damned_institute | Nightshift 34: Autopsy Room 1

The calm entry into the autopsy room compared to that of the morgue was disarming, but the cold and Sora's warning kept the older man on edge. Kaiji knitted his brow in a hint of confusion as he followed Sora into the room, still trying to recover from his several consecutive and painful meetings with the door to the morgue. With his flashlight illuminating his path, Kaiji's eyes darted from corner of the room to corner of the room to try to find anything moving or notable, but the truth of the matter was that he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to be keeping an eye out for other than horrific monstrosities. What did the radio clues lead to? Something useful, supposedly, but where could he even begin to look? Everything here had to be useful to someone.

"Looking for what?" Kaiji whispered in a rushed voice at the risk of sounding awkward and ignorant, "Something that doesn't belong, right?" If it was just a random tool that they had been sent after, they may as well have been trying to find a needle in a haystack. In that case the fiasco that would inevitably ensue would be something of a race to see what ran out first: the nighttime or Kaiji's patience.

While waiting for an answer, Kaiji struggled to find something noteworthy or different. So far, though, everything looked about the way that he would have expected an inactive autopsy room to look.

It was no surprise that the temperature didn't change in the autopsy room, but that didn't stop MOMO from wishing that it had. The only thought that brought a little comfort was the fact that there weren't any bodies occupying the autopsy room.

She wondered what exactly they were supposed to be looking for too, but seeing that Kaiji had already asked, she didn't repeat the question. Plus, she couldn't really expect anyone to know the answer to that anyway. The clues only told where an item was supposed to be, not what it was. In her experience, at any rate.

"I'll... start looking over here." MOMO was wary of moving away from Sora and Kaiji, but it'd be easier to explore the room if they spread out a bit. So, with some hesitance, the realian moved towards one side of the room, using her flashlight to watch the floor as she went.

A low moan suddenly filled the room, a sound that seemed to come from two voices at once but was followed by the shuffling movement of a single creature. The leftover appeared slowly out of the darkness, barely as tall as Sora with how it was hunched over.

Its arms were long and uneven, ending in dog-like claws. One might have thought the size of them was what weighed the front end of the creature down. Half the leftover's skin was rotted away, especially around it's humanoid head. A second head, dog-like and looking as though it was healing up from somewhat recent burn damage (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/371214.html), snarled at them from the beast's shoulder.

It didn't charge at them right away, merely ambled steadily towards the largest of the trespassers, Kaiji.

Sora had been about to explain that the item should be something that stuck out and didn't seem to fit in when a foreign sound sent a shiver through him. Well, that hadn't taken long. He quickly spun in a circle, trying to pick out where the monster was coming from, and he gasped when he saw the thing looming near Kaiji.

It was some sort of strange mish-mash, and he thought back to the clue and how it had mentioned taking people apart and putting them together again. His stomach turned at the thought, and yet he knew that what the creature looked like was far less important than what it might do.

It just had to go after Kaiji. Sora wanted the man's first night to end successfully, and that meant he had to ensure that he didn't get injured. Assuring himself that MOMO was a safe distance away, Sora raced toward Kaiji and the monster, slipping in front of the older patient to make sure he was effectively shielding him.

Now he just needed to wait to get attacked, and then he could make a proper stand against the thing.

More than anything, the creature puzzled Kaiji at first. He froze, completely unsure of what to think of it. It was beyond creepy, yes, but how could he be sure that this wasn't just his tired mind working here? Kaiji's thoughts did tend to lean toward the vivid side, and given his state it wouldn't have been too unreasonable to assume--

When Sora stepped in, reality struck. Yes, this thing was real, no, it was not just his mind playing with his fear. Not only was it real, but it was also probably about to maul the kid who rushed between them. "Sora!" Kaiji barked authoritatively, "What the fuck are you doing!?" Seriously, as much as Sora struck him as the incredibly selfless type (Why else would he have picked Kaiji out to take along for this thing?), he couldn't fathom why the kid would ever want to just throw himself in harm's way like that.

