Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-West

[doneinthree]

[from here]

Kirk ran into the main hallway and found nothing there except more pink light coating everything. His gut feeling said that if something was happening, it should've happened already, but he was a loss to explain what was going on. The system (if he could call it that, vague as it was to describe the whole Landel's torture/experimentation assembly line) had broken down at least once already, on that night when I.R.I.S. had first(?) appeared, and the whole of the building flickered like a malfunctioning hologram. Was that what the glowing cover was for? To prevent... he didn't know. Something. Something bad enough to warrant a Code Red.

(What had killed that creature?)

Waiting around here was already bad enough on normal nights, what with it being an open space with high traffic, but he'd picked it because it was the quickest and most obvious meeting place for all of them. Now with the whole area lit up like the inside of a strip club, Kirk was starting to feel like a lone piece of meat wrapped in a gold ribbon and tossed out for the wolves. He made a face for a second as he considered the unfortunate implication of mixing those similes, then decided that the dumb thoughts which crossed his mind ranked considerably lower in priority than, you know, paying attention to his surroundings and not getting himself killed.

Kirk swung the lead pipe in his hand once, just to focus, and shook his head as pain rippled out from the still-healing gunshot wound on his right arm. Take it easy, Jim, he admonished himself silently. It was still early in the night. Someone would be along shortly. And if not... he was giving his crew one minute. One minute, and then screw it, he was tracking down everyone himself.

[KIRK TO ENTERPRISE]

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

The main hallway was quiet, steeped in blood-red light. A young man was fidgeting across the way, trying not to look worried, but other than that, she was alone. She avoided meeting his eyes as they both kept their stations. Habit, mostly; before a trial there were very few people a prosecutor would run into who didn't have something to hide. Even the defense; a good attorney would have something up his sleeve, or thought he did, and tipping his hand would be the worst thing he could do.

She felt about as prepared as she had for her first trial. Alone, except for the detective. It hadn't been Gant then, either, though he'd made his presence known. Routine, procedural, except that nothing could quite be called routine when it was people lives that hung in the balance.

[Badd]

[tasteoftruth.livejournal.com]

[From here. (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186704.html)]

Another point in Byrne's disfavor. All that sprinting down the halls and he hadn't noticed Badd huddled behind a corner, waiting for him to pass so he could run the opposite direction. If Byrne caught him he'd probably pull a prosecutorial interrogation about what Badd had said earlier, and he just didn't have time for it.

And on top of it...look what they'd done last night. Who knows what they'd make him think tonight and who he might try to kill. Badd made his way down the hall at a near run until he caught a glimpse of Lana bathed in rosy light.

"I'm here, let's go," he snapped.

[sainted]

[from here]

He'd almost forgotten what it was like. Magic, he'd called it once, being all of seventeen years old and at a loss for grander words to describe the sensation of pure movement. Stefan ran straight through the winding hallways, his feet barely making a noise, dodging around people without ever being seen. It wasn't just the speed, it was the power too. This feeling of being stronger and faster than anything alive, of feeling capable of doing anything, being anyone. He'd taken it granted, at times — how could he not, when being a vampire had become as essential as breathing to him? What little he remembered about being human was that what he'd been here, this weakening caused by a device or witchcraft or whatever else, wasn't anything close to it.

It took seconds for him to move from his room to the main hallway, and would've required only seconds more for him to appear at Elena's door. But here Stefan stopped, confused by what he smelled and heard. Something else was moving in this hallway, aside from the people whom he could hear and smell, human with rapidly beating hearts. But on top of that: an insect-like skittering, a soft animal tread. Other noises, less obvious, but evoking bestial movement just the same.

This hospital... was full of monsters. A slow smile spread across Stefan's face as he picked through the sounds, and found himself able to pinpoint the location of each one. There were people mixed in with those inhuman sounds, people breathing and running and whispering.

How could he ever have forgotten what it was like?

[♥]

[prodigalson]

[From here.]

Once he hit a hallway away from the blocks, he took off fast enough to put a bullet to shame. Within three seconds he had passed by everything, everything he meant to stop at - past the male block, the female block - everything was getting slightly fainter and he could just barely recognize his own thoughts in the chaos, just barely.

There were so many heart beats, twisted up in words he wasn't actually hearing, so many people rejoicing and searching and it was all just too damn much. Even now, Aguilar couldn't stop torturing him, it wasn't bad enough last night -

Within three seconds from just outside his own block he had crashed into the wall of the main hallway outside all of the patient blocks - not a wall this time, something softer, and a heartbeat was pounding in his ear but all he could hear was joy, no confusion or fear or trepidation but joy. It smelled familiar and without thinking he was snarling, pinning the body under him that he had sent to the floor. Because it was familiar, it was like him which meant predator. He wasn't thinking now, not his own thoughts, but he had enough sense to know this wasn't just him.

Not sense. He knew. This was happening to all the patients, or most of them, or enough for him to hear them all. Which meant, even now, he had to be careful. If anything, Landel and Aguilar had taught him how to be careful.

