damned_institute | NIGHT 64: MEDICAL WING HALL

The Once-ler winced as Soma pulled him up. It hurt a lot. "You failed to mention he's got a twin and can turn invisible," he muttered, gritting his teeth. The man could feel blood running down his leg; his mind flashed briefly back to the hallway outside. That explained where the blood smears had come from.

He flinched as the gun went off near him, then nearly fell again as Soma yanked him forward. Running really was their only option at this point. Cringing at the second gunshot, he began limping after Soma, sending shocks of pain up his leg with each step. At least it was still somewhat functional; the slash had landed off-target when he had turned around.

He tracked the aim of the gun precisely - he'd seen those things before, when Thor had his little adventure in Midgard - and calculated precisely the trajectory of the projectile. Sentimental, Soma. He didn't so much as flinch at the sound.

Loki laughed as he stood, a low amused chuckle, and vanished. His image appeared to both sides of Soma and the Once-ler, and ahead of them. All three images pulled daggers from the air and threw them.

Invisible, Loki himself leaped after them, whipping two more daggers through the air, one for each. He didn't pause as he landed, running ahead.

Edited 2012-06-29 04:11 (UTC)

The laugh was what gave her pause more than anything. She was aware Lingormr was brainwashed, but she hadn't thought the quiet scholar capable of finding such joy in a fight. It was something she would have expected of Allelujah--or even herself, if she were perfectly honest. She wondered what they'd told him, what he thought he was doing.

And then there were more of him, and Soma had just enough time to grit out, "He doesn't normally do this!" before she threw herself to the ground, rolling in an attempt to avoid the daggers. It must have worked, she thought muzzily as she tried to scramble to her feet. She didn't feel anything except the rushing of blood in her head and the sensation of every muscle aching.

That was before something very real and very solid sliced across her side, and she cried out in anger and pain. Even now, it was pointless to stop and inspect the injury--deep, she could tell, but not immediately life-threatening, and that was good enough for her. She kept moving forward, trying to keep her flashlight on the Lingormrs around her and failing miserably.

The Once-ler wondered if he was losing too much blood, because now there were three more Lingormrs and that couldn't possibly be right. Still, he willed himself forward. When the three men whipped out daggers and flung them, he practically threw himself to the side to avoid them.

He, too, was surprised when none of the daggers hit him, and continued forward, leg protesting every step. He hissed as a fourth and very real blade whipped past him, drawing a line of red on his side. At the same time, Soma cried out and he saw she'd been hit too.

Heart pounding in his ears, the Once-ler lengthened his stride, drawing level with Soma. If she stumbled, he could pull her up as she had done for him, and with the way she shone her flashlight around erratically he feared that could be a very real possibility.

"To be honest," he gasped out, "I think I'd take any of his moods over this!" Where was the second hall on the left? They had to be getting close.

"This cure had better be worth it!"

Invisible once again, Loki nimbly jumped over the two foolish mortals still trying to move forward. The illusions multipled; he let Soma and the Once-ler run through a few of them, let the illusions splinter into random bits of light so they could realize that most of the images weren't real.

And then behind the crowd of laughing, grinning images he stopped and let the invisibility drop away, putting himself directly in the way of the Once-ler as if he was just one more illusion, his knife out and at the ready.

Likely the mortal would either be foolish enough to run in to him - at which point Loki was basically an imovable object with a sharp point ending in a point at waist-height - or the Once-ler would try to dodge around and Loki would have the chance to hamstring him or even more ideally cut one of his tendons.

He hoped that would be enough. He really didn't want to have to do the same to Soma. "You realize that there isn't a cure," several of the images of Loki informed Soma as she moved past. "It's just another part of the game. They're manipulating us all."

Soma flinched as Lingormr appeared in front of her, too close for her to slow down in time, but she found herself running through it, light falling around her as the image dissipated.

So he couldn't quite duplicate himself. Not fully. That was good to know. It didn't even the odds, not by a long shot, but it was better than nothing.

