2020-05-31 - Inmates Running The Asylum

It's June. June, Gray Harbor. Why is it still cold?! All Isabella wants is beach season!

Whatever complaints are present are those she keeps bottled when she congregates with the rest to finally open the door in the underside of Easton's establishment, her hands in her pockets and dressed warmly in a weatherproofed hoodie, jeans and boots. She is not unarmed, with a pistol wedged somewhere at the waistband of her jeans, and the standard Veil Expedition pack slung on her shoulder. While the hatchet isn't in full view, she carries it, still - it's within the pack itself.

She has arrived with Alexander, eyeing the door with some trepidation and lingering by his taller, broader shadow. "Last chance to say no to this entire enterprise," she murmurs to the investigator, expression faintly resigned.

Alexander is dressed for an excursion. Which is to say that he has his same old army jacket, jeans, and a t-shirt. And a knife hidden at the small of his back. He arrives with Isabella, almost certainly, and he's pacing with nervous energy right from the start, shoulders hunched and his expression blank. But at the question, he gives a strong shake of his head. "No. We're all going, and we're all coming back." He opens the door for her, at least.

August is dressed casually, since the idea is to not roll in all guns blazing. Well, casually, if you consider carrying a sidearm in a holster under your jacket (he went with Easton's recommendation, sorry Ruiz!) and a survival knife in a sheath at the small of your back 'casual'. (Casually paranoid, maybe.) Otherwise, his black suede jacket, denim jeans, black waffle knit Henley, and heavy hiking boots are normal wear for him. He doesn't have his expedition pack with him, on the off chance he needs to look like he absolutely belongs there.

He arrives alone, nods at Isabella and Alexander and shoots off a last text to Eleanor. You know, in case it's necessary. 'At the door.' This way she can mark the time, and decide when to freak out and call the cavalry.

Many were expecting Easton on this sojourn, but it’s Bennie who shows up in the basement of the Twofer in his stead. She’s been trying to fill in the gaps of his loss, both in business and now here, even if the substitution is like night and day. Armed with bits and pieces of the stories he was able to bring back – Gray Harbor really breeds interesting pillow talk – and the fated key, the blonde comes kitted out in long sleeved runners shirt with thumb holes to keep the cuffs down over her knuckles with her utilitarian uniform pants from the fire department, strapped with Easy’s favorite gun, her hair up in a tight sleek bun and sporting a slim backpack no doubt filled with medical supplies knowing this injury prone lot. All her sunshine has been sobered down into a simple, “Hey.” Of greeting as others arrive.

August may be dressed down, but de la Vega apparently didn't get the memo about not showing up bristling with hardware. He's in his usual ensemble of black tee shirt and cargo pants, combat boots and that battered leather jacket he rarely leaves home without. Holstered under it, a big ol' Sig P220 in a shoulder rig, with a Ruger .38 slotted in at the small of his back and out of sight. A knife is strapped to his calf, along the zipper of his left boot, and he's stocked himself up with extra ammo, to boot. Roen's choice of weapon gains a look, but no comment, and Bennie's presence a mere furrow of his brows. "Oakes," he greets with some hesitance. The others get a curt nod from the Mexican.

Sailors are usually punctual. Not this one. But Joe's finally there, in similar garb and gear-up to the others. Old army parka in canvas, little day-pack with who knows what in it. Just plainly clad in fatigue pants and t-shirt....and he's got a pistol, and a few knives himself. Silent and pale, he's got that braced look to him. He's the one who spent long and long in that place, after all.

There's a smile for Alexander, faint, but there, slipping through the door that he opens for her to wait for the rest of the party to get together and begin. There's no surprise when Easton fails to show, but if nothing else, that only reminds her of the fact that their friend is presently missing. "Hey, guys," Isabella says from where she's quietly conversing with her companion. "Shall we?"

She leads the way, because she's comfortable with bulling on ahead like the Scrappy Doo that she is, finding the hidden switch that camouflaged the basement so perfectly in the first place. Depressing the wooden panel, she lifts the heavy ring, twists it and pulls it up, revealing the stairs that go deep into the underbellies of the Two If By Sea and the black door pressed all the way to the back of the room. The room itself doesn't have anything remarkable in it, but it clearly used to be an office, with an old desk covered in dust, an unused oil lamp and a chair. There's also an article tacked to the wall about Billy the Ghoul's arrest in the early 1900s, back in the days when the bar was called Chuck's By the Sea.

"Hey," Alexander echoes to the others, although his smile is warmer and softer for Bennie. He's not carrying a gun, and even his knife is out of sight, so it's entirely possible he looks like the least prepared person in this weird little excursion team. He slinks along in Isabella's shadow, and looks around the basement when they arrive. He's been here before, but he still checks it out, moving over to briefly touch the yellowed newspaper of the article. "Kinda surprised he didn't take this down," he murmurs. "It's not a bad little hideyhole. If you don't mind the--" he nods to the door.

August arches an eyebrow at Ruiz, mildly amused but also grateful for the amount of firepower. Worst case scenario, it doesn't work. Best case, they shoot their way out. He nods at Joe and Bennie as well, falls in behind Alexander and Isabella as they head down into the basement that's totally not hiding a portal into a horrible horrorshow of a building.

He eyes the door, then everyone else. "So we're mostly looking around, getting the lay of things, and rescuing if we can. Right?"

"Good to see you too." Bennie replies quietly to de la Vega's address, but honestly she expected worse. It's not as if she's really been road tested, kept mostly out of harm's way by the strong arm (and heart) of Marshall. She flickers a smile to Alexander, but it flakes away as the party moves downstairs. Others know the way better than she into the basement, so she has no issue letting Isabella take the lead. Curiosity for the room beneath is stymied by her grim determination that pulls her lips tight as she slips the heavy key out of the tuck of her sleeve where she's secured it with a bit of ribbon as if it were one of the most precious bits Easton has left in the wake of his disappearance. "Ready?" She asks the others, but doesn't wait as she sets the oversized key to the normal sized hole and holds her breath to see if this is going to actually work.

