Nightshift 38: Entry Room

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

[from here]

The Entry Room was a lot like he remembered it, or at least, a lot like what he remembered from when he'd run into Clark here on his first night. Admittedly most of what he remembered was dark, blurred from speed, and full of argument but this was a lot like that. Just without the blurring and the arguments.

Bruce's comment about not running around and just hitting things struck a nerve though, and Wally flushed at that, though hopefully with how dark and empty the room was, it wouldn't be noticeable. "No, I guess it doesn't," he was forced to agree. Especially on his first night, when all it had done was gotten him to learn the hard way that his powers weren't working as they used to and then nearly gotten him eaten by a bunch of bugs.

"I think the map said the file rooms were in here, right?" he asked, trying not to let the implied reprimand get to him and beginning to wish this whole night was over already. It was hard to imagine how things could get any more difficult just from talking to each other. At least now that they were away from the more crowded areas, hopefully Bruce would stop acting so... not like Bats. He felt kinda bad that Bruce acting different bothered him so much, but he couldn't help it. It just weirded him out.

Comments

[fencing-captain.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/545160.html?thread=45066632#t45066632)]

This room was different. Dark carpeting, two desks. There was someone else in here. Maybe.

Why all this uncertainty? Juri suddenly felt cross with herself. She prided herself on being direct and calm, and here she was worrying over shadows and strangers. They were just people she didn't know. There wasn't anything mysterious or magical about it.

Holding her flashlight before her almost like an epeé, Juri approached the door and tried the knob. Locked. It was the first locked door she'd encountered. The lock looked rusty, but she wanted to think before she started destroying property. She still didn't know where she was.

Juri returned to the desks and sat on one of them. Her choices seemed to be to break out and leave a clear sign that she had or stay and investigate. She found it hard to engage her interest in staying, but she didn't want to leave such an obvious sign of destruction either. Well, she could spare a few minutes to think.

[fencing-captain.livejournal.com]

Or so she thought. Juri briefly noted two men in the room and the woman who'd appeared out of the gloom to try to ward them off. Go back to their rooms? Was there a curfew in place? There'd been a similar measure in place at Ohtori, except for the Student Council, of course. Was it dangerous here? Then the broader man broke down the entire door to one of the closet-like rooms and the other shouted to her to leave. Well, she assumed it was the other man. Her eyes wouldn't focus properly on him as he moved far too quickly toward the woman.

That more than anything drove Juri to her feet, her hands clenching into tense fists. What was going on here? She didn't waste her time trying to work it out though. If they were going to fight, she'd have to get out of here. In her mind, retreat was not an option, so she returned to the doors she assumed led outside or at least closer to it.

She looked down at the flimsy slippers on her feet and decided against trying to kick the lock. She didn't have the strength just to batter down a door like the huge man had, so she resorted to the only weapon she had, her flashlight. She reversed it and swung decisively at the door knob.

Juri had a strong upper body compared to most girls her age. She was a skilled fencer, which didn't take brute strength itself, but swinging an epeé and striking an opponent worked out arm, chest and back muscles that some people never even knew they had. So after three firm strikes, the knob fell to pieces and she was able to reach her fingers into the hole and unlock the door.

She pushed it open and was rewarded by a rush of fresh, night air. Juri took one last glance behind herself and then hurried out into freedom.

[OOC: moving on out with SC-mun approval to pass]

[fencing-captain.livejournal.com]

[gone here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/557241.html)]

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

She'd been praying that no one would come through this way.

Meche was standing just in front of the doorway out, waiting. Her limbs were tense from having been poised to move for so long already. Well, she'd better suck it up. There was a lotta night left to go, and she couldn't let her guard down even for a second. Nobody was getting through that door.

No matter what she had to do to ensure that.

She heard movement and jerked her head up--men's voices, talking quietly, from the opposite entryway. A short time later, more footsteps and another light. Damn. Three of them at once.

"Sorry," she said, loud enough for all of them to hear her. "But I don't want any of you anywhere near this door. Please leave now."

[gothamnight.livejournal.com]

Bruce was silent as they entered, taking in the desks and the chairs, the darkened shades of the walls and floor. It wasn't so much the darkness as a lack of light that stripped the colors from their surroundings, and even while he picked out the outlines of the two file room doors from the blacks and grays Bruce was feeling less and less optimistic as each and every second ticked by.

Because what made Bruce tense up immediately after entering wasn't the darkness. Or the loudness of Wally's voice that seemed to hang in the dense air after he spoke.

They had company.

There was a girl that entered with him, but Bruce wasn't watching her. The focus of his attention now was a woman: roughly about 5'5" or 5'7", in her early thirties. Large handgun in her hand, but not a model Bruce had seen before. There wasn't a great deal of light, but his eyes were adjusting. What he could see and hear from the woman's voice and body language told him all he needed.

