Die and let live (IC)

[Supercape]

GM

Dead Head's Eye was safely nestled in the pocket of Gorsky as he checked in. By rolling and crawling it soon gained an unobstrusive vantage point.

Dead Head could not hear, but the doctor was mumbling and cursing to himself. He was all nerves, holding his enormous iron gun in his slippery palms. Several times he peeked out of the drawn curtains whilst holding it - in a ghastly homage to Malcolm X.

Eventually he sat down and slapped himself, once, hard, on the cheek, trying to knock some sense into himself. It sort of worked - he stopped mumbling so badly and the shakes became less apparent.

Gorsky helped himself to the mini bar, drinking the vodka first. His sole intention at the moment seemed to be to get blind drunk. Once the vodka was out, he started on some other drinks, clearly intending to become as drunk as possible.

[Dr Archeville]

Dead head eventually made it to the cheap hotel, down alleyways and darkened side streets, even trudging through some sewers at one points.

Man, 'venger's gonna hate I'm ruinin' his pants like this.

Now he stood behind a dumpster at the side of a gas station across the street from the hotel, looking right at the window he'd seen Gorsky peek out from. He continued switching viewpoints between the eye in his head and the one in Gorsky's pocket, alternating between watching his activities and watching for anyone approaching his room.

Looks clear, but no way to tell if there's someone approaching from inside.

Waiting until he was reasonably sure he had a clear (un-viewed) shot, he dashed across the road to Gorsky's window, and waited, listening.

Should be able to hear if he's trying to contact anyone. Well, unless he does so telepathically.

[Supercape]

GM

Gorsky was a hard drinker, used to his liquor. But drowning himself in the entire mini-bar had had the intended effect. He was sprawled on the bed, sweating, and half dead to the world. His head spinning, he clutched and unclutched the huge revolver in his hand, even in this state paranoia had not left him.

The man was mumbling, incoherently at times, and not always in English, much of it Romanian, and even phrases in Latin.

"God spare me!"

"He said I could end all death...haha...haha!"

"It's all gone wrong!"

"I'm going to end up like Cartwright...oh God nooooOOOOO!"

"A speaking clock....what was I thinking????"

[Dr Archeville]

Clock, eh? Now that bears investigatin'. Possessed, maybe? Former owner was a necromancer, put his spirit into the timepiece due to the resonance with time and mortality? Or maybe somethin' simpler, a trasmitter in it broadcastin' the voice -- and instructions -- of some still-livin' necromancer. Nah, that's crazy; probably a possessed clock. Ah, if only I knew where he lived!

Dead Head waited, hoping that Gorsky would make another call to someone that would give more clues, if not just leave the motel and head back to his home. It would take some time, but he could spare it.

Ain't like I'm gettin' any older. An' this'll be worth it if it means one less necromancer out there an' one less necromancer teachin' others his nasty ways.

Oh, I can try a mental call to Mutt, too. He may've found Gorsky's house, or at least his workspace. Now, lemme see, how'd Nick say to do it? Get a good picture of Mutt in mind...

[Supercape]

GM

Stopping off for a quick lavatory break, a very intoxicated Gorsky violently threw open his door and stomped out of his hotel room.

"Damn it to hell!" yelled Gorsky, staggering out of the hotel room, and past the receptionist. He was drunk, but his screams held a certain conviction - he believed hell was not far behind him.

"I...gotta end...this...nobody...screws with me...." he said, stumbling towards his car.

"What are you looking at?" he screamed at a frightened couple, and waved his enormous revolver at them.

"Goddamn Americans!" he shouted as he reached his car and opened the door.

"I'm gonna burn that hospital to the ground!" he whispered to himself "Make sure it ends!"

Even as he spoke, Dead Head could smell smoke. His eye in Gorsky's room saw smoke belching fortrth from the toilet in Gorsky's room!

[Dr Archeville]

Shoot, my eye ell out of his pocket. Well, I know where he's headin', if he's serious 'bout burnin' the hospital down! This guy's nuttier'n Aunt Babs's fruitcake! Okay, so I can head 'im off at- whoa, a fire here, too!

