, eyes wide for the first signs of movement. As Jack stopped to illuminate the first room, she practically walked straight into Micah, trailing all too close behind.
"What-?"
She could hear gasps, a curse or two, but the shortie couldn't see anything past the line in the first doorway. Having to push past a stiffened Kazuto, she poked her head in and stared.
Her eyes instantly met a little one, shielding their eyes away from the flame as they extended the frailest arm she'd ever seen. Begging for help, gurgles in their wordless plea.
"W-We can't just stand here."
She stammered, forcing herself forward and over to the cage held by chain-links. She inspected the birdcage quickly, prying at its bars before noticing its obvious lock.
"This isn't right. Dad, they're all locked."
Her voice squeaked as she choked up, looking to Jack-- her own father figure. She knew all the horrors here trumped every atrocity the gang could've been a part of. Never had they tortured the innocents of their villages quite like this.
However, as Cherry moved into one of many, many rooms, Kazuto could hear moans and groans accompanying the stirring of other metal chains unseen. To his dismay, the other rooms likely had just as many children awaiting rescue, with other horrid surprises in wait.
"They're in here. Whoever it is, they're in here hiding among them."
He eyed the long empty hallway, feeling as though he was being watched by more than his line of sight reached. He wiped away the bile from his eye, straining himself to stay focused on the enemy and task at hand.
Jack stood in place as he listened to his team disperse into the rooms nearby. Though he would never show it, it made him nervous to allow them to wander. He would've much preferred to keep them out of this and face it alone. Hearing Cherry call him 'dad' brought him back to the scene at hand and he shook his head. "Don't worry about them-" He started, quickly walking out of the room and back into the hallway to find everyone. "Leave the children for now, we need to search the whole basement."
Samma was standing in the dark of another room, the glowing of Jack's moving torch catching the teary eyes of the child that was suspended before her. She was crying herself, her hands wrapped firmly over the little one's fingers. Looking down, she noticed a dark liquid spilling out from one of the nearby cages. "U-Uhm," She stammered, slowly looking up to see that one of the children had been beheaded. Recently.
"J-Jack!" Samma cried out, "He's killing them, Jack, he's killing them off!"
There was a loud, long dragging noise, and Jack turned to see the light at the top of the stairs waning as something pulled the door shut. He bolted for the steps, but his torch was knocked out of his hand by a single thread spun across the way. "Shit!" In the midst of fumbling for it, the little branch went out.
Samma screamed at the horrible pitch darkness. Micah stumbled into a few of the cages, making a loud clattering, and Conri was standing still with wide eyes further down in the hallway. Jack held his knife against his chest defensively, reaching a hand out as he searched the darkness. "Get back to me! All of you! Now!"
When the lights went out, Zion was immediately on the move. Scuttling along the stone flooring, the spider could sense the vibrations of each body, using that to draw in close. He'd already prepared his web for the guests, ready to welcome them into their Aviary. Permanently or not was for his father to decide.
Thankfully for the two, the gang split up, leaving them both an opening. With his web aimed, it shot out from under his tongue, directly at the sitting duck-- Conri, who stood in the hallway in wait. It would knock him back, sticking and pinning him to any surface, but was quite different from his father's strings. Of course, unlike Nicodemus', they had no sharpness to them at all, nor were they thin. Yet they would sting, burning their victims alive.
As soon as he crouched forward, another flame ignited, held as a small candle in the pinkette's hands as she bolted from the first room. He retreated back into the darkness, scampering up the walls and away from sight as Kazuto caught a quick glance at boy. A simple assessment was all he needed before shouting back to Jack.
"Conri's been hit-- we're working with multiple targets!"
As he pulled out a dagger from his coat, he spilled the contents of one of his glass vials atop it and ran to the aid of his brother, readying to free him.
Jack grit his teeth, seeing Cherry's candle and running down the hall towards it. "Find Conri!" He shouted, looking around them wildly.
Conri had fallen back and struggled against the web. He gasped as he could feel it burning through his clothes. "Take your time-" He muttered nervously over his shoulder to Kazuto, trying hard to pull his hands free.
Samma was reaching around, trying to find the doorway when she felt a sudden pain in her side. "Hello, hello," A soft, eerie voice crooned to her just a few inches from her face. Another sharp pain hit her, this time in the shoulder between her armor. She gasped, backing up.