The look Ruiz gives Bennie isn't unkind. It is, perhaps, complicated, like the man himself. He rolls his jaw, turns away, and does a final check of his weapons while they head down the stairs. "Wrong," he grunts at August. "We're here to get in, get the fucking girl, and get out. This isn't recon." He cuts a narrow eyed look to the other man like, would I have come armed to the teeth like this for a lookie loo?

Then they're going in, and he lets Joe pass in front of him, making sure to bring up the rear of the group in case someone tries to swing in on their tail and surprise them. He'll let someone else investigate the office first.

"Don't need recon. I know this place," Joe's voice is soft, and there's no real evident strain. But he's got that pallor, that listening look, like he's just waiting for a sound. Waiting for something. No objection to Ruiz watching his six.

"Who, Chuck?" Isabella wonders, glancing at the yellowed newsprint. "Might've been the most exciting thing that happened to his bar at the time, maybe he just wanted to commemorate it."

With the key fitting into the lock and the door opening, her fingers move to immediately hook into the weapon holstered at the small of her back, though she doesn't draw it out yet. There's a glance to the rest, before she slips on through, silently bracing herself for something awful to happen immediately. But when it doesn't, she doesn't allow herself to breathe out a sigh of relief. She takes in the office, and the backwards-read of the words imprinted on the glass. She squints at the old lettering. "Well if that's the plan, we better make quick work of it," she tells her group quietly as she runs her fingers on the desk and shows it to the rest. "Not a lot of dust. Someone's still using this office and we probably shouldn't still be here by the time he gets back. Does Dr. Marshall have any spare lab coats?" She moves further inside, trying to open the doors and closets to see if she can find old lab coats and things they can use to blend in.

Investigation? Alexander, after taking a quick look around and huffing out a breath of mingled amusement and relief, moves to those papers and starts giving them a quick going over. Looking for any familiar names, including Megan's, but also treatment plans or anything that seems like it might benefit from closer study to understand exactly what goes on over here. Anything he finds? Neatly removed, folded, and put in the large pockets of the jacket. "Where are we heading?" he asks Joseph, quietly. He also glances around to see if the good doctor might have left a key card or anything else useful for getting through any security.

August eyes Ruiz and Joe, but nods, offering not a bit of resistance on that front. He's a little brighter than he has been--not back to full strength, but not so dim as he was before their odd sojorn in space. So, there's that. He sticks close to Bennie, if for no other reason than he remembers all too well how things turned out when they were 'invited' by some lackeys of Theirs to be smacked around.

He scans the room, looking for anything else useful. "Remember," he reminds everyone, voice low. "Emergency Exit signs."

The key clicks the door open, and the blonde slides it back out of the lock on the tether that disappears up her sleeve, tucking it back away like a magician readying for the Next Trick. Bennie doesn't have to concentrate hard to make out the backward name 'Marshall', it's like a proofreader immediately honing in on a misspelling like it's standing out with its own flashing lights. It's HIS surname afterall, and no doubt it's Easton that will forever be tattooed on the forefront of her mind. As others look about to actually be helpful, she's walking over to the glass to gingerly run her fingertips on the faded image as if she can summon the descendant of the man they belong to. Is that why she's here? Hoping Easton got sucked away to the Asylum?

Ruiz might be a little tetchy about not being able to throw some plans together with Easton on how they were going to storm the proverbial castle. Just like the good old days, couple of Marines going in and fucking shit up. Roen, unfortunately, takes the brunt of it with that snappish retort. His dark gaze follows the botanist for a few moments, then traces away as he moves toward the doorway. Thunk as his weapon's unholstered and the safety thumbed off. No round dropped into the chamber yet; the gun's braced loosely in both hands, muzzle pointed at the floor as he goes to scan down the hall.. and is greeted by a five foot tall lizard.

He pulls back a pace, keeps the gun pointed roughly at the floor, still. "Who the fuck's this? We don't have time for this shit."

Which is when Joe goes into full 'bullshit the MP' mode. "What, me?" he says, mildly. "Nah, man. I was told to come back for a follow-up, they sent me here." He offers the lizard person a guileless grin. "I don't think I'm late. I was first in line." To Ruiz, he says, matter of factly, "He's in charge of cleaning and sanitation. Does a good job, too."

Ignacio has stayed quiet and thanks to a certain someone his physical therapy has been going as well or slightly better than it should. Not bad for being run over by a high speed bus a couple months ago. The blabbermouth is quiet, unusually so for him, and letting folks focus on what they can. His stake in this is remembering what he can of Julia's map which may or may not help Cavanaugh cover gaps of knowledge.

Bennie's eyes snap up as the Lizard Janitor makes his entrance, pulled out of whatever moment of emotional connection she was having with the name of the psychiatrist. There is a look in her eyes, one of cold and ugly fury and this creature with his demented mop is suddenly on the wrong end of it. Her hand raises before her fingers clip closed in a tight fist. She's no Steve Irwin checking the reptiles cloaca to determine gender, no, her mind is concentrated on his neck and the blood vessels traveling from heart to brain, looking to squeeze them off and knock him out temporarily without drawing a breath between thought and action.

She freezes when the door opens and the lizard walks in, and identifies quite correctly that none of them are familiar. Isabella inches closer, already reaching out slowly to close her fingers around the lamp on the doctor's desk while Joseph is attempting to fool the janitor by telling him he is not familiar. Thankfully, Bennie's already doing something about it. The whiff of power tells her that something is happening before she could do something reckless like crush a lampshade into the poor janitor's head.