The one-eyed revenant smashed in the window to Gorsky's hotel room with his unfeeling fists, and made a dash towards the bathroom. "Don't know if it's evidence he's burnin', or jes' trying to burn down everythin' 'round 'im. Man, that's all we need, a would-be necromancer what's also a pyromaniac! Gotta deal with this first, then I'll head back to the hospital."

[Supercape]

GM

Smoke was belching powerfully from the toilet, and heat too. It would have been to much for a man to bear. But Dead Head wasn't bothered by petty concerns like breathing.

He couldn't see much, however, with the smoke.

The fire was blazing hard, started in a bin - vodka, magazines, toilet roll and matches all made for an incendiary cocktail. It had spread to the bathroom door, and even the main bedroom was smoking suspiciously and had a few minor fires.

A few shouts, and the ringing of a fire alarm could be heard. At this time of the night however, most of the guest would be fast asleep, or worse, drunk and passed out.

And meanwhile, Gorsky was on his way to the Hospital!

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head ran to the shower and turned it on full blast, then the sink's taps, and used the room's ice bucket to try to extinguish the fires. But it was too little water, and the flames spread too fast (stupid cheap wallpaper!) to have any real effect.

'Least I was able to get the window open before it built too much and gave that backdraft effect. Alarms are goin', so there's at least that, but in a place like this, folks is liable to be sleepin' one off an' won't be woked by an alarm. But I know one way t'get 'em up an' outta here...

The revenant concentrated a moment, focusing on the supernatural energies that fueled his body, energies far removed from the life force of normal people. He tapped it, remembering all the angry ghosts and poltergeists and Nihils he had known -- both from personal experience and hundreds of hours of horror movies -- and released it in a single, powerful, yet succinct, outburst.

[bg=#000000]"GET OUT!"[/bg]

That one'd wake even the dead, not that there's any 'round here.

[Supercape]

GM

[bg=#000000]"GET OUT!"[/bg]

It did indeed work. The shout echoed around the hotel, ricocheting down the corridors and stairs in a manner both physical and spectral.

Something about it...it's horror...that seeped into the most dreadful fears, made even the drunkest drunkard rouse in a cold sweat, with an unnatural sobriety.

"What the hell!" gibbered one thin man dressed only in a towel wrapped around his waist "I'm getting out of here!" he spluttered as he ran down the corridor.

Most others where to scared to even talk.

The flames spread had been somewhat stalled by Dead Head's actions, and he bought time...but it looked like the building was caught in a serious fire now. It would take a fire brigade to stop it properly.

Outside, Dead Head heard the sceaming sirens of the fire brigade...

[Dr Archeville]

Okay, good, got the people out, an' the fire brigade's on the way, so that's my cue t'exit.

Dead Head leaped out through the window, landing hard on and breaking one ankle. It barely broke his stride: he rolled up and ran towards the hospital, limping slightly at first until his supernatural recuperative abilities mended the breaks in mere seconds. As he ran in as straight a path as he could manage -- leaping (awkwardly) over speeding cars, ducking down alleys, hoisting himself up fire escapes to dash across rooftops -- his mind was on one thing: the psychic connection between Mutt & himself that Phantom & Nick Cimitiere had been helping them forge.

Mutt, can ya hear me? Were ya able to track Gorsky's workshop? Didja- oh, nevermind that. If ya can hear me, meet me at McNider Memorial Hospital -- we got an arsonist t'catch!

[Supercape]

GM

Back at McInder Hospital...

Doctor Jacob Agopsowicz was doing his best to quell the fire. That is, the storm of police officers, hospital staff, and general panic and befuddlement. Gunshots, doctors going crazy, some mad story from the Richards' (and one that he knew was sure to be true).

"If we could all just calm down...I'm sure everything will be fine...there is no need to pan-HOLY MOSES he's back!!!" he yelled, as he caught sight of Gorsky running down to the basement of the hospital, where the morgue was, armed with a can of petrol and a big gun!

