TerrorFest 2018 - Zero Escape

Morgan

Morgan wanted to try and portray himself as a caring medium after his outburst but the tension and the timer kept him on edge and all his internal arguments just seemed stupid. He was a fool for losing his temper... he needed to use this time to his advantage somehow.  

Though, more importantly, would everyone else make it out of their puzzles? well more specifically Join and Jacke.  It would be nice if Alecia didn't solve her puzzle before he could leave, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. She was like a wasp that wouldn't stop stinging, and those damnable things always found their ways through the cracks.

That's when Cyrus and Pierce walked through the door, and Morgan took this chance to get out of his thoughts for a second and improve his image.

"See, there's no need to worry, everyone here is very capable." Morgan stated towards Kenny with a reassuring smile, as he turned his gaze towards the group and gave them a friendly nod of acknowledgement.

"Hopefully, they were able to figure out a bit more about this place."  Morgan quietly stated with interest, as he couldn't shake the feeling of hopelessness after the lack of information from their two rooms.

Jacke

Jacke sighs with relief as the safe opens.

"Phew, that's a relief! Good call on the lion, Join."

He picks up the model of the spider and examines it for a moment, before looking at the empty pedestal. He walks over to it and places the model on top.

"I guess this is supposed to go here then."

Taking a step back, Jacke places a hand on his chin in thought.

"So, we've got a lion, eagle, spider and a shark... the passcode is TELLS... the answer's got to be related to these statues right?"

Jacke thinks back to the previous room, where the whole group was together.

"In the room before, you got the answer by matching names with the order people arrived, right? Could the same kind of thing here. 'E' matches eagle, 'L' for lion and 'S' for spider and shark? But that's two for one letter, and what about the 'T'..."

He looks at the statues as he rambles, in an attempt to trigger an idea in his head. After a few moments, his mutterings pause.

"Hang on a minute... maybe it's not 'spider'. What if it's supposed to be a particular kind of spider? Like a, um..." Jacke thinks for a moment, before letting out a small gasp. "Oh! A tarantula, maybe? So then TELLS would be 'tarantula', 'eagle', 'lion', 'lion', 'shark'. Maybe the answer is 32114 then, if we take the order of them?"

- Luna -

"I won't lie. It's still a consideration." Luna responded as she pulled on her second shirt. "But since the two of you seemed to have history, I thought I'd feel that out first. No sense in making a fool of myself over someone that's already involved, right?"

She smirked at Alecia as she threw Pierce's coat over one shoulder. "Counselor, if this is the first girl talk you've had in that long, then maybe I should point him at you after all. Clearly, you need more chances to unwind, and that man gets you wound up without even trying."

Chuckling to herself, Luna made her way down the hall towards the distant sound of voices. "Oh, and by the way. I'm pretty sure you can't blush like that and not be trustworthy. So, I'd say you're good in my book. Not sure I'd paint you with angel wings though. That would be a weird look for a lawyer."

Unwind? Alecia's blush deepened, only serving to amuse Luna further. That's...

Luna took the lead down the hall, still chuckling to herself.

"Oh, and by the way. I'm pretty sure you can't blush like that and not be trustworthy. So, I'd say you're good in my book. Not sure I'd paint you with angel wings though. That would be a weird look for a lawyer."

Well, maybe the embarrassment was worth it then. Alecia laughed quietly and followed after Luna, feeling the best she had since stepping in this nightmare hellhole.

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Pierce and Cyrus strolled into the foyer to join the group, who all let out sighs of relief.

"Oh thank goodness you made it," Remy said. "We were almost out of time."

Pierce glanced around. No sign of Alecia or Luna... surprising. No sign of Jacke and Join either. Not surprising.

"How was your room?" Remy asked.

Pierce shot a look at Cyrus, but deciding not to bruise his ego any further. After all, he might still have his uses in the future. "Relatively simple. We had to decipher the phases of the moon and enter their denominators as the code."

