Nightshift 30: Sun Room

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

[[from here]]

He wasn't sure just what awaited him as the boy with pale hair and glowing eyes dragged him across the tiled floor, but he was so bruised and beaten after their one-sided fight that he couldn't do much to stop it.  After hearing the rumors about what happened to patients here, he didn't have high hopes.  The world stopped spinning for a moment when they reached the railing.  Was he just going to be left on the floor here?

It didn't look like he'd be quite that lucky.  The boy floated into the air, carrying him along like a sack of potatoes before tossing him unceremoniously into the Sun Room below.  He fell like a rag doll and hit one of the tables on the way down.  He heard as much as felt the cracking of bones as he landed in a heap on the floor.  His upper arm felt strangely warm on the left side, only to realize it was because the bone had broken through the skin.  Yuuhi bit back a cry of pain, wishing the fall had knocked him unconscious too, then at least he wouldn't have to feel the pain for a while. 

His flashlight was gone, lost in the scuffle, and he looked nervously into the darkness, well aware of what easy prey he would be.  He had to move, before someone or something caught the scent of his blood.

Comments

[ofazureflame.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for Fai, something was lurking in the Sun Room that didn't need to smell blood in order to find prey. The mark glowed, pulsated with red energy, almost as if it were alive and watching. It was comprised of three, haphazard strikes in a triange formation—crudely carved into the floor, almost as though the artist was in a hurry.

Or completely out of his mind.

The strange, glowing red mark on the floor was already enough to make any sane person want to run for his or her life, but the eerie, grating wheeze that filled the room like a dying man's breath raced up the spine, chilled flesh to the bone, and brushed the neck like the teasing fingers of death.

A medium-sized blue orb, shrouded in azure flame moved through the floor and circled Yuuhi for a brief moment before backing off.

Patient. The patient wasn't moving. That was acceptable--patients were not supposed to go any further. But they weren't supposed to die either. The light orb hovered, uncertain of what to do. His guidelines were very clear.

Patient: classified as a non-institution entity, humanoid and aggressive. Non-Patient: classified as an institution entity, humanoid, canine, avian, or other. All of the definitions were so hard to keep track of, it wasn't uncommon for him to mistake one for another...

Patient: Patients must not move further than the target area. The target area was set, and the patients could not move past it. If patient is an aggressor, combat was authorized. If patient was a non-aggressor, but would not comply with forceful suggestion, combat was also authorized. But no patient could die. Non-patients were not specified in his program, but patients were.

This man was in his target area. But he was a non-aggressor.

Patient, non-aggressor... Non-patient, non-aggressor-- Aggressor non-patient. Patient aggressor. Patient aggressors were authorized targets.

The blue orb pulsed, and a blinding flash of light filled every crevice and erased every shadow without warning. Once the brilliance cleared, he stood there—-swaying his thin, rag-doll body back and forth, head lolling from one side to the next as though tired. Zombie-like, his body was something out of nightmares. He looked to be stitched up, held together at the seams. Belts encircled his arms, legs, and neck tightly, as though the doll-maker didn't have time to stitch its limbs on with proper care. He looked as though he might fall apart at any moment. His wide, unseeing eye swiveled around in the socket as though taking in his surroundings and calculating things faster than was possible for the human mind. The other remained hidden behind his sea green hair, calculating, staring at Yuuhi's body.

His program was damaged. He needed to make a decision, but the switches kept flipping back and forth. What should he do?

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

If he'd somehow missed the strange red light that pulsated on the ground, the following flames and the blast of bright light were enough to make his heart beat faster and his mind start to race as panic began to set in. What was it? There was someone else in the room with him, that much was obvious. It was also coming toward him, walking like something half-dead.

He tried to make his legs move, but they wouldn't. His right arm was mostly uninjured, but his left was broken beyond repair. The most he could hope for was to drag himself away in a pathetic half-crawl.

[ofazureflame.livejournal.com]

It moved.

