damned_institute | Night 75: First Floor & Basement Security Station

This wasn't any sort of room Link had seen before.

He stepped off the pad and immediately took a look around, like he always did. He'd seen screens before, but never so many. I was like magic. Link wasn't as taken by the screens as Sora was, since this was a new and unknown room, but he was curious. This must have been how they watched everything. How they knew everything.

If this were an earlier night, he would have broken every last screen. But right now, they didn't have the time.

"If they still do at night, someone could be here," he quietly reminded Sora as he shone his flashlight around the unnaturally dark room.

The nurse crumpled in one of the chairs in the corner, slouched down so low that she was invisible to someone standing on the pad, wasn't actually watching the monitors. That would have required understanding that the screens were video; during the day, she would have delighted in flipping through them, but now she hunched in the chair, letting the flickering lights amuse her without trying to understand their meaning.

The voices, however, spurred her to action. The chair spun around, and she lurched up and out of it, heading for the source of the noise. One hand held a clipboard; she broke it in half as she advanced, creating two sharp-pointed pieces of wood.

It was almost like Link had summoned the nurse with his words. The moment that Sora saw movement, he spun to face the twisted version of their daytime chaperons, gritting his teeth as he braced himself for an attack.

He was going to have to throw himself into the line of danger to even get his Keyblade to manifest, just like always, but Sora held back for now. Link was armed and was probably going to try and get the first hit in, so Sora wanted to make sure they didn't end up colliding into each other.

Two on one, and both of them would eventually be armed. They could totally handle this, even if the thought of killing a nurse always made Sora uneasy.

Sora's assumption was correct. Link's sharp ears caught the movement from the chair, and his bow was off his shoulders and drawn within seconds. He had gotten better at minding Sora's presence during a fight, so he waited a brief moment to make sure the other boy wouldn't charge. Link let fly an arrow. This was comparatively point-blank range for him, so it should have hit its target without issue.

But this was Landel's, and stranger things were known to happen.

The arrow did not go astray. It did not, however, seem to slow the nurse down much. It protruded from her left shoulder, just below her collarbone, and she didn't even glance at it as she gained speed. She reached out both arms and lunged, trying to grab the bow.

That might have gone better if she hadn't been holding pieces of wood in her hands, but she could hit hard with them, and even if she couldn't take the bow, she could do some damage to the hands aiming it.

Sora watched as the arrow hit its target, dark blood blooming underneath the nurse's tattered uniform. Not that she even seemed to mind one bit. It was like she'd forgotten what pain was, maybe because her skin was too rotted for it.

It was like the Heartless. They never cried out in pain either. They didn't have hearts to feel with.

Sora couldn't just stand in the background this whole time, and as soon as the nurse tried to get up close to Link, he ran forward, trying to shove her out of the way before she could reach Link.

Link ducked into a roll around the creature's back when it lunged at him. In one fluid motion, he tucked the bow onto his shoulder and drew his sword as he sprang into the air to cut the nurse down.

But once again, he had failed to remember that he wasn't fighting alone.

Sora had charged forward, and Link couldn't take the risk of slicing wildly as their foe, but it also meant the he was a sitting duck in the air as he tried to regain his thrown-off momentum.

Two opponents were coming at her from different directions. The nurse glanced back and forth between them, and then went back to the one that had already wounded her. She reached out with the wood shards, bringing them together like pincers, trying to stab some part of his body.

Why did she keep attacking Link instead? This wasn't going to work, especially since Sora and Link hadn't gotten used to fighting together yet. Sora skidded out of the way, hoping that Link would be able to avoid that attack without getting too hurt.

"Retreat for a second!" he called out. "I need her to attack me so that I can use my Keyblade!"

Requiring danger to actually be able to summon his weapon had to be one of the most frustrating and inconvenient things about Landel's. But Sora refused to just stand by while Link took all the hits.

"Back off, and I'll kill her right now! I only wish to avoid striking you!" There was no need for Sora to be in this fight at all. Link could finish her off quickly.

He still lunged backward when the attack came in, though. He could have parried the attack, but again, it would have been at risk of cutting Sora.

It wasn't so much thought as animal instinct that had her continue going after one of the two boys. She'd been hurt, and she was going to have her revenge. Then she would handle the other boy. The fact that this left her entirely open to attack didn't cross what little mind she had.

Her arms flailed at empty air when he lunged back, and then she started lumbering forward again.

Sora clenched his teeth in frustration, but if they kept arguing while the nurse attacked them, then they weren't going to get anywhere. So even though it went against every instinct, Sora hopped backward, making sure to give Link enough room that he could swing his sword unimpeded.

