damned_institute | NIGHTSHIFT 43: MEN'S BATHROOMS (M41-M80)

Entry tags:

kibitoshin,
sechs

NIGHTSHIFT 43: MEN'S BATHROOMS (M41-M80)

[From here.]

The bathroom was practically spotless. The tiled surfaces upon the floors and walls gave out a clean shine within the bright exposure of Sechs' flashlight. Not a spot of blood or a tiny shard of broken glass could be spotted. It was as though nothing out of the ordinary had ever occurred here before. Sechs frowned at the sight. Either the institute's staff were extremely diligent at cleaning up the mess and replacing the broken mirror right away or the building was repairing itself... Sechs could only hope that such self-reconstruction was done through physical means such as nanotechnology instead of some simple reboot of a virtual environment...

Despite the burning memories of the past bloody battle, Sechs returned to the fateful room for more than just his craving for a rematch with the creature, but for answers as well.

What was it that qualified a true warrior? What was Sechs' true identity? His purpose and worth in life? No sort of class or book could offer him the answers. They could not be found through theory alone. The outcome of battle was the only thing that resolved his questions. In combat there was a winner and a loser; that was the only meaning for him.

The thing that crashed through the mirror and attacked Sechs... It resembled him like a doppelganger from hell. Yet what did it mean? Did it represent Sechs in a light he'd rather not face, like the shadow he witnessed within Whophon's hypnosis? Or was it supposed to be his true self, a scrapped clone that deserved termination? The attack on Sechs' floundering identity had been gnawing away at his mind ever since that painful encounter. He had to know what it all truly meant and the only way he was going to attain his answer was to challenge the monster once more. This time only one of them was going to come out of this fight alive...

Stuffing his flashlight into his pocket, Sechs lifted the axe off his shoulder to keep both of his hands readily gripped upon its handle as he waited for Kibitoshin to follow him into the bathroom. The painkillers he took for dinner were beginning to ease the pain in his bandaged wounds and injured arm but his sprained hand still proved to be stiffer than he'd like it to be. Oh well... Sechs had lost a whole arm a couple times in fights before and still fought on. Having his arm wrapped in a brace was nothing compared to losing the entire limb altogether. As long as he could still grip and swing his axe he didn't care. Of course there was always the pain that came along with the injury...

Sechs kept his ground near the bathroom entrance, not moving into the mirror's range just yet. The way Sechs stared at the spot where his bloody fight with the creature occurred paralleled the intense glare of a hawk readying itself for a kill...

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Kibitoshin wasn't sure what he had been expecting. Actually, no, that was a lie- he knew exactly what he had been expecting, courtesy of an imagination sent into hyper-drive by fear. Gloomy, shadow-struck images of walls dripping with some long-forgotten fungus and broken shards of mirrors flooded reflecting ghostly figures flickered through his mind, each more vivid than the last. Voices whispered with cruel intent and claws would snake out of the darkness to grab at them, tearing at their clothes and hair and skin. Or maybe they would walk in and fall straight through the floor, into goodness only knows what?

But whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this. The bathrooms were perfectly clean, with not a spot of fungus and not a whiff of demonic interference at all. Well, maybe 'at all' was an exaggeration, but it was difficult to imagine the room as anything but an ordinary bathroom with the lights turned out.

And maybe that was why Kibitoshin could feel himself begin to break into gooseflesh. Fictional horror was easy to imagine. He knew it like the back of his hand. But when monsters came out of lounges and snaked out from under beds, that was when you had to start being afraid, because if they were there they could be anywhere at all.

Sechs was on edge. Even with only a back to look at, he could feel the young man's tension coming off in waves. Something had obviously happened in here that he hadn't told him about. A sudden thought struck Kibitoshin, and it was one had chilled him to the bone. If the thing Sechs wanted to get revenge on was still in here, did that mean that he hadn't been able to defeat it before?!

While his instinct may have been to bolt then and there, he forced himself to hold his ground instead. He'd promised he'd be good. This was no time to pull out.

"Is it here?" he asked. To Kibitoshin's surprise his voice had dropped to a whisper, as if it instinctively knew that something was listening for it. "Can you see it at all?"

