damned_institute | Night 41: M51-60 Hallway

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Night 41: M51-60 Hallway

Recluse had used his uneventful dinner as time to hammer out and sharpen a new blade for Scourge, and do maintenance on the rest of his own weapons, then changing into his black Arachnos officer's uniform, ready for the night. Then, it had simply been a matter of waiting, impatiently as always, for the doors to unlock.

At least that pompous fool didn't lecture them all that long-windedly tonight. He slipped out into the hallway as soon as his door was unlocked, red eyes glowing dimly in the pitch black corridor.

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Jason almost cackled as the meta stumbled backwards when he released the chair, nearly falling on his ass. He'd fix the nearly part of that in a second.

But the idiot surprised him, recovering his balance in time to avoid his sweep and Jason was left defenceless for the seconds it took him to recover from the failed attack. As fast as he was, it was still too slow. Before he could even raise an arm to protect his head, the chair crashed painfully against him. He was still blinking the stars from his vision and trying to make himself move, get out of the way, when it crashed into his head again.

Falling back dazed, he stared up at the figure standing over him, his ears ringing and spots still dancing before his eyes. The situation was suddenly, sickeningly familiar. Someone standing over him, laughing as the crowbar smashed into him over and over and he was fucking helpless, couldn't fight back, couldn't stop them....

No, no, nonono! Not again!

Letting out a wordless, animalistic shout, Jason launched himself forward to tackle his opponent, all finesse consumed by the desire to survive, all humour gone in the face of the surge of fear. He'd tear the man apart with his bare hands if that was what it took but he wouldn't, couldn't go through that again!

HAH! That outta teach 'em! It felt so great to beat the jeering smile off that asshole's face. Smashing the chair against his head made such a great outlet for Sechs to vent out his frustration over his weakened and confused state.

Speaking of which...

Once his opponent fell over from the chair's bombardment, Sechs grinned with satisfaction at the dazed expression on his face. The Replica figured now would be a good time to ask the idiot what happened to him. He wouldn't answer him the first time Sechs asked, so maybe after having two good knocks to the skull would encourage him to talk...

Having no need for the chair, Sechs casually tossed it away to the side of the room. The furniture loudly tumbled and clattered down the floor before crashing to a stop against the wall. Sechs then bent over to grab the other man by the collar of his shirt...

It was then that Sechs found himself abruptly pounced on by his now berserk rival. The strident roar deafened Sechs as he was plowed down to the floor with his adversary on top of him. The Replica received his own share of stars in his vision when the back of his head slammed down upon the ground.

"Damn! I start landing some hits and you freak out at me? What a poor sport!" Sechs meant to bark out his taunt with an insulting tone, but the look of terror in his opponent's eyes caused a tint of surprise to seep into his voice instead.

The other man's words barely even registered with Jason, all he could hear was that damned laughter and the familiar mocking voice ringing in his ears and drowning out everything else. He wasn't even seeing the metahuman anymore, instead the same grinning white face swam in front of his eyes.

When he found himself suddenly on top of his opponent he immediately tried to wrap his hands around the bastard's throat, intent on squeezing the life out of him once and for all. This time there was no one to stop him and he wasn't going to fail again.

Damn...he must have hit a weak spot or something...

Suddenly under the mercy of his delirious opponent, Sechs gave out a guttural gasp as he struggled to free himself from the other man's stranglehold. The Replica's hands fiercely clutched the strangling fingers in attempt to tug them away from his windpipe. Yet no matter how much Sechs fought to free himself, the other man's hands were like an impossible vice-grip locked around his neck.

Within a fit of coughing and growling, Sechs thrashed even harder under his enemy's hold when he began to experience panic surging through his system. What made the situation even worse was the glazed look in his attacker's eyes. It was as though the man wasn't really there anymore, like his mind was somewhere else... It was greatly unnerving for Sechs to see his once cocky rival suddenly change into someone so hell-bent into mindlessly killing him. He snarled between his desperate wheezing, "GET OFF ME!!"