He watched the target try to crawl away. Crawling away meant non-aggressive. Was the non-aggressive target retreating? That was good, that was what he was programmed to do. Persuade targets to retreat.

He walked slowly, deliberately around Yuuhi. Watching him as he tried to crawl away, putting himself between the door to the Cafeteria and the target. Any further persuasion would cause the undesired scenario of patient death--which was forbidden. No, he couldn't kill. Kill wasn't in his definitions.

Opening his mouth, trying in vain to speak, he let out a wheezing growl and took an unsteady step towards Yuuhi. He was herding him back towards the door, and he didn't look patient at all.

[youlackmascara.livejournal.com]

[]

Itachi stepped through the door into the Sun Room, not watching to see if Takaya followed. The other boy seemed hesitant, but if he were not strong enough to face whatever lay ahead, that was not Itachi's concern. Itachi preferred to have a partner in this situation, but if Takaya were going to slow him down, Itachi would simply go ahead.

The first thing Itachi saw was a severely injured man crawling towards the door. Incapacitated, not worthy of consideration. Itachi turned his attention to the person behind the injured man. The person was strangely colored and seemingly stitched together, like Kakuzu. Had this person injured the blond man? If so, it -- he? -- was not unpowerful. The injured man looked like a patient, and therefore the other person was probably an enemy. Itachi focused his gaze intently on the person and shifted his stance slightly, to prepare for an attack. He intended to get to the courtyard. If this enemy was in the way, Itachi would dispose of him first.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

(Hope you don't mind? If so, we can always delete. ^^;; )

At least it wasn't as bad as past .... incidences had been in here. There was a bit more light coming in from the windows and Takaya could see even better now than before. He tried not to think about why, instead focusing on the injured guy.

He rushed over and thought for a moment. Could he get this guy to safty without fucking him up more?

"Can you hear me?"

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Yuuhi wasn't sure what the boy... doll... thing was trying to do, but the menacing aura about him was unmistakable. He could only hope that the thing kept its distance and didn't get any closer.

Luckily for him, a couple of new targets entered the room. He tried to sit up, but couldn't get very far. "Yeah," he replied, surprised by how weak his own voice sounded. "I... fell."

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/307793.html?thread=24831057)]

"Exclamation: Wonderful," HK said quietly. "Observation: There is a decidedly unfriendly looking meatbag here. Suggestion: Perhaps we should flee for the doors." His vocalization was immediately followed by picking up a chair and throwing it as hard as he could at the meatbag's face, with 99.7% accuracy!

[ofazureflame.livejournal.com]

When the doors opened, his gaze snapped down. Three targets, all patients. Non-patients. No, patients.

One had just thrown a chair at him. Throwing things usually merited the status of Aggressor. He was authorized to respond with deadly precision.

Before the chair could hit its mark, he drew his blade upwards and slashed downward--cleaving the chair in two pieces. Bits of stuffing and splinters of wood exploded outwards, making it appear as though he had taken the full brunt of the attack.

As the debris cleared, however, he stood firm. His arm crackled with rogue electric current, and bits of his arm seemed to reflect binary code written in orange and yellow instead of flesh and blood.

He let out a wheeze, eye swiveling angrily towards HK. Another attack like that, and he might be tempted to use more force than was authorized by his administrator.

[icy-demise.livejournal.com]

SubZero frowned at the news of an enemy in the room. Well, that was to be expected.

HK picking up a chair and throwing it was not, however. Rather than pick up a chair to throw SubZero held his arms out and tried to gather his freezing energy together.

However, nothing happened, and after a moment SubZero decided to go for a more direct attack, moving towards their opponent.

[quickdrawbkiddo.livejournal.com]

Good improvisation, good execution of tactic, tactic failed. So much for this being easy. Then again, it never was. Regardless, whomever this guy blocking their way was just asking for the Bride to unleash her contained fury upon.