[hes-deadjim.livejournal.com]

What was Jim even thinking? He'd only just gotten Spock poking around his brain the night before. Spock must've explained to him what happened, because if Jim didn't know he was recovering, then he was taking a big gamble or he was desperate. McCoy didn't even know what to tell him if Spock hadn't gotten around to it. Sorry, sir, got my brain scrambled by a Vulcan. Gave up your plan, the other you, my you, to the enemy and almost ruined the party's escape because I couldn't hold him off long enough. He hadn't even gotten around to how he treated Jim.

My God. He wasn't ready for this. He'd thought his problems would be over if he could get rid of the migraines or all the other problems, if he could go one second without wanting to put himself out of his misery. Even now, the headache had gone down to the faintest throb. If the recovery continued as it had so far, it'd be gone before the night was out. Now he had to deal with everything else, starting with Jim.

Sure enough, Kirk was there already. McCoy hung back. Why wasn't Spock here first? If Spock was here, he'd know what to say. He could just couch it all in clinical terms, since he knew more about mind melds than he did in the first place, and McCoy could put off the rest just a few more hours. He watched as Kirk swung the pipe and then seemed to stop mid swing, favoring his arm.

"Captain," he looked at the arm with a frown. "You take off by yourself for one night and find the closest sign of trouble? You gotta a death wish?"

[doneinthree]

Kirk guiltily dropped his arm back to his side the moment he heard Bones' voice, which he realized too late only provided more damning evidence of his injury. Whoops. But no use regretting the past, even the past of two seconds ago. Kirk shifted the pipe to his other hand and brought his arm up to rest the pipe on his shoulder, becoming the very poster boy for casual 'Nothing to see here, Doctor, what are you talking about?' innocence.

"I'm fine." He looked Bones over with a careful thoroughness that was as familiar as it was vaguely disquieting, searching for some sign, new or old, of McCoy's deteriorating mental state. Spock had "corrected his condition" (Kirk had spent two minutes puzzling over that statement, trying to figure out this could be a Vulcan euphemism for... anything), and the doctor did in fact look remarkably improved. A little cranky, yes, but that was Bones on a good day.

He hadn't asked for more details. It had seemed imprudent to do so over the bulletin board, and he was more than willing to take Spock at his word and trust his aptitude with mind melds. If the commander still had any reservations about Bones' mysterious affliction, he would've said something.

What Kirk hadn't wanted to acknowledge then was the possibility that something could still be wrong. It had been good news. Good news. How much did they have to be thankful for in this place? But looking at Bones now, lit up by the ominous glow of whatever-the-hell, Kirk could not let himself be reckless about their safety — his, Bones', all of them. It was his job to know what was going on with his crew.

But he could still be glad that his friend appeared better, couldn't he? "You're looking good," said Kirk and reached out to grip Bones by the shoulder, grinning as he did. "How are you feeling? Up to dealing with...?" He gestured vaguely to the rest of the corridor in an attempt to indicate whatever nightly horror Aguilar had prepared for them.

[diamondstorm]

[from here and briefly for Nigredo]

From the shift of one hall to another, Renamon had slid out of the visible and physical spectrum. There was a feel to it, like a return of something you had known for very long and been without. She could still access it here, even with the nulled abilities, but not like this; no, not like this at all.

She would remain here for the time being--she had another meeting to hold for, at any rate--but she slid around individuals who knew nothing of her presence, for at this point, she did not exist-- And it was something like being free, even now. Something like coming home.

[falseblack]

[From here.]

The world was seeped in conflict, in chaos, and Nigredo would testify with every fiber of his being on the similarities. Wouldn't dwell on it for more than a minute. There existed a promise to fulfill, for one. For another, it seemed he had a stalker. Stalkers. Six insects and only a well-armed, fully-powered U.R.T.V. to fend for himself.

A single flicker of concentration, and each creature reeled back from an explosion of light--some maimed, the rest dead. Nigredo ignored the aftereffects, however, and continued his search for Renamon in the hallway, wondering why every time he was keen on a plan, something had to interfere. Like powers.

Always powers.

[vinesofregret]

[From here]

Hakkai turned the corner into the bigger hallway. He glanced his flashlight around, looking for any more creatures sneaking up on him. For the moment, it looked like he was safe. He would have to keep his guard up - he had relaxed a little during the day, but it clear this was as dangerous as his travels had been, at least.

Onward to his meeting point, then.

[To here]

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

Definitely itching.  It didn't sting yet, and the mangled corpse she'd passed was still food in desperation only.  Which wasn't tonight, since she'd poured herself an extra measure from her stored calories.  That was dancing like butterflies made of deck plating somewhere behind her belly button, but at least she wasn't hungry.  Yet.  

A series of bug carcasses were lined neatly up in front of a small boy.  Taura was pretty sure those would still be revolting even to a zombie, so she hopped neatly over them and continued down the hall.  Whatever else was going on, it seemed she wasn't the only one to think of using confusion as a cover.  The only question was which side had opened the zoo gates.   

Taura took up a vantage point down at the central end of the hall, holding herself almost perfectly still.  Only her mind raced, as if by thinking fast enough she could outrun the poison in her blood.

