private Sanctuary, Appaloosa (1x1 Reboot w/ driz)

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze sat down next to her and took out the bottle, handing it to her.

"Not too much though," he said with a slight smile. "You better leave me some."

He leaned back against the couch, putting his hands behind his head. Staring at the ceiling, his mind began to drift off about random things. His home, his other friends, his old job in the Royal Guard. Then, without thinking, he looked at Lory. 

"So, do you like me or something?" he asked her.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory looked at him with a confused expression on her face. "...The hell is that all of a sudden? What do you even mean, Ray-Ray??" She became perplexed, then looked away with a humph. "If you're talking about those times I said you were 'my man', I just stuttered, alright? I meant cameraman. As in a man who uses a camera. You're my cameraman in the show. Simple as that." Then, she began looking around the room: a blank look in her eyes.

"I mean... I don't hate you, if that accounts for something. There are certain people out there whose faces I can barely resist the urge to punch... Plus, I don't usually stick with someone else for too long before losing my mind." She reclined her head back onto the couch. "Growing up, I realized I'd much rather be on my own. Relying on others just means you'll get betrayed eventually... That's just how screwed up the world is, I guess." She sat up straight again, sending a smile towards Raze.

"Even so, I like to think we make a good team, you and I. Like, we survived for this long, so that's pretty neat! Don'cha think?" Having said that, she popped open the whisky and took a small drink. Immediately, she involuntarily puckered up her face, cringing slightly at the strong taste of the alcohol.

"Wooh! Damn! That's a good one." She commented as she offered the bottle to her partner.

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

"...Ah. I see," Raze said as he took the bottle from her. "I was just curious, you know how I am." He took a swig of the drink and sighed in satisfaction at the taste. "Well, it definitely earns the price tag its been given." He set it down, and stared at the ceiling again.

"I don't know, I really don't think that's how the world is. You just gotta find the right people to trust, though those type of people aren't exactly a dime-a-dozen." He stared at her. "I know you've had it rough, but just how bad did you have it anyway? I know your dad was a cop, and all..."

[Driz 1,552]

"My father was a selfish prick and my mother was a good-for-nothing junkie. The end." Lory answered; blunt and cold. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to face forward, angrily staring at the unlit fireplace. Her body language suddenly began implying aversion, and she became grumpy.

"...I hate talking about them." After a few seconds of silence she continued, somewhat reluctantly. "They never gave a fuck about me, so why should I?... My best decision in life was to flee from home and live with the guys; a couple of friends from my neighborhood." She looked upwards, nostalgic. "They understood me. They took me in as one of their own. For a while I was happy..." She brought one leg up to the couch and wrapped her arms around it. "We formed the band I told you about: Garmuth. That was cool, too... But obviously, that didn't last for long. We broke up and went separate ways just a few months later." A soft sigh. "After that, since I didn't know how to consume sunlight through photosynthesis, I began looking for a job as to not starve to death. And then I met you, and then we started this silly show, and now we're here. Hooray." She concluded, unenthusiastic.

"I mean... The time I spent with the gang was good until it lasted, but... Just straight-up drama, y'know?... Too much drama... Drama within my family, drama within my circle of friends... Screw that. No point in reminiscing now when I got crazy-ass cannibalistic hillbillies to worry about." She chuckled lightly.

"...What about you, Ray-Ray? How was your life up until entering this hellhole?"

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze looked up at the ceiling. "Believe it or not... I used to be a mercenary. You know, gun for hire, and a really young one, at that. When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was be a soldier. You know, walk with authority, get recognition and respect for serving my country and all that. I was aiming for the Royal Guard at one point; some guy that I knew from my neighborhood, retired Guardsman, saw something in me, a potential to really rise through the ranks. He took me under his wing, and taught me everything about being a Guardsman. He was like a second dad to me... anyway, he recommended me to the recruitment center in Canterlot, and soon I was shipped off to training camp. And you know what? That guy was right. It wasn't easy, but I managed to really breeze through training, whatever they threw at me, I adapted to it. I earned a lot of respect from my superiors and my fellow recruits... but I apparently made a few jealous enemies as well." He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"So I pass recruitment, one of the youngest to graduate and be placed within the Royal Guard. Not even two months into it, I get framed for stealing money from the Royal Treasury, and I get a dishonorable discharge. I go back to my mentr Guardsman, and, to my surprise, believes that I had nothing to do with it, that I was innocent, and that he'd help me find out who did it." Another small pause. "In the meantime though, he and I started our own little mercenary business. We didn't kill anyone, mind you, we were more like an alternative to the Royal Guard. We did security jobs, or we'd protect people from outside threats, like Diamond Dogs. Sometimes we'd also assist in catching crime suspects."

