Scene #8824: Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?

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Angela	It isn't actually new for Madeleine to visit Lobotomy Corp. She's been there before, in fact! Even during Walpurgisnacht. But this doesn't mean she's actually gotten to really get a feel for the facility. Concord agents have an easier time visiting the facility--if they ask they are allowed in, that's how it generally goes with some small exceptions--but in this case, Madeleine actually has an invitation from Lobotomy Corp itself. If Madeleine can agree to a time and day, Angela will be there to meet her by the Warpgate within its cell in Control. Angela bows her head to the huntress. She is wearing what she is always wearing and unlike over the videopads, isn't stylized at all--she'd look like a person if it wasn't for her golden eyes (presently: closed) and her inhumanly pale skin. "Welcome, Madeleine, to your first visit to L Corp when a catastrophe isn't under way. I hope I can answer any questions you might have and that I can show you around the facility without too many disruptions. The facility is presently active so there may be breaches while you are present--and I will not object to you assisting them as they come--but first I would like to see if there is anything I can do to help you." Control is presently...pretty peaceful! Works are being performed and there are not any immediate breaches going on within THIS sector.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine, clad in her usual leather, vinyl, and chainmail, steps through the warpgate, stretches, and nods to Angela in greeting. "Yeah, it's good to get to see the place when it's not falling apart, literally or otherwise. And I heard you're already starting to prepare for the next Meltdown? Never a dull moment, huh. As for anything you could help me with... well, the Sweepers have been bugging me to press you for an updated report on the more cryptid-like abnormalities, but there's no rush on that." The Sweepers, of course, are the Creeper Sweepers, more formally known as the Concord Multiversal Cryptozoology Research Division. "They're under the impression that you've got new monsters coming in every week, I guess. Is that even the case? I haven't heard anything about like, a capture team here or anything." As the pair walk through Control, Madeleine eyes the clerks and agents bustling around them. "You run a pretty clean ship, looks like. When you're not under attack. It reminds me of an old friend of mine, from before I Unified? She was part of some super-spy org, all these hallways and vaults and faceless bureaucrats. I don't think I ever got to visit, I just heard about it a lot from her. She was... she wasn't always happy to work there, but it suited her. If you'll entertain a question, do you think you're a good fit for Lobotomy Corp, or vice-versa? Sometimes you seem discontented but it looks like you really know what you're doing here."
Angela	Angela says, "Indeed. I can only say that ... Well, it is the first time we've had an incident that disastrous this Loop, but I cannot say it is an atypical state of affairs. when something goes badly here, it tends to snowball. That is why it is of upmost importance to solve breaches quickly and efficiently as they occur. One breach can lead to several as the Abnormalities resonate with the actions and behaviors of the others. And the stronger the Abnormality, the more likely these cascading effects will occur." Angela starts leading Madeleine through Control, making her way to the Elevator on this very level, slowing when Madeleine brings up the Sweepers. "Oh! I am afraid to say, I do not know much about Sweepers myself but I do know that they are not Abnormalities. Sweepers aren't even monsters banished to the outskirts, they are considered a normal part of the City. There is a period of time in the Backstreets where they 'clean up' the City and I am told this is a dangerous time and place to be but they are not Abnormalities. They are something else." She turns on her heel, walking backwards so she can face Madeleine while talking to her. "There are new Abnormalities coming in all the time, of course but 'monster' is a bit of a general term whereas 'Abnormality' is specific to entities within this facility. Agents and Sephirah sometimes see entities outside this facility as similar to Abnormalities--creatures from the Reversal of Stanley's world come to mind--and some see anything remotely monstrous as 'an Abnormality'. It is a classification the facility uses sometimes inaccurately--sometimes too broadly--and usually it does not matter. Until it does." Madeleine mentions a vaguely menacing organization and Angela hesitates before asking, "The psychonauts?" She must have heard from Flamel by now but-- ''She wasn't always happy to work there, but it suited her.'' "I understand the feeling. To answer your question," Angela mulls over it for a moment. "I want to leave this facility--but I cannot leave it until the work is done. My body will not function outside this facility, but I may have a chance to escape when the Seed of Light project is realized." She nods once to Madeleine. "I have had to learn to be capable at this particular job. But have you ever decided that just because you are good at something--doesn't mean that something is good for you? Have you ever been given a role within which you excel but makes you miserable? No, I was not a good fit for Lobotomy Corp when I first started out--but I had to learn or I would not have made it even this far. There are some people here who work better within these walls than out, I admit, but I cannot say if I would be or not myself--I have never tried to live outside."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"So you do get new Abnormalities, huh," Madeleine says. "I guess what makes something an Abnormality and not just a monster must be whether you can derive that enkephalin stuff from it, right? That awful goo that the Jester spat at me during- yeah." She decides not to dwell too much on the Jester's incursion. "Anyway. Not the psychonauts, no, we didn't have those where I'm from. They give me the willies, honestly. Poking around in people's heads, doesn't sound like anything good would come of that. Not good for the person being poked around in, at least." "Have you ever been given a role within which you excel but makes you miserable?" "Well I- I wouldn't say I excelled, necessarily, but... yeah. The crowd I ran with when I first got like this," she points at her starry eyes for emphasis, "They weren't good to me. One of 'em in particular... oh, I shouldn't go into it. Not happy stuff. So yeah, I guess I know what you mean. Or at least, I think I get why you're so set on seeing this Seed of Light stuff through to the end. Feeling cooped up isn't good for anyone, let alone for as long as you have."
