A New Challenger Approaches

[sentbydpd]

He'd thought at first that it was a nightmare, a result of a bender after a particularly bad case; no matter how the people in his life that cared about him tried, the alcohol was still part of his life, a crutch and a numbing agent that he preferred over facing his problems and the people that were involved. The fog, dark and glittering with sinister red flecks, enveloping him where he'd collapsed in the stairwell of his building, making him feel as if he had slid back down them until he was lying in damp grass and staring up at stars that make him think that he's no longer in the middle of downtown Detroit.

Worse, he was sober. He wanted to die and he no longer had a drop of alcohol in his system to dull it. Miserable, cold, and aching, Connor sat up and inspected himself in case there might be some indication of what had happened to him. But there was nothing, just patches of wetness from the grass on his jeans and the outer layer of his slightly obnoxiously patterned button-up, the plain black shirt underneath untucked but otherwise pristine. He sat in the grass for a long while and puzzled quietly over it all, before pushing himself to his feet and panning around for any sign of life.

He didn't recognize what kind of trees he was surrounded by, so that told him he wasn't close to home. Concerning. He started to walk straight in the hopes of finding any indication that civilization might be nearby, trailed by that same mist that curled around his ankles until he found a bubble of blessed firelight. Nobody present that he could tell, but the presence of the bonfire and arranged logs around it told him that they couldn't have gone far, nor that they'd been gone for long. So he sat, elbows on his knees and his hands rubbing together slowly in front of his mouth as he debated on how to approach whatever was happening to him now. If he'd been kidnapped, he at least knew how to handle that.

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[sentbydpd]

Connor froze, grasping the side of the rock to keep himself on his feet. He could hear the scrambling of feet and the crashing of undergrowth in the distance, that song intensifying then dying down again. He dropped his profile low again and moved to Jake's side as quickly as he could manage. His hands shook as he removed his outer shirt carefully, then used his good arm to pull the thin black t-shirt up from the wound.

The skin glistened blue, and just under his skin rested a peculiar mesh of silicon, metal, and wire.

"B'fore you freak out, I'm not an android," he muttered. "Got into an accident, got a lot of work done. It'll heal over like the real thing eventually."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Blinking at the blue fluid that dripped from the bizarre wound Jake frowned before setting about getting it stabilized and bandaged up.

"Hey man I don't care what you are so long as you're on our side, okay?" His hands are steady as he tries his best but this stuff is different than the blood he's used to and instead of familiar muscle and bone it's silicone and metal. His hand slips and he knows it's bad as more of the blue fluid gushes over his hands.

"Shit! Sorry man! Fuck..."

[sentbydpd]

Jake slips in such a way that Connor suddenly doubles over, screaming raggedly before he can clamp his hands over his mouth. He pants and stays there, curled on himself as the blue blood pastes his shirt to his body.

"Fuck! Fucking jesus dicks, just- here, listen-" He snatches the med kit from Jake and unravels a length of bandage that he hastily presses into Jake's hands, then turns back around. "Press it there, staunch the bleeding-" and then he starts to walk Jake through the process of patching him up, at least temporarily. He doesn't like how long this is taking, with the two of them tucked behind this rock trying desperately to pretend that he hadn't just absolutely blown their cover here.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Taking the supplies and listening to Connor, the survivalist tries to steady his hands. But it's been a while since he's heard that lullaby, it's been even longer since he's been with someone for their first encounter in a trial. And add to all that this guy with literally blue blood? To say he was shook was an understatement. The growing clarity of said lullaby and the way his heart thrums in his ears he knows what's coming.

He knows what he has to do.

"Fuck it, sorry I gotta lead her away. Take this and patch yourself up. If you need help look for Ace." Without a second thought he dodges out from the bushes and charges in the large woman's direction with a yell as he's met with an hatchet to his shoulder. Using a little trick he had learned from David to barrel through her as he held his injured side and thanked whatever deity was listening for Jocks. Unless it's the Entity...then fuck that deity in particular. All he had to do now was keep her attention and get her away from Connor. Luckily being injured made him a better target.

