A wretched hive of scum and villainy..
A thin beam of blue light reached out to the door knob as the door slowly opened. In its wake, a small floating metal orb gently glided into the room. The beam of light was seemingly projected from a circular emitter in the machine's center. The silver sphere glowed blue, and emitted a quiet humming as it bobbed slightly in the air. It spoke in a monotone male voice.
"Welcome to The Dome. A request has been sent by Master Monroe Vossler for you to report to the armory as soon as you can. Thank you."
And with that, the little orb spun in its axis, and zoomed out of the room. Aegis sighed, lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Master? This place's got Masters?...'n what the'ell was that talkin'...floaty thing?"
Alice spoke up as she headed towards the door. "Yes, Master Monroe Vossler, one of the greatest fighters here at The Dome. You should be honored to be requested to meet him in person. Do not test him, for he is a very adept warrior."
Aegis let out a laugh, "Adept, is he? Well, I'll see fer m'self what he's cap'ble of..." He swung himself out of bed, and onto his feet. Alice gasped slightly, obviously taken back by the fact Aegis was wearing but a pair of light shorts. Captain Spade, not one to miss such an opportunity, reminded himself of how she'd look in something with a bit of lace, and strolled over towards the red headed attendant. He smiled with a cocky arrogance, " 'course, ya kin tell how capable I'm, right?" He laughed again, and stepped closer towards her. He reached out to place his hand on her side when his face exploded with a very familiar pain.
Alice's palm slapped against his cheek, leaving a burning feeling Aegis had felt many times. She glared at him sternly, fire burning in her eyes. Then, her face returned to its cheery, unnatural smile. "Please, follow Master Monroe's requests. It is not wise for one to...trifle with those who work here, even one such as myself. Your death will be quick and painless if it happens again. Have a wonderful day!" With that, Aegis was alone in the room once more.
Massaging his cheek, he quickly pulled on his pants and shirt, buckled up his boots, tightened his belt and holster, threw on his jacket and fastened his saber. Lastly, he raised his flask into the air, as if making a toast with a wine glass. He muttered something about weathering storms, then downed a healthy swig of liquor, enjoying the subtle burn as it spilled down his throat, blotting out the small annoyance that was growing in back of his mind.
Tha' stupid floaty thing din' tell me where to go!
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Aegis sprinted across the grassy plains, his red coat billowing out behind him like the tail of a crimson comet. He held a still smoking handgun in one hand, and his saber in the other. The pirate had no intentions of looking behind him as he sprinted back towards the seemingly innocent door ahead of him. It was a typical wooden door, with the exception that it was connected to no wall. Furthering the door's lack of innocent intentions, was the fact that it had taken Captain Spade from a dark hallway, into a beautiful field of green grass, the perfect spring time meadow.
Which, was populated by a horde of fire breathing cattle.
Tongues of flame lapped at the hem of Aegis' coat, singing the red material a dark black. With every spurt of fire came the most menacing "moo" one could possibly imagine, followed shortly by a shout of exertion from the one they were chasing. Aegis' voice was a stream of never ending curses that could quite possibly turn an innocent baby to a life of crime.When he was but a few meters from salvation, he leaped into the air, and kicked the door open with his boot, before toppling onto the dingy concrete floor on the other side.
"Who...in El Dios' name...came up wit...a place...like that..." He panted, out of breath, quite content with staying right where he fell.
The sound his demonic bovine attackers brought him back to his feet, and he slammed the door shut an instant before another pillar of flame immolated his face. Letting out a huge breath of relief, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up and down the hallway he was now in.
It was quite a bit different than the last one he had been in, which was made entirely of mirrors. Two before this, he was wandering a corridor that was constructed as a massive hedge maze. So far, he had opened several doors, each leading to more and more ridiculous places. The first was some sort of medieval battle ground which he quickly ducked out of. Several doors later, he was standing on a gargantuan dinner table, surrounded by massive turkey legs, huge bowls of mashed potatoes and platters piled high with all sorts of giant vegetables. Spade walked (and ate) his way from one side of the table to the other, before leaving through another door.
This one, much to his pleasure, opened to room decorated completely pink, with several images of a "Rabbit at'a cocktail party", as Aegis had envisioned it. The room was filled with young, beautiful women dressed in one-piece outfits wearing what looked like rabbit ears on their heads. Not one to ask questions in such a situation, Aegis rolled with the punches. The ladies were quite interested with the fact that he was a pirate, but kept asking him to quit "role playing so much". Spade simply ignored this slight interruption, and left through a bright pink door an hour or so later.
He sighed again as he adjusted his glasses. "I could use tha' rooma' lasses again, 'fter them fire breathin' cows. When I figure out how'ta get a map to this place, thas' the firs'place I'm headed to..."
The hallway he was now in was quite a contrast to the dreamworld he desired to be in. It was quite clear he was, or was supposed to think, that he was far below the ground. It was a little cold down here, and water occasionally leaked from the large pipes on the ceiling above. The corridor was lit only by dim hanging lanterns, which used some sort of glowing orb that Aegis wasn't too familiar with. Most of them flickered and fluctuated in intensity, while several were not producing any light. A few of them ever swung back and forth, as if blown by a gust of wind that only effected themselves.
Along the walls were a vast number of doors, just like every other passageway he had walked through. However, unlike the rest, these were fixed with massive over sized padlocks and iron bars. Occasionally a vicious roar, or a bloodthirsty scream would emit from behind these locked doors, and sounds of unspeakable violence followed the voices. No matter the intensity, the doors remained securely locked, keeping whatever was behind them safely inside.
Eventually, Spade reached the end of the narrow hallway, and was met by a set of massive metal double doors. Above them was a simple metal sign, which simply read "THE ARMORY", in large block letters. On the floor sat a large unlocked padlock, which was wrapped in chains. A shiny gold key stuck out of the lock's hole.
"This mus' be the place. 'n I thought Confressa was'a weird place at night. Ain' got nothin' on this."
Captain Spade grasped both handles, and pushed the doors apart with considerable effort. They made no sound as they slid apart. Aegis' boots echoed in the silence as he stepped through the massive doors, into the darkness behind. He gripped his hand tightly on his saber's hilt.
"But damn, would't kill some'ne to get some lights'n here?"