'Sleep studies.' Right.

"We won't take long," Bruce said slowly, gentle and testing. The tone of his voice was not deep enough to sound very much like Batman's, but it was a far cry from a billionaire's teasing timbre. He glanced over at Wally but briefly before refocusing his eyes.

"Just a moment or two and we're out."

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

Wally jerked his flashlight up in surprise as the voice rang out; he'd completely failed to notice that there was someone else in the room when he'd entered which, come to think of it, was kinda like his first night here too. At least this time he hadn't run into them head on or anything.

The beam of the light showed him that he was facing... an older woman in a suit and heels. Sure she had a pretty big gun as well, but even here he was fairly fast, which meant he was harder to hit even with a gun. Man, for a minute there he'd been worried it was going to be something hard to handle.

Bruce still seemed to think it was something to be worried about though, but Wally was feeling more relieved. A fight was something that didn't require him to spend all his time worrying about what to do or say; a fight was just hitting things, which he was more than capable of. Not that he really wanted to just start punching the woman facing them now, but if it did come to that, then he was sure he could handle it without even breaking a sweat.

"I dunno if she's going to let us have a moment, let alone two," Wally muttered to Bats. "Listen, if she tries anything, I can handle her. You go after the files." There was the other girl in the room now too, but Wally was a hundred percent positive that he could keep the armed woman distracted enough that the girl could get away too. "Oh, and Tony said if you could keep an eye out for his file? It's probably under 'Sandia'."

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

If she'd had the luxury of being rational tonight, Meche might have been okay with that. They said they'd just be a moment. They said they were leaving. They weren't anywhere near the front door, at least not for the moment. Maybe they really weren't trying to get out.

But she couldn't stake Manny's life on it. Especially not after the doctors had warned her that other patients would say anything to try to get past her. She had to get them out of there, back to their rooms, fast.

"Not good enough, pal," she said to the man who had spoken, her voice sharper and higher than it had been a moment ago. They could probably hear that note of desperation growing in it, but she didn't care. If it told them she was serious, so much the better. She started gesturing with the sproutella gun, just in case they still weren't getting the picture. "I'm not taking any chances! Get back to your rooms, now."

Meche felt her body starting to panic and tried to slow her breathing. What was wrong with them? Why the hell didn't they just get out of there? Didn't they see that she was packing heat? Couldn't they tell how badly she was shaking? She didn't want to hurt them, but in her current state, she might not be responsible for her aim.

[purgatio]

[from here]

And this door led to a smaller room. He saw another door at the other end. To outside? Outside wouldn't have him learning about the environment and tools he could use in this setting, but he could look at the stars. Seeing the position would actually tell him where he was. And if they weren't anything he recognized... then he'd have to lean more towards the so-called fact of him living in the past.

Outside it was.

The only problem with that was the human plant statue in the middle of the room, and the two other people around it. Albedo stopped with a huff, eyes narrowing again. Of course. The only question was whether he would ignore it or reveal himself and not have to deal with it at all. Decisions, decisions.

[mateswithnobody.livejournal.com]

She may've been offended by the question except for the fact, why yes, Donna did talk a great deal and she knew it. Still, knowing it made it all the worse for the boy when she responded. "Best get used to that, Albie," she snorted slightly, "Cuz it ain't stopping anytime soon. You hear me?"

It looked like they were heading for the way out then. It was the way she'd have chosen, but now the boy could claim some kind of hand in whatever they got into and either not complain later or feel some kind of accomplishment from it. Either way, it wouldn't make things difficult for Donna.

[purgatio]

It was too much to hope that she wouldn't follow him. And continue talking at him. He clenched his jaw, pretending to watch the... whatever it was in the center of the room carefully. Nigredo had always said to just ignore things and they go away. He'd have to see if it worked.

...Like anything the younger ever said was true. Putting faith in Nigredo? When he originally said that, the situation didn't get any better. Things got a whole lot worse. (Regardless of Albedo not exactly listening, but that wouldn't work, not when those things were--) And everything started changing more than it already was.

He didn't want to think about it anymore. But everything just kept coming back, wave after wave after wave.

[tender-cruelty.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/544800.html?thread=45376288#t45496608)]


Allelujah only took a glance to sum up the situation. That woman near the doorway had a gun, was aiming it at two more patients and seemed intent on keeping people away from the door. One of the brainwashed patients, obviously. He turned back to Sousuke, murmuring beneath his breath. "We should move quickly."

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku peeked over Sousuke's shoulder, it was still a little too dark to see their offense. It was kind of scary - she could hear something like foliage in the darkness, rustling.

"Sousuke... run. I don't like the sound of that..." she murmured and wrapped herself a little more securely. "I'll be alright."