[sentbydpd]

When Jake had gone left, Connor had gone right, and he'd looked back in time to see the man pull a bewildering maneuver that he himself could recall having done in the past, tanking hits and just continuing forward on his mission. What throws him, though, is Jake seemingly fucking no-clipping through the killer with a mad dash that seems to take her off-guard for an instant. Just long enough for Connor to get some distance, and start on a wide search for the older man that he had yet to see at all within the trial.

He skids between the trees and manages to regain purchase rounding it, but he's still so unused to trying to maneuver in this kind of environment that he has to slow down and actually look for a place to go.

Another generator catches his eye, and Connor slinks behind it, figuring he could fight through the pain and wait to see Ace at some point. He could trust Jake to keep their killer busy for a little while, he's sure.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Running like this was always Jake's least favorite part...well...aside from the you know, being thrown on a giant meat hook? Yeah that was up there too. Still he hated running while injured....and being chased. Especially when he also had to worry about dodging fucking hatchets! Of course in his blind running and dodging he failed to notice the older man who Jake had literally only moments ago told Connor to go find. And what was said man doing?

Jumping up from a gen to hide in a locker as they passed.

Hoping beyond hope that the woman had tunnel vision Jake powered on...only to slow when he heard an all too familiar scream. Turning in time to watch as the large woman slung Ace over her shoulder and headed straight towards a hook.

"Shit-"

"Ah!!" Jake was interrupted by the tell tale angry scream that followed the deafening crack of wood against skull before Ace was taking off in one direction and Jake was ducking into a corner.

Alright...sometimes Yun-Jin was useful.

"Shiiiit I need to find a med kit and get back on a gen." Grumbling he waited until he heard the music fade away and his heart slowed again before slinking out of his hiding spot to do just that.

[sentbydpd]

The chaos that he can hear makes Connor resentful of the situation. He felt so powerless here. He was useless to help these people and he wasn't really in any condition to help himself either. He thought that maybe it would simply be best for him to stick to this task and hopefully speed them on their way out.

Between Jake's recklessness, Yun-Jin's incredibly timed interception, and the Huntress' tunnel-vision on the woman that had prevented her from making her sacrifice, it meant that Connor was able to finally get the elderly generator to fire properly and chug to life. Of course, this came with the problem of being noticeable from anywhere in the map that wasn't clear on the other side. And so, as he tried to duck out from the trees he was obscured by, he has no time to dodge a hatchet that had initially been aimed for Yun-Jin. She had ducked fast, and he ended up taking it straight to the head, knocking him immediately to the ground with a strangled, blood-choked yelp.

He barely had time to realize what had happened to him before he was being hauled up roughly and propped over a broad, muscular shoulder, carried a short distance, and then unceremoniously dumped straight onto a meat hook that destroyed any effort they'd made to try and fix his shoulder. He struggled, then just let himself hang as the shock set in. He could still feel it, oh yes, the processors grafted into his brain telling him in great detail the trauma that was happening to his body, but he was losing the ability to properly react to it in the moment. Especially given that the rabbit masked woman was simply humming to herself as she leaned real close to him, as if examining a particularly strange and interesting specimen under glass.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Having set about helping Ace with his own injury before the man helped him Jake winced when he heard the scream. He could never get completely used to it. Hearing fellow people screaming in pain like wounded animals as they were slung up on hooks like fresh kills left to drain.

"I'm going for him, you get to work on another generator, opposite side." He instructed as he pushed the older man away. "I don't want us getting caught in a stalemate. See if you can get Ms. Lee to help in that lower gen in the temple."

"Jake come on, there is no way we're all getting out-"

"Ace, shut up."

"Odds are against us with the new guy!"

"Shut up! Just go I'm gonna try and see if I can get him." Tossing a glare over his shoulder Jake's words were final before he was already jogging towards where he heard the scream. The closer he got of course the louder he heard her humming. Ducking around a tree he watched a familiar woman sneaking through some fallen pillars, looking down at something in her hands and all he could do was glare harder. Damn self servicing bitch...he really didn't like her. No wonder Ji-Woon hated her as much as he did.