[Rita & Goku]

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

When Rita approached the meeting spot, it was clear that something had changed since earlier that day. She looked absolutely pleased with herself, and not even a pile of dead monster bodies littered across the hallway could ruin her mood.

She spotted Taura right away, and walked straight over, a smile still on her face. Remembering the woman's condition, she stopped before getting too close. She didn't plan to be overly cautious (that would just be patronizing and annoying) but she didn't plan to provoke things unnecessarily. They just needed to be able to see and hear each other clearly.

"Looks like they're trying to sic the horde on us," she commented, observing the carnage casually, as if she were checking the time of day. "They make great stress relief." And boy, did Rita ever have a lot of stress to relieve. Why, she'd have to cast another hundred spells to fully clear her mind of troubles.

The beautiful part was that she felt like she really could go cast another hundred spells just then.

[witchoftruth]

[ from here ]

That stalking feeling followed Erika even to this room, which was quickly explained when she turned around and saw what exactly had followed her out of the hallway: a cat, probably drawn by the rat's carcass. Well, that's what Erika would have reasoned out if it weren't for the fact that the cat was focused on her, bearing wicked fangs as it circled her, hissing.

Really, the whole time she had been here, she had hardly seen any of these creatures, and now they were coming out of the woodwork. Well, at least she knew what happened to the Sun Room cats. Not in the catbox anymore, where they... Instead of fleeing, Erika stared the creature down and lifted her sword, even though she knew it was a pointless act. She didn't know the first thing about swordplay, but it was better to cut this creature down instead of letting it follow her. Besides, it would interfere... and she couldn't have that.

The cat lunged at her, and though Erika managed to throw herself off to the side before it's claw connected with flesh, she wasn't spared: she yelped as she felt hair rip from her scalp, noticing that the cat's claws had yanked out quite a chunk out of one of her pigtails. The detective gaped at this horrible, terrible, most grievous of all insults. Goddamnit all, Sync was right!

"My... MY HAIR!" She shrieked, loud enough to even make the cat wince at the volume of her screech.

[ for sync and gabe, the worst threadmates for the worst thread. ]

[godforsaken]

[oh my god why am I so late with this sldjfdf

Anyway, from here.]

Fortunately for Erika, it was at that exact moment when a ball of energy shot right past her, its target clear when it swept the cat's head right off its body. Blood seeping from where its head previously was only seconds ago, the monster crumpled to the floor in a fleshy heap.

Now, Sync would've been fine leaving the entire scene alone from the start, but he just couldn't miss an opportunity when he saw one. He knew exactly what he instructed the teen to do earlier today, and seeing it come back to haunt her was a sight even sweeter than letting the beast rip her entire face off. So, stepping out of the darkness of the patient blocks, the God-General approached her with an all-too-apparent grin on his face.

"I told you." And he felt like he didn't need to say anything more.

[composers-proxy.livejournal.com]

[here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=80877060#t80877060)]

As Neku ventured further into the hall, there was a sort of buzz in the air that whispered of death and battle. If he'd gotten his Psychs back, just what else had?

He turned his headphones up, the steady pulse of a beat helping calm his nerves as he rounded another corner into the main hallway. Before tonight, he'd seen only a handful of monsters that lurked the night, more often than not, it'd been himself, hurting the other patients. But tonight-

Neku raised a hand to put up a Dark Barrier as something pounced at him from the shadows. It sure as hell wasn't Noise, but the ugly rat-like creature bounced back as the Barrier spell held. He followed it up by firing several Force Rounds to chase it away, but it didn't keep Neku from looking over his shoulder every few steps.

[composers-proxy.livejournal.com]

[to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1187721.html?thread=80879497#t80879497)]

[zack-fair.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=80877572#t80877572).]

Well, that hadn't been so hard. Zack's trip from his room to this hall had definitely been more engaging than usual -- and he felt revved up and energized and powerful in a way that he'd missed. Not that it was a good idea to rely on the enhanced abilities that the mako infusions had given him, but it certainly didn't hurt. And actually being able to cast magic again was pretty great, too. Sure, he only had one Materia to work with, but he got the feeling it would serve him well.

Until he needed an Ether, anyway. From now on he'd try to be a bit more conservative, seeing how he had a sword to rely on.

There were plenty of other patients around this area, although he didn't recognize any of them. Wait, no, Taura was there, but she looked like she was waiting for someone. Maybe it would make more sense for Zack to just run off on his own and do some monster hunting and exploring, seeing how it wasn't like he'd made plans to meet anyone.

[To be found by Tifa!]

[36-24-35.livejournal.com]

Still dizzy from her recent revelation, Tifa stormed through the hallway without her usual caution. There was no need right now. Every corpse she had come across had been relatively small. There were none of those powerhouse nurses or hulking figures patients had encountered and fled from in the past.

The usually quiet hallway was buzzing with talk, distant cries of battle, and a new, fragile energy. Maybe it was hope, or it was just the optimistic side of her blabbing on. Either way, it was different and that was something to exploit in every way possible. She was up for the challenge, Tifa just needed a partner in crime--

"Zack!" Tifa called out from across the hallway. Sidestepping a few patients, she met him in the dimly lit passage. "Had any fun yet?" It was probably said with a bit too much glee, but could anyone blame her? She couldn't deny the exhilaration that was taking over her mind and body. A freak accident had put them in an advantageous spot. They may as well help clear out this institute for easy escape, not to mention the patients that were genuine civilians. Someone needed to help them!