He had to do something to get this guy off him before he suffocated! Having left his Panzer Kunst attacks as a last resort, Sechs knew that now was the time to use them. It was sure to kill the other youth, but within his own fierce need to survive Sechs didn't care. Wait... Sechs was in a different body now, would he still be able to pull it off? Damn! The guy's death hold on Sechs' windpipe was getting worse! There wasn't any time to think about it! He had to do something now!

"URK!! Ahh!! Hertz-- HERTZA HAEON!!!" Through his suppressed throat, the Replica's words came out as a strangled yell. As he cried out his attack, Sechs slammed his right palm against the side of his attacker's rib cage with the intention of sending a high-frequency tremor into the heart, stopping it in the process.

Instantly several things happened at once for Sechs. The Replica managed to knock his opponent off him, but he knew something had gone horribly wrong with his attack as soon as his palm landed against his target. None of his attack's familiar sensations surged through the sinews of his arm, nor did it inflict the damaging effects he intended. Instead he heard a muffled snap emitted from his wrist as it was immediately followed by an intense storm of pain that engulfed his entire limb.

Free from the suffocating hold he was suffering just a moment ago, Sechs was now overcome with the inconceivable agony burning in his right arm. With a yowl of pain, Sechs scrambled away from the other man until he was backed up against the side of his bed. Clutching his trembling arm, the Replica panted and snarled like an injured predator. Sweat trickled down his face and past the dried trail of blood from his nose.

"Arrgghh!!! DAMN!! Why didn't that kill you?!"

The bastard was struggling under him, thrashing ineffectually to try and break his grip but there was no way Jason was letting up when he was so close to finally putting an end to this and making sure the sick fucker never hurt anyone ever again. He tightened his grip on the freak's throat, determined not to let go until he was dead.

The man was shouting at him but the words still didn't reach Jason, not until he felt a hand slam into his side in a way that normally wouldn't manage to hurt him at all. Instead the blow sent a painful vibration through him, knocking him to the ground. His head slammed into the floor and coupled with the tingling ache in his ribs Jason found himself snapped back to the present. He wasn't in some warehouse, not in some empty building in Crime Alley, he was here in this fucking institution. The Joker was still in Gotham. It was just him and some metahuman he'd never even met before.

Fuck. He hadn't meant to lose it like, hated that he could lose control of himself like that and forget where he was. Hated it and the weakness that it showed.

Panting and trying to ignore the way he was trembling and his heart was pounding as the adrenaline slowly ebbed away, he stared at the meta. Bastard was cradling his arm in a way that meant it had to have been injured somehow. Jason might not have been really aware of his surroundings for a while there but he was sure he'd remember doing something to the meta's arm. And that was the hand he'd slammed into Jason's ribs just a second ago while shouting something in- German? It had been fine then and the way he'd been knocked back made it pretty clear it hadn't been a normal blow.

Metahuman, his mind supplied. Meta who knocked you back with a palm strike to the side when you were sitting on him. Had to be some kind of power he'd tried to use. And it was meant to have killed him. Lucky for him that this place restricted powers then.

Sitting up, Jason replied hoarsely, "Gonna take a lot more than that to kill me. Or anyone else while you're here."

The pain in Sechs' wrist caused him to clench his teeth so hard that he wouldn't have been surprised if they cracked in his mouth. How could this have happened? He could have sworn he executed the attack correctly. For crying out loud, Sechs was created with the knowledge of Panzer Kunst. There was no way he could have forgotten or made a mistake...

Still cradling his beaten arm, Sechs fixated his amber eyes on the other man, watching for any movements that may lead to another attack. "Now's a good time for that bastard to finish me off," Sechs bitterly thought to himself. If that were the case, Sechs would not go down without a fight. Wrecked arm or not.

As he watched his rival, Sechs instinctively gripped his wrist with his free hand to stem off the pain but his efforts brought little relief. He couldn't even twitch a finger without experiencing a sharp throb. Then to his surprise, the other youth didn't attack, instead he spoke and for once he wasn't taunting the Replica. Despite the burning ache in his arm, Sechs' interest spiked up at his words.