As many times as he told himself that Sora's well-being wasn't his problem and that getting in the way of the creature - whose various components he felt great pity for the sources of - was the boy's own stupid idea, Kaiji stood perfectly still aside from the singular movement of clutching his flashlight with both hands and the motions accompanying his quick breaths. He was more than ready to take any measures necessary to at the very least create a distraction. Sora had to have been up to something, but Kaiji was only willing to give the boy one chance before he interfered. Even that was one too many as far as he was concerned.

If either of the two younger patients received so much as a scratch, all hell was going to break loose.

Oh, no... Hoping that they'd be able to explore the room without having to worry about a monster really had been asking too much. MOMO gasped at the sudden sound, and she immediately turned to look for the source. As soon as she found it, she took an instinctive step back as she brought a hand up to cover her mouth and stifle a second gasp.

The creature wasn't like anything she'd ever seen in this place before. She was reminded of Gnosis in a bizarre sort of way, but not even Gnosis looked this terrible.

Movement from Sora and Kaiji's voice snapped MOMO out of her thoughts, and she adjusted her grip on her flashlight. She couldn't afford to let herself get distracted. She'd seen enough people get hurt the previous night; no matter what happened, she was not going to let the same thing happen again tonight.

Right now the creature seemed focused on Kaiji and Sora since the boy had moved in front of the older man. Even though MOMO's first thought was to join the other two patients, she stayed where she was. Keeping in a close group would make things too easy for the monster, but maybe they'd have a better shot at putting up a good fight if they could attack it from different sides.

The creature's speed didn't increase even as it neared the two males. It actually came to a stop close to Sora, it's humanoid head tilting as though pondering what to do with them while the canine head growled continuously.

Slowly it lifted the longest of its arms, then swung it towards Sora in a movement far swifter than any it had made so far. It meant to bat the boy aside like an insect, as he was too small to stand as much of a barrier between it and its intended prey.

As Sora heard Kaiji's yelling from behind him, it occurred to him that he should probably explain how summoning the Keyblade here worked so that people wouldn't be taken aback when he actively tried to get in harm's way. It was too late for that now, though, seeing how he was staring down two heads and a pair of very sharp claws.

"Just trust me!" he said under his breath, feeling himself tense up as he tried to anticipate what the monster was going to do next. The swipe of its claw was unexpectedly fast: Sora saw it coming, but not soon enough to do anything about it.

Then again, that was kind of the point. So he took the hit, feeling claws dig into his side for a moment before he was thrown out of the way. He could tell that he was airborne for a split second before crashing to the floor, and yet none of that mattered - with a burst of light that made part of the room visible for a moment, the Keyblade appeared in his hand.

Now he just had to hope he could pick himself up and get back to the others in time.

"I wouldn't have-" Kaiji couldn't even finish answering before shock muted his voice. Actually, nevermind that.

So that's the way it was going to be! The thing seemed pretty bent on going one-on-one with Kaiji, which he more than consented to the moment he caught sight of Sora getting shoved away. The tricky thing had faked them out with its surprising speed: he wasn't about to let it fool him like that or get away with attacking Sora, no matter how minor it was. Regardless of what Sora said, Kaiji was stubborn enough to want to at least try to land one attack on this thing: it had gone after him first, after all, and it had taken a swing at the kid. Although he would have preferred to go after whoever was responsible for creating this, it was all he could really do right now to try to take care of the immediate problem.

Kaiji growled loudly as if competing with the dog head: two could play at this game.

In a fit of disproportionate rage, he charged at the creature hoping that he could rush past it safely while giving it a good smack with the lit end of his flashlight. A quick, cheap shot while he figured out what he could do about this in the long term. Hardly any progress was made before an odd flash of light startled and distracted him, leaving him barreling along but not quite watching where he was going or what he was doing.

The creature's attack came quicker than MOMO would've expected, given how it had been moving previously. It was a rough reminder that one needed to be prepared for anything in this place, and the realian couldn't help but cry, "Sora!"

The sudden burst of light startled her at first, but it only took a few seconds for her to remember what Sora had told her about the Keyblade. One person having a decent weapon in hand would help, but she wished he hadn't needed to get attacked for it to appear. Hopefully the hit hadn't hurt him too much.

