"You're doing really good."  Poor little thing.  She's probably older than I am, but.  Tell that to my brain.  "Okay.  Again, just stay behind me.  If you need anything, just holler, you're my priority right now, okay?"  Tap on the throat mic.  "Aumento here, found a civ.  Guarded by those - " creepy don'tsaythataroundAlison " - weird dolls.  Smashing the limbs kills them, guns work if they hit the legs and arms.  No weak points I found apart from those.  I'm going to bring Alison back to you, I think she could use some Esperade and maybe a bite to eat?"  Eyebrow at Alison.

That was too many words.

Okay, she's having a tough time of it.  I don't know what those weirdo dolls were doing, but.  Must've been awful.  "Definitely a little bit to eat.  I think there might be more out there, coming to stop us from getting out.  This isn't a good dungeon for my skillset, I can smash the monsters but the problem isn't monsters, it's finding victims, and the core.  It's a good candidate for either a sensor or a platoon of DRT.  On my way to the portal, over."

“We copy. What have you determined about the structure and obstacles, over.”

"Structure is a liminal movie theatre or playhouse.  Obstacles are just that the whole place is a maze.  You can go into different audience chambers.  I suspect the victims are being held on stages where the puppets, um.  Stare at them."  I don't get how this is an issue, but we can worry about that later.  "I've been marking my way with the standard marking scheme.  Not all of the theatres have victims in them, some of them are just empty.  Waiting for a victim.  I left the empty one intact, no point killing monsters if you don't rescue someone."

“Copy. Did you observe any magical properties outside the monsters, over.”

Tim has to think for a second.  "The acoustics were either really fantastic or magically enhanced.  Could go either way.  Over."

“Copy. Do you concur with sending recon teams now, over.”

Alison gasps and lets go of the door, going around Tim to put him between her and the door. There is definitely the sound of something wooden moving on the other side of the door.

"Affirmative.  Gunfire is a bad solution to the puppets, because of the risk of friendly fire.  The guard puppets are right next to the victims.  But they don't weigh much, maybe fifty pounds, so knocking them down and back with gunfire is a good option.  Knock them down and take out the limbs and head out.  If you can mark the rooms with people in them, I can take the monsters down and get out.  No sign of a boss monster yet, so keep an eye out."

Oh shit what.  Glide-step around Allison, stance up, what spooked her???

The door is swinging shut, cutting off any view or sound of the hallway.

Okay.  If he closes his eyes and listens, does he hear the click-click of a tappy-toed little monster walking by after closing the door?  Maybe we open every door and ambush them as they come by to close the doors, most monsters don't have infinite numbers, right?

It’s hard to tell through the closed door, but the sound may have stopped?

Tim respects door-as-obstacles for their sake, not for his.  "Hang tight for a second, okay?"  Left foot forward, swing the right leg forward, torso leans away from the door, right leg chambered, .25 seconds of Being The Strongest Human In The Dungeon, and WHAM, right above the handle.

How's that door looking?

Irrevocably open.

There is one single mannequin outside, staggering back from the door smashing into it.

Draw the Wristbreaker oh shit I should have done this before I opened the door.  Drop the still-safetied gun.  Lightly-powered kick to the center of mass to knock it back into the wall.  Pin it to the back of the wall with the left foot, then reach down and use a split-second of augmented strength to rip its arms off.

The mannequin cannot put up a noticeable amount of fight and is now in pieces.

Tim can put up a significant amount of fight and is now in the hushed corridor. There are no other mannequins visible.

"Okay.  Still with me, Alison?  We're gonna have you out in just a few minutes."  Might be a good idea to get this thing intact, but I can let DRT handle that.  Rip the legs off to be sure.  Might as well keep one of the legs, it might be some neat dungeon material.  If Alison is amenable to being led, Tim will lead her out of the facility, following his paint markings.

The first obstacle to this plan is the disguised door Tim originally took to enter this corridor. It’s not hard to spot, given all the spray paint, but it doesn’t have a handle to pull it open with.

Maxim twenty-five : If a manufacturer's warranty covers the damage you did, you didn't do enough damage.  Tim is going to void this door's warranty all over the place.  Does Kick beat door?

This door (a) is meant to swing the other direction, and (b) has wall covering attached to it. That is to say, it is now a door with bent hinges, cracked wood and ripped foam hanging off its face, half-blocking the passage into the backstage area, which looks otherwise the same as it did during his previous visit (dark, full of supplies, unused).

Also, there’s a mannequin far down the corridor behind them, that wasn’t visible before, coming towards them at a walking pace; and (after the echoes of the kick die down) more wooden noises audible from ahead.

Hmmmmmm.  "Oh no.  The horror.  We're utterly doomed, unless we can powerwalk.  Let's keep going, okay?"  Brief moment of reinforcement to land a left hook on the door and open it ALL the way, then carefully walk through.  "Aumento here.  A few wanderers in the hallway.  They seem to be attracted to noise, and I think one of them closed a door.  Might be a good idea to use noisemakers, or just let me smash them while the rescue team does its job.  Still en route back."  This time, Aumento is going to draw his Wristbreaker, before he enters a room this time.  These monsters have all been pretty susceptible to Foot, so it's not like he needs his hands free.

There are two mannequins entering backstage from stage left and stage right. Alison looks alarmed, but is so far following instructions to stick to Tim.

"This is going to be a little loud, okay, Alison?  Cover your ears for the next two seconds.  Actually just stick your fingers in there, it's going to be really loud."  Aim for the center of mass on the Stage Left mannequin.  Augment himself for .5 seconds.  Give Alison a splash of augmentation, just enough to protect her hearing and squeeze the trigger.

B A N G

The mannequin now has a hole through it (which does not prove to contain any organs) and a split running through the hole, which, after a moment, gives way completely. There are now two half-mannequins (one headless), which are unable to balance and fall over. The head’s gaze remains on Timothy as best it can.