damned_institute | Nightshift 25: Discplinary Therapy Room Hallways

Like Renji's blade, the aluminum bat bounced off of the creature's arm as though it had struck metal. The ringing sound reverberated off of the walls, echoing back along the corridor. But the attack stilled the movement of the thing's arm, at least for a moment. Though it seemed to take no damage, it paused. Perhaps it was stunned after all.

Whatever made it hesitate, the moment passed quickly, and it raised its arm to swipe downwards this time, aiming for the one who had struck its arm.

His hands ached slightly from the vibration as the bat struck the creature's arm. Even though the blow didn't seem to do any damage, it still stopped its forward momentum. This was good. What was bad was that he couldn't spot any obvious weak points or openings in the creature's defenses. It was like fighting a hollow with a pointed stick. Hitsugaya wanted to check up on Renji and the others, but he didn't have time as a clawed hand sliced downwards at him.

He rolled quickly to the side as the hand came down and made a sweep at the creature's legs with his bat. If he couldn't hurt it, he could at least try to knock it off its feet. And as long as the creature kept its focus on him, it left it more open to any attack Jean might attempt. She might have seen a weak point he had overlooked.

The clang from the bat hitting the monster made Jean stop for a second. This...thing was made of metal? At any rate, it was enough to stop its movements for a moment before sweeping downwards.

As Hitsugaya-taicho dodged its claws and prepared another strike, Jean took her chance to swing the metal bar onto the monster's shoulders. With Hitsugaya-taicho being the main focus, hopefully it'd be distracted enough that her blow, combined with his, would knock it down.

Rena bit her lip with concern. The sound that resonated from Hitsugaya's attack wasn't anything like the breaking of flesh and bone. (She knew this from experience.) Still, the girl kept hope that somehow this was a positive sign.

As the battle drew on, Rena found herself stealing glances toward the other pairs of fighters. They didn't seem to have any better luck, but none of them were injured as far as she could tell. Good...

When Sasuke-kun hadn't shown up, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise. At this point, Sakura should've assumed that he'd ditch her in favor of more useful allies.

And still she ran through the halls and up the stairs, unwilling to not give him the benefit of the doubt. Whatever was in their way, whatever had come between them, Sakura would never believe that Sasuke would go back on a deal, and if he were in danger? She'd never be able to forgive herself for leaving him. The kunoichi darted through the halls, flashlights and substitute kunai (pens) tucked into the waistband of her pants. She darted to the hallway, the one that supposedly housed the patients going through "evening therapy." He had to be here. She couldn't doubt him, not even if she'd wanted to.

The scene spread out before her was something she probably should've expected. Grotesque, golden creatures stood facing off against what looked be a large group divided into three parts. This had to be it. And, really, who wouldn't appreciate a little help? Without even bothering to think twice, Sakura sprinted toward one of them at random, drawing four pens held tightly between her knuckles as she observed the situation.

The creature seemed to be coated with some sort of impenetrable armor, judging from the way the short, white-haired one's attack literally bounced of it. Pens, then, would probably do no good. There was one option that might cause progression in the battle. As she ran up with them adopting a defensive stance, Sakura called out. There wasn't time for introduction.

"If we can't wound it easily, we need to concentrate attacks from all angles; it's got to have a weak spot somewhere!" Sakura kept her eyes on the large monstrosity, analyzing it. This entire situation seemed like a sick game, clues left about, and everyone who was injured woke up in bed patched up the next day. No matter how difficult, it didn't seem as though anything encountered here had been impossible. There had to be a way.

As she spoke, dozens of possible spots ran through her head, and she let one of her pens fly, precisely thrown with the accuracy and force required for it to even remotely damage living tissue, towards the monster's face. Might as well start narrowing them all down. As soon as the pen flew, the kunoichi was on the move, charging directly for the creature and trying to perhaps provoke it to attack. She'd not had the chance thus far to test her chakra control, minimal though it was, but this was a gamble she was willing to take.

The multiple assault caused the creature to twist and turn, struggling to keep its balanced. It swung its claws in random arcs, staggering, threatening to topple over. But this one kept its balance better than its peer, remaining precariously upright as it did its best to cut and claw and throw back its attackers.

Sakura's pen bounced off its face, seeming to cause no more damage than a fly.

The newcomer's comment seemed obvious, although a good point. Who the hell was she? In a normal battle he might have bothered to stop and ask, but without his weapon or even a tenth of his abilities, he had to keep focused on the creature ahead of him.

The pen was ineffective, but he wasn't surprised. On the other hand, Renji's tackle against the other creature did seem to have an effect, but not by much. There had to be some way to take out these creatures, or at least get by them so they could effectively rescue their fallen companions. Renji was too far away in the hall to order him to pull back and find the right doors, so instead he had to focus on what was in front of him.