Kaiji had charged the creature, and Sora was on the ground. MOMO didn't want to try attacking and risk hitting Kaiji (or risk getting hit by him, either), so she ran towards Sora, putting herself between him and the monster in case it decided the boy would make a better target.

Kaiji was still the leftover's main goal, even after Sora appeared to have drawn some sort of weapon. The boy would be next, but for now his goal was clear. As the man moved, the creature brought its arm up again. It was swung towards Kaiji in an almost lazy gesture, but the power behind the limb was nothing to laugh at.

It struck downward, meaning to pin the man to the floor.

By the time Sora got back to his feet, MOMO had rushed over, seemingly wanting to protect him (and she didn't even have a weapon!), and Kaiji was having to deal with the monstrosity on his own.

First, Sora rushed by MOMO, quickly setting a hand on her shoulder in order to let her know that he was all right despite the fact that he could already feel the blood dripping down his arm. He was just glad it hadn't been one of his legs that had taken the hit, since that would have been hard on his movement. He hoped the girl would stay put and avoid the monster's notice as he moved past her toward the fray.

He didn't know if he would be fast enough to make sure that Kaiji didn't take some sort of injury, but he made the effort anyway, rushing the creature from the side and taking a two-handed swing at it with his Keyblade.

No, really, what was that flash of light just then? What did Sora just get a hold of? Before Kaiji could ask, get a good look at it, or even really think about it, he was given a swift hands-on lesson about the dangers of letting his guard down. A sudden impact knocked the breath out of him and elicited a startled yelp: Kaiji was mostly flat on his back before he even realized what had happened. Did he seriously just run right into an attack? A sudden pain that was the combined effort of his own momentum and the creature's strength supported this idea; his source of light and only makeshift weapon rolled harmlessly out of his reach confirmed it.

Kaiji felt like an idiot, probably because he just provided undeniable evidence that he was one. This is why you only do things for you and no one else, he silently cursed himself, nevermind the boy who was rushing to his aid. A few tears ran down the sides of Kaiji's face and to the floor to be soaked up by his long hair. He couldn't decide what was worse: that he had just let himself get trapped by a horrific monstrosity that would kill him without a second thought, that he let himself get distracted so easily, or that he hadn't learned his lesson about trying to help people and taking on tasks that he obviously couldn't handle.

Like a wild animal Kaiji almost reflexively tried to thrash his way to freedom which only increased the intensity of his tears. With the clawed appendage holding him down, struggling could only hurt him instead of help. Not that that mattered: it was all that Kaiji could think to do about this right now.

She was relieved to see that Sora was okay enough to move and rejoin the fight, but that relief was short lived as the situation worsened. Now Sora was attacking and Kaiji was the one on the ground, pinned to the ground even. At that moment, there was nothing MOMO wouldn't have given to have her Ether bow in hand--even a normal bow would've been nice. It wasn't as though she'd never used a short-ranged weapon before, but a flashlight was a poor stand-in for a battle rod. There was little choice at the moment though, and the realian tightened her grip on the light.

She skirted back around the creature, moving back to where she had been when it first arrived. It would be too risky trying to attack in the same place Sora had, after all, and it was likely better to hit it from different sides anyway.

The realian couldn't be certain whether or not Sora's attack had hit, but she couldn't waste time trying to figure it out. Rushing towards the creature, MOMO waited until she was close before twirling around, using the momentum to add what power she could to the strike she aimed at its side.

The creature loomed over Kaiji, keeping his hold with little effort despite the man's struggling. The humanoid face peered down as though trying to calmly decide what to do with its new victim, while the dog's head snarled at those who approached.

Now that Sora was armed, he was also more of a threat. The leftover's free arm, though shorter, reached out to try and grab the boy's wrists as he swung. The girl was ignored, and her blow caused the beast to flinch, but nothing more.

In the darkness, it was hard to tell what was going on with Kaiji, but Sora knew that he couldn't worry about that right now. He needed to make sure this thing got off of the man, though, and he was willing to do whatever it took. It seemed like MOMO was helping, but Sora was only vaguely aware of that as he was suddenly seized by the monster.

