damned_institute | Nightshift 26: M51-60 hallway

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Nightshift 26: M51-60 hallway

Another evening, another extremely quiet dinner. Jack wasn't sure what was up with his roommate, but he kind of missed having a little light conversation over his meal. Especially when it was a meal as good as steak.

After a moment of consideration, he decided not to bring his second knife with him. He certainly wasn't going to trust Luxord - the man was crazy as a loon, if hot - and while it wouldn't bother him that much if he got gutted with one of his own knives, he'd rather not lose the weapon when he already had his other knife on loan. And considering he'd slept with people before to get a chance to steal their stuff, he certainly wasn't going to put it past anyone else. The skillet, though, he did take. Most people would consider it a humiliating enough weapon that they wouldn't want it, which was stupid, but it was something to work with. It also was a lot harder to go for something that big without anyone noticing. He grabbed his flashlight, and his radio. The apron was left behind tonight as well.

There was an extra cheerful bounce to his step as he headed out. Either way, this was going to be a fun night. Hopefully Gin would have some fun without him, as well.

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[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186440.html?thread=12723528#t12723528)]

Allen really hoped that Sasuke's comrades would be along shortly to help him. The boy couldn't hope to do much on his own. The cold, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach wouldn't go away either. He mentally reviewed his list of things to do.

First, find Emily. He didn't want to leave her on her own out in the halls. Then find her a group, then... the hard part. Find Rhode. Hopefully before she found him. He stepped out into the hallway, surprised that he didn't sense any Akuma. It seemed that his dinner with Sasuke was about the only time the curse wasn't activated.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/185195.html)]]

A quiet evening, as usual, followed by not-so-quiet taunting over the intercom. Also as usual. Really, one would think the Head Doctor could be a bit more creative. At this rate, he risked becoming repetitive, and really, no one wanted that.

Still, the warnings were rarely to be taken lightly. That settled it. He hadn't actually learned where Sanzo's room was yet, but the blocks all let out into the one hallway, which Sanzo was bound to move through. Assuming, of course, he didn't head for the recreational field, but that was a chance Hakkai was willing to take.

Fox made his way out into the hallway before pausing for a moment. He couldn't just go rushing off without a plan but... his sister was out there! He didn't have time to wait around.

The air felt heavy and he felt like he was sitting on the edge of his sanity and about to lose it...

But Fox had to find her.

[[Going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/185195.html?view=12803435#t12803435)]]

'kay, so he had his pokeyball, his vial of weird stuff, and his flashlight. Did he need anything more? Nah, not really; just that syringe that he'd been promised. And to get that, he needed to high-tail it as quickly as he could. He was feeling lucky, and if it was something awesome, he wanted it as long as he could. If it wasn't? Well heck, he'd lost other nights before, why worry about this one?

((Darting off to here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186440.html) ))

Ah, "special counselling" night. It didn't concern him too badly, as Aidou was in the perfect mind frame for not caring. The more interesting topic was the basement - that hadn't been mentioned again throughout the intercom posts, but Aidou figured there would be quite the freak show should anyone find their way down there. Like the third ring in a circus performance.

Exactly why waiting before venturing down there was best. (If no one else answered to logic and found their way down there, happened to survive, and posted some information on the bulletin board, then that was a bonus for him, right?)

_{[moving here]}

Usopp had said they would meet at his room, so Sai stayed close by. In the event that they'd forgotten the room number (though he didn't know if that mattered so much, as he was at the end of the hall), he would be visible.

Once again he was armed with two trowels and the small rake, held in place around his waist by a sweatshirt with its sleeves tied. He needed to turn one of these into a proper bag at some point. He also had his flashlight this time and, for once, his radio. It seemed he had missed something important not bringing it before.

Now it was only a matter of waiting and watching the halls. Would he see Sasuke tonight? He hadn't shown the one previous.