[survives]

[from here]

The further she walked from her room, the more on edge she felt, her insides twisting uncomfortably. She still hadn't run into any kind of monster and, strangely enough, it only made her all the more nervous. Come on, running into monsters? Leanne could deal with that, even if she didn't have any real way to defend herself. She was used to this, used to having to deal with gremlins, at the very least, from practically the moment she stepped out of the safety of a town.

But this uncertainty, walking down hallway after hallway and finding only other people, and monster corpses, was... It was horrible, she hated it! Not knowing was somehow worse than seeing the real thing in front of her.

If nothing else, at least she could take comfort in the fact that she was making some kind of progress in her plans to explore. And there was still a lot more ground to cover.

[to here]

[thatdemonbitch.livejournal.com]

[ from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1185883.html?thread=80885339#t80885339)]

The route to Sam's was one she'd committed to memory quickly. Down the hall, make a left, then a right. Head out into the main hallway and size up who was out and about by this time. It was a little more populated than usual -- meant she wasn't moving fast enough. All the more reason to bust her ass down the hall, to just after the stairwell and hang a left. If she wanted to catch Sam before he ducked out to get his hero on or whatever the kid did on nights she didn't darken his doorway, she had to be quick.

[ to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1185201.html?thread=80862897#t80862897)]

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

Javert's suspicion only increased as he entered the main hall. There was nothing clearly out of order here--nothing so obvious as that--but he couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed. Instinct had served him well for years; it did so now.

Something caught his eye as he headed for the women's block--something the size of a small dog, scurrying away into the dark. Another one of the creatures? Perhaps that was it; there had been four of them in the last hallway, and it was unlike them to attack so openly.

His frown deepened as he rounded the corner. Curious.

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

[gald_digger]

[from here]

It wasn't often that Anise ran into a monster so soon into the night, but she didn't think too much of it. That happened sometimes, right?

Tokunaga kept trotting along, with Anise seated on its head, but she made it pause when they entered the main hallway. There were other patients here, so she had to be careful not to bump into them. But more importantly than that... she could hear the pattering of tiny, inhuman feet. More monsters?

Looking down, she spotted a few more rats, scurrying past Tokunaga, seemingly headed for the patient blocks. Well, Anise wasn't going to let them pass! Tokunaga raised its foot once more and stomped down hard on one of the rats. She thought that might scare away the rest, but instead, several started to crawl up the doll's other leg. The doll waved its enormous arm, swatting the vermin away, injuring and killing several with the impact.

Unfortunately, this movement caused the doll to lurch into a dark corner of the hallway... where apparently, a cluster of bats had been hiding high above the patients' heads - but not too high above Anise. They screeched and flapped their wings, swooping at the girl who was perched a little too high for her own good. Anise cried out in alarm, but her reflexes saved her. Tokunaga swept its arm upward in a powerful backhand that sent the creatures flying. Some crashed against the wall and were either too injured or too dead to move, but others immediately attempted a second assault. A few powerful swings later, and they were all taken care of.

Having Tokunaga with her again made Anise feel almost invincible... but she couldn't celebrate for too long. To start with, these were way more monsters than usual. Looking around, she could see others dealing with their own monster attacks. Maybe... maybe since people had their powers back, the military was trying to kill the patients before the patients could kill them first! It was a horrible thought, but she wouldn't put it past them. In any case, Anise had to hurry and find the others.

[nobleman]

[From here.]

For once, Anise was easy to find.

Guy was initially distracted by the fact that there were corpses scattered all across the hall, but even that could only hold his attention for so long when there was a huge stuffed animal with a girl perched on top of it close-by. He was surprised for a moment, but that expression quickly turned into one of amusement. Of course. He really should have expected this. If all of their powers were back, then it made sense that Tokunaga could once again grow into its fighting form.

"Isn't it kind of hard trying to navigate him through these halls?" Guy called up to the girl as he drew closer with his sword in hand. He sent Anise a pleased smile. It was clear to both of them already that their powers were back and usable again, which meant that this night could become a whole lot more interesting. "Luke says hello, by the way."

In the end, Guy couldn't resist glancing over his shoulder at Claude. He wanted to see what sort of reaction his friend would have to Tokunaga. Had Anise ever told Claude about what the doll could do?

[mirthful]

> Gamzee: Skip a couple halls.

On the contrary, no halls were actually skipped. He walked the whole way. The details, on the other hand, were simply too bland to be worth mentioning.

Gamzee stood in the main hallway once he arrived. Honestly, he didn't know where to go to from there. He hadn't had an idea of where to go from the start, he'd just been hoping that he'd run into someone else before he had to come up with one. Because the last time he'd done that, he'd ended up as some sort of ghost thing for the rest of the night, and that hadn't been fun.