Beatrix didn't spare time to see what the hell SubZero was trying to, but immediately moved around to flank her new target. She'd be damned if she wasn't going to kill something that was part of this fucking prison this night. She moved quickly, bringing the nasty shard of glass into a ready position betraying her years of weapons training to those that were watching.

"Come here, boy," she said, her voice cold and deadly, to the assassins' enemy as she approached.

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

Well, he hadn't really expected that to work. Not after last night's run-in with the meatbag who could take scalpels to the eyes without trouble. Now, there was just the problem that he had a broken arm and couldn't fight as effectively as normal.

As if problems like that ever stopped HK! He took out one of his scalpels, circling to try and get on the other side of the target from Arlene. Any time a target could be cornered was always fortunate.

[ofazureflame.livejournal.com]

This was interesting, from a purely data and tactical standpoint. All three of the aggressors were surrounding him. What did they hope to accomplish, anyway? They couldn't get past him--it was forbidden. He would have been concerned that they would flee for the opposite door, but the chances of them escaping uninjured were 1.3%.

A quick analysis detailed that each target was skilled, so discretion was advised. His arm had also taken some damage, but nothing that would hinder the use of his Fangs.

A low, warning wheeze escaped through his teeth as his visible eye flicked back and forth between the two targets. He wasn't moving, otherwise.

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/308047.html#comments)]]

They arrived just in time to witness the start of a fight. The three patients Statesman had watched enter a few moments before had already engaged the brain-washed patient or monster, whichever it was.

"Looks like they've beat us to the fight," Marcus commented quietly. It was three on one, but he still couldn't tell if he needed to join in and give them a hand or not. They did seem to have their enemy surrounded.

[a-spider-can.livejournal.com]

Peter was certainly no stranger to rushing into danger, so he didn't hesitate to follow Statesman into the Sun Room. It looked like Eddie was going to be tagging along after all, though Peter couldn't really guess at his reasons for doing so. It was something he might have asked about if they weren't busy trying to get somewhere in such a limited amount of time.

As expected, there was something that was antagonizing patients in the large area. Peter watched through his mask as the three patients all attacked together, but the thing they were fighting (it looked like a kid, even, which was disconcerting) was able to move at speeds that weren't human. One of the attacks did hit him (it?), but there was no blood. In fact, it looked like some sort of image that had been hurt -- maybe it was some sort of projection?

Peter wasn't sure what to make of all of it, but he tensed when he saw that it was charging the female patient. He turned to Logan. "I don't think we can just sneak past," he said with a certain amount of determination, speaking loud enough for Statesman and Eddie to both hear.

[ol-canucklehead.livejournal.com]

Logan instantly recognised two of the the assailants; Subzero and his 'robot' buddy. Whilst he had no real opinion regarding the latter, he considered SubZero to be an ally, although he did not know the man that well. Regardless, the Chinese assassin had shown him some measure of respect, and that was as good enough an excuse as he needed to get stuck in. Moving like a bolt of lightning, Wolverine's rage erupted as he lunged himself unthinkingly at the aggressor, aiming his knife for the man's throat with a downward thrust, screaming like a construct of hell itself. Everything he'd recently learned, everything he was now feeling, had pushed him over the edge. Someone had to die, and at this stage, he really did not care who that was, or if he would regret his decision come morning. His eyes flashed red as he brought the knife down upon the victim.

[blacksustenance.livejournal.com]

And he thought he was the bloodthirsty one! Brock had to grudgingly admit that he was impressed (only a little!) when Logan sprinted right past him - the guy could move pretty damn fast for being so damn short - and went at the weirdly dressed man with the knife.

Man, if that was Parker? He probably would've been wavering about the morals of it, was it right or wrong, maybe he should just web up the bad guys and leave them for the cops to sort out. Not just rush their asses like that, no ifs, ands or buts. Logan was still wavering on Brock's shit list just for associating with Parker, but he did get some points for having brass balls there.

