[spoiler]Cell-3=Celle Briggs Student Nazo=Nate Briggs (Dead) Snowy=Miss Snow HoTh=John Hothman xX_miniatimat_Xx=Mini (Dead) TheGreatAdidas=Greg Adler Hammerfist1245=Xavier (Dead) Mjolnirschpang=Mjol NIL=Ninette (Dead) MØØSE=Tom "Moose" Martin Artemis=Arty Crowe (Dead) Verminator=Verm Digsby (Dead) Zbruh=Zhenya Deatheater200=Jason Darth Turtle=Daniel Turk Ems468=Ems OrangeThirteen=Oran JestingWorm697=Mr. Jester Batpug74=Bat Secondary character: John Watson=Walter "Watts" Hutsen[/spoiler] "You're crazy" said Moose calmly. "You're absolutely insane." "Ah, you might think that now, but you still have a few minutes left to ask whatever questions you please. You could find some very sane answers if you continue to interrogate me" "A few more minutes? What do you mean?" "My apologies, it seems I have forgotten to inform you that you are being timed. I'm a very busy man, but I went out of my way to give you fifteen minutes worth of unfiltered truth to set the scale equal." Said Mortis with a sheepish grin. "And what happens when the fifteen minutes are up?" "We're not entirely sure. You could die, and you could live. Next question!" "What about Ninette?" "Ninette was not my wife. She was my best friend. We shared the same beliefs and she was eager to assist me in completing my act of grace. She wanted to die." "But you cried for her" "I'm a good actor" smiled Mortis. "Next question" "Captain Reedy said you were a close friend of his and the best detective in France." "That's a statement but I'll take it. I was a detective for about eight months and damn good at it too. I specialized in murder. Ask me why" "Why" "Because I wanted to reward said murderers with eternal peace for releasing their victims from life. They deserved it" he said, sounding almost proud. "You're sick" spat Moose. "Once again, that's a statement" "And what about Reedy?" "That's quite a long story. Reedy found out about me after one of my most important cases. I had nabbed the most notorious serial killer in France, who had been at large for almost twenty years. The news made it back to America somehow, and Reedy became interested in my work. We met not long after when I was asked to assist in the investigation of an American murder spree that just so happened to be near where Reedy lived at the time. He spoke a little French and Ninette helped with the rest." "But you were an American." Mortis laughed. "Yes, I was. But the Americans didn't know that. It was a good excuse to never have to speak with them. I hate people. I hated Reedy too, but he was quite important to me." "How?" "Well how do you think I got on this boat? After months of putting up with Reedy's senseless blabbering, he finally said something of importance to me. He told me about the bombing, he told me about how you let it happen, and he told me that you would be going with him, on this boat, for some silly parties to celebrate winning a war, even though you did nothing to achieve this victory. He invited me too. It was basically fate that brought me to you. After that my plan unfolded. I wanted to kill you, but not because I hate you. I don't. I wanted to kill you for the same reason I caught and sentenced all those murderers to death. You deserve it, just like them, for killing all those men. You've earned it." "So kill me." Said Moose, as rage coursed through his body and tears began to sting his eyes. "Get it over with and let my friends, and everyone else on this boat live" "It's not that simple, Tom." Said Mortis, shaking his head gently. "I sympathise with you. It must be hard watching all these helpless people die, but if you chose to see things the way I do, you wouldn't be sad. You would rejoice that they have been reborn, and are now truly happy." "Just leave them alone. Please, please just kill me and let them be" begged Moose. "Oh, but I have bigger plans than that. Once I had settled on killing you at sea, I started thinking bigger. Why not make a statement to the world? Why not go out with a bang and set and example to all those who share my way of thinking? Wouldn't it shock the world if a cruise ship full of people pulled into harbour, but every last person on the ship had dropped dead, with nothing but a note to explain how why it happened?" "So that's your plan huh. Kill everyone." "Of course. I want to start something new. I want people to look at what I did, and know that I'm a hero. I want to inspire people to follow me. Kill your brother, kill your neighbor, kill the president, kill