Well, when all else failed, one could always turn to the Mirthful Messiahs for guidance. At the very least, a prayer couldn't hurt. The pillow case and its contents fell to the floor with a thump as he slapped both of his hands together and made silent wishes for an idea to come along.

[lovecraftcomplex]

> ==>

There was something coming towards Gamzee. But the thing that was coming along did not look like an idea, unless an idea had eight legs and scuttled on soft, silent footpads.

It wasn't the only spider afoot tonight; many of them had been set on their ways by unnamed forces, but only one was threatening a certain hapless troll.

Rose leapt into the air, landing astride her temporary arachnid steed, her knees safe from its clacking jaw by virtue of proximity. As she landed, she brought her knifewands down squarely into its eyes, energy crackling off them.

The spider gnashed its pincers in vain and flung feet out wildly, as electrical impulses from the twin lightning rods embedded in its carapace fought those few remaining natural impulses. Finally, it sagged to the ground at Gamzee's feet, allowing its rider a graceful dismount.

"You might want to pay a little attention to your surroundings."

[corvus-veritas.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=80894468#t80894468), magically timeskipping all Baddness.]

As soon as Byrne got into the hall, he found the nearest dark spot along one of the walls and hid himself in it, letting out a sigh...and hoping to god whatever was making those clicking noises wouldn't know he was here.

Because now he needed a moment to think in peace. He didn't want to waste time by going off in the wrong direction. If he were Badd, where would he be most likely to go in this situation? There were the upstairs rooms, the Sun Room and the rooms that connected to it, those offices Byrne remembered breaking into his first night here, and outside. It would really help to know what the detective's plans were, beyond avoiding his partner like a dumbass. (Besides, although the idea was tempting, Byrne doubted Badd would have been kidnapped again. There hadn't been any signs of it happening in the room and he figured they wouldn't pull the same move twice in a row, anyway.)

--Wait.

Wait.

Ms. Skye's note on the board.

Hadn't Badd talked with her about something...?

Byrne crossed his arms and frowned. Why was he having such a hard time remembering? This shouldn't be this difficult. Think! This was important! Badd could be in danger!

[Renamon!]

[diamondstorm]

[from here]

Once Nigredo was steps away, Renamon slid back from the visible spectrum and out of sight and senses. There was a great deal more monsters out tonight, and she had to wonder if this was the response, the code blared over the speakers. It called more to an older thought, and still an uncomfortable familiarity. That of being used as a weapon, wielded as fodder for those who could gain control, and she was caught back in a moment of sympathy, one she had set aside for a good while. One she didn't need to consider now. There were other things to focus on.

Tear moved through the halls, and creatures dropped in her path. Renamon wondered if it was her voice alone, or something else that powered the spells. Healing, obviously, was not all the girl could do. It reminded the Digimon of her own Talisman Spells, ones she would not be seeing unless she gained a more useful body and access to a certain creampuff eating Digimon.

With things as they were, she would do best to take advantage of things, and at least gain productivity for the night. The town would be the best bet, at this moment, and she would-- She caught familiarity nearby, viewed an ally pausing possibly where he shouldn't. Renamon moved towards him, halted in front of him, then slid out into the visible spectrum silently. "Byrne. What are you doing? It's not safe tonight."

[stlg13bomber.livejournal.com]

[From here. (http://damned.livejournal.com/1188857.html?thread=80901369#t80901369)]

What was with all the pink light? It made the whole place look girly and strange. Carter picked up the pace as he walked down the hall, eyes trying to look everywhere at once. In fact the whole place looked strange. The people moving through the halls looked subtly different, or in the case of the little girl extraordinarily different. Nothing seemed interested in attacking him and Carter left the bizarreness alone, but it made him very uneasy. He wasn't used to strange things that were strange but didn't also want to eat him alive.

[To here. (http://damned.livejournal.com/1187721.html)]

[tightsofmight]

[From here.]

It was a cacophony.

Peter supposed he could be grateful for the chaos, because it allowed him to drop down from the roof without anyone being the wiser, but he really wasn't. Anise was over there, riding on some Raggedy Ann nightmare and fending off a crowd of bats. So much baffled disapproval had his brows in pain, they were drawn so close together. Should he help? Or...

Well okay, apparently he wasn't the only one to slap around a four legged friend tonight. Peter watched in minute horror as the giant doll swatted the beasts into submission. Man, PETA was going to be all over their butts.

And speaking of butts, he was pretty sure that was a wee bit of damp he was feeling back there. And along the back of his shirt. Peter glanced over his own shoulder and tugged at the sleeve, and sure enough, he had not gone unscathed from the catsplosion in the hall prior. The pink light from the walls illuminated enough of the bloody splotches to prove that they ran from shoulder to heel. He wasn't soaked, but he did look like he'd been through a harrowing round of paintball.

Goddammit. The last thing he ever wanted was a Patrick Bateman makeover.

Or for his spider sense to buzz again. And buzz with alarming clarity. Peter glanced up and found himself reunited with his best friend in the world, Robert J. Hugespider.

"...Oh. Hey there."

