damned_institute | Nightshift 40: Ruins

Oh god. That was about the only thing Yukari found herself able to think for the next long, few moments; did they just-- was that really a... a...

With another shudder of her own along with a grimace, Yukari was more than happy to keep going and ignoring the-- okay, she couldn't keep denying what it was. Although she wanted to, with how gross that was and...

This was making her feel sick already.

Akihiko drew her attention back again though, away from those ill thoughts, and slowly, hesitantly, Yukari finally drew one of her arrows, holding it and the bow close together. That couldn't have appeared out of nowhere-- something caused it. "Senpai, are you sure we should keep going?" she asked with a small waver in her voice, and with the way Yukari began darting her eyes around with an unnerved face, it was clear her comfort levels were rapidly dropping. "I- I mean, whatever happened... I don't know if we'll be okay if that wasn't the end of it."

Dude...

Dude...

Dude...

Dude.

That was a frickin' hand back there. Like all chomped off and bloody and stuff. He was glad the others had been looking at it too and hadn't quite noticed him inching just a bit behind Yukari as if the power of her miniskirt would keep the hand from animating and crawling at them like in that funny American movie about the creepy family. And the WALKING SEVERED HAND.

He turned away before the others looked up, though, and moved with trepidation toward the ruins. Yup - looming AND ominous.

Junpei's hand itched to have the evoker in it, but Akihiko had mentioned something about it being limited, so he didn't. He just brushed his hand against it, the feel calming him like a security blanket. Two hands now on his bat (as if Akihiko had to tell them to have their weapons out), Junpei moved forward again, putting a little distance between himself and Yukari so she would have a clear line around him if she needed to shoot something.

"Of course, we'll be okay, Yuka-tan," Junpei replied, though his voice wavered a little. "We've always been okay. And we always will be. Somehow." He believed it, that was certain, but that didn't mean he wanted to hang out in the open like this.

"Uh... senpai? Shouldn't we be checking inside the buildings. Seriously, standing out here in the open is like being the cashier at Wild-Duck's cheap-ass burger night - a pack of unwashed beasts looking for a cheap meal will descend and you'd rather hide behind the counter than tell them you ran out of Fowl Sauce to dip their fries in."

"Y-yeah." Breathe, dammit. What are you, a kid? Come on, snap out of it. He took a long, deep breath, willing that sight out of his head. He looked around - none of these were the kind of places he'd want to be in too long normally. He wasn't about to say it, because he knew exactly how afraid of them Yukari was, but it looked like some of these buildings, or what was left of them, anyway, might very easily have ghosts in them. Right now was not the time to get her in a panic.

"Iori's right. We'll be fine," Akihiko said, his normal tone of voice returning. He gestured over to what looked like the most stable of the buildings, a large two-story one a few yards down.

"We'll start there." Even if I do have a bad feeling about this.

Oh, he didn't have to say it-- Yukari knew exactly what these looked like, herself. And usually, in certain types of stories, places like these had, well... those in them, and the bulletin earlier that day listed quite a lot of them... It would be no surprise at all if they showed up here, right?

Of course not.

Yukari's steps became slower, although she didn't realize it. Too focused on all the ruin around them-- she hadn't expected the ruins to be this demolished, no matter how much of a giveaway the name was-- she might have completely stopped in her tracks if it weren't for Junpei trailing so close behind her.

"O- okay," Yukari stammered, eying the building Akihiko had gestured towards. She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for any gho-- any whatever that might have happened to be inside. Like they said, nothing would happen, they'd be fine... "Alright. I'm ready."

Looking at the building in question, Junpei felt a little bit better that it seemed so intact compared to all the other ones. This was a freaking ghost town and, for once, he wasn't going to say so. As much fun as it would be to see Yukari flip out over ghosts again, he was kinda a bit scared that if he said something it'd appear, kind of like when he thought about Koro-chan on mutated steroids the other night.

Reaching the door, Junpei glanced back at the other two. "Uh... did you want me to go first? I mean I can if you want..." He'd feel so much more confident about going in first if he had his hat.