"See, there's no need to worry, everyone here is very capable." Morgan stated towards Kenny before nodding toward the two of them. Pierce returned his nod, deciding they seemed to at least be willing to play nice for now.

"We had to count the petals of flowers," Kenny piped in. He ruffled his hair and sighed. "It was a lot trickier than it sounds."

"Our was counting the number of people in paintings."

Everyone turned as Alecia and Luna entered the room.

"You made it." Pierce smiled - if not friendly, then at least satisfactorily - and folded his arms. "I'd have been disappointed if you tripped up this early."

Alecia's gaze darted to Luna a second before clearing her throat. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. But this isn't a game show. 'Tripping up' means dying here."

"I know what it means," Pierce retorted, his eyes narrowing. "Forgive me for injecting some well-needed levity into the situation."

Kenny coughed awkwardly and stared at the last remaining door. "So... what now? Should we keep waiting for Jacke and Join?"

"We agreed for an extension every time someone showed up," Alecia replied, glancing at Pierce. "After all, they might be right behind us."

"So we did." Pierce leaned against the wall behind him, the light of the red monitors flickering across his glasses. "So, any bets on whose sins will get splashed across the screens next?"

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As Jacke and Join contemplated their puzzle with the last puzzle piece in place, a horrible warbling sound echoed in the room - a familiar sound, the noise that always proceeded...

"TICK TOCK," came Goatman's voice. "No time to play all day."

A faint hissing noise issued from around the room. As they looked about, a pale gas seemed to be drifting out from around the corners of the room, slowing spilling across the floor toward them like ghostly fingers. Whatever the gas was, it couldn't be good.

Jacke hurried over to the door to enter his code. With shaking fingers, he inputted 32114.

A harsh buzzing noise came from the door, and the indicator light flashed red.

Jacke and Join turned to glance around the room as the gas began to lap around their feet, climbing steadily higher...

================================================


Rules:

1) You only have three chances to enter the 5-digit passcode. Failure will automatically set off the death trap in the room.
2) Answers and clues can only be communicated IC. Keep it realistic.

Discovered Information:

Room 1:
"1" is the Mona Lisa
"2" is Botticelli's Venus
"3" is possibly one of Louis Janmot's Poem of the Soul pieces, a circle of five women
"4" is Las Meninas
The passcode is LVRMV - 94514

Room 2:
"1" is a white lion
"2" is a majestic white eagle
"3" is missing its model
"4" is a white shark
The passcode is TELLS

Room 3:
"1" is an eight-petal flower, possibly a daisy
"2" is a six petal flower
"3" is a four petal flower, possibly a clover
"4" is a five petal flower
The passcode is DLCHD - 86458

Room 4:
"1" is a half moon
"2" is a crescent moon
"3" is a full moon
"4" is a new moon
The passcode is CHFCN - 42140

Room 5:
"1" is a curving, feminine figure with both her arms missing. =
"2" is a powerfully built male figure, probably some Greek hero or god. It's head is in place.
"3" is the bust of a woman, an elegantly sculpted head with a tiara emerging from her curls
"4" is a winged figure in a billowing robe with both its head and its arms missing
The passcode is ZANAH - 02324

Jacke

Jacke glances uneasily at the gas entering the room.

"Crap! C'mon Join, we gotta get outta here! This madman really wants to kill us!"

Jacke paces for a moment, his head turning to and from the clue and the statues, muttering.

"I reckon the order is probably correct, but if it's not the order, what could the numbers be..."

He runs a hand through his hair.

"Okay, Join, I'm grasping at straws here, but how about we try the number of limbs or something?! At this point we might as well guess! So that'd be 84440!"

Join smiled as we unlocked the safe and Jacke placing the missing idol on the pedestal, after he tried to enter the first code the flashing red light popped up again and this time the goatman had a surprise for them. Gas started to climb, already at their wits end Jacke tried another code hoping it had to do with their limbs.

