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

[deathandgin]

[From here.]

The difference between a whole corpse and a corpse that had painted half of a hallway was pretty goddamn substantial, whether it be giant cat or whatever.

And this hallway had dead dogs lying everywhere. Dead, rotting, bloodied dogs. A few of them had their heads facing the opposite direction of where they should be facing.

Alaric was going to take a wild guess and assume the rate of the supernatural to human was at Mystic Falls levels. A home away from home. (How had he known this really was going to be the worst night he'd had? Wasn't it bad enough he had to subsist on pink oatmeal without them trying to make him lose it, too?)

It wasn't just tearing apart animals. Whatever had done this. They looked like they had freaking exploded.

"I'm guessing the device broke. Or someone found grenades."

He had to wonder if he was the only human in this place.

[saviored]

Better and better. The air was saturated with blood and rot. There were times when his sense of smell was useful and times when it was decidedly not. Right now, it was hard to distinguish anything from the mess.

He did, however, pause on the dogs, though for different reasons than Alaric. The animals in the last hallway had been exploded; the ones here seemed to be a mix-and-match. He could hear the heartbeat on some of them, steady and slow, a resting pulse. Not dead, then. Well, those ones, anyway. The ones torn limb from limb were corpses through and through. Also familiar. Reminiscent, at least. Hm.

"You think?"

Re: the device, not the grenades. Obviously.

Definitely broken. He'd been skeptical before, but he wasn't now. It was too chaotic to be anything else. Of everything this place had done, it'd been organized enough. Singular, targeted. This, on the other hand, was like opening the damn floodgates.

He didn't pause long. He started down the hallway, not even bothering to sidestep the mangled corpses. No point: it'd be like sidestepping a swamp. He'd gone about two steps when a soft snarl came from behind him. No, behind Alaric. If he'd taken the time, he might've noticed that its eyes were distinctly on him, though, not the teacher, but he didn't.

He moved without thinking, knocking Alaric aside. The cat's neck snapped in his hands. He let it drop on top of a dismembered dog with more satisfaction than he might've felt any other time. It was just a cat. And he wasn't Stefan where chewing on fuzzy creatures gave him the thrill of a hunt. But it was still damn nice to move unrestrained again. Which was the only reason why he'd moved when he had. What else would it be?

Right. He'd been leaving. He brushed by Alaric to do just that.

"Pay attention next time. I'm not waiting around if you die on me."

[going here]

[mateswithnobody.livejournal.com]

The weird pinkness continued through each wall she passed and made Donna wonder just what the heck had gone wrong. She knew the sounds from the intercom had been anything but normal, but for everything to start glowing? Even that was a bit strange for this place.

"Maybe it's like a force-field or something..." Donna reasoned over her other ideas and, turning a corner, got the bright idea to actually test that little theory. She did have her boots on after all. So when she took her heel to the corner of the wall, just to see, she was thankful that this set from her collection was particularly durable.

She threw a hand up and huffed, "Now I'm kicking walls!"

[brb-burgers.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1189937.html?thread=81205297#t81205297)]

Now what did he have here? He slowed his jogging down as he approached, a grin growing at the edges of his lips as he recognized his good burger friend. The one he'd met in that quaint little town what seemed like ages ago. Okay, so it was amusing to see her kick at a wall but she did so with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Heh, I don't know what the wall did but I'd be willing to give you a hand-- foot. I'm pretty strong." It had been a while since he'd seen her but he was no less delighted. Hopefully she remembered him as well? They hadn't spoken much but he was eager to re-do any mishappened first impressions.

That and he just realized that the wall was glowing pink. Perplexing, to say the least. He did a double take at it, eyes widening as he gave it a good look over. "I'm gonna just say that probably ain't normal." said with the air of authority of someone who was confident in their own importance, frowning in thought.

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

The main hall looked like an expressionist painting made out of roadkill. Seriously bad juju. The mood lighting didn't help, and the stench was overwhelming.

"'Scuse me." S.T. leaned over and threw up in an empty corner of the hall. That only made the smell worse, but at least it was over with. He wiped his mouth on the back of his arm and turned back to Raphael.

"See anyone you know? This is the usual meet-up spot." Peter was there, with a girl, which was either his clone or a massive reversal in his fortunes. Packs of kids -- there were more of them every night.