((From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/184780.html?thread=13038540#t13038540) ))

With his frying pan in hand, Luffy continued to allow Usopp to steer him in the right direction. Once they approached the correct hallway, however, the pirate's eyes lit up. "So, this is North, huh?" he remarked, as if the realization suddenly sunk in. But before he could continue with that train of thought, he spotted a familiar face standing outside one of the doors.

"Yo!" he called cheerily, waving his pan in greeting.

"Sai!" Usopp perked up too, waving over Luffy's shoulder with his empty hand.

Sai looked ready to take on an army. Well, the night's atmosphere sure felt like they might have to... Usopp hurried over, grinning. "Hey, I brought something for you!"

Would Sai like it? He'd probably just stare, then smile politely at it. The important thing about gift-giving is not the reaction of the person who receives it, it's the intention of the giver. Boy, that sounded corny.

Still, he reached into his closed coat, then held out the piece of cloth in his hands to Sai.

Sai had just raised a hand to wave back at Luffy, smile in place, when he saw Usopp bundled up as though he expected snowfall. He stared at both of them blankly. "Hello. Are we going somewhere cold?" Perhaps he should go back in and retrieve some warmer clothing himself if that was the case.

Then Usopp was handing him something, and Sai accepted the item slowly. It was just a piece of cloth, and the pirate had drawn some sort of marking on it. Was it a headband like the other was wearing himself? Still smiling, he asked "What is this for?"

"We might be going into the refrigerator," Luffy replied brightly. At least, he hoped they would. He paused, suddenly looking thoughtful. "I don't think you need a coat for that, though."

When Usopp handed Sai the bandanna, the pirate peered at the design with an obvious interest. "Ohh, it's a special mark just for you!" he exclaimed. Usopp was very good with these sorts of things -- after all, he was the one who designed his own Jolly Roger. "That's so neat!"

"This isn't for the temperature," although there was a chill in the air; that was it, he had to ask the guy with weak emotions if he felt anything. "This is body armor!" Usopp turned around as though modeling, even though it was only an extra set of the Institute's clothes plus the coat. "Let's see a leech bite through this!"

"And Luffy's right--it's a mark for you!" Smiling and not knowing what to do with it was the reaction Usopp had expected from Sai, that was fine. The drawing of the skull was head-on, unlike Usopp's 3/4ths perspective, and since a skull was always smiling Usopp had seen no need to alter the face. Instead, he'd added Sai's short black bangs, and behind it crossed a short sword of the type he imagined a ninja used with a gardening claw. "I improvised--if you want it changed, I can do a new version. See, I've got one, and Luffy's got his hat, so I thought you should have one too. It's a gift!" He kept grinning, encouragingly. "You know how to tie a bandanna on, right?" He'd ask about the feeling of complete and horrible doom looming over their heads after this.

"A mark..?" Sai stared at the design for several moments. If he had been asked to create a pirate symbol for himself, this wouldn't have been what he'd have done. However, this was a gift which meant that shouldn't matter. He turned the cloth around in his hands, then folded it into a band and tied it around his forehead. "...In ninja villages," he began as he did this, "each village has a symbol representing it. They are displayed on metal plates attached to headbands. Forehead protectors." He finished, and smiled at Usopp again. "I think it will be all right if I wear this. Thank you."

Then, having almost forgotten, Sai pulled out a folded sheet of notebook paper and handed it to the long-nosed pirate. "Oh. My roommate let me copy this. I wasn't sure if you'd found a more complete version." On the paper was a map of the second floor (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/FoxxLaverinth/2ndFloor.jpg).

"Whoa, body armor?!" Luffy exclaimed, suddenly getting a better look at Usopp. What a fantastic idea! And to think he'd just thought that his friend had dressed like that on a whim. Maybe he should have done something like that too, though Luffy figured they wouldn't have to worry about leeches unless the kitchen was infested with them tonight.

He was glad to see Sai seemed pleased with the gift, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, it looks like your a ninja-pirate now! Now we all have stuff on our heads!" Like a merry little band of thieves going to help themselves to a room filled with senbei. Or something like that. Either way, Luffy definitely approved.