"I guess I got lucky with the lion but this part I'm clueless, I'll tried to help as much as possible, if that code is wrong tried the same one but for the eagle try two limbs without counting its wings."

Join said as he already tried to think of a different code that they could use.

Frantic, Jacke pressed the code 84440 into the data pad with shaking fingers. The indicator light flashed red once more, and a harsh buzzing sound followed as the gas swirled upward toward their faces.

"I guess I got lucky with the lion but this part I'm clueless, I'll tried to help as much as possible, if that code is wrong tried the same one but for the eagle try two limbs without counting its wings."

Jacke didn't have the energy to respond. Inhaling with shaky lungs, he accidentally got a whiff of the gas and coughed violently. No...

Limbs trembling, he put in the code 82440. The indicator light turned green with a pleasant chime. They did it!

Jacke reached for the handle, but the room seemed to tilt. Buckling to his knees, he grasped onto the handle, but his numb fingers couldn't turn it properly. Collapsing to the ground, Jacke's eyes found Join, who struck a dramatic pose before scooping Jacke up.

"Don't worry, you won't die here," Join told him. "I won't... let..."

Join's legs gave out, and the two fell before the door once more, coughing and inhaling more gas. Jacke's fingers grasped Join's arm as his vision started to go black.

Just before he lost consciousness, he could swear he saw booted feet emerge from the smoke, and a goat's head leering at him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ugh, what had happened? His whole head ached like a bowling ball had been shoved through his ear and rattled around in his skull. Sitting up, Jacke slid up against the cold metal surface behind him and tried to adjust his eyes.



Blood. Blood splattered across the floor. Across him.

Scrambling up to his feet, Jacke stared down at Join, who stared back with unblinking, unseeing eyes above a red gash in his throat like a second mouth.

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As the group waited in the foyer, tense and alert, the red monitors flickered to life.

"Here it comes," Pierce murmured, straightening his slouch against the wall.

Then they saw it. The White Room. The blood. And Jacke standing over Join's corpse.

Pierce's eyes widened, his expression. Kenny clapped a hand to his mouth, looking like he might throw up.

"Oh god," Alecia whispered, backing away from the monitor.

The video feed shut off a moment later, leaving them in silence.

================================================


Rules:

1) You only have three chances to enter the 5-digit passcode. Failure will automatically set off the death trap in the room.
2) Answers and clues can only be communicated IC. Keep it realistic.

Discovered Information:

Room 1:
"1" is the Mona Lisa
"2" is Botticelli's Venus
"3" is possibly one of Louis Janmot's Poem of the Soul pieces, a circle of five women
"4" is Las Meninas
The passcode is LVRMV - 94514

Room 2:
"1" is a white lion
"2" is a majestic white eagle
"3" is a tarantula
"4" is a white shark
The passcode is TELLS - 82440

Room 3:
"1" is an eight-petal flower, possibly a daisy
"2" is a six petal flower
"3" is a four petal flower, possibly a clover
"4" is a five petal flower
The passcode is DLCHD - 86458

Room 4:
"1" is a half moon
"2" is a crescent moon
"3" is a full moon
"4" is a new moon
The passcode is CHFCN - 42140

Room 5:
"1" is a curving, feminine figure with both her arms missing. =
"2" is a powerfully built male figure, probably some Greek hero or god. It's head is in place.
"3" is the bust of a woman, an elegantly sculpted head with a tiara emerging from her curls
"4" is a winged figure in a billowing robe with both its head and its arms missing
The passcode is ZANAH - 02324

- Remy -

Moon phases and Greek Gods and paintings... what was this place?

She jumped a little when she heard Alecia's voice. She felt relieved. That only left Jacke and Join. Maybe their system with the delayed timer did work out well...

As more time passed, she grew more and more restless, even the monitors forgotten.

Suddenly the red monitors flickered.