"You don't have to. I'll take the lead, but both of you stay close." With that, he stepped forward, judging the distance Yukari would need to shoot an arrow. Once he was sure of that, he put one hand on the doorknob, then turned to face the others.

"If something attacks and we can handle it, we take it out as fast as we can. If we run into anything we can't handle, which I don't think we will, Iori, give me the Evoker and get yourself and Takeba out of here. Keep your eyes peeled for anything useful - medical supplies, weaponry, that kind of stuff - and anything like books or newspapers that might be clues."

He paused for just a moment. "We've handled Shadows, we've handled Tartarus, and we've handled Strega. We can do this." His usual confident tone was back in his voice. "Let's go."

With that, he turned back around and slowly opened the door, stepping inside.

In the darkness and fog enveloping the ruined town it wasn't immediately obvious there was another living creature in the area. The first warning was the sound of something breathing, a deep sighing huff of air, not far from the small group.

And then came the sound of movement, of great paws slapping against the ground in a lumbering gait, of fur brushing against a solid wall - and then the sound of something tearing, followed by a liquid splatter. The previous owner of the arm they'd seen? Another creature foolish enough to venture out at night, perhaps?

Whatever it had been, and whatever was making the noise...it was close.

Right, the Shadows, Tartarus... if they could fight against those in that huge tower for as long as they have, then this shouldn't be too much of a problem, either. The only difference was that they weren't as prepared equipment wise and their Persona were, apparently, not as strong as they would back home... Nevermind the latter made all the difference; Mitsuru herself said without their Persona, they wouldn't stand a chance against the monsters they had to face.

Argh, no, no, those were thoughts she didn't need right then. Think positive, regardless if this was a really freakin' creepy what was left of some town that could have... Just think positive.

Akihiko started to go inside, but Yukari froze in place when there was a noise. It wasn't very far away, if she were guessing correctly, and what followed the initial sound made the girl turn around, eyes wide as she glanced around some more. That... that didn't sound good-- far from it, and Yukari didn't waste any second preparing to pull the string back on her bow, ready to put reflexes to use if she had to. Hopefully, if she wasn't hearing things, whatever was making the noise had an actual solid form.

"... You both hear that too, right?" Yukari asked quietly, only loud enough for her voice to carry to them.

Wait a minute! Did Akihiko think he couldn't handle it if something huge and nasty tried to eat them and they had to retreat? Come on, who was the hero in this story?

Oh yeah. Right.

Akihiko's little pep talk did help some, and Junpei grinned ready to take on anything that came at them from inside this building. What were a few measly ghosts or zombies or rabid wombats when Junpei had Tris with him? Besides, Akihiko had Caesar and Yukari had Isi-- Oops. Io. They'd be fine. Perfectly fine, he thought as he heard a heavy sigh.

"Aw, come on, Yuka-tan. Senpai's pep talk wasn't that ba--"

Oh. That hadn't been Yukari sighing. Shit. Junpei felt a shiver run straight up his spine as he heard soimething moving nearby that wasn't either of his friends.

"Uh... yup. Lemme go see."

Gripping his bat tighter, Junpei slowly approached the area where he'd heard the sounds coming from. Part of him really didn't want to be looking for whatever that was, but he was closer than Akihiko and, well, Yukari sucked in close combat. Besides, she was a girl and this was a man's job.

Please don't let it be something that wants to score with a hot stud...

"Yeah, I hear it," Akihiko said, looking in the direction of the noise. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he squinted off into the distance. Whatever it was, it sounded big and dangerous both. "Iori, be careful," he hissed through his teeth, as he let go of the door and slowly moved towards the source of that - whatever the hell it was.

He had a bad feeling about whatever it was that was out there. But like he'd just told the others, if they could handle that tower, they could handle anything. They'd faced some pretty nasty shadows before - he really didn't want to think about the one from July, in particular - and been fine. He tried to overlook the fact that Caesar should be stronger than he was, and the same probably went for all of theirs.

Akihiko inched forward a little more, dropping into a fighting stance. Come on, whatever you are. We can take you.

The sounds the creature was making suddenly halted, as if it had heard the low-voiced exchange, and an oppressive silence returned to hang over the area for a long moment. But then there came an abrupt snort and the sound of paws thudding against the ground resumed, slightly faster this time, until a large dark shape lumbered around the corner of a nearby house.

