[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.
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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.
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...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?"
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Or one of them, at least.
"X," he answered back, although (unlike X) he kept his voice down for the most part. Immediately picking up his speed, he headed in the direction of where he heard his friend call out to him, finding him up against the wall some distance from the prisoner block door. What was he doing? Was he okay? It was hard to tell in this darkness, which was worrisome...
Not to mention...where was Harpuia? It was honestly surprising to see that the overprotective ex-general wasn't glued to X as Zero expected he would be. Which begged the next obvious question: why was X out here by himself? In this place, in that weak form, with no protection whatsoever? Zero's concern was growing by the second.
"Don't shout like that. You'll attract too much attention." ...Although a frown and a gruff scolding were apparently the only ways he was going to express that concern.
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It was Zero; first person he ran into tonight and it turned out to be a friend. His stomach loosened a knot he didn't even know it had, and he let out a breath of relief.
"Sorry." X shook his head, lowering his voice to a soft whisper. "I'll be quieter next time."
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Good news, X: this time, being noisy had worked out for the better. It
accidentally activated the cockblock alarmalerted Harpuia almost immediately that the guy he was looking for wasn't that far at all. If either one of them had been hoping to get some stuff done without the company of a third wheel, tough luck. Even if X had been completely healthy and properly armed, Harpuia still would have stuck adamantly to his side. Call him overprotective if you want (it wouldn't be an inaccurate assessment), but he'd experienced the pain of losing his master far too often to slack off on his duty."Master X!" He hurried to X's side, the usual serious frown easing up into something that might have almost been relief. He considered kneeling, as he'd done the previous night, but this X was clearly embarrassed by that sort of formality, and they weren't exactly alone. He'd have to settle for respectfully bowing his head in greeting. "Thank goodness you didn't get too far before I found you."
Oh, yeah, and Zero was there too, I guess. Or something. Whatever. Harpuia spared Zero a brief once-over -- no signs of last night's armor. Good. He was still himself. "I see you don't intend to shoot us tonight. I appreciate the courtesy," Harpuia commented dryly.
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And then the voice that called out a moment later immediately ruined any chance at him feeling relaxed, and his lips curved to make a deeper frown than usual. He didn't need to look to know who it was that was swiftly approaching them right now - as if anyone else would be crying out for 'Master X' like an overly dependent child - but he would spare a glance anyway, just to be sure. And, of course. It was X's most loyal Guardian, full of concern and snark as usual. Great...just who he wanted to see.
"Push your luck and I'll change my mind," Zero replied to him with equal dryness, briefly crossing his arms. He was this close to pulling his handgun out of his pocket as proof that he really could shoot Harpuia whenever he liked (not that he ever would, though it made an entertaining visual), but whatever. In front of X especially, that was probably going too far. "You're late." No, Harpuia wasn't actually late, but Zero wasn't about to compliment him for managing to find them here, now was he?
Hmph. He turned back to X, getting back on the train of thought he was on before Harpuia interrupted them. "...Anyway, I was curious about that clue they mentioned on the intercom. Thought it'd be worth it to check it out."
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The creature's senses hadn't led it astray. As it had thought, there were three people with three glowing hearts in the hallway, all clustered together as if they were asking him to attack.
Sora -- though there was really nothing of the boy left in the Heartless anymore -- half-stumbled, half-crashed through the door into the hallway. While someone who knew him might have seen the resemblance, it would be harder for a group of strangers to realize that the monster, pitch-black all over and running on all fours like an animal, had once been a patient the same as them. The clothing that it was wearing was likely the only clue.
And the Anti-Form only saw the three patients as prey, receptacles for what it really wanted -- those radiant power sources that were their hearts.
Not having any criteria by which to decide, the monster jumped toward the closest target, which happened to be X. It leaped from the ground right at him, black claws reaching forward, aimed at his chest.
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The final knot in X's stomach loosened, his worry pushed to the back for now. With a smile he had nodded his greeting, was ready to say something--
--only for those two to start fighting again. Really, this was ridiculous! They were allies; whatever grievances they had, it was more important to shove that to the back burner and work towards the common good. Even if X knew that Zero wouldn't actually shoot Harpuia, even threatening it...