When the pirate saw the map, his eyes brightened considerably. "Oh, wow! I don't have any maps at all!" That had been Nami's forte before his arrival here, and it hadn't even occurred to him to put together anything like that on his own. "It looks really nice..."

Usopp paused in his posing for Luffy's exclamation, pleased at the appropriate response to his cleverness. Actually, the first night, he'd done the same thing--it just hadn't been useful, and so he'd gone casually last night to his detriment. No more carelessness! For now, he still wasn't armed very well, but they'd be fixing that too soon enough.

"Oh, your village has a specific symbol? Do you want to have it added on the next one?" Usopp asked Sai, a little surprised. "I don't want to get you in trouble with the other ninja or anything. But that one looks good on you! It's stylish!"

He took the map and glanced over it, then pulled out his own notebook to look at the map there. "It's a lot like one I got this afternoon. But thanks for bringing it! Sometime, we should all go upstairs and try to finish the map off. We have a whole downstairs map now," he added on the side to Luffy. He handed Sai's map back to him.

"Say, Sai?" Usopp hesitated, considering how to ask. "Uh, do you feel anything... weird... in the air tonight?"

"I don't believe this would get me in trouble," Sai replied, "but I can draw the symbol for you later if you want." Usopp's next question caused Sai to drop the smile and blink in mild confusion. "Something weird in the air?"

Thinking about it now, there was a sort of heavy presence. A large chakra aura perhaps, except that it didn't really feel like chakra - though it did remind him just slightly of the feeling he'd received from Sasuke's sharingan the first time they'd met. It wasn't nearly as strong as that, however. "A bit, yes. Someone may be emitting a powerful aura nearby." Was one of their captors showing themselves? With everyone's power levels reduced, he didn't see how it could be one of the patients.

"What, we have a full map of downstairs?" Luffy asked, genuinely surprised by this bit of news. "Cool!" Maybe he'd have to take a look at it sometime, even though he'd likely get turned around while using it as a reference.

"The air is pretty weird," the pirate remarked. "Kinda heavy. But, we can still breathe it, so it should be okay, right?" He was getting tired of standing one place for too long, not because he was afraid of getting attacked, but mostly out of impatience more than anything else. "Let's go!"

A powerful aura. That was creepy, and obviously the aura itself felt like looming horror, but at least it was a good solid name to put on it. Some person or enemy here just had a very powerful aura. So they'd avoid it at all costs and everything would be fine.

Usopp shrugged exaggeratedly at Luffy's surprise over the maps, obviously swelling a bit with pride. "Ha! But what else could you expect of this genius intelligence-gatherer, Captain Usopp?" Fortunately, he managed to stop preening in order to follow Luffy's request.

"Now that our team's all together, let's go! To the kitchen!"

[headed back down here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/184780.html)]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186061.html?thread=12942029#t12942029)]

This hallway was pit black in the lack of any flashlights. Kougaiji found himself stumbling in the dark, cursing low under his breath and feeling his way with hand pressed against the wall.

How he'd find the right door was still a mystery to him but he persistently moved ahead. He could probably count the room numbers if he'd find the doors. But for that he'd have to go back...

Sighing, he glanced back over his shoulder. Why didn't they agree to meet at the hallway?

Growing frustrated, he growled silently, stopping to listen for a moment and then reached inside for his ki. Limited was quite the understatement about what had happened to his magic. The tiny sparkle that fired away from his fingertips had him leaning against the wall a bit heavier, sucking in air deeper and his eyes widening for the amount of energy a simple spell sucked out of him.

But despite all the drawbacks, now he could see in the airy gloom the sparkles set around him in the darkness.

[ From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186440.html?view=12947784#t12947784)]

Jack barreled out of the dark, pointing the flashlight at Kougaiji's face. "Kou!"

He approached and scratched the back of his head. "Hey, sorry about that. They switched my room on me. Lucky we still managed to find each other, eh?"

Kougaiji grunted as the spot of the flashlight hit his face. His eyes had been slowly getting used to the soft glow of the sparkles, but hardly a bright light like this.