The massive bear lifted to its hind paws as it regarded the three intruders, blood-tinged drool oozing from its muzzle to mix with the slime and other, unknown fluids already matting its patchy, rotted fur. It sniffed at the air for a moment, eyes glinting red in the darkness, then dropped to all fours and lunged toward them with a deep snarl.

"Wait--" Yukari reached out a hand, intending to pull Junpei back from going any further, but both he and Akihiko had already gone ahead of her. Knowing it would be best for her to stick behind, she didn't go with them.

The noise suddenly ceased, and for a minute she thought the coast might have been clear; but Yukari was quickly proven wrong when it picked up again, especially when something finally emerged from wherever it came, looming over them.

She held her breath as she watched a disgusting, horrifying beast watch them right back with eerie eyes-- perhaps a sharp contrast to her own that, in an instant, held an amount of fear in them. Yukari held up her bow, but... Dammit, they were right in front of the thing! She couldn't risk one of them possibly moving right in the way.

"Get away from there!" Yukari shouted, just seconds before the creature before them made its move.

Duh. Of course I'm going to be careful. Who does he think I am? Oh yeah. Right. Come on, like I don't know when to be careful and HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!

Junpei stood with his mouth hanging open, eyes wide, as a huge fucking bear appeared from around a corner, emerging from the fog. He stared at it for a moment as it stared at him. Was that blood on it's muzzle? Did it just eat someone? His thoughts would have taken him back to that severed hand except his thoughts were stuck in a singular loop that repeated over and over one thing as the monstrosity rose up onto two legs right before him.

That is one scary-ass bear.

Then it dropped and lunged.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Junpei screamed, turning and running as fast as his legs would carry him away from the bear, praying that the internet was wrong and that man could outrun a bear if they were a sixteen year old guy terrified out of his mind.

"What the fuck?!" The words were out of his mouth before Akihiko could stop them. "We are running right now. Let's do this!" Unlike Junpei, he did think of that severed arm and the glowing eyes he'd seen in the fog. Well, he knew now what they were, and he had to admit, he was terrified right now.

Out of the corner of one eye, Akihiko caught a glimpse of the bear chasing after them in the reflection of a broken window. That was freaky as all hell. He decided in that moment that whatever was in the house could not possibly be worse than that monster bear. There was just no way that was possible.

"Close the door once we're inside." Bears weren't smart enough to open doors, right? At least the ones in movies didn't usually open them.

Something so large and ungainly-looking shouldn't be able to move very fast. It shouldn't. And yet...it did.

The bear's lumbering gait shifted into what could almost be called a gallop as it crossed the distance between itself and its intended prey, each breath driven out in a huffing grunt as its paws hit the ground. Each breath closer and closer yet.

It slowed for just an instant in its approach to swat a piece of debris from its path, its powerful blow all but obliterating the remains with a snap and crack of tortured wood. It was only for an instant, though, before it was moving again at full speed directly toward the fleeing trio.

Run? Okay. She could do that. And indeed she did, at nearly the exact moment Akihiko instructed them too.

Absentmindedly, Yukari peered over her shoulder as she sprinted forward; immediately she wished she hadn't, because it didn't take very long before she noticed that, holy crap, that thing could move. This was worse than the last spider Ken and she had encountered, but even if these weren't abominations, a huge, angry bear was still scarier than a spider.

Making it to the door frame, Yukari only paused quick enough to call out to the other member of their group; "C'mon, hurry it up!"

"...HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Junpei had yet to stop screaming, his voice going up an octave when he looked back to see the bear disintegrate the rubble or whatever the hell that was. Lowering his head, he put on an even faster burst of speed, barreling right past Yukari and through the door way, tumbling into a heap on the floor when he tried to stop himself from running face first into whatever was right in front of him in the darkness.

Close the door! Close the door!

That's what he wanted to say, but he couldn't breathe right then, so hopefully the others were going to develop telepathy right then and close the door before the scary-ass bear ATE HIM!

