Gimme Shelter [Attn All Prometheans]

"We need electricity. Perhaps there is a power source in these tunnels," Ben says to the injured Ulgan. "I don't know what to do about him though, he was bitten. I can try to assist him, stop the bleeding... but I'm no doctor."

Ben moves over to the gruff man with the fresh bite wound. He will inspect it and render first aid as best he can. As he inspects the man, he asks, "Is there a power line somewhere here? A rail or a box or something?"

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Using a gun is nothing like using your fists; the recoil alone feels so inhuman, so wrong, so strange that it takes him totally by surprise, the bang of the barrel turns a part of his brain off, or whatever is close enough, something primal and all too human shrinks in its presence, in its roar.

So when the beast forgets about Ben throws itself at him, all Chaser manage to do is keep squeezing the trigger, for the first time in a long while genuinely scared, the first of real fear he has since…

…since the mob.

A part of his mind goes blank for just a few seconds, but that wolf needs less than that to shred him to bits.

Fangs and claws on flesh without real blood, only pitch black darkness dripping from the open wounds, if he was human, he would be dying, as he isn’t, the Ulgan somehow manages to remain conscious, even though his head is still swimming, more from sheer emotion and the extended effort from burning through so much Pyros, he hears Ben’s question but doesn’t really wonder on it for long, only remains there, gun still tight between his fingers, eyes focused on the bullet ridden body before him.

Chain him and be ready to chop his head if he turns…

Its Prowler’s voice behind him that brings him back to the problem at hand, a cold laughter after it…

“Let’s try to restrain him just in case.”

"I'm not sure we can," Ben mutters. "I don't want to aggravate his wound. Why don't we just keep him to the side, and watch him. I'm worried he will change like the last one, but I don't want to imprison him on a maybe. But... I do agree we should keep him away from the others, just in case."

In the unseen twilight, the ghost frowns deeply at the violence.

Walking with a limp, the ghost backs away from the gulf of light in the distant horizon and walks over toward Chaser and Ben. [Though only Chaser would see him]

"I don't know if he will turn or not. But I say do him no harm. Enough blood has been shed on my behalf."

He looks out toward the light, longingly.

"I feel that my son is safe now. Knowing that, I will leave this place and this life behind me. No longer shall I be a pawn in this unending war between wolf and spirit. Good riddance to all of em."

"I would not have been able to do this without your help. Thank you."

With a smile on his face and a serene look, the ghost slowly turns around and starts limping toward the light on the horizon Along the way he pauses at the wrecked subway car where his mortal life ended tragically all of those years ago.

He presses a finger on one of the foggy glass windows and carves a message for all to see.

BYE. it reads.

There is a part of him that doesn’t care at all…

There is something deep within that knows it should, the rent flesh, the weight of it all, the words of that which is left of a man, the shadow of a life, much like what makes that, consolation price that he has for a soul.

Yet at the same time, it only makes him feel how truly far away he is from even starting to ‘get there’, wherever ‘there’ is, there is something cold and tight and hard forming on his throat as he sees the light, again, it’s a feeling he knows all too well, is like watching another young man hugging a girl and being hugged back, like watching a mother picking up her child on her arms and kiss it, it’s like watching affection not meant for you, to know someone else has what you don’t.

It’s a hard thing to shallow, yet at the same time, he can’t help but smile, he can’t feel it yet, not just yet, but he can understand it, they helped him ‘get there’ and somewhere in the back of his mind, he figures…

…Maybe they can also help each other out.

There is no need to add anything, he knows the spirit is gone and he knows Ben can take care of himself and the bitten man, so after a few instants of silence, Chaser just goes to look for a powerline or something like that, they are in the subway, it can’t be that hard.

Ben looks around, a bit confused.

"Get healed, they might come back... when you're done, let me know where you found power," Ben calls after the little Promethean as he walks away.

Chaser manages to find his way through the dark caverns to a functioning subway tunnel. He can feel the electricity pulsing through the third rail.

As he bends down, the electrical shock goes up through his body and slowly, some of the wounds start to heal.

But in the light from the electrical sparks, Chaser sees something or somethings moving in the shadows.

He recognizes one of the voices, it was the voice of the woman he had seen earlier. The leader of the pack.

"The law is clear. Blood for blood."


Alone in the dark, and still partially wounded. Chaser gets the feeling that his own end may be fast approaching.

Ben sits, watching the wounded man and doing his best to make him comfortable as he looks around, trying to be mindful of his surroundings..

Wonderful. The doctor is gone helping the man who got us down here in the first place, the little one ran off to heal, I'm watching an injured victim by myself, we have a ghost slave we're trying to free, and there are who knows how many of those monster things left...

He turns to the others, still together in their own little area, away from passageways and wounded people who might change into nightmarish things, and asks a simple question: "Do any of you know if there's a generator or power line in here?"

The wounded man looks weak now, and appears to be suffering from some kind of fever. He winces a bit.

Finally, one of the other men responds.

