Raven's World: New Rapture
Episode One: Splicers, Plasmids and Cheap Wine
Raven allows himself a moment to examine the blood-stained velvet banner on the floor before stepping over it and taking a look around. This room is admittedly better than he expected. Though there was still very little light, he could sum up the room's major points. The scent of saltwater and sawdust. The feel of the smooth dark marble walls. It was hands-down the best part of his little trip so far. "Beyond the Sea" has long since been over, and the service radio now crackles with a deep static. Just as Raven decides that it's safe to continue on, a loud clanking noise comes echoing through the spacious chamber, the audial tumult vibrating against the chamber walls sending Raven to his knees…
The clanking sound continues for quite some time, gradually increasing in volume, as if the source were getting closer. Raven stands slowly and cringes as the sound grows to an unbearable decibel. Suddenly - mercifully - it stops. The last of the echoing dies down and the room is once again quiet, except for the static of the bathysphere's service radio, which now seems to be crackling out of control. The sudden increase in noise makes it difficult for Raven to think clearly. He hurries back to the bathysphere to silence the radio, but discovers it missing. It could've just been the concussion talking, but he felt like someone had passed by him without his notice.
Raven scratches his head in vexation. "Who could've taken the service radio without me seeing?", he puzzled. He then went on to ponder other thoughts out loud. Thoughts like: "Where exactly am I?", "Who would build a place like this?", and the ever poignant "Why am I talking to myself?". It was then that the service radio's static came back into earshot. This time, it sounded different somehow. So faint, so muffled, so…vertical? Raven looks up as he ends his reverie. Above the bathysphere, in the corner of a wall was a large vent with the grate horribly bent and mangled. Whoever or whatever just came and left, was now in the walls, and from the quickly-fading sound of the static, was apparently making his way deeper into the building. Raven searches the ground for a weapon before entering the vent. Inside a pile of wreckage, he discovers a dark red wrench, in surprisingly good condition. It was no excalibur, but it would do, he supposed. Now armed, or at least not totally defenseless, Raven climbs into the vent and follows the fleeting sound of the static.
After several minutes of wandering through the duct, Raven arrives at an opening. Once again, the grate has been mangled beyond repair, making it easy for Raven to slide out from the duct and into the room. The room appears to be a main hall of some sort, with a wide staircase leading off to the left of him, and a dingy red carpet covering the hard floor. The metal door across the room (the name 'SECURIS' welded across the top) appears to be jammed, and it's control panel, adjacent to it on the wall, surges with wayward electricity, the socket slowly bleeding itself dry of any current. With the door out of commission, Raven decides to take the stairs. Upon reaching the landing, he bumps into a sign protruding from the wall ahead. He has to step back to see the entire thing. The sign displays what appears to be a group of people using strange powers and skills. Above the picture is a confusing message: "PICK YOUR PLASMID AND EVOLVE!"…
"Plasmid?", Raven asks to himself. "What would a place like this be using plasmids for…?" He continues up the stairs to see a vending machine with the glass bashed in. A neon sign flickers weakly above the machine. "GATHERER'S GARDEN". Inside the vending machine is a startlingly large syringe, full of blue liquid. Raven examines it and decides that he'd rather put it back, than chance it and inject himself. However, as he prepares to put it back, fate once again has other plans, and a loud screeching sound makes him turn to face the stairs. There's no one there, but he suddenly perceives a slight pain in his wrist. He is almost afraid to look down at his wrist, but forces himself to do so anyway. Just his luck; the syringe was thrust into his arm when he turned to investigate the noise, and is now emptying its contents into his bloodstream. He hurriedly removes the syringe and tosses it into the corner of the room. When it hits the wall and rolls back, he notices that it is now almost completely empty. Suddenly, his vision grows blurry, and his hands begin to tremble. A screaming pain ascends his spine, as if it were trying to grow out of his body. His blood is on fire, his eyes begin to burn and his heart begins to beat at unholy speeds. He loses himself in the pain and stumbles over to the banister behind him, flips over it and lands, unconscious, in the downstairs area…
"Look at this guy…"
"Ha. Poor bastard just spliced his first plasmid…"
"So what should we do with him?"
"Let's see if he's got any Adam on him…"
"Forget it. I think I hear it coming again. We have to--"
"Shut up! I ain't afraid of it! If this idiot's got any Adam left, it's mine! All mine to take!"
Raven slowly opens his eyes and blinks. There are two figures standing above him, arguing, with their backs turned. Their clothes are dull with dried blood and other questionable stains. They both wear odd masks - the kind that one might see at a masquerade ball- also darkened with blood, and both of them carry incredibly painful looking pipes. The two haven't realized that he's awake yet, and he takes the opportunity to look around for the wrench. The makeshift weapon lies just out of the reach of his left hand. To get it, he'd have to move, and to move, he'd have to not be in the presence of two crazy, raving sociopaths. When the odd pair finishes their spat, they turn toward Raven again, and he quickly shuts his eyes. The bolder one reaches for him as a familiar sound fills the room.
"Shut that damned radio off! It's getting' on my last nerve!", the dominant of the two shouts to his subordinate. The second runs off to carry out the order, and while their attention is elsewhere, Raven rolls to the side and grabs the wrench, then stands slowly. He takes a deep breath and taps the figure on the shoulder. "I thought I told you to shut off that --" CLUNK! Raven squeezes his eyes shut as the wrench makes contact and the recoil travels through the weapon and up his arms. The figure makes an odd guttural sound and crumples to the floor, motionless. The static stops and the second figure comes running back into the room, breathing heavily. "I got it!", he managed to blurt out before stopping for air. Raven approaches him quickly and prepares for another swing, his pulse suddenly quickening. The figure takes notice of him and immediately gets his second wind, clutching the rusted out pipe and running forward with a feral scream.
The figure swings wildly at Raven, who tries frantically to parry away the attacks with his wrench. The pipe connects with his arm, then his midsection, making him drop his weapon, then sending him tumbling into a corner. The figure follows, dragging his wrench along the ground, creating a steady stream of sparks. Raven holds out an arm to defend himself, and instantly feels the same pain as he did when he injected himself with the blue liquid. Glowing blue vessels appear on his arm and a bolt of lightning suddenly fires from the palm of his hand, sending the figure to the ground screaming. After a bit of writhing, the figure grows silent and motionless. Raven stands and looks at his hand in complete shock (no pun intended).
A bottle rolls into his foot. Raven kneels to pick it up, assuming it came from the figure who'd just been fried. The bottle appears to be half empty. He takes the time to examine the label. "ARCADIA MERLOT: THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR PROBLEMS!" Raven can't help but laugh at the slogan. "I'll drink to that….", he says, raising the bottle to no one in particular and downing the wine quickly, then wiping his mouth with his sleeve and tossing the bottle behind him. The static returns yet again. Raven, deciding that this radio was becoming more trouble than it was worth, follows the sound and discovers it lying on its side in a corner. He prepares to stomp it, but a voice comes in fuzzy through the speakers.
"Anyone there? Would you kindly respond?!" There it was. The voice he heard when he had woken up in this madhouse. In a sort of daze, he quickly and obediently kneels and picks up the receiver. "Hello?" He adjusts the receiver against his ear. "Can you hear me?" The voice replies loudly, causing Raven to flinch and drop the radio, then stare at it in annoyance…
"Ah… Hey there. Glad to hear you're not one of them. Name's Atlas. Man, have I got some heavy news for you…"
-- To Be Continued