When it grabbed one of his hands, Sora frowned and pulled the other one away, forcing him to hold the Keyblade one-handed. It was a lot harder to wield that way, but enough dual-wielding had made sure that he wasn't complete uncomfortable with it. He took another swing at the monster with the weapon with it, aiming for its neck, and then also pulled up a leg to kick at its side.

If he didn't think about how much danger he was in, it felt good to be in a fight again, especially since there was a purpose to it.

To the left, to the right, forward, backwards, it seemed like any direction Kaiji tried to go, all it did was make those horrible claws sink deeper into him. The monster holding him appeared to be thinking, probably about the impossibly nasty things it was going to do with him. What would it do first, he wondered? Use those claws that were already conveniently shoved into him to cleave open his stomach and have its two heads take turns lapping up the contents? No, it would probably start a little lighter, maybe plucking off his fingers and toes one at a time. Perhaps it would follow that up by slowly picking out each and every hair on his head, one after the other, until he went crazy and started begging for death. Whatever the creature was planning, assuming that it was even capable of planning, Kaiji imagined that it would be the worst thing he could possibly ever come up with times ten.

Kaiji was becoming increasingly exhausted in his attempts to escape, making them noticeably weaker as time progressed. When he finally realized this, he stopped abruptly. The sound of his struggling was silenced. Replacing them was the noise from his gasping breaths that just made him press up against those awful claws even more.

It looked and sounded like he had given up, but as long as the creature didn't immediately kill him, this was far from over. Kaiji's mind was working, scheming, and if there was any way to survive this at all he was going to find it. While that was getting sorted out, though, he stared hopelessly up at the monster that loomed over him: tears continued to pour down his face at a steady rate.

MOMO knew she wasn't the best when it came to using physical strength (Ziggy and KOS-MOS had always handled things in that department), but she'd hoped she could've done something better than that. It was a little disheartening, but she wasn't one to give up so easily; she'd just have to try harder next time.

The creature seemed to be ignoring her as well. Normally that would be a good thing, but considering there was someone pinned to the ground here, that couldn't be said about this particular situation.

"Hey!" MOMO shouted, taking a swing at the arm holding Kaiji, "Hey, you! Look over here!" If she couldn't get the monster's attention by hitting it, maybe yelling would do it.

The snarling dog's head twisted towards MOMO as she came back at it, barking and tossing spittle left and right. The arm that had been holding down Kaiji jerked. The hand kept the man it its grasp and the entire limb twisted backwards in a way no limb should be able to move. It made to toss Kaiji directly into MOMO.

Spinning in the opposite direction, the creature kept its grip on Sora while raising up and then attempting to toss the boy again as well.

This was appearing to be more and more futile, since all the monster was doing was ignoring their attacks and throwing all of them around. Sora kept a tight hold on his weapon as the monster tossed him back, and this time he was able to land squarely on his feet. Getting thrown backward by the Heartless was a fairly common occurrence, after all, and he had been forced to learn how to do quick recovers to make sure he wasn't completely devoured by the things.

Sora wasn't planning to give up just because this thing was giving them a hard time, though. He was just going to have to try for a different approach. Letting out a determined breath, he circled around the two-headed beast until he was behind it and then charged, leaping off of the ground once he was close enough so that he could jump onto the thing's back.

Once he was there, he pulled one arm down under the neck of one of the heads, trying to suffocate it. Hopefully this would provide enough of a distraction that the others could figure out some way to further injure it.

This was a unique experience if nothing else. Powerless to do anything to prevent it, Kaiji suddenly found himself being used as a close-range projectile. A fleshy, excessively-sized, incredibly fatigued, sobbing projectile. By the time this night was over, his unpleasant meeting with the tall pale bastard in the afternoon would probably be the least of his worries.

