damned_institute | Nightshift 42: Callahan's Grocer

He'd better be fine, going off to fight that thing and leaving them there. Leon knew he wasn't going to be much help, but he felt like even more of a hindrance now. He glanced outside every now and then, as seeing if there was anyone coming looked like his best option for the time being. If he couldn't do anything else he could at least help in that regard.

The basket in his hands felt like a flimsy defense at best. Perhaps he could turtle up in it... That was one thing his small size had going for him. Should he cheer Haseo on, or would that only be a distraction?

"He better not get himself too hurt," he grumbled, "or I'll freeze him."

Kibitoshin blinked, startled by the sudden change in the boy's tone. "Freeze him? How would you... oh!" His eyes widened. "You're not a wizard, are you?"

There was more than a hint of caution to his tone; his experience with wizards hadn't exactly been pleasant, and he had the scars- literal or otherwise- to prove it. But Leon didn't seem like he would hurt anyone and he'd helped save him, for goodness' sake. How could he possibly be evil? He certainly didn't look like a Babidi or a Bibidi, that was for sure. Cramming his suspicion into the back of his mind, he smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I just would never have guessed. Can you cast spells?"

The Kaioshin was genuinely curious; unfortunately, curiosity killed the cat. All he had to do was drop his guard for long enough to ask the question and the slimy black hands clawing their way through the shop floor were already around his ankles before he had a chance to cry out.

"I'm a mage." Despite the situation, Leon still managed to look a little put-out at the remark. Certainly he was a bit younger than most spellcasters at his level of talent, and he was used to people being surprised, but it was common for mages to start learning at a young age. "I can cast spells easier when I'm not hindered like I am h-- Watch out!"

Leon could have kept going for a while if he hadn't noticed the zombies coming up from below. For a brief moment, he had to wonder if this was what his enemies felt like whenever he summoned up gremlins. Those popped up faster than these, however. This was just beyond creepy. He immediately stomped at one, and continued to do so when that didn't stop it. He wished he actually could freeze up the area, but his earlier threat had nothing to back it up. With how much Black Saber had taken out of him, it would be impossible to cast Deep Freeze. Ice Needle wouldn't even come close.

A mage? It sounded like that was some kind of- !!

Leon's stamps drew a tortured wail from the creature and it loosened its grip, though not before tearing clean through his jeans, leaving a series of scarlet lines along Kibitoshin's calves. The pain brought him sharply back down to earth; panicking, he leapt up and kicked furiously at the thing as hard as he could. His foot connected with something slippery and fractured and then suddenly it fell back, twitching under his feet.

Kibitoshin fell back against the door. His shoulders, stooped as though a great weight had been set upon them, shook with every shuddering breath he drew in. Knowing that everyone else was out there, too- Apollo, Franziska, Dahlia, even Sechs, all fighting for their lives... it didn't bear thinking about. "Th... this is horrible," he said miserably. "We're completely helpless."

"Don't say it like that!" Even though Leon was in complete agreement, he still slapped at Kibitoshin's arm. "As long as we keep our wits about us we can still manage. Not that many zombies can get in here at once, right? They're slow and brainless... we can handle this!" He was saying this as much for himself as his companion, really. He had to believe they'd be fine until Haseo came back.

Speaking of which, a glance back in the teen's direction revealed that they'd finished off the large zombie they'd been fighting. Or at least they'd appeared to. Hopefully that meant Haseo would be returning to them shortly.

Was he always going to be relying on others for his protection?

As he approached Haseo's eyes were immediately down and on the thing half out of the ground near Leon and Kibitoshin's feet, and with noticeably grim resolve that was all he focused on for the few seconds it took to dispatch it. Its aimless flailing reminded him of a wounded insect, and yet the Adept Rogue was devoid of even the mercy he'd feel at something like that, wasting no time in setting the end of his stolen shelf on the thing's closest arm and finishing the job with several booted kicks to its head. It added to the previous mess on his jeans, but by now "killing" the creatures was starting to not sink in as much. Later, he'd probably wonder if that was actually a good thing or not.

Only then did he turn toward the other two, glancing at the door- still secured, good, and luckily it didn't seem like anything was actively trying to break it down either. Upon actually looking at his companions, however, the irritation that had gathered at Lelouch's ungratefulness and yet was left unsatisfied by the violent act against the zombie seemed to slough off entirely. Worry passed over his face and for just a moment he put his hand on Leon's shoulder. He intended to ask how they were doing too, but the question died before it reached his lips on the first try. He cleared his throat instead and once more surveyed the immediate area. Now what...?