"'Be careful little hands what you do'," Nico sang to her, raising his large dagger and plunging it into her chest as he followed her. "'Oh, be careful little hands what you do'," He yanked it out and stabbed her again in the torso, her armor twisting and crunching under the powerful force. "There's a father up above, and he's looking down in love, so be careful little hands what you do." Samma stared wide-eyed into the darkness and coughed out a silent sob before falling to the ground in a bloody heap. Nicodemus smiled at her, invisible in the unlit Aviary. He crouched down onto his knees, rested the blade of his dagger against her throat and dragged it neatly through her neck. He watched with satisfaction as blood seeped onto the floor in pulses, before standing and leaving the room. He could see Cherry and Jack farther down the hall with their little candle. But there was Kazuto and Conri, pleasantly nearby. In total silence, the man rushed at Kazuto and grabbed the hand of his that was holding the dagger. "I don't recall giving you permission to bring something like this into my house." He said, his long fingers crushing the young man's wrist as he used it to navigate the dagger towards Kazuto's own chest. Simultaneously, he stabbed his own knife into the boy's side and gave it an upward wrench.
The scientist worked on the web, using the spilled chemical as a sort of neutralizer. The sticky substance hardly stuck to the blade, if at all.
"Time... sure, if only we had some."
He huffed, vigorously prying at the silk-like net. Just as he managed to separate some of the string, he felt the rush of the birdkeeper, throwing the non-combatant off-guard. The man easily twisted and crushed his wrist, to which he let out a hellish roar in response. Black bile began to completely dump out of the holes and pores of where his mask attached to him, spilling onto the ground below as the Oni struggled. The wound to his side leaked the same tar-like substance, replacing what would commonly be blood-- if only one could note the color through darkness. The bile slowed movement of the knife, making it difficult to twist, turn, or pull.
"ֆɦօʊʟɖ'ʋɛ քʊȶ ȶɦǟȶ օռ ȶɦɛ ɨռʋɨȶǟȶɨօռ, ȶɦɛռ."
Kazuto retorted, eyeing the blade which proceeded closer and closer to his chest. He pushed against it, gritting his teeth as he fought against the coughs which rocked him in waves. Soon enough, he gave in under the pressure, feeling the dagger pierce slightly through skin and meet with his thickened blood. He winced, yet still pushed back against it, gathering the momentum to shift the blade somewhat as his chest started to bleed.
Meanwhile, fueled with adrenaline, Cherry held the candle out further into the darkness, attempting to illuminate her companions' positions. She'd already slipped on her mask which gave her a slightly altered appearance; a secret advantage towards facing their deranged attackers.
However, her flailing of the candle gave Zion just enough time to prepare a second web as he scurried over in the other's directions. From the near-distance, he shot his web, aimed directly at the source of the flame. The pinkette's eyes widened as she caught sight of the net, reflexes kicking in to immediately jump away from the threat. With her free hand, she unstrapped a dagger attached to her thigh and threw it in the direction the web shot from-- only to hear it clatter onto stone as it missed.
Jack had immediately bolted in the direction of Kazuto's howl, leaving the light of the candle and being enveloped in the dark. Conri was struggling hard, listening as his brother was attacked. "HEY!" He shouted desperately, "Father, they're hurting him! I can't- I can't get up- I can't help him-"
Nico had looked down and seen the thick sludge pouring over his hand against the boy's side. He yanked the knife out and raised it over Kazuto's head.
"Hold still, now-"
Before he could swing the weapon down, however, both the men were tackled at full speed by Jack. Conri heard the mass of bodies meet the floor with a crash.
Nico dropped his dagger as he hit the hard stone and it slid far across the hall. Jack ran his hands over the figures underneath him, recognizing Kazuto's mask. Hurriedly, he pushed the boy away from them. "Go, run, hold your wounds." Jack told him, trying to keep his voice calm. He could feel another body beneath him, scrambling desperately for freedom, and he grabbed a handful of Nico's hair and yanked him back.
"Going so soon?" The man growled, taking his own knife and thrusting it down into Nico's back. Nico cried out in pain before turning over and slashing at Jack's face. Blood spattered the floor and Jack tossed his head to clear the blood from his eyes. He caught Nicodemus' extended hand and instantly folded it backwards until it snapped.