Definitely not what he had expected. Somewhere in Kaiji's throat there developed and escaped a startled noise. Stuck experiencing a brief flight right at MOMO, Kaiji tightly shut his eyes and waited for an impact. As much as it would have benefited him to hit the target that the creature had set due to the possibility of cushioning his fall, he found himself secretly hoping that he would meet solid flooring again: he wanted to be selfish, not cruel.

Whatever the outcome of this move was going to be, Kaiji knew that it was bound to be very painful very soon for at least one of the parties involved.

Well, at least she'd succeeded in getting the monster's attention. That had been what she originally wanted but, unfortunately, MOMO hadn't thought far enough ahead to figure out what to do once she had it. The creature, on the other hand, had apparently already decided what to do. Its arm twisted in an unnatural way--not that anything about it was very natural to begin with--and before she could figure out the purpose for that, Kaiji was sent towards her. She quickly scrambled backwards, but her close proximity to the creature worked as a major disadvantage.

Having someone thrown into you was undoubtedly a painful experience, so it was no surprise that the initial impact caused the Prototype to let out a quick yelp. But, no matter how much she wished otherwise, that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part, at least as far as MOMO was concerned, was Kaiji’s added weight when she hit the ground.

With two of the three nuisances out of the way, at least temporarily, the leftover was free to focus on the one remaining. This was good, because the little one was now in a position to cause some actual damage.

It growled, gasping as the boy's grip on its neck caused breathing difficulty, even though it still had another head to breath from. The same long oddly joined arm reached back around to try and remove the nuisance.

Not really able to keep up with what the others were doing, all Sora could tell was that they were out of commission for the moment, which meant that he had to stay on this thing's back and keep it distracted at all costs.

He ducked away from the creature's arm and then pressed his foot against its leg, hoping to unbalance it that way, and started swinging wildly with his Keyblade despite the awkward position he was in. This thing seemed to only have the strength of its claws and the fangs in that dog head going for it, which meant that there was a chance of taking it down if he kept working at it.

Maybe the others would be able to come through, as well. Even though Sora was so intent on protecting everyone, he also knew that he worked better with helping hands. He just hoped there really was a prize here, and this wasn't all for nothing. But since they had come across such a strange monster, there was a good chance that they would be rewarded for dispatching it in the end.

When Kaiji found himself colliding with something soft that responded with a sound and was decidedly not a floor or a table, he immediately knew what had happened and for a moment felt strangely guilty about it. This didn't last long because while it was his body that had been flung at MOMO, he wasn't the one making it happen. He could only imagine how painful this must have been for the girl thanks to their size and weight difference though.

The expression that Kaiji was giving, whether it was seen or not, was a greatly apologetic one. Tears continued to moisten his cheeks and drip away as the panting man miserably and wordlessly worked at gently taking his weight from the girl he slammed into without placing additional pressure on her. He was giving it his best effort and attempt at speed, but was still sluggish and clumsy all the same.

From this point, Kaiji assembled a list of goals in his head: the first was obviously to finish removing himself from MOMO. The second was to retrieve the flashlight that he dropped when he fell, and the third was to have at that monster again. He wasn't sure how he would go about it, but something had to work. It just had to. As long as Kaiji was physically able to do anything at all, he was going to do everything in his power to get back at that creature.

MOMO had said herself that she was tougher than she looked--her father had ensured that when he created her--but she had still been modeled after a child. Being small could sometimes work in her favor, but in cases like this it worked against her.

The collision had been bad enough, but what made the situation even worse was the realization that if she and Kaiji were both here right now, that meant Sora was alone against the monster. Adding that onto not being able to see what was going on, due to both Kaiji and the fact that her flashlight had rolled across the room when she fell, made keeping calm difficult.

Biting back the whimpers that wanted to escape, the realian put her hands against him and pushed, wanting to get him up as soon as possible. Normally she would've been too concerned about any possible injuries he might've had to do something like that, but her current position made breathing difficult. She'd question Kaiji's condition once she was able to take a proper breath, and once she was able to see how Sora was faring.

Removing a nuisance this size from its back shouldn't have been this difficult. Nevertheless, Sora was still there. Still causing pain.

