OOC: Oh man Zeph, you made my day.

BIC: Jade smiled absently and surpressed a laugh. "Guess that's not gonna work. Ok, let's try this."She uploaded a map generator on her pda. "Were just gonna have to pick a direction and go. I'll draw out the map while we walk so that if we get to a dead ens, we can retrace our steps without getting lost."

Wolf cringed slightly as Wraith crashed into the wall.

I wonder why that failed? Maybe he's not thinking it through enough...
Wolf decided to call on a Zen belief that he had picked up from Monk months ago

"Do not try to run through the wall...that's impossible" Wolf said to Wraith. "Instead, try to realize the truth. There is no wall."

Any response Wraith would've made was rendered redundant by Jade announcing her plan. Wolf though the map would help, but only if Monk could hold on for a little longer.

"All right, sounds like a good plan." Wolf said "I suggest uploading the map to my PDAP. This way, we can split up, and still know where we all are. I think if one of us reaches the brainwaves, then Monk will be able to let us out on his own. With us all taking separate routes, then we increase the chances of getting out of this Pac-Man maze from hell."

"Ok sounds good," Jade uploaded the maps to Wraith and Wolf. "Alright, I'm going left, contact me if you find the exit. Our locations are the litle flashing dots on the screen. And be careful, who knows what that psycho Myth has in store for us."

OOC: Uh... guys? You do know that I am trying to get things straight for you...? Yes it's collapsing, but the door is there. Read my previous post...

IF YOU DARE! [/dundundun]

OOC: You don't have to say "[/dundundun]", it's implied.

BIC: Wolf checked the map. "I'll go straight, that leaves you to take the right branch, Wraith. If you see the anything that may be the brainwaves, call it into Jade, she'll know. And remember," Wofl said as he drew his uzi and cocked it "Stay alert. Jade is absolutely right that Myth could throw anything our way, but hopefully Monk may be able to straighten this out."

Or else we're pretty much screwed Wolf thought as he took off down the center path, PDAP in one hand, uzi in the other. carefult to look for false walls, and any other signs that the maze might suddenly change shape.

Wraith does the same, walking briskly through his hallway and constantly updating his map. A few minutes in he gets tired of updating manually and attaches a small, simple sensor to an input jack, then writes a quick program to scan the walls and automatically map them on his padd. He holds it out ahead of him thus, padd in one hand and pistol in the other.

"Psst... Wraith, was it?" A voice whispered from behind a wall. The voice sounded very familiar. "I'll show you the way... follow me." A hand came from behind the wall and motioned him him towards the wall. "This way! Hurry! We don't have much time."


"Jade..." She looked around, and noticed that the voice came from the left path. "It's this way... follow my voice. I'll show you the way..." It too sounded familiar.


"What are you doin' Wolf?" He tried to identify the position of the voice, but to no avail. "C'mon... I'll show you the way to go... you're very close." A body appeared in front of him, wearing purple. It was Monk! "C'mon! Dear friend..." He turned around and ran away from Wolf.



Monk tried to keep his sanity. Keeping his knees on the floor, but tilting his head up to loot at Myth, just standing there... laughing. Monk grabbed his head again, "Shut up!"

"Why?" He said through the laughs, "I find this so amusing! In a matter of minutes, this entire place will come down."

"No... this is just a storage facility..."

"You are right." Myth became serious again, putting his hands behind his back and pacing around him. "This is just for storage, but there had to be some sort of... defense..."

"Defense? I don't get it..." Monk did not make eye contact.

"Ah... you wouldn't... fists for brains." He chuckled a little at his joke. He looked back down at Monk and saw he was still keeping his eyes towards the ground. "You didn't find that funny?"

"No..." Monk shook in his place. He wanted to get up, desperately wanted to get up and fight this... thing, but something in him wouldn't let him.

Myth sighed, "You have no sense of humor... do you?" He looked away from him, and continued his circle, "Yes, Mastermind needed to make sure that this place couldn't be broken into, or if it was, something to defend against it."

"Is that where you come in?"

"Ah... very good my dear Monk! You catch on quick don't you?" Monk didn't respond. "Yes, well... remember that needle in the head?" He paused, but still got no answer. He knelt right down in front of Monk, and tilted his head up whispering, "That was me..." He smiled, then started to laugh. "That was the connection to the outside world! HA! As long as I am still in your head, there is no escape from me, and if you die... this place goes too. You go insane? Well... let's just hope... that doesn't happen. It would be unfortunate for your friends to stay lost in your mind. FOREVER!" He made sure to emphasize the last word.

It was an awful cliche, but it was fact. If something happened to Monk's mind, this place would be destoryed. Myth was in fact, hoping for that. While playing with Monk's mind, he was hopping to get him to finally snap, and therefore destroy the place himself. "No... I will not let that... happen." He brought his legs underneath him and crossed them, sitting on top of the new fashoned seat. He focused all his energy to his mind, hoping to clear up the walls and barriers that were stopping his friends from reaching their goals. However, the voices started to talk again and Monk was losing concentration.

