damned_institute | Hallway Outside Sun Room

He huffed softly as his question was ignored. Not that it was that important, but the team leader in him rebelled against doing anything without all the facts, even those that might affect his mission only peripherally. But if Hitsugaya was fine- and he seemed to be, thanks to that.. whatever it was- then he'd let it go. He would have to ask about whatever was in the vials. Did they say it was blood? That was even weirder than most things around here.

He pulled the syringe back out, turning it over in his hands, considering whether it would be long and sturdy enough to use as a lock pick. Probably not, but he could try. He also had darts from Kurama that might work better.

He listened to the conversation while allowing his attention to focus on the syringe.

Artemis paused, frowning. The blood should have worked better than that. Perhaps because the injuries sustained were from one of Hitsugaya's acquaintances? One never knew. For now, Artemis contented himself with the fact that Hitsugaya hadn't stepped on his foot at the suggestion of not wasting the blood. Maybe the two could get along after all.

The boy tucked the bottle back in his pocket, just as the radio sounded. Artemis frowned at the box around his waist, pulled out his journal and pen, and began scribbling frantically. He was, quite possibly, even more hellbent on keeping accurate records since meeting Light and Ryuga. He had to stay on top--and the slightest detail could win it for him.

"And who is this dubious source, Captain Hitsugaya?" Artemis asked, not afraid to enter the conversation uninvited. He snapped his journal shut and tucked the pen away.

(skipping with permission)

Hitsugaya glanced at Artemis as he jotted down the notes from the radio. If that wasn't a waste of time, he didn't know what was.

"That would be the moron whose words you just jotted down in your notebook, Fowl-san," Hitsugaya replied.

He looked to Clark. "We don't have a reliable communications network at night," he continued. "But if you're interested in helping, look for the announcement on the board. We're the largest and most organized of any prisoner group, and we could always use the help."

A pause. "Oh," he added as an afterthought, motioning to the sun room. "And don't go into that room if you want to live. You can't fight what's in there. No one can in our current condition."

'Moron'? That was harsh. He'd have to find out if there was a reason for the animosity, or if it was just a personal bias. What he said couldn't be that much worse than what came over the intercom. Not that he thought it should be completely trusted, but still.

And then Hitsugaya mentioned the sun room, and Omi perked up. That had been what he'd wanted to know in the first place. "What is in there? It's what's making things feel weird tonight, right?"

"Dubious yes, but any source of information is a source nonetheless," Artemis said tersely. "Both information and misinformation is key to the puzzle. There is always a reason why."

Maybe they wouldn't get along as famously as Artemis had hoped. Hitsugaya seemed as rigid in person as he was on the bulletin boards. He also didn't appreciate Hitsugaya's easy dismissal of Alec Doyle and consequently--his transcripts. Oh well. Perhaps when the Captain was in need of information, he would reconsider his position. And Artemis would be there--with a price in mind.

"A brainwashed acquaintance of yours?" Artemis ventured with a small smile. "You seem to be so sure of our imminent doom, after all."

Clark mostly just listened quietly, for now. He was still sure he should just bust into the Sun Room and subdue this "god" with his own hands on approach, but he couldn't just go in, guns blazing. He still didn't know exactly what they were dealing with and he counted it his duty to keep an eye on the others and protect them until they were safely off. It sounded like they had their own plans, and for a moment, Clark was torn between seeing them off or sticking around for Peter.

He was still a bit puzzled by the other patients. They looked his age - in Omi's case - or younger, but they acted like grown-ups, in charge despite the fact they didn't appear to have any powers at all. Not that Clark could tell by just looking at them, but they gave off a sense of knowing what they were doing.

"So wait, a person is making the air feel this way?" Clark chimed up. This wasn't normal for this place?

"That's why I brought it up," Hitsugaya pointed out. "Just because I don't trust the man doesn't mean we can't use him. But we can't trust anything he says. He claims to be on our side, but he treats the prisoners like children, tells us we're not ready, and throws trophies out that we have to pass some sort of trial in order to earn."

He shook his head, then moved to the topic that all three seemed so keen on. "That's Ichimaru Gin in there," he answered. "He was a former captain of the Gotei 13...my organization...before he betrayed us. The pressure you're feeling is just his spiritual pressure bleeding off. Fighting him is much, much worse. In our weakened state, it'd be a foolish plan to try and fight him. He could bind you in place with a flick of his wrist if he were so inclined.

