Nightshift 29: M1-M10 Hallway

[thesadist]

[Currently from within M2]

Daemon been half afraid this night would be a repeat of last, that he would continue, night after night, to be trapped as a puppet of this place. An illogical fear, maybe, but there all the same. He'd been used for such things for far too long to not anticipate a re-occurrence. The relief he felt when none were forthcoming was almost breathtaking in its force.

Settling back on his bed, he made himself comfortable, fully intending to wait for Renji to show up for their scheduled brawl. He was actually looking forward to, an equal meeting, a way to work off some of the frustration and helpless rage this place was so good at instilling in them. He was certain he could use the outlet as much as the redhead.

Darkness fell, and the radio snapped on overhead once, then again, signaling the change of things out in the building, although there was no doctor taunting them this night, only the harsh gutteral sounds of a transformed nurse, if his guess was right. He listened to the words with a fierce frown, sliding his legs over the bed and wondering if he should really be waiting here in his room while others were being dragged away for much worse tortures than he'd endured last night...

The pondering lasted all of a moment. That was when he felt it. Felt her.

For one long moment, he stood there in the center of the room, frozen in shock, and then a roar of disbelief and fury escaped him, the temperature dropping to an icy degree within the four walls, a covering of frost coating the furniture almost instantly as his rage unleashed. Without pausing to grab anything other than his flashlight to illuminate his way, Daemon tore out of the room, following the faint pulse of familiar Ebony power that filled him with both furious and joyous relief.

She was here. She was here and afraid, and she was alive.

[Going here.]

Comments

[littlestrawdoll.livejournal.com]

The servant was getting pretty damn curious over the manipulation of time in Landel's--it was apparent to him, at least, that there were smaller, more odd instances underneath the sweeping affects of whatever power had the general population at bay. For example, the fact that he saw his roommate Alec Trevelyan during dayshifts, but they never seemed to be in their shared cell at the same time.

Strange.

But at least he'd eaten his fill, and felt reasonably okay about travelling to the female cellblock on his own again--he doubted he could pull the same string of stunts he had last night, but at least he had enough energy to do something. Although honestly, he had a nasty suspicion he'd be spending most of it using the eye to check on other people, rather than physically defend himself.

Checking in with Ojou did seem to be his best bet. She'd made it through the bus debacle completely unscathed and (characteristically) unruffled, but that didn't offer any real reassurance.

_{[over to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/273735.html)]}

M1

[muted-flame.livejournal.com]

After his conversation with ZEX, Roy had returned to his room and found it rather difficult to focus on his dinner. The idea of some sort of otherworldly creature that had a certain attraction to humans -- well, it definitely wasn't something he had ever imagined he would encounter.

On the other hand, it had been somewhat enjoyable to talk to ZEX. If he kept the conversation topic away from humans specifically, they might be able to have some interesting discussions in the future. He might even be able to recruit another member into the Cooking Group, if ZEX wasn't already affiliated with something else.

Then again, if he wasn't accustomed to the human body, would he be all that useful in a fight? Roy knew he shouldn't judge based on that, but he didn't want to drag him into any unnecessary danger, either. He could always give him a safer assignment, but "safer" wasn't really that safe at all.

The change in announcement was enough to make him tune in, though. He did recognize the voice vaguely, but the way it came out once it was officially night made his skin crawl. He didn't really want to imagine one of those nurses speaking.

For now, he just had to wait for Hughes and Axel to show up. Neither one was too far away, so hopefully they could get started soon. And while he felt bad about it, part of him was glad that he didn't have to make a weapon for anyone tonight. It wasn't his fault that people didn't pay attention to his bulletin posts -- or maybe Vergil was gone as well. It was probably best not to think too hard about it.

Re: M1

[bond-off-lame.livejournal.com]

[From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/277694.html?thread=21294782#t21294782)]

One thing Axel always wondered was why the order of room numbers was reversed in the patient blocks. I'd make more sense to him if one to ten was situated from the doorway downwards respectively, but maybe that was just the layout of all mental hospitals. Still, the redhead found himself sighing distastefully as he meandered down the hall, shining his flashlight against the doors for their numbers.

It didn't take long for him to find M1, and without thought he reached for the doorknob and twisted it open. To Axel, Roy didn't seem to be the type that'd get caught by surprise in the middle of something, so the idea of actually walking in on something almost seemed far-fetched to him.

"Hey stranger, it's been while." The Nobody responded as he poked his head in the room, grinning causally over at the latter while he waited to be invited in.

Re: M1

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

Hughes wasn't that far behind. He slipped out of his room, knives secure up his sleeves and easily accessible.

He caught sight of the red haired man, half inside Roy's doorway. No waiting, good. Sure, he liked to be able to get Roy alone for a little while before they headed out, but time couldn't be wasted.