First it was the cleanliness of the room Sechs was nearly killed in, now it was that... noise echoing throughout the whole building. Sechs paused to grasp at the words mumbling through the walls but got only incoherent sounds. The music reminded him of the songs Whophon's hypnotized followers sang before committing mass suicide. The faint moans and screams that followed the bizarre music sent a chilling sensation into his very blood. The Replica's hands wrung themselves tighter around the handle of his axe as he listened. How much more was this place going to screw with Sechs' head? It was unnerving...!

When Kibitoshin's cautious whispers broke the sickening music's spell over Sechs, his hawkish eyes flickered away from the tiled floor towards his companion. Dammit... Sechs didn't think he would have to explain what happened. It was something he never wanted to talk about with anyone. He even made sure to make himself anonymous on the board when he posted about his encounter with the mirror creature. The unsatisfying end to his previous battle wasn't the only reason that fueled Sechs' reluctance. It was the vexing self-doubt that the creature left in his mind that barricaded his willingness to talk.

Sechs stood silently for a painful moment as he mentally struggled over what to say. Damn this was embarrassing...! He should have thought of this happening before making the decision to let Kibitoshin tag along with him! Sechs' pride as a powerful warrior refused to humble itself! The last thing he needed was to be mocked over what happened! It wasn't Sechs' fault that he encountered the monster in such a weak form! Yet Kibitoshin had showed himself to be an enduring source of support, despite Sechs' less than friendly attitudes towards him. He wasn't like the other tough patients that Sechs had dealt with so far; maybe his white-haired acquaintance would be less hard on him than some others...

"It... came out of one of those mirrors last time..." Sechs reluctantly answered in a voice nearly as quiet as his comrade's. "I was looking in one of the mirrors a night ago and my reflection... it started changing... It looked like a... scraped version of myself." With his axe lifted slightly to point at the nearest mirror, Sechs added, "then it burst out through the mirror and attacked me. It copied most of my actions..."

Sechs trailed off for a moment. Sechs knew he was a great fighter; he had all those victories and his title as a 'Professor' in combat arts to back that up. Yet now Sechs wasn't sure if he could prove that truth to his comrade. Sechs struggled to force out his next words. "I wasn't equipped with anything then. I used broken pieces of glass and blunt force against it but nothing I did made it stop..." Sechs winced at the memory of the creature's teeth sinking into his shoulder. He was keen on omitting that particular detail. "Ever since then I've been thinking over what happened here..."

Sechs then turned his full attention to the other youth with an expression that was as grim as ever. "I meant to do this alone. I gotta figure out what that creature means..." Sechs returned his intense stare back towards the center of the room. "Just... whatever you do, don't look at the mirrors alright? There could be more than one of those things lurking in the reflections and who knows what else could be in this room, so watch your back..."

Edited 2009-09-06 06:02 (UTC)

Even with the chill from simply being in the bathroom, Kibitoshin had managed to keep himself calm enough on the outside not to make Sechs worry. That is, until the intercom sounded again. And, while he didn't know what the make of the first part, the second half shook him to the core. W-was that the sound of screaming? Why didn't it stop? It was just a recording, so why didn't they make it stop!?

Kibitoshin shuddered. All of a sudden the room felt very large and very cold, and he very small and very vulnerable. Clenching all of his fear into his fists was just about enough to keep him rooted to the spot, but if he thought for a moment that running straight back to his room and putting the pillow over his head would make it all stop, he would have done. Th-this was ridiculous. This didn't even approach the most frightening situation he had ever been in. So why was it that he was so hopelessly, desperately afraid?

At least Sechs was there. Reliable, confident Sechs. He wasn't going to get freaked out by some silly message.

... was he? Now that he was speaking, the other man didn't sound nearly as sure of himself as he had done. And what's more, the story he had to tell was enough to drop the Kaioshin's mouth open in shock. He'd been injured?! Kibitoshin had just assumed this was a pride thing, with Sechs running away and feeling embarrassed about it afterwards. That he'd actually been hurt made it all too realistic, too serious.

The description was equally worrying. "Like some kind of horrible reflection..." he answered softly. 'Scraped'. That didn't sound good. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like those zombies from the night before. Against his (and Sech's) better judgement, he shot one of the mirrors a sideways glance. What would he see if he looked into one of those mirrors properly? Did he have the guts to find out? The answer to that one was obvious enough- he'd rather have taken a stroll through hell than looked his own demonic twin in the eye. Assuming it had any ey-

Stop it! You're only making it worse for yourself! Taking in a slow, deep breath he stabilised himself both physically and mentally. Sechs was going to be strong for the monster, and Kibitoshin... well, he was going to be strong for himself. And maybe even Sechs too. Goodness knows, they both needed it.