As the two policemen he was talking to pulled their own firearms and went chasing after him, he caught sight of Dead Head and yelled to him, waving his arm.

"The Morgue! its Gorsky!" he shouted, before peeling off himself in that direction, seemingly oblivious to the danger!

[Dr Archeville]

The morgue? Oh, sure, gotta go to the lowest part of the building 'cuz fire rises, and it has to be the morgue!

Dead Head raced down the hall, past the police, and flung himself down the stairs Gorsky had headed down, landing with a bone-breaking THUD. In no time he sprang back up, bones and flesh re-knitting as the cops reached the top of the stairs, and continued on to the morgue.

"It's over, Gorsky!" he called out. "Best t'just stop this foolishness an' come along quietly -- y'ain't hurt no one yet, worse you'll face is arsony charges fer the hotel, an' that won't be much since everyone got out in time."

Dangit, where'd he get to? He cain't've gone far...

Heeey ghosties! Anyone aroun'? Got a wild one on the loose, lookin' to burn the place down. Any of y'all catch sight of 'im?

[Supercape]

GM

The Morgue was, understandably, a nexus for spirits. Many were transient things, lingering after death for untold reasons and barely real, even in the spirit world. It was these ethereal things that nudged in on the edge of Dead Head's awareness.

"The depths! The depths!"

"By the bodies, so cold!"

"I want to be buried, not cremated! save my bones!"

Agopsowicz was already at the refrigerator...the very place he and Dead Head had started this horrible adventure.

And he was not alone.

Firstly, a maddened Gorsky was there too, holding his enormous revolver. His empty petrol can lay on the floor, and the stench of petroleum riddled the whole floor. the fllor was wet with the stuff.

"Get out, Jacob" he said, brandishing his gun "you don't need to die. I'm sending this hellish fiend back to where it came. Fire! it fears fire! I don't know much, but I know what I have to do now. It's horrible Jacob, horrible!!!"

Some sparks flew out of the refrigeration controls. They had been shot, covered in lead and holy water. And they were shorting. The heat in the room was rising already - and if one of those sparks hit the petrol...

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head skittered to a stop when he heard Jake & Gorsky's voices, and crept in just enough to see the scene. Shoot! Think, man, think -- spookin' 'im might get him t'go trigger-happy, an' the ricochet may hit Jake or set off a spark t'ignite the gas. But the way that fridge's sparkin', it might set it off any second. Oh, duh, am I braindead!

Dead Head reached up and plucked out an eye, set it on the floor, and flicked it into the morgue. After it rolled for a bit, its optic nerves writhed and pushed it into position so it could view the two men. As it did, the revenant ran, stumbling a bit due to the double visual feeds going through his mind, down the halls, to the power junctions for the basement floor. "It's around here somewhere... ah!" He bashed the wooden door in and ran to the fuse boxes, "'kay, lemme see... ah, there! That's the one fer the Morgue. Okay, Jake once told me the hospital's got its own backup generators that kick in after a bit, so the power won't stay out long... jes' hope it's long enough!" He grabbed the power cable with both hands and pulled, hard, tearing it free from the box, plunging the morgue and surrounding hallways into darkness and sending a few hundred volts of electricity through his undead form.

"Whoo! Now let's see if I can get back to the Morgue and tackle Gorsky 'fore the lights come back on!" He ran back to the two men, the red of the emergency exit signs and the green flames of his one eye the only light in the darkness.

[Supercape]

GM

"What? Who turned out the lights! Noooo! Nooooooo!" yelled Gorsky. He fired his gun...once, twice...the flash of light both times showing Jake's blind scrabbling to the door.

Fortunately, the good Doctor Agopsowicz had hung out in the morgue many times, and knew his way around blindfolded. Sure, he stumbled twice, but he made a good blind dash for the door.

"Curse you Agposwatsyourname!" shouted Gorsky "I'll start this fire one way or another! just don't try to stop me!!!"

Jake almost collided with Dead Head as he stumbled out of the Morgue, illuminated only by the dim emergency exit lights.