The randomness of the creatures attacks made it relatively easy to avoid, unlike its previous swipe, he pulled back slightly, just long enough to survey the situation. So far no casualties, that was good. "Get behind it, Jean!" he ordered, then glanced at the newcomer. "You, do you have anything better than pens to throw at it?"

He stepped forward again, swinging the bat as hard as he could against the side of the creature's head. It likely wouldn't do much, but the pink haired newcomer was right. They had to start somewhere and keep trying for other potential weak points. If they couldn't find one, there was always Kidou. Lower level destruction spells would work. Hopefully.

The new arrival was right; there was a weakness somewhere. Jean nodded briefly to acknowledge Hitsugaya-taicho's order, and went behind the monster. Seeing him swing a bat towards the creature's head, Jean aimed for its side. Hopefully the combined force would cause it to topple over, and they could go from there.

If not, maybe a React was possible, but only if things were extremely dire.

The situation was beginning to become rather chaotic as one more joined the fray. Additional help was a welcome sight to the girl, but she knew the fighters had yet to gain an advantage over these monsters. Although, Renji seemed to be onto something with that tackle.

The voice behind the radio spoke once more, but like the intercom, Rena could not make real sense of it. Tracking individual events was impossible at this point.

Sakura didn't even attempt to avoid the claws as they came at her, grinning all the while. It was now or never.

As the bladed fingers of the monster appeared to cut directly into her mid-section to rip her apart, a puff of smoke emitted from where her form had been previously, revealing, of all things, a log to be torn asunder in place of the kunoichi. From behind, Sakura could be seen striking quickly in an attempt to thrust two, more pens into the creatures back. If it could even penetrate, just a little...

The girl grit her teeth, silently cursing that the log trick hadn't deposited her all that far from their target; she'd been aiming to throw more pens at its back but hadn't exactly made it to the point where it wouldn't be more effective to simply stab at the thing. While it would likely cause more damage if she was lucky enough to damage it at all, it also left her in the threat range. Besides that, even such a minor use of chakra left her more spent than it should have.

"Not really!" she managed to call back to what appeared to be the group's leader. "I'm kind of working with what I've got here!"

Sasuke's only thought as he stepped out into the hall was to find the fool who had done this to him, and the immediate sense of people and combat startled him. His first realisation was that there was no way he'd last a second in a fight at this point, slowed by chakra drain and -- blind (he still didn't believe it, and now that he could blink, kept blinking as if that would clear his vision).

His second realisation was that the first had come too late and he no longer knew which way the door was. Panic rose in his throat, as harsh and metallic as it had been on the operating table, and he stumbled awkwardly backwards, as much away from the source of the noises as he could judge.

He could die here. He could die. There's no way I'll die -- he could die here.

In his wild-eyed panic, the familiarity of one of the voices registered only faintly and didn't click enough for him to choke down the sudden and freezing fear that had replaced the fury.

The creature finally lost its balance under the assault. It stumbled, falling into a half kneel, lashing out in fury. While they had yetto break its skin, they were wearing it down.

But it refused to go without a fight. It was striking out its sword-like claws, hungry to take the pathetic humans down with it.

Unfortunately, it was lashing out directly in Sasuke's direction. Bad luck for the young prisoner.

Even though they weren't piercing the skin, he could tell by the way it moved that they were wearing it down. Still, a wounded animal was much more dangerous than a healthy one, and this creature's thrashing made it dangerous. Renji's call about how to kill it would have been useful, if any of them had a blade. "Abarai," he shouted out, "None of us have blades, pierce this one if you can!"

Just around that time, a man appeared from further down the hall, approaching them. There was a concealed panic about the boy, and he didn't seem prepared for what he encountered like the rest of them. Could this be Adel? Either way, he didn't seem to be in any condition to be involved in a fight.

And the creature was making a slash in his direction. The monster was quick, and if the boy was as bewildered as he seemed, there was no way he'd get out of the way in time. There wasn't time to think of options...he had to act fast. Kicking off the ground, he pulled into his reserve of reiatsu and flash stepped. Faster than human eyes could follow, he moved in front of the newcomer, pushing the boy out of the way and leaving himself open to the claws. His reiatsu violently escaped as it was expended for the flash step, and he coughed up a stream of blood just before the claws dug their way into his side.

Searing pain shot through his body, both from the flash step and from the newly opened wound in his side. He had just enough time to glance at Sakura. If anyone of this small group had the chance besides him to get the newcomer to safety, it would be her with her powers seeming on par with his Flash Step. "Get him out..." was all he could manage before he collapsed, pain and darkness taking him.

(ooc: Hitsu is out of commission, please to be skipping him until someone revives him.)

"Hitsugaya-taicho!"

Their team leader was bloodied and unconscious, though the monster itself was getting taken down. Blades would be more useful, indeed. She'd heard his last order, towards the pink-haired girl who was lightning fast.