"Are you guys hurt or anything?" he asked finally.

Leon's punch caught him squarely on the arm, tugging at the wound to his shoulder from the night before. It hurt enough to draw a sharp breath from him but he didn't complain. Leon wasn't just right, he was... well, he was really right. And panicking about everything now wasn't going to help at all. "I'm sorry!" He rubbed his forehead helplessly. "I'll stop it now, I promise. You won't hear another pessimistic word from me."

Fortunately for the both of them, his somewhat over-eager promises were run aground by the reappearance of a familiar figure- a figure who was now armed not only with a butcher's knife but with an entire shelf.

After staring at Haseo for a couple of minutes he finally dragged himself back to reality. "Haseo! You're back! We're fine," he lied through his teeth, ignoring the pain in his calves, "but what about you? And the others fighting the larger zombie? If anyone needs to be healed, just say the word." After all, the scratches on his own legs were only flesh wounds. They could wait if there were more injured people out there.

Though Leon doubted they wouldn't be hearing any more pessimistic remarks for the rest of the night (and he included himself in this) he didn't add anything else. He wasn't technically the adult here, after all. There was no need for him to be lecturing, especially when he'd only be doing it to keep his mind off of how scared he was himself.

"Haseo!" he greeted about the same time Kibitoshin did, giving the older boy a large relieved smile. He still had that stupid basket in one hand for all the good it would do. Perhaps they could at least put things in it?

At the offer of healing, Leon glanced at the other man in surprise. He could heal? Of all the skills the mage wished he could pick up while in Landel's, that was the one he wanted the most. Healing magic wasn't something one could just easily learn on Expel. The best Leon could do was strengthen someone.

Haseo thought it slightly disconcerting to see them so relieved at his return, but after a moment he merely shook it off as yet another thing to think about later. There was something new in Kibitoshin's words that caught his attention, and he echoed Leon's look of surprise, freezing in the middle of studying one of the knives he'd brought over. Had Kibitoshin mentioned being a healer before?

"You're a healer?" he asked, "Like with a spell?" Absorbing the actual full message then, Haseo nodded and said for the second time that night, "I'm fine." He shifted uneasily and glanced in the direction of the counter. "They're okay too. Just... shook up I guess." And vomiting all over the place in the case of one- he couldn't help but wonder how condescending Lelouch would manage to remain tomorrow.

He looked down at Leon. It didn't escape his attention that once more he'd somehow made a "party" with himself, who was obviously an physical offensive Class, and then two others who were an offensive magic-caster and healer respectively. He'd missed the conversation that had already taken place between the two earlier.

Edited 2009-07-28 20:21 (UTC)

Kibitoshin couldn't help but feel a little wounded that Haseo and Leon seemed so surprised that he could heal. Did he... really look that useless? Oh, dear. It looked as though his image was going to need a little work while he was here if he didn't want to be taken for a total lightweight (). Maybe it was the hair?

"Not with a spell, exactly." That gave him pause for thought. Deciding how best to explain ki energy without sounding like a genuine case for insanity was tricky. He settled on simplification. "I have a way of focusing the energy in my body in a way that can be used to heal people. It takes a little more out of me here," Understatement of the century... "but I can still manage okay."

For now at least it didn't look as though it would come to that, something for which Kibitoshin couldn't help but feel endlessly grateful after last night's dizzy spells. "Well, so long as you're sure." With that out of the way, though, the relieved smile he wore clouded slightly. "I guess the real question is, what do we do next?"

It still sounded like a sort of spell to Leon. If it wasn't, he wondered if it was something he could learn - like Ed's form of alchemy. This might be different, though. It might be something you had to be born with, like the Blessing of Mana. And with alchemy he'd already known one form of it. He didn't have any knowledge on healing spells.

"I would save that for when we need it, then." Which hopefully wouldn't be at any point in time tonight, but it might be too much to hope that none of them would be injured with all these undead creatures around.

At Haseo's comment, he crossed his arms over his chest. "What can we do? The road back to the Institute might be too dangerous to take at night, if we can even get to it. I'm not making a run for it without all our friends together." He glanced up at the older boy. "Do you know where yours are?"

Like Leon, Haseo thought that description... pretty much sounded like a spell. But whatever, and Haseo didn't have time to worry about the concerns his allies were having at the moment in regards to feeling useless. Before, he'd been running on pure adrenaline, and it was sort of dying out. They needed to do something soon before he crashed, and therefore, his answer was nearly immediate.