"Dead Head! Its you! you frightened the living hell out of me! Gorsky's in there! He's gone mad! mad!!!"

[Dr Archeville]

"Jes' get yerself scarce, Jake," the revenant hissed, trying to keep his voice low and maintain some element of surprise against Gorsky. "Get upstairs!"

The undead avenger crept into the morgue, shrouded by the Stygian darkness he had set off. Alright, I can see, he cain't... well, he might see the glow from the one eyeball in my skull, but that should still gimme enough wriggle-room t'avoid any shots he might fire my way...

[bg=#000000]"Gorsky!,"[/bg] he shouted, using a hint of his supernaturally terrifying voice -- not enough to send him running (and into someone else he could take hostage), but enough to keep him on his toes. [bg=#000000]"It's over, Gorsky! Yer gonna face th'authorities fer what ya done! But first... you'll answer to me!"[/bg] He had position himself so he could get a clear path between him & Gorsky, and took off down it, leaping up and latching onto him with both arms, even wrapping one leg around the madman.

[Supercape]

GM

It was all too much for Gorsky. His huge revolved dropped with a clang to the floor. He was actually weeping - from what it was hard to say... fear, rage, excitement...

And with his weeping his was practically gabbling.

"Haha! you fool, I'm trying to stop him... hahaha, fire...fire...it's the only way. Yes, I know that much, even if he fooled me, I took precautions. Burn, Burn! it's the only way! Burn the whole hospital down hahahaha!"

As he spoke, Jake wandered down to the two heroes, carrying a electric torch.

"What's going on, did you stop him?" he said, swinging the electric beam from side to side.

[Dr Archeville]

"Yeah, yeah, burn it all, only way t'be sure," Dead Head drawled, rolling his eyes. "Hoenstly, ya'd think a doctor'd know something about precision -- ya don't treat a brain tumor by choppin' off the head!"

"I got 'im, Jake," he nodded to his friend, "ya can send the cops on in to cuff 'im. I don't think he'll be harmin' anyone. But there may be a few loose ends I gotta tie up."

Gotta get back to his office an' see if there's anythin' bad there, an' get to his home. That clock he was talkin' 'bout's gotta be in one of those.

Dead Head uncurled one arm from around Gorsky's chest and reached out for the gun on the floor, but could not quite reach. Giving a small shrug, he concentrated on his wrist, the bones and tendons and sinews and muscles, and had them separate. The hand fells to the ground, landing on its fingertips, and scuttled over to the gun. It nudged the weapon over to Jake, "mind holdin' this on 'im while we wait fer the cops? I got places t'check!"

[Supercape]

GM

"mind holdin' this on 'im while we wait fer the cops? I got places t'check!"

Jake picked up the weapon slowly, with a blank expression on his face "is this his gun?" he said slowly.

"It looks...odd...." he said, pondering it and turning it in his hands "what does it fire?"

As he contemplated the question, even peering down the barrel in what was blatantly an unfamiliarity with the weapon and highly dangerous, a small voice could be heard.

"Is it safe down here? what's going on? I had a dream..."

Clutching a small brown teddy bear, a child walked in, in a hospital gown. She was about twelve, maybe a year or two either way, on the edge of puberty. She had a kind of sallow look, and was bald from chemotherapy. She still had bright eyes, but looked tired and drawn, a child who had been through much in the hospital over the months, giving her a maturity and sadness beyond her years. "

Dead Head could tell. She was dying.

Lori Richards was dying.

[Dr Archeville]

"Don't rightly know, Jake," he said as he released Gorsky from his cold, vise-like grip, "but I'm pretty sure it'd put a hurt on 'im if'n ya needed to use-"

The appearance of the little girl stopped the revenant mid-sentence. Who the heck is... waitasec -- pickin' up bits o' necromancy off her, not that different from what was on Gorsky here, jes' a lot fainter. Speakin' of, now that I got a good, close look at 'im, I don't think that's his mojo, per se -- looks more like he's some kinda conduit. Maybe fer whatever's in the clock he was babblin' 'bout. But this girl, she's gotta be the kid of those two folks who was in Gorsky's office; what's he done to her?