Shaking the thoughts away he crept closer, silently cursing in his mind as he realized the Huntress was staring quite hard at poor Connor. To the point he wasn't sure if he could get the other off the hook without getting hit himself. All he could do was sit there and watch helplessly while slowly those familiar spider like legs materialized around the man.

[sentbydpd]

Connor hyperventilated on the hook, the blue blood dripping from the massive wounds in the front and back of his shoulder. He stared blearily into the mask, trying in vain to see the eyes behind it, to determine whether the massive woman was even human. A hand lifted, smearing the end of the sculpted nose with a trace of blue that the woman shied away from with a snort of disgust. Weird new man with his wrong blood, he would die like the rest. She would make sure of it.

Posting up with the woodcutter's axe in one hand and a hatchet in the other, she stands and stares around, daring any of them to approach to try and get their new teammate back.

Rescue was not in Yun-Jin's best interest here, she'd decided. Instead she headed around to another generator to try and finish it off, leaving Ace and Jake to debate on whether or not to rush her.

"C'mon, we're all still alive, luck's on our side," he murmurs at Jake, moving his shades to the top of his head and gesturing at the Entity's limbs. "We still have a little bit of time left. She can't hit us both."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Watching the two in front of him Jake almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice next to him. However instead of grumbling about the man not listening he instead couldn't be happier.

"Alright, I'll fake the save and then you come in on her blind side while she's going for me and get him out of here. Got it?" Jake nodded as he looked between them and the forming limbs. "We got this, it's just like any other save."

[sentbydpd]

Connor's tunneling vision was interrupted as spidery legs crept into view around him, framing the figure still posted up in front of him. He lifted his head in time to see those insectoid spikes realing back as they materialized around him, and a split-second environment scan and injection of adrenaline made him jerk just in time to block the razor sharp point from puncturing his chest. He stares around for any sign of help when the Huntress finally leaves, apparently feeling confident that Connor had been left to his fate here. She spun a hatchet in hand then lifted it with a flourish to bury it into a tree near the brightly colored Korean woman's head, causing her to fuck up at her generator and cause a misfire as she rocketed off toward the hulking temple in the center of the arena.

It means that now he just has to hang on until one of the others can try to help him down. The leg slips through his sweating, bloodied hands and stabs into him shallowly enough that he can push it back out again as a gout of red blood is forced out of his mouth.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"Shit-" Jake curses as he lunged forward, forgetting just going for a fake save in favor to pull the man down completely. "Come on, run. One of us will take a hit for you. Go!"

[sentbydpd]

While Jake rounds the killer to get Connor down, Ace dips under her arm when she reels back to swing on him and put him back, taking the brunt of it to his back in a spot very close to where Connor had. His scream spurs Connor into motion, stumbling away from Jake and cramming himself in between a pair of rocks nearby enough that he can still hear them, and the wrathful vocalizations of the woman as she tries to rid herself of them.

The panic is making him stupid, but how can it not, when he's so near death? He literally has a readout blinking in the corner of his eye that tells him the status of specific pars of himself, and the damage is just too much for him to recover from here without a lot of assistance. Assistance more qualified than Jake, that was for damn sure, he thinks irritably at a dull throb from deep in his chest thanks to the damage to the hardware of him.

When he makes his way over to where he could hear a generator chugging along, he gets a look from Yun-Jin, part disgust, part interest, as he settles down to help her finish this up. She clearly doesn't trust this weirdly science-fiction guy, but he's at least good with his hands and quick on the uptake. They're able to finish the generator, but rather than even offering her assistance, she runs away at top speed. It leaves him staring after her for a moment, but really, what should he have expected?

He makes his way into the temple stationed in the middle of it all, and is struck by the architecture. It's old, and beautiful, and he can still hear that lullaby in the distance so he can only take it in on the fly as he heads downstairs to try and hide and patch up the wounds in the front of his body.

"Fuck, I need a smoke," he groans, making his way down a set of stairs that looks distinctly incongruous with the architecture. At the bottom the smell of blood and viscera makes his stomach churn, and the distant wailing and general vibe of this root cellar looking place has him turning in place to leave again. Unfortunately for him, though, that lullaby is getting closer. His blood is still on the floor. She knows that he's here.