He sighed, and sat up, looking at the ground. "So one day... we get a job from a small town in Dodge Junction. Apparently a roaming band of Timberwolves had made their way over there and were harassing the locals, one of them injuring a citizen who had strayed too far. So we go over there, ready to take 'em out. Turns out they were a lot smarter than we gave them credit for. They get the jump on us. I managed to get to safety and get rid of them. But my mentor... he wasn't so lucky. They had gotten to him first, and just... completely maul him..." He clenched his fists. "Tore him to shreds... by the time I had made my way over to him... I could barely recognize him. He was dead for sure. It still haunts me... though I tend not to show it. After that, I just... I didn't want to have anything to do with soldier work, ever. I wanted to erase that memory from my mind... so I took up camerawork. I thought filming things would help me take my mind of what I had seen, and my experiences with trying to be the soldier I thought I would be. And to be honest... it kinda did. And now I'm here... using my soldier skills fighting off crazy people." He scoffed at the thought. "It's like I can't escape from it..."

[Driz 1,552]

"Huh... Damn... I... I'm sorry to hear that..." She said, concerned, not knowing exactly how to properly respond. "Turns out you need that whiskey way more than I do... Bummer." She playfully added. She brought her hands to the back of her head and laid back.

"You know... That mentor of yours?... He seemed like a pretty cool guy... He must've been hella proud of you." Lory assured, followed by a sigh. She wasn't much acquainted with the practice of sympathy, so she chose to not press the matter any further. Dwelling on the past wasn't necessarily how she operated. With that in mind, the mare gleefully jumped up from the couch, landing on her hooves. She stretched her arms up in the air.

"I don't know about you, but I already feel rested as fuuuuuuck. Guess that booze finally hit me." She said, somewhat proudly. "I'm ready to kick some Goldhoof ass!" She said as she jabbed the air a few times.

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze nodded, putting the whiskey back into the backpack and standing up.

"We just need to be careful," he said to her while shouldering his pack. "The guy still has an edge over us, remember that." He took a deep breath. "Alright, let's go."

Before they left, he searched the room for supplies. He found two handgun clips with 10 bullets in them in a drawer, and that seemed to be it. He exchanged the almost empty clip in the handgun for a full one, then holstered it. To his left was a strange door with a two-headed crow statuette placed on it. He pushed on it. Locked.

"Another one of these animal doors..." he said. There were small windows on the sides of the door that allowed a small peek of the room behind it, and Raze took a look. He spotted something inside that looked familiar to him.

"Is that a... homemade grenade launcher...?" he  asked out loud. "Better keep that in mind..."

He found another door to his left, behind the couch. He opened it, leading to a small, brightly lit room of some sort with a large table in the middle. There were a couple of whiteboards lying around. One of them had a note attached to it. Raze picked it up and read it.

"August 12th: That homeless man turned. He's the thirteenth. August 15th: Three college girls. All rotten. Cole is a goddamn idiot. August 17th: The husband from the couple we caught turned overnight. He's the fifteenth. Unfortunately his wife isn't, so we'll just get rid of her." 

Along with the note was a small picture of... something; it was too dark in the picture to see anything. The only thing he could make out of it was something sharp, almost like... teeth.

Raze felt a slight chill go down his spine, then put the note down. It was then he noticed the other pictures on the walls. Candid shots of various people.

