NIGHTSHIFT 43: M1 - M10 CORRIDOR

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

Ignoring the pain in his broken arm, Snake crept along the hallway. He had brought only the matches and hairspray with him, hooked into the band of his pants, needing no light. His feet made no sound. Even that vision of the corridor earlier hadn't phased him like his much-loved old Outer Heaven flashbacks usually did, as he was far too focused on his mission.

He had been checking the men's block rooms, one at a time. Most of them were vacated; some were not, and even the sounds of movement inside those ones were enough to reassure him that they were not the rooms that belonged to Big Boss.

Systematically, he started down the furthest corridor in the block to the south of his own, starting with room M10. The door was, of course, unlocked, and he cautiously pushed it open. Like many of the others, it seemed empty, but for less than a second he caught a trace of Big Boss's smell. It was enough to lure him into the room, even though no-one was visible. Had he imagined it?

[M10]

Comments

[phasings]

Kitty shifted anxiously from one foot to the other, keeping her gaze on the door in front of her. She didn't want to risk seeing anymore... what were they called? Tricks of the (lack of) light? Glitches? Whatever those weird things had been. And the best way to do that, was to keep from looking around too much.

Thankfully she didn't have too long to wait before Kurt answered the door. It was rather surprising to see him back to his fuzzy self, given how many people were around. That was the main reason she hadn't thought twice about the way he had looked earlier that day. It was more difficult to see him at night when he was normal though, so maybe it was a smart move after all, if a little risky.

"Hey! It's great to see you again," she said, laughing and grinning a bit. At least until she took the time to really look, and notice the darker lines trailing upwards in his fur. She tilted her head, smile fading as she did so. "Is... everything all right?"

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

"Euh, yeah, fine!" Kurt said, laughing a little. "My... roommate is gone," Kurt said, his tone dropping low. It hurt to admit, but it was true. Kon had disappeared, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. Especially with Kitty right there--he had to take the initiative and keep going.

"He was a good friend," Kurt said. "He... he told me that walking around the hallways at night wearing a sheet was dumb. And... he's right."

The mutant moved out into the hallway with Kitty, feeling naked, but resolved through the memory of Kon's smile. He offered Kitty a weak smile. "Well, I'm out now--and we need something to fight with. Did you have anywhere in mind?"

[phasings]

Oh... wow. Kurt had said people could die here, but to think that it had happened to Kurt's own roommate, someone he considered a friend... Kitty didn't really want to believe that 'gone' meant died by default, but... what other option was there? If he'd just found a way to escape, why wouldn't he have told anyone? She... wasn't about to voice that particular thought though; she didn't want to upset him.

"I'm sorry, Kurt," Kitty said, laying a hand on his shoulder. She wasn't sure what else to say, given she hadn't known his roommate herself. Kurt had come into the hall though, so maybe that meant he still wanted to go on.

Kitty gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "As for where to find something to fight with... I'm not sure. I haven't seen much of this place but if it's a hospital -- a nightmarish hospital, but one all the same -- they've gotta have some kind of storage closet, right? Maybe we could start there?"

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

"Yeah definitely. There's one upstairs. Though, I had another thought," he said, raising one of his two fingers. "The kitchens have to have knives, right? Those might be more useful than hitting something repeatedly with a, erm, blunt instrument."

It was a little weird for Kurt to be thinking about killing things, given how he was totally against killing living things, but really... it was him or them. Kurt wasn't about to let something kill him just to prove a point about the right to life.

"There's a closet on the second floor... and the kitchen is right next to the Cafeteria. We can go to either one!"

[phasings]

The kitchen, right. That really did make sense, even if it was kinda... scary to think about. Despite the talk about dying and such, it was difficult to realize they might actually have to kill something... That was a whole lot different than simply subduing something or someone.

"Yeah, of course. I don't know why I didn't think of that." Kitty tried to laugh, though it came out sounding more nervous than anything else. "The kitchen would be closer, since we wouldn't have to go upstairs. We can probably check that out first, and hit the closet if we can't find anything... um, useful. Does that sound alright?"

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

"Sure!" Kurt said, sounding for a moment like his old, excitable self. It felt good to have another team member there--at least one who wasn't MIA. "All right, the X-Men of Landel's Institute are a go!" he crowed cheerfully, pumping a fist in the air.

It never hurt to have some spirit, especially when it was Kitty's first night. And Kurt wanted her to know that she could count on him to have her back. He could teleport once with one person without feeling all sick and everything--that was just enough to get him and Kitty back to his room and safety before things got ugly. Maybe his power wasn't so useless after all.

"Okay, let's go!" he said, motioning for Kitty to follow him. "I'll take us out to the main hallway!"

[To here! (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703548.html?thread=58081596#t58355516)]