"And you're all right with that?" she gasped, wishing she had some sort of walking stick to prop herself up. Trying to talk someone out of anything was a lot less impressive when you felt likely to fall over at any moment. "You're all right with them using you like this? Being turned into their weapon?"

She kept running; a few more illusions collapsed in on themselves as she passed through them. Hopefully the Once-ler was hard on her heels. "I don't know that there isn't a cure, but trying and failing is better than waiting for the inevitable."

[OOC: Sorry this is so late! ~~Mega storm~~ Land hurricane came up and knocked out power to over 2 million people in and around DC. Took 'em forever to get it back online.]

He instinctively braced himself for impact when Lingormr appeared before him, but the illusion splintered around him as he hit it. Several more images vanished as he ran through them. The Once-ler had no idea how the man was doing this, but it seemed like each one before him was just another illusion.

Soma was still trying to reach through to her friend. The Once-ler felt a pang of concern at her gasping words, which surprised him. They had only just met, and he already was worried about her. Perhaps he had been missing human contact, no, any contact more than he thought. He truly hoped that Lingormr was brainwashed; he didn't like the idea that Soma considered a psychopath her friend.

Again Lingormr appeared before him; this was getting really tiresome. The Once-ler continued straight forward, intent on ignoring yet another illusion. Slamming into a very solid and very real Lingormr shocked him so much he didn't register the sharp pain at his waist for a few seconds.

The Once-ler looked down in surprise at the red stain that was beginning to blossom around the hilt of the blade in his side. Eyes wide, he looked back up, locking eyes with Lingormr.

A part of his brain noted, with some amusement, that without that ridiculous helmet on Lingormr would be almost half a foot shorter than the Once-ler. Dumb thing to think about, really, with a knife once again sticking him. He was starting to feel slightly light-headed now.

With a groan, he pushed himself back from Lingormr, clapping a hand to the new stab wound as he curved around the other man. His injured leg faltered, and he fell against the wall. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

As the Once-ler locked eyes with him, Loki tilted his head slightly to the side, gaze cool. He sometimes wondered what mortals saw if they really looked - thousands of years of life? Power? A mirror that showed them how far removed they really were from each other?

It didn't really matter, either way. He stepped back as the mortal fell against the wall, a practice flick of his wrist transferring an oddly neat line of blood from his dagger onto the floor. The wound wasn't one intent to kill - and Loki was quite good at picking his targets - but it would certainly interfere with Soma and the boy continuing to move forward.

A slight gesture with his hand and he replaced himself with an illusion, vanishing simultaneously.

"You act as if I've a choice, dearest," the closest image to Soma said. "You probably ought to see to your friend," he observed a moment later. "He seems to be in a bad way."

Suddenly he grinned in a flash of teeth, an expression that utterly lacked humor. "Inevitability. You don't understand the true meaning of the word." Inevitable was being a monster growing up in a shadow.

He made no move to attack her, not yet. He wanted to see if she would continue on or turn back.

More illusions, all of them smiling. Soma was suddenly and inexplicably reminded of them, of drifting powerlessly in space while an orange and white mobile suit tore their forces apart, laughter echoing in her mind. The hot spike of anger propelled her forward a few more steps before she realized the Once-ler wasn't following her anymore.

She turned slowly, sweeping her flashlight back and gasping involuntarily at the blood seeping from between the man's fingers. In the darkness, it was impossible to tell how severe the injury was, but she knew this little venture was over. Mission scrubbed. The Once-ler might only be an acquaintance, but she couldn't let even an acquaintance be injured in her stead. Not when people had died trying to do the same in the past.

She let off a shot at Lingormr again, this time aiming for his feet, but the figure only burst into light and dissolved. Too late. He could be anywhere now.

You always have a choice, she wanted to say, but she knew precisely how stupid it would sound and decided not to bother. Instead, she moved to the Once-ler's side, murmuring, "Can you stand?" before looking up again.

"We're done here," she said, and she tried to hide the frustration and defeat in her voice, but she had always been terrible at acting. "If we retreat, will you at least let us do it in peace?"