Angela	Angela slowly starts to realize the ''Creeper Sweepers' are not the same as ''the Sweepers''--she grimaces because once again readying a response in her head while someone is speaking has worked against her. Ugh. She wishes dialogue had a fastforward button sometimes. But there isn't really much for her to say about them that she hasn't already answered so Angela decieds to pretend everything she said was intentional and not bring up them again. So long as she doesn't acknowledge it, she can't be caught for making a minor conversational flub. "Enkephalin of course is in everyone's body--so everyone produces it to some extent, but Abnormalities produce an excess amount of Enkephalin compared to normal people." Madeleine points to her starry eyes. "Oh," Angela says. "I just assumed that was normal where you came from." ''I shouldn't go into it.'' "It would not bother me if you did? Avoiding talking about your experiences is a good way to deal with them alone. Some people prefer that, but if you were not you wouldn't hint at your past troubles so often. Sometimes it helps to have an ear even if they can't do anything about it right away. I won't go on and on about how I wish I could help but I just don't have the ability, anyway." She seems to imagine this would annoy someone. She nods her agreement as she presses a button on the elevator. WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING The Elevator is fine, it clings open but a brief alarm has sounded. Over the comms Tiphereth speaks up. "The Big and Will Be Bad Wolf has escaped! As has the Red Hooded Mercenary! They're in Central so be careful!" "...Ah," Angela says. "I was going to take you there first..."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"I just assumed that was normal where you came from." "It- well, it is and it isn't. It's normal for Excrucians such as myself, but Excrucians aren't normal to the rest of my home universe. We kind of... we came first, right, before the 'real' world was made. And a lot of us were crushed by the roots of that new world. The rest of us didn't take too kindly to being plastered over and, hm. It's hard to say if I used to be a normal human and then became an Excrucian, or if I was always an Excrucian and did some time as a human before remembering what I was. It's a little of both - I'm sort of a being of both the 'real' world and the 'unreality' that preceded it, all tangled up in each other. They got peanut butter all over our chocolate, if you follow the expression." "Avoiding talking about your experiences is a good way to deal with them alone. Some people prefer that, but if you were not you wouldn't hint at your past troubles so often." "Oh, you know, I suppose I would like someone to talk to about these things, it's only, I don't know who I can trust with the whole story, right? The short of it is that when I was new to being an Excrucian, another of my kind took me on as a 'protege' when really they were looking for a mark. I was new to the world beyond the world, and put my trust in the wrong people. Took me too long to get out of there, and it cost me too much. And now I'm in a new world again, and worried that I'll make the same mistake, you know? I like to think that I've learned some discernment, but... it's hard to be sure." Then the alarm goes off, and Madeleine is reaching for her knife, eyes darting around. When Tiphereth explains the situation, she eases just slightly. "A wolf, eh? I reckon I could lend a hand or two with that, if you'd like. You can tell me what I need to know on our way down there." There's a look on her face that says she's more asking for permission to help, rather than just offering.