Remy paused her pacing and looked up. And what she saw drained every bit of color from her face.

Her hand was shaking as it reached out to the wall, trying to keep herself from giving in to her weak knees.

This couldn't be happening!! Wait, what if it wasn't actually happening? How did they know this was true?

"No!" she stepped up to the monitor and grabbed it with both hands. "I don't believe it! Stop messin' with us you dipshit." Remy actually sounded angry now. "It's one thing to lure us into your horror escape room, but there's no reason Jacke would kill Join!"

She finally turned away from the monitor, aware that everyone was staring.

"I've had enough of this," she said and turned to the door that lead out to the hallway where they had come through after completing their puzzle room. "The door in their room is unlocked. That means they managed to solve their puzzle. I'm going to check for myself if any of this is true."

At the door she hesitated. Actually, deep down she was terrified. Terrified of the dark, long hallway that lay ahead. Terrified of what she might find. And terrified that she might not make it back. But anything was better than waiting.

Remy was the first to shake off the shock, declaring her disbelief over the situation. But when she charged over to the door, she found herself hesitating. Finally putting in the strength to raise her arm, she reached a hand for the door when suddenly Pierce’s hand closed around her wrist.

“Don’t be reckless,” he said, his voice calm and steady. “You may be right. But then, you may be wrong. And you’d be walking into a disadvantageous scenario. Out here, we have the advantage of numbers and close proximity. Let him come to us.”

He carefully let go of Remy’s arm and stepped back. Alecia, her eyes on him, sighed.

“I don’t like it, but... I think Pierce is right.”

Pierce raised an eyebrow. “Is that really so hard to admit?”

Before Alecia could respond, Kenny piped up.

“Maybe he didn’t mean to do it,” he offered. “Maybe he was triggered by what happened in the Drowning Room and snapped before he knew what he was doing.”

“Or maybe Goatman made him an offer he couldn’t refuse,” Pierce countered. “They might have used up all their chances, and Goatman told them he’d unlock the door for only one of them.”

An uncomfortable silence followed. If that were true, what other bargains might Goatman offer?

Jacke

Jacke regains consciousness on the floor. He sees the exit door, now open slightly, as he sits up off the floor. Why did he feel wet?

"Hey Join, we did it! Good job buddy..."

He stops speaking as his eyes land on Join, taking in the gash in his throat and the obscene amount of blood covering him. He jumps up in a panic, realising that the wet feeling was Join's blood covering him head to toe.

"AAAAGH! WHAT THE HELL?! NONONONO....."

He begins hyperventilating as he processes what has happened, screaming denials. Jacke scrambles back, away from the still cooling body through the exit, tripping over himself in his panic. After a moment, he turns over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

"Why... we got the answer..."

Jacke's face is an ugly mess, covered in Join's blood, with tears running through down his cheeks as Jacke screams incoherently.

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

Yù zǐ watched the scenarios unfolding with slight amusement mixed with a bit of annoyance. Finally, he stormed forward into the hallway where the few people had gathered up.

"Urrgh, you people are being so wishy-washy. Of course it must be an act. Something like movie magic. It's all a trick that man-goat is playing with us. Of course, he wouldn't break his own rules just on a whim, right?"

The slightly frustrated guy barged forward, tightly gripped the doorknob, twisted it and opened the door for everyone.

- Remy -

"Pfft," Remy jerked her hand away and looked at Pierce. "You really think if I walk out there, he's just gonna outright kill me?" Remy shook her head. Even if Jacke did ... kill Join, there had better be a damn good reason for it.

"Sure, we have the advantage of numbers here, but let's be honest: We don't trust one another. So what if the next person gets a good offer, then someone else will be lying there with their throat cut. What then? Then the numbers meant squat. Or are you prepared to jump in front of a gun for any of us?"

She took a deep breath after this rant.

"Anyway, the only way we can find out what really happened is by asking Jacke," Remy replied. "And yes, I'm aware that he can lie to us."

Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream that sounded through the hallway.

Remy blanched, if that was even possible.

Before she could move, Yu zi barged forward and opened the door to the hallway.

Morgan

Morgan's face warped into a slight grimace when he saw Aleica and Luna, as the image of them dying to one of the death traps shattered in his mind.  He quickly covered his face with his hood, as he took a deep breath and adjusted his face into a warm smile to show how 'happy' he was too see them... that looked way too forced.

"Petals.... missing limbs.... people... Interesting, seems like all these puzzles involved counting some common thread.  Maybe once we get Join and Jacke's piece it will fit together" Morgan stated curiously, as he pondered the situation with his attention being drawn to the screen that began to flicker on.

His muscles began to tense, as he feared it would expose him as a fraud.... but the scene was somehow much more morbid then he expected, a sense a dread overcome him as he now realized how real this situation was.... but at the same time... he felt more relaxed?  


"Urgh!" Morgan began to muttered, as he clutched his throat and dropped to the floor.  His face began to turn a dark red as he gasped like he couldn't breathe.  His eyes became wide, as he glanced at his hands with a look of shock. As he began to remove his outer cloak, like in some attempt to help him breathe.

"OH MY GOD!" 'Morgan' shouted, as she began glancing around the room like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.  Until he realized that he was in the foyer...

"We escaped....?!"

Spoiler:

a big stupid smile slipped onto 'Join's' face.  As he very specifically turned to pierce, and flexed with a nod like almost saying 'I told you I would protect us!'.

However, a look of confusion soon appeared on his face as he began glancing around the room....

"Where's Jacke?" 'Join' stated perplexed, he also looked at Yu Zi, as his brow frowned and pointed at the man as he was reaching for the door handle, "And Morgan?"

Morgan would bide his time for the time being, he needed to make this possession look realistic.  He'll see what Jacke says and where crowd shifts... then accuse or pardon Jacke accordingly as "Join's" memory comes back... it's perfect.  He just had to watch out for the 'rational' ones who'll mess up his plan.

- Luna -

In the moment that it was splashed across the screen, Luna's gaze took in the bloody scene. This "goat man" was nothing, if not artistic. Morbid as it might be, and sick as she might feel right now, she could appreciate the art for what it was. The splatter was accurate. So, it must have happened right there on the floor, but she didn't see a weapon.

As the others rushed down the hall, she stood rooted in place, contemplating. Artistic or not, blood was difficult to mimic in appearance. From the moment it touched the air around it, the hue began to lose its saturation, fading to brown.

A sudden scream from down the hall made her jump, and just as she'd raised a hand to cover her pounding heart, Morgan seemed to suffer some kind of episode. At first Luna thought that he might be suffering a panic attack or even worse, having a heart attack, but when he assumed a goofy pose.

Any concern she might have felt immediately melted away as she regarded him with a disdainful stare.

Cyrus Winter

Cyrus glaced at the monitor before immediately dismissing its contents. While Join had most likely been killed, he was almosy completely certain the Goatman wouldnt be showing them this if Jacke had truly done it. After all, its goal appeared to be sowing discord amongst them, and having a hidden psycho killer in their midst would be more advantageous than revealing his face, especially so early on.

"Have any of you considered our grass-fed friend might have done the dirty work himself? I suspect Jacke shouldnt have the physical prowess or the tools for this. Unless the goat let him bring them anyway..."

He outright ignored Morgan like he wasnt even there. The man could throw as many fits as he'd like, Cyrus had seen many hundreds like him on the job. Anyone in the roon foolish enough to fall for it at this point would have to have a couple screws loose.

Pierce shot Yu zi a disgusted look. Movie magic, really? But before he could retort, Alecia interrupted.

"You're wrong," she said, shaking her head. "I don't think he did break his rules. Think about it. The rules were we could only enter puzzle rooms in pairs, and that if we failed the puzzle in three tries or didn't escape by the end of the time limit, the death traps in the rooms would go off. He never said anything about killing us personally... or about us killing each other."