The Once-ler snorted slightly at Lingormr’s words. “Yeah, no thanks to you.” Even in his injured state, he wasn’t ready to just give in. That wasn’t how he had launched his multimillion-dollar enterprise. It wasn’t how he had survived through a year of regret and loneliness.

Another gunshot, and then Soma was beside him, asking him if he could stand. “I think so. Just a misstep, that’s it.” Probably. He could hold out until they got to the x-ray room; it couldn’t be too far now….

“We’re done here.”

He stared at Soma in shock. “What? No, we’ve gotten this far and I’m not about to have been stabbed for nothing!” He bunched up the bottom of his t-shirt and press it against the stab wound at his waist. Giving up the cure for a man she had just met was ridiculous.

“Look,” he started rolling the fabric on his injured leg up, intending for it to serve as a temporary bandage. “This is a medical wing, right? There’s got to be a first aid kit around.” The Once-ler hissed as he pressed the roll of fabric against the slash on his leg. That would probably slow down the bleeding somewhat. “I’m not gonna die from a few cuts. Believe it or not, I’ve been closer to death before.”

He got to his feet slowly, putting his weight on his uninjured leg and resting a hand on Soma’s shoulder to steady himself. “It’s not too far now, we’ve still got a shot at this.”

At least Soma had some sense. Loki backed off silently, since the entire plan was letting people leave unmolested, so long as they left. Two illusions appeared next to Soma, bracketing her, looking dispassionately at the wounded young man.

The Once-ler's words pleased him far less. Just to make his point, he threw one of his knives at the man, passing close enough to cut before it embedded itself deeply in the wall.

Hopefully neither of the mortals would be foolish enough to try to grab the knife before he called it back to his hand.

The illusion to Soma's right spoke. "Soma is wise. You ought to listen to her, fool," he had the presence of mind to not actually say foolish mortal, as much as it was habitual. He still had a certain story he was playing to.

"Leave and I shall not bleed you further. You have my word on that, dearest Soma. Continue on, and I'll find it great entertainment to whittle your friend down like the stick he so resembles."

Soma's jaw tightened involuntarily. Of course the Once-ler would have to protest. It wasn't like realizing how much they needed to leave was difficult enough already.

"You will have been stabbed for nothing if we keep going like this," she said, a little more sharply than she really intended. "There's a storage closet with supplies here, but it's at the other end of the hall, and I don't want to keep fighting Lingormr every step of the way. Trust me, it's smarter to leave now."

At least she had the advantage of mobility, even though every movement she made pulled at the still-bleeding wound in her side. The Once-ler might be bigger, but she doubted he could fight her on this.

"We'll be going, then," she said grimly, and pulled on the Once-ler's arm in a manner she hoped was gentle but firm before she started to head back towards the exit.

The Once-ler flinched as the blade embedded in the wall next to him. “Someone really needs to revoke your knife privileges,” he snapped irritably. He considered grabbing the knife, but Soma was pulling him back towards the entrance. He sighed. Giving up was not something he liked doing, but Soma was the one who needed the cure, and if she was so adamant on leaving, there wasn’t much point in continuing to argue.

He hesitated when someone yelled out in pain near the entrance to the hall. The Once-ler frowned. When Lingormr had slashed him the first time he’d made a similar cry, and though it was impossible to tell the illusions from the real one by mere sight (a fact he’d learned rather painfully), the fakes had never been able to hurt them. Whatever had attacked the man at the entrance had to be very real.

“Your friend’s the only thing attacking people in this hall, right? And he can only be in one place at a time, yeah?” The Once-ler gestured at the entrance. “Sounds like he’s left us for now.”

He tugged Soma gently. “Look, neither of us is in good shape. We’re both bleeding, and you’re sick to boot, and I really don’t want to give Stabby another opportunity to cut me by waltzing on past him.”

The man clenched his teeth as he pressed the wad of cloth harder against the stab on his waist. “We should get to that cure. There’s probably a first aid kit or something there, too. We can grab those and patch up before going to this storage closet you mentioned.”

