damned_institute | NIGHT 65: WEST WING, SOUTH HALL 1-B

The chain that coiled around Sora's body--it was no lifeless metal object. Being a demon weapon, what Tsubaki had summoned to fight with wasn't just a weapon one could hold and wield. It was a part of her, and as a consequence the chain moved more like an appendage, snaking around him in unnatural ways.

Like with any appendage, though, it was attached to her, and that was its own disadvantage.

"I think--" She broke off as Sora started to thrash, steadying her footing. "We have to restrain him! He's not... I don't think this is one of the hospital's normal monsters!" Easier said than done, though. He was fast and determined. What could they do to stop him without risking him getting away? Or someone else getting hurt? "Are you okay?" she asked, shooting Leanne a quick glance while she fought with the line of chain in her hand. "I've got him for now."

For now, yes.

In the darkness, it might have looked like Tsubaki was merely holding the chain scythe, but the truth of it was that she'd summoned it out of the arm she'd thrown up. The both of them were locked in for the long haul.

"Stop!" she began as Sora resumed his attempts to get at one of them. "You don't want to attack us!"

Restraining him. All right, she could help with that. It was hardly her specialty, being more accustomed to just shooting at things until they went down, but if this really wasn't one of the usual monsters... Leanne couldn't say she understood what Tsubaki was getting at with that, but her voice had been urgent enough to stay her hand and keep her following her friend's lead.

"I'm fine!" she answered, barely stopping to check if that really was true. If she got hurt during this fight, it could wait until they were somewhere safe again, after all. "How long can you hold him?" she asked, frantically looking around them for anything else that could help.

Tsubaki had the chain, she was the one with the best chances of keeping him retrained, but Leanne doubted she could manage it forever. There had to be something they could do to at least temporarily incapacitate their attacker.

She had her guns, of course, but those were out for the moment. What else could they possibly use? A flashlight? Aside from using it as a blunt weapon, she couldn't quite see anything they could do to help... and she hardly thought Tsubaki would approve of that particular use.

"Um... I-I know you don't wanna hurt him, but we can try to knock him out! Just so he can stop trying to attack us!" Still, it was worth a try, wasn't it?

As the Heartless attempted to jerk back toward Tsubaki, the chain encasing him shifted around, wrapping up in his legs and sending him to the floor. When he hit the ground it was oddly silent, as if the ground had absorbed the sound, and he made no noises of pain.

The shouting around him was a distraction, but the words meant nothing and any attempts to reason with him were completely pointless. While the Heartless was completely tied up in the chain at this point, being flush against the floor gave it an idea. Because Heartless didn't have the same relationship with solid surfaces that people did.

Simply put, the thing that had once been Sora suddenly sank into the floor, turning into a black pool as it shifted across the ground, closer to Tsubaki. And when it re-materialized, it would be close enough to attack...

"Snap out of it!" Her words didn't seem to be reaching him, but Tsubaki was convinced more than ever that there was a person in there. But what could they do to bring that person back?

She stepped back, allowing more slack in the line. By the other girl's question, she assumed Leanne was worried he was going to break free and in response she said, "The chain can't be broken, so as long as we can keep him tied up..." Did he even understand what they were saying? His body felt so unnaturally slick, it worried her. Although a demon weapon couldn't be damaged in the same way as a manmade material, what if he started to figure out a way to break free?

"You're right," she said to Leanne. There was no hesitation in her voice. "We'll have to incapacitate him." It was better than the alternative.

It was then that the chain started to clink as it moved--a move not of her own volition. She felt the weapon part of her sinking where it was--or had been--coiled around Sora, sinking into some kind of soft space where the floor should have been. What the--? When the chain went completely slack, she realized there was nothing solid down there to grab onto.

Uh oh. They were too late!

Tsubaki jumped away, pulling her chain to her in the process. "He disappeared!" she shouted. "Into the floor! Do you have a light?" Sora seemed to have all the consistency of a shadow, which made him hard to spot even for her.