He hated that he wasn't of any help unless he risked getting himself hurt, but he kept a close eye on the battle, ready to jump in if it looked like Link was in trouble.

Link hadn't meant to snap, but this creature could easily be felled by only one of them. There was no need for Sora to jump into danger, and he would keep his friend safe at any chance he got.

He lunged at the nurse quickly, trusting his sword at her in a powerful stabbing motion.

The sword struck true, piercing straight to the nurse's heart. She went limp, dead weight on the sword, and her makeshift weaponry clattered to the ground.

Blood poured out of her mouth and from the wound, but that was the only thing about her that continued to move.

Sora was a little shocked when the nurse went down so easily. He probably should have gotten out of the way earlier, now that he was looking at the body sprawled out on the floor.

He couldn't look at it for too long, as it only led to him thinking about the women who helped them during the day, who seemed to only want the best for them.

"Next time, if there are more of these attacking us than just one, you've gotta let me get into the line of fire," Sora said, turning toward Link with a slight frown. "I want to be able to help you." At least neither one of them had been hurt.

With a short grunt, Link yanked his sword from the nurse's chest. He dragged it against the sole of his boot to clean some of the blood. He looked up to Sora when he spoke.

"If there's only one, we can't have both of us charging in." He took a deep breath, settling from the adrenaline rush. No, friendly fire would be the worst way to die in a place like this. "Sorry, I... if it isn't obvious, I'm not used to fighting like this. I just don't want you in danger if you don't have to be."

"Right, I know it's hard with one, but... it's not always going to be one." Sora, on the other hand, was used to fighting in a team, but he was also used to being able to call out his Keyblade whenever he wanted. The added problem of having to purposely get attacked made things difficult.

But they'd covered how to handle whatever attack came next, so for now all they could do was move on. Sora gave the nurse's body one last look before glancing at the next warp pad, which had lit up as soon as she'd died.

"Should we keep going?"

Link nodded. He understood that. Perhaps he had not stumbled into hordes as Sora had, but he knew that enemies rarely came in singular numbers. Another nod with Sora's suggestion of continuing.

"Gods know how much time we have left."

It was just as he was moving to step on the next panel that the sirens sounded. Link cried out in surprise and pain, his sensitive ears not used to such a harsh noise. He looked to Sora, his eyes wild and alert. Was this a good thing? Or a bad thing?

More than likely, he supposed it would be both.

Edited 2014-08-02 22:52 (UTC)

[From here.]

While Ryuuzaki had mentioned that Sora and Link should be somewhere on th third floor as well, Castiel wouldn't have expected to encounter another them so soon. It seemed that these two had already handled the nurse that had guarded this room, which worked in their benefit.

For once, it felt like something close to teamwork had been achieved.

The sirens were still going off, and Castiel couldn't say why -- they clearly all understood the danger at this point. He waited for Lloyd to step off the warp pad behind him, and then nodded to the two younger patients.

Both of them were armed, he noticed, and they clearly knew how to take care of themselves, judging from the body laid out on the floor. He hadn't known what to make of them during his brief interaction the night before, but they'd proved themselves now. "We're moving on to meet up with Lana and Ryuuzaki," Castiel explained. "They're just ahead. If you could watch our rear, we may all make it through this alive."

Edited 2014-08-02 23:59 (UTC)

Lloyd had half expected to be attacked as soon as they appeared in the room. As soon as he'd stepped on the pad, he'd tensed, gripping his sword as tightly as he dared without compromising his grip. Once the light of teleportation faded, though, Lloyd blinked even as he reoriented himself. An empty room, a monster - he'd expected either of those. He hadn't expected to see someone else there, let alone two people he knew.

"Sora, Link," he greeted them both. He knew Sora a little better than the Hillian (it was 'Hillian', right? He wasn't an elf or half-elf. Lloyd remembered at least that much) but they were both familiar faces, people he knew who'd survived. The warmth in his voice is mixed in with an equal part of relief.

Then his eyes landed on the body and his gut clenched. "Is she...?"

The nurse is a bloody mess. He shouldn't have even started that sentence.

What startled Sora even more than the sirens themselves was the way that Link cried out, as if he'd been hurt. He rushed to his side, but it looked like he'd only reacted that way because of the loud noises. Maybe his pointed ears allowed him to hear better than the rest of them.

When Sora heard someone come over on the warp pad, he whirled around, ready to defend Link if need be. But it turned out that it was the man from the other night, Castiel, and Lloyd wasn't far behind him. They'd caught up after doing their work in the records archive.