"And where exactly is 'here'?" Sechs grunted, "what part of Ketheres are we in right now? Can't you at least tell me that?"

Somehow, in such a short time they'd gone from trying to kill each other to sitting quietly on the floor staring at each other. Sure, from the way the meta was watching Jason he still expected an attack and Jason didn't trust him not to try something either but it was a lot different to trying to kill one another.

Quietly assessing the way the man was cradling his arm Jason tried to guess what might have happened to it. He couldn't tell the extent of the injury just by looking but he had a good idea of how it had gotten injured. Whatever powers the meta normally had must have been turned back on him somehow. Good news for him if the idiot did come at him again. All he had to do was get the bastard to use his powers enough and he'd take himself out.

Snorting, Jason answered "I have no idea where the fuck that even is. 'Here' is some experimental facility under cover as a mental institute. I don't know what powers you normally have but they're not going to work while you're here." Nodding at the meta's arm he said, "As you might just have worked out there."

Warning the meta might not be the best idea but it looked like they were going to be sharing the room for a few days at least. Unless Jason killed him right now he was going to have to deal with this moron again in the future. Now that he was sitting there almost calmly and Jason himself was still shaken enough not to want to start the fight up just yet, he may as well talk. He hadn't actually wanted to kill the meta when the fight started and even now he wasn't sure the bastard deserved to die. Maybe get beaten around the head but not killed.

Still panting and sweating from his injury, Sechs tried to spot any sign of his attack working on the other youth. Nothing. It was obvious that no vital organs had been fatally disrupted, but he did seem pretty winded and not too keen on fighting anytime soon. The Replica slumped against the bed, feeling a mixture of disappointment and anxiety over his attack's failure. He wasn't too happy over his rival's answer either.

"Y'know, Ketheres!? It's all the way up in orbit. Geeze." Sechs badgered the other man. Why did this guy have to give such lousy answers? Was he stupid or something? Hmm, maybe this guy really didn't know about Ketheres... If he were Tipharean he would have known about the orbital city. But he didn't have the typical Tipharean mark on his forehead. Maybe he was from the Scrapyard then? Everyone there would know of Tiphares, heck, that city practically floated above their heads.

His lips curved into an arrogant sneer. "You should at least know about Tiphares then."

Sechs blinked, "experimental facility? What for?" The Replica didn't like the sound of that. It reminded him of an acquaintance of his who performed his own set of sick and twisted experiments. He felt a slight twist in his gut over the thought...No... From when he last recalled, Professor Nova was on their side...

Shifting nervously on the spot, Sechs pushed away the discomforting thoughts into the back of his mind. With a grunt he gingerly rose from the floor, his good arm still cradling the injured one. Not taking his eyes off the other man, Sechs heavily plopped down on the foot of the bed with an aggravated sigh. "You don't need to tell me that..." he scoffed before wincing from another shot of pain from his wrist. "I just got my brain chip transferred over to this lousy piece of crap. I'll get my Fizziroy body back and trash the assholes behind all this." His arm gave out a sudden spasm, hissing from the pain, the Replica added with some effort, "piece of cake."

Jason watched warily as the other man rose, still half expecting another attack. It seemed like both of them were done for the moment though, as he just moved to sit on the bed. Right now the meta seemed more interested in finding out just where the hell they were, so he did have half a brain in there.

Shrugging carelessly Jason replied. "Nope, never heard of it. You've got the wrong planet or something there." The names this guy kept throwing out and they way he spoke of getting his body back - something he'd mentioned before - meant he had to be some sort of alien. Or rather a robot with the talk of a 'brain chip'. Not just your average metahuman then. Interesting that he could apparently still use some of his powers in that case but maybe the fuckers behind the scenes had decided he'd die too quickly without some way of defending himself. Wherever this guy was from, it wasn't anywhere Jason had heard of. Fuck, he'd never even left the planet and he was happy for it to stay that way. Gotham was enough to deal with on her own without aliens and all this other crap too.