Pincers clicked. Black eyes as big as golf balls fixed seemed to fix upon him, though if there were no pupils to follow. Even the pink glow putting a halo around that fuzzy head did not an angel make.

"You know, this doesn't have to be a running joke. It's a lot funnier if you only try to eat me once."

Robert respectfully disagreed.

Peter vaulted out of the way when it dropped down, easily outsizing him with each leg only scant inches short of his entire height. He was grateful, he decided, that having his powers back somewhat dampened how painful the stitches were making things. He guessed his threshold for pain was back too. He was going to need it.

[Jessica come help a bro out]

[arakhnes.livejournal.com]

[ from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186187.html?thread=80902795#t80902795) ]

She had arrived late. But late enough to get an idea of what was going on -- chaos. Chaos in the hallway, chaos here now. They weren't getting their powers back without a fight, apparently. Jessica slunk along the ceiling, keeping close to the walls as her gaze scoured the area. Peter, she needed to find him. She needed to know whether he got his powers back too -- whether he had an inkling of an idea of what was going on. There was moment's pause as she hung there again, fingers pressed gently against the surface of the ceiling as she watched people fight off monsters, the pink glow still bathing them.

And then she spotted it.

And him.

There was a giant spider and of course it was going after him, and this certainly didn't surprise anyone, especially not her. But the spider was huge. Hugespider. He of the Massive Spiders and she hoped to god, this wasn't going to be a Harry Potter thing where they just discovered the nest.

Either way, the spider had moved, approaching Peter, and suddenly, there was a blast of webbing in its eyes (all eight of them), the bushy-haired girl flipping down from the ceiling, landing on its back. "You know, I think this is taking the spider motif a little too far!" She didn't think, the quip was a natural response. Each movement was instinctive, drilled into her mind by training. The spider recoiled back, clicking its pincers desperately as it tried to rock her off. She latched her fingers on to where its neck should be with all of her sticking powers, turning her gaze towards Peter.

"Any time would be great now."

Oh man, she was going to regret this later. So much for that alcohol run.

[melodists.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1185883.html?thread=80843099#t80843099).]

Upon stepping to the outer corridors, Tear was met with a trail of blood and gore. It reminded her of slaughter, of death unknown. Bloody battles that hardly counted as such due to a skewed probability. One unused to death would be sickened at the sight. Nothing existed of normality here, more so than usual at least.

And Tear would waltz into its very core.

She assessed the chaos beneath the shadows by a wall, noting the presence of every enemy and patient. Ultimately, the space proved far too cramped for multiple battles to be going on at once. There existed a great chance for someone innocent to become ensnared in the crossfire, and given the amount of children and non-fighters present, Tear wasn't willing to expose them to this. Her lips, therefore, moved without prompting.

"O melody beckoning toward the abyss."

As always, her protection came as a song, meaning set to melody. A stage of enlightenment unearthing in verse as the female traversed the length of the hallway.

"Toue Rei Zue Kuroa Ryuo Toue Zue. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7ItDKR1Ok4A#t=362s)"

Those noted as monsters--creatures without a semblance of sentience--would crumble under the song. Would drop to the floor in a faint. They would rise again if left untouched, but hopefully, the timing would prove to be a great help.

[To here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1187721.html?thread=80912009#t80912009).]

[kings_thief]

[From Here]

When Locke entered the hall, his eyes landed on a few of the people in it as well, but he didn't let them linger, instead he searched for where the nearest set of stairs should be. Right across from them, right? If it weren't so dark...

"The stairs should be just there, right? Let's go ahead and go. Doesn't look too exciting here." He smirked in an attempt to keep the mood light. Although, if he listened he could've sworn there were inhuman sounds coming from the darkness.

[age-of-kings.livejournal.com]

At least this hallway wasn't like the one before it. And the presence of other people helped a great deal. As did the fact they'd yet to encounter any human bodies. Tolten knew full well that people died here. He thanked whatever god was watching over him these days that he at least had some exposure to this manner of thing. A year ago and he wouldn't have been able to handle this at all. He would have been weeping in his cell on his bed, unable to do a damned thing for himself without Gongora to hold his hand.

At least those days were over.

"Just here," Tolten agreed, checking the map and written directions once more. "And then it isn't too far to the upstairs kitchen... No one said anything about it being locked, either. I wonder if all the doors are unlocked...I'm afraid despite counting a master thief as my best friend, I've no skill at conquering locks or privacy traps."

[to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1189779.html)]

[believein0.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=80916996#t80916996).]

And this hallway, too, was filled with the bodies of monsters. Other prisoners were here as well, with some in the middle of fighting against monsters of the living variety. Zero noticed the ease at which many of these humans were able to fight and felt a bit of relief. It was not only him being blessed with power, then. Others would be able to defend themselves properly with their own abilities.

wrrrrrrr...

...Including himself. Zero turned around to face perhaps the most hideous dog he'd ever seen, skin falling apart and eyes glowing red. (Skin decaying on a living creature...now where had he seen that before?) The dog bared its teeth at him, snarling, and slowly approached as the once-Reploid shifted his stance and prepared himself.