While Pierce contemplated her words, Yu zi took the opportunity to slip past and try the door. However, it appeared to be just for show, as no amount of tugging affected it. Of course it would be only one way. Pierce shook his head. Goatman wouldn't want them to be able to double back and help each other.

Next was Remy's turn to rant. There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone took in her words. What if someone got an offer to kill? Would one of the others do it? Would anyone risk stopping them?

A blood curdling scream ripped through the silence, and everyone backed away from the door.

"That sounded like..." Kenny whispered. "Jacke. Do you think... Goatman got him?"

"I don't know," Alecia murmured, tightening her arms around her body.

"No..." Pierce shook his head. "Think about it. He wouldn't bother showing us Jacke killing Join just to kill him next."

"Have any of you considered our grass-fed friend might have done the dirty work himself?" Cyrus interjected. "I suspect Jacke shouldn't have the physical prowess or the tools for this. Unless the goat let him bring them anyway..."

"That's possible," Alecia said, trying to push her fear back and think rationally.

"Or he offered Jacke the knife personally. We've seen him holding one," Pierce countered. "We don't know the extent to which he can personally interfere with the puzzle rooms."

"Maybe. But we'll still need to interrogate Jacke to-"

Alecia stopped short as Morgan began to convulse theatrically. Everyone paused to watch his display as he suddenly began to act like someone else, shouting and talking nonsense. Talking like-

And there it was. A very "Join-like" smile slipped onto his face, and he made a dramatic pose of nauseating machismo.

"Now I've seen everything," Pierce growled. "Of all the unbelievable-"

"Oh my god!" Kenny whispered shrilly. "He's... he's channeling Join's ghost!"

Pierce pinched the bridge of his nose and ground his teeth, temporarily unable to speak.

Kenny, taking advantage of the silence, carefully approached Morgan with his hands out. "Join, is that you? Do you remember anything? About... about the White Room?"

Pierce turned to look at the rest of them. "I don't know about the rest of you, but we're wasting valuable time on this circus act. If Jacke doesn't come out in the next minute, we should move on."

"We can't just-" Alecia began.

"Yes, we can." Pierce glared at her. "For all we know, Goatman just gave him VIP access out of here."

Alecia sighed and turned to look at the door. He might have a point. Again.

The door suddenly crashed open, and Jacke staggered out onto his knees. Everyone jumped back, eyeing his bloodstained form.

"Jacke, are you all right?" Alecia asked. She instinctively took a step forward, then hesitated. She'd tried to tell herself she wouldn't judge him without getting the full story, but her she was already starting to feel endangered by him.

Pierce stepped forward instead and caught Jacke under the arm, hauling him to his feet. "Hello, Jacke. Nice of you to join us." He pushed Jacke back against the wall, glaring at him over his glasses.

"Easy, Pierce!" Alecia protested.

"I think we're all very interested to hear how your puzzle room experience," he said, stepping back to stand with the others in a semicircle around Jacke. "How about it, Jacke? Fill us in."

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

Allegedly innocent, Kenny, was the first one to indulge Morgan's possession, if he hadn't done so, Yù zǐ had been contemplating to take his friend's side by reacting to the performance in Morgan's favour.

Jacke's sudden appearance through the door that Yù zǐ had failed to open from his side shifted everyone's attention to him, leaving Morgan to recover himself and rejoin the others quickly. Peirce was the first to question the clearly tormented guy roughly.

In all the new commotion that had begun, Yù zǐ made his way to the now ajar door and began investigating the area, even bending down onto his knees to study the floor for any residue or substance. His thinking was that it might be possible that the lock was booby-trapped and that made the room's survivour this long to exit.

- Remy -

The door wouldn't open when Yu zi tried to turn the handle.

It opened only one way? Remy shivered. This was getting serious.