He had his own flashlight out, and came up behind Axel, clearing his throat to alert the other two men he was there.

Re: M1

[muted-flame.livejournal.com]

They were there almost without delay. Just as Roy had been preparing to motion Axel in, Hughes came up behind him. It was almost enough to make the alchemist smile. It was good to have people to rely on, for once. It wasn't that he didn't have as much trust in some of the other people he'd had come along with him, but it helped that both Axel and Hughes were close by.

So, instead of asking them to come in, Roy simply got to his feet and headed for the door. He checked his pockets to make certain he had everything he needed - it looked like Axel already had a flashlight (along with some sort of weapon), so they were more or less set.

"It has been," he remarked back to Axel before nodding to Hughes. "I'd rather we just got moving, if there are no objections?"

Re: M1

[bond-off-lame.livejournal.com]

If the footsteps that wandered closer hadn't clued Axel in then the cough had surely done it, bringing the redhead to poke his head back out behind him and flashed the man a grin. Catching movement back in the room, he pushed the door open completely and took a step back to give Roy some space to enter the hallway.

"I've got no complaints with that." Axel started, knowing that the sooner they got started the better.

"So what are the plans for tonight? You didn't exactly specify back on the board, unless there wasn't any need to." Either that or it was too dangerous to discuss it in such a public space.

Re: M1

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"I'm all set," Hughes affirmed, nodding. No sense in standing around wasting time, when they were ready to go. Though he was also curious as to what exactly they'd be doing tonight.

Whatever it was, he just hoped they'd be successful.

[lighthearted]

Not having a roommate around made things a lot more boring - Auel hadn't been the best company, but he was someone. It didn't help that it made Sora worry about what had happened to the other boy. He hadn't known him well at all, but had he disappeared? Or had what happened to Nowe happened to him, too?

That wasn't something he really wanted to think about, and Sora realized that it was best to focus on what he was doing now. He would get to meet up with Kairi and Rukia tonight, after all, which was pretty exciting. He didn't know Rukia all that well, but he hadn't seen Kairi in a while and he was sure that the three of them would make some pretty good progress.

The intercom announcements were enough to trip him up, though. The lady had sounded nice enough at first, but what came after that made Sora very uneasy. He had fought those nurses before, and hearing one attempting to talk just didn't feel right, especially with the stuff she was saying.

He didn't believe it.

Knowing he had to focus, Sora didn't hesitate to head out into the hallway, flashlight in hand, and start for the block's exit.

[lighthearted]

[ To here. ]

[norainu]

[from here]

Renji continued to the room that should have been Daemon's. But he didn't even need to look inside or turn on his flashlight to know the man wasn't there. He couldn't feel his spiritual presence, which he should have been able to, this close.

Suddenly worried, he rested one hand against the wall and concentrated, searching for the spirit threads. Daemon's wasn't difficult to pick out; his spirit had a distinct resonance and flavor. To Renji's relief, it didn't lead upstairs, since this early in the night it could only mean one thing. Instead, it went in the general direction of the female block.

He let the threads fall away, momentarily reeling, the familiar tickle starting up in his nose. He'd figure out what to do once he wasn't dizzy any more.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

It lingered in the shadows of the hallway ceiling, waiting for the right opportunity. It could wait all night if needed, choosing not to waste valuable strength until the prime chance to catch its prey, but it would not need to. Lingering below it, arachnid eyes glimpsed a large man standing almost immediately beneath it. Cautiously the human sized spider positioned itself directly below its seemingly stunned prey and dropped, a quiet screeching sound warning Renji of its swift and deadly descent.

[David]

[norainu]

Still reeling from his effort, Renji would have been taken completely unaware if the creature hadn't made a small sound. He didn't pause to see what had made the noise; all he needed to know was that it was above him. He dove forward, trying to get out from under it.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

The spider landed gracefully as its prey ducked underneath and narrowly avoided its pinchers. It seemed to make an almost hissing noise in irritation that it had wasted its opportunity and swung at him with one of its massive front legs, aiming to knock him into the wall and pin him there before he could escape.

[norainu]

Renji rolled to his feet, but it wasn't graceful, or quick. Still reeling, he couldn't dodge the spider's "kick." Hitting the wall knocked the breath out of him, renewed the vertigo. Rather than fight it for now, he reached across to wrap both hands around the hilt of his katana, ripping it outward and up out of the makeshift sheathe. For once, it was a good thing that he didn't have a real sheathe for the blade.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

Whatever its prey was pulling out, the spider knew instantly that it wouldn't like it. Keeping its leg pressed against the man, the spider rushed forward as quickly as its remaining legs could carry it, huge chelicerae biting for his shoulder in hopes that it would be able to stop its prey from doing whatever he was planning on doing with his blade.