"Lana and Ryuuzaki? They're the ones who shut down the security system?" The sirens might be annoying, but this was actually a good thing, right?

Lloyd's question caused Sora to look back to the nurse's body, and after a moment of hesitation he nodded. "Yeah, we--"

He was interrupted when a banging started at the door. It looked like there were more monsters where that came from. "You guys should go on ahead! Link and I will make sure nothing follows you." This time, Sora would actually get the chance to fight.

Link glanced to Sora when he rushed to his side and dared to lower a hand from one of his ears to give a signal that he was all right. He was on high alert as well and whipped around to face Castiel and Lloyd they entered the room. He relaxed upon confirming that they were friendly, offered them a ghost of a smile, and remained quiet as Sora and Castiel spoke.

He was already getting busy making sure they weren't followed. Link yanked a chair over to the door with a small grunt and wedged the backrest under the door handle. The more tightly they could jam it shut for now, the better.

Unlike Lloyd, Castiel didn't feel much when he looked at the nurse's dead body. While she may not have had much control over herself after the effects of night took over, Sora and Link had only defended themselves, as anyone else would have in the same situation. Sometimes unpleasant things had to be done for the sake of achieving a goal.

Since the two of them looked prepared to handle any problems that might arise now that the alarms had been sounded, Castiel had to agree that it would be for the best if he and Lloyd kept moving. He didn't enjoy running from a fight, but he also knew how to delegate. That was a basic facet of tactics.

There was a possibility that Sora and Link could be overwhelmed, that they might even lose their lives, but they all had to take that risk.

"Let's go," Castiel ordered Lloyd. He nodded his thanks to the other two patients and then stepped onto the next warp pad.

Lloyd jerked toward the door when the pounding began, heart racing all over again. Something was out there, trying to break in, and it wasn't likely that it was another patient. When it broke through...

He opened his mouth to protest, then closed it, torn by the thought of leaving anyone behind, but knowing they might need the precious minutes that Sora and Link could buy them. Besides which, Lana was already hurt. If monsters attacked Lana and Ryuuzaki, it would be even harder for them to defend themselves. They couldn't afford for Lloyd to waste time arguing here.

Still, Lloyd couldn't just go. Not without saying something. It wasn't in his nature to leave something like this alone. He fixed the two with an intense look. "Don't die," he ordered fervently, almost begged. "Don't turn this into a sacrifice." He stepped onto the warp pad, but kept his eyes on them, as though he could will them into staying safe somehow.

He was still looking when the light from the warp pad swallowed him and Castiel.

[To here.]

Sora could tell that Lloyd in particular didn't really want to leave them to fight on their own, but they couldn't waste any more time. Landel was probably already working to get the security system back up. They had to get to him and put a stop to things before that.

As much as Sora might want to confront the man himself, there was an importance in the fight here too, and so he'd keep a path clear for the others. After his failure to be of help in their last fight, he planned to go all out this time around.

Castiel and Lloyd disappeared on the warp pad, which left the two of them. Sora glanced over at Link and smiled. "I don't know about you, but I don't have any plans to die."

The chair held the door for now, but Sora knew they'd break through eventually. He faced the door with his shoulders squared and waited.

Link maintained eye contact with Lloyd until he vanished from the platform. Now it was just the two of them, and the fate of those who remained could very well rest on how much time he and Sora were able to buy.

He faced the door beside Sora, knuckles white from their grip on Soma's sword as the door rattled and threatened to snap open. The sounds that came from outside... At the very least, they had the starting advantage that the enemy only had the span of the doorway to enter. As long as they kept that secure, they might be able to last.

Link glanced to his roommate, his friend, as he spoke. He responded with a grim smile and a shake of his head. No, they weren't going to die.

At the very least, he would make sure that Sora didn't.

There wasn't much else to be said, not when the door was about to get broken down. Sora was confident both of them were ready to fight their hardest to keep everyone else safe, and he got the feeling that if he could just get his Keyblade out, they would be a great team.

The door didn't want to give so easily. It had been designed to keep the patients out, and so the monsters struggled with it too.

The security system was down, though, which meant that eventually a muzzle full of teeth gnawed a hole in the door. Sora squinted at it, trying to figure out what kind of monster they would be dealing with, but he got the feeling that would stop mattering after a while.

"I'll keep right, you keep left," he told Link while he still had the chance. That would prevent them from getting in each other's way, and if they ended up back to back? Well, Sora was used to that.

Night 75: First Floor & Basement Security Station

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erk sorry, I guess this never went through!

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