"When is Daddy getting home?"

"Please! No!"

"Get away from me you monster!"

"How could you?"

"I didn't..." Monk shook his head.

"Why?"

"I have a family! I have a wife! Please! Spare me!"


The voices echoed in the labyrinth that the trio was in. Monk looked towards Wolf, "Please... I don't know how much longer I can hold this shape. Hell, I don't know how long I can keep my brain intact! Hurry!" He turned, and continued on his way.

The other two got the same message.

Wolf ran after Monk, following his friend to what he hoped would be their ticket out of here. Wolf could see his friend's mind was losing the battle against Myth. A hole opened up in the floor, and Wolf barely managed to leap over it.

We have to find those brainwaves...or we get trapped forever. Hang in there Monk...you have to beat this.

Wolf saw Monk was leading him towards a white door, but the passageway was starting to collapse. Wolf also noticed Jade and Wraith running for the door as well. Wolf ran faster, rolling to one side as a wall came crashing down. He reached the door, pulled it open...

"Any idea how long till our late party geusts arive?" Coyote asked a nerdy looking copy.

"No clue, Where are mastermind's guests."

"Oh I led them into the labyrinth, You wanna bet that they'll be lost permanetly?"

"Nah, They are AIs they'll figure out the room's moves eventually."

"True but they are mastermind's AIs."

"Good point."

"Psst...Wraith, was it?" A voice whispers from behind a wall. The voice sounds very familiar. "I'll show you the way...follow me."

A hand comes from behind the wall and motiones him towards the wall. "This way! Hurry! We don't have much time."

Wraith watches Monk emerge and stand before him, then stares back at him and raises his commlink slowly to his mouth. "Jade...Wolf...are you seeing Monk in front of you right now?"

He looks over him again and adds, "'Cause he's standing in front of me, telling me to follow him.

...Guys? Guys?"

Suddenly voices echo through the hallways and Monk looks towards him. "Please...I don't know how much longer I can hold this shape. Hell, I don't know how long I can keep my brain intact! Hurry!"

He turns and continues on his way, leaving Wraith standing with his commlink raised still. "Guys? Guys?"

Then he pockets his transmitter and rushes after Monk. "Aw, hell!"

"Shit..." Jade cursed as she barely managed to dodge a falling slab of wall. The labrynth was slowly crumbling before her, adn the only thing she had going for her was a hologram of Monk leading her to who knows where. A piece of wall hit her in the shoulder, but she continued on, knowing that if she stopped, it would be the end of her and the mission.

(( *takes a risk, for $200* (sorry, got a Jeopardy-thingy in my head from FF Omake thread...) ))

Wraith leaps over a small opening in the floor and takes three more steps, then watches as a whole section of wall and ceiling caves in, dropping lots of stone directly into his path.

'Aw, snap,' He thinks to himself, deciding simultaneously to risk his ghost form. He takes a flying leap and transforms in mid-air, and miraculously passes through all the debris and lands softly on the other side, still running full speed ahead. He nears Jade on her right and sees Wolf reach the door ahead of them, but the floor suddenly gives way under Jade and she starts to fall through the fissure...but Wraith snatches her under her arms and leaps, carrying her across the gap to the other side. He sets her down on her feet and lets go while still trying to regain his own balance to run again.

Wolf took one look into the room, then looked back. He saw Wraith helping Jade over the gap, and now they were both running for the door as well.

He turned towards the holographic form of Monk, which was starting to fade out. "Listen, you have to hold on for a few more seconds! I have no clue what the brainwaves look like. Jade has to make it through, and I'd hate to lose the rookie."

Wolf held the door open, urging his comrades onward.

Wraith had saved Jade, but thank you's were not needed then. She continued to run until she met up with Wolf. Out of breath she said, "did you find them? We have to do this quick, Monk's mental capacities are being stretched to their limits. If this keeps up, he'll be a vegetable." She spotted the hologram of Monk on the floor and she went up to it. "You have to hang on. Remember I said I'm not leaving anyone behind? This includes you. I won't leave you here to cave in under your own memories. So help us find the brainwaves so we can all go home ok?"

Monk looked up, with obvious pain on his face, the hair coming over his eyes, the bandana slipping down. "I'm... trying... it... hurts! Oh God... does it hurt!" He slowly got to his feet and continued running, "We're... almost there..."



Myth knelt down in front of Monk again, "You're losing it... I can tell from the look on your face. Soon, it will all fall apart, and everything will be lost."

"I will keep it... intact..." Monk shook violently.

"You can't! You can't do anything! You are a failure! You started out as one, and you will continue to be one for the rest of your life. All several minutes of it. You are a failure... and a liar! A fake!"

"I will keep it... intact..."

"You say that now, but all you want to do is break down and cry... I know you. Failure!"

"Fake!"

"Liar!"

The people around him were now taunting him. "I will... keep it... intact..." It was getting harder to say it.