Alexander opens his mouth, just as Bennie starts choking the lizard. His eyes widen a little and gives her a shocked look; let's face it, Alexander would consider a meteor shooting down from the sky and turning into a happy fairy that blesses them all with immortality more likely than actual violence against a stranger from Bennie. Still, when the shit hit the fans, he shakes himself out of it, and reaches to grasp his knife, drawing it free. "I think they know we're here." And he reaches out with his mind to try and pull them into an illusion where they, and all their weaponry, actually BELONG HERE.

August stares at the Lizard when it comes in, cuts a look at Joe as he attempts to smooth the situation over despite how Ruiz looks like he's ready to kick ass and take names. So maybe it's no surprise the janitor isn't convinced at all. August can't say he would be.

But then Bennie's doing that, and the situation goes from zero to one hundred in an eyeblink. Do they have Glimmer use detectors in this place? Well, they're about to find out.

Yeah...looks like they do. Eyeing the octopus mop, he says, "Looks like we're doing this." He makes no attempt to resist Alexander's illusion, just hopes it works, and pulls out his knife.

"....oh my god," Isabella whispers when the alarms go off, because this looks familiar and it's on her face. She reaches out and attempts to grab as many files as she can from the desk to help Alexander out, shoving it in her expedition pack and reaching out to yank her hatchet out of her bag. "We better go, I think. Now. Now is good. Let's go. Joe, you lead the way to the patient's wing."

And whenever the combatants start moving out of the door, she will follow.

"De la Vega's right. We don't have time for this shit." When did Bennie start swearing? Now, apparently. Of course their time has now grown even shorter, thanks to her ineffectual attempt, but she'll rub that salt in her wounds later. Now, "I'm going to squash that damn excuse for a Geico commercial." Stomp, stomp! Off goes Bennie down that hallway, even as Alexander glimmers her into someone from the here and now. Her reasoning? "If he's head of janitorial, he had access to everywhere."

Ruiz spends about two point five seconds taking this in. The octo-mop, the suddenly five inch lizard. The klaxon going off and the strobing emergency light washing the suddenly narrowed hall in blinding red. The fact that Bennie of all people just tried to hurt someone. Two point five seconds, maybe three, and then he's shoving his way through the door after Bennie, and hitching his chin for Joe to lead on. "Go," he barks. "I'll cover you all." Just in case Alexander's illusion doesn't convince everyone they belong here.

"Motherfuck, now you see the vi'lence inherent inna system," says Joe, flatly. So much for any attempt to do this with subtlety and stealth. He seems curiously matter of fact about it all. Like this is what he expected it to end up as, from the get-go. They did bring Ruiz along with them, after all.

Then he's heading out first, catching up with Bennie and passing her. They should recognize him, these things. He was under their 'care' for three quarters of a year or so.

"Bennie, /stop/," Alexander snaps. "We stick together, we get what we came for, we get out," he hisses, sweat breaking out on his forehead as the cacophony rises and all the people spill into the hallway. No, no, we're good, we're where we're supposed to be, he's projecting frantically, and the press of all the minds - many of which are even further from sanity than his own troubled inner world - isn't a great time. He follows the rest, and concentrates.

Ignacio watches, eyes wide at the fucking violence. Mierda. Well then... uhhh... taking a step closer to Roen he looks behind them and asks, "Right, jefe, what's the game plan now?" And then the effects to cloak them hit and the small Spaniard sets his jaw offering his tutor, "Alexander, let me know if you want help with that." Eyes follow Roen and August for a moment letting them suss out the 'what' and for now stays on team 'enabler' "We're no good running cowboy. That's what...places like this want." His feet shift between both legs. Nothing's comfortable and this place even itches his spine. Yes, focusing on a clear goal is good. As an after thought he works on covering up the crime scene if he can. Nooothing to see here. What Janitor?

There's only one hallway by the time they leave - once they exit the doors, there's only one place to go and Isabella's teeth grit when she realizes that the layout has changed. "There's only one hallway, it's like this place wants us to go through here." The implication is there, she doesn't spell it out for everyone: It could be a trap. It's most definitely a trap. She's already running with the rest and she points to the door at the end of the hall. "That's where we went through the last time, where we found the books and the clock."

August falls in with the rest of the group, wincing at Alexander's struggle to maintain himself and the illusion at the same time. "I gotcha," he says to him, and in the wake of that statement comes a dialing back--not a lot, since August's Glimmer is still shaky, but hopefully enough to take the edge off.

"It's probably the only real path. The rest is bullshit. Just meant to keep people in here." He grunts at Ignacio. "The plan is smash and grab of the involuntarily committed kind. Be ready to put another illusion up, if Alexander needs a break."

When Alexander feels that touch, there's a moment where his mind is all glass knives and solar fire, ready to cut and burn anything that gets close. But August is a mind he recognizes, and he takes a deep breath, takes in that calming influence, builds a bit of support around it. He wipes his forehead, and gives August and Ignacio a quick, grateful nod. "It's good. Thanks." Then there's the yelling behind them, and he turns. And he stares. Because HE doesn't remember that he's seen this before. "Dear god, is that..."

Ruiz follows along at the rear of the group, as promised. Gun already drawn and braced in both hands, he pivots when he hears the door behind him swing open, and brings the muzzle up level with Marshall's eyes. "Fuck's sake, not you again. We don't have time for this. Piss off." Clack is the sound of a round dropping into the chamber. And about all the warning the guy's going to get from him. "Keep moving," he barks at the others.

Bennie doesn't stop but she at least slows her roll having lost sight of the little Lizard Janitor anyway. Probably slithered into some crack like the coward he is, anyway. She won't risk taxing Alexander with keeping up their illusion AND trying to rein in the Runaway Blonde. She whirls back to him though when he says 'dear god is that...' with a heart wrenching amount of hope in her eyes.