Though hearing Zero's last words made him really wish he hadn't been groggy through that intercom message.
Next time, he'd have to be more careful.
"I think we should, too." X stood straighter, crossing his arms over his chest. "But we're not going to get anywhere if--"
The sound of the door crashing open caused X to whirl around with a wince. It was probably not the best way to turn around, but--
--and that was something black and fast, coming at him.
What the--?!
Claws?! Oh hell, it was leaping straight for him--
Adrenaline and instinct took over as X dropped to the floor like a rock, kicking his legs out in hopes to push back against--whatever it was, maybe to push it to the other end of the hall, give them either a chance to get away or to fight back.
At least to get it away from his companions. To prevent it from hurting either Zero or Harpuia. Protect himself from the initial lunge and protect his friends from getting pounced themselves.
He liked this plan.
Even if his leg burned with agony, and his back wasn't liking his sudden drop to the floor very much.
But...
Was this a patient?!
Or was this something else?! He'd never seen anything like it.
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Not like there was any need to say any of that now, mind you: Sora had more than made that point clear already.
The lack of sophisticated sensors was a bigger problem than Harpuia thought; he hadn't even noticed that... thing's approach. Suddenly, there was a black blur coming at them and X was on the floor. No time to comprehend exactly what it was attacking them -- just that X was in danger.
(Oh yeah, and Zero was too, I guess. Or something. Whatever.)
"Master X!" As long as X was on the ground, he was extremely vulnerable. Harpuia may not have been properly armed by any stretch of the imagination, but his knee-jerk reaction was to get between X and this monster.
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But what kind of creature it was didn't matter too much right this moment. What was important was that this thing was clearly a threat, and it was now leaping for X, who, thanks to falling backwards onto the floor, had left himself wide open to attack.
Just as Zex had...
No! Not again!
There was little hesitation when Zero responded to the threat, swiftly pulling his gun out of his pocket and firing a shot in the creature's direction. If the bullet hit its mark, excellent. If it didn't, hopefully (assuming it didn't accidentally hit an ally; that'd be nice) it would at least be enough to throw the creature off. The sound alone might just do it, it was--augh. Zero had forgotten how sensitive human ears were to extremely loud sounds. At such close range, it was even worse, causing him to flinch for a moment rather than take a second shot. And that ringing sound in his ears...! If that creature wasn't at least startled by such a noise, he would be quite surprised.
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Those feelings, the ones that inspired those with hearts to protect the beings they called "friends" -- this dark creature fed on those emotions.
And as a reaction, it lashed out again, speeding forward to frantically claw at the newer target. Because the Anti-Form was so busy with that, it completely ignored the two other people who were moving past them, along with the warning that was called out.
Not that words meant a thing to it at this point.
In the next second, though, something completely unexpected happened. The flash of light and loud noise completely disoriented the Heartless, leaving it wide open to the bullet that caught it in the shoulder. That sent it stumbling back, but in the end, that was the only effect that the gunshot had. There was no blood for it to bleed and only one thing truly damaged it. Still, as it tried to recover from what had just happened (something its limited mind couldn't understand at the moment), there was a brief opening for the three to run, if they wished.
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X didn't have time to figure out who had said it, though he was certain it was a voice he hadn't heard before.
Who--
What was he thinking?! He could think about that later! There were more important things afoot!
Like...
Harpuia's cry, Zero's reaction...
That...sound. A gunshot? It sure sounded like it. It was hard to tell with the way it made X's ears ring, his head pound, and his heart want to fly through his chest.
When did Zero start carrying a gun?
It was a weapon, in any case. Far better than anything X or Harpuia were carrying (long glass shards and flashlights...were not the best means of defense against monsters, in hindsight).
The creature was stumbling back from the gunshot, but even X could tell that the opening wouldn't be long. They'd have to be able to run to get away in time, and even then--
--Run.
X struggled to his feet, hanging onto the wall for balance as his leg screamed at him. Yes, this was the best thing to do with an injury: aggravate it more. But what other choice did he have?! It was either that or end up dead...
