damned_institute | Nightshift 41: Disciplinary Therapy Corridor

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Nightshift 41: Disciplinary Therapy Corridor

The static snapped Spider out of his gruesome writing trance. His initial project had been to cover the walls in his shit, but he soon sobered up and realized that the nurses would probably wash it all off as soon as he cleared out of the cell, and he couldn't even read what he'd been writing very well. Instead - and mostly because he didn't actually want to smear shit all over himself - Spider had begun writing on his clothes and body using a mixture of blood and saliva. He was still having problems reading what he'd written, but he planned to transcribe it later. He'd have plenty of time after the interviews. He just needed some jumpstart, maybe a cigarette, maybe some coffee, maybe a whole fucking lot of coffee and - WAIT! INTERVIEWS!

The static rose in volume, and Spider heard the click of his cell door unlocking. Leaping to his feet, Spider threw himself against the door until he found a way to open it, and burst out into the corridor.

"HAVE AT THEE, DOGFUCKER! WHO UNLOCKED MY DOOR? I WILL EITHER THANK YOU OR FUCK YOU IN THE NECK DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ARE."

Spider threw his gaze around the room, attempting to slam it into a lurking orderly or patient. He found no one.

"BAH! I HAVE INTERVIEWS TO CONDUCT. YOU ARE SAFE FOR NOW, YOU QUIVERING TOWER OF EXCREMENT! BUT THIS IS NOT THE LAST TIME THE BASTARDS WILL PUT ME IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, AND THE NEXT TIME YOU LET ME OUT, I WILL GRIND YOUR SKULL AGAINST ITS OWN FOOLISHNESS UNTIL CANDY COMES OUT."

Screaming into the empty corridor, Spider kicked open the door and ran.

[to here]

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As Schuldig's head began to clear a bit, he found himself a little surprised; he would have expected the tentacles to be tough and rubbery, for his pipe to bounce off without doing much damage - not that he was going to complain about his good fortune in their apparently being more delicate than he'd imagined.

The sudden tug on his leg, coupled with Schuldig's beginning to bend down to slash at the tentacle there in much the same manner, yanked his leg out from under him, dropping him hard onto his hip. Despite the ache, and finding himself slightly winded, the telepath leaned forward and brought the pipe down hard on the tentacle around his leg; the change of angle certainly hadn't changed his intentions. "Bastard," he grunted through his teeth, even as the thought that he might actually be able to fend this thing off with just a pipe after all began to look like an actual possibility...at least, if it stayed where it was on the ceiling.

The pipe came down at its tentacle again and the creature released Schuldig's leg, drawing back toward the ceiling. The lucentien's head quirked at a strange angle, the milky eyes watching its prey for a moment. The pipe wasn't enough to kill, but it was enough to hurt and pain was unpleasant, unless it was the leftover causing it. If pulling him one by one wasn&t going to work, then it would just have to change its strategy. It wanted to feed and nothing was going to stand in its way. The leftover screamed again and then a flurry of tentacles rushed forward at Schuldig, scrambling and grabbing for whatever they could catch.

Schuldig had just enough time, when the tentacle around his leg released him and retreated, to get back to his feet and start backing up when...there was no describing it. He had never in his life seen what amounted to a column of tentacles shooting towards him - even as a telepath, he didn't know anyone who had - and aside from holy shit tentacles, there were no words for the sight. It was the stuff of nightmares(or, in the case of certain Japanese businessmen he'd known, wet dreams).

Even if something in his brain hadn't simply short-circuited in an attempt not to have to think about what he was seeing, he wouldn't have had time to move; the tentacles were horrifically fast, not to mention strong. And this time, they grabbed both his arms, which effectively ended what resistance he'd been able to put up so far.

Oh, god, he was going to die exactly like Hitsugaya...or so he could only hope. The tentacles represented the possibility that he could actually die in a far worse way.

With both arms grabbed, the tentacles began to pull even as they tightened and wound further around his limbs. Finally that nasty pipe wouldn't be able to hurt it anymore. The lucentien kept its eyes focused fully on Schuldig and reached out as the tentacles dragged him closer. Ripping into human flesh was so easy and eating an adult would satisfy the leftover's hunger for at least half the night. The hard part was catching the prey - humans were quick and resourceful. Now that it had restricted Schuldig's movements though, there was nothing standing in its way. With another great tug, the tentacles dragged him within range and then the luncentien slashed at him.

For all that it felt like the tentacles were everywhere, the monster certainly didn't have much trouble keeping them out of the way of its blades as they tore across Schuldig's torso, scattering buttons from his trenchcoat as it sliced right through the thick material and into the flesh beneath it.

Since he'd been in Schwarz, he'd only been grievously wounded once, and that had happened here, in a place where he was weakened and facing opponents whose minds he couldn't even read - he'd taken a sword slash across the chest when he'd deliberately drawn Gilgamesh into coming after him much like this, while serving as a distraction for Crawford and Yohji. But that had only been one cut(well, two, eventually, but the second had made him pass out almost before he could feel it so it didn't exactly count); he couldn't tell how many he'd just received now, as his whole chest was suddenly alight with agony, but he guessed it had to be three or more.