"As for what they're trying to do with us here, my guess is it's to make soldiers or something like that. And just for kicks. The bastard in charge is pretty obvious about how much he gets off on watching us." Looked like the man didn't much like the idea of being a test subject from his reaction, like maybe the situation hit a little close to home. Too bad, 'cause he wasn't feeling at all sympathetic and it wouldn't get them anywhere if he were. They were stuck here for a while at least so the meta was going to have to suck it up and deal with it.

Smirking at the meta Jason went on, "You're not the only one here who used to have powers. There's plenty of guys here who used to be pretty powerful. And they're still stuck here. Whatever robot you used to be is probably somewhere in pieces while they try to figure out what makes it tick. But I'm sure it'll be easy as pie for you to get out." The meta could carry on all he liked about how easy it would be for him to escape but any place that could keep Batman prisoner was not going to be easy to escape. Never mind that Jason was certain that if it weren't for the meta using his powers he'd be dead right now and look what using those powers had done to him? Escaping was definitely beyond his reach.

Edited 2009-06-08 02:52 (UTC)

Sechs frowned, he really could have cared less for the way the other man shrugged off the whole topic. "Wha-? You don't even know about Tiphares?!" He snapped. Sechs turned his head to the side to shoot a one-eyed leer at the human, "Hmph! I think it's you who's from the wrong planet!"

Keeping his head pointed to the side, the Replica's lip curled into a conceited curl. "Soldiers eh? If they wanted one they could have just asked me." Careful not to agitate his throbbing wrist, Sechs crossed his arms in an insolent manner before carrying on, "Problem with that is... One: I don't work for anyone. And two: I'm too busy winning the Z.O.T.T."

Or at least, he was busy winning the Z.O.T.T. before getting dragged here...

The Replica's arrogant persona crumbled over at the mentioning of what could be happening to his former body. With his eyes widened and teeth bared, Sechs gave the other man his full attention "Wait...what?! Take my Fizziroy body apart!? No-- That model was my best one yet! It didn't come cheap either!" So much for being somewhat calm. The return of Sechs' anger didn't help much with the pain either. His breathing started to pick up as his body tensed. The Replica's sore fingers uncontrollably twitched from the agitation, causing him to wince.

Take people out of their former bodies; stuff them in a prison to observe their actions while making super weapons? That sounded kinda like what Desty Nova would do... But he was an ally! Why would he do that to him? And how? Trinidad took Nova away when he and the others were traveling to Ketheres. But then Alita and Ping took one of Nova's many backup brain chips and made that "Porta Nova" version. Man...how many Desty Novas were there now? Damn this was getting confusing...

From what he learned from Alita, Sechs could only hope that it wasn't a Desty Nova putting him through one of his cruel karma experiments...

Sechs' worried pondering was interrupted when his eye caught something dark-colored on his skin. Looking down at his arm, the Replica found that his wrist had become swollen and discolored. "What a stupid body..." He brooded as he gave the injury a contemptuous leer. Just the thought of being stuck in it made Sechs all the more anxious to get his former body back.

Yellow eyes flickering back up at his rival, Sechs angrily asked, "Who the hell is in charge here then? If it is who I think it is..."

"One of us is and since I've met others from Gotham here I gotta say it looks like it's you," Jason replied in the same careless tone. He knew he was still on the right planet, the whole 'other dimensions' crap aside. Even if - somehow - it wasn't the same world he remembered, Gotham would be the same no matter what and that was all he needed. The meta could go ahead and delude himself though. Far be it for him to shatter his little fantasy.

Jason snickered at the meta's response to the prospect of his stupid robot body being taken apart like that. He was an easier mark than Jason had had for a while and he was enjoying riling him up. Leaning back so he was lounging comfortably on the floor he said, "Hope you weren't too attached to that thing then. I'm sure you can find a replacement." Hell, humans did that all the fucking time and they were a lot more complicated than some robot.