It's a damn good thing they don't need him as illusionist - he couldn't do it. Joe's just relentless forward motion now. Somewhere in all the mess he's pulled that automatic of his own. Just in case something's stupid enough to get in his way; he doesn't trust his Glimmer to do much more than startle, at the moment.

She's seen this man before, and remembers him, but when Alexander stops, Isabella stops also, because she's not leaving him in his madhouse where he's already been threatened to be taken and committed. She whirls around, hatchet clutched and defensive fury brightening her green-and-gold eyes, lips peeled back in a ready snarl. Except a body part plops on the ground.

"....Doctor Marshall?!" she exclaims. "What is it now?!"

August half-turns, reaches towards Alexander in a gesture of taking his arm without actually doing so. "No," he says, "it's not. Just his corpse. We fought him when we exorcised Billy, and he was here last time." Ruiz's guns sure are gonna be useful now. "Come on. I doubt he's here to help." But he did call them kids, which August appreciates because he was called old last night and it's stuck in his craw.

There's not far Alexander can sidle in a hallway, but he sure tries when August makes that gesture like he was taking his arm. "He might," he says, curtly. But maybe that's just the resemblance - marred by pus and rot though it is - to his lost friend talking. But he glances towards the door, then back. "The Doctor. That's been mentioned. We need to avoid him. Ignacio -" he switches to just knocking on Ignacio's brain, and if he answers, Read Dr. Marshall for truth. Any hint that he's going to stab us in the back, tell Javier. Like this.

He slows. "Can you help us get where we need to go without running into him?" The Doctor is a theoretical threat - something nasty enough to make even Alice afraid. But right now, he's concentrating, and it's just another obstacle.

The Doctor is in, huh? Joe....Joe should be afaid. He knows this place. Knows that it's something frightening, something terrible, in contrast to the at least somewhat kindly man that Dr. Marshall was, and his shambling corpse tries to be. But what appears in his face isn't fear. It's incandescent rage. Oh, he doesn't scream or yell. His voice is low, as he says, quietly, "Well, fuck him, then. If bullets hurt him, he's about to have a real goddamned bad day, then."

Ignore the way he's started to glow a little brighter than he was on entry, or the way those little arcs of electricity, like glowing inchworms, have started to crawl over his free hand.

Ignacio answers Alexander, "Unsanitary? Yes. Yes it is." Iggy's eyes are huge like saucers. Zombies. Right, uhhh... yeeeeah... not... not okay. He tells the zombie, "We'll clean it off and mail it back. Places to be. Catch you later." He looks to the 'adultier adults' in this situation and lifts a hand and thinks better of it. "Welcome, Alexander. Uhhh right behind you." He does manage not to put his hand on his back so he knows where he is because that's asking to get hit with a bolt of lightening while his coach yells NO TOUCHIE!!! And then the words The Doctor is in. He stands still. He's just not up on doctors to begin with and the concept along is nauseating to the point of standing still. Taking a deep breath he reaches out to try to tap on the inside of Ruiz' skull with his to say Hey, we need to scan the Dr. Marshall guy for signs of betrayal or any shit like that. We're um... we're going to try to scan the guy I guess.... Please don't get eaten by crazy people. he's trying, now whether Ruiz picks up that's another story.

"No lo sé, y no me importa. No estamos aquí para ti." That's all Ruiz has to say to the Psychiatrist. And then he's taking aim, and squeezing the trigger. His goal? To buy the group time. Killing Dr. Marshall was never part of the plan. Can't kill a guy who's already dead, dontcha know.

It's a Marshall. Just not her Marshall. Bennie's face cracks for an instant, the resolve that's kept her moving threatening to crumble but at the last minute her spine straightens and she gravitates towards those stronger than her that can bear this weight and have better knowledge of what's in store. Her eyes divert to the floor, but the blonde is raising her hand again. Just in case she needs to drop a room full of crazed patients at the slightest indication from Alexander.

She gets the Psychiatrist's mention immediately; Isabella's face drains of color, her fingers shaking against her hatchet - she's only met the Doctor once, remembers him as an affable and surprisingly young man. But for some reason, the mention curls a debilitating amount of dread now, winding down her spine. Her breath chokes into her lungs and it takes everything in her not to spin around and run away from where she thinks the Doctor is. But another influence reaches out, nearly drowned out by the white noise crowding into her skull, because the other one is telling her to keep going anyway, because she has to know. "Megan Keene," she asks Dr. Marshall, unaware that Ruiz is about to shoot the corpse. "Where is she?"

August grits his teeth at those words from the Psychiatrist, swallows. Doctors, hospitals. It all rises up around him. He's frozen in place for a second, smelling concrete and cordite and death. But Alexander's simple 'we need to avoid him' and Joe's 'fuck him' are things to hang on to, and he does. "Right. Fuck that asshole." He adjusts his grip on the knife. Will there Glimmer even work on him? He studies people who use Glimmer, after all, keeps them locked up so he can examine him. If anyone knows how to turn Glimmer off, it's going to be this guy.

He keeps close to Alexander and Bennie, not willing to get too far from either of them in case something needs stabbing.

Boom. Headshot. Alexander flinches, because he was STARING AT THAT HEAD, but it's not really the worst thing he's ever seen. Although usually the corpses don't move as much after that. "Jesus, Javier," he does mutter, but reaches out to take the car keys, nonetheless. Ruiz will probably BEAT HIM TO IT. "Thanks. Sorry. About the grevious head trauma. We'll try to survive."

"....oh my god, what the hell," Isabella breathes, helpfully, and thankfully both Ruiz and Alexander are faster than her in grabbing the keys because, well. Alexander's seen her drive when she doesn't care as to who lives or dies on the road. And if the situation is probably less critical, she would probably cry a little at missing the chance to be behind the wheel during what is rapidly becoming, quite possibly, a car chase in the middle of a zombie/insane lunatics apocalypse.