Their discussion lead nowhere and before they could reach a conclusion, Morgan dropped to the floor and seemed to rise as Join.

Startled, Remy jumped back, letting out a little scream, hiding behind the person next to her, which happened to be Luna.

"S-sorry," she said, but didn't move from her position behind Luna.

From here, she watched as most people didn't seem to buy Morgan's possession. Trying calm herself, she appealed to her own sense of logic. Even if Morgan was a medium and sensitive to the supernatural, what were the odds of a possession being real? Her heart was racing.

Before she could reach a conclusion for herself, the door opened and Jacke stumbled through. There was nothing left from her before seen bravery when she had attempted to storm off and check on Jacke.

Then she smelled it and wrinkled her nose. Blood. Real blood.

"Join's r-really d-dead?" he voice was shaking.

Jacke

Jacke doesn't immediately respond to the others' questions, only sobbing while being supported by Pierce. Eventually, he regains his composure enough to speak.

"T-the puzzle... we were having trouble and the- then this gas started filling the room. Got the answer, but b-breathed some in an' c-couldn't move... must've passed out..." he begins to explain, stumbling over his words and interrupted by the occasional sob.

"W-Woke up on the floor, the door was open. B-But J-Join, he... oh god.." He raises a shaky hand to point back towards the room. "H-his neck was..."

Morgan

"I'm not dead" 'Join' yelled in frustration, as he flexed his arms for everyone to see, and continued to say in a proud and highly energetic tone "Who else would be able to kill someone with guns like thess.... what....?!"

'Join' looked confused, as his once proud and strong arms were now flimsy pale sticks.  Though, he was Morgan so that would make sense, but as 'Join'.  This was an absolutely shocking turn of events!  Let's see how could he sell this further.

"I can't be dead!  I still need to protect everyone!  And my friend CAESAR!"  'Join' uttered in a fury as he clenched his right fist tightly, tears beginning to drip down his face.  However, when Jacke ran in and began talking, Join quickly over to Jacke and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Gas hu?  someone must of knocked the two out with it.... Jacke seemed too shaken to be lying about the situation.  And if one was alive, someone had to input the code correctly... the goat man wouldn't break his own rules, would he?

"Jacke..... I'm sorry... but at least I was able to protect you, as I tried to save us from that sleeping gas"  'Join' quickly turned up towards the ceiling at he pointed his finger in a dramatic fashion in the air as he shouted, "You hear me, you coward!  You had to knock me out, because you knew you couldn't take me in a fight! You were Threatened by me!  Even though we got the code right!"

- Luna -

Luna rolled her eyes at Morgan's "performance" as she turned to Remy. "Don't worry about it."

She gave the woman an assessing glance and frowned. "Maybe you should sit down for a minute? You're about three shades more pale than you were a minute ago." Luna looked over her shoulder just in time to see Pierce's own show of machismo, shoving a sobbing Jacke against the wall. She sighed at that. Did every man in the room have to be channeling their "inner Join" right now?

Taking a deep breath, she pushed her way into the circle. The heel of her foot came down on Morgan's toes at the same time her smooth fingers closed around the shell of Pierce's ear, and she made sure to grind the heel as she tugged Pierce backwards.

"How about we give the hyperventilating person a little space, eh?" Luna projected her voice to entire crowd, but she made sure to give Morgan a dark look as she pulled Pierce past him, still firmly gripping his ear.

"And I'd like a private word with you." She said to Pierce as she let go of his ear and grabbed his shirt instead.

Jacke's trembling words brought a chill to everyone in the room. Kenny chewed at his nails, shrinking back from the others. "Join's really... I can't believe it."

Pierce glared at Jacke. His story might be plausible, but considering no one was around to verify this - no one still alive, anyway - he could easily be falsifying details.

"First, you avoid death in the Drowning Room. Now, you avoid death in the White Room. You're certainly on a lucky streak... if that's what it is," he said.