"Yeah, off in the direction your friend went. It leads out to the subway tunnels. Should have power out there."

"I was hoping for something in here," Ben responds, "but thank you. I just don't want to run off and leave you all alone, since it's probably not safe. I hope the doc gets back soon... I think your friend needs more help than I am able to give."

Spoiler:

The buzzing of the electricity is what lets him know it’s there, yet Chaser doesn’t ‘hear it’ like normal mortal men would, or even the man wolf things, not with the eyes, but with the ‘soul’ if Prometheans had one of course, the dark shadowy thing within him hungers for it, reaches to it with pitch black bloody tendrils as the young Ulgan’s hand brushes the hot metal…

It takes less than a few heartbeats, yet, if he had any, the Riven’s flesh would had started to burn already, instead of mending itself back on, the skin and muscle knitting back together with inhuman and gruesome speed, every rent and unhealing wound visible by the disturbing light of the Tamed-Lightning.

A bitter smile forms in his lips as he sees them…

“I’m sorry ta disappoint… but I’ve no blood” The smile grows broader and wicked, and in the dying light of electric current he almost seems to have fangs, red eyes staring into the place where the woman’s voice came from in defiance, almost daring her to come for him.

But he isn’t stupid, he knows they outnumber and ‘out-fang him’, yet he isn’t without advantages, not right here, so he takes what he has…

Feet gridding clearly between the scolding hot metal and the deadly lighting within, keeping contact as to avoid stopping his healing at the same time that he reminds them all just how quickly they can become nothing more than burning smoking dead meat if they come too close, even if they are mad enough to try and fight him there, they won’t be able to surround him easily, what’s more, if he manages to pull one of them close enough, it will fry before it manages to even bite him.

Prowler, hidden still in the shadows also readies, a thick tongue brushing against sharp fangs.

Before there is any more time to exchange more pleasantries he is roaring already , not sure if hoping to attempt and frighten his enemies off send the clear message to his ‘friend’ out there, things are getting messy anyways.

“BATTLE!!”

As Ben leaves through the cavern he quickly picks up on the sounds of battle. The shrieking cries of howling wolves coupled with Chaser's own shouting.

In the near pitch darkness, it is hard to make out how many wolves Chaser is fighting though it quickly became obvious that this "pack" was much larger than the four members they had first encountered. These wolves however had taken on the form of actual wolves, not the massive hybrid creatures he had encountered before and were moving fast...

Whenever Chaser landed a blow to one, another would lunge at him, take a bite, and then dart off. They were attacking him from all sides at once, circling him like predators honing in on the kill. One of the wolves,a massive looking thing with a coat of pure black fur leaps for his his throat. But Chaser got his big hands around the wolf before the jaws could come down and started to squeeze hard, aiming to break the thing's neck. In the eyes of the wolf he could see nothing but hatred.

Then something happened, Chaser looked up to see a pair of massive bright lights burning into his face. And then...

Ben heard the resounding thud as the subway train veered around the corner crushing everything in its path. The thudding sound was immediately followed by the sound of screeching brakes as the train slowed to a halt.

Along the tracks, he spotted Chaser's lifeless mangled body, his hands still gripped tightly around the neck of a naked woman's corpse. He recognizes it as the corpse of the woman they first met in the tunnel. There were no other signs of the wolves that had beset Chaser seconds before.

Spoiler:

Ben, attempting to move unnoticed, rushes forward to grab Chaser's body and sprint with him back to the little camp.

Sounded like a lot of them... need to get back to the people and make sure they're ok...

When Ben arrives at the campsite, he finds it deserted once more. Some of the tents and other items hurriedly displaced in what must have been a quick exit.

In a disturbing twist, two of the former werewolves that reverted back to human form when killed are being burned in a fire of some kind.

A cold chill runs up the spine of Ben as he looks down on Chaser's body and the carnage embodied by the corpses.This fight had been a costly one for both sides, not to mention the humans that had gotten caught up in the middle of it.

But what of Chaser, was this really the end for him?

Setting Chaser's body down, Ben sits down and looks around at nothing in particular as the firelight dances and flickers against the walls.

"So, this one is dead, the Doctor is gone and not back yet, there are those monsters running around, I have no idea if we helped out the ghost or not." Ben muses out loud to himself.

"All because I wanted a lamp..."

Someone whispers something in Ben's ear.

"The wolves have scattered. But time is running short for your friend. Find the Doctor."

When he turns his head he sees nothing.

"And now I'm hearing things," Ben sighs. "Normal people don't have to deal with this, I bet..."

Standing, Ben takes a few moments to clean his saw as best he can. Loading up his gear, he shoulders his pack and then picks up the small Promethean. Putting him over his shoulder, Ben heads out into the tunnels, retracing the path that led them down here in the first part. Moving out onto the city streets, he looks around, asking the first person he sees where the nearest hospital is.

Ok move on over to Harold's "Medical Emergency thread. We can pick up from there.