Brock hung back with Parker, watching with some amusement as Logan just went out for someone's blood. "Well. Guy's got class, you gotta admit."

Not that it was his fight. He wasn't going to get into a fight when they just got healed.

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

Marcus kept a close eye on the fight, the three patients appeared to work quite well together, coordinating their attacks and surrounding their opponent.

Of course, whatever that kid was, he was clearly a lot faster than any patient could be in this place. The kid was fast enough that sneaking past would be just about impossible.

That didn't mean that Statesman was exactly happy when Logan went charging off towards the fight, though.

"Go after him, try to stick the enemy to the ground if you can," Marcus instructed Spiderman. This fight would probably be a lot easier if the enemy couldn't move around as much.

[at-patera.livejournal.com]

Crawford pushed open the door to the Sun Room, took stock of the fight as quickly as he could, and began to maneuver around both the group of so-called superheroes as well as the actual fight itself. It required going around the edge of the room, which would take a little longer, but if it kept them out of harm's way, all the better.

Their goal was the door on the far side of the room. He moved as quickly as possible, keeping Schuldig and Yohji nearby at all times.

[k4t4str0ph4l.livejournal.com]

"You'd better keep up," Schuldig hissed to Yohji warningly before ducking through the door, moving smoothly after Crawford. He wasn't particularly worried about himself at all; he was the fastest and most agile of the three of them. He was more worried about his companions; anything that went after Crawford would have to go through Schuldig first, and as for Kudoh...

Schuldig wasn't yet sure just how far he was willing to go for Yohji's sake. He hadn't yet been pushed so far that he'd begun to seriously question whether or not it was worth the bother, but presumably there was a limit somewhere that he simply hadn't hit yet.

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

Well, so much for being concerned. Yohji scowled at the telepath and followed quickly after him. He could keep up! He was an assassin, sometimes they had to move fast to complete their mission.

He darted across the Sun Room after them, following close on Schuldig's heels, unwilling to be left behind.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/311822.html)]

[muted-flame.livejournal.com]

As expected, there was a fight going on in the Sun Room. Roy would have been more surprised if there wasn't one.

There was also the smell of burned flesh in the air, something that the alchemist happened to be far too familiar with. It brought back heavy memories, and Kimbley's presence didn't help either.

He took a few seconds to take in the battle. There were three patients who were close to the attacker (who looked unnervingly young), but there were others watching, and some getting ready to join in.

"I think we might be able to sneak past," he said, tone slightly relieved. He didn't have the energy to get involved in such a large fight, after all.

[gone-2far.livejournal.com]

The sight and smells of the fight made Knives freeze as he followed the two men inside. He still didn't speak, but he watched with widened eyes. He had no desire to rush in and help, even if he was well aware that was exactly what Vash would do. Instead he waited to follow Roy and the man they had met.

[crimson-handed.livejournal.com]

Following idly after Roy, Kimbley glanced at the fight in the sun room with barely more than a shrug. Another fight, another group of valiant idiots trying to win against it and save lives ... or maybe steal weapons, in which case their valiance could be in doubt. He couldn't have cared less.

"If we couldn't, I wouldn't have lead us in here," he said dryly. He had no intention of fighting when he was unarmed and barely able to create cracks in a wall, and when all he had to rely on for a distraction was Roy and some guy he'd never met before (could the idiot even fight?). "Come on."

[braidless.livejournal.com]

((From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/307793.html?thread=25070673#t25308497). ))

One of the first things Obi-Wan noted was the foul stench in the air, although he refrained from commenting on it. Still, it was all the more reason to be on guard of the strange creature several other patients seemed to be engaging at the moment.

Again, it would have been all to tempting to want to step into the conflict and become directly involved, especially now that they had weapons. But, just as it had been several hallways before, their mission was still high priority.

The Jedi Knight glanced at Qui-Gon, frowning a little. "The music room is just up there," he whispered. "Let's make it quick."

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/318327.html)]