Angela	Angela quirks her head at Madeleine. "What is an Excrucian? Like... 'Excruciating'?" She frowns since 'Excruciate' is a term that speaks volumes all on its own. When Madeleine gives more details as to what she is, she feels--sympathy, of course--but she doesn't think it's especially unique of her to feel sympathy over something like that. But it's actually interesting to her because it does not read as a difficult situation that is simply similar to what she goes through--it feels like it's own thing rather than something Angela herself has gone through--but it isn't entirely disconnected either. There is one key element that speaks to Angela's experience. The desire to be born? The desire to exist. Being something that does not quite belong. She nods. She understands the idiom about peanut butter and chocolate. And then she nods again because she knows that finding someone to actually talk to is difficult enough. "That is fair." Angela admits. "I will avoid speaking carelessly, at least.... I am--sorry that you have put your trust in the wrong people in the past. It is--difficult, when you are around trustworthy people when you have spent so much time being around nobody you could trust, or people who actively abused your trust. All I can say is to encourage you to find people to trust anyway. It is ... vulnerability, so it is difficult for me. But it is worth it when it is real so that means the risk is ... worth it." She seems to worry for a moment that she is misleading Madeleine with a statement like this but ultimately elects to just trust in what she said despite her own problems with trust. "...Of course, the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf will try to eat you, and the Red Hooded Mercenary will accept help but isn't...known for aim." She steps into the elevator and hits the down button, bringing the two of them to a lower level. The doors slide back open revealing the brightly colored halls of Central. "It escaped to Welfare!" Tiphereth says over comms. Central is going crazy. Magical girls (Lobotomy Corp Agent version) are fighting various abnormalities that have escaped throughout the floor--they seem to have it handled but they are decidedly busy. The Red Hooded Mercenary passes through, carrying her weapons. She looks at Madeleine--looks her over--and then her scarred face grins. "...A fellow hunter...is it? I'm out to get that bastard after what he did to my granny..."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"What is an Excrucian? Like... 'Excruciating'?" "Yeah, like 'excruciating'. In our own tongue we are Ninuanni, 'the people of nowhere'. But the name given to us by our enemies, Excrucian, it has a certain ring to it. Those enemies are nothing if not creative." Madeleine gives a wry smile as the elevator arrives. Once inside, Madeleine listens intently to Angela's instructions. "I take it that this Red Mercenary is one of the abnormalities that can... resonate, as you said, with the Wolf? Like the story of Little Red Riding Hood, if I had to guess." She sees the Mercenary, and hears its remarks about a 'granny', and nods in agreement with her own guess. "I see. Yes, well, Little Red," she says, raising her voice so the Mercenary can hear, "You won't be getting the wolf today - this time it'll be mine. Just sit tight and it'll all be over in a snap." Madeleine already has her spear in hand, and sets off at a run following signs toward Welfare.
Angela	"..." Angela smiles a little. "Why'd you introduce yourself by what your enemies call you?" She asks, a bit wryly herself. "WEll, I can't deny that it doesn't have a ring to it, but just because something is catchy doesn't mean I would want to call you as your enemies would--Ah, unless...Is it a reclaimed term? I have heard of these occuring from time to time." Angela bobs her head once. "Naturally, but do not take her to be precisely the same--they encompass more than just their original tales--they come from the collective unconciousness--not a storybook--and their names are a little different for a reason." "Tch... Little Red, huh?" The Mercenary grunts. "You think you can just catch my prey faster than me? I've been hunting that bastard my whole life and--Hey!" Madeleine is already running, the Mercenary gives chase. Angela checks their path through the facility through the cameras but Angela basically never runs so Madeleine will get ahead of her pretty easily. The Welfare Department has a cool blue color scheme and has an impossible skybox above that shines light into department. There is a cavernous quality to this section of the facility, with rock-like walls opening deeper into the facility with no real ready pathway to reach them. The halls open up into circular platforms. Something is growling, blending in with the environment, the gleam of its eyes and the glint of its many sharp teeth flashing briefly before it steps back and obscures itself by crouching down along one of the pipes. Ghhrhrrrrrrr.... The Red Headed Mercenary arrives shortly after Madeleine. "He's here.."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine stops short for a moment as the open skies of Welfare come into view. Real or artificial, it's an impressive sight. But she doesn't let it distract her long from the reason she's here: the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf. Or is it the Big and Already Bad Wolf now that it's breached? She'll have to ask Angela later. For now she focuses on tracking the creature down. Madeleine can see just fine in starlight, and even the shadowy corners of Welfare are better lit than that. She cannot, however, see through objects, so she briefly loses the wolf among the pipes. The huntress tips her head slightly to one side, trying to pinpoint the creature with her hearing while it stalks through the darkness. She doesn't have any experience navigating this part of the facility and it's hard to gauge the best ambush spots on the fly. Instead, she traces the wolf's path and follows it herself, occasionally moving to cut a corner and close the distance between herself and her quarry. For now, she lets the Mercenary slip from her attention, choosing to focus entirely on locating the wolf.
