Night 63: Road to/from Doyleton

[dividedby]

[From here.]

But being outside was probably just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than it was being trapped inside the bus with that nurse.

Besides the many other deformed nurses that were roaming around here, Zero caught sight of numerous forms flying overhead, casting large shadows on the ground as they passed by. They looked like...eagles. But deformed and horrific-looking, just like the nurses. At first, they seemed content to simply circle overhead, screeching, like vultures swarming above a carcass. But then many of them suddenly swooped down and headed straight for some of the prisoners running in the street.

Kind of like the one flying at Zero right now.

"Kh--!" The once-Reploid barely managed to dodge the monster as it dived for him by falling to the ground and rolling back onto his feet. The bird flew upwards again, slowly flapping its wings, then circled around as if to try again, another eagle joining it. To avoid them, Zero quickly moved out of the open, where he was obviously a target, and circled around one of the buses, keeping his back to it for cover. But he knew he wasn't going to be safe here...not when there were nurses on the ground and so many eagles above.

Not since the night he had become temporarily stronger had there been so much visible chaos... And if that one prisoner hadn't started a riot, this wouldn't be happening right now...!

As he stood contemplating the best route for escape, Zero glanced around quickly, searching the fleeing prisoners for anyone familiar or anyone who might need help. He was defenseless, so protecting someone else would only get him so far (and he certainly didn't want a repeat of two nights ago), but they all might have a better chance of survival if they grouped up...

[Leanne, Lana, and Harvey, WHERE YOU AT.]

Comments

[oyaji]

Wild Tiger did exactly what his partner predicted. His face, so focused and grim as he waited for the beast to slip into unconsciousness, suddenly fell at Barnaby's comment. The neck fell out of his grip and hit the earth with a thunk.

"Bunny, that's not our job--" He hadn't been a Hero for more than a decade to kill and destroy the world around him (well the living part anyway), but he heard the other side of the younger man's argument. He had been a hero to help people, though. Killing it would take one less killer out of the picture. There were so many reasons to finish what he started, but he just couldn't help but cling to the one reason why he--they shouldn't. "We can't." He insisted.

[baniichan]

He wasn't surprised by Kotetsu's response, but that didn't mean Barnaby wasn't going to make sure he'd thought this through. "What if it injures someone later?" he pressed. "You're prepared to take responsibility for that?"

But now wasn't the time to get into a debate about theoretical situations. They were in the thick of a bad situation, and they needed to get out of it. Large, dark shapes swooped overhead, catching Barnaby's gaze. He furrowed his eyebrows. They could discuss this later.

"Regardless, we can't stay here, and we can't go back to town with things like this," he suddenly added. "Let's return to the Institute for now."

[oyaji]

The answer was easy in theory, but not in this context. When you captured a bad guy, they were sent to prison. Wild Tiger and Barnaby may be the faces of justice, but they were backed by a system with rules and facilities to keep his answer--No, the answer--true.

Here, there was no one to put this bird away so it didn't hurt other people. It was essentially like capturing someone and then just letting them blend back into society to cause more havoc.

Well, he was too stubborn to bend now. They had to come up with something and fast, and killing was out of the question. Picking up the bird's lifeless head and neck again, Wild Tiger was struck by another idea.

"Okay, I got it! We can drag it under the bus! It'd have a hard time getting out--" But before he could finish, the bright blue aura around him faded, along with all his power. The giant monster fell out of his hands and into the grass. He felt so weak, as if his vigor had been sucked out of him. It was a strange sensation that had never happened to him before and he wondered in horror if this was another side effect of his power decline. Was this how it was going to end?

The older man had to brace his hand against the bus to keep his knees from buckling. Talk about embarrassing.

[baniichan]

The moment Kotetsu faltered, Barnaby moved closer to his partner and gripped his arm to help keep him upright. He wasn't sure whether the sudden bout of weakness was related to his waning powers, their dampened abilities inside the institute, or the strange illness that seemed to be going around. But they couldn't afford to spend time speculating about that right then.

"I'll put it under the bus," he evenly told him, "but then we're getting out of here." Barnaby's tone suggested there was no room for discussion, and that was only emphasized by the way he suddenly activated his powers. Without another word, he crouched down and began pushing the creature's body underneath the vehicle. Although his strength had been greatly reduced, Barnaby estimated that his abilities were still amplified three times. It wasn't ideal, but at least it was better than nothing.

"Let me know if anything's coming," Barnaby instructed without looking back at him. Even if Kotetsu wasn't in top shape, he knew that wasn't asking too much of the man.

[oyaji]

"On it!" Tiger shouted above the noise and chaos. Swiveling his head in every direction to watch for attackers, it helped to distract him from his self-pity. A few of the vultures circled overhead, but none made any pretense of wanting him which still boggled his mind. Maybe it was because they were both manhandling one of its kin, but he doubted these blood-thirsty beasts were that sentimental. Either way, it bought them both time so the older man wasn't going to complain.

When the bus shook under his partner's weight, he let go of the vehicle lest it bring him down with it. Swaying on his legs wasn't much better, but there wasn't much he or Barnaby could do about it.

"Done yet?" His question held restless concern the longer he stared out into the thinning crowd of patients. Eventually he would be the last morsel left and then they would see if being picky mattered any longer.