[uruz-vii.livejournal.com]

"Affirmative," Sousuke said, replying both to Miku and Allelujah at the same time. The sergeant ran by the escaping patients, heading straight for the door. They'd have to break it down--Sousuke seriously doubted it would just open with no problem.

"Allelujah, can you take care of the door?"

[wantsyourzex.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/545160.html?thread=45536136#t45536136)]

ZEX blinked at Teisel's question, then laughed quietly. "Interpersonal combat wasn't my strongpoint... I tended to work on a much larger scale back during the War." Countless fleets of ships in Hyperspace, and it was hard to think of something more removed from his current situation. Macro to micro. "That and this human body doesn't exactly help. It's very clumsy." ZEX brushed some hair from his face with an awkward smile. "I'll be alright."

As for Asch's question... "Hee! Hee! Hee! No, of course I'm not! It's hard to remember sometimes that most humans can't tell now. I still think of myself as a VUX." Again, ZEX reminded himself that the odds were against this new human knowing anything about his species or history as he knew it. He was never going to get used to that. "We're a species native to Beta Luyten..."

ZEX trailed off when they entered the room. It looked like they might have trouble after all... it was hard to make out details in the dark, but there was no mistaking that there had been conflict here, and it possibly hadn't been resolved. Some creature or something in the darkness, no doubt, and it'd show itself soon enough. He could hear a kind of strange rustling sound... he wished he'd had a chance to get more familiar with Earth's fauna before they'd been slaveshielded away from him.

"Hmm... perhaps we should continue this conversation later," ZEX said, his voice lowering.

[no-barbarian.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I guess you probably had plenty of other things to think about, huh? Just keep clear if something does happen, okay, boss?" Teisel was very tempted to add a 'and please don't accidentally stab me,' but thought better of it. It wasn't like the poor guy had asked to suddenly sprout hands or something.

Huh. That Asch guy seemed pretty well-spoken. Teisel wondered if he'd been someone important or high-class where he was from. No one looked important in these uniforms, so it was hard to tell.

He'd started to relax and listen to Zex chat; when they got to the entry room, he froze. Right away it was clear that something wasn't right in here. The room was a mess, which meant either someone had been rummaging around with utter abandon or there'd been a fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zex tense. Something was moving on the far side of the room; gently, he nudged Zex out of the way to put himself between the admiral and whatever the noise was. He wasn't thrilled about it, but that was part of their agreement and he had to keep to it. For now, anyway.

Subconsciously, he was waiting for the electronic chirp of a reaverbot, but of course nothing like that was going to be in here. If anything, it'd be an organic animal. With a worried hum he raised his flashlight, hoping to blind whatever was over there.

What was that smell? ...Flowers?

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

Then Donna and the boy were gone, and Meche was shaking again. She let her injured wrist drop for a second, relaxing it, and then she reloaded the gun. She'd sounded so much like Domino back there.

Giving orders, taunting people, torturing kids, hiding behind a weapon...and she'd never wanted a smoke more in her life or afterlife. She really was doing a killer Domino impression tonight. She could practically hear his voice in her ears, feel him looming over her shoulder. He'd be laughing, of course. "That's it, Meche! With an attitude like that, I might even give you a promotion someday!" He'd leave his empty coffee cup on her desk like she should know what to do with it and take a parting shot on his way out: "I can see you've been learning from the best."

But it was different, she wanted to insist to him. Domino was evil--just found this fun. Meche wasn't having fun at all.

She didn't want to think about it. Just keep loading.

When she looked up again, she saw another group in the room--all men, four of them this time. She had the sudden urge to put a sproutella dart in each of their chests, but she decided she'd better hold off. Why waste ammo if she could get them to leave?

"Get out," she demanded sharply. "Please just get back to your rooms. I've had it up to here with you people tonight." She used the gun barrel to indicate 'here' at about eye level. Then she pointed it, left-handed, in their direction.

[screwthegods]

[From here]

"Be prepared." That was the only thing Homura had said before carefully moving into the entry room. He was a bit curious about why Okita thought his choice was a mistake, and intended to ask him about it. But a look into the room revealed that it wasn't the right time to pry into it further. Mello had beaten them there, if only to this point; Homura saw no files in their hands. And the situation turned out to be to their advantage, as the other's group was stopped by a brainwashed patient. That explained the blood that had given Okita pause at the entrance.

"We'll split up at this point." Homura watched the gathered patients, keeping his voice low as he spoke to Okita to avoid being noticed. The one with the gun was the one to avoid, no doubt. "Go left. I'll take the room to the right. Move quickly while she's still dealing with the others."

[notachick.livejournal.com]

So this was what it was like. As soon as Okita stepped into the room, he saw the other patient and the people facing off against her. Mello's group was here, but they were stopped and that was to their advantage. Let him deal with her then. He and Homura had work to do and they had to do it quickly before Mello got a chance. "Understood."

Moving his hand from his sword, he nodded to Homura and then quickly moved to the room on the left.