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

Recluse stepped out of his room, pulling on his Arachnos uniform's leather gloves. The clothing provided him no defensive advantage, but it felt so much better to be in the red and black uniform.

He stopped, watching a massive spider fighting a prisoner. Recluse knew spiders, and this one wasn't behaving right at all. Whatever had been done to it had made it a far less efficient predator than it should be.

Recluse turned, walking down the pitch black hall. If the spider couldn't even pull off a successful ambush attack, there was no reason to observe its performance. Small, armed prey could easily take out a spider if given a chance.

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza left his room with his weapon strapped to his back, the blade that Haku had found for him, and his face wrapped up with torn pieces of cloth. He moved quickly and silently through the darkness.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/277694.html)]

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/277694.html?view=21372094#t21372094)]

He counted down the hallways as he walked and finally reached the one he needed. M4, wasn't it? It had been a good few nights since he'd been here, but he remembered things well from long years of practice.

He paused outside the door hesitatnly for a few moments, shifting from foot to foot before he knocked. "Cliff? It's me."

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

Cliff wasn't having a good evening. One bad theory just lead to another and try as he might to clear his head and focus on the task at hand, his thoughts kept drifting back to his visitor.

There were too many questions and uncertainties around her...but if there was even a chance that she was the real thing, he had to find her again. He wouldn't leave his partner behind any more than she would leave him.

Cliff sighed and stretched his fingers. His right hand was bruising nicely and he hadn't even put a dent in the wall from his earlier punch. Maybe he was lucky his fingers weren't broken.

He looked up at the knock, rolled his shoulders and plastered a half-smile on. "'S open! Unless you need me to carry you over the threshold."

He started towards the door anyway. It'd be good to move somewhere with a little room before they started.

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

"Only if you propose first!" Yohji shot back, grinning slightly as he pushed the door open carefully. He stepped inside and met Cliff's eyes with some relief. There was always the worry that Cliff could have been taken tonight for the experiments.

He dropped his things onto the spare bed and set the bottle of whisky on the desk so it would be out of the way.

He looked back up at Cliff. That smile didn't quite meet his eyes.

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

"Only if you'll take an onion ring." Cliff replied, laughing lightly. "So, are you still up for some? Kinda cramped in here but I'm sure we can make do if you're alright with it."

He really didn't want to talk about it. Not yet, anyway. He'd done so much brooding on the subject all Cliff really wanted to do right now was lose himself in a good fight until things started to make sense again.

Hopefully Yohji would just let it go if he noticed.

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

Yohji snorted. "Sorry, onion's really not my thing. And do you even have an onion ring?"

He nodded in agreement. "I'm up for it," he replied, stretching a little. "I need the practice anyway, since there's no chance of me getting my own weapon made here." He couldn't even think about hwo it would be made, not to mention he was kinda' lacking in the glove department and that wire hurt to use with bare hands.

[janus-006.livejournal.com]

It was night again, and Alec was no less freaked out by his little encounter with the James-that-was-not.

Normal James would have been bad enough, but at least if he had come in and gloated, been his insufferable, Queen-and-Country self, Alec would have at least had time to leap on him and gouge at least one of his eyes out before the nurses came with their drugs and possibly a transfer to a hospital for the criminally insane rather than just the insane.

But not-James had insisted on calling him that fake name. Why? Was it solely to discombobulate him? If so, he'd half-succeeded. His mind wouldn't stop thinking about it, so he decided that the best thing to do would be to go out and look for a fight.

Stupid? Probably. But he had a flashlight, a pillowcase full of burn cream and pain medication, and a steak knife. He figured he could at least gut something with that.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/277694.html).]

[reunion.livejournal.com]

Kadaj hadn't been in the mood for much of anything after Mother had left, but after staying in his room for what felt like hours (there was no way to tell time in this place at all, was there?) just thinking over what she'd said, he needed to do something before he drove himself completely insane. Mother wouldn't want that, would she? He just needed to do something. Anything. The more violent it was, the better.

Where the hell was Elena when he needed her?

Sighing, he took his gladius out of its hiding place and strapped it to his back, grabbing his flashlight soon after and heading towards the door. At least Cloud hadn't come knocking. That was the absolute last thing he needed right now, unless he counted a visit from Sephiroth. Why did it have to be his least favorite brothers that were stuck with him, anyway? It was so unfair.

There was nothing particularly interesting in the hall when he finally stepped outside, but that was only to be expected. Still, he had the whole night to hunt down some entertainment, so why waste all that time here? He'd lingered long enough already.

Forcing himself to smile and not think about Mother (if unsuccessfully), he headed down the hall.

[reunion.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/277694.html?thread=21944766#t21944766).]