Jerking himself out of those thoughts, Jason shook his head, still smirking as the meta seemed to finally notice his swollen, bruised wrist. "It's called being human. I would say you should try it some time but that's pretty pointless now." The idiot deserved the injury and all the pain it caused for causing him so much trouble. He could still move his fingers and it didn't look that bad, so it probably wasn't worse than a fracture or a sprain. The tin man would learn to deal with what it meant to be human or he wouldn't. Jason didn't give a shit either way.

"The asshole they tell us is in charge is called Martin Landel." He could guess where this was going. "And maybe there is someone from wherever the fuck you're from on his payroll which is why you're here. But you ain't gonna see them about. From what I've heard the 'doctor' himself barely makes any appearances and is pretty hard to track down." It was possible Landel could be an entirely new player who'd somehow managed to figure out who Batman was - they all claimed his replacement had managed that all on his own - but the 'other worlds or times' aspect meant he was more than just your average criminal. He'd managed to get a whole bunch of metas here and take away their powers and possibly transplant a bunch of them into different bodies. If the bastard was working alone he was a hell of an overachiever.

All of this was just stuff he'd read on the bulletin board or idle conjecture though. Jason hadn't been putting that much thought into finding a way out of here. Bruce was here. There were assholes who needed to be stopped here. Even Alfred and the replacement were here. He was in no hurry to leave, even with the danger. Gotham was always dangerous and tended to be more creative about it too so this was hardly anything new. And here no one could escape by running off on a goddamn world tour.

Sechs' face blanched.

No... This was absolute...total...hogwash.

Why couldn't that bastard have just told Sechs that he was still in Ketheres? And that it was actually Trinidad and all those other planetary higher-ups who ordered Sechs and his team mates to be taken away from the tournament? He just had his brain chip transferred over to a weaker cyborg body to prevent him from causing damage. He and his team were just too good for the Z.O.T. tournament that's all! Trinidad just didn't want them to win! As much trouble as that had caused for Sechs, at least it meant he was that good at fighting. All that made more sense!

Or what about his theory that it was Desty Nova who turned on him and the others? At least that was something Sechs was familiar with. Alita wouldn't have tolerated it either; she'd be sure to get everyone out of the situation and back into the Z.O.T.T.

But this crap?!

Sechs could feel his mind sag from all the words that the other man was throwing at him. It made no sense... And what was this "Gotham" crap that he was blathering on about? All this information was threatening to turn Sechs' already established knowledge of the world upside down. He had struggled all his short life to understand it all. Last thing he needed was a whole new set of problems for him to trudge through! It was all too confusing! The whole thought of having to learn about a whole new world made his head ache.

His brain could barely swim through the thick realty that the other youth laid out for him. The Replica's panicked mind refused to accept it. Like clockwork, Sechs clicked to his own desperate conclusion. No... Sechs was still in Ketheres. He was going to be back in his Fizziroy body and he was going to win that damn tournament! He wasn't stuck in an actual human body in some mental institute! And there was no such person named Martin Landel! Nothing had changed! Everything was going to be back to how it should be and he'd be back to having fun destroying his opponents in the tournament!

The other man was just lying to him! That's it... He was just lashing out and giving Sechs all that bullshit because of the fight they just had! He was nothing but a liar, and Sechs hated liars...

Set on his conclusion, the Replica's stunned expression slowly shifted into a darkened rage that literally masked his face.

"I see..." Sechs answered, his voice dangerously low and serious. "By the way... I didn't catch yer name..."

Well, someone didn't like what he had to say. Jason watched the other man struggle with his confusion in obvious amusement, tensing up as his expression shifted from stunned to angry. Figured. The meta didn't like what he'd heard so he'd decided Jason must be responsible somehow. Never mind that it was fucking pointless to mislead him like this when whoever kidnapped him could just have crushed his 'brain chip' or whatever the fuck contained his programming and been rid of the idiot for good instead of shoving him into an all new body.

Jason shifted into a tense crouch, keeping a wary eye on the wannabe robot all the while. He didn't trust the moron not to try something and he didn't want to be caught out again. The number of times he kept fucking up here, he was lucky to still be in one piece. He wasn't expecting that luck to hold so he had to stay on his toes or he'd wind up a whole lot more dead than he was ready for.