[meanandgreen.livejournal.com]

Way to add to the stink, Raph thought, mostly ignoring S.T.'s retching as he entered from the other hallway. This was one of those moments he was actually glad he grew up in a sewer. If he had any manners he would've asked if he was all right, but he was too absorbed in studying the faces passing through the room. None of them looked like his brothers, turtle or no, and being out in a crowd full of people without a brother in sight was making him even cagier than he was before.

Human. They were all human. What the shell was he gonna do now?

Punching the wall seemed like a good first option. "I hate this!" If his brain wasn't clouded with rage it might have hurt, but anger had a funny way of making him numb. He turned back to Sangamon, a crazed look burning in his eyes. "And I'm done playin' these games!"

So maybe the whole "stay focused and keep a cool head" thing wasn't his strong suit, but there was only so much frustration a turtle could take.

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=81009156#t81009156)]

Just a bit further. More fights, more injured, none of them patients - Ritsuka wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not anymore. Whatever seemed to be holding people back here had been removed, and now... Well, they were doing what they thought they had to do, but some seemed to be enjoying it more than others. He shuddered at the thought and pressed forward, eager to get to the meeting place and away from the crowds of people and the monsters that lay at their feet.

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

[dispersive]

[From here]

Well, Luke hadn't expected to find a whole horde of patients just standing around in a hallway, but since he was meeting Tear around here as well, it made sense that others would use this spot too. In fact, it seemed rather safe and secure with everyone around here. Their numbers were larger than the few corpses he saw lying around the hallway.

"Huh..." Toting his sword over his shoulder since he was without a scabbard, the replica began winding through the groupings of people scattered around the large corridor. Tear and some cat boy were around here somewhere.

[lighthearted]

[From here.]

It looked like it wasn't just that one hall that had been swarmed with monsters. As Sora ran forward into the main hallway he found that there were dead monsters (or pieces of them, in some cases) all over the place. It was to the point that he could actually smell all of the rotten blood, which was pretty gross. At least Heartless didn't smell like much of anything...

Well, maybe they did to Riku. Sora knew that his friend could sniff out Darkness in some way, though he honestly didn't understand it that well. It didn't seem like the type of thing that his friend would want to talk about in detail, though.

"Hmm..." There was no sign of Kairi around, which could mean a few different things. Either she hadn't made it out yet or she'd already met up with her team and had gotten on the move. Seeing how they'd gotten held up by fighting, the second option was probably more likely. "If we want to find her, we might have to head down toward the medical wing." But that might just turn into a wild goose chase that would waste time, so...

"I'm not sure that waiting around will do us much good, though," he admitted as he turned to Riku with a sigh. They would be taking up Kratos' time, too. "You know, Mr. Kratos, you don't have to stick around with us if you wanted to check out other things. Riku and I can handle ourselves, though you're welcome to stay too!" Kratos could clearly take care of himself just fine, so Sora didn't mind letting him take off. Kairi wasn't his responsibility in the same way, after all.

[inherited]

It took longer than Riku might have liked for him to respond, but he realized that Sora was right. They would have to go to the medical wing, and that was only if Kairi was still set on heading over there. He didn't like that idea, either way, because it seemed like a dead end. Kairi might not know her powers were back, but he counted on her being smart enough to realize what this all meant. What they did to them, what the files said—in the big picture, none of that would matter. He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"Let's just get going, then," he told Sora. "She'll know to get out of here." His words sounded strained, and that was because they were. Coming to this point was difficult, but he realized the necessity of it.

[osoreirimasu.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=81014532#t81014532)]

Well, that had gone better than he'd thought it would. Perhaps being assertive and expressing his own opinions wasn't so bad after all. Or...maybe it was just because he'd said everything so quickly and left so abruptly that the trio had no time to grasp just what was really going on. Either way, Japan did want to annex the Sun Room in the name of his country and his people. If things were falling apart, then Japan wanted to ensure that the room named after the Sun was his and his alone. He was, after all, the country where the sun rose and not having the Sun Room under his control seemed a bit...well, it was wrong. That was all there was to it.