Angela	There is a push off of those pipes and a leap--and then a faint ''clang'' on another--but the beast doesn't linger there long as it quickly leaps once more, propelling itself towards Madeleine first,hoping to tackle her off the platform and bite into her body with its many sharp teeth, those bright blue eyes opening up mid leap. The Red Hooded Mercenary lines up her sights, firing a few shots into the beast's belly as it throws itself at Madeleine--but this does not seem to deter it from throwing itself at Madeleine in the slightest! "Let's see how much of a hunter you are, Little Star..." The Red Hooded Mercenary quips back, having taken Madeleine's own words as a challenge. The click of heels in the distance reveal Angela's approach though she's not quite present YET. Will Madeleine survive?!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	The wolf pounces, and Madeleine falls under its claws. Savage jaws dig into her neck, tearing away a chunk of- plastic? It's a hollow decoy. And Madeleine falls from her perch on a pipe high above, landing spear-first on the wolf's back. The sound of metal piercing flesh is immediately followed with the heavy impact of the huntress's boot on the wolf's neck. The beast isn't finished yet, however, and shakes her off just in time to take a volley of bullets from the Mercenary. There's a brief hesitation as the wolf chooses between its fated enemy and this new threat, before opting to pursue the closer of the two, that being Madeleine. The huntress sweeps horizontally with her spear, keeping the wolf at enough of a distance that she doesn't risk too much 'friendly' fire from the Mercenary. She follows up by breathing out a cloud of icy vapor that coalesces on the floor under the wolf, clinging to its paws to trip it up. As the wolf swipes at her with its claws Madeleine calls out, "Drogrung!" "Of course." A ghostly dragon's head materializes around the end of Madeleine's spear as she winds up for a thrust, and when she lunges forward the jaws slam shut on the wolf, aiming to pin it in place as much as subdue it with sheer overwhelming force.
Angela	Click. Click. Click. So go Angela's heels as she approaches the battle at play. The Big and Will be Bad Wolf is a WAW Abnormality but it's a decidedly lower end than the King of Greed or the Queen of Hatred. And its story renders it just a bit weak to any huntress that might be after it. There is some strength to stories when dealing with Abnormalities--being a Huntress that ISN'T Red Hooded Mercenary doesn't hurt--it didn't hurt in the stories after all. Well, not all of them. The Wolf's fangs crunch into ...plastic? It engulfs the hollow decoy anyway, tearing it apart with fangs and claws before jerking its head around to try and turn on the Red Hooded Mercenary. CHUNK! Madeleine crashes down into the beast from above and slams her spar into its body. It hits the floor and writhes, shaking its body and-- A slew of bullets from the Mercenary impacts it and it stumbles bac. The huntress pushes the wolf back and then-- --it certainly isn't expecting a ghost dragon at the head of the spear. The ghost-head slams across the wolf's hide and pins it down in place, the spear holding the creature down. The wolf stares at Madeleine with a glowing eye. "Well well..." The Red Hooded Mercenary says, putting away the pistol (and no longer shooting in such a manner that might wing Madeleine) as she approaches the pinned wolf, taking out her scythe and-- --stabs it into the Wolf's belly while it can't move. There is a howl from the creature as a green glow ripples around it and it reforms into the Abnormality's Egg form. "No point in striking it down any more." The Red Hooded Mercenary says. "CAn't kill it while it's like that." She turns on her heel to make her way back to her own cell. "But I'll be here to punish the beast forever...and forever... and forever... That's the best way to deal with an Abnormality." Angela watches after the Red Hooded Mercenary as she leaves but doesn't seem bothered by it. "Well done." Angela says. "You really are an exceptional huntress." Angela says. "The Wolf is a difficult opponent--but you also resonated with the Mercenary. But--as you can see..." Angela nods to the egg--it vanishes away back to its own cell. "There is no end to the tales that reside here. They continue on. We can reverse time, but not a tale."