damned_institute | Night 54: Special Counseling Final Prep Area

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Night 54: Special Counseling Final Prep Area

[from here]

He knew this feeling all too well. As his fingers turned the door knob, everything around him seemed to flatten out into a single dimension. Sound intensified to the point where he could hear his own heartbeat, and faintly hear that of the people around him. His senses seemed to heighten when he was about to enter a battlefield and his nervousness only intensified because he had no way of knowing what was behind this door.

He couldn't hear any sound, but that meant nothing. The creatures here were usually silent until spotted and the ones that hid in this room had the advantage of complete darkness. Or, almost complete. As Okita swung the door open, the light of his flashlight set on the ground sent a dusty yellow beam into the room. It cut across the area and disappeared in the gloom, illuminating very little, but showing just enough.

There was something in there. Something that Okita couldn't quite see yet.

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The masks worn by the soldiers armed with the machetes did well in filtering light and sound, leaving the men relatively capable of manuvering. Not so much, it seemed, for the riflemen. Despite holding their positions quite well, they wouldn't be shooting at anything for at least a minute. That hardly mattered; there were still two capable of eliminating the threat.

Four seconds after the initial detonation, they struck, and the first of the men--the one who had released the stun gernade--flew through the door.

To be met with a sword through his left side, the tip gouging into skin. Okita had been smart to stick to movements; the soldiers had expected them to maintain a defensive stance at the most. The offense, therefore, was unexpected. Unexpected but hardly unmanagable.

Ignoring the pain, the soldier stepped back. The hand holding the machet swiped down and across in an attempt to knock the blade aside. To then sweep upward in an attempt to cut into the other man. Meantime, the second soldier reached Hijikata and cut his machete through the air in a downward movement. Metal hit metal; the soldier had to attempt a second strike. With what strength was available to him, he moved to push Hijikata back.

His vision was still impaired when the soldier made his move. Apparently, he hadn't expected to encounter the sword like that, or had chosen, for whatever reason, not to strike somewhere more vulnerable. That was fine with him. In close quarters like this, the visual impairment wasn't as much of an issue as it would have been ha the man been further off.

The second strike was an attempt to make him lose ground. Thankfully, his sword was more than up to the task of blocking the machete's blade, and he himself had enough strength to stand his ground as best he could with admittedly less traction than those noisy boots provided the soldier. He couldn't let himself be shoved too far back. Asuka wasn't completely unarmed, but against the weapons these men had, he didn't want to contemplate her chances against them. With a grunt of annoyance, he pushed back against the other man's blade with his own.

Edited 2011-03-10 23:14 (UTC)

Asuka felt more than saw Hijikata begin to move back against her bat. Without Okita`s flashlight illuminating the darkness, her awareness was rather limited to feeling. It was hard to pick up anything faint with her ringing ear, but the low beat of boots tromping across the tile was telling enough. She knew the man in front of him was being pushed back by one of the soldiers, which put her in the worst possible place.

Keeping low, Asuka moved away from the wall to step as quietly as she could around the two and hopefully ambush their enemy. The redhead could only hope that the soldier`s attention was focused completely on Hijikata and that maybe they had not spotted a third intruder. Surprise was all she had, so she needed to use it now. She couldn`t hesitate. Holding her bat tightly in her hand, Asuka did her best to deduce where the man`s leg was and swung as hard as she could. She was only a little girl with a bat, but Asuka knew that she could wreck a man`s--maybe a creature was a better term--balance with a good whack to the back of the knee.

While his ears had still not adjusted to the shock of whatever that noise was, the feel of metal striking down at his sword - thick, heavy, not a sword - was enough to kick-start Okita's instincts. As long as the men had blades instead of guns, he could deal with them even with his eyes closed. He just had to read their moves, hope they were as predictable as the samurai back in Kyoto, and he would come out of this with his head still on his shoulders.

He'd missed his initial thrust, but now he knew approximately where the man was. When the blade jumped in his hands, Okita slid his foot back and brought the sword up again to protect his body. He had no way of knowing if this was the right move, but it was the one he would take. Knock the opponent's blade away and then cut across the body. The soldier had a shorter sword, not unlike the thing he'd given away a few nights ago. He would be more maneuverable.

This wasn't going to end well.

When the short sword connected to Okita's blade, he pushed back and grit his teeth. They needed to get out of here, no matter how much he didn't want to admit it.

Movement from these men spoke of skill and experience. The soldiers understood straightforward maiming may not be possible as it was. Okita proved more active of their enemies, and the soldier against him knew he had to move fast in order to break through. Theoretically, at least. The other had a longer blade and therefore, a longer reach. Eventually, this would work against him.

Thus, the soldier took a chance when he struck metal. He kicked out with one foot, hoping the boot would connect with the other man's body. Catch him off-guard and pull off an open strike.

His partner, on the other hand, took a chance with time. He felt the push in the opposite direction but managed to stand his ground. If he could press Hijikata into a corner, if he could overpower the man, then--

Concentration broke. Something hard struck the back of his leg. Without wanting, the man stumbled forward slightly, his blade momentarily sliding off of Hijikata's.

They needed to leave. This wasn't a fight they could win, and sending Asuka into that room was a plan that had evaporated the moment those guns had started firing. No weapon was worth someone's life, not when they could retreat and return at a later time, hopefully with more manpower and better prepared to deal with the security.

The solider was trying to corner him. In the open, Hijikata knew he had a longer reach with his blade as compared to the shorter, sturdier weapon the soldier was using. Cornered, however, the length of his blade became a hindrance rather than an asset, so he had to keep himself in the open and wait for a good opportunity to retaliate.

That moment came sooner than expected, as the soldier unexpectedly stumbled, blade slipping from Hijikata's own. That must have been Asuka's work--he'd been aware of her moving, but hadn't been able to track exactly what she'd been doing. It was good to see she really was capable of independent action, and wasn't simply full of empty ambition.