"I saw earlier that this place has a second floor... if we can find the way up, then hopefully up higher it'll be more defensible. If we've got any luck these things are too stupid for stairs."

He paused for breath, eyes on the destroyed zombie still partially stuck in the floor. Especially since it doesn't seem as likely that these things will be doing that on a higher floor was the unspoken word.

He blinked at Leon's question. He didn't know, and the idea of them getting hurt or worst was... "They should both know what they're doing," he said distractedly, "Endrance at least is high-leveled, and I'm pretty sure Tsukasa should be too."

Looking at the things in his hands, he sighed and held them out slightly in offering with a quick "here," in case either thought they could use the knives or (geez...) shelf. "If you see anything else we can use, grab it," he added, then sparing a look for the chair against the door, he unbraced it but left it closed and took off along the edge of the store in search.

All our friends together... Kibitoshin managed to replace a little of his smile for Leon's loyalty, but the comment just compounded the concern he was already feeling. Sechs and Trunks could probably handle themselves okay (so long as Sechs hadn't just been boasting, of course), but the others had seemed virtually defenseless. Well, Franziska had her notebook, of course, but if three people had trouble taking one zombie down what good was that going to do?

This was no good. All he was doing was distracting himself. He yanked himself out of his brief (albeit intense) funk in time to catch the tail end of Haseo's suggestion. Something about going upstairs and grabbing... well... anything, he guessed.

Shaking his head at the offered weapons, he set off along the aisle alongside the route Haseo had taken; the closer he got to the stock the worse the stench of decay became, but Kibitoshin stomached it for the sake of keeping close together. Any semblance of composure he may have had, however, was promptly shattered when something soft and bruised gave way into cold slickness under the brush of his hand, drawing a short cry of shock that stopped him dead in his tracks. He was, he realised, shaking more than ever.

Shadows bordering the room gave way to the slightest suggestion of a door near the back of the store. To stairs, maybe? They'd have to see.

High level? Leon raised an eyebrow, ~~ironically~~ not getting what Haseo meant by that but not willing to question it either. He was probably talking about a position in society or somesuch.

He knew he was no good with knives, but he took one of the ones Haseo offered anyway. If all else failed, he'd at least be able to stab at things. The mage kept himself between the two men. It might have been the cowardly thing to do, but he was no front-line fighter. Even with all his abilities available he was aware of this.

Where are the damn stairs to this place?! Haseo thought, a strange mixture of irritation and rising alarm once more clouding his thoughts as he moved. Bizarrely, he was reminded of Antares haphazardly guiding him and his friends through a maze dungeon, which really only served to amplify the fact that directions weren't really his strong point. Which in turn was really kind of sad, considering they were in a simple grocery store, and Haseo worked in one in real life.

Of course, this was so much more real than a videogame, and although the layout was not particularly difficult, the undead's presence made trying to find what they were looking for a nightmare - literally. One aisle was blocked, as was the one next to it, clogged by the crowd of semi-animate rotting bodies and wreckage. He backed up and darted down another, trying to keep track of Leon and Kibitoshin, to remember his own advice, keep his eyes open for other useful items...

Fortunately, Haseo's luck had mercy on him when the entryway to the stairs was revealed at the end of the latest path. Unfortunately, it also completely screwed him over at the same time. Someone else had been through already, if the mildly-impressive congregation of not-quite-dead bodies was any indication- whoever it had been had apparently accumulated a following. They would have seemed fairly determined to go up the stairs after them, had it not been for their general aimlessness and that as soon as Haseo and his friends appeared close-by, their attention switched to them immediately.

The first that lunged at their group was struck down immediately, but there was another right after it, and another. Although they technically lacked the ability to reason taking advantage of the Rogue's instinctual swing with the shelf, regardless one seemed to do so anyway, latching onto his upper arm and tearing at his clothing with half-rotted but razor-sharp teeth and nails. Panicked and cursing with what seemed like every negative word he'd learned since birth, Haseo stabbed at the thing's head wildly and began backing up rapidly. The knife caught purchase several times, and the zombie fell away, but the damage seemed done and there were more preparing to attack.

Edited 2009-07-31 03:22 (UTC)

[swooping in from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?view=55926457#t55926457).]

"Haseo!" Endrance didn't even think about the danger before jumping into the thick of the fight. He moved behind the Rogue, aiming to take out the zombie immediately behind Haseo. The undead being staggered forward, and he stabbed at it, hitting its arms first.

