NIGHT 65: WEST WING, SOUTH HALL 1-A

[his_legacy]

[From here]

No time was wasted in this short stretch of hallway. Link had run across all of Hyrule Field. This hospital was quite small in comparison.

Praying that he wouldn't come across anything to slow him down, Link turned into the main hallways.

[To here]

Comments

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

Still nothing. Soma glanced down the hallway uneasily. She wasn't used to this kind of quiet, but she'd take what she could get around here.

[to here]

[madeinthehrl]

[backtracking from here]

It must still be early from the look of things. Soma kept walking.

[to here]

[redcladidealist]

[From here.]

There were a couple of doors on his right farther down this hall, but when Lloyd poked his head through the first one, it looked like it led to someplace similar to where his room was located. Probably not where the main entrance was, but if he couldn't find it, he could always come back. The second door wouldn't open when he tried it. Too bad he'd lost his lock pick when the doctors had taken all his things. He briefly considered trying to break the door down, but again decided to stick with his original plan. Breaking the door down, even if he succeeded, would make a lot of noise, and the door didn't even look like it had anything to do with his goal.

There was another hall up ahead. Left or right...? He shined his flashlight in both directions, then ended up going left.

[To here.]

[impudentsongbird]

[from here.]

No door nearby this time. This time, there was only the whitewashed walls fading into the darkness, and despite himself Gabriel couldn't move for several seconds. Lucifer might say he didn't have much of an imagination--but he had enough of one, and he was feeling painfully human right now.

It was the lack of light. The quiet. The sound of his heartbeat had been fascinating earlier, but now it was unnerving. A distraction which put him in a cold sweat. Stepping into that darkness made him feel like he was plunging into an abyss from which there was no return. He'd done that once before, it definitely wasn't particularly a parallel he wanted to find.

The Archangel's fingers groped for the cross laying against his wrist, pulled it up into his palm, squeezed it hard enough to press the beads into his skin. "Though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for He is with me," he murmured, and took a step. And another. "His rod and His staff comfort me. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies."

Gabriel spoke quietly, but with confidence, that sort of vibrating assurance. The sound of his voice made his footsteps sound less alone, the length of the hall less interminable. "He will anoint my head with oil; my cup will overflow. Surely His goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life."

The jamb of a door interrupted the line of the wall to his right; the sign on it told him it was where he wanted to go. Gabriel smiled a little as he reached for the door-knob. "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

[to here.]

[dispersive]

[From here]

It was eerie having no one else in the hallway with him--Not that he was scared exactly! The replica had enough experience with the dark and the unknown, but he generally had the advantage of strength and fonic artes. Here, he was a bit of a sitting duck. It was such a pain, but there was nothing he could do about it. As long as he was careful, the redhead knew he would be fine. And he was totally careful! He had this.

Besides, he wouldn't be alone for long. He could see the end of the hallway was lit by several patients' torches as they waited anxiously for each other.

[skeletonenigma]

[From here.]

A quick scan of the air currents settling in the corridor told Skulduggery that at least a few other people had passed this way in the last few minutes. He had no way of knowing whether any of them would be dangerous and waiting further ahead, but he had noticed that if something were to attack, it probably wouldn't be in the hallways.

Besides, the amount of flashlight beams from up ahead, without any accompanying screams, meant he was probably safe for the time being.

[To here.]

[dividedby]

[From here, and for his fellow robutts.]

But in the next hallway, Zero did slow up a bit, as he was once again unsure of where to go. His first instinct was to enter the other patient block on his right, but that was assuming X and Harpuia's rooms were there and that they hadn't already left them yet. If the latter was indeed true (why would they do that, though? Unless they were looking for him, too?), then Zero needed to continue forward, toward the first main hallway, so that he could catch up to them before they wandered off too far without him.

So would checking the patient block be a waste of time?

...Perhaps it was better safe than sorry. Zero turned and started to make his way toward the block door, though he wasn't fully confident that he would find his allies waiting for him inside.

[maverickhunterx]

[From Here!]

...It was almost as though last night was happening all over again, except that X was alone. Would every night here be like this? Wandering dark hallways like a rat in a maze?

X pressed against the wall, ignoring the pain in his leg as he kept moving forward. His hand was a good support, though he knew he would have to rest before long.

Humans really were frail, weren't they?

Bracing himself, he remembered the stairwell. If he could get to the stairwell, and maybe take the path that Harpuia and himself didn't take last time, it was possible X could find something useful for the three of them to use.

Medical supplies, for one. That was a priority. After what he did to his hand...