He cursed in German, barely aware of the words, as much from the pain as the realization that he'd managed to effectively kill himself without being able to do Crawford any good at all. If he'd just had Farfarello...

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/634585.html?thread=53838553#t53842649)]

His eyes widened as the full horror of the creature which was attacking Schuldig hit him. What the hell was that? The only thing that even came close was the monster which Masafumi Takatori had turned into. He had the fleeting mad thought that perhaps the Head Doctor had spent a little too much time watching crappy hentai anime before instinct and stupidity kicked in and he darted towards the damn thing, lashing out for the nearest tentacle which had grabbed Schuldig with his knife. What he wouldn't have given for his wire.

Artemis didn't like Yohji's tone. He didn't like it at all. And when Yohji charged in with Artemis in tow, he could see why he'd been instructed to stay back.

His eyes widened at the scene before him. Schuldig held fast by tentacles of all things, bleeding, unable to fight back. His mind began flicking through all of the things that had happened here, all of the traumatic events he wanted to forget: Kairi's rescue mission, Renji's death, his own torture and surgery, Hitsugaya dying while trying to rescue him... It was all happening again. Why was it happening again?

"SCHULDIG!" Artemis screamed, finding that he was unable to move from where he was standing he was so terrified. Blue sparks ran the surface of his skin, glowing underneath his clothes and brightly on his hands and face.

Monsters, screaming, tentacles, Artemis glowing like some kind of nightlight. What did it say about Haku's state of mind that this only made him blink in mild surprise and not horror or fear?

Probably that he'd finally snapped and would start painting the walls with his pudding come morning. But for now, he would have to simply deal with this. The screaming fit could come later.

Three needles quickly flew through the air, at the tentacles that were currently holding the red-haired man's limbs. Haku was careful to aim away from Schuldig's actual limbs, but with all the thrashing, he couldn't be certain. As soon as his weaponry was loosed, Haku stepped close to Artemis in case the boy needed to be restrained or knocked out...

Blood! Even without the sense of smell, the leftover knew the feel and texture of blood and it knew the sight of it as it stained the bladed hands red. Schuldig was bleeding and that meant it would only be a little while longer before the creature could feed. The leftover was so focused upon dragging Schuldig closer to the lucentien that it didn't notice the others enter the room.

Yohji's blade hit and the creature screeched, whipping the lucentien's head around to see what interloper dared interfere with its meal. Moments later Artemis screamed and the leftover released Schuldig, catching one needle in the same tentacle that Yohji had hit. The limbs rolled back, dropping Schuldig like a rock, and receded to the ceiling. The air reeked of sulfur by now and was filled with the unearthly sound of the leftover screaming in pain and anger. The injured limb was nursed by the others and for a moment, it didn't move. Then the lucentien clicked its head to the side, arms jerking as it reached for the people down below - and it suddenly went silent.

Four people were down below. Four to feed on and to kill. Even better. The lucentien stopped jerking and then slowly pulled back up into the flesh cocoon until only its head and hands were visible. Turning its eyes on the four below, the lucentien started rubbing its bladed hands together, sending sparks down below. With the room filled the way it was, it wouldn't be long before a spark caught - and once it did, its prey would burn.

Shock, pain, and blood loss were more than enough to leave Schuldig disoriented; suddenly being dropped and falling, hard(certainly his legs hadn't been prepared to support him, and he wasn't sure they could have even if he'd had warning - his entire front already seemed to be soaked with blood, all the way through his trenchcoat), was absolutely no help at all. He lay where he fell for several long moments, stunned and trying to process his situation.

He was vaguely aware of the presence of Yohji and Artemis; their thoughts were loud, panicked, and he'd been hearing them somewhere in the back of his mind for some time. (But the monster had, not surprisingly, taken precedence.) He couldn't calculate their chances against it, his thoughts too fuzzy for much clear thinking at all...but he didn't feel much comfort in their arrival, so maybe he'd already known.

Crawford. Schuldig had come for him - was the only one that would. Whatever Yohji and Artemis intended to do about the monster, he couldn't help them with it. But he was going to find Crawford, because Crawford always came for him.

...well, except for once. But that just meant Schuldig would have a better record than he did after this. And what was the point of getting horribly injured if he didn't have something to brag about?

Paying no attention to the sparks showering down on him - and too out of it to put together the fact that, as the one almost directly beneath the monster and the shower it was creating, he had an excellent chance of being the first thing to catch on fire - Schuldig began, shakily, to try to push himself to his feet. It would have helped if he weren't keeping a death grip on the pipe still in his hand, but he wasn't losing his weapon. Save for a now-empty gun, it was his only weapon.

