KILLJOY

Chapter 22: The Staff Room(s)

Back in the hallway...

A few bullets quickly formed in Clint's hand as he loaded them into the barrel of his gun. He raised it up as he pulled the trigger.

Click.

Max turned to see him trying to shoot the roof, and asked, "What are you doing?"
Clint looked to him with a featureless expression while giving his response, "Getting the bad luck out. Now let's go get our work done."
Max just nodded as he looked over at the door. It had a simple padlock on it, as he held his hand out to form a thin needle. He quickly jammed it into the small opening of the keyhole and started fiddling around with it, and after a little while of trying to get the door open...

Click.

"We're in."
He pulled the padlock down as he unlatched the lock, unhooking it from the door as he tossed it to the floor. As it clattered down, he quickly turned the knob, kicking it open as the hidden halls became quickly apparent. They were more narrow than the main halls he was wandering prior, with concrete walls to make them sturdy. Max stepped in to the hallway, before conjuring a dagger in his hand and heightening the aura in his hand to its maximum, slamming it in to the wall. While the concrete cracked a bit at the site of impact, exposed steel merely dented as it took the brunt of the impact.
"Reinforced... the fuck are they doing in here?"
Clint just looked a bit anxious when he saw Max ramp up his aura, his raw output exceeding his own by a fair amount. He began to make his way through the concrete halls, as Clint went to follow behind.

— — —

Reinald placed an ivory-white mask back onto his face, the false smile hiding his expression as a marking of a chain came down from his right eye to the right side of the mask, arcing downwards before coming back up. He placed a hand to Liam's throat as he remained bound, as a metal ring quickly encased his neck, locking around it tight enough to keep him captive, but not enough to choke him. He saw Liam struggle to pry it off as a chain extended from the front of the ring to his finger, wrapping around a couple times before he grasped its end. He waved to his men as they untied Liam, since he wouldn't be able to do much in his current state anyways. He yanked the chain a bit to prove a point as he began walking, leaving the room with Liam reluctantly following. He wandered down the sets of halls for a couple minutes before stopping in front of another door, opening it as he allowed Liam a look inside.

— — —

That bastard. He saw as his mother lied unconscious within a similar concrete room to the one he was currently kept captive in, her ankle chained to the wall by another one of those forsaken manacles. He tried to yank against the chain bound to his throat, but all it did was cut his air as he pulled, as he felt the dull pain race through his neck every time he pulled. He looked up at him with fire in his eyes, and if it was not for the tape against his mouth, he would be speaking his mind to this psychopath in front of him. He could have sworn he saw a cold smile under his mask as he heard the man speak.
"So, boy. I assume this woman has some relation to you, you'd hate to see her harmed, I imagine?"
He continued to fight against his chains to no avail, the look in his eyes just widening as he continued to fill with fury from listening to the man.
"Look, I cut you a deal. You don't resist your captivity for, say, three hours, and I let her go free."
He felt reluctant to accept... but he didn't want to get her wrapped up in this in the first place. He didn't want to get her stuck with his business, which he was guessing had something to do with their capture. He looked up at him, with his eyes still filled with anger, as he gave a reluctant nod. The man simply looked to him, nodded in response, and turned back around to lead him back.
"Glad we have an agreement."

— — —

After he had brought Liam back to his cell to be held, he made his way back through the halls, eventually standing in front of another door. As he stepped into yet another concrete room, he caught the sight of Eli struggling against his guards, aura flaring as they helped each of his arms, trying to keep him in a kneeling position as Reinald walked him, a hand outstretched.
"So, you're the feisty one then?"
He saw Eli's face contort into a snarl as his eyes were filled with a similar, yet different type of fury to Liam's. As he held out his hand, aura began to flare in his hands, glowing ivory-white as he began to bring his hand over to Eli's face. He continued trying to shake free of the guards, a soft look of terror overtaking his anger as his hand contacted his face. His aura quickly enveloped his, taking it into his hand as a mask began to form within. He could already see the design starting to form, with small scratches along its top to signify bandages wrapped around it. Once he saw Eli's aura become no more than a faint trickle, he removed his hand as he admired his new mask, holding his hands up as it quickly faded away. Eli slumped to the ground, feeling exhausted as Reinald merely looked to him with his indiscernible expression.
"What a wonderful addition to my collection..."