This is ALL SHE'S EVER WANTED GUYS. How dare you.

It may be the keys to Mr. Weasley's flying Ford Anglia, for all Joe knows. He's already turning away before there's the pistol report. Doctor or no Doctor, they've got to go one. "If there's any driving to be done, I'm doing it," he notes, still in that calm voice. "I'm better than anyone here."

Ignacio watches the exchange, eyes still frozen as Ruiz just fucking shoots the guy. thinkthinkthink Right in a world full of combat ninjas the one opportunity does show up and that's... one for the writer. The keys zip up in the air and Ignacio catches them, and likly any fury from his sort of complicated to-be-eventually father-in-law and arches an eyebrow. With a calm confidence he says, "One of us was a professional racecar driver and the other cna do somehting about this situation...I got you, man. Go." Looking to Joseph he grins, "I will take up that challenge, bro."

"Is he telling the truth?" August asks Ignacio, including Ruiz with a glance. "Or is he just bullshitting us?" He's trying to recall when the Psyschiatrist was at odds with them, as opposed to helping them, and why. Maybe all he'd been trying to do was stop Gohl from closing the doors, and in retrospect August can understand that, even if he ultimately wasn't willing to let them get hold of Thomas and Gohl for their nefarious purposes.

"If we're leaving, we need to get a look at that clock." He eyes the common room, tries to meet Isabella's eyes. "A better, longer look." And will they need their memories re-unlocked? Well, he can burn that bridge when they're on it.

Ruiz's aim is spot on, and the bullet goes right between the eyes, but Marshall doesn't have the good sense to fucking go down. Instead, he keeps right on talking, and the Mexican goes so far as to rack the slide when he gets to this is why we need the wall, because really buddy, did you have to go there?

The keys that are handed over, however, he will grudgingly go to snag- until Ignacio goes and yanks them out of his hand. Negative ten points for his kid's boyfriend. The guy's given a look, and he leaves the pair of them, Iggy and Joe, to sort that one out, before prowling off after the others. "Come on, let's move it. We've still got to find Megan." To August, "I don't know. I think so."

Joseph glances over at that. He doesn't blink. "Ever landed a fighter plane on a pitching deck? Or a shuttle from orbit? I have. My Shine's low, but I'm the best person here when it comes to controlling machines." With that, he's heading on, tired of waiting.

Welp. So much for the illusion. Alexander staggers and screams, nearly stabbing himself with his knife as Alice's voice echoes in his brain. His eyes are squeezed tight together, and one shoulder hits the wall. WHERE are you? Is Megan there? STOP SCREAMING IT HURTS. Show us where you are. STOP SCREAMING IT HURTS. He manages to wheeze out, "Alice. Got Alice. Might be with Megan. Isabella," he reaches out for her, intending to let her guide him with the rest so he can focus on the screaming in his head.

"Right, great, we have a professional getaway driver, we definitely need to start driving in the opposite direction from where the Doctor is," Isabella says when keys get snatched around. "Okay?" August's look has her shaking her head. "If we go into the room it's in now, I don't know if we'll ever get out - it's crowded in there." There's a glance at where the staff are fighting with the crazies. "I--"

And then, Alexander is reaching for her and her hand comes up to seize his wrist immediately, twining his fingers with hers and locking them tight. "I've got you," she tells the investigator quietly. "Tell me where." The hatchet spins outward, clasped in a defensive angle in front of her and the man both as she tugs him forward, to move with the rest.

As Alexander screams, that has a worse effect than seeing the familial resemblance to Easton in the Zombie face of his uncle. Bennie's lips peel back in a pained wince away from her teeth, her blue eyes scrunching up as things get far too confusing far too fast for her entirely sober brain. She needs to concentrate, and without her little pill friends to help her, she needs some goddamn quiet. "SHUT UP." The blonde hisses, and her hand directs at the cluttered room of patients and staff alike, and closes it into another fist like Thanos snapping his fingers.

"That's the only way we can go, except back through his office," August says to Isbaella, jerking his head back at the Psychiatrist. And then there's the Doctor, at the entrance, and Megan and Alice doing battle with oderlies. August re-grips the knife again, closes in behind Isabella and Alexander. "What are the chances we can even dent this guy," he says, voice low. "We need to let Megan and Alice get past him and get the fuck out of here."

Joe looks at the Doctor, expression gone oddly flat. Then past him to Megan. "Your ride's here," he tells her, mildly. She collapses, and his gaze returns to the Doctor. "'scuse us," he says, still in that mild voice. "We're checkin' her out."

Ignacio snaps a look to Joseph and says in a bewildered deadpan, "Ever win a Grand Prix? This isn't a goddamn pissing contest, holy shit dude. Roll up your dick and lead us to where we need to go already." And off the guy goes leaving Ignacio with a look of exhaustion. Sighing he follows, the better leg dragging the worse one, "Guys this is a terrible idea... just so it's said." And then there's a hostage situation and the chatterbox falls silent.

Ruiz, bringing up the rear of the little group amidst all this chaos, has one clear and solitary purpose; and that purpose solidifies itself when he spots Megan using one of the nurses as a human shield. His eyes flick to Alice over there, and the effect she seems to be having on Alexander. And then the Doctor. And de la Vega doesn't seem at all interested in having them a dramatic standoff where they size each other up for days; he hoists his gun up, takes aim, and fires the moment he has a clear shot.

"And the blonde," Alexander adds to Joe's calm assertion. He points to Alice so there's no confusion. He doesn't sound cool, though. Sweat has broken out on his skin, and the knife in his hand is trembling, and his voice cracks and wavers with fear. He pushes on through sheer, stubborn cussedness, forcing out each other word like it hurts. "She's coming with us. Alice. Now."