"Fine. Keep it that way. I mean... it's not like they will get there anyway, no one is there guiding them, is there?"


"You have to hang on. Remember I said I'm not leaving anyone behind? This includes you. I won't leave you here to cave in under your own memories. So help us find the brainwaves so we can all go home ok?" Jade echoed in his mind.


Jade... I'm trying... it's so... hard! Wait... why can I... hear you?

"No... we have nothing to worry about. I mean, it's not like you have made a hologram of yourself to guide you friends to the room." Myth shrugged.

Monk looked up slowly, "What? What are you talking about?"

"Exactly. You were wondering how you just heard Jade, weren't you?" Monk gasped at the words, "Yes... well, you are there, in spirit anyway. If that's what you want to call it!" Myth started to laugh maniacally. "Spirit! Another fake belief that you worship so much. You are such a fake and a liar..."

"I will... keep it... intact..."



The hologram stood next to the door that Wolf was holding open. "Yes... this is the one you want. Hurry, if you don't act soon, I'll... ah!!" As he fell to his knees and the place shook again. The floor was giving way, so the team was forced into the room. After the team stumbled in, they found themselves in a hallway, a long hallway, that seemed to go on into the distence forever, with doors all along the hallway. They could hear screams coming from the inside of all the rooms. Monk managed to sneak up behind the group. "Careful, if I can recall correctly, this is the training ground where I stu..." He paused then hung his head, "I meant had the information forced upon me. Who knows what's up ahead, c'mon!" He charged through the group heading for the end.

It wasn't a second after that the door behind them closed, locked and soldiers all came out of the doors, guns blazing in hand. "Intruders! Get them!" a loud speaker boomed in the hallway. "Don't let them escape!"

"SHIT!!! Scatter and take 'em out!" Wolf shouted as he brought his uzi up, mowwing down soldiers. He dove behind A supply cabinet, bullets splintering wood and ricocheting off metal.

Ed pulled out his PDAP and activated the radio. "Jade, find the brainwaves and get to them...I'll cover for you."

Then he called Wraith. "Wraith, we need to cover Jade while she finds the brainwaves, do your ghost thing and confuse the hell out of them."

Wolf drew his 45s and started firing from behind cover. Some of his magsafe bullets weren't getting throught the enemy armor, so he slowed down and started aiming for headshots. Guards starting to fall one by one, but they just kept coming.

Who the hell sent these guys? And is this even really possible, or just another repressed memory? Wolf thought as he dropped back behind the cabinet to reload. He looked for Monk, but his friend was nowhere to be seen.
And maybe the strain has become too much for him...

OOC: I thought hallways don't have tables and file drawers, but I'll go with it.

BIC: Jade dove behind a table and upturned it so she could get some cover. Wolf had laid down cover fire so she wouldn't be turned into a smoldering pile of ash, so she ran out and while firing her rifle, made her way down the hallway. Taking cover behind another desk, she opened her comm. "I have no idea what door to go into! I'm guessing it's the last one, but we only have one chance at this before the whole place comes down..." Jade thought to herself Well you wanted to be leader, so make a decision dammit "I'm going for the last door. Everyone hold your fire and cover your ears." Jade tapped a few keys, and a sonic grenade appeared in her hand. Pulling the pin, she launched it over towards the guards and covered her ears as the sonic boom rang out and incapacitated the guards. Jade took a look around the desk and ran out towards the door. "Let's go!"

----------

Meanwhile J2 (OOC: forgot about them) and Beowolf had managed to create a small mountain of guard carcasses, but were getting nowhere fast. "Beowolf, we can't keep fighting forever, we have a mission to complete. If you have any aces up your sleeve in the form of heavy artillary, now would be a really good time."

"Gotcha," Comes his reply to Wolf. Wraith steps out from behind cover and stares down their assaulters, a hail of bullets coming down on him. He goes into ghost form and stands still as bullets poof through him harmlessy, confusing most of the soldiers.

Then he walks forward, increasing his speed as he gets closer to one man in particular. He fires relentlessly, getting increasingly frightened as the bullets only go through him. Suddenly his magazine runs out and he looks down long enough for Wraith to take cover in front of him and jam a knife into his throat. He then takes his gun and uses his body as a human shield while moving closer to a cabinet further ahead, firing full away with his reloaded submachine gun.

Then Jade orders them to cover their ears. He drops the man as he gets behind the cabinet and covers his ears as told, then jumps when the boom sounds, hearing it through his hands. After it's over he leans out from behind cover and looks at all the silenced men, and when Jade moves out, he flanks her.

Wolf paused to reload his guns, and then headed in through the door one he was positive all the enemies were out of action.



***

Beowulf executed another guard, then looked up. "Very well, let's see what I've got."

The lupine AI reached his hands up, and produced a Chaingun (like the one Neo uses in the Matrix) seemingly out of thin air. "Lead the way, and I'll clear it."

To prove his point, he unleashed a barrage of bullets at an oncoming enemy platoon. Their corpses flew through the air.