...Movement.

Gripping the piece of glass tighter, he pressed his back against the wall. There was most definitely someone moving out there, though from this distance and in this darkness he couldn't see who.

Maybe it was another patient?

...Or someone like Zero was last night. Brainwashed, wandering the hallways in search of prisoners who had escaped from their cells...

X's fist clenched.

Landel...

But if it was a patient, perhaps they were thinking the same thing about him, if they could see him. If he called out, declared he was a friendly, maybe they could exchange information, maybe even work together to find supplies or a way out.

He chanced calling out:

"Who's there?"

[awokentospring]

[from here]

There had been talk about what made a human truly human. Lee had honestly never given it much thought, but he supposed it was the ability to comprehend right and wrong, or to love one's family and friends that made them human... though by that definition, Gaara had not been human for at least six years of his life prior to the strike against Konoha some three years ago.

It was a tough question indeed, but one that Lee wasn't overly worried about. The man in charge was clearly unstable and needed to be dealt with. His time would surely come, but not tonight, Lee was sure.

Quickly, he followed his mental map and left the hallway for the next.

[to here]

[his_legacy]

[From here]

Rounding the corner and stumbling a bit, Link made his brief pass through the west wing's hall and continued into the narrower corridors where the bedrooms were.

[To here]

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

The pipe on Sangamon's shoulder bounced as he walked down the hallway. Too much of this and he was going to have to name the thing. Be no better than those jackasses who named Nerf swords and thought it made them look cool.

It fit, though. Recycled pipe. Like a million he'd poured concrete in for the greater good. Except not, since this one was residential-size. He didn't usually have time for death on a less than wholesale basis.

Sludginator? Fuck, he needed to get out more. And not with a guy who couldn't figure out that Batman and Bruce Wayne were the same dude.

[to here]

[unpriest]

[From here]

What made a human indeed? The line between man and monster was a fine one that could snap at the smallest amount of pressure, Seishin had seen as much in Sotoba. The Shiki were creatures that had crawled from beyond their graves, isolated from God's realm and humanity, forced to wander the earth forever. But he had seen Sunako's loneliness, and she had been forced to face such a damned existence alone. She had never asked for such an existence. None of them had. Did it make them inhuman, when they could experience the despair that came with such an existence? Seishin did not believe that was so.

The remaining humans in Sotoba, on the other hand, had used survival as a means to justify the killing of human and Shiki alike. Embodying the mentality of 'be with us, or against us', they had been relentless in their brutal slaughter of those who they deemed as 'enemies'. They had become the monsters they had set out to hunt, and the village either side was fighting for was doomed.

Was there a right or wrong? That was not up to Seishin to decide. The despair he had felt had driven him to hate the village and its people, after all. There were no such things as an accident when there was the intend to kill. He was hardly any better, was he?

But despite the similarities, this situation had its profound differences. He did not experience hatred for his fellow patient, only for the man in charge of this farce. Yet, Seishin found himself passively standing at the sidelines of the issue once more.

Despite his earlier attempts to shake his thoughts, the issue continued to weigh on Seishin's mind even as he walked through the hallway. He knew better than to allow himself to be distracted even if he was close to their meeting spot, but his mind still chose to wander.

[To here]

[ryuuzaki]

[From here.]

... Lingormr. As L had been preparing to leave, Lingormr had had his head buried in the pile of books, apparently medical, that he had pulled out upon arrival.

He seemed egotistical, possibly unreliable, certainly not very subtle about it. The reason why was an open question: it might be cultural, might be his personality, and it was most likely an inextricable blend of both—personality didn't develop in a vacuum. L hardly ever really trusted anyone—his basic level of human interaction was one founded on at least mild suspicion—but several of his observations of Lingormr had increased his innate skepticism. Apart from that, it irritated L that Lingormr had given away their room number so freely, that he was inviting people to drop by and take things... yet at the same time, expressing his annoyance could raise a red flag: why such concern about your privacy, Ryuuzaki?

The best L could do was to lock away anything important, anything that he would find difficult to replace, on the argument that you never knew who might be going in and out of your room after you left it at night. It therefore wasn't necessarily a demonstration of personal distrust. It had always been his habit, even with the roommate he had come close to trusting.

For now, the entire topic was a distraction. His own death would solve any roommate problems in a definitive way, and if not, they would still be there when he felt better. Unless there was a good reason for it, he couldn't afford to spend all of his time trying to determine whether or not Lingormr was self-serving and, if so, to precisely what degree. Even if it became obvious that he was, dealing with it... no, deciding whether or not it was something he wanted to try to deal with on his own... would still have to wait a while.