In this situation, it wasn't a matter of trying to get around the zombie and stab it in the temple - that would leave both of them too open. Instead, the strategy was to get it to lower its arms long enough to strike at its neck - and to somehow do it without getting himself bitten, if possible.

It was easier said than done. Those sharp nails scratched at his arm, making it hard to get within striking distance. Endrance wished once again for his usual blade, but knew he'd just have to work with what he had. When the creature grabbed at him, he moved with the movement, then struck, sliding the blade across the zombie's neck in a flurry of rose petals.

The idea of running into a zombie filled grocery store (why couldn't there have been a gun store? Or whatever the real-world equivalent of a high-level weapon and armour store was?) was not one that Tsukasa was particularly fond of, but he was as much a sitting duck out here on his own as he would be in there with Endrance and the choice was made for him when his friend charged in.

It became clear when Tsukasa spotted Haseo and Leon in there and they were alright!

He was probably going to regret this, but he charged in too, moving towards Leon and the other guy and landing a good whack on an approaching zombie with the frying pan too. He caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye and just stared for a moment though. Rose petals? What the hell? And this was supposed to be the real world?

It was only when one of the things struck out at Kibitoshin's face that he even realised that they were under attack again. Brilliant white pain flashed in front of his eyes and he swung a fist in the direction the blow had come from almost blindly, bolting towards the door and into the stairwell. Only now the undead weren't just around him, they were under him too, putrefying under his feet. And not only that, but Haseo had been hurt too!

Lashing out wildly, it was only after a minute or so that he finally became aware of the world beyond the threshold of his panic and noticed that two more had entered the store: a young man with white hair and his rather more ambiguously gendered fri-- hold on a second! Kibitoshin ducked back to get a better look, inadvertently dodging the gnashing jaws of a zombie so that they instead became lodged in the wooden stairs next to him. Those two! They'd been there last night!

Immediately, the Kaioshin's fear washed away into a tide of relief. That meant that the entire rescue party was here, which meant that they were saved!

But wait a minute. Hadn't they had the advantage before because they knew what they were dealing with? Didn't that mean they were almost as helpless as he was now?!

The surge of emotions that had greeted him upon seeing the four of them ground to a profound halt and a chill shot through his blood like an arrow. Meanwhile, the zombie embedded in the stairs' night became just that little bit worse as Kibitoshin took a sudden terrified step backwards and cracked its spine. Oh, no.

Unlike Kibitoshin, Leon's relief wasn't as short lived. He smiled at the two arrivals, nodding his head in greeting. Though Tsukasa might be as limited as he was, Endrance was another fighter. With all of them together they'd stand a much better chance against the zombie threat.

Though he admittedly would have been more pleased to see Claude.

"You guys are all right! Wonderful!" A more proper reunion would have to wait until they'd gotten safer, however, if it was even possible to find such a place in the middle of this madness. The mage was protected pretty much on all sides, but he still managed to end up close enough to one of the undead to jab his newly acquired knife into one of its eye sockets.

The sound, not to mention the feel of metal grinding on bone, caused Leon to turn slightly green, but he pulled the weapon free again nonetheless. He stayed away from the main line of combat for more reasons than just because it made casting easier.

Haseo's cursing abruptly cut off, taken over by the realization that a fucking zombie had just bit him goddamn and subsequent strange feeling that there was nothing in his head but static. Surely he wasn't panicking, but... Becoming a zombie would be really bad. Really really bad. But that wouldn't happen, right? Except that all these current zombies had to come from somewhere, and what the hell there were enough of them to fill a city and why were they in the floors of the stores anyway and--

Haseo looked up at the sound of his name, just in time to catch the inevitable semi-dramatic entrance for the night, courtesy of his fellow players from 'The World.' Also, complete with rose petals. Endrance was still doing that even here? Seriously? Haseo might have been even a bit horrified at that had he not been busy defending himself and the others.

However, he seconded Leon's sentiment in his head- with all the people he was on friendly terms with in one place, he personally was content as could probably be expected from one in the middle of surprise zombies... though perhaps a little too obviously stressed at the moment. "You just going to keep saving me forever or something?" he cracked, panting slightly in exertion, "Ahahaha...." He turned and smashed the shelf into the head of a zombie that was way too close.

Suddenly there was a crash from upstairs, indicating a rather obvious scuffle or something on the floor above. Haseo's eyes traveled up, as if he would be able to see through the walls, but then he saw Kibitoshin instead. "Kibitoshin!" he shouted. What was he-- damn it!