"You don't think..." Kenny shook his head. "Maybe the gas altered his mind. Maybe Jacke didn't realize what he was doing."

Alecia raised a warning hand. "We don't know that he did anything. Unintentionally or otherwise. We need to calm down and think this through."

"I'm not dead" 'Join' yelled in frustration, as he flexed his arms for everyone to see, and continued to say in a proud and highly energetic tone "Who else would be able to kill someone with guns like thess.... what....?!"

So much for calm. Everyone turned to regard Morgan, more committed to the performance than ever.

"I can't be dead!  I still need to protect everyone!  And my friend CAESAR!"  'Join' uttered in a fury as he clenched his right fist tightly, tears beginning to drip down his face.

"Who is Caesar?" Kenny whispered.

"Is that really the most questionable thing right now?" Pierce shook his head. It was hard to know whether to be disturbed or impressed by al this.

"Jacke..... I'm sorry... but at least I was able to protect you, as I tried to save us from that sleeping gas"  'Join' quickly turned up towards the ceiling at he pointed his finger in a dramatic fashion in the air as he shouted, "You hear me, you coward!  You had to knock me out, because you knew you couldn't take me in a fight!  You were Threatened by me!  Even though we got the code right!"

Pierce rubbed his temple. "Would you put a sock in it? I don't care if you're Morgan, Join, or the ghost of Julius Caesar, we don't have time to-"

Before he could finish, Luna charged her way in, grinding her heel down on Morgan's foot and latching onto Pierce's ear. It was probably more surprise than force that caused Pierce to let Luna drag him back away from the others.

"And I'd like a private word with you." Luna let go of his ear and grabbed his shirt instead.

Pierce stared down at her, brow furrowed. "I don't appreciate being manhandled. But then, I have to admire your handy work with our resident charlatan, so I guess it evens out." Hostility ebbing slightly, his gaze flickered to the suit jacket still around her shoulders before returning to her eyes. "Well, you have my attention. Make the most of it."

Cyrus Winter

As Luna charged in and dealt with Morgan and Pierce's seperate shows of bravado, Cyrus grabbed Jacke who was suddenly lacking support before the other man's knees could buckle, and helped him take a proper seat on the floor.

"You're fine now. Try to calm down a bit so we can figure something out, alright?" Cyrus spoke gently as to help Jacke collect himself through all the chaos. With the first room going the way it did, he was almost certain the Goatman intended to kill most if not all of them no matter if they successfully managed to clear his puzzles or not.

- Remy -

"I'll be fine," Remy waved Luna's concern off with a weak voice.

She stayed leaned against the wall as she watched the spectacle unfold.

What were they supposed to do now? Her eyes flickered to the monitors that remained dark.

Something in Jacke's voice stirred her own empathy and despite the fear she felt, she walked up to him and Cyrus and bend down towards him.

"Did you actually see anyone else in the room?" she asked.

Morgan

A grimace twisted across Morgan's face, as felt the pain from Luna stepping on his feet. However, he refrained from acting out.... wait should he act out? He was acting as Join after all?

Instead 'Join' just 'pretended' he didn't feel the pain, as he gave a sly smile in Luna's direction giving off the impression 'is that all?'. As he turned back around to try and further improve his image to realize Jacke wasn't pinned against the wall any more, as he quickly glanced around to see Cyrus had moved him to the floor to calm down.

Dang it! He was so concerned with improving his image he forgot to be more considerate to Jacke. This would cost him some points, but he wasn't out of this situation yet.

"We saw the goatman! He already showed up directly near the last room remember?" 'Join stated as he wagged his right pointer finger condescendingly like he was pointed out something obvious, as he continued to say "We were both affected by the gas, and someone like Jacke wouldn't be able to kill me!"

'Join' flexed his muscles for everyone to see to prove it, however a look of defeat washed over his face as he remembered that his precious body was lying dead in the previous room.