He gave Soma what he hoped was an encouraging grin.

“I said we still have a shot at this. Let’s take it.”

An illusion appeared, standing slightly behind the Once-ler and Soma, as if he'd been listening in to their conversation the entire time. "That would be a very silly thing to do," Loki commented. "And saying it so baldly, right in front of me. You really are quite the incautious thing, aren't you."

Of course, what the Once-ler said was true, but Loki had other tricks up his sleeve as well. Not deadly, but severely disorienting.

Soma's head shot up at the scream, her flashlight beam quickly following her line of vision. The victim of the attack looked vaguely familiar, but it was the girl beside him who caught Soma's attention.

The Once-ler had had a point, and Soma would have been willing to take him up on it, but seeing Rapunzel right there, probably in danger, and Lingormr appearing right behind them again--she couldn't risk it. Not here, and not now.

"Don't mind him," she said flatly, irritably. "He's delirious and in pain. We're going."

Her katana was lying only a short distance away, and Soma carefully picked it up by the blade and sheathed it in an open, obvious movement, as if to indicate that she didn't intend to use it. Then she tugged at the Once-ler's arm again, as if she had the physical capability to drag him anywhere at the moment.

The Once-ler ignored Lingormr’s words; he had no intention of arguing with an illusion. Instead, he waited for Soma’s response. The way she had reacted to the scream, and how she focused on the girl next to the injured man… he saw where this was going. And he was the delirious one?

“Oh no. Oh no.” The Once-ler grabbed Soma’s arm to keep her from advancing further. “This is not happening. We are in no condition to help out!”

He moved around her, placing himself firmly between the girl and the trouble at the entrance. Placing both hands on her shoulders, he tried to reason with her. “Think! We got this far with just the two of us, and they’re more heavily armed than we were! We’d just make it more difficult for them if they have to worry about us as well!”

A part of the Once-ler’s mind noted how odd it was that he cared so much about this. Soma was the first contact he’d had in a year, and it had been even longer since he’d interacted with anyone without the clout of his wealth and power behind him. He’d been missing it, possibly for longer than he had thought. And this was what drove his next course of action.

Without warning, the Once-ler wrapped an arm around Soma, lifting the girl off her feet. Thankful that the girl was a lightweight, he put his other hand against the wall for support as he started down the hall as fast as his injuries would let him. To keep his mind off the pain, he began muttering Soma’s directions to the room as a mantra.

“Second hall on the left, second door on the left, second hall on the left….”

The illusion followed along next to them, walking calmly but still keeping up easily with the Once-ler's more frantic movements. "Third door on the right, actually," he offered. "Second hall, third door."

Down the hall, before them, something roared, followed by a scream.

"Dear me. That does sound unpleasant," Loki said. "I shouldn't like to be either of you in a few minutes."

A shadow moved along the wall, just a flicker.

"I wasn't--" began Soma, turning to face the Once-ler.

That was a mistake. She moved at the same time the Once-ler did, and the added momentum only served to propel her forward as he pushed her. Slowed down by illness and pain as she was, she wasn't expecting the sudden movement--and once he'd started her moving, she was too surprised to resist.

"What the hell!" she snapped as her feet actually left the floor. She would have punched him, but his arm dug into her side and she was left nearly breathless with the sudden pain. As it was, she could only do her best to steady her breathing and grip the Once-ler's arm as painfully tight as she could.

Lingormr was keeping pace alongside (if it was actually Lingormr, which it probably wasn't, considering Rapunzel's friend in the hallway behind them). Soma fixed him with a weak glare, too exhausted to respond, and managed a shaky, "Put me down and let me walk."

Regardless of where they ended up, she was going to have words. With both of them, if necessary.

"No. You think I was born yesterday? I know about doing stupid things. I’ve been there,” the Once-ler retorted. He gritted his teeth as Soma squeezed his arm painfully; it only served to confirm his belief that she had wanted to go back and attack Lingormr again.