"If you need me to, I'll happily do that..." Endrance's lips turned up in a faint smirk. The expression didn't linger on his face long, though. The sound of that laughter indicated it was time to move, and move as soon as they could. He started to say that, but his attention was drawn to that crash from upstairs. That couldn't be good, and he followed Haseo's gaze upward, frowning.

He might have turned to run upstairs if not for a sudden grab at his braid. Endrance gasped in a mix of pain and surprise, looking to his left to find a zombie tugging on one end of it. He inwardly cursed, preparing to strike at it, but didn't get the chance before its other hand grabbed at his free arm, sharp claws digging in. The sudden pain made him cry out, and he struck at the creature without really looking at where the blade was going. When the blade connected with the zombie's eye socket, he winced for just a moment, then drew it back.

"We should regroup on the first floor and then try and make our way out of here..." The words still tapered off at the end, but they were still spoken loudly enough to carry upstairs - or at least he hoped they were.

Once the immediate zombie threat was out of Tsukasa's way, he Wavemaster began to move back towards Leon, knowing that he'd just be in the way if he got too far into the thick of things. He didn't have the same skills as Haseo and Endrance, he couldn't move like they did and he wondered what it would feel like to be able to fight to like that and feel it as though it were real.

"Wish I'd chosen to play a blademaster," he murmured to himself, not for the first time as he reached Leon's side, giving the zombie the kid had just stabbed a whack for good measure. At least then he wouldn't feel so useless.

He glanced over the stairs at Endrance's words, grimacing at the... ugh, they were coming through the floor!

Even with the roar of activity around him, Kibitoshin managed a double-take upon hearing his name. The very fact that Haseo felt the need to shout out to him… well, it made him feel incredibly guilty. And embarrassed. Why was he always the weak link in the chain? Even in a place where everyone had been weakened he was still the one who needed to be saved all the time.

But he had to at least try to think positive, or at the very least just not to think at all. He wouldn’t have room to panic if he didn’t give himself the opportunity to. “Sorry, sorry! I’m fine! It’s under control!” he called back, clenched fist striking a zombie in the hollow of its cheek. Even if he couldn't kill them on his way up he could at least stun them.

There was a strange wetness on his left arm, but he ignored it. He’d calm down once they were upstairs. Or at least, he hoped he would. Until then, though, he refused to let anyone go on thinking he was completely useless, least of all himself.

Upstairs was fine by Leon. At least up there they wouldn't have to deal with more zombies popping out of the floor beneath them. They'd be able to watch any entrances. "I suggest we move quickly then," he advised, even though he was sure all the others were aware that they didn't have time to stand around and chat.

At least the outfits they were given for Doyleton had shoes. He wouldn't have been able to stand walking through all this barefoot or in Landel's issue slippers. They also served well when it came to sticking the heel through an emerging zombie's jaw. He gave the boy next to him a slight smile.

Though he knew Tsukasa was a mage like himself and wouldn't be able to lend much more aid than he would, he was still comforted when he stepped closer. The two of them were kindred spirits in their capabilities, at least. Some time he'd have to sit down with the other boy and discuss Heraldry, or whatever he called his type of magic. They weren't the same spells, or at least they didn't use the same incantations, but the elements were the same. (Even if, on this note, his skills seemed more similar to Celine's than his own.)

What tiny shred of relief Haseo had been able to capture at the return of Endrance and Tsukasa began to slip away, and he scoffed as he stepped back, involuntarily bumping into a display so that the cans in their decaying labels there went banging across the floor. It wasn't "under control" because it wasn't under his control, and with him stressed beyond reasoning that fact only aided the rise of frustration that should have been all-too-familiar to the Adept Rogue.

Once more his pilfered knife found its way into the half-shattered skull of a creature scrabbling towards them, but it was just one of many that were suddenly coming from nowhere and Haseo felt off-balance. He noticed, vaguely, that his attacks with the blade were leaning on the side of what he might have accomplished in his own body, with only the increased speed and strength of PC added on. It was a bad time to have it validated that if he was going to try using a shorter knife, he'd need something in the other hand that wasn't a shelf too.

So for the time being his "technique" consisted of trying to keep the rush away and taking care of them one by one... an act which was easier said than done. With each creature he struck down was another being that might have once been human, even if in the present situation it had mostly ceased to bother him... it definitely would later. But he was not going to get bitten again.

What to do...? Regroup. Right. But first... "Do something!" he said loudly, turning mostly to Tsukasa (though if Leon was going to help that would do too), "Suvi Lei, Vak Don, anything!"

[ps I wrote this on a phone :B]

Nightshift 42: Callahan's Grocer

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