Sechs experienced a warming sense of relief at the absence of any snickering or mockery from Kibitoshin. He wasn't sure what to say, the Replica had explained all that he could to his nervous comrade. Now all Sechs desired was action.

Without another word, Sechs took a few bold steps towards the nearest bathroom counter; the same one he approached last time to ease the fresh pain in his sprained arm. For a fleeting moment, the former battle android recalled vivid memories of the Zenith of Things Tournament. He could feel the power surging in his Fizziroy body and the immense weight of the Titan Blade within his grasp. The cheers of countless spectators echoed in his ears as he leaped into the arena to bring annihilation to his opponents...

Yet this time Sechs wasn't within the Z.O.T.T arena. He was in a lowly bathroom, trapped in a body of flesh and blood with Kibitoshin as his only audience and team member... The only thing that hadn't changed was Sechs' purpose; his lifelong journey to push past his limits and to decode the mysteries of the world was what kept him going. It wasn't about fame or trophies, but for his own personal quest to become a true warrior.

Triggered by his combative anticipation, Sechs' battled-addicted mind immediately charged itself into a focused frenzy, like a shark heading towards the scent of blood. The rush of adrenaline swept away his fear and self-doubt, leaving a sneer upon his face that was more feral than anything. Eyes wide and teeth bared through parted lips, Sechs leaned over the sink to stare at the mirror. He had no intentions of failing this time.

Shifting his axe to hang down to the floor from his left hand, Sechs raised his right fist to loudly rap his knuckles against the mirror. "Hey you rotten bastard! It's me again!" Sechs snarled at his reflection, "come outta there! I've got a bone to pick with ya!"

For a moment, maybe more, nothing happened. Then there seemed to be the barest suggestion of something not quite right about the reflection, as if the skin was losing its lustre, the cheeks hollowing, and dark shadows appearing under his eyes.

At first it could have almost been a trick of the light, as though nothing was changing after all and Sechs' demands were going unheeded, but in seconds the effect had spread and decay was eating away at the reflection. Flesh and skin rotted and fell away to reveal patches of bone and the hand that had been mimicking Sechs as he rapped on the glass drew back to slam into the glass hard enough to cause a shudder to run through it.

[Kesiah]

On the other hand, maybe Sechs didn't need his strength. Not that he'd have been able to give it to him; Kibitoshin was left to simply stare, open-mouthed, as Sechs actually began to goad whatever was hiding in the mirror out of its hiding place. Was he crazy or something? Getting revenge was one thing, but this was just going to make it mad!

"Is... is that such a good idea?" he asked nervously, but his voice sounded even quieter than before, barely louder than an exhaled breath. Maybe that was a good thing. Getting in between Sechs and his revenge seemed like a bad, bad idea unless he wanted to lose a couple of limbs.

Unfortunately, as it turned out it wasn't Sechs he had to be afraid of in here. Or maybe it was- the reflection looked an awful lot like Sechs, albeit a little more tired and ill. Until its skin began to fall of, Kibitoshin would have sworn that they were the same person.

The Kaioshin jerked backwards at the smack, stomach heaving. For a moment he thought he could still feel the reverberation from the mirror rattling through him before he realised that, yes, he was just trembling that badly. To his surprise, though, he actually managed to speak; an indignant squeak that came with a wild, accusing stare in Sech's direction. "Y-you said it just looked like it had been scrapped! You didn't say its face had come off!"

In spite of having witnessed his reflection take on such a gruesome change before, Sechs could still feel every fiber in his body go rigid with fear and revulsion. He didn't think he could ever get used to this...

Sechs gave off a slight flinch when his reflection took a life of its own and pounded its rotting fist against the glass barrier. Sechs' grip upon his axe intensified while his other hand dropped down to clutch unto the side of the counter. In the face of his decomposing image, the Replica defiantly kept his stand near the mirror with unrelenting hostility.

And then that was when Kibitoshin nearly snapped Sechs out of his combative mindset. Ugh..! The monster had only bashed once against the glass and Kibitoshin was already squeaking like a spooked guinea pig...!