"So yeah. Don't go through those doors. You're better off trying to stop other idiots from passing through than trying to fight him, but good luck getting them to listen."

"Either he's right, or he's underestimating us. Either way works to our advantage." Omi didn't see much reason to worry about it now. Better to pay attention than get caught unawares.

As for whoever was waiting for them in the sun room... well, Omi had absolutely no intention of going in there. Unlike most of the people he knew, he seemed to have picked up a sense of self-preservation somewhere along the line. "If they're going to wander unprepared into someplace that's obviously dangerous, that's their choice. It's definitely not our problem. You can't protect people who won't listen, anyway."

He shrugged a little. He wanted to keep people safe, sure, but there were more important things to do here that would let them help more people. "So we're going to check out the doctors' offices?"

Artemis smiled and nodded to Omi, "Exactly. But frankly, I'm not going to be the one to do the wandering. Who really knows if we're fully equipped to venture down there. I don't even have my blade yet," the boy said with a shrug.

"And I agree with Mr. Tsukiyono. The sooner we leave this place, the better. After all, we have no idea if there's anything keeping this... Ichimaru Gin in the Sun Room. If he decides to go on a rampage, I'm not going to wait to see it first-hand."

Artemis' eyes finally flicked to Clark. For a new person, the young man was certainly interested in what lay beyond the doors. And, of course, there was the fact that the kid was, you know, Superman. Overcoming obstacles to free the oppressed, and all that jazz.

"You may fancy yourself a hero in your own world, Mr. Kent, but here you are less than what you were--in case you haven't noticed already," Artemis said quietly. "I wouldn't be trying to leap any tall buildings in a single bound, if I were you."

Artemis was instantly all-smiles again. "Yes. Doctors' offices!"

Clark shot a startled look at Artemis. What was that all about it? He'd been quiet, and Clark was pretty sure he was the only one who heard him, but there was no mistaking what he said. Hero? Sure, his friends in Smallville knew that he had a tendency to play hero and conveniently be there when they needed it, but they didn't know anything more than that. Did Artemis know? How could he? Clark hadn't ever seen him before in Smallville or Metropolis.

I wouldn't be trying to leap any tall buildings in a single bound, if I were you.

That alone pointed that Artemis knew more than he was letting on. Clark had only just recently discovered he could jump and jump far (the night he busted into the Luthorcorp building from the Daily Planet one came to mind), and while he doubted he could actually jump over a building in one bound...it was still close enough to give him pause.

Frowning, Clark eyed Artemis. How could he know? He must've seen him jump then, but how'd he recognize him? He was at least thirty stories up at the time.

Hitsugaya glanced back at the sun room briefly. "No," he answered. "Ichimaru won't come out here." Even with the mind control, Hitsugaya had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Ichimaru tended to mislead by deception, not outright lies. He had made it very clear that he was there to keep people from passing the Sun Room. Why?

That was a question he'd have to deal with tomorrow night.

"But still, we have no idea how much time is left tonight. Let's move."

He looked to the other man, this Mr. Kent. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, were these better circumstances. While you're waiting for your friend, could you do your best to keep any other dumbasses for needlessly throwing themselves on Ichimaru's blade? Thanks."

[ooc: my break just ended, so if one of you guys could move the group instead of myself, that'd be great. Thanks! XD]

'Let's move' was probably the best thing he'd heard all night. Finally, they were going to get something done.

"Alright. Come on." The nurse had told him in passing where the doctors met with patients when he'd puppy-dog-eyed her into giving him a tour of the public spaces, so he'd be able to find them again. He nodded for Artemis to follow, hoping Hitsugaya wouldn't have problems watching their backs while he was injured. Not like Omi could do much against most of the stuff in here, but still. It was the principle of the thing.

Artemis smirked softly to himself at Clark's startled expression. Clark knew that Artemis knew--or something along those lines, really. Now it all depended on how the young man took this knowledge. Hostile, or curious? Or frightened? The reaction would be interesting, to say the least.

Time to seal the deal, Artemis thought, then nodded to Hitsugaya and Omi, signaling that he would follow. He smiled up at Clark, "A pleasure to meet you, sir. I don't think the walls are laced with kryptonite, but I haven't ruled it out yet." He turned and waved slightly, still smiling, "Give my best to Mr. Parker!"

Tomorrow would be interesting...