From down the hall came a roar, followed by a scream. The sudden noise was startling, but the Once-ler kept moving forward, spurred on by Lingormr’s snide commentary. “In a few minutes? We’ll trade places with you now if that’s the case,” he snapped back. Earlier in the night the sound would have given him pause, but having dealt with illusion after illusion, he wasn’t inclined to believe this was any different.

Everything with this man was an illusion, except for when he was actively attacking. He glared at the Lingormr next to him. “You know, this illusion stuff is getting really old!” The Once-ler was getting sick of it.

Spotting the flicker on the wall proved to be the last straw. “Oh, come on! Really?! Fine! If that’s how it’s going to be…” The Once-ler edged closer to the wall to guarantee his contact with it. He could feel his way along the wall. Throwing one last pointed look at Lingormr, the Once-ler turned to face forward and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Terribly rude," Loki observed as the Once-ler continued to manhandle Soma. "That's no way to treat a lady. I do hope you end face down in some mud puddle for that."

He continued to keep pace, more shadows moving along with the wall.

"Oh yes, it's all illusions," he agreed cheerfully with the Once-ler. "You really shouldn't trust anything at all you see." He grinned. "Particularly all the new mess you'll see on your way back. Assuming you make it, of course."

From down the hall, Rapunzel's voice seemed to shout, "Soma--!" before it was cut abruptly off.

Soma supposed she should feel a bit ridiculous being dragged to a potential cure like this, especially when it had been her idea in the first place. And it wasn't often anyone got close enough to physically pick her up like this. Anyone who did didn't usually bother, assuming they survived long enough to get the chance.

But she didn't care. Not right now. This was infuriating, and she was in pain, and she was tired, and--

Her friend's voice cut through the haze of thoughts in Soma's head. Her eyes snapped open, flashing, and her free hand swung out instinctively, heading straight for the Once-ler's jaw. Her other arm was currently pinned; she struggled anyway, temporarily numb to the shockwaves of pain the movement sent down her side.

Failing in that--assuming neither of the above resulted in her release--she sank her teeth into what cloth she could, hoping it might connect.

Some distant part of her (probably Marie, it was always Marie) noted that she'd have to do a lot of apologizing for this in the morning. All things considered, it couldn't be a very good first night for the Once-ler. Right now, though, all she cared about was fighting free and getting back to her friend. Who knew what could be happening to her right now?

They were almost to the X-ray room. A shame, but Loki unfortunately was busy elsewhere and couldn't interfere with them physically any longer. But he was highly amused to see Soma biting the Once-ler.

"Oooh, that does look a bit uncomfortable."

Down the hall, Rapunzel's voice screamed Soma's name again, higher, thinner, the sound cutting off again with a strangled yelp.

"I'll let your friend know that you couldn't make it back to help her, dearest," Loki said to Soma.

The Once-ler opened his eyes the moment his hand met empty space. He spun to the left, breaking into a limping run down the new hall. Second door on the left, second door on the left. Soma’s grip on his arm was really starting to hurt, but they were almost there….

He had just passed the first door when a young woman’s voice called out Soma’s name before getting cut off. He barely even had time to wonder if it was another trick before Soma’s hand connected with his jaw. The Once-ler yelped in surprise at the impact, trying not to drop the squirming girl. Then more pain, this time on the arm wrapped around Soma.

She was biting him.

If the door weren’t mere feet away he would have dropped her. He was being pushed to his limits by both Lingormr and Soma. He gave a short growl and practically lunged to the door, grabbing at the handle. It appeared that someone had already smashed the lock that had apparently been keeping the door closed. Small mercies, really.

As he grabbed the handle, the same woman’s voice screamed again, higher-pitched this time, and again it was cut off. Yanking the door open, the Once-ler hoped with his entire being that this cure was worth all the pain they’d been through.

[to here]

Edited 2012-07-12 04:36 (UTC)

NIGHT 64: MEDICAL WING HALL

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[autoing with permission!]

[Skipping for a final douchbag post with permission]

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