For a fight that would never happen. Suddenly, the sound of singing (http://damned.livejournal.com/1189937.html?thread=80911409#t80911409) filled the air, and the dog (along with every other monster in the area) mysteriously collapsed. Zero stood still for a moment, expecting something else to happen, but the dog did not get up. What the...? Who did that? And was the dog dead? After a moment of staring, he approached it carefully and jabbed the side of its body with the end of his pipe to see what it would do. It didn't respond, but he could see its chest moving. So no, it wasn't dead, just knocked out by whatever that sound was. ...Odd.

In any case, might as well take advantage of this turn of events. Rather than stomping the dog into a bloody pancake like he'd done in previous monster encounters, Zero bent down, grabbed the dog's head in his hands (not bothered by touching its rotting skin in the slightest) and twisted it sharply, snapping the monster's neck. There. That should do it.

And now...he needed to get moving again. If he kept stopping to fight monsters like this, he'd never make it anywhere tonight.

But who had sung that song?

[To here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1187721.html?thread=80883593#t80883593).]

[anemptydecapo]

[From here]

Oh lord, it wasn't neat at all.

The fact that there were still living, hostile creatures roaming the area should have made it worse than it was, but it frankly wasn't: at least not for the usual reason. More of these creatures meant yet another fight and those fights only caused more of a mess and, as previously alluded to, Venom was not the type who took pleasure in these sorts of messes. Stopping his movement unfortunately meant returning from off the ground, and it was a small blessing his his feet managed to land on something that was yet slathered in crimson.

How long that would last, especially with what could only be described as chittering growing louder and louder over-top someone's distant singing, was yet to be seen. The Guild Head took to forming a billiard ball above his hand before turning his attention to where he assumed Zanuff to be.

"To the left and through the Sun Room," he instructed. "If we're going to find Landel, we need to get out of the building through the Courtyard."

[zanuff]

Apparently the person Venom wanted to find was not Aguilar, but that Landel guy, the supposed original owner of this place. Chipp figured either or would have been good enough, but since the Guild Head seemed committed to his plan, the ninja had no choice but to follow. Or try to, since Chipp was anxious and having trouble keeping himself from just running off into the unknown. Finally, Venom gave him some instructions on where to go to get outside, which was exactly where Chipp wanted to be.

"Yeah, got it!" Made sense, since Landel wasn't in this building either. While Chipp still wanted to find Aguilar, he could vaguely what Venom was getting at: Landel was the guy who caused this whole problem, so getting rid of him was kind of like getting rid of the source... right? Well, whatever. Chipp Zanuff was a man of action, not a man of words.

But before he made a break through the Sun Room, there was a problem to be solved. A very important one.

"You're moving too slow, though! Isn't there any way you can glide faster?!" Venom's weird way of floating instead of walking had ceased to amaze Chipp long ago, but what did amaze him was how he still managed to go so damn slow.

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=80898308#t80898308).]

If anything, the body count just got higher the further they got. Peter paused for a moment, taking in the different carcasses. He saw a few insects, some dogs, with who knew what else mixed in. It was clear that Aguilar had decided to send a whole army of these things down on them, but apparently someone was fighting back. Could this really all be the patients' doing? That didn't seem right. Maybe if someone had their powers back they could pull something like this off, but...

"Huh. I wonder if maybe some Special Counseling patients got let loose or something." He remembered how much he'd been capable of while brainwashed, but he'd only been limited to one area and there hadn't been monsters around. "Maybe that's what the Code Red is about?"

Thus far they hadn't come across any danger themselves; just the aftermath of it. Peter was sure that would change before long, and so he kept his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. As he moved toward the stairs, he found that the area around it was unoccupied. "Guess he's not here yet..." He hoped that Kibitoshin showed, since otherwise he'd be spending the rest of the night worrying about him.

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

The Earth expression "speak of the devil", had Kibitoshin known how to use it at all, would probably have been appropriate at that moment. Faintly sacrilegious, but appropriate.

Kibitoshin reappeared in the main hallway in a not altogether elegant fashion, knee buckling under the sudden unexpected weight of his body- wait, unexpected? Was he really that out of practise? ... no, no, he'd always been like that. It took a moment for him to reorient himself, straightening up and checking the hall around him, and- yes! He'd done it! He was in the right hall!

Even so, he couldn't quite find it in himself to be entirely pleased at his success. There was obviously going to be some kind of terrible drawback to it, or- or some even more terrible reason as to why he could suddenly do all of this again. Like a giant monster attack. And it wasn't as though he was entirely free again anyway; one quick check was enough to tell him that he still couldn't move himself home, so there had to be some sort of base line to it all.

Oh, well. This was as good a night as any to miraculously gain access to more of his ki energy. An even better night than any, actually, given what he was planning to spend it doing.

Remembering that, he swiftly focused on finding Peter and the other person they were going to be meeting with and-

- found that they were barely three feet away. Well! That was helpful! "Peter!" He rounded on the two of them, nodding to the other man with an open smile. "Th-they're back! It's crazy, but they're back!"

[threepwood]

[From here.]

... Or so he'd thought, until he reached the more populated hallways, which this night were occupied by not only patients, but an unusual amount of chaos and catastrophe.