Her grip tightens on Alexander's hand; his earlier screaming braids tension over her shoulders like nothing else, but there's too much going on that she can't see to whatever ails him and watch their backs. So Isabella tries to help by throwing her shattered glimmer outward in an attempt to grab Megan's clothes and drag her towards their direction. She grits her teeth in the attempt; the strain presses into the back of her skull.

"Try and grab Megan again," August murmurs to Isabella. Alice they probably can't haul, not looking the way she does. Megan, that might work. Might. "I'll back you up this time." He's holding the knife handle so tight his knuckles are white. He focuses on Isabella, on her movement Glimmer specifically, and wills it to get Megan over here right now.

She relies on everyone else to try and be the distraction, for a change, because she's not moving away from the investigator. There's a hard swallow when Isabella's eyes watch the bullet leave Ruiz's gun, can sense it streak across the air in an effort to down the Doctor. But nothing happens. Fear drips white-hot into her veins and for a few moments, everything suddenly feels amplified. August's whisper finds her ears.

Teeth grit hard enough that blood wells from inside of her cheek, trickling on the side of her mouth, and while the Doctor's attention appears to be elsewhere, she mentally yanks at Megan's clothes again in an attempt to shoot her across the floor and towards their group.

"He's in the way," she whispers to August and Alexander in the attempt.

Well, that was interesting. Guns don't work on this bastard. Ruiz, thankfully, has other weapons at his disposal. His pistol is shoved back into its holster under his jacket, and he prowls in closer while Alexander, Isabella and August are trying to haul Megan in with the aid of Glimmer. Dark eyes focused on the Doctor, like a stalking cat. If he can't be raw firepower, then he'll be a distraction. "Name your price. We need her back. What do you want?" Not that he's going to get it, mind.

Bennie straightens up, smoothing back a little squiggle of blonde hair that's fallen out of her tight bun back from her face with a shaky breath. It's unnerving to see her handiwork littering the floor beyond the doctor, the size and magnitude of her destruction never truly unleashed before. Not on that scale. "Easton Marshall. Is. He. Here." That's as much for the Doctor as the others, those that can scan any blip of their friend's presence because the others are focused solely on Megan and Alice and she needs just a sliver cut away for her own purposes.

Ruiz isn't the only one with that thought in mind. Even as the cop prowls forward.....Joe's lashing out with his own Glimmer. Maybe it can do what a mundane weapon can't.

....not exactly. The flare of lightning on his hand doesn't arc out to the Doc's figure. No, it turns back on him, and there's a blue-white flash, the harsh scent of ozone, and Joe's bent nearly double, coughing, hand to his chest. Is that smoke coming off him?

Alexander's breath catches when the lightning bends back on itself. He's still watching Alice, but his eyes flick to the thing in the way. "What are you?" he asks, his voice thick with fear both echoed and all his own.

ANd there's the backlash. "Mierde..." He looks to Ruiz and the doctor and then the office. His eyes widen slightly, Inbound, guys." He moves over to where Joseph is hunched offering a concerned, "Breathe. Holyshit dude, you okay?" God his New York on his vowels is nearly as bad as Itzhak's. Looking to the Doctor he opts for what he can do and that's back Ruiz' play. "Look, everyone can benefit here. You need something then someone can get it. It's not like any one person is utterly irreplaceable for work purposes. What's goin on? Talk to us, please."

She observes everyone make their attempts - how bullets pass through him, how lightning bends in itself. The more Isabella watches all of this, the more ashen she gets. Cords frame her throat, tightening in her swallow. It doesn't stop her from taking a shaky step forward - and it's almost laughable how she tries to angle her body between Alexander and the Doctor with the hatchet still in front of her - but it's a reflexive and defensive instinct now. There's absolutely no confidence that it would hit even if she threw it, because she knows it can't.

She knows because...

"...if it's just about studying what's in their heads, do you really need them when you're...?" Isabella whispers, barely able to push the words out of a throat closed down with fright, because in this instance, ignorance really is bliss. "Why can't you just let them go? Why go through all the trouble apprehending them and dragging them back here?"

It isn't as if Alexander didn't suspect at least part of this. It doesn't stop the rage from flashing through him, hot and bright like lightning. His grip tightens on his knife, and his eyes have gone black. "You. You killed her." His voice is flat. "You killed her. You poisoned everyone's memories of her, too. She loved you. She trusted you. Swore you would never hurt her, no matter what." He takes a deep breath, and his gaze shifts back to the Doctor. "She's garbage. If that's what you wanted to share, I sort of already knew it when she threatened to turn my brain to rot and emptiness." A pause. "But I promised. Please give her back. And Megan, too. They're just going to cause you trouble here."

August watches that lightning double-back, swallows and stares at the doctor for a long, long moment. And the Doctor explains the reality of part of this plan. The ugly truth. He's sad and tired by the sight of it; Violet, killed by her own sister, and for a reason that's not clear (aside from how Alice is in fact pretty unhinged). He trembles, bites his lip, glances at Isabella. "Experimentation. It has to know about us, and how we interact with it. What it does to us." He looks at the Doctor again, not actaully expecting an answer. One thing is certain: "We need to go." He murmurs it, not really meaning to gainsay Alexander, just entirely aware of how this is more than they bargained for.

Ignacio tries to breathe and that... is so fucked up and so close to home it's not even something he needs to see twice. Still there's something else happening and he looks to Ruiz, "Car, inbound. Hauling ass. Veering. Almost here." And with that Ignacio tries to get his head out of this room, eyelashes clumped and cheeks slightly damp. Right now he lets Alexander do the talking and he asks Joseph still concerned, quiet, "You okay to walk, man?"