And he can't run anymore.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

The scream Jake hears when the killer finally grabs and hooks Connor again makes him wince violently. Sure most people don't survive their first go but that doesn't mean it made it any easier to hear it. He has to shake himself and set about finishing their job.

He heard the final gen finish and can't help but sigh with relief as he jogged to one of the exit gates and began to open it. He felt every nerve in his body on fire, ready to jump away and hide or take off running at the first hint of a hatchet. Luckily it seemed like Ace had her attention and it wasn't long before he heard Yun-Jin sneaking her way over.

Stepping away he nodded to her to finish opening the door while he went to find their wayward old man and lead him there, soon holding back enough to run behind Ace and taking a hatchet to the back for his troubles. But it was fine, they got out.

Stumbling to the fire Jake kneeled down and rested his elbows on the log to catch his breath, knowing it was better to just sit and wait for Claud or one of the others to help him.

[sentbydpd]

Connor took some time before he was deposited by the fog back at the fireside, a groaning heap that didn't immediately move from its place just outside the firelight. When he did, he just sat up sluggishly and stared into the fire, shoving his hair back out of his face then just letting his head fall forward. His eyes were clenched shut tight as he self-assessed and found that he was no worse for wear, save for bruising in the shoulder that hat taken the majority of the damage.

He was quiet for a long moment before pushing himself up from the ground, stumbled at the immediate weakness in his knees, and had to catch himself before he faceplanted in the dirt.

"Wh...am I..."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Looking up as Cheryl came over to help patch him up Jake gave the other a crooked sort of grin.

"Hey Bill, got any more of that crapy moonshine? I think the new guy could use some." chuckling he winced before smiling awkwardly at the small blonde woman.

"Welcome back to the land of the sort of living." He continued. "Sorry we couldn't get you out of there, they aren't supposed to stand there on you like that."

[sentbydpd]

Connor was quiet as he sat down in front of one of the logs, searching in his pockets until he found that stone that Jake had given him, rolling it across the backs of his fingers in what was increasingly obvious as nervous fidget. He looked up at the mention of moonshine, arguing weakly that he preferred whiskey, but taking the bottle nonetheless when it was held out to him.

It was nasty, but it would do. He took a few hard swallows before handing it back, then eyeing the old soldier's cigarette. "Got any more of those?" He asked cautiously, and was surprised at the offered pack. He tapped the end of it against the back of his hand purely out of habit, then shook one out and popped it between his lips. He was further surprised by the offered lighter, an old zippo that he held a moment before lighting the smoke and taking a deep, slow drag.

"Yeah, well. You tried. You ok?" he asked hoarsely, looking up at Jake and the patch job that he'd gotten.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

When Cheryl finished she lightly patted Jake on the shoulder to let him know and he was up, carefully, only to sit on the log next to where Connor was sitting on the ground. He waved for a swig of shitty alcohol before passing it back and looking down at the other.

"I'll be fine, just gotta heal up. Sometimes you're lucky when you die because you're all healed after...not so much for those of us who leave injured." He cradles his shoulder a bit with a wince. "I've had worse though, should have seen me once when I got completely laid out right in the exit gates. Had to crawl my way out and even then I only got out because someone else distracted the killer. Luckily alien dog demon things can be pretty easily distracted...no brains."

[sentbydpd]

The description of the monster got more of a reaction than the idea that healing via death was a thing that happened here. He could actually understand it, in a weird way. Like a reset. Returning their bodies to the physical state they were in before they were killed so that they could try again.

"We can't fight back?" It seemed unfair to him that that would be the case. Even dipshit horror movie characters got the chance to fight back.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"I mean we can...sort of...but not in any real way." Jake shook his head. "No idea what it is but even someone like David get's taken down by a sophomore in high school from time to time."

Looking around the fire he sees the others nursing wounds or drinks...or even cigarettes while others just relax. Kate's playing agian, her quiet strumming that helps to ease peoples minds a bit. Jake was never fond of country music before, but now it was a comfort and Kate's voice was sweet.

