damned_institute | Nightshift 36: Men's Bathrooms (M01-M40)

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javert

Nightshift 36: Men's Bathrooms (M01-M40)

[from here]

Javert barely gave his surroundings a cursory glance as the door swung shut behind him. The beam of his flashlight clearly illuminated the sinks in front of him - as well as the pipes underneath them.

He wasted no time. Propping up the flashlight so it gave him a clear view of the sink nearest the door, he crouched beside the pipes leading to it and began to strike at them with his bat.

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Not checking the area thoroughly proved to be a mistake, as a faint scuttling noise was heard and the scorpion pulled its large, glistening body out from where it had been hiding in the darkness. It could sense vibrations nearby each time the bat swung against the pipes. Vibrations meant prey and prey meant food and that was all the scorpion needed to skitter towards the source of the vibrations, its pale armour gleaming faintly and standing out in the darkness.

The work was tedious, but Javert didn't have much time tonight if he wanted to make the M3 meeting as well. With a deafening crash, one end of the pipe broke free and he nodded to himself with something approximating satisfaction. Several seconds passed before it even occurred to Javert to look up and check the area around him again - and then he froze.

He'd seen one of these before - but that had been in a hallway and he had been relatively far away then. Now, he realized, he was all but cornered.

He couldn't help but glance down at the pipe, swinging slightly from one end. Switching the bat to his right hand, he grabbed the pipe with his left and wrenched furiously at it. If he could just get it free before the damned thing got closer...

The crash of the pipe breaking sent a wave of vibrations along the ground and to the approaching scorpion. The prey was close then!

It darted forward, its huge, pale body surprisingly fast and its pincers clicking menacingly at the air. It would seize the patient with its pincers and inject him with venom. Then once he had been rendered unable to fight back the scorpion could take its time with pulling off bite-sized chunks and feeding.

He could feel the pipe giving way under his hand, but there was no time to break it free now. Taking the bat into both hands, he waited until he judged it to be within range, then swung abruptly at its legs, trying to bowl the creature over and trusting that the bat's range would keep him out of range for the time being.

Presumably there was a more efficient way to defeat these creatures, but he certainly couldn't recall reading about them in the bulletin board information he'd copied down.

The bat caught the scorpion by surprise, knocking into its side and bowling it across the floor. Unfortunately for Javert while two of its legs had been injured from the impact, the scorpion was determined to subdue its prey and quickly darted back towards him, its damaged legs only slowing it slightly. It kept lower to the ground and near the wall this time, wary of the swinging bat as it lunged for him again with its pincers.

Javert had taken advantage of the momentary distraction to wrench at the pipe again, and this time it creaked slightly when he pushed at it. Still, he had only enough time to make a note of it before the scorpion was heading toward him again.

This time it lunged first, and Javert could feel its pincers tear the side of his boot as he hastily sidestepped. Infinitely thankful for having his own clothing back, he lunged with the bat, hoping to take advantage of its proximity near the wall by crushing its legs against it.

It had been so close! Its pincer had caught onto the prey for a moment, but the patient had managed to move away before the scorpion had a chance to grab a hold and sting it. He would not be so lucky next time.

The sudden movement of Javert's attack alerted the scorpion and it pressed itself back against the wall and scuttled sideways, the bat narrowly missing it and bouncing off the wall while the scorpion darted in around the pipes he'd been working on. It turned to face him, pincers clicking menacingly and its tail held high, a glistening drop of venom on the wicked point.

He watched it warily from his position, bat leveled in front of him. It would probably be too difficult to attack it like this - the chances of striking the pipes instead and giving the creature an opening were relatively high.

He settled for jabbing at the creature between the pipes, trying to goad it into coming back out in the open.

As the bat jabbed at it around the pipes, the scorpion darted forward, its uninjured legs scrabbling for purchase in the wood as it climbed onto the bat and raced up towards the unprotected hand. Its pincers lashed out, trying to catch a hold of the soft flesh and allow it to plunge its stinger into the patient.

Javert tensed as the scorpion latched onto the bat. One of its pincers sank into his hand before he could react, drawing an involuntary cry of pain from him. Out of pure instinct, he swung the bat as he let go of it, shaking the creature loose and throwing it - and the bat - a good distance away.

Seizing the loose pipe with his uninjured hand, he set his teeth and pulled with all his might. This time it came free at last, and he faced the creature with it once more, shaking slightly from the exertion and trying to ignore the blood running down his other hand.

The scorpion surged forward when its pincer sunk into unprotected flesh, the sharp stinger lashing down only to miss as it was suddenly shaken free and flung a distance away to bounce off a wall and land on its back. Legs and tail worked furiously to right itself, finally succeeding and allowing it to scuttle back towards the pipes, where it had last sensed the vibrations as Javert had torn the loose pipe free. There had been no further indications of movement, so the prey had to still be there.

The creature hadn't scuttled back toward him; perhaps it couldn't actually see him? It was difficult to tell. Javert stooped and picked up the pillowcase cautiously, watching it for signs of an attack.

This time he extended the pipe and tapped it on the floor a short distance away from himself, hoping to lure it out into the open again, where he could actually strike it this time.

There! The scorpion sensed the vibrations faintly through the hard floor; it had been only a little off-target from its prey. It altered its direction to charge at the sensations, realising a fraction too late that the patient was not actually there as its stinger bounced off the tiled floor.

Javert knew an opening when he saw one. Without hesitation, he brought the pipe down upon the creature's tail as it lashed out at nothing.

The scorpion shrieked and chittered as the pipe came down on its tail. It was caught! Hurt! Crazed with pain and fury, it lashed out at what it could reach of its attacker with its pincers.

He hissed as the scorpion's pincers struck his legs, leaving thin gashes through the material of his trousers, but the counterattack hadn't been entirely unexpected and he could almost taste victory now.

Keeping the creature's tail pinned down, he stomped downward at its uninjured legs, hoping his boots would protecting from the worst of the creature's pincers.

The scorpion's legs snapped and gave like so many dry twigs under the blows, eliciting further shrieks of rage from it as it fought to hurt Javert like he was hurting it. Hurt him enough and maybe he'd let it go!

Javert grit his teeth - the creature seemed intent on tearing his feet to shreds - but if there was one trait left in him after the day's events, it was sheer tenacity.

He delivered one last blow to the scorpion's tail before he half-stumbled back, watching it warily. There was no point in trying to kill it if he didn't know how to get past its armor; all he cared about was incapacitating it enough to collect his things and make his exit.

The attack had stopped but had taken its toll on the scorpion; all but one leg twisted and broken while its tail was also damaged badly. Injured as it was, it was clear the scorpion would be unable to leave or continue its attack on the patient. But nevertheless it tried, single leg and pincers scraping against the tiles pathetically.

Javert winced as he stooped to collect his bat and pillowcase. The pipe he had obtained seemed sufficient for a sword of the specifications he'd given Skuld; if it wasn't enough, the oxygen tank and bat would be more than enough supplemental material.

He dropped the bloodied length of metal into the pillowcase, retrieved his flashlight, and, with one last glance at the broken creature scrabbling at the tiles, limped back out into the hallway.

[to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/489591.html?thread=39996279#t39996279) ()

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Nightshift 36: Men's Bathrooms (M01-M40)

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