(Following Omi!)

Clark froze, and for a moment his voice wouldn't come to him. By the time it did, Artemis was gone, leaving Clark to wonder just what had happened. He knows, Clark thought, feeling a chill running down his body. This stranger - someone he didn't know at all - knew, right down to the fact he got sick around the meteor rocks. To make it even worse, he even called it kryptonite - a word that only Pete and his parents knew. Clark was torn between following his impulse and tracking Artemis down, and doing the right thing, and remaining where he was.

So what did this mean? Clark tried to work this out as he imagined his dad would - his dad would come to a decision in a split second, but he wasn't as much of his father as he would've liked. What should I do? Clark worried back and forth. If only he could talk to someone, get another opinion. But no, Mr. Parker was out of the question, and so was Kasady and Mr. Barret. Even if someone knew about his secret, he still had to act normal.

What remained now was to see what Artemis would do with this information. Was he a friend or not? Clark didn't want to have to make more enemies, but the fact that Artemis knew about some of his abilities and the kryptonite was really serious...

((From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/189165.html?thread=13277933#t13355757) ))

It was true that everyone had decided to try to find a different route to the kitchen, but Luffy had never gotten to throw in his own decision in the matter. And why wouldn't he? He was Captain, and the Sun Room did sound like it spelled Adventure. It wouldn't hurt to at least find out what was going on in there, right?

Without saying anything to Usopp or Sai, Luffy approached the Sun Room door, only to find a pretty tall guy standing in front of it. The pirate captain blinked, regarding him curiously.

"Huh?" he said, his tone growing more excited, and his mouth split into a wide, gleeful smile. "Hey, are you the guy that's causing all the problems around here?!" Oh man! If that was the case, then they could fight!

"H-hey, Luffy!" Startled at Luffy's running off so fast, Usopp followed, only glancing back for a moment at the pair they'd left behind. "Where are you going?! We just talked about..."

The guy causing the problems? Usopp stopped short, looking over the teenager with suspicious fear. That couldn't be, right? He was dressed like another patient, and looked pretty innocent, if maybe a little confused or worried about something. And most importantly, he wasn't hurting anybody.

"Come on, Luffy, this guy can't be the one responsible, he's just another patient." Then again, Luffy's instinct about the strength of others was usually pretty good. Maybe there was something about this guy... It'd be easier to judge intelligently if the feeling of Impending Doom weren't so heavy around here. He glanced over his shoulder, for a moment suspicious he'd see Enel or Crocodile magically here and looming over him, but instead just saw Sai.

The ninja stopped behind Usopp, turning his attention to the man at the door as well and narrowing his eyes. If he'd had better control of chakra here, he would have been able to tell this much easier. As it was, it still seemed more like the source of the heavy aura was beyond the door, not standing in front of it. He was pretty certain of it.

"No," he replied, still staring at Clark. "I don't think it's him." Sai didn't have much ability where it came to sensing threats just by appearance, but even so - this man didn't look particularly threatening. He seemed about as confused as his pirate companions.

Feeling confident enough of this now, the ninja smiled at him. "Hello."

Feeling a bit exasperated that these three new patients had been talking about him like he wasn't able to hear them, Clark sighed: "I really doubt I'm whoever you guys are talking about."

At least one of them was making an effort to address him directly. Clark returned the smile - sorta - and wondered if he'd have to prevent all three from entering the doors. It seemed to him the best idea would be to just lock the sun room doors (or just make a lock, or weld them shut), but it wasn't exactly something he could do with an audience. For all he knew, maybe they weren't even going inside, but there was no way to find out aside from doing the old-fashioned thing and having a conversation with him, seeing as telepathy didn't appear to be one of his talents.

"I'm Clark," Clark said. He glanced from patient to patient, trying not to stare at the one with the big nose. "Who're you guys?"

Luffy seemed to sag a little with disappointment. So this guy wasn't causing all the trouble behind the door? Man, why couldn't something exciting happen to them tonight? In hindsight, that death slug adventure had really been something! Not that he wanted the kitchen to be fill with those things, but what about, say, the recreational field? Now there was a thought...

The pirate was brought back to the present when the tall guy introduced himself. "Clark, huh?" he echoed, scratching his cheek a little. Nope, didn't sound familiar in the slightest. Maybe he was new, too? There sure seemed to be a lot more foreign faces every few days, that was for sure. Well, whatever, it didn't really matter in the long run. "I'm Luffy! Nice to meet you!"

Luffy suddenly fixed Clark with a curious stare. "So, if you're not the guy causing all the problems, why're you hanging around the door like that?"

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you." Abruptly aware of his rudeness, Usopp nodded his head directly at Clark. "I'm the great Captain Usopp." Noticing Clark's eyes trying not to focus on his nose, he scratched the side of it as though self-consciously.

It is a pretty great nose.

"The guy's probably trying to keep" dumb "people from running into the Sun Room and getting kicked around like... like that other guy," he added on the side to Luffy. It was logical, and suddenly Usopp realized that if that were right, he owed this guy for standing between his errant Captain and the Room of Doom.

The way Luffy seemed to be looking for trouble caused Sai to frown. Retrieving supplies from the kitchen should be the most important thing. They should avoid any dangerous beings at all costs while denied their usual abilities. Was the young man impatient enough to try and force his way straight through despite the risks?

At least Usopp had the sense to be wary, even if that sense was derived from fear as he suspected it was. "We are going around, right?" he asked, hoping to re-establish that decision.

"Usopp's right; I'm supposed to be making sure people don't go through this door," Clark said, sounding a bit exasperated. He hadn't exactly asked to do this - technically, he'd been put here as "guard" unofficially by the group that just left - and he didn't even think he looked that suspicious.

If anything, this group looked to fit the bill (sorta), and he really, really wasn't sure what to make of them. This Luffy guy seemed really...well, spontaneous, judging from how he jumped immediately from introductions to questions. Usopp was - or claimed to be - a captain (of what exactly, Clark had no idea), and he was pretty sure he hadn't gotten a name for the third guy.

"So where're you guys trying to go?" Clark asked, hoping to find more information about this place. To tell the truth, a lot of Landels was just a big blank to him.

Luffy folded his arms over his chest, and he tilted his head to the side, his mouth pulled into a tight frown. He'd seen this sort of scenario way too many times. Someone kicking people around in the Sun Room? "Hmm, sounds like...those doctors," he remarked, more to himself than anyone else.

Normally he would have wanted to just barge in and take care of whoever the hell was blocking him from the kitchen. And a part of him still wanted to, of course. But to be brainwashed and set loose on the other prisoners...

That wasn't a real fight at all.

Going against someone who'd been made into a puppet for the night didn't really appeal to Luffy. Maybe it would have, back when he'd first woken up here. After all, a challenge was a challenge, right? But the hat on his head carried a weight that, even though he'd come to terms with it, was not something he'd forget so easily.

He was willing to forgo the Sun Room if there was another route to the kitchen. But Luffy knew that if they met another unfortunate puppet-prisoner along the way, he wouldn't be able to just turn and walk away. He'd do what he had to do to defend his nakama and to get the supplies they needed.

"We're about to go to the kitchen," the pirate told Clark after a moment. "I guess we're gonna have to take the other way there." He turned away, placing a hand on his hat, his features still unusually calm. "We should go before we run out of time."

"Right. We're gonna have to take the other way there." Usopp repeated, a little too firmly. Maybe he shouldn't have let go of Luffy's shoulders when he'd started leading him. In fact, pushing, or at least gently nudging Luffy in the right direction was sounding more and more reasonable.

"Nice meeting you, Clark." Whoever he was. A new guy? There were so many of them all the time it wasn't really notable. The other teen looked nearly as frustrated as Usopp felt. Well, at least there weren't leeches raining on them. Yet. Usopp glanced up with a sense of foreboding, but didn't see anything in the darkness but ceiling.

Kitchen? Clark wavered for a moment. He was supposed to stand guard, but it so far looked pretty empty, and anyway, he couldn't honestly stand here all night. Or tomorrow night. Or the night after. If he was going to really help people, he had to get informed, first of all, and find out what they were dealing with. He couldn't learn a thing standing here. It'd probably be kind of blunt to just ask if he could go with them, but Clark knew that sometimes it paid to be blunt, and you could be surprised by what you could get by just asking.

"Would it be okay if I went along with you guys?" Clark blurted. If there was a kitchen, that meant there was probably a back entrance, right? How else would they get food delivered here? And anyway, maybe they had knives or something; sure, he was super powered, but what about people like Kasady or Mr. Barret?

The very least he could do was try to get them armed somehow. It couldn't hurt to ask.

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