"You... the light..." he muttered, covering his eyes with the back of his hand as the sparkles slowly fainted into the brighter light and vanished.

"Is striking people blind your brand of 'hello'?" Despite the fact that his eyes hurt he couldn't help but grin a little. "Your room's not here? Where is it then?"

"Hm?" Jack wasn't intentionally trying to blind the Demon Prince; he just didn't pay attention to such things (let alone care particularly much). "Oh. That." He lowered the light.

"My room WAS here," he glowered, "But then they decided to spring a new room and a new roommate on me at dinner." He fished into his pocket and produced the key. "Anyway, is there anywhere you wanna go before I try and figure out where this goes to?"

Squinting, Kougaiji lowered his hand as John moved the light away. He was still pleasantly drugged with painkillers and moved towards the other man with lighter steps than the night before.

"I guess if they want to keep us here, it's only logical to do everything in their power to make escaping and organizing harder," he muttered on his way.

The key got a glance from the demon before he moved ahead, towards the the direction where he had came from. "Lets look around. Might as well do something." He flashed John a hint of deeper grin over his shoulder. "Have you run into lots of locked things this far?"

Jack cocked his head as Kougaiji walked. "Uhm, no. Not exactly. But I got a list off Haku..."

Haku. DAMN HIM. But no sense making himself look worse than he already did and dredging that up. Kougaiji would undoubtedly want an explanation and Jack didn't need to paint himself in an unfavorable light.

"Are you on something? You seem...out of it."

"Haku?" Kougaiji asked curiously. Perhaps a companion of John? He was on his way towards the doorway at the end of the hallway as the next question caught him off guard, and he paused to glance back at John.

"What?" He frowned. "Uh... Some painkillers. Nothing else." He found it hard to avoid snapping. He wasn't out of it, not as far as he could tell.

His eyes now used to the brighter light, he could see John's face instead of just a smear of whiter shade within all the darkness, and he could see the state of the man's face as well. His frown grew deeper as he turned around to regard John properly. "What happened to you?"

"Huh? Oh, this?" Jack said innocently, as if his nose didn't bother him in the least and he had forgotten the MASSIVE INJURY TO HIS FACE. "Someone punched me, I think. But obviously they didn't do a very good job at it. Should we go now?"

He was trying his damnedest to look unconcerned, but even to a child it would have been obvious that Jack was seething with anger over the wound.

A bit of exasperation slipping into his frown, Kougaiji decided to let it pass. He'd find out eventually if John was about to tell him what happened, if not, it was too private to be shared. In either case, insisting would embarrass them both and was hardly Kougaiji's privilege anyhow.

So he decided to turn around again and head towards the next hallway. Few bruises were something he'd seen before, nothing to keep back guys like John seemed to be. Kougaiji might have been somewhat gullible when it came to his friends but he could still see John's anger, and aggravating it more wouldn't serve any purpose at the moment.

"So what kind of list this Haku gave you?" he asked lightly, giving John some time to gather himself before catching up to Kougaiji.

The Fable sneered, reaching into his pocket and fishing out the paper (http://faithful-frost.livejournal.com/1105.html#cutid1) Haku had imparted to him before things had turned sour. "Here," he practically spit at Kougaiji, bitterly. While the list was handy to have, it didn't lessen his anger at the ninja who had given it any. That...that...that gender bending bitch had strung him along, undoubtedly laughing about it with Recluse, and had obviously set up his "Uncle" to attack Jack publicly, to make matters worse. Now all the women were going to think he was some kind of little boy fancier and he was never going to score.

Not that Jack held a grudge.

"Uh... thanks," Kougaiji muttered and caught the paper. It was obvious there was a story to be told behind John's behavior but the man seemed less than eager to spill the beans so Kougaiji wouldn't force him.

