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[crossmyheartandhope]

Hey, what's up? It's me, do the message thing.

[BEEEP]

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[unbr8kable]

[Dismounts herself, combing through her hair and heading for the doorway]

One way to find out. ...After you, of course.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Checks his phone and waggles it at Nem, idly.]

Says she's in the main theater.

[He heads on in and takes a second to look around; he hasn't been here before, but he heads in the direction the signs point him.]

[unbr8kable]

So...over there, right?

[Points, then preps her phone for a prankmaster video shoot]

[crossmyheartandhope]

Looks like it.

[Heading on in.]

[unbr8kable]

[Follows, a safe distance behind]

[innerdaemons]

[ they both enter the darkness of the theater, and then --

both of them feel a yank on the back of their shirts as they enter. all at once they're falling from one type of darkness to another entirely. if both of them explored the House of Mirth it might be familiar --

It's dark down here, in the dungeon, and the wall sconces are unlit; the only light source is from the hallway. In the dim light, though, you can see a handful of barred cells against one stone wall with fixtures for manacles. There's a drain set into the floor, in the middle, around which the floor is stained a darker color and is… sticky? The air is cold, and stale.

Against the wall next to the door is a set of shelves and some hanging hooks, as well as two simple wooden chairs, one of which looks like it's seen better days. Someone's left a jacket on one of the hooks. The shelves contain mostly ordinary household tools—a pair of scissors, a hammer, some pliers, a coil of rope.



-- the main thing is, when they both land, they'll find manacles slamming onto their wrists, binding them to hooks on the wall. ]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He sure knows it.]

[He woke up here, last time they were in the House.]

[Even as the manacles are closing, he jerks forward against them, hard, trying to break free.]

Wh -

What the hell - ?

[unbr8kable]

[Nemesis has never been here, and honestly would've been fine never having been here--wayyy too dark, way too chaining her to the wall, which y'know, no thanks.

With a yelp she struggles hard, furiously attempting to pull the manacles open, or loosen the chains, or just not be held down-- before reining in the spike of terror in her gut and taking the opportunity to look around. Who is here? How far apart are they? Does her arm work, do her powers work?]

[innerdaemons]

[ the next sound is shackles materializing on their ankles - - these are what will prevent their powers from working, though any robot limbs will still function. their bindings won't break with the amount of force they try to put out.

Something blocks the light from the hallway - - before it clearly becomes the outline of a tall figure that enters, holding a candle. Only the candle lights up their... Face?

Actually, it's not a regular face at all. It's an elongated goat skull, with windy, twisted horns emerging from the back of it. There may be a face underneath the skull but it's darkened by shadow. The hand holding the candle is gloved, and they're wearing a dark cloak that drapes over their body.

Their voice doesn't help narrow down their identity; it seems warped, filtered to the point of unrecognizablility. ]

I hope it's not too uncomfortable for you?

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Still testing his boundaries, as best he's able, yanking against the bindings. Do the manacles and shackles hold them flush against the wall, or is there any give?]

I mean... if you like cold dark and medieval, I guess?

What - why are we here, what's going on?

[unbr8kable]

[Thrashing around, while by far the most attractive course of action in this scenario is probably not the wisest. Somehow she reins her nervous energy in to just a twisting of her wrists, as if maybe she could work her hands through the manacles, given enough time. This is what she gets for not going with the rocket fist, sigh.

Otherwise she scowls at the goat(?) man--squints, really, attempting to look for any details on the person, (carrying any weapons? notable items? distinguishing marks?), and figure out how big this room is--how much distance there is between her and them, just in case)]

Who are you? What d'you want with us?

[innerdaemons]

[ there's about a foot of give away from the wall for the manacles, enough that they can move around a little but not by much.

the goat person laughs - - there's nothing really distinguishable about them, with their face, hands, and body covered. the most noticeable thing is probably how tall they are, almost as tall as the low ceiling of the dungeon, though when they walk closer there's also the sound of heavy boots that may account for the height.

At this point, they're still a few feet away as they speak. ]

I only wanted to borrow you both for a spell. As for my identity... Well, let's keep that a surprise, shall we?

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He doesn't stop twisting at the manacles, trying to force his hands through - people getting out of handcuffs by dislocating a thumb is totally a thing, right? - but he does stop yanking quite so hard, the limits of his mobility determined.]

Yeah, well - you got us. So what gives?

How come we're here again?

[unbr8kable]

[Keeps up steady pressure on the chains, just in case]

Yeah, we just the only idiots that responded to your text? Or you got some other dipshits locked up down the hall?

[innerdaemons]

[ they spread their hands wide, a helpless sort of gesture. ]

I found it to be convenient - - the location, that is. We're not likely to be disturbed here.

And don't worry - - you've both been exclusively chosen!

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He glances at Nem at the word "both," just briefly.]

Convenient, huh? Lucky us.

How come our number came up, anyways? We win the all expenses paid vacation?

[unbr8kable]

[Glances back, the crease in her brow deepening]

Funny that; this don't seem much like Disney Sea.

[innerdaemons]

Oh, it wasn't mere chance. There's someone in particular you're both familiar with - - that caught my attention.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He does not like where this is going. Not even a little.]

...yeah? Who we talking, here?

[unbr8kable]

[Looks to Hurricane again, with effort, forcing her expression light]

Oh, maybe we should guess. Intensity, right? You wanna know if the abs are real?

[innerdaemons]

[ they tilt their head. ]

Would he really be worth all the trouble of kidnapping you?

[crossmyheartandhope]

I mean, you tell us, dude.

I woulda said nobody was, but I'm not the guy who's got people roped up in a dungeon.

[unbr8kable]

See, I would've found better people to tie up. Can't imagine we're top-tier bondage material, unless you got some kinda weird prosthetics kink.

[innerdaemons]

You both do recall meeting an angel, do you not?

[crossmyheartandhope]

[The reply takes a beat too long, as he contemplates denying it and then decides there's probably no point in playing dumb.]

Guess news gets around, huh?

Then maybe you heard the next part, too: he's kinda MIA.