Nina didn't seem to be at the meeting point. L decided to peek around the corner to see if Lana was waiting, and—yes, there she was, resting against the wall in the corridor. Nina would have to pass that way to reach their original rendezvous anyway, so it would be easier to intercept her than to force her to double back.

[To here.]

[knightspirit]

[from herp, assuming Sora et al have cleared out by the time he gets there]

Kyousuke scanned the length of the hall as best he could, but still not a single glimpse of the creature. It had been able to move at such a dizzying pace that by now, he knew that he'd completely lost it. If he hadn't gone back... If he hadn't gone back, he'd probably be losing a lot more blood right now, he reminded himself. But who knew who was doing so in his place since he'd let it escape.

It took a of lot of struggling to keep himself from tearing into the hospital hall after all until he found it again. The only thing keeping him from doing so was knowing that walking quickly hurt enough, and running would make his wound even worse. This wasn't like the previous night, where his energy had mysteriously depleted itself; if he pushed himself too hard right now, there would be be serious consequences. He didn't care when he thought that someone could die because of this, but then, what? There wasn't anything he could physically do right now. He wouldn't be able to save anyone, he'd only end up getting in their way.

... It didn't like flashlights. Maybe he'd get lucky and it would avoid everyone because of that. But he still hated lingering here so uselessly, and no reassurances he gave himself were going to change that. Even so, he wasn't stupid. There was already blood coming from his chest, and he could stand wrap it more properly. If he made that worse, there wasn't any way to replace the blood he'd lost, and then—

He cut the thought off before it even finished. No. He wasn't having any of that.

[THIS IS A THING that could either be a reserved or a moving tag i d k]

[timedork]

[From here]

As he continued along the hallways leading to the main hall, the Doctor had begun to consider making a stop by Donna's room, to see if she had already set out for the night. If not, taking her with him might not be a bad idea; it was always nice to have another perspective for this kind of thing. It was always nice to have someone to talk to.

He was still debating as he rounded the corner—it didn't have to be Donna, exactly; he could bring someone else along, and there were bound to be a few other people heading to check the clue out anyway—but shortly after, the thought was banished to the back of his mind. There, illuminated just ahead by the light of his torch, was the boy he'd met just earlier that day.

He'd looked much better then.

The Doctor opened his mouth to call out—but then hesitated, realizing that he'd never caught the boy's real name. Calling out to 'Mr Taylor' probably wouldn't get his attention, and just didn't seem right anyway.

"Oi!" he settled on instead (Donna rose to mind again), breaking into a jog to quickly close the gap between them. As he got closer, the Doctor tried to get a better look at the boy's condition. "What happened!?"

[earthling]

((From here.))

As they continued down the hallway, Claude tried to keep an eye out for anything unusual. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for his eyes to be drawn toward some kind of commotion up ahead, the light from his hardhat revealing a group of three patients and a dark figure (a monster, he realized with dread) that he'd never seen before, clothes clinging to its body.

The sight made Claude's heart seize, and he managed to stop himself from reflexively grabbing onto Guy's arm.

"No!" he blurted with a tinge of panic in his voice. Claude could usually keep his cool when it came to combat situations, but he normally wasn't faced with a situation like this, much less the possibility of turning into one of the vicious beasts that prowled the halls. The Sorcery Globe had done something like this to Allen once, yet the solution hadn't taken anyone's life in the end. This was completely different, and much worse in some ways.

[nobleman]

As much as Guy had tried to prepare for something like this, he had to admit that he hadn't expected to come across it so quickly. There were three other patients, just like him and Claude, trying to fight off a humanoid creature that was pitch-black and was clearly out for blood. He had never seen a monster like it in the institute before, and the fact that it looked more like a human than a beast made it clear that it had probably once been a patient.

When he heard Claude call out, Guy grabbed for his shoulder, aiming to stop him from doing anything reckless. The question was, how they did handle this situation? There were already three other patients (technically, four) caught up in this, but there was no guarantee that they could just move past it either.

"What do you want to do?" Guy asked Claude under his breath. "We need to make sure we get to Anise as soon as we can, but..." What if these patients tried to kill the transformed one? Did they have an obligation here? Guy just wasn't sure what they should do.