The leftover growled deeply. When the boy kicked at his leg in an attempt at making it lose its balance, it took it as an opportunity to completely throw its weight backwards to the floor. With any luck, it would crush Sora beneath it.

Why was nothing working? Not even his Keyblade seemed to be doing much damage. As the monster started to fall backward, apparently willing to sacrifice its balance in order to hurt him, Sora let out a yelp, already aware that there was no way for him to avoid this.

Even if he let go, he would still end up with the creature on top of him, and that might possibly make things worse. So he held on, squinting his eyes closed in anticipation of how much the fall was going to hurt as he waited for them to hit the ground.

His back smacked against the floor and the monster's weight on top of him knocked the wind out of him. Sora was left tense and pained under the thing, trying to gasp for air to fill his lungs again. He needed to get out from under it, he needed to do something -- but his head was swimming. He could only hope that the fact that the monster was now on the floor might mean that the others could get some good hits on it.

The little hands pushing at Kaiji were initially greeted with a shudder, but he quickly calmed down from that and tried to use the girl's pushing at him to help completely free MOMO from his additional weight. As fine as he would have been with just collapsing onto the floor, sprawling out, and falling asleep right then and there cold or no cold, Kaiji refused to rest until the monster situation was completely taken care of.

From the sounds of things, they still had a long way to go.

Wasting no time after regaining his freedom of movement, Kaiji staggered to his feet and clamored to collect his dropped light. As long as he got to it without incident, he would be ready for a second bout with the creature as soon as he got his hands on it.

Hopefully whatever Sora had come up with was doing a passable job of holding the abomination off, but the noises being produced from that general area weren't at all promising. "Sora!?" Kaiji finally called out into the dark room. Calling out names had been a way of checking on status for Kaiji before, and he expected to hear his own echoed back from the boy. Names were sacred: they were a way of telling that someone wasn't completely alone in whatever they were doing. Even just a bout of calling names back and forth could provide a unique form of comfort.

Whether Sora answered or not, Kaiji was going to get back at this thing and its creator no matter what. His wrath would just be no less than ten times worse if he lost Sora to them, especially at this point.

Things just seemed to be getting worse and worse as the night dragged on. Even with Kaiji up, MOMO still couldn't see what was going on, but the sounds were enough to let her know that things were still looking rather grim.

Trying to focus on anything but the pain the movements brought, the Prototype slowly climbed back to her feet. Sora was alone against the monster right now and that was completely unacceptable. She didn't care about what happened to herself; as long as she was able to fight even a little, she'd continue do so. She'd deal with the consequences later.

The first thing she did was retrieve her flashlight again. And she immediately turned the light to look for Sora and the creature--only to find them both on the floor, the boy pinned beneath it. MOMO would've gasped or called out, but that required a deep breath and breathing had become more painful after the previous collision. So, the realian bit back any remarks and instead settled for rejoining the fray.

She wasn't able to move as quickly as she would've liked, but that didn't stop her from trying to kick the creature.

The creature's oddly jointed and uneven arms might have proven useful while upright and fighting off patients, but they weren't nearly so helpful when it came to rising back up off its back. It flailed about, eventually having to roll to one side and off Sora in order to even begin to stand.

MOMO's kick came while it was very much angered and it roared, aiming a swing with the longer arm in her direction. It was not pleased.

The moment the monster rolled off of him, Sora let out a desperate gasp for air, doing his best to recover after that painful episode. He had been through worse, he told himself - much worse. The lack of light in this place, along with the fact that there were others that he knew were getting injured due to this monster that refused to relent, made the situation a particularly tough one, but he wasn't going to back down.

When he heard his name called out by a familiar voice, Sora gathered his breath enough to respond. "I'm fine!" he yelled back, wishing he could see that Kaiji was all right, but knowing that there wasn't the time for that. With that, he found the strength to stand up.

Seeing that the monster was also trying to get to its feet again (and attack someone else, though Sora couldn't tell who), the boy narrowed his eyes and sent a kick at the back of its knee, hoping to keep it down. But getting crushed by it earlier had caused his Keyblade to leave him, and he realized he was going to have to try a different strategy.