The first sign Guybrush had that something was amiss was as he passed the ladies' quarters: the floor was littered with ice, corpses of monstrous animals lined the wall, and a trail of bloody prints led toward the main hallway, all illuminated by the pink glow of the walls. It wasn't the first time he'd seen creatures in the halls leading to the patient rooms, but to see so many at once couldn't have been more foreboding.

He paused for a moment as he entered the main hallway, hearing the sound of singing from somewhere in the pink-hued darkness. More corpses decorated every inch of space. What was the line? Right- "I've got a bad feeling about this." He then picked up the pace as he stepped around what looked like a squashed dog, deciding time was suddenly an issue.

[To here.]

[threepwood]

[And back from here.]

"Okay," Guybrush said to himself, trying to unrattle his nerves after his second crossing through the Hallway of Unspeakable Terrors, "if I were Javert and I wandered into what is most likely the deadliest night Landel's has ever seen, where would I go?"

• I have all the powers of an inspector again! Time to go solving crime and catching bad guys!
• Monsters everywhere? Not on my watch! Protecting the innocent is my job!
• With all these monsters everywhere, I'll be the bathrooms are empty. Finally, some privacy!

"Disciplinary corridor to rescue those undergoing sleep studies!" Guybrush concluded. "Javert seems like the type who doesn't alter his schedule too much."

With that, he tore across the corridor, heading for the stairs. The longer Javert was alone, the more dangerous the situation became in both reality and in Guybrush's mind.

[a_sin_for_him]

[from here]

Leaving her room had only served to irritate Lust further. She recognized nothing as she moved through hallways that seemed to have seen the graphic deaths of a great many rather mess filled chimeras.

There was something wrong with this place she had woken up in.

"There's something wrong with you waking up at all," Lust reminded herself. How long had it been since her encounter with Wrath? How had she healed without any memory of it? A wound like that, if not fatal, would surely take days to stop bothering her completely. At least without being able to repair her regeneration without the stones. And at this point, if Dante had her, she would be dead.

And the signs of people were odd. She could see footprints in the blood and mess, and plenty of sign that there were other people shaped beings around. But it was only evidence. As though large numbers of people had passed through recently. She paused, hands on her hips, and glared down a hallway

Had Edward done something? She couldn't remember very well, it was something of a blur. Had he arrived, like the calvary at the last minute? Oh, what did it matter? She wasn't even allowed to die. At least this meant she still had a chance at humanity.

If she could only figure out where she needed to go to get out of this place!

[For Brook!]

[promisedawhale.livejournal.com]

"Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"

Again Brook's voice cleared the hallway before he did, but the speed with which he was sliding didn't have him all that far behind the scream as he entered. Thanfully for him there was something right in his way to stop him from going any farther, though the poor patient he was headed for probably would not be thankful for any kind of collision.

Brook saw that he was about to hit something other than a wall, he braced and tried to bring his hands up. "Look out!"

[revolutionise]

[From here]

More bloodied rats and bats waited for them in the main hall, along with all other manner of bloody chaos. Insect guts littered the ground, a dead pack of dogs lay further ahead, and all the way down the hall was blood, blood, and more blood. Utena's breath quickened. She was already getting Doyleton flashbacks. Nothing had been this bad since that night with the zombies.

The only thing that eased her nerves slightly was a song. Of all things, there was a song being sung. Utena realized after a moment that she recognized the singer's voice, too: it was Tear, and she was using her powers the way she had with Renamon the previous night. Instead of healing, though, it seemed to be making all the remaining monsters in the area fall to the ground. "Whoa..." Utena said with wide eyes, watching as the other girl finished and beat a hasty retreat out of there.

"...Here's hoping the guys get here before more of these things do, then," said Utena after a few moments of wary silence. She moved an arm partly in front of Aigis, a protective gesture she made out of habit. They had to stay alert, even if things seemed safe for the moment. One slip up and they could both get hurt really, really badly.

[no-dont-go.livejournal.com]

The further down the halls they traveled the more gory and grizzly the sights. Aigis felt sickened by the malformed bodies of small animals littering the floors. This was the smell of blood and death. She had found another sensation to add to the list of undesirables.

Aigis took Utena's cue and held back from charging further though she waited on restless feet. The whole area around them was swarming with monsters. Whatever bit of her that still held her sensors was screaming at her to run or fight. Her trigger finger twitched on the cold metal of the Evoker. Athena could not be used hastily in the tight space of the hall, but it was reassuring knowing she was there at the slightest touch.

Unfortunately it seemed the spell-caster's song was losing effect rapidly on several of the creatures around them, but that was not their primary concern. A small team of chattering necrits were skittering their way towards them on their clawed feet.

"Tenjou-san..." Aigis whispered a warning. She turned to look behind them, but as she expected the earless creatures had managed to surround them rather effectively. Aigis reached for her claws, returning the Evoker to her pocket as she did so. Then, before they could leap upon them all at once, Aigis rushed forward in an attempt to skewer one with a swift swipe. She reminded herself to stay loose as Taura had taught her. Adding injuries due to carelessness would not be smart.