Well... shit's going to hit the fan and we're going to be the ones throwing the shit and spinning the fan.
We spend way too long talking in our crucible room about stuff we've already decided. Damn it. Why is it that us women have the bad rep of talking too much? The only thing new was that we decided to fix a Storm Gloam direction and tell Jigsaw about it, so we don't get any blue-on-blue.
More talking. C'mon! Let's just go! We can't change shit around now. We'll fuck everything up with Jigsaw trying to out-lawyer him/it and we're going to betray the Hellboys anyway. If they're not stupid, they won't come out of the theatre today, no matter what happens.
I'm the last one ready again - this 5-hour delay to sleep is a bummer, but like hell it has its benefits. Cullen does his normal and stows his body in the "bunker" at Lazarus Redux before leaving. Elaine is graciously granted use of Cullen's coffin in the van, so goes in-the-flesh, driving us about a mile from the ambush point, before projecting herself. We get to the point by Storm Wend Express in two teams - Simon and Kayleigh; myself and the rest.
It's a busy junction with lots of trees. It's stupidly right between the two hives, but this is what Jigsaw decided. Doesn't matter, we're going to get out the same way we came in - Storm Wend - and in case that doesn't work, we run to the van and drive like Evil Kenievel outta there.
Cullen starts the whole elevation thing; first with Kayleigh and then with Simon. Murphy showed up and his law said, "no!"
Neither elevation worked, but fuck it. We made a ton of noise.
Nothing happened for ages. I started to think we'd been ratted out, but then some floating sea urchins came in from the West. Billy and Cullen sprayed them with gunfire and only one made it out, wounded, if you can call it that.
Shortly after the rest of the hive came, led by some frighteners, lost boys and oilies. Cullen and Billy keep up the fire, taking some out and slowing the rest down as they take cover and dodge between the trees. Thankfully, Billy spots Jigsaw's backup and gives us the heads-up. I see nothing trying to flank us from the top of a tree, but keep scanning. I can't believe that they are too stupid to just try a head-on charge.
Suddenly, rats. Those little shitheads that took ages to clean out of the maze-holes back at Lazarus Redux. A carpet-swarm of them snuck up on us somehow. Only Simon was standing outside of their reach... and OMG there are some rat kings among them, their tails tied together in a sick knot. Fuck these guys. I can't punch, grapple or throw a swarm, so I jump and spin down from the tree - not really parkour, but the flashier free running style. It works. The little shits are flung off and I finish up standing guard next to Simon. Then I see it. There's some nutty-big horde led by a crazy nightmare horse coming from the other direction. This is it! Now we just time it to draw them all in before we bug out and let Jigsaw clean up.
Cullen does what I expect and flames on, burning most of the rats to a crisp in short order. Kayleigh and Elaine do something unexpected and bring out another crucible horror - Puppet Storm. They both turn into something like octopuses, silvery tendrils lashing out and smashing rats to other rats, while sending others into orbit. In short order, they are eliminated just in time for Cullen and Billy to turn and Storm Gloam in the other direction, just as the mob from the other hive are getting way too close.
Now shit starts going wrong. The oilies blast through the Storm Gloam and a bunch stick on to Cullen, trying - and failing - to lift him up. Elaine comes to help and her tendrils rip off the rest of the oily blobs... then the ground becomes unstable. We all move instinctively, not getting caught in the spectral quicksand that suddenly appeared under us. At the same time, a reaper boils out of the ground, narrowly missing Simon, who neatly jumps out of the way. She's wrapped in chains and immediately lashes out and catches Simon in them. I know what that means - getting chained means no ripcord, no storm wend. This is a serious risk... but I have a plan...