"Are these... the missing people...?" Raze asked out loud.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory took a stroll around the small room for a few seconds, checking out the pictures displayed on the walls. That entire scenery radiated an incredibly eerie vibe that made the mare feel her stomach turning. From what she could gather, they were now delving even deeper into the whole scandal involving the Goldhoof family and the disappearance of several people prior to the Paranormal Equestria team arrival.

"The homeless man turned... College girls all rotten..." She quietly repeated the words written on the note to herself in an attempt to link the pieces together. "Wh...What's all this mean?" She turned to Raze, apprehensive. "What do they mean with turned?... Turned into what?" She questioned, immediately regretting having done so, for she did not wish to know the answer to that question. 

After another quick glance through the room, her eyes met with another door at the end of it. Something about the expectation of what was behind it filled her with pure anxiety. She looked at Raze once more and motioned as if to say 'you first'.

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze slowly opened the door, not prepared for what he saw next. The entire room was dark, the walls covered in some sort of black substance, almost like what he saw in the bathroom. It smelled moldy and disgusting, and he almost gagged when he entered inside. 

"Ugh... what is  this?" he said, looking at the walls. As he walked forward, the substance in the walls began to move, making squelching noises, and something came out of it. It looked humanoid in appearance, completely covered in black sludge. There were sharp claws sticking out of what looked like its arms, and where its face was a large pair of sharp teeth. The noises it made sounded like it was choking on something. It began to make its way over to them.

Raze's eyes widened at the sight of it. "Holy SHIT!" he exclaimed, raising his gun and firing two rounds. They both missed, as the creature began to move erratically, bobbing its head around.

[Driz 1,552]

Her entire body stiffened up and she froze solid in place, utterly terrified from the disturbing sight that was that creature. Her mouth stood agape - although no words came out of it - and her pupils shrunk to the size of peanuts. Impulsively, Lory began backing away slowly while staring at the sludge monster in complete shock.

Then, she attempted to reach for the knife inside her pocket, but as soon as she did so, her hoof collided against a bramble-like bump on the floor formed by the black substance all over the place. She tripped and fell to the ground on her rear as the pocket knife was flung backwards across the whiteboard room, far away from her reach. Becoming desperate, she threw a mighty kick aiming for the monster's leg: to no avail.

A gelatinous, squishy sound was emitted once her hoof came in contact with the enemy, making it seem like she'd just hit a sponge filled with liquid. Additionally, the thing didn't seem to even flinch, as it arched backward with its claws extended, preparing to lunge an attack. Lory gasped, put her arms in front of her and closed her eyes, preparing herself for the worst.

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze came in at the last minute, kicking the thing out of the way before it could lunge at Lory. It stumbled back, then quickly recovered, making its way forward again. Raze fired a few shots, and they hit the creature's left arm, destroying it. It seemed to cry out in pain at this, then quickly made its way over to Raze, raising its claw for an attack.

[Driz 1,552]

As soon as she saw Raze rushing in to help, Lory stumbled back up on her hooves and ran after her knife. Once she picked it back up, she unfolded it and stormed right back into the fray. Brandishing her weapon and making use of the fact that the creature had shifted focus, she swiftly sunk the knife into the side of its neck; the force of impact alone being enough to slightly stagger it. Grossed out by the viscous black substance that oozed from the wounds, she let go of the hilt, leaving the knife stuck onto the beast. Thankfully, at first impression, the thing didn't seem to be nearly as sturdy as the old man - even though its terrifying appearance probably made up for it.

"Sh...Shoot the legs off!" She suggested, praying the bullets would have the same effect they had against the arm.

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze did as she suggested, and aimed for its right leg, shooting it twice. It was destroyed, and it fell to the ground. Raze quickly reloaded and shot three rounds at the creature's head, causing it to explode, killing it. After confirming it was dead, Raze carefully holstered his gun, taking a deep breath.

"Alright... on top of regenerating people... now we also have mold men to deal with... great!!" He said, kicking the creature's corpse.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory remained still for a couple more seconds, waiting to see if the creature had been truly defeated - despite having lost its head. Needless to say, she was genuinely taken aback by that encounter. She didn't even wholly believe in ghosts or demons prior to encountering the Goldhooves; let alone believing in black sludge monsters resembling something right out of a Gothic novel. Precisely, she expected anything but.