"That'd be 'cause I didn't give it to you. It's supposed to be polite to introduce yourself first you know." If the meta wanted a name he was going to have to give Jason something first. Not that he cared about this asswipe but having a name to call him by could be useful if not as entertaining as coming up with names for him on his own would be.

Edited 2009-06-10 09:43 (UTC)

Hmph! Not only was the bastard a stupid liar, but a stuck up, stubborn ass as well. Figures...

Well, Sechs didn't have all night to argue over who was going to introduce themselves first. As soon as he gets his body back, Sechs was going to need a name for this guy so he could hunt him down and teach him a lesson for all the trouble he caused...

"Fine! My name is Sechs! You will call me Sechs!" The Replica answered with much emphasis on his name. With a sneer he then raised his uninjured arm to point at the other man. "And what should I be calling you, asshole?"

"It doesn't have the same ring to it as 'idiot who takes himself out in a fight' but it'll do. You can call me Will Elliot." He doubted the meta suddenly cared to know about him, the moron probably only wanted to know who he was so he could cause him trouble or keep track of him.

Even if he was just asking for the heck of it, Jason wasn't inclined to give out his real name. Not when they were others here who knew him and might try something. He didn't think his replacement was stupid enough to come looking for him after their last encounter but you never knew. And if Alfs knew where his room was he might decide to pay him a visit too and that.... wasn't something Jason was ready to deal with.

"Any other questions or has your little brain had enough for today?" he asked cheerfully. He did want to get something done tonight but he didn't want to turn his back on the meta. "Door's open if you want to leave." Maybe Sechs would take the hint. Wasn't like he had any reason to want to hang around here.

Edited 2009-06-10 22:00 (UTC)

"Oh yeah? Well I think 'Will Full-of-it' suits you better!" Sechs shot back, his anger increasing by the minute.

Sechs uttered out a deep growl at the "little brain" comment. Instinctively his hands clenched into angry fists; however his reaction didn't help with his sprained wrist. He flinched from the pain and quickly relaxed his hurt arm. "Don't bother!" he hissed. "Not even a lobotomized Deckman would wanna hear your crap! I don't have time to listen to your lies and bullshit! You're nothing but hogwash! I'm outta here!"

With that the Replica heaved himself off the bed and stomped over to the door. Using his unimpaired hand, Sechs angrily flung it open. Before storming out into the darkened hallway, he shot a toothy snarl at Will.

"When I get my Fizziroy body back, you better run for it cuz I'm gonna hunt you down and beat yer brains into SLUG SLIME!"

Without another word, the enraged Replica exited the room, slamming the door behind him with a mighty crash.

Edited 2009-06-12 20:27 (UTC)

Jason laughed at the meta's attempt to threaten him as he flounced out the door. He'd seen less melodramatic displays from the rich harpies at Bruce Wayne's parties. With any luck Sechs would run head first into a monster. That would be a good lesson and would save Jason the trouble of having to deal with him again.

Now though, it was time to get moving. He had business of his own to deal with and it would be pretty pathetic if all he managed to do this night was get in a fight with some brainless metahuman.

Vaulting to his feet, Jason went over to the closet to retrieve one of the pipes stashed there. Pulling out the copies he'd made of the maps he examined them thoughtfully. He needed to make sure he was properly armed for when he went after Batman and he needed somewhere to trap the bastard. There was the Activities Shed and the Gardener's Shed that might have something useful in them or he could investigate upstairs. The second floor seemed to offer more by way of potential supplies, though both times he'd gone up there he'd gotten attacked. And he didn't have anyone to watch his back.

Maybe it would've been better to suggest to Two-Face that they travel together but it was too late to think about that now.

Grabbing his flashlight and taking one more look at the map, Jason stepped out into the hall. He paused long enough to check that Sechs was really gone and not just waiting to jump him before quickly moving along to the next hall.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/631866.html?thread=54052922#t54052922)]

Edited 2009-06-13 05:39 (UTC)

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Night 41: M51-60 Hallway

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