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

[gald_digger]

Even though Anise had been prepared for an attack, she wasn’t quite prepared for the monster to come charging at her so quickly. Her eyes widened with panic as the thing (a wolf?) lunged at her, but she held her ground. If she lost her focus, the fonons she'd gathered would dissipate and she’d have to start over.

Her friends were quick to intercept, but it was hard to find comfort in that when they were barely armed. And Luke – what was he thinking? Even if it was touching that he was willing to charge in recklessly to protect her, he didn’t have anything to defend himself with!

But now the creature had been slowed down, which made it easier to target. This was Anise’s chance.

“Negative Gate!” A vortex of dark flames erupted from beneath the monster’s feet, engulfing it. Unlike ordinary fire, they gave off no heat and did not spread, but they caused pain and damage to whatever they touched. The flames whipped about in a spherical motion, burning away at anything within range for a few seconds before vanishing.

The fatigue hit Anise harder than usual, reminding the girl of her illness. Her headache was back with a vengeance, and her face quickly grew flushed. She took a wobbly step back, away from the fray, and waited for the worst to subside. Hopefully the others could handle things while she recovered.

[damned_monsters]

The dog hadn't expected the others to put up as much of a fight, but the promise of food made the prospect of retreat unappealing. Still, it soon became clear that the creature would get more resistance than it had bargained for. Before it could recover from the blow to the head, dark flames engulfed its body.

Although there was no heat, the rotting dog gave a broken, pained howl and staggered backward. Unfortunately for the creature, its momentary confusion left it open to other attacks -- or, at the very least, gave an opportunity for its prey to flee.

[dispersive]

When the replica saw Guy move, so did he. Anise and Guy were the only two with weapons right now, so he got out of the way as fast as he could and let them both do what they did best. The wall of black flames licking across the monster were a welcomed sight to be sure.

Luke was about to say as much to Anise when he realized she was staggering out of harm's way. The battle had just begun and the young girl looked to be completely spent. If they couldn't use her artes to take the demon hound down, it was likely they would all be leaving here unharmed. Beating the thing with a stick would probably only piss it off more.

"I'll pass on dying here, thanks... Guy!" He shouted at his friend as he moved swiftly to Anise's side. "Let's go!" Bending over, the replica put one hand on Anise's back and caught the back of her knees in the crook of his other arm, lifting her easily enough. His stamina wouldn't last long carrying another person, but they couldn't afford to dangle Anise by the hand like a piece of tired meat before their newfound enemy.

[nobleman]

While Guy did manage to hit the dog with the branch, the small amount of damage he did with it hardly matched up to Anise's spell. While it was a weakened version of what she usually could pull off, the dark flames licked up around the monster's body and caused it to scream in pain.

Before Guy could really weigh the pros and cons of continuing to fight versus fleeing, he heard Luke call out for him -- and the next thing he knew, his friend was running off with Anise in his arms.

Well, that was one way to go about it. Guy didn't like that Anise could end up so weakened from a single spell, but she'd done a good job and he wasn't going to let that work go to waste. He darted away from the monster and then raced after Luke, cutting through the trees. At least Luke was able to make contact with Anise in his stead.

Guy quickly caught up with Luke and then pointed ahead to the institute building, which was starting to show itself through the trees. "Look! We're almost there!" That was assuming that those birds didn't attack them the moment they cleared the trees, but he was trying to think positively for once.

[gald_digger]

For a few hazy moments, Anise wasn’t really sure what was happening around her. The next thing she knew, she was being swept off the ground and carried away… in Luke’s arms.

In Luke’s arms!!

The aches and dizziness were soon forgotten as Anise basked in that moment, gushing excitedly over her rescuer. “Oh, Luke! My prince!” – duke, whatever – “I always dreamed you’d sweep me off my feet… I can hear the wedding bells already!”

To make things even better, being off her feet allowed Anise’s head to clear much faster than if she’d remained standing. She raised an arm and wrapped it around Luke’s shoulder, then pulled herself up in what probably looked like an affectionate hug. Which, well, it partly was, but it also allowed her to look over the redhead’s shoulder to see what was behind them. “—Hey, I think we lost it,” she announced when she saw no signs of pursuit. And from what Guy was saying, they were close to the building… They were practically home free!