It was going to be hard for him to get away. Not impossible, but certainly slower than the other two--
--He wasn't going to slow them down. X could make it through this; it just would be slower going. All he needed to do was give them a chance to run, then give himself an opening, give him a means to get away from the monster.
...He could do it.
He'd be all right.
"Harpuia, Zero!" Upright. Good. He was standing upright. "Hurry and run, while he's still down! I'll distract him, and catch up!"
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These were patients. Harpuia hadn't been able to identify anything human about this thing -- hadn't had much time to identify it period, considering how sudden its assault had been -- but if this was a patient-turned-monster... there was no way fighting back was an option. He refused to bring harm to a human, even if they were a threat to him.
Thank God that Zero didn't have that kind of hesitation. Harpuia hadn't known Zero was packing heat, and those sort of firearms were unheard of in his era -- he hadn't had any idea what that earsplitting bang was until that monster went stumbling back. He shot a wide-eyed look over his shoulder at Zero, but it didn't last long; surprise or no, Harpuia was a soldier at his core; he couldn't afford to stay startled in a situation like this.
There were other things demanding his attention, anyway: Zero and X weren't the only ones with ringing ears after that gunshot, but X was loud enough to make himself heard anyway. X wanted to play distraction? With that injured leg and nothing but a pointy bit of glass to protect himself with? He'd never be able to get away on his own, even if either Harpuia or Zero were the kind of people who'd leave someone to die. Harpuia chose to pretend that had been a suggestion, not an order, and flatly ignored it. "I'm not leaving you!" They had a good chance of making it out alive together. Nobody was going to be playing the bait if he had any say in it.
"Cover us," he snapped at Zero -- being the only one appropriately armed, he was the only one who'd be able to do much of anything if that thing recovered enough to come after them. "Warning shots only!" Harpuia couldn't say for sure if this patient-monster had been wounded or not, but he didn't want to take that chance. He braced X against his uninjured arm, and regardless of whether or not X chose to lean on him, started half-dragging, half-carrying him away. Their foe likely wouldn't stay stunned for long; debates about when it was okay to recklessly endanger yourself in acts of blind heroism could come after it was safe.
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The clothes should have been a tip-off, admittedly, but it was dark and he had been more focused on protecting his allies rather than caring about details like that. Now there was a small amount of hesitation. This might be one of their own. An unwilling slave of Landel's cruel game, as Zero himself had become just the night before. It wasn't right to slaughter them in cold blood, not when there was a chance that, come morning, they would be themselves again. Not when it wasn't their fault that they were like this.
However...if it came to it, and someone had to die here...Zero decided it wouldn't be himself or his allies.
Fortunately, he may not have to make that choice. He wasn't that reckless; he knew when it was smarter to run, and now was one of those times - especially if his friends were bailing out of the situation already, and even more especially if that creature was indeed a fellow prisoner. Injuries were pretty costly in this situation, so the less of them everyone got, the better.
Also fortunately, Harpuia wasn't so brainlessly loyal that he would listen to something as stupid as X's suggestion to leave him as live bait. He grabbed the fool and started practically dragging him down the hall so Zero didn't have to. Now he could save the scolding for later and do what Harpuia was so kindly demanding right now. Warning shots only. Doable...until it came after them again. Then forget about it. Zero already made his decision.
He positioned himself between the monster and his comrades, keeping his eyes locked on their threat as he followed X and Harpuia out, and then braced himself for another ear-splitting gunshot. Bang. This time he'd aimed close to the monster, but not close enough to hit it. Injuring it a second time wasn't his goal, if possible. Escape was.
[To here.]
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However it had been injured had hurt, even if it hadn't left any lasting damage. Still, it didn't seem worth that risk, not when there were other targets who wouldn't be as capable of harming him. And besides, the dark halls were calling out to him, beckoning him to lose himself within them. Darkness begets darkness, and so he found himself drawn in the other direction.
A Heartless couldn't have any real plan. It existed and flowed through the world, but it was only hearts that really drove it in any direction.
[To here.]