"That's what I said!" Sechs snapped as he risked a quick glance at his panicking ally. The irritated Replica was never one to have much patience for others and that precarious moment certainly proved that. "Y'know like how cyborgs get dumped into that trash heap under Tiphares?! Argh! Don't tell me you're not from the Scrapyard either! Geeze!"

Broken cybernetic limbs, piles of synthetic organs and metal skulls that had long lost their artificial skins... Those were only a few examples of what could be found at the Scrapyard. The way the doppelganger revealed itself reminded Sechs of such sights, despite it being organic instead of cyborg...

Throwing out the dreary images of the Scrapyard and ignoring Kibitoshin's noisy trepidation, Sechs snapped his head back to stare down his decomposing counterpart. His wolfish eyes and clenched teeth were kept firmly pointed at the gruesome sight before him. "You want some more of me?! Huh?!" Sechs barked at his opponent as he readied his grip upon the axe. "Well, you're gonna have to WORK for it then you SICK copy cat!!"

When he was planning his rematch with the creature during dinner (before that damn Will came in to shatter his concentration), Sechs recalled a theory he anonymously posted to a string of messages about the numerous monsters found so far. If the creature lived behind the mirrors of the institute, would breaking the reflective barrier prevent it from crossing over to the other side where its would-be victim stood? Sechs wanted nothing more than to fight head-to-head with the creature, but his curiosity nagged at him to try out his theory. If it did work, Sechs figured he'd find the man-eating beast snarling away at him in the next intact mirror. Sechs loved the idea of pissing it off for all the trouble it had caused him...

The idea got his toothy frown curving up into a roguish grin. "HEADS UP!!" In a barbarous fashion, Sechs brusquely swung his axe up and then sent its blade crashing towards the fetid creature behind the glass...

Edited 2009-09-10 05:48 (UTC)

The glass exploded under the impact, shards falling to the floor with a crash that echoed around the empty bathroom eerily. For a moment, it seemed like Sechs might have been right about his theory, as the mirabis was nowhere to be seen.

For a moment.

Because there wasn't even time for the last of the glass to tinkle to a stop on the tile before the creature leapt free from its prison, landing once more in a neat movement that would have been all too familiar to its opponent. Or maybe Sechs wouldn't have time to notice at all, as no sooner had it landed and the creature was moving again, darting in close to hamper the swing of the axe while striking at the other.

And then, before he could even begin to explain just why 'scrapped' and 'decomposing, skeletal nightmare' weren't the same thing, Sech's axe crashed into the mirror and thousands of shining crystals rained down around his feet with a clatter like falling silver. Even if Kibitoshin had managed to compose an answer for his partner in crime, it would probably have fallen straight out of his open mouth.

What was Sechs thinking?! There was getting revenge and then there was getting killed, and this only seemed to be leading up to the latter. Especially if that thing managed to get out of the mirror.

Exactly, as it turned out, like it did barely a second later. If it had looked bad when it was behind glass it looked appalling up close. The light from their torches slid off of every scrap of discoloured flesh and mottled bone. The reflection certainly hadn't had a smell either, that acrid reek of rotting flesh that brought memories of the night before flooding back to him in heady waves. But now definitely wasn't the time for nostalgia, because it barely stopped at all before lashing out at them violently.

The fear made a good springboard for his well-hidden instincts; automatically Kibitoshin swept the shelf up in front of him like a long, narrow shield from head to crotch. And it was also the fear that tore the heartfelt, albeit redundant, warning of, "S-Sechs! Look out!", from his lips.

Suspended within his perceived moment of triumph, it was no wonder that Sechs' bloodthirsty grin instantly changed into an expression of total alarm at the sight of the creature flashing past him. Well, this certainly threw a wrench into Sechs' plan...

AH SHIT--!

The mirror that contained the creature gave Sechs the impression that it was similar to a door, like a portal for both the creature's reflective space and the bathroom that Sechs and Kibitoshin stood in. He assumed destroying the mirror would close the entryway for the creature, but instead he was quick to realize that he had opened it instead! He might as well have freed a ferocious tiger from its cage!

Just as the creature sprung out from its sanctum, Sechs' axe fiercely plunged into the tiled wall where the mirror once hung. The double bit blade sunk into its target with a dull crunch, leaving it to stubbornly hang off the wall with both of Sechs' hands clutching onto its handle.