"𝕳𝖔𝖜 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚..." Straddling the man securely, Jack's voice trembled with rage as he plunged his knife into Nico's chest. "𝕳𝖔𝖜 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖍𝖚𝖗𝖙 𝖒𝖞 𝖇𝖔𝖞𝖘!" Nico spat a mouthful of blood all over himself as his furious assailant stabbed him again and again. "𝖄𝖔𝖚- 𝕱𝖚𝖈𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌-" Unsatisfied with the knife, Jack tossed it and started beating the wretch's face into the stone. He punched him harder and harder, his eyes burning with hatred. He could feel blood making his hits slip a little, but he didn't stop. Nico cringed under him, unable to choke out any words as his head slammed against the floor with more and more force. He could feel himself growing weary, as though his body was falling asleep.
Conri could hear the steady cracking of, what he assumed to be, Nico's skull under the armored fist of his boss.
Sitting back, Jack took a moment to breathe and listen to his victim's wheezing. "𝕭𝖚𝖗𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝖍𝖊𝖑𝖑." He said, before leaning over Nico, grabbing a strong hold of his head in both his arms, and twisting. First the spine snapped, then the muscles stretched and tore, and in a few moments Nico's head was ripped from his body with all the force Jack could bring forth.
Kazuto had braced himself for the blade to plunge into him, affixing his singular horn to combat his attempt. However, he hadn’t needed to do anything as his breath knocked out of him, stunned by Jack’s charge. He felt dizzy when he hit the hard flooring, having to force himself to shakily shuffle away from the two men’s squabble. Pulling himself up, he held a hand to his side, the other fumbling through his coat of wonders. He pulled out a vial, used his teeth to pull off the cork-top, and spilled it against the corner of the webbings. It burned through it, melting the string into nothingness and leaving a hole for Conri to wiggle through.
When he turned to look for the dropped dagger, he paused, stunned by the sheer amount of rage Jack inflicted upon the stranger. He’d always been brutal, but the sight before him felt different— although he hardly had the time to register it before noting a squeak from the distance.
The candle’s flame extinguished completely, leaving the basement in total darkness once again. It fell from her hold, clattering down to the stone steps below and rolling itself in a circle. Cherry yelped, her arm caught between web and arm.
Seconds later, the deep sliding noise of the basement door stirred as a figure in the darkness despairingly tried to ply it open.
As the Aviary's door opened and the basement was flooded with light once more, the scene before him was revealed. Nicodemus' body was crumpled on the ground in front of him, riddled with merciless gashes, and there was a pool of blood gathering around Jack's boots. Jack himself was drenched in crimson, and Nico's head was still in his hands with stringy tendons dangling from it. He dropped it on the corpse and turned to the others, wiping his face with his shoulder. Conri had struggled free from the web and was now eyeing the mangled body with a slight justified smile.
Jack counted the heads in the hall, noticing two of their team was missing. "Conri, go to Kazuto." He ordered firmly as he peered into the nearby rooms in search of Samma or Micah.
After walking up the hall a bit, he found Micah on his knees a few feet through a doorway. Jack stood frozen in place for only a moment before walking around the man and seeing Samma lying on the floor before him. Micah had his hands wrapped around her neck, and the floor was smeared with bloody footprints. Jack could see the stab wounds in the girls armor. Her eyes were staring wide at the ceiling, but...
He knew she wasn't seeing anything.
"I...I need a medic. Where's Kazuto?" Micah said quietly to him without looking up. Jack's eyes deadened and his voice went flat.
"She's dead, Micah."
With a start, Micah gazed up at him and frowned, appalled. "No, Jack," He said, sounding both certain of himself and confused. "I've been- I've been holding her neck closed, I've been holding her this whole time-! She was-" He looked back down at her, "She was looking around just a minute ago, I swear it- she's still alive! I need Kazuto!"
Jack shook his head in disbelief, turning away and closing his eyes.
"She's dead." He said again simply, no emotion escaping his voice. Micah moved his head side to side in dazed denial.
"NO!" He shouted, his eyes filling with tears. "I had her with me! She was moving! I've kept her wound closed!" His hands trembled, Samma's blood seeping through his fingers.
"I had her alive, Jack..." Micah insisted, his face contorting in agony as he looked down at the girls foggy, unblinking eyes. "I had you..." He whispered to her. Slowly and tenderly, he uncoiled his fingers from her neck, letting the trapped blood flow freely, and he sobbed.
Meanwhile, Conri had rushed to Kazuto's side to assist in any way he could, but upon hearing Micah's cries in the distance, he gave his brother a darkened look of sad and mutual acknowledgement. He knew who was missing from their group.