Akihiko slammed the door behind him as he ran inside the room, almost tripping over the still-screaming Junpei. "Stop that, it'll find you!", he said in a loud whisper.

This was a little bit ridiculous, as much as it was pretty tense. That monster bear was right outside, they all knew it, and the fear in the room was palpable. What were they supposed to do with a bear?

"Just...stay quiet. Don't move."

He hadn't been expecting to find a bear here. Ghosts, yes, bears, no.

This was the part where, in the horror movies, everyone stood and stared at the door as the monster pounded on it, waiting and hoping that the latch would hold. If the three patients were in a proper horror movie, that might be what would happen next.

Unfortunately, they weren't.

The bear's momentum didn't slow at all even as the door was closed practically in its face - it just kept running. Its broad shoulder slammed into the already battered door, and the weather-worn wood stood no chance against several tons of broad muscle.

With an explosion of wood splinters it gave way enough for the bear's head and part of its shoulders to enter the room, its jaws gaping in a snarl. Its flailing sent gobbets of drool and worse flying in wild splatters as it struggled to make it the rest of the way through, claws scrabbling against a door frame that creaked and groaned ominously in response.

When Yukari made it in herself, much like Junpei she had to stop herself short, immediately whipping around to watch the door.

There were plenty of things she wanted to say, and could have said, but Yukari opted to go with the wiser decision to keep her mouth shut and stay quiet. All the running left her breathing heavily, though, and even her panting sounded entirely too loud, as if it alone would give them away. Bears weren't that smart, right? So whether or not is was some freaky equivalent of a decaying monster, the silence should have told it they weren't inside the house (was it a house? it definitely had seen better days, but at the moment, Yukari wasn't going to choose this moment to investigate).

... Right?

What felt like close to an eternity was in actuality only a few, quick seconds in the silence before the startling crash into the door happened. Again, Yukari was being proven wrong as the bear snapped its teeth at them, and all she could do in response was let out a high-pitched shriek loud enough to wake any hypothetical neighbors. Her feet moved on their own, stepping backwards and almost stumbling along the way, and even caught herself bumping unexpectedly into what might have been a small table once upon a time. Now it was nothing but broken, rotting wood, and Yukari had to catch herself before she truly did fall.

But she tried not to waste a second, and now that she felt like she were at a good enough distance, Yukari drew back an arrow and aimed at... Oh god, where precisely did she need to aim for? It wasn't like she knew how to kill an animal this way, much less this! She almost hesitated, but knowing that they couldn't afford to waste a second, Yukari shouted out a warning first; "I- I'll distract it for a second, start moving and I'll follow!"

Thankfully, this time they were just as far into the room as she were, so now she didn't have to worry about them getting in the way. Yukari let the arrow fly, intending to shoot towards its shoulder or neck. The thought utterly sickened her, knowing she had to pull a move like this, but there was no other choice; it was either impair it as much as possible, or meet a fate she'd rather not think about.

Immediately shutting up upon hitting the floor, Junpei scrambled to right himself. Just like the others, he froze as he pressed himself back against the wall as much as he could, staring at the door in front of him. In video games, leaving the monster's area usually meant they were okay as the monsters' coding meant they had to patrol an area and would only pursue so far. Kind of that out of sight, out of mind thing.

CRASH!

Yukari shrieked and Junpei started wide eyed as the bear snarled and snapped at him, frothing spittle flying from the bear's jaws to speckle the teen's shirt and even on his face. Holy shit! He could, like, count every damn teeth the thing had as he gagged from the foul stench of decaying flesh and blood wafting off the thing's breath as it roared.

A claw getting too close to Junpei's leg spurred him into action and he skittered along the wall toward where Yukari was. She had the bow, yes, so she could hit it without getting close to the scary-ass bear. He grabbed the small table by the other junior and pulled himself to his feet, tipping it over so it'd roll toward the bear once he heard the twang of Yukari's bow, somehow, over the snarling of the bear.

He wasn't going to stick around to see if it hit or not, nor was he going to let Yukari take up the rear. Grabbing her around the waist with one arm, he urged her to get a move on, calling to Akihiko, "Who the fuck thought a door would stop, like, a nine-thousand pound bear?"

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