"Hey there, lil 'girl," he greeted, waving at her. Half a second later he realized he was waving his de-handed stump; he quickly put that behind his back and ,waved with his other, still-attached hand, while the separated one scurried up the back o his leg to reattach to the stump. "How'd you get down here, hrm? Yer bed must be a long way from here -- let's see if we can get the nice policemen to take ya back, okay?"

[Supercape]

"How'd you get down here, hrm? Yer bed must be a long way from here -- let's see if we can get the nice policemen to take ya back, okay?"

The little girl pulled back from Dead Head's appearance.

"Gah!" she shrieked "what are you?" and with that, she took a few steps back.

Jake stopped examining Gorky's giant pistol, and held it to one side.

"Let her go" he said to Dead Head "she's frightened!"

And with that the girl ran off, heading out of the room to jump into the lost property room next door.

"I'm going to get the clock!" she declared as she ran off.

"Stop her! Stop her!" yelled Gorsky "Burn it all down!!! not the clock!!!"

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head made a sound like a cross between a dejected whimper and an angry grunt. He released Gorsky, "keep that on 'im 'till the cops get here!," then was off after the girl.

I bet neither of the Midnights never had this problem with kids!

The revenant ran after the rascal, unable to use his full speed due to the numerous twists and turns the girl went down. "Little girl, wait up! I ain't mean you no harm! It... it's jes' a skin condition!"

Is she goin' up to Gorksy's office? Or does he have some workspace set up down here? That would make more sense, closer to bodies to work on. But where down here?

[Supercape]

GM

Lori Richards had dashed down into the lost property department. It was in an array - somebody had been through it throwing the various items left, right, and centre. It looked like a junk shop, hit by a tornado.

And somewhere in it was Lori.

"Where is it? Where is it? The magic clock must be here! I dreamed it!" she yelled, upset and frantic at the same time.

As Dead Head burst in, hearing Lori's wail, he also heard a muffled gunshot behind him, where Jake and Gorsky had been!

"I know it's here! It must be!" muttered Lori, as she started peering under the mounds of trashed lost property.

[Dr Archeville]

Hunh, the Lost an' Found section. I always meant to come down he-YAH!

The gunshot grabbed Dead Head's attention, making him turn to look behind him to see if he could hear anything more. When he turned back, a great source of necromantic power, the same type as what he'd been sensing but of far greater intensity, lanced through his senses, giving an effect not unlike turning around a corner and seeing the Sun. The revenant staggered back a step, shook the 'spots' form his 'eyes,' and continued on.

"I ain't here to hurt ya, girl," he said as he approached the pile hiding the source, "I'm jes' here to help you. I think you an' yer folks got mixed up with a bad man," he began digging through the pile, "an' I wanna make sure no one's bein' lied to or hurt!"

It's here somewhere, I know it... ah-ha! His cold, dead hands clutched around the clock, which practically burned with necromantic power. "I got you now! Who are ya? Whadda ya want?"

[Supercape]

GM

The clock was about a foot high, and fairly broad. It ticked, it tocked. Surely if it was tested against a metronome it would be in time, but something about the beat just felt like it pricked the nerves, like nails being run down the blackboard.

It was an old clock, although Dead Head could not place the time or period. It looked like it was expensive once, and might still be to the right buyer, but it was a bit shabby.

And 30 minutes slow, Dead Head could not help but notice.

He was interupted in his examination by Jake, who arrived behind him.

"GIve the girl the clock..." said Jake in slow tones.

He was pointing Gorsky's Gun right at Dead Head...

"Whatever you are" said Jake, in slow tones "...and I do intend to find out, you fascinating creature..., you have caused no end of chaos today. And I will not be deprived of the culmination of my plan by one such as you, flawed as you are. This is all part of my plan, centuries in the making...."

He paused slightly, but his aim did not waver.

"And now, I am sure Lori Necromme would like the clock. I am offering her life, a way out of the tumour that eats away at her!"