After a short moment of hesitation, Lory approached the fiend's corpse and retrieved the pocket knife from its neck. She attempted to clean it from the muddy substance that covered it whole by rubbing the blade's flat side against her jeans, before putting it back inside her pocket. Then, she turned her head to meet eyes with Raze: her expression still somewhat shocked.

"J...Just what the actual fuck is going on in this house, man?..."

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

"I don't even know anymore," Raze said. "Out of all the things I've seen in my entire life... this is most confusing."

He saw a door just ahead of where the creature came out and attacked them. "C'mon. This way." He opened the door, finding himself in a hallway. On one end, there was another door decorated with scorpions like the one in the rec room. The hallway also opened right leading further in. Since he still didn't have the key to the scorpion door, Raze went right instead. The first thing that got his attention was the set of stairs leading down. 

He sighed. "Do I want to...?" he asked reluctantly, then shook his head. "Screw it." He went down and opened the door, finding himself in a basement. Just like the other room where the creature attacked them, most of the walls were covered in black sludge.

"Celestia above, it's in here too!" he said. "Which might mean..." 

He unholstered his gun. "Stay sharp," he said to Lory, walking forward.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory nodded, pulling out the pocket knife. Apprehensive, she stepped just a couple of inches away from Raze, breathing on his neck.

"You better have a hella bunch of bullets left, Ray-Ray..." She said. "If there are more of those sludge freaks around here, I'm not sure I can do much against them with my butter spreader." She then became pensive. "W...Why don't we go back to the deer room and drink some more whiskey? Who knows! Maybe... uh... maybe the exit is somewhere back there!"

Edited June 30, 2017 by driz

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

"Don't panic on me now, Lory," Raze said while walking. "We either move forward, or we die. We have no other options."

He kept walking, the pathway snaking left and right a bit until it straightened out and turned right. As he was about to turn the corner, another one of those creatures walked out from behind it. As soon as he noticed the two, it approached them.

Raze jumped back as soon as he saw it, aiming his gun and firing two shots at its head. They caused it to stagger back, its arms moving back with it. It then sprung itself forward launching its claws at Raze. He put his hands up at the last minute, and he could feel them being pierced by the sharp claws.

"Agh!!" Raze exclaimed in pain, feeling the blood running down his arms.

Edited June 30, 2017 by Jack Baker

[Driz 1,552]

"Oh fuck no!!" Lory exclaimed and, without thinking too much about it, immediately charged forward. She pierced the knife through the monster's stomach and, while still holding onto the hilt, tackled the foe with her shoulder in order to try and push it back a few steps. Simply staying right under the beast's enormous fangs for just a fraction of a second was a truly terrifying experience on its own.

The mare positioned herself between Raze and the creature, holding the knife with both hands like a sword. While her partner recovered, she awaited for the creature to make a move so that she could attempt a dodge. So was the dangerous life of a melee combatant.

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

The creature staggered back from the tackle, black liquid oozing out from the wound in its stomach. It took some time to recover from staggering, then quickly ran forward to Lory, slashing at her with its claw.

Raze saw this and fought through the pain and tried to shoot at its head once more. He missed.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory attempted to jump out of the way in time, but the narrow corridor they found themselves in didn't allow her much room for maneuvers. The claw attack grazed her left shoulder, luckily only leaving a superficial cut onto her arm. She recovered and quickly sidestepped to the monster's behind, hacking at his back with the knife.

"Damn it, Raze!!" She angirly shouted. "I let you keep the gun 'cause I thought you were a better shot than me! What the hell!" She then grit her teeth. "Heal yourself with a mint syrup!"

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze took the time to focus, taking a deep breath and aiming for the monster's head once more. He pulled the trigger, and the biller hit its mark, causing the head to explode. The creature fell to its knees, and collapsed onto the floor.