Turning the corner into the next hall, Japan adjusted his white jacket and glanced around the area. His flashlight beam fell upon what appeared to be far too many dead creatures and he frowned. That would explain the sounds of scuffles and the feeling that his people were in danger at least. It wasn't a pleasant revelation, but it was the expected one. There was no way that this place would allow them their selves back to normal without some sort of catch. Well, whatever it was, Japan was a nation and had every right to defend himself and his people and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"...First, the Sun Room." He nodded to himself and started down the hall.

[Nation paaaartaaaay!]

[brb-burgers.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1189014.html?thread=81057942#t81057942)]

Entering upon the scene as if on cue, America stepped in and spotted Japan. It wasn't difficult, they were both nations and both of them had a certain feel about them. All politics aside, however America wanted to know just precisely if he was the only one here with his strength and nationality (could it be called that) returned to him. So he strode across toward Japan with even, firm, purposeful steps. Direct, in ever fashion of the word. "Hey," it was a salutation in addition to getting his attention. "...How you feeling?"

Then he stood up straighter and finally noticed how Japan looked. He'd seen him writing and scribbling on the board and they'd had small communication, mainly when he'd first arrived but he didn't expect to see Japan dressed up to show off. Wait, should he be surprised? Japan always wore crazy things. Not that this looked bad.

Back to the objective. "Oh, hey where'd you get the flashlight?"

[girlsandgadgets]

[From here.]

Edgar slammed a rat into the wall with the blade of his shovel, cleaving it in a single blow. He had briefly considered upon seeing the number of monsters running around— far more than he'd ever seen in the institute at once, and increasing in quantity by the minute— that he should return to his room to arm himself better, perhaps with his Spinning Cutter; however, carrying such a tool would slow him down, and time truly was of the essence.

The weight would also wear on him, a stress he was realizing more with each passing moment as one he did not need. His hand trailed the wall for a few feet before he came to rest against it. A bead of sweat ran down his temple- though he'd dispatched that rat easily enough, it was becoming obvious what the true reason for his exhaustion was.

Obvious to only a certain degree: he felt sick, the fire in him stoked to a blaze. His chest burned as it had the night of his sleep study, growing more and more intense for reasons he couldn't fully explain. His best guess was one that sounded plausible at best, but given the chaos in the hallways and the corpses of beasts lining the floors instead of those of patients, it was the only one he could think of that made any degree of sense at all: those captives with powers had found them returned, or the restrictions on them lifted somehow. Edgar had lost all of his magic since his arrival, though there were others who kept their gifts in a limited fashion. He'd seen that for himself.

Perhaps their magic hadn't been lost; it was simply suppressed. And without restriction, there were bound to be those who would take the chance to tear the institute apart without regard for the other patients.

He leaned back into the wall, stifling a groan. He couldn't tell if he had his magic returned or not, and to be honest, didn't feel well enough to try. He swallowed a deep breath, trying to bite down the nausea that hit him. If the magic supposedly gifted to him through his Magitek infusion had been under the same block as the rest...

The spells he had learned before his arrival were via Magicite, the safer and more effective method; the infusion process had its faults, ones he was hoping he would not see that night. He knew how to control learned magic, but something that came naturally as it coursed through his veins was an entirely different matter. It'd be worse for Terra if she lost control of her abilities, as well.

Edgar pushed himself from the wall, forcing himself to keep moving.

[ultimagi]

[from here]

The stench of blood was far stronger here, but there was more than that at play here. The girl nearly recoiled backwards as she entered the hall, disoriented. There were too many sensations to feel, a tangled mess of scent, power and sensation. There had been moments before, blips of recognition, like a long-faded perfume, but nothing like this.

What was going on?

She pinched her lips together between her teeth, swinging her flashlight to the people gathered here. She knew she hadn't passed anyone on the way, but it would be much easier to miss someone she was searching for in a crowded hall-- there.

"Edgar!" she called, moving to intercept him before he continued on.

[ham_fisted]

[from here]

The clatter of his own footsteps was all that the detective could hear before he reached the end of the hallway. He had been straining to listen for anything that might have been chasing him, but the surprise he was in for when he entered the next hall completely broke his concentration.