everyone, and save them from living." "Four minutes sir." Said John. "Thank you John." Said Mortis. He turned back to Moose "I'm sure you're wondering why I bothered with the first fifty-five murders." "Fifty-five." repeated Moose. "It's really been that many" he said in disbelief. "I couldn't help myself. I just had to play a little game of cat and mouse to give you a fighting chance. I knew Reedy would jump at the chance to solve a murder, and would of course acquire the assistance of his two dearest friends, you and me. I must say I was surprised when I saw you doing so well in your little adventure, and enjoying it too." "I don't enjoy murder" said Moose scronfully. "Then you're an excellent actor." Taunted Mortis. "You like the feeling of being important. You like to think you can make a change and save the day, since you failed to back in 1945." "Two minutes sir." Said John "Just enough time for one last question!" Said Mortis happily. "Fire away Tom!" "How did you fake your death? The people in the theater said there were holes in all the bodies chests." "Oh that one's easy! And the answer has been standing outside the door for the last five minutes because he's too polite to interrupt. Come in Bat!" A man entered the room. He was short and stocky, with a tired face and hands covered in paint. He had one of the colored masks perched atop his head. "Tom, this is Bat. Before you ask, no, that's not his real name." Said Mortis. "How does it look up there Bat?" "Not too good, not too bad. The idiots are looking for him of course, but they haven't come close at all." Said Bat "Good." Mortis turned back to Moose. "Bat is an artist. He replicated the knife wounds we gave the other victims on me. You might remember that the bodies were never recovered. That's because it might ruin my plans a teeny tiny bit if someone were to find me strapped to a chair surrounded by bodies with a fake knife wound in my chest, still living." "He's out of time." Said John "Get him up then, it's time." Said Mortis. John and Bat hurriedly untied Moose and pulled him up, holding him firmly by the arms. "Where are you taking me?" Said Moose "Either to the fields of Asphodel or a hospital bed" Said Mortis. Bat put the black bag back over Moose's head and began dragging him out of the room. He was blindly led down an echoey corridor until they reached a halt and Moose heard a door open. A horrid smell hit Moose's nose. It reeked of blood and something rotten. They rushed him inside the room and tied him to another chair. John yanked the bag off his head. Moose gasped. He was surrounded by corpses, all tied to chairs just like him. They all looked different, some of their faces were covered in black blisters, some of them had blood streaming out of their noses and eyes. One of them had their faces nearly melted off, and the flesh underneath was green and moldy. Moose turned his attention to Mortis, who was strapping a gas mask on his face and pulling a metal cart toward Moose. Fastened to the cart, with tubes sticking out of it was a white metal canister. About the size of a fire hydrant. "What are you doing? What's that?" Said Moose in a shaky voice. "John you explain. I can barely speak in this thing." Said Mortis, his voice muffled by the mask. "Well Moose, if you were going to kill an entire ship full of people how would you do it? We thought poisonous gas was the best option. It took a while to perfect the recipe," he gestured to the bodies. "But we think we've got it right" "It won't be entirely painless, but you'll suffer a lot less than your friend over there did." Said Bat. He pointed to a body a few chairs away from Moose. Horrified, Moose realized that Watts sat in the chair, his face pale and left with a horrible look of anguish upon it. "You're hopefully our last test subject, but who knows. It may need a little bit of tweaking to get it just right. I wonder how Miss Snow will take it. Or maybe Celle" laughed John. "Don't touch them!" Screamed Moose. "They're smarter than you think! They'll kill you if they have to!" "So upset." Sighed Mortis. "Fear not, you'll be free soon. Masks on!" Bat and John strapped gas masks to their faces, and turned to Moose. John picked up another mask. It had three tubes leading from the front back to the white canister. John grabbed Moose's head and held it still as Bat forced the mask over his face and tightened it. Mortis stepped forward and laid his hand on the canister "We like to call this The Omega. Meaning: The End."