Ruiz is just the hired help, really, and he's only here for one reason: the girl who taught him how to rewire his brain. Alice? Can go rot. "Keep her," he decides, flicking his eyes to the blonde, then Alexander, as if to apologise for his words. Then back to the Doctor. "But that one comes with us." He means Megan, with the hitch of his chin. "Name your price," he repeats. Dimly, he's aware that Joe's hurt, and shifts away to offer his shoulder in case the other man needs it to stand. "Understood," he tells Ignacio, with a quick, grateful smile.

Despair. It's the feeling that most echoes through Bennie's bones, crippling her in place even as Joseph goes doubled over with his own lightening arcing back to him. Despair not only from what was projected into her brain from the recalled memories of Alice, but the fact that the psychiatrist Marshall's words were cut off from whatever he was going to say about Easton. "Please..." Her voice squeaks on the end of Alexander's request of the Doctor, adding in her own feeble plea with the others.

"'m all right," Well, at least Joe doesn't seem to have shocked himself into afibrillation, even if his voice sounds a little rough and choked. The revelation about Alice doesn't seem to have really registered, one way or another. He straightens, but he's leaning on Ruiz, for a moment or two.

"You were--" And then Alice's head pops like a melon at a Gallagher show (did those in the front row remember to wear their plastic?) and Alexander drops the knife, screams again, and pretty much collapses right there, clutching at his skull. Move along, nothing to see here.

"No," Isabella murmurs to August's assertions, her sunkissed expression looking very gray. "I don't think he needs to know that." The implication is clear from the newly-minted doctor: I think he already knows. She does not, however, argue with her fellow field researcher about having to leave, because they do.

She's about to say something else when the entity turns and just destroys Alice Whitehouse before their eyes and she shouts. Her hand grips Alexander's tightly, as if bracing him - just in case his earlier rage does take over and an attack is imminent. She digs her heels in preparation for it. And then the Doctor sets his sights on her, and she would have remained on the spot, if Alexander didn't start screaming.

She reaches out to seize him before he collapses in full, attempting to wind his arm over her shoulder. "We have to go!" she cries to the rest. "There's no reasoning with it!"

Ignacio turns and looks and for the briefest of moments looks startled as shit trying to use what little physical he has to try to ablate some of the damage by pushing back. Well, he's not a road smear. There is...swearing in Spanish. Specifically something about the mother of the manufacturer. See Ruiz for details. He looks to the team, "Let's get injured parties into the car, vamanos." Limping he gets the doors open and does a mental scan over the car to see if Easton is actually in it. as he climbs in.

All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel...Bennie full body flinches as Alice's head goes 'splodey. Her blue eyes blink once, twice, and then Bennie turns mutely towards Megan's prone body and heads in that direction to make sure at least ONE of their marks makes it out of here. Because the trunk is empty.

She doesn't even have to look to know.

One arm slung around Joe, Ruiz turns that hard stare on Alexander.. and it softens a little. Just for a moment there. Murmured as he shoves the taller blond toward Ignacio, "No lo escuches. Escúchame a mí, no a ella, Alejandro."

And lunges for Megan. Like the crazy fucking Mexican he is.

August stares when the Doctor...deals with Alice. He half turns, dry heaving for a good handful of seconds against the backdrop of Alexander screaming. The sudden arrival of the car yanks him out if it; he gestures with a hand to snag Alexander's dropped knife. "Go," he says. "Go," and he pushes her in front of him. He sees Ruiz diving for Megan, gives him a bit of help of the Glimmer persuasion.

Joe stumbles a little as he's shoved towards Ignacio....and then he's heading for the car. Somewhat in a daze, truth be told. He's seen awful things - just ask about the Dream he was so recently in - but that was beyond nearly all of them. No protest as Ignacio helps him to the car.

Alexander clutches reflexively on Isabella. "My head. My head is gone. My head is gone," he mumbles at her as he just limply follows where he's directed. When Ruiz speaks to him, a shudder runs through his body, and he turns in that direction, his pupils blown wide until they seem to fill his eyes far too much. "Listen to you. Yes." It's hard to tell whether he really understands what's going on right now, but hey, the screaming has stopped, and he numbly follows along with Isabella's directions.

Bennie does these kinds of things for a living, though the Blonde would prefer to use a Stryker Power-PRO XT stretcher or get Megan in a proper fireman's carry to get her back to the Cadi, dragging her by the arm seems a quicker option, given the circumstances. A dislocated shoulder can be fixed on the poor girl later, her head getting popped like a pimple cannot. "Go, go, go." She mutters on auto pilot to Ruiz as he takes the woman's other wrist and they drag her to the waiting Cecelia.

"August, you-- !" But she needs no further coaxing, because she doesn't want to get exploded when she's wearing a target on her shirt. At her fellow field researcher's push, she takes Alexander and runs.

"Your beautiful, brilliant head is intact, darling, but we really need to move faster than this, alright? Stay with me," Isabella says soothingly despite the urge to throw up due to fright and the stench of exploded viscera rampaging through her system. She keeps a good grip on Alexander as she moves - had she known Javier's own hand in calming him down, she would be tremendously grateful, but at the moment, the man she's clutching overrides any other concern. With Ignacio waiting in the car, she pushes Alexander into the trunk, and she climbs in afterwards.

"COME ON!!!" she yells at the rest of them as they grab for Megan and bail. Panic is in her eyes, out of her mind with worry and sheer terror, and while she's out of the Doctor's field of vision now she can still remember his murderous attention. They need to leave.

To be fair, as a designated First Responder, so does de la Vega. Bennie, however, is better at it. Because everyone knows all cops are good for is punching the siren so they can get to the donut shop faster. He does however help the blonde get Megan out of harm's way, then cuts a look to Bennie once they reach the car. "I'll get her in, you keep that fucker distracted." He's bigger; it's the sensible option. Then, unless she objects, he's hauling the unconscious girl over his shoulder and into the waiting car, and barking at Ignacio to, "Get ready to move." He still doesn't look certain that Joe shouldn't be driving this thing. But old allegiances die hard, even between Marines and Navy.