[oneman_onekill]

[from here]

Niikura ground to a halt just before he nearly stumbled into something he wanted to avoid at all costs tonight: a fight. There were three guys, all scrambling around a--what was that thing, anyway? It was big and dark and had the glowing eyes of death thing going on...kind of like something out of a video game. That this monster had managed to wander into the patient halls, though, told him the most important thing: it was a patient, one of the unlucky five.

His hand clenched into a fist. That goddamn Landel. The problem was that he couldn't do anything right now to help; he had his own monster to deal with, after all. While it was distracted, he had to run by. It was a dumb, cowardly move, but he had no choice. Shiina was waiting for him.

Wrenching his gaze away and gritting his teeth, Niikura sprinted as hard as he could for the next hallway.

[to here]

[forsworn]

[from here]

As soon as they were out of the patient blocks, Kratos could sense that they had already run into trouble--or rather, trouble in the making. He froze, putting out a hand to stop Castiel as he squinted into the darkness. Already, his injuries from the nights prior were protesting an impending fight, but he bore through them as he reached back to gently tilt Castiel's flashlight in the direction of the skirmish going on not more than six or so feet away from the door.

The clothes told him it was a patient. The mass of spikes and general shape told him it was Sora.

Damn it.

Kratos's jaw set as he debated how to go about this. Obviously, they had to keep going, even though a good part of him wanted to stick around and stop Sora before he hurt a fellow patient on...was it really an accident? Regardless, they would have to slip by somehow, perhaps while the monster-Sora was still dazed.

"Go," he hissed, glancing back quickly toward Castiel and company and jerking his head in the direction of the other end of the hall. "I'll cover you."

[impudentsongbird]

Castiel and Kratos had been here much longer; no doubt Castiel knew better the limits of his human body than Gabriel did. So the Archangel conceded with a slow nod. He let Castiel slide out from under his hand, but stepped up by the other angel’s side. Kratos had a weapon, and Gabriel wasn’t especially a warrior in any case; better than Kratos lead and Gabriel care for Castiel should Castiel need it.

He kept his torch off to conserve the battery, since Castiel had his on, remaining just a half-step behind and to the side of his brother. Skul’s knotted rosary was in his pocket; he held it loosely in his palm. The darkness was as stifling as ever, left him feeling as blind as ever, but it was less frightening now he wasn’t alone.

Still, he was the last to realise there was anything happening, though he froze as soon as he did, his eyes drawn inexorably to the monster in the Institute’s clothing. The Archangel paled. Was that what Castiel was meant to change into?

Not if he could help it. Though Gabriel’s distress was plain on his face, his touch and voice were steady as he took Castiel’s elbow. They’d need all the speed they could summon, and that meant Castiel would need all the help he could get. “Come on,” he said. “Lean on me if you need to.”

Mentally he was paging through his options for the potential battle. There were some things he knew from his meditation earlier in the day. He had some measure of power left; he could feel it and had marked some of its avenues. His voice was lacking, but he wasn’t surprised by that—it would have been the first thing Lucifer would take from him. Neither did he have any weapons, nor the qualities of his angelic form. Instead he turned to his list of shapes, the ones well-worn, the ones he knew best and might be able to utilise in a battle. He nudged them one by one, just to test whether he could draw them over him, and one by one they nudged back in resistance.

Except a handful. Only one would be of use in a fight, and it was very much not a shape Gabriel ever wanted to assume again. The Archangel swallowed hard and prayed, silently, that he wouldn’t need it.

[thecamellia]

_{[from here and time warping around Sora and co. so there's no confusion. :3]}

Pushing Scar along wasn't a problem physically, but Tsubaki was hyper aware of the way the tires gripped the ground and the soft clicking sound of the wheels turning. Soft sounds only, but still more noise than someone trained in the ninja arts wanted to hear.

If she could have shielded them from view completely, she would have; unfortunately, she was a weapon without a meister and that sort of power was outside of her capacity. The best Tsubaki could do was move them under the cover of shadow, avoiding getting too close to others when necessary.

"Okay so far?" she asked.

[envy_the_sinners]

"I'm fine," the Ishbalan grumbled, wishing she would simply keep quiet. Tsubaki was a pleasant girl. She was kind, and clearly honest. It made Scar's blood boil that she was stuck here.

He really wasn't fine, though. There were too many things weighing on his mind. Scar had always had a thousand things to think on- guilts and insecurities that picked away at him constantly. Since arriving here, they seemed to have doubled.

[To here]

[sixth_attack]

[From here.]

Entering the next stretch of hallways, Sechs was greeted by a violent scene of a blackened figure fighting against a small group of patients. Sechs stumbled to a stop, his eyes wide and unsure of what he was seeing. Was this another mirage of the drug?