He remembered the scalpels and other stuff that he and Rena had gathered the last time they had been in this room, and limped toward the cabinets, hoping to find one that he could use against this thing. "Hang in there, everyone!" he called out, not wanting MOMO and Kaiji to lose hope.

Kaiji snatched up his flashlight with the more functional of his two hands and stopped in his tracks, pivoting around the room and taking things in as much and as quickly as possible. Ideas and information surged through his head as he tried to decide how best to approach the main obstacle.

Hearing from Sora was definitely a good thing, although Kaiji was quickly too distracted to answer. Catching sight of the creature appearing to be just about to strike MOMO was very much a bad thing.

Kaiji had everything figured out now though, or so he thought. Oh, how he thought that.

Suddenly grinning confidently with a hint of madness despite the way he was feeling, he once again went rushing at the creature as quickly as he could make himself move. Kaiji intended to dive at and cling to it with most of his remaining strength. Ultimately and ideally, the situation would then mirror the position that the monstrosity had him in earlier, only Kaiji was definitely not going to try to throw this thing anywhere after he had it. What he was going to do from there if he succeeded was unknown even to him at this point: although a multitude of plans were circulating through his head, he hadn't really settled on one.

Oh well, there was still time to decide on that.

Sora had gotten back to his feet again, which was a very good thing. Hopefully that meant he hadn't been hurt too badly when the creature fell on top of him. MOMO would've liked an opportunity to check on him more properly--and check on Kaiji too, for that matter--but now wasn't the time.

The realian skipped, or rather staggered, backwards as quickly as she could, while also swinging out with her flashlight. She was still unable to move very quickly, so hopefully she could bat the thing's arm away.

The creature seemed to be having trouble getting off the floor, so maybe they'd have a real chance at defeating it if they could just keep it down. Of course that left the question of how to keep it down, especially since they needed to avoid those claws.

Annoyed that its swing had missed MOMO, the leftover turned its attention back to Kaiji. The problem with the man's plan lied in the difference in size between his arms and the creature's own.

Though it soon found itself on its stomach, the longer arm was still capable of bending back at impossible angles, and it grabbed for Kaiji's. It was time to rip this nuisance apart.

Squinting through the darkness of the room, Sora threw open one of the cabinets and started blindly searching through it until he found what he was looking for. He got a nick on his finger in the process, due to the scalpel blade cutting him as he'd groped around, but at least he had a weapon now, and something that might be more helpful than the Keyblade, which could really only apply blunt force.

He turned back toward his friends and the monster, breathing hard as he tried to pinpoint what was going on. The creature was still on the floor, which was going to make this all a lot easier, but it was flailing its arms around -- and the wound on his side let Sora know what he didn't really want to get smacked by those claws again.

He waited for the perfect moment, looking for an opening - once he found it, he raced toward the deformed fiend, falling into a kneel next to it. Bracing himself, Sora stabbed down with the scalpel, aiming between the monster's shoulder blades, and then pulled the instrument down its back, hoping to cut the thing wide open.

It wasn't long before Kaiji's crazed and confident expression morphed into something else that showed far more anger and frustration. The creature had managed to turn things around on him once again with that freaky super-bendy long arm as it grabbed at his soft flesh and forced him back. Why did it have to bend that way? It was unnatural and creepy. Kaiji had never been a fan of unnatural creepy things.

This was certainly an awkward and confusing situation. Kaiji was finding himself stuck and there were only two possible directions he could see this possibly going: either the creature was about to completely tear open his belly as he had considered earlier, or it was going to start using him as a billy club against whoever was running at it. Or maybe both. Probably both. Or worse. He wanted to at the very least snap desperately at the thing with his teeth to try causing some damage, any damage at all, but the positioning of the appendage that went after him was far too low and strangely angled for him to be able to reach with teeth.

-Wait, someone was running at it! With a deep growl and a strong sense of determination, Kaiji tried to grab at the arm that was after him. Instead of aiming to repel it, he was going to attempt to keep it close to him as much as he could to hopefully give someone else a fair chance at this thing.

Nightshift 34: Autopsy Room 1

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