A mixture of sights and scents hit him all at once, and for a few seconds he stayed frozen to the spot, feeling his stomach turn as he stared down at the dark stains on the floor. Suddenly, he felt more grateful than ever that he'd forgotten to ask for batteries. "H-Hello!?" he hollered across the hall without thinking, trying and failing to hide the panic in his voice. "Hey! Is anyone hurt!? Call out if you're injured!" A moment passed without a response. Urrgh... How was he meant to navigate through all of this? But all he knew was that he had to keep moving, and fast! He took one step and--

His boot sank into something and made a loud squelching noise. Mortified, he flinched away from it, giving his foot a hard shake, and began walking quickly alongside the wall without touching it, seeing more blood splatter beneath the pink glow. He kept hearing soft and wet things squishing between the leather of his boots and the tile, and he cringed with each step.

When he willed himself to square his shoulders again, he could feel his hands trembling. "I'm leaving now, alright!?" Nobody was answering. Seconds later, he found the corner at last.

[ham_fisted]

[to here]

[wantsyourzex.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=81062916#t81062916)]

The hallway was a veritable madhouse. ZEX wasn't sure if he was thankful for his impaired vision or not. Some of what he was seeing didn't look real at all, but he had to admit, that wasn't that unusual around here. What was going on? A wide assortment of humans were doing things that he was not aware they could do, normally. Had they all been keeping these abilities a secret, or was something else at play here? Somehow he felt more inclined towards the latter.

Either way, sticking around here seemed to be a bad idea. Too many people, and too much commotion. Perhaps he'd have better luck upstairs.

[wantsyourzex.livejournal.com]

[to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1189779.html?thread=81064595#t81064595)]

[timedork]

[From here]

Willing and able to run—that was good. The last thing the Doctor wanted right now (well, maybe not the last thing, but nearly it—worse would be for Daleks or Cybermen or another Weeping Angel to show up in the halls next) was to leave someone to their fate after leading monsters straight for them. Better that they go it together, at least until the threat was gone and the other man safe.

They could lose the scorpions in the stairwell up ahead, but it may have not the best place tonight—especially when this area of the halls tended to be so busy; a glance (assisted by the light of his torch) was enough to confirm that even more bodies and blood marked the results of activity in the area. While losing the scorpions was the general idea, he'd rather shake them in a less populated area.

"This way," he called out to his newfound companion, glancing back to make sure he'd been heard before making a sharp turn to the left. They could run to the eastern side of the building, and find a place to escape there.

[touchedgod.livejournal.com]

Billy didn't say anything. He just ran, almost on the other man's heels. He grabbed the corner of the wall and swung with his own momentum. Billy's lungs barely burned at the exertion. It was easy, even, compared to the up and down rocking stride of rooftop travel Dane had sometimes favored. This was a straight shot, coasting on a river rather than being tossed and turned on a rocky sea.

[To here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1187721.html?thread=81134729#t81134729).]

[sortaheadstrong.livejournal.com]

There. The main hallway. It was big enough and even with the others there, she was fairly sure she could do what she wanted without hitting anyone. Looking around, she spotted an empty corner over by the far stairwell and went over.

Yes, this'll work, she told herself, clenching her fists before her face and nodding at them. Now if only the rest of it worked, she wouldn't have to spend the rest of the night depressed and wondering why she was smoking.

She put her back to the underside of the stairwell and looked first around the area for others, then up the stairs to make sure no one was heading up or down them. With things clear she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and concentrated harder than she would have normally. The smoke at her wrists started flowing more freely and continued to pour as it began taking a recognizable shape. Her fingertips extended on reflex and hovered over the shape as the Dullahan silently prayed, Please be there before grabbing down.

Her fingers clasped around a black handle and with a gasp Celty's eyes shot open to find what she had been hoping for. There it was, her scythe, just as it should have been. The shock of it kept her staring just as she had with her wrists before, and once it wore off she dismissed the weapon. It worked! she exclaimed in relief before the realization hit her.

Now what?

[immortale]

[From here]

By the time Firo reached the main hall, he was starting to wish he'd gone back to change clothes after all—or at least shirts. His body had repaired itself, but that was more than he could say for his clothing. One side of his torn and mangled shirt kept trying to slide off his shoulder. He looked down at it as best he could, scowling, and pulled it back up. Again.

Maybe he could just pop into a closer room and borrow a fresh shirt. He was pretty sure there were extras in the closets—he could return one from his own room later...