"We're ment to the prey and they're the predators. All there is to it to that thing."

[sentbydpd]

Personally, Connor was more of a punk fan, but any music at all was better than endless white noise from a forest full of monsters.

He looked around at an offended "'ey" from across the fire, where a large man with scars on his face and bandages around his hands had plunked himself down, looking irritable but no worse for wear, comparably. There was a moment that Connor simply stared at the man, big eyes and parted lips, before he caught himself and looked back around at Jake.

"This is bullshit. We're just fodder for some eldritch asshole? Does it feed on misery or something?"

His outrage wasn't strange; many of them that had arrived and learned about their predicament had wondered the same. It wasn't even the biggest logical leap to make.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"From what we can figure? Yeah it seems like it." Jake nodded, chuckling at David as the man sat down.

"Look, it's not my fault it's hilarious watching you run from a little girl who is like half your height. Like I get it, when it's her turn she can be fuckin vicious but...the mental image." Taking a cup that Claudette offered him, Jake sniffed at the steaming tea inside. Giving her a pout she just seemed to give him that look that read 'drink it or else' before walking off. Muttering a bit about not even getting sugar or something he started to sip on the tea, knowing it was something that could help.

"But yeah, we can do things like stab them to get away or slam palettes on their heads but that's about it. Or blind them with flashlights....or Leon could teach you how to make flashbangs...that sort of thing."

[sentbydpd]

"Valentine's got those mines that can turn the gens into time bombs," David added in favor of addressing the idea of him being menaced by a tiny girl in a mask. Though if it were up to him, he would gladly out up with her over the various other young girls on the other side. At least Susie didn't smell like wet death or go invisible.

Connor just grimaced at the confirmation of his only half serious questions, regarding the tea that had been handed over and sussing out that it had to be some kind of herbal remedy, especially given the reaction to it but grudging acceptance.

Connor's thumb flipped back and forth across the butt of his cigarette as he turned over the information that he was getting, and was gleaning from the way they behaved. They were at least willing to help each other to stay alive, so at the base level having support meant a higher possiblity of survival. The sharing of skills and willingness to get him up to speed rather than making him go it alone for the sake of 'field experience' meant he could adapt more quickly and easily. He could see this not being too terrible, actually.

You know, outside of the torture and murder.

"I hate this," he said decisively, in the way that someone subjects to a bad piece of news might say that they hated something.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Jake can't help the humorless laugh that leaves his lips, almost chocking on his tea as he looks down at Connor.

"Welcome to the fucking club," He shakes his head, stopping to down the majority of the tea to keep from having to taste it before setting aside the cup. "I've been here...well..okay me, Dwight, Meg, and Claud have all been here the longest. No idea how long but it's been a long time."

Looking over at the others he nods to a few. "We all help each other, teach eachother what we know and it gives us an edge. Of course they can do that too, and they do. Remember how that gen we were working on sparked when neither of us were touching it? That's a hex, if you ever find one of those piles of bones that's glowing....get rid of it."

"If it glows it go!" Ace called around his cigarette with a laugh.

"Sometimes it might be something bad that triggers when it goes but....it's still better to be safe than sorry later. Plus there's one hex that can really fuck us over if there are any unlit totems left around."

Shifting a bit to put his hands out close to the flames he Jake relaxed a bit.

"Point is we do what we can to make this place comfortable, who knows how long we'll be here for."

[sentbydpd]

Connor just sat and listened, and absorbed, and let it sink in with the rest of what he'd learned in this very short period of time. From old gods toying with them to magic apparently being real enough to hinder them to monsters and murderers ready to chase them down and slaughter them, there was just a lot coming at him at once. If it weren't for his being accustomed to absorbing a lot of information rapidly, he probably would have just tuned out or decided it was all horseshit.

"I feel like I'm probably gonna have to sleep on all this. Sorry." He stood and steadied himself on one foot, putting out his cigarette on the sole of it then dropping the remainder of it into his shirt pocket before making his way back up to the cabin that he and Jake now shared. There, he would be carefully inspecting himself for damage from the trial that had killed him. If he were to take lasting damage, he wanted a running tally.