Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Ray Brannigan, Jonas Markham, Ivy Morgan, Connor O’Shea, Alistair Sinclair, Thomas Malone, Sergeant Donowitz, and a group of off-duty cops, behold a foul temple. The room is identical to the one upstairs, but the walls and pillars have been decorated to look like they are covered with skulls, skeletons, and columns of flame. Throughout the room, there are piles of refuse and human remains, and pools of oily putrescence. Maggots, worms, and grubs writhe amongst the filth. In the center of the room, a hideous pillar of unholy, green flame, with wretched, screaming alien faces, erupts from a hole in the ground. Around the hole is littered piles of human skulls. Next to the flame stands Father Washington, dressed in shabby robes and a metal mask. Next to him lies the slumped, beaten body of Jerry Wells.
The stench of the temple is too horrible for Ray, Donowitz, and the cops to take, and they begin to vomit and double-over in pain. Beholding the disgusting, flaming form of the Outer God, Tulzscha, is too much for Jonas to take, and he drops to the ground, sucking his thumb in the fetal position. The rest of the group is able to master their fears and face the hideous foe.
Father Washington, oblivious to the arrival of the investigators, addresses the cultists, who are chanting, beating drums, and fornicating. “I bring this defiler before mighty Tulzscha, the Green Flame, so he can be judged,” he intones in an unnatural, booming voice. With that, he removes his robes and mask to reveal a body composed of thousands of worms, maggots, and grubs; no eyes, ears, or mouth can be discerned. The investigators look on in horror as the sacrificial rite continues.
Connor moves into the shadows, attempting to stay hidden from view. Alistair, remembering the groups goal, picks up Jonas’ rifle and begins shooting at Father Washington. Malone and Donowitz follow O’Shea into the shadows. Ray heads away from the other investigators into another shadowy area and waits. Ivy fires her rifle. The cops fire at a group of fornicating cultists, killing one.
Even amongst the loud drums and chanting, Father Washington and some of the cultists are alerted to the investigators’ presence. Father Washington urges his followers to, “Bring the defilers before Tulzscha to be judged,” and they run at Ivy, Ray, and the remaining five off-duty cops, heedless of their impending doom in the face of countless firearms.
Much to the chagrin of Alistair and Connor, Malone and Donowitz break from the group and continue along the shadowy walls to the back of the temple. Continually missing his mark with Jonas’ rifle, Alistair runs headlong towards Father Washington to engage him. Connor follows, shooting cultists with his 12-gauge shotgun at close range. Ray kills a cultist with his .45, and surveys the scene. Ivy and the cops mow down several more. The flames of the Outer God lick the ceiling of the temple and vomit forth lurid, green fire.
Father Washington, alerted to Alistair’s presence, reaches out and grabs his arm. In an instant, Professor Sinclair feels as if years of his life have been taken from him in a single moment. His skin wrinkles and his hair grays. Taking advantage of Father Washington’s attention being elsewhere, Sergeant Donowitz moves out of the shadows and grabs the slumping Jerry Wells. Seeing what Donowitz is attempting, Ray runs up out of the shadows and grabs Wells’ legs. Ivy, Connor, and the cops continue to mow down cultists, while Jonas lay on the ground, sucking his thumb in blissful ignorance.
Perhaps realizing that victory is slipping from his grasp, Father Washington turns to Tulzscha and asks for the god’s assistance in dispatching the investigators. The cult leader promises to sacrifice the investigators to the Green Flame and offers his life in return if he fails. From one of the hideous mouths writhing about the column of flame, a fireball belches forth and hits the group of policemen. Ivy notices the officers rapidly age in front of her eyes.
While Father Washington is facing the Green Flame, Connor steps up behind him and unloads his shotgun. While it doesn’t seem to do much damage, several worms break off from Washington’s body and hit the flame, where they age rapidly and disintegrate into dust. As if a light bulb has suddenly gone off in his head, Alistair attempts to grapple Father Washington and throw him into the flame. Unfortunately, his attempt fails, and the cult leader grabs the professor again, further advancing his age.
Ray and Donowitz move Jerry Wells to the back wall, where they meet Thomas Malone. Malone tells them that he’s found a smuggler’s tunnel at the back end of the room, and that they should carry Jerry Wells to freedom. Ray, not wanting to leave his fellow investigators behind, leaves Malone and Donowitz, and heads towards Father Washington.
Ivy and the cops continue to trade shots with the cultists, while Tulzscha launches another fireball at the policemen. Again, Ivy looks on in horror as the officers grow older and older. One of the cultists, noticing Jonas on the ground, grabs him by the ankle and begins pulling him towards the pit at the center of the room.
Connor continues firing at random cultists, while Alistair fails to effectively grapple Father Washington. Ray yells out to the others that he’s found an exit and runs to the back of the temple. Father Washington suddenly notices that Jerry Wells is missing and begins to frantically look around. Seeing Ray nearby, Washington attempts to engage him unsuccessfully. Tulszcha, increasingly dissatisfied with his lack of human sacrifice, calls out to the cult leader, “WAAAAAAAAASHINGTONNNNNNNNNNN – WHERE IS MY SACRIFICE?” The walls and pillars begin to shake as a low, vibrating noise replaces the now-silent drums and chanting. A fireball, aimed for Ray Brannigan, hits its mark, and Ray feels the sudden onset of advanced age.
Connor frees Jonas’ limp body from the grasp of the crazed cultist, and takes hold of his ankle. Ray runs over to help Connor carry Jonas out of the temple. Alistair pulls out his shotgun, steps up behind Father Washington, and empties both barrels into the cult leader, ripping his stitches in the process. Hundreds of worms and maggots break off Washington’s body and disintegrate against the pillar of flame. Ivy and the now-geriatric cops kill the rest of the cultists. Ivy yells to Alistair and runs for the stairs. The temple continues to shake violently as several pillars begin to crumble, and the roof begins to cave in at the back of the temple.
Looking behind him as he’s going up the stairs, Alistair sees the mass of worms, maggots, and grubs that make up Father Washington suddenly drop to the floor and scurry off in different directions. Ray, Connor, and Jonas escape through the smuggler’s tunnel, and Ivy and Alistair escape from the warehouse as the structure begins to collapse. The police officers, severely injured and unable to move quickly, are not as lucky.
Ivy and Alistair administer to their wounds from a relatively safe distance. Jonas awakens suddenly, wondering why he’s being carried by Ray and Connor. The three come out of the smuggler’s tunnel at the end of Beyington Street, and find Malone, Donowitz, and Jerry Wells huddled by the entrance. Jerry Wells, bruised and beaten but alive, wryly quips, “I better get a raise for this.”
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