But just as he was considering it, a glimpse of red hair caught his eye as the light of his flashlight passed over someone. He jolted to attention, moving the beam back—...

It was a different person. This woman (and he was certain of her sex this time) had much shorter hair than that attacker... But there was something funny, too. Firo couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was almost like he'd caught a glimpse of something, only to look back and find there had been nothing there. He just wasn't sure what that something had been... Probably just a trick of the light. Something casting shadows.

Or maybe it had been something poised to attack, be it monster or murderer.

"Hey!" he called out. Maybe he was being nosy, but if she just stood there, she'd be any easy target. "You might want to keep moving."

[deadlyjuliet.livejournal.com]

[teleport from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1188857.html?thread=81010425#t81010425)]

The steps from one hallway to the next were easy. With his powers back, his scythe returned to him, and the killer's high still buoying him, Grell appeared in the main hallway connecting the patient block to the rest of the Institute. Here was where the most people gathered and where the most interesting victims could be found. It was a shame Grell couldn't sense where the little robot had gone to, but he was certain with that boy's luck, he'd find him and murder him tonight. It would be payback for that pipe trick he pulled. Rotten little boys always got their comeuppance in the end.

From behind, Grell heard a yowl and he turned swinging the chainsaw like a bat at a cat that came barreling at him from behind. The flat of the blade connected and slammed the feline into the nearby wall, breaking a shoulder and causing the creature to scream in pain. "Nasty beast, that's what you get." Forget wasting the deathscythe's blade on that thing. It didn't deserve a quick death and Grell left it to suffer as he stepped on its neck with his high heels. "It's rude to come at someone from behind."

The cat's neck gave way and Grell's smile widened as the malformed creature twitched and quieted. He'd never much cared for cats. Sebastian loved them so much that Grell couldn't help but be the slightest bit jealous of them - and then hate that his jealousy had to be turned toward something that wasn't even human.

With a flip of his hair over his shoulder, Grell headed up.

[ to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1193043.html?thread=81214547#t81214547) ]

[ex_rosebuds752]

[Coming from here.]

Rose slipped out into the adjoining hall, leading the way for the other two, pausing to make sure there were no monsters in the immediate vicinity. She didn't sense anything immediately close by, but the scent of blood was thick in the air and she felt her eyes burning and tightening once more. She turned away, keeping her back to her companions as she pushed the door open to the stairway and stepped inside, holding the doorway open.

"This way," she hissed to them softly. "Hurry."

She hoped upstairs would be clearer, but she feared not, if the stairwell was indication. At least the scent of charred flesh drowned out most of the blood...

[ex_rosebuds752]

[Going to here.]

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_{[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186187.html?thread=81128075#t81128075)]}

Tsubaki had her back turned toward the main hallway as she and Rapunzel stumbled into it, engrossed by pulling her scythe back and getting it ready for another throw.

The smell, however, was too overpowering to miss. When Tsubaki looked, she almost wished she hadn’t. Just from where they were standing, she could see dog parts scattered about. And blood. And other unmentionables. And those were just the beginning.

"What is happening!?"

[hairraising]

"I don't know!"

If the stench in the last hall had been enough to make Rapunzel stop, it was a wonder she wasn't falling over face-first in the now yards upon yards of blood and guts and carcasses. Perhaps she could thank the treads on her boots for keeping her on her feet. Maybe later, though. Later, when she didn't feel like she wanted to empty the contents of her stomach over all this other stinking, slippery... stuff.

In fact, that's exactly what she did as they pushed on. Desperately trying to keep ahead of that horrible buzzing as they were, Rapunzel didn't have time to stop; she just let it out as she ran, coughing and sputtering, and then letting out more still at the thought that all that they passed was getting soaked up by her hair and clothes now. She could almost feel the little beasts biting at the tough strands too, and cursed herself for having been so scared and clumsy.