She fumbled for the flashlight, awkwardly shifting her grip on her guns. Not good, not good, not good. Since when could someone actually disappear into the floor? How were they supposed to fight-- or restrain, whatever-- something like that? "I've got it!" she gasped out, just barely managing to keep it from slipping from her fingers.

Leanne pointed the flashlight at the floor between them, the beam of light it produced somewhat unsteady in her shaky hands. Where was he, where was he...

There!

Or, at the very least, she thought it was him. An inky black pool on the ground didn't exactly resemble the creature she'd seen, but if he'd somehow managed to get into the floor... She couldn't see anything else it could have been, and she just didn't have the time to keep looking.

"He's there, Tsubaki!" she called, the fact that it was heading straight at Tsubaki finally making her throw all caution to the wind. She ran forward, intent on at least trying to get there before he could.

When the Heartless breached the floor and became solid once more, it was to the beam of a light shining right at it. That caused it to pause for a second, wincing back against the light, and so its planned attack on Tsubaki was ruined.

Instead, it darted to the side, out of the beam's path, to try and get at her another way. It already had some of her blood on its claws, and there was no reason not to coat them with more.

It didn't like light, but it could endure it if it had to. And it had gone too long this night without capturing a single heart.

Did you see that?

Her instincts saw better than her eyes did, and they were trying to tell her something.

Did you see that? He dodged!

Despite the danger, Leanne was running into the middle of the fight; she didn't have the time to tell the other girl to stay back. Tsubaki raised the chain scythe, ready to launch it while she tracked Sora's movements. "Did you see how he flinched?" she said. "I don't think he likes the light!"

The light?

Could it really... It'd make sense, wouldn't it? She couldn't tell what he was really supposed to be, but he certainly didn't look as if he belonged anywhere in the light. If anything, it was like he'd be more at home in the dark corridors of this place.

Breathing hard, Leanne raised the flashlight again, her trembling hands soon pointing it at the last place she'd seen him. There... No. No, there. No...

"He's moving fast, but I can try to keep the light on him! Just... Just stop him again!"

They'd figured it out, if the way that the stranger started shining that light right at him was anything to go by. The Heartless tried to maneuver as much as it could to avoid the beam of light that was now doggedly following him, but it wasn't that simple, especially in a crowded hall.

Still, it had given up on all of its previous encounters, and this time it wasn't going to back down. Not with a heart that seemed so precious in such close contact.

So, weakened though it was, it pushed past that and aimed right for Tsubaki, doing what it could to dodge the binding chains in its way.

Problem was, how did you stop something that so resembled a living shadow?

The one thing Tsubaki did know was that they couldn't just let him get away. So Sora was forced to split his attention between her and the chain ready to tangle him up, she shot forward, striking out with the blunt part of the scythe. If restraining him without hurting him wouldn't work, then knocking him out of commission was the only way.

No good. He was obviously trying to avoid the light, really didn't seem to like it at all, but it wasn't stopping him just yet, not even close. It could probably be enough to give them somewhat of an edge, if she kept the light on him, but it'd do them no good if they couldn't stop him in the first place.

Nevertheless, Leanne wasn't about to let up either. She kept the flashlight fixed on him, her steps far more careful than before as she followed after his own steps. They only needed just enough time to knock him out, just until Tsubaki's scythe had done its job.

She took a step back as Tsubaki attacked, the flashlight still held out in front of her.

Right as the Anti-Form darted toward Tsubaki, it was hit with a double-whammy of attacks. Normally, a light wouldn't seem that dangerous, but in this case it was very effective. It lit up his body in all of its blackness -- the dark smoke that lifted off of him, his glowing eyes, and his bloody claws.

And before he could get out of the way or do much of anything, the scythe smacked him right in the chest. Weakened by the light, it threw him to the ground hard. He crashed to the floor, staring up at the ceiling in complete disorientation.

And then, everything really did go black.

NIGHT 65: WEST WING, SOUTH HALL 1-B

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