As soon as the creature (creatures?) let Schuldig go, Yohji rushed to the telepath's side. Blood had drenched his front, soaking through his trenchcoat and he was still trying to move, the damn stubborn bastard. Yohji knelt down next to him, grabbing his shoulder tightly and sliding an arm around him. "Come on, we need to get out of here," he murmured. He could hear the ominous scraping from above them and the sparks were plain to see. They weren't starting to burn properly yet, but it was only a matter of time before the whole place became a blaze. "You're not going to be able to help anyone if you die here, you stubborn git," he continued, speaking more to himself than Schuldig really.

Schuldig didn't know what their odds were, but Artemis' panic-frozen mind was at least able to see that with the room on fire and the monster armed far better than any of they were, their odds were slim. They'd need more help if they were to take on this behemoth creature.

"They... they're going to need help," Artemis' voice was shaking, but he was trying to keep it steady. He had to be calm and his thought patterns clear. A few sparks were drifting towards Schuldig's fallen body, which Artemis caught sight of and immediately began the process of holding his magic in.

Yohji and Schuldig would need help fighting this thing--which meant that Haku staying to help would be the optimal situation. However, Artemis didn't think for an instant that Haku would let him run off into the darkened hallways by himself. They may have been joking earlier, but Artemis didn't not doubt Haku's overprotective nature.

"Come with me," he said, putting a hand on Haku's shoulder. "Otherwise we're all going to die.

"We're going to get help!" Artemis called, turning to run out the door they'd just come through.

Opening the door subjected Crawford to a sensory overload: the smell of sulfur suddenly surrounded him, sparks flashed in the darkness, and people were shouting, on top of the burning ache at the back of his head and the chemical drag on his muscles. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the new lighting before he realized that one of the shapes under the shower of sparks was extremely familiar.

Schuldig's dark coat masked the extent to which he was injured, but if he couldn't stand without someone else's help, that was bad enough for Crawford, especially when he was underneath--whatever the hell it was. He lurched over to the two of them and leaned down to pull Schuldig's other arm over his shoulder, ignoring the sparks. If he can't walk fast enough, just drag him, he wanted to tell Kudou, but all that got through the remaining haze in his brain and his bloody mood was "Move."

Haku frowned. Help? He was torn now. He could easily run back and assist the other man in dragging Schuldig away to safety, but Artemis couldn't be around him without the magic acting up and that was an entirly new variable that Haku didn't want to think about.

He was saved the choice however when a new man apppeared. Looking worse for the wear, he still got himself under the red-head's other arm and started 'helping' them all away. Grabbing Artemis and making sure the other boy was in front, away from the sparks and potential firery death, he followed.

If the others didn't catch up within a reasonable amount of time, he would come back for them.

So slow, so slow. So many were coming out and so many were running, but not enough. The tentacles were next to roll back into the cocoon and then the leftover opened its mouth, releasing yet another heavy sulfur-laden breath. The lucentien clicked its hands together, the metallic scraping echoing dully off the walls until - finally - a spark caught.

Sulfur was a heavy gas. It tended to sit on the bottom of a room, collecting until it came in contact with flame, or until its plain toxicity killed whoever was unfortunate enough to be nearby. However, with the door to the hall open, and that new gasp of air from Crawford's room, the people beneath the behemoth were lucky. The sulfur caught fire, rocketing out like a column of flame, but it quickly settled toward the floor, the flash of flame and heat rolling in a thin band outward. If they were smart, they'd run before the flames hit them.

(Artemis and Haku moving to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/634585.html?thread=53951449#t53951449).)

Crawford.

Schuldig was only semi-conscious, which left his telepathy only just this side of functional, but he didn't need it to be aware of Crawford's presence when the man grabbed his other arm. He didn't give much thought to how Crawford had gotten there, or the fact that he was clearly better off after whatever they'd done to him than Schuldig had been after his experiment; all that mattered was that he was there.

And one other thing.

"I made it," Schuldig informed him; telling Crawford that was very important, even if his thoughts were too hazy for him to be able to recall exactly why. "Couldn't do anything else."

And with that - Crawford found, and having told him he'd done the best he could - Schuldig slumped between the two men, no longer bothering to even attempt to remain conscious.

[OOC: Schu's more or less out for now; someone might be able to shake him back to semi-consciousness if necessary, but until/unless that happens, feel free to skip him~]

For once, Yohji was inclined to just agree with Crawford and moving was exactly what he did. This was no time to be bickering especially when that creature was still striking sparks the scent of sulphur was getting thicker. He tightened his grip around Schuldig, glad to be sharing the weight with someone else (and surprisingly glad that Crawford seemed to be in decent enough condition to help because he wouldn't have managed to get them both out), and began to move as quickly as he could towards the door, pulling Schuldig along with him.

And then there was rushing sound, a flare of light and enormous heat rolling towards them and... the door, they had to get to the door now...

Crawford's body wouldn't move like he wanted. The control he was used to just wasn't there; his motions were blunt and imprecise, and he was compensating with brute strength. His grip on Schuldig's wrist was too rough, but as a flash of heat blasted them from behind, the only thing he cared about was getting on the other side of that door. He flung it open hard and barreled through, pulling Schuldig and Kudou with him.

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Nightshift 41: Disciplinary Therapy Corridor

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