The only thing that kept her moving (apart from sheer will to live) was Tsubaki, and the glow Rapunzel had seen at the end of that last hall. She hadn't known what the other girl was doing until she'd done it, and even then Rapunzel hadn't been sure; she did recognize the scythe, though. Just a glimpse of that weapon, and the knowledge that it was familiar enough to her roommate that it was coming out of her body gave Rapunzel just the sliver of hope she needed to keep running. No, she wouldn't fall over or give up just because of some stench or some blood. Tsubaki, Soma, and all the fighters she now knew — going all the way back to Eugene and the men at the Snuggly Duckling — would keep going in this situation. She had proof of that. Tsubaki was running and fighting with her right now and she wasn't stopping for anything. Rapunzel owed it to Tsubaki, to everyone she now held dear to prove that she could keep up, make use of the fire and ironcast determination they had shown her.

I won't stay some stupid, sheltered little girl! she thought as she forced her legs to carry her forward faster. Not tonight!

[To here]

[unpriest]

[From here]

The main hallway wasn't in any better state than the previous ones had been. Carcasses of all sorts of small animals littered the floor, guts and blood coloring the floor beneath their very feet. Seishin tried not to wince whenever he made a step forward in the bloody chaos, fairly certain he was stepping on something undesirable. Further ahead he noticed a slaughtered pack of dogs, some of the corpses no longer in one piece. The corridor reeked of Death, and he felt his eyes water at the nauseating stench -- perhaps it was a small mercy that he hadn't eaten anything for a while after all, despite the weakness he felt.

Seishin paused, to allow his companion to catch up with him. And, perhaps, because he wasn't sure where to go from this point on.

[scarefaux]

And the main hallway was the worst of all. There was a distinct turning sensation in the Scarecrow's middle, one he couldn't fully comprehend- the closest he'd felt to it had been after his sleep study, during the walk back to his room after being rescued by Sangamon and Depth Charge. He couldn't recall much of that night, save for a few sensations that had been permanently etched into his mind: the rattling that permeated through every inch of him, the crawling that had been in his stomach, and the fear he'd lose all he cherished from his time as a human. It still shook him to think about, and the churning of his stomach didn't help in the least.

He looked down the hallway toward the center of the corridor, hearing commotion. From somewhere came the hums of singing, which he reasoned was a good sign- if someone was singing, things couldn't be all bad. As he stepped further into the hallway, he was forced to turn his light to the ground in order to avoid stepping on the twisted remains of one of the somethings that littered the floor. There was a growing concern in him- what had caused this? And where were the other patients? Unlike other nights, the main area seemed far emptier than usual, save for the mes- perhaps they had arrived late, but not so late that the hallway was mostly unoccupied.

As he turned to continue toward the center of the building and the singing, the Scarecrow heard something else coming from the other end of the hallway, near the stairs- the click click clicking that sounded almost like a bug walking on the hard floor. That couldn't be right, he thought- it was far too loud for a little bug.

It crossed his mind he might be imagining it. It wouldn't be the first strange occurrence of the night. "Do you hear that, Muroi?"

[oneman-onekill.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1192861.html?thread=81255581#t81255581)]

"...so anyway," Niikura said as they entered the next hall, "what I was thinkin' is of pokin' around here some more. I keep hearin' about this 'basement' all over the place. Apparently, it's supposed to be pretty dangerous, and--sorry, Nagasawa, I know we shouldn't be doin' anything that's got the D-word associated with it, but I can't help it--anyway, where was I...oh. Right. Basement. We're goin' there."

He was rambling again, but only to distract everyone from the smell of the hall around them and the number of bodies littering the ground. Thankfully, none of them were human...well, if they were, he wasn't looking, if only to keep everyone else from looking too.

"So I mean, what do we need? More stuff, right? Sharper stuff, that is. Kitchen would probably be a good place to go by, y'know?"

[hiddenbadass]

Now that Niikura was bandaged up, Mike was fine with letting them continue. They had plans to finish--or, well, it seemed that Niikura did at least. Mike was just along for the ride. Niikura might've been younger than him, but he was the most experienced with this place. He wasn't an idiot, either. Letting him lead them from one goal to the next made sense. Mike knew he wasn't a leader in the slightest, and he trusted Niikura enough not to screw this up.

But then Niikura opened his mouth, and Mike could only think of one word: smooth. It seemed like Niikura's lady friend was distracting him a bit. Mike filed that away for future reference--both as something that might be dangerous during battle and something to tease Niikura about at a later time.

"Kitchen works for me, if it hasn't already been raided," Mike agreed. "If anythin', we can fashion weapons from flatware with enough patience."