...No, it wasn't. It was real alright. By the tattered pieces of grey fabric on the creature's limbs, Sechs instantly realized what he was witnessing. A patient had transformed into a monster.

Sechs' heart rate shot up to dizzying levels and his vision blurred from the sudden draining of blood from his head. He wanted to fight, but the heavy knowledge of the monster being an innocent patient weighed down on him like blocks of lead. Was he next to transform, or had he been spared for this one night? Sechs risked a glance down at his fingers, his skin and bones remained the same beneath his gaze. So far so good... If he was safe for tonight, then he had to get to that clue before it was too late! If he could find out the cure for himself and the beastly form of that patient up ahead...

Hunched over and keeping close to the wall, Sechs bowed forward and ran down the hall past the violent commotion. The only reassurance he could give himself for skipping the battle was the brief glance he caught of Zero. It was then that he knew this fight could be handled, but he could only hope that the monstrous patient wouldn't die as a result of it...

[To here.]

[envy_the_sinners]

[From here]

Scar turned into the narrower halls once again, cursing quietly that he hadn't thought to bring his own flashlight along. He really needed to get to planning things better, else he was going to get hismelf killed in a place like this.

He couldn't afford to die, yet. Not when there was a chance...

[To here]

[vinesofregret]

[From here]

It seemed like there were more people out tonight than usual - perhaps Hakkai hadn't been the only one worried about what that announcement might mean. He tried to quell the loop of anxiety that thought was bringing to the surface again, and turned to Gren.

"You'll have to lead from here, I don't know the other way around," he said apologetically

[stellarregions]

"No problem," he replied, and turned towards the open door that linked this hall with the next one down. It seemed quiet enough down there. He just hoped that would hold once they were outside.

[To here]

[longlivetheking]

[From here]

Despite the lack of a proper light on his person, Scar led the way out of the patient block into the narrow hallway. There was a similar hallway to their left, which at least made it possible for the former lion to deduce their current location: there was only one block of rooms reserved for males located South, after all.

The hallway in question appeared to be empty, which, considering the circumstances, likely meant the night was well on its way. Monsters usually did not venture near these parts, but with the new information Scar was not about to lower his guard.

[his_legacy]

Link frowned curiously as the man led the way down the hall. Without a light...? Perhaps his home world was of the darker sorts. Midna had always been able to see better in the dark than he could.

The Hylian pushed the thought of her out of his mind for now, though. He followed closely behind the other man. Link didn't know where he was going, but he was the one who was armed.

[To here]

[ham_fisted]

[from here]

It wasn't until Gumshoe got to the block's exit that he stopped suddenly. He took a step and paused, then let out a frustrated sigh, beginning to turn his flashlight in his sweaty palm. "Argh! What do I do!?" Should he stay here to help, or focus on finding the cure!?

Knowing he was wasting time, he took off on swift, determined steps.

[damned_nurses]

As it turned out, it wasn't only the patients who were turning into all manner of heartless beasties tonight — the staff were keen to get in on the fun as well.

Just as Gumshoe neared the end of the hallway, a figure darted out in front of him, movements jerky and unnatural. The sharp angles of her limbs complemented scalpeled fingers and a pocket full of old glass syringes. It looked as though the nurse shouldn't have been able to move, the way her joints stayed so stiff, the way her matted dark hair never uncovered her face. Yet somehow she did move, and she moved fast.

Her breathing was ragged, filtered by soaked hair as she came at Gumshoe with surprising speed, scalpels raised and aimed up toward the throat.

[propheteer]

[From here]

Izaya had a rough idea of where the x-ray room was (in and of the fact he had a rough idea of where the medical wing was), but the area was one that he had never taken the time to fully explore. Ippo, on the other hand...

"About the night of the drug trials..." he started, glancing over at the boy as they exited the block hallway. "Did you happen to have a look around the medical wing then? I'm afraid I haven't been over there before."

[ippo]

That fateful night was not something Ippo wanted to talk about or even allow to resurface to the front of his consciousness. But, of course, he didn't have the nerve to say so to his friend. Izaya was simply asking about the layout of the place itself, not his experience. How could he deny something so inconspicuous just because he was a bit uncomfortable? The young man wouldn't be that selfish.

Unfortunately, his answer wasn't all that good anyway and he felt the telltale signs of embarrassment creeping up his face. "Ah, n-no, not really... Sorry. There was another person there and he needed help finding his friend, so I... left with him. All I saw was the reception desk."

[From here]