damned_institute | NIGHT 64: MEDICAL WING HALL

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NIGHT 64: MEDICAL WING HALL

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Looking around, Scar wasn't quite sure what to expect upon this returning visit to the medical wing. It was silent, for now. Scar shined his light around each corner as he moved silently through the room, ready for something to jump out at him at any moment. He wasn't sure of what to expect, but he held his scalpel at the ready with his free hand. It was feeble protection at best, but Scar was a sitting duck without his alchemic arm.

He still wasn't sure if he would actually want it back, though.

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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)

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NIGHT 64: MEDICAL WING HALL

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