Raze then holstered his gun, setting his backpack on the floor and taking out a first aid med. He used a little bit of it to wash out his wounds and saw them beginning to heal, giving the rest to Lory. He then checked his gun; six bullets left in the loaded clip. Putting on his backpack, he continued to move forward.

[Driz 1,552]

Panting heavily, Lory rubbed her wounds with the med and threw the empty bottle away afterwards by placing it on the ground. "This ain't good..." She quietly said while moving forward, right behind Raze. "These goddamn goo monsters are everywhere!... I don't know how long our supplies will last... Can we even outrun them if it comes to it?"

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze shook his head. "I don't even know..." he said. "This is the first time I've ever seen something like this. Though I think I've figured something out: three shots to the head should do them in. That shouldn't take too much ammo."

There were two paths he could take, a door to his right or keep following the path he was on leading further down. He kept following the path, which split again: left or right. Left was a door labeled "workshop". He tried opening the door. Locked. 

"Great," he muttered, then went right. As he went by, he passed an open entryway leading to a room covered in black sludge. He decided not to go there and kept going straight, walking up to an unlocked folding gate. He slid the gate open, finding himself in a large room. In front of him was a small map taped to a shelf, which he took. It was labeled "Basement Map". Taking a quick look at it, he saw that the processing area was deeper into the basement, past a generator room of some kind. Taking note of that, he folded the map and put it in his pants pocket. He kept walking forward, finding a large table in the middle of the room, with containers filled with rotten meat. He covered his nose and mouth.

"Ugh... that smells terrible..." he said, almost gagging. "Just what the hell is that?" He noticed something sticking out of one of the pieces of meat. It looked like a large metal key. He carefully took it out and inspected it. It had a fake scorpion attached to it.

"This could be the key to those weird scorpion doors..." he said. He put it in his pocket along with the map.

"Let's backtrack for a minute," he said to Lory. "I want to see what those doors are hiding..." 

As he went back where he came from, a ceiling vent door dropped on the ground with a loud bang, surprising Raze. From the vent, another black creature fell out of it, struggling to get up.

"Not again!" he said, he looked to the left of the creature. There was a door that he ran toward and kicked open. He went inside and quickly shut it. He looked around, the door leading back upstairs was just ahead of them to his left. He turned around and aimed his gun at the door. Though he could hear the creature bang on it, it didn't seem like he knew how to open it. Raze slowly lowered his gun, and raised a brow.

"Seems like they can't open doors..." he said, then ran back to the entrance, quickly opening and shutting the door behind him and running back up the stairs. They were back in the hallway leading to the basement.

Raze leaned back against a wall, slowly sliding down until he sat on the floor. His hands were gripping his head.

"I need a minute..." he said. "My heart's pounding out of my chest..."

[Driz 1,552]

Once they were back out and seemingly safe, she arched her upper body forward and placed her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths. "Yeah... No shit..." She agreed. "Thank heavens they're as dumb as they look..." Attempting to find a better position to rest, she then put her hand against the wall in order to support her weight. After a couple of seconds, she let out a deep sigh and slowly moved near Raze.

"At least we got that freaky key thing... That'll be of use... I think... I hope." She brought a hand to her head and scratched it. "Either way, we better stay away from that basement until we figure out a better way to deal with those things. Maybe we should try searching for another one of them dog heads around the house, as well as in those scorpion doors we saw earlier..." She crouched down and patted Raze on the shoulder. "Hey... You good, Ray-Ray?"

[Jack Baker 698]

@driz

Raze closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah... I'll be... I'll be fine. Just need to calm down a bit..." He slowly stood up. "C'mon, let's see what that door nearby opens." 

He walked over to where one of the scorpion doors he saw was, then took the key out and slid it into the lock. He turned it and heard the door unlock with a click. Opening it, he saw it led back to the main hall of the house.

"Shortcut... good to know," he said. Walking out. As he took another step, he nearly jumped when he heard a familiar Appleloosan voice.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!!" It was Nick Goldhoof, and it sounded like it came from the balcony overlooking the main hall, though he couldn't see him. He crouched down.

"We just got done dealing with fucking mold men... now this guy again?!" he said quietly in frustration.