Thump. Alexander tumbles into the car trunk, something that might concern him at other times (at least Joey isn't here, to make a trip in a trunk that much more exciting) but right now, he's still mumbling to Isabella about his head being gone and that being a problem. He curls up in the trunk without a protest (except about his head).

August helps Isabella with getting Alexander into the trunk, then piles into the car, knives and all. (That was an expensive knife, he's not leaving it here.)

Ignacio is focused on Joseph right now. The guy, while having an intense day, is not at all unjustified here. He's also just been cooked like a rotisserie chicken. The gimpy leading the fried he waits til he's in and looks to Cecelia offering the car in Spanish, "Hey beautiful with your fine ass rims, we gotta get these passengers loaded and then you know where we're goin. We'getting to the edge of the veil. Away from this hospital, yeah?" Is he sweet talking the car? Yes. Yes he is. Looking to Joe he tries to keep him focused with a look of concern, "Talk to me about landing a high speed plane on a moving boat now and tell me how I do, yeah?"

As Alexander curls up in the trunk, Isabella climbs into it after him, throwing one arm protectively over him as another swings upwards, to grab onto the cover and shut it.

At least this way they'll be spared the sight of an inevitable crash because she doesn't intend to scream her head off today.

Distract The Doctor? Bennie's probably not the best choice for that, at the moment. Usually, Bennie hears 'distract' and her first instinct is to flash someone. But today? Today the Blonde is just turning back to The Doctor and giving him the best Easton Marshall flying fuck middle finger for him before diving into the car with the others.

Joe, on the other hand, is spared no such thing. He's about to answer Ignacio, brow furrowing - apparently he takes that question seriously - only Cecelia's doing her best and that ain't enough. He's had a lot worse in terms of crashes, but....this is still enough to ring his chimes.

Ruiz crams himself in wherever he'll fit, the moment Megan's inside. And no sooner than he does, is the car moving.. and driving full-force into what appears to be a brick wall. Except it isn't, and once the noise of the crash has died down to a crackle of music struggling through speakers, and hunks of metal tumbling off the vehicle's exterior, he brings his arms down. And finds himself uninjured. A quick glance around to make sure everyone else is in one piece, and then he starts to pop his door open carefully.. lest it fall off, too.

Ignacio was a race car driver and part of that is knowing how to brace for impact. Breathe, relax, protect the head, trust your hard structure in case of a roll, and know where to get low. Also is he...soccer mom arm barring Joe? Yes. Yes he is. The kid's sassy but has a protective streak there. Deep breath . The impact causes his brittle form to wince. He checks on Joe and at the ca-clang looks to the car. There's a frown and it hits him like that first time he was mortified by the Brave Little Toaster. His hand pats the dash. "Gracias, amiga. I got a guy. Best in four outta five boroughs... don't tell em I said that. We'll get you patches up." Looking to Ruiz he says blowing out a deep breath, "Ayudame con el??" Clearly meant for Ruiz, but all in all clear he's asking for help checking on patient zero while patient one? Well he can't see the trunk.

Alexander's back hits the interior of the trunk hard when they barrel through that wall. The pain, unwelcome as it is, also provides focus, and he grunts in surprise as the trunk pops open. He doesn't have to be forced to get out, although his hands push at Isabella, trying to get her out first, before stagger/tumbling out himself. He's dazed, but moving under his own power.

Bennie ended up piled half on top of someone though she doesn't have time to identify body parts before they're hauling ass and it's not like they're is any time for seat belts. As the vehicle crashes, the Blonde slams HARD into the back of the passenger seat, ending up all akimbo on the floorboards, one leg and one arm sticking up while the rest of her is at the other's feet. She doesn't get out of Cecelia as much as she oozes out of the Cadi onto her ass in the rubble and crumbling car parts. "Ow."

The trunk pops out and the car starts to say goodbye. It's sad, in a way, but at least the loyal steed will go onto the ether with the man that loved (to drive) her.

With Alexander groggily pushing her out, Isabella complies, clambering out before reaching for him immediately in an effort to assist him. "Watch your step," she murmurs, supporting him the best she can as she half-limps to the open doorway. "Everyone okay?" she calls out. "How's Megan?"

He called them the Echthroi, when he was talking about it with Itzhak. But just how viscerally these things can unmake, unname, annihilate...it hadn't really sunk home until now. Joe's out of the car and staggering for that basement. He's got a cut on his head, blood darkening the hair by his temple, but he's upright and moving, at least. Turning back to make sure the others are coming, too.

Once he's certain they've not been followed by the fucking Doctor or someone, Ruiz reaches back in to gather Megan up in his arms. Joe's going to have to manage under his own power, because he shakes his head to Ignacio with a grunted, "No puedo." And then, "Everyone all right?" Noting the cut on Joe's head, he clicks his tongue at August, nods toward the blond as if to say, could you help him? Then he hefts the girl in his arms, and starts off. The car's radio stops, and he doesn't look back.

Ignacio looks up to Ruiz and sees him on body detail. He gives two fingers a smooch and tapes the frame above the door hole "You did good." Turning he hobble-shuffles to keep up with the pilot to keep an eye on him. "I think all presented and accounted for. Bennie, How you holdin up? In any shape to take a look at folks? Are you okay?"

There is no answer from Bennie as others call out to know if everyone is alright. The pain she felt when she put her arm down to try and roll up to her feet was excruciating, but goes unmentioned, perhaps even unnoticed by the others until Ignacio turns his attention to her and her left arm is being cradled to her midsection. "Get me to the other side." She mumbles at him, pale faced and tight lipped.

August stumbles out of the disintegrating car, moves to help with getting Joe clear of it. He flinches away from that hungry power, unconsciously shields himself in response. "Come on. Through the door. We might need to lock it."