[running off to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/556584.html?thread=45631784#t45631784)]

[screwthegods]

At the same time as Okita, Homura had made his way to the right. Though he was slower, it would make no difference, or so he thought. But the door was locked, and while that was further proof that no one else had gone inside yet tonight, it was also further delay. The demi-god frowned slightly, but Mello's group was still caught by the brainwashed patient. He couldn't worry about being noticed at this point; all Homura could do was proceed.

He clenched his jaw tight against the pain, and gave the door a sharp kick that forced it open. The agony that shot up his side was a reminder that he had to be careful with such maneuvers. Homura couldn't move forward for a moment, but still willed himself to proceed as soon as he was able, heading into the room.

[To here]

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/545160.html?thread=45574280#t45574280)]

Ritsuka was the first into the room, pushing the doors open with little trouble. It wasn't until he was inside that he realized there was a problem. He could see a group ahead in the room and beyond them, a person. A person with a gun. He froze just inside the doorway, caught now between the fear of facing another patient while they had a weapon and the logic that they weren't a threat and could escape detection.

"Kio..." He moved a little further into the room and then stepped to the side. His eyes never moved off the group in front of him, or the things they were doing. This wasn't going to be pleasant, no matter what happened. "We have a problem."

[stalksperverts.livejournal.com]

Jordan Becker. Matsuda Hiro. What Kio had not told Ritsuka was that he intended to take Sou-chan's file. He'd lied to the boy and he knew it. But if anything would shed a light on Sou-chan's life and true self it would be that file. For all the lies that Kio knew it would contain, he could not help himself. He certainly felt guilty over it because Ritsuka had helped him with not ulterior motive and here he was, using him.

When Ritsuka stood his ground, Kio was taken somewhat aback. He liked the boy, quite a lot and to see him stand on his own two feet was certainly something he knew would do him good. The words that came out though both startled and confused Kio. There were people who were actually Heartless? "Told you?" He blinked. This was not expected. "If you and Sou-chan both trust him, I guess I should too. "I don't mind different people, I just don't like violence. I don't want him hurting either of you." He'd seen Sou-chan hurt enough.

Kio did not remark further upon the whole Heartless business, preferring to wait until they found Sou-chan and Demyx again before asking for himself. He followed Ritsuka into the Entry Room and then stopped. A gun. Fighting. Just what he did not want. Glancing at the boy, Kio tightened his grip on the flashlight. A promise was a promise.

The man moved in time with Ritsuka. "We mean them no harm. You said you know where the files are. Let's get them and get out, maybe we can escape unnoticed." It hurt him to say those words because he had never intended to let anyone be hurt or sad, but he could do nothing against a gun. Rats had been different. This was a human. "Let's go, Ritsuka."

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

The conversation from before would have to wait. Ritsuka wanted to tell Kio how he didn't like violence either. He wanted to say that there were times, however, that one's survival depended upon one's ability to let such principles go. He wanted to say a lot of things, but everything was put on hold the moment he saw the gun. "It's on your right," he said, motioned to the room off to the side. "Let's go."

[here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/563173.html?thread=46001637#t46001637)

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/545160.html?thread=45815176#t45815176)]]

There were already several people in the room and he'd heard the sounds of a scuffle long before they'd entered. Gin held his knife at the ready in his right hand, his flashlight in the left. They only needed to stay long enough for Ran to try the key here. He could probably cover her if there was a fight. It wasn't like it would take long.

"Best make haste darlin'," he called softly to Rangiku.

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

A girl just couldn't get a break around here.

Meche had barely sat down when a new voice rang out quietly from the inside door. Her head snapped up so fast that her ears rang. Two of them this time, and the guy had a knife. Even better, they were headed for her door. Just great! Wonderful! It would almost be funny, if every single one of them weren't an unwitting killer whom she was going to have to shoot. Another day, another dollar!

She must be starting to get hysterical here--she couldn't afford to be this flip about it all. Meche staggered painfully to her feet, gun at the ready. The back of her skull throbbed. Damn, damn, damn.

"I've given this speech a hell of a lot of times tonight, and things haven't turned out well for anybody who didn't do what I told them to, when I told them to. Get it?" she demanded, hoping she sounded a lot more stable than she felt. "Turn around and get out, or get shot. After a night like this, anything I do to you would be justifiable homicide."

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

Rangiku nodded and then moved towards the door. It was too late though, the woman stood and faced them, looking rather panicky really. Rangiku almost felt sorry for her. She must have been brainwashed, poor thing. And she'd probably feel terrible in the morning, but for now, Rangiku had a mission to perform and she wasn't about to be deterred by this woman.

Rangiku drew her katana, brandishing it casually, making it clear that she knew how to use it. She raised an eyebrow at the woman. "We aren't intending to go outside, but I won't allow you to get in my way either."