In her weapon form, Jean thought, this would have been much easier. The monster would have only gotten one attack in before getting countered every time. Unfortunately, her analysis wasn't available when out of the React. Instead, she called out to the other girl, "Can you get those two to safety? Please leave the monster to me!"

A million things seemed to unfold all at once, and before Rena could make proper sense of them, one monster collapsed, a scalpel landed close to her feet, and Hitsugaya... Rena couldn't entirely restrained the horrified cry caught in her throat.

"Hitsugaya-san!"

Matters had turned dangerous for this group, but if the girl acted quickly, there was a chance they would survive. "Yes!" she answered Jean, hastily retrieving Artemis' gift from the floor. With a "Please use this!", Rena handed off the scalpel to Jean before bolting toward the other side, her feet carrying her faster than what most would expect from a teen girl. She aimed for the newcomer--Artemis was taking care of their team leader--with the single thought of taking him away from this hallway.

Grabbing the young man by his arms, Rena tried to pull him away from the fighting, to the darker end of the corridor. "Hurry!" The monster could aim for them at any time; they needed to be out of its reach immediately.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out, instantly losing all focus as he stumbled into the hallway. Sasuke had always been so nimble, and yet he'd seemed as though he hadn't even seen what he was stumbling into. Had the short-, white-haired man not sacrificed himself, Sasuke-kun might've...

Sakura steeled herself, narrowing her eyes and focusing herself on a singular goal. They were taking care of the team's leader. Sasuke needed to be taken to safety. Bolting toward him, the kunoichi grabbed an arm, hurriedly hissing into his ear so that he wouldn't lash out at her.

"Sasuke-kun, it's me. Just trust me and no complaining!" With that, Sakura hoisted her teammate into the air and over one shoulder with a grunt. Though she was unable to boost her strength, training so much with Tsunade had had its benefits. Her own speed was reduced considerably, but she still managed to run at a decent pace away from the battle and down the hall.

Sounds of conflict -- something heavy -- Sasuke was pushed away, stumbling into a wall, and then the sickening sound of something meeting flesh and winning. A shouted name that he noted out of a frozen sort of habit, and Sasuke realised that someone had just taken a blow that had been meant for him.

Before he could begin to consider how to react to that (anger and mind-numbing fear swirled uselessly and took what resources he had available to feel at all in the aftermath), someone had his arms. He instinctively pulled back, coming just short of striking blindly (ha, blindly) when he heard the voice again, only it registered this time.

Sakura. He started to say something -- there was too much irrational relief flooding in him for it to have made sense -- when he was abruptly hoisted into the air and tossed over someone's shoulder. Sakura's? When had she been that strong?

A startled shout escaped him and pure reflex had him struggling to be released, hands searching for a place to strike and finding only the loose cloth of the Landel's uniform. His weakness was evident in the fact that even a grip on that slackened, turned sluggish.

With a grateful nod, Jean took the scalpel. Finally, a bladed weapon! As she heard the sound of footsteps hurrying their way down the corridor and away, she grasped her new find and thrust it into the base of the creature's spine.

A spray of blood was her reward, though the claws didn't seem to be slowing down. Barely missing one sweep, Jean took up the metal bar and brought it down home on the back of the monster, bringing it down for good, hopefully.

Rena wasn't sure of what to do. The poor guy seemed to be in such a state of shock, she was afraid of worsening the situation by acting again. Fortunately, the older girl with the pink hair arrived and managed what couldn't be done by the younger. Not that Rena had any chance of lifting him over her shoulders... (Wow, this girl was strong.)

"Good luck!" she managed as the pair slipped into the darkness. They should be fine; Rena wouldn't need to follow them. Jean probably required her help more, anyway.

The girl pivoted, her hand gripping tightly to the flashlight, ready to strike at a possible incoming threat. Instead, her eyes met with a large form tumbling down, its gold blood spilling every which way. Jean had done it; they had won.

Rena opened her mouth to cry out in relief when the last of the Head Doctor's announcement fell into her ears. In an instant, the world turned black, images and sounds of the hallway fading from her senses.

[Artemis is running over to get the blood!]

The boy skidded to the floor in front of the monster. Luck was on his side this time--the thing had fallen on its side. Quickly, Artemis pulled the scalpel out of the thing's back and pocketed it. His hands were slick from all the blood, but somehow he managed to open one of the bottles and hold it under the wound. The blood flowed out of the wound slowly, but Artemis wasn't expecting anything different.

A bottle and a half later, he was resorting to his first tactic of propping the body up and letting the blood run out that way. He filled another bottle and a half, making the total from this monster three, before his shoulder gave out again.

One more monster left, he thought, turning to the last felled beast.

[Jumping down to Gabranth/Larsa/Homura/Ed thread once it's clear]

Nightshift 25: Discplinary Therapy Room Hallways

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