SCP-3288; Part 3, The Crypt:

Jester slapped Iron on his good shoulder "Yep Top. We good." Iron shrugged off Jesters hand and took point. The darkness seeming more chillier than before. The body of the abomination twitched a couple of times as the agents left it behind.

The Mandrakes spread themselves out a little more, Iron ahead of Top and Jester in the rear, "Door." Came the voice of Iron from the front. Top and Jester caught up to Iron, Jester subtly checking Iron's shoulder as he passed his friend. Making sure the temporary stitches held.

The door, wooden and connected with rusted metals felt warm as Top rested his hooded ear against the rough surface. Taken a moment to listen to the other side, He heard scuttling and scratching. The deep chuckle came too, dirty and raspy, almost perverted. Tops blood ran Colder than the cavern behind them, he hated the 3288's.

Perverted Cannibals.

Jester unpacked his door eye, placing the eye lens at the base of the door and placing the little screen upon his lap as he sat cross-legged at the door and turned his night goggles off so he could see the screen well enough. Pressing buttons on the screen, the little device twitched forward and backwards, the neck arced itself to the height of the gap beneath the door. The screen showed Jester the room on the other side. Brightly lit by flaming torches, he caught movement on both flanks, small creatures scuttling into the shadows, hushed sharp whispers could be picked up through the microphone of the device and transmitted in to Jesters earpiece.

Tops eyes were watching Jesters eyes through the protective mask, seeing him frown. "What's wrong?" he asked, Jester looked up at his commander, concern of obvious in his eyes. "I think... I think they're on to us. They're hushing each other and whispering." Top calculated his options.

"breach or regroup?" asked Iron bluntly before Top could come to his own conclusion.

Top looked his soldier in the eye through the mask. "Command intelligence states maximum thirty. we've dispatched one, so twenty-nine left. load live rounds, I don't want a rubber bullet to be the cause of my death." he said, silently replacing his yellow taped clip with a bland one with live rounds.

The team prepared the enter the bright room.

Swinging the door with a hard push, Top entered first with Iron and Jester quickly on at his rear. The three Agents spread out in a half circle, covering the angles of the room. the bright torches cast shadows everywhere, shadows which sniggered and chuckled with glee. along the stone carved walls hung many flayed skins, the strength of death and rot would have made the hardened men gag, but thankfully they had their masks on. The flickering torches made their night goggles useless so they had to quickly remove them. Body parts and bones could be observed scattered about the floor is various stages of decomposition, Top could feel the trap, but it hadn't sprung. The little sniggers came again from multiple shadows. Top saw the many darker holes scattered up, and along the stone hewn walls on both sides, multiple exits, although small in size, they posed a threat enough to make the Mandrakes nervous. A knife was still a sharped death sentence no matter the length or size.

Iron signalled towards the far end of the cavern on the right, there, the torn red dirty carpet ran into a jagged stone mouth large enough to fit a tank.

Fuck

The team eyed the opening with caution. Jester came close to Top, "Reckon they have a true emperor of empress?" He was answered by a distant echo of a tin tune piano, typically of the French variant and the dirty hoarse laughter came again the sounds of a party. The music came from the jagged mouth of the cave. The team had to advance in to the darkness. The sniggering came again, from directly above them. Jester glanced up and saw four crooked and hunched forms gathered on a rotten wooden walkway seemingly thrown together from rough iron drop down brackets. They leered hungrily at the Mandrakes, licking their lips, their bent and sharpened teeth lathered in slobber, their faces pale with old white makeup, only one wore a powder wig that was dirty and stained. They all wore brown soiled breeches, jacket with waistcoat that was tight against their bent and twisted forms.

Jester clicked his tongue four times over the radio, signalling to the other two that he had four contacts without alerting the enemies. Top and Iron froze, scanning their immediate area before casting an eye to Jester, who simply remained looking up, straight at the 3288's.

When they saw that the other two saw them, they laughed louder and gleefully before pouncing from up high, down upon their pray. The team fired a single shot each, hitting a target dead centre. two died before they descended the halfway point. The powder wigged abomination landed on Iron, going in to a frenzy smelling the fresh blood. The other missed Top as he dodged out of the way just in time. It's eyes alive with amusement and excitement as it brandished a machete at him. Iron let out a roar as the powder wig sunk its teeth into his shoulder.

"Why hello there gentlemen... you are gentlemen aren't you? gosh it would be so so rude of me upon first meeting our honoured dinner guests to get that one basic thing wrong! what's next? A peasant is an empress! bahahaaa!" a voice called with a fun tone, a slight slur as if drinking. The Mandrakes turned to find a slender, slightly twisted form dressed in a fine purple frockcoat with a gold trim. It flicked a talon with deep red 'painted' claws for nails as it curved its back and lowered its head. "I am Baron Lidden Von Habsberg, And this is my families crypt." it said with a playful tongue-dance across its sharpened teeth. The team didn't move. The creature on Iron's back had stopped violating him the second the voice came. The purple clad figure raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at what it saw on the man's back and pursed its lips. The smaller and twisted 3288 ceased its sniggering and lowered itself almost gently to the ground to stand upon its own crooked barefeet.

The Baron spread a toothy smile across its white powdered face and red flower painted lips. "Much better schniff, treat our honoured guests with some... dignity shall we? ...yess... well, welcome to my families crypt, I am sure you gentlemen will keep this quiet, mum's the word and all that bahahaaa, what's a saucy secret between friends, hmmm?" it asked playfully pointing a jagged sharp finger at the three agents. "Come, gentlemen, allow me to give you the grand tour!" the Baron exclaimed stretching out its arms in an embracing posture.

Then Top saw them. eye orbs glistening from the many cave entrances dotted upon the walls. at a quick glance, he saw maybe one hundred, possibly more. Jester and Iron saw this too, and the Mandrakes obeyed the Baron and followed. The Baron's smile widened unnaturally wide now, looking like it was going to split its powder coated face any second. "Come, boys." the Baron called with a quick whistle and the two remaining smaller twisted forms quickly scuttled to their masters feet and matched his speed, the one with the powdered wig reached up a slender rotten hand to hold the Barons talon.