He wrapped open the paper as he walked to the doorway in the light of John's wavering flashlight, the natural grace of his movements more apparent now that he wasn't in so much pain anymore.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186440.html)]

Finally, he was out. Kurikara wasted no time, grabbing his one weapon, a flashlight and a map he sprinted through the halls toward Byakko's room.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/182786.html)]

Night again. Kenshin slowly finished his meal and wandered out of his room into the darkened hallway beyond. The air seemed...oppressive, somehow, more so than it had on his other nights here. He was struck with a sense of foreboding that he couldn't quite shake, and it set him on edge.

Cautiously, the rurouni began to walk down the hall. There was something amiss tonight (well, more than usual, anyway), and he intended to find out what it was.

Robin had bid farewell and good luck to his room friend before quickly devouring both plates of dinner. It was probably the afterglow of the two meals that helped him continue smiling as he left the room. There was indeed something terrible in the air this night, but such feelings were no stranger to Robin. Whatever it was, he'd get through it.

He stepped out into the hall cautiously, and then stretched and rolled his neck, side to side. He was still surprised at how balanced he was, even without a tail. But he needed to work of his agility. He feared he wouldn't be quick as swift as he was used to.

He was stretching some more when he heard foot steps. he waited, the torch in his hand unlit.

"Ah, hello," he smiled to the stranger. It looked friendly enough. No claws or rotting flesh.

[I am so sorry. I posted days ago, but I guess LJ ate it without me noticing. Ack! XD;]

Kenshin whirled around on the ball of his foot to face the intruder before the other man even had a chance to speak. Good to know that his reflexes, at least, had not been dampened by this place.

He let his guard drop when he recognized the man from earlier, the one with the freckled face and the impetuous grin. What had his name been, again...?

"Hello again! How have you been faring, in this place?"

Robin, on guard, leaned back a little as the man swung round. But he was still smiling, fairly certain he wasn't about to be beaten just yet. And he was right.

"I've been well. And yourself? Headed off anywhere in particular tonight?"

Kenshin smiled. "Holding up."

He leaned back against the wall, totally relaxed. He was in friendly company--as far as he could tell--and there was no need to keep on guard...unless the other man decided to do something incredibly foolish.

"This one was thinking about going hunting for metal. Apparently, there are those here who can forge weapons, but they can't do it without supplies."

"Glad to hear it," Robin smiled. He liked this one and his 'ones'. "Ah, I believe they're the ones doing me a favour. I ought to collect some metal too, while I'm out. My first concern, however, is Medical Supplies. Don't suppose you'd mind company on your way? I'm headed up to the second floor."

"Not at all," Kenshin said, still smiling. His companion was awfully polite. He liked that. "In fact, this one was headed the same way and would prefer it. Shall we be off, then?"

He started to head towards the main hall.

[headed over here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186440.html).]

Albel moved out of his room quickly, wanting to get something useful done this nightshift. Most of the day already existed out of pathetic excuses to waste ones time, and the captain didn't want to have any more of it.

First, he would need a new flashlight, because he had it with bumping into random objects when there weren't any other flashlight-beams nearby. It would seem he had to steal one out of the other rooms.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186440.html?view=13284424#t13284424)]

No need to stand around. Masaru knew exactly where he was going and what he was going to do, so he didn't hesitate to make his way out of the hallway. He was stupidly excited - no, fired up - so his movements were fast.

M22, huh? He had a feeling he'd heard someone else mention that room too, but he could worry about that later.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/184414.html?thread=12766302#t12766302)]

_{[from here]}

The girl was not the only one feeling weak and sickly, and the young vampire had to force himself not to start physically relieving his tension by smashing everything in sight. His shoulder still stung, like a fresh wound, but worse than that: he still wasn't finding any relief being apart from that woman.

Not a woman, a thing. Creature. Monster. Inhuman thing that had tainted him somehow... a deep, searing violation.

Tossing the spoils of the night's raiding with the rest of his "belongings", Aidou was torn between holding his arm, or his head, or simply following his base instincts and baring his fangs at the next human to come near him.

Tomorrow, somehow, he had to do something. What if it's a permanent effect, did you ever consider that? Somehow.

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Nightshift 26: M51-60 hallway

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inside M52, for a lack of spam