Sechs had no time to berate himself for making such a reckless move when he was alerted by Kibitoshin's warning. Far in the corner of his eye the Replica spotted the creature dashing in for the kill. No! Not again! Immediately Sechs wrenched away at the embedded axe with both his hands upon the handle and his foot against the counter to exert his efforts. His movements sent his flashlight tumbling out of his possession and rolling down the floor; its scurrying beam of light revealed terrifying glimpses of the monster as it dove in.

"Let me rephrase what I said earlier!" Sechs shouted to his comrade as he tore the axe out from the wall with a grunt, showering himself with broken bits of tiling. "Don't look at the mirrors AND don't break them!!"

By the time Sechs retrieved his weapon from the wall, it was too late for him to get a good swing at the creature. Within that blurred moment all he could do was hold the axe horizontally with its handle shielding his upper torso against his fetid opponent.

Edited 2009-09-12 16:02 (UTC)

The mirabis' rotting hand struck heavily at the handle of the axe, though instead of falling back, it wrapped the bony hand around the weapon and crowded closer, breathing putrid gusts of air in Sechs' face. It was that strange parody of a laugh it had from before, almost as though mocking Sechs' inability to fight back with his own stained and rotten face.

But that was only for a moment, before its mouth split open in a wide, razor-toothed grin and it struck at him again.

Between the intermittent showers of debris and the whirl of action just beyond his makeshift shield, Kibitoshin felt completely out of his league- in fact, scratch leagues, he wasn't even operating in the same universe. What was happening to them didn't even feel real to him; it was more like something out of a nightmare than an actual attack. Most importantly, it had occurred to him that Sechs was the fighter here, not him, and while he knew he had to be brave-

Suddenly the room was only half as bright as it had been before and Sech's torch was rolling past his feet. Over all of the sound and fury he could hear a low, haggard laugh.

He froze up. Sechs wasn't going to be able to do this alone. But if he was going to help, he couldn't afford to give in to the swings of confidence he could feel inside of himself, back and forth like a pendulum between certainty and apprehension. This was the part were, against all fear and against all reason, he had to force himself to move.

It was as though someone else had made the decision for him. When Kibitoshin lifted the shelf and swung it towards the striking creature, it still didn't feel real to him.

Bearing down upon his axe against the creature's force, Sechs kept his amber eyes locked onto his opponent's rotten sockets. His right wrist was already beginning to protest the exertion by sending sharp pangs up Sechs' arm, but he ignored the pain. The leering face before him heaved out a disgusting laugh, giving out a smell that nearly sent Sechs coughing with revulsion. Despite that it was his strong focus kept him steady. He was not going to back down from this. No matter what.

Letting out a guttural snarl, the Replica pushed on against his challenger. "So what are you, huh?!" Sechs demanded in a hoarse voice, "some doppelganger with a sick taste for people, or are you supposed to be me?!" Narrowing his yellow eyes, he added through gnashing teeth, "I can't destroy a part of myself without damaging my very being in the process. So let's find out what you really are! C'MON!!"

Yet before Sechs could exert a strong burst of force against the axe, two things happened nearly at once. The creature made a swift strike towards Sechs which was then shortly followed by the blurred motion of a shelf flying in towards his attacker. The Replica barely had time to jerk his head back away from both of the sudden movements...

WHAT?! Didn't I tell him NOT to get in my way--?!

Yet Sechs had no chance to give Kibitoshin hell for his intervention when a third problem barged into Sechs' fight. Without warning, a series of blasts followed by a single immense explosion shook the whole building to its very foundation. Immediately a tremendous shockwave engulfed the bathroom, sending more cracked tiles to crumble off the walls and the broken glass to clatter upon the floor. Trickles of dust fluttered down from the ceiling. It sounded like a huge part of the institute had been blown up or something...!

The sudden upheaval of the room broke Sechs' balance. Wrenching his axe away from the living corpse, Sechs stumbled backwards out of both the creature's and Kibitoshin's line of fire. The abrupt change of events brought on more surges of adrenaline and fury into Sechs' system; his eyes widened with barbaric puzzlement. "What the HELL is going on now?!" Sechs shouted into the quaking darkness.