He used the moment of distraction to his advantage, making a quick side-step and bringing the sword around in a quick sweep, hoping to connect with the soldier's body before he could bring his weapon up again to defend himself. He could barely make out a scuffle going on on the other side of the doorway, but wasn't able to make out who currently had the upper hand. He would just have to trust in Souji's sill, even against an unfamiliar opponent.

"We need to go." He didn't know if the others would be able to hear him, or if the soldiers heard him as well. Their plan had completely fallen to pieces, and retreat was the only logical option left to them.

Hijikata's words were a muffled sound along with the rest of the world. The only thing clear in her ears was the slice of metal and her hectic breathing. When the body in front of her began to stagger, Asuka tried to crawl backwards out of harm's way. Her arms, however, were no better than boiled noodles. Her legs kicked wildly instead, pushing her back slowly until she was out of arm's reach of the soldier.

The second child's bat was still held stubbornly in one hand beside her, though she had no idea what had happened to her bat. It didn't matter. Light would only attract attention to herself and that was something she would avoid at all cost. The mission had failed, and Asuka refused to be a casualty for something so useless.

Not good, not good, not good, not good. Okita felt the minute pull of the soldier's blade as he shifted his weight, but he hadn't been prepared for a kick to the stomach. The boot connected solidly with his body and it was only due to his reflexes that he didn't get completely knocked down by it. The force of the blow threw him back a foot or two and Okita had to choke down the coughing that threatened to destroy his usefulness. Breathing properly wasn't an option and so Okita instead made a grab at the soldier's ankle as his body tipped forward.

If he could just get his hands on the enemy, he could pull him off balance. That momentary lull would be all he would need to stab him in the head or throat and end this fight. Then--

"--need---go---"

Hijikata's voice. It broke through the haze of violence and the deafening sound of static that clung to his hearing, stinging like a hot iron against his skin. Hijikata was sounding the retreat. Okita had led them into an ambush and--

Focus. He had to provide an opening for them to get out. He would be the last to leave the field if it meant taking a sword through the gut for it. "Go!" he shouted, his voice weak as he brought his sword up and made a desperate stab forward at where he assumed the man's chest or neck to be.

Both attempts connected. Hijikata's sword cut across his opponent's torso, pushing past fabric to break skin and draw blood. Dark stains appeared in the soldier's uniform, and the man couldn't help a shuddered breath and several stumbles back, but overall, he kept steady. He raised his machete in a defensive pose, ready to strike in the event of a subsequent attack.

This time, he would remember the smaller body in the room.

The one against Okita, however, was not so fortunate. The grab offset his balance, and the man tipped backward, leaving his head vulnerable for the following strike. Okita's blade struck deep into the soldier's left eye, a thick, wet sound resulting from the stab. Muscles convulsed for a minute before everything went still.

Damnit. He should have known that strike wasn't going to be enough to take the soldier down. The sword was just too unfamiliar, and it was too hard to see, even with the effects of that explosion beginning to wear off. But it did, at least, give him an opening.

Okita was still engaged a short distance away, and the weakness in that shout sent a spike of worry through him. But now wasn't the time. He had to have faith in his captain and trust he'd get himself out.

He struck out again, but this strike was more of a feint, cover while he located Asuka and grabbed hold of her arm. He didn't care if she protested the treatment or not--they were getting out, and she didn't look like she'd be moving any other way. "We're going."
And without further comment, he hauled the girl to her feet and started retreating back the way they came, desperately hoping they hadn't been flanked by more enemies while they'd been tied up here, while keeping one eye out in case the soldier he'd been fighting took up pursuit.

The hand that grabbed her chilled the blood in her veins. It was an irrational and violent fear, and for a moment, Asuka was afraid the thing that had her was one of the gunmen who had sneaked around them.

The words didn't help either. She heard them, but nothing registered. Pulled to her feet, the second child finally realized her demise was not oncoming. But it, strangely, didn't stop the whirlwind of emotion that suddenly overtook her. The frustration was sharp and bitter in a way she had never felt. Her foundation--what little was left of it--was beyond repair now that she had seen the truth behind the patients' supposed delusions. And they could do nothing to help themselves. She couldn't do anything!

He couldn't do anything to stop this!

"H-Hey! Let--" Asuka finally came back to reality. Her sudden fascination with Hijikata's impotency (something that so closely paralleled her own) shook her from the catatonic state. "Let go! Ow, let go!"

His sword struck something, but it wasn't the torso or the neck as he was expecting. The weight and the feel of the blade pushing through skin and muscle wasn't right. It felt like he'd hit a smaller, more vulnerable target; a theory backed up by the way the foot he was holding twitched violently before the man fell like a rock. Dead then. He pulled his sword back to avoid breaking off the tip as the body crumpled and released the man's leg. Lucky shot - very lucky.

He could hear his own breathing in his head growing ragged now that the immediate fight was over. A few steps back. A deep breath that turned out to be way too shallow. His chest felt tight, impossibly tight--

Not the time. Not now.

Okita flicked his blade through the air to rid it of whatever blood or brain matter still stuck to it and he began to run after his leader, covering his and Asuka's retreat. His vision was coming back to him and he brought his blade up, ready to take down the last soldier who remained in the room. Two more behind him, but those had guns. They had to get out of here. "Don't argue!" he snapped as Asuka began to protest the rough treatment. His voice was thin, but it could be heard. "I have your retreat cover---"

Before he could finish his sentence, Okita felt a sudden darkness come over his mind again and he cursed internally. End of the night - and end of the line.

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Night 54: Special Counseling Final Prep Area

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short unhelpful post is short...... and unhelpful :/a

s'all good

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