damned_institute | Hallway Outside Sun Room

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Hallway Outside Sun Room

[[from here]]

The feeling was strong. There was something out there. And as he neared the Sun Room, it was even stronger. It felt like an Akuma, but he couldn't be sure, not in this place. As much as he didn't want to wait around here, he had to meet Emily. He couldn't help thinking that they should have picked a safer place. He'd never been very good at planning things though. He just had to take things as they came, one at a time.

He leaned against the wall with a sigh and settled in to wait, moving his flashlight up and down the hall just to be sure nothing was coming after him.

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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.

Luffy paused in making his way back long enough to glance back at Clark, a surprised expression on his face. This guy really wanted to come with them? He wondered why for a moment, but then he realized that maybe hanging around a door all night wasn't exactly the best way to have an adventure. Luffy knew if he'd been in that position, he wouldn't have stuck around for long.

Maybe Clark wanted an adventure too? Well, Luffy could certainly relate to that. And he didn't particularly care if someone was standing beside the door or not. If someone really wanted in, there were other ways to get inside.

"Okay," he replied simply, and he gave a good-natured grin. "Hope you can keep up with us!"

Sai simply nodded at this decision. If there was any moving to be done, then it had best be done soon. Without a word, he turned and began heading off in the direction they'd come, hoping the others would pick up on this and follow him accordingly.

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Hallway Outside Sun Room

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