Within that chaotic moment Sechs had no time to wonder over the cause of the explosion, as long as it didn't cause the whole ceiling to tumble down and crush them...

Now with a better hold upon his axe, Sechs wasted little time to lunge in for a swing at the monster after Kibitoshin's strike against it. The battle-charged Replica hollered out a brusque warning to his comrade before he aimed his blade towards the creature's upper torso. "OUTTA MY WAY!"

Edited 2009-09-15 05:18 (UTC)

Sechs moved and the mirabis' rotten teeth snapped shut on nothing but empty air. But before it could make another attack, several things happened at once. The first was Kibitoshin's attack, which hit it hard enough for a crack to echo around the empty bathroom and to give Sechs the space he needed to escape.

The second was the explosion that rocked the building. The mirabis seemed less concerned about that as it was about losing its prey, however, and as Sechs charged it again, it neatly avoided his attack with an agile movement that seemed unreal for how little muscle it had holding it together. Falling back so it could keep the two of them in sight, it smoothly reached down to pick up one of the largest shards of glass in one bony hand.

The last thing Kibitoshin was expecting was for his blind swing to actually land, never mind with that kind of force, but that alone was enough to send a second shot of adrenaline pumping through his system. The more pumped he was, the less scared he felt- or at least, the better he could ignore it.

But even one hell of a hormone kick couldn't have kept him on his feet when something exploded in the near distance and the entire building began to shake. The Kaioshin was already giddy and light enough on his feet that it was only seconds before he was on the floor, clutching his shelf as though his life depended on it. Probably because it did, only he'd somehow factored Sechs into that equation too.

Sechs! Where was he?! Kibitoshin tried to look up, but the flashlight he could have sworn was in his hand only a moment ago was suddenly by his feet and all he caught was a flash of his face and the tail end of his command (out of his way? He was on the floor! How much more 'out' did he want?!) as the young man charged forward, axe raised high, and-

- missed! Kibitoshin struggled to his feet, flashlight safely back in his hand. Sechs was still standing and the creature was a little further away. Only now it was armed: a sharp slab of glass glinted in its rotting hands, glinting wickedly. Kibitoshin gulped but held his ground. He'd made it this far and now he was staying with Sechs to the end.

Feeling his axe tearing through the air instead of his decomposing target, Sechs loudly cursed under his ravaged breath as his blade swung to the end of its range. The other side of his double bit blade crashed through one of the bathroom counters. The reckless impact sent large splinters and jagged ceramic fragments shattering through the air. As the broken remains of the counter and sink loudly clattered upon the floor along with the disheveled glass, Sechs ignored his destructive mishap and was already posturing himself for another attack.

The speediness of his opponent didn't surprise Sechs as much this time, but he still felt unnervingly puzzled by how it was even able to move at all in the first place. That thing must have been made up of nanomachines of some sort... Like a malfunctioning Berserker body falling apart. What did surprise Sechs was the strident sound of Kibitoshin's shelf landing a direct hit against the creature's skull. What?! He got the first hit?! Hmph! Sechs would just have to rectify that then, this was HIS battle after all!

Watching the creature pick up its own weapon, Sechs felt his mind and body experience a painful charge from his memories of his first encounter with the monster. Feeling the sturdy handle of his axe within his hands, Sechs shot the creature an undaunted sneer. This time he was far better equipped! Finally, a battle worth fighting in this damn institute! In that moment all that mattered to Sechs was his opponent before him. He was so focused on his fight that Sechs didn't even notice Kibitoshin fall over into a jittery heap on the floor.

Letting out a savage growl, Sechs hurdled forward towards the creature with his axe whooshing in for another strike. He was keen on remembering how cutting into the creature with glass bore little effect; so how would chopping off a whole limb suffice? The sharp glint of the creature's reflective weapon became Sechs' guide as he swiftly bore down upon his opponent with his blade viciously swooping towards the creature's arm.

Edited 2009-09-17 05:45 (UTC)

If Sechs was expecting the rotting double to fall back and avoid the blow, he was in for a surprise. Matching his savage growl with a breathy, rattling sound of its own, the mirabis instead sidestepped and moved in, raising its other arm to meet the axe.

The blade split the rotten flesh easily and sunk into the bone-- where it caught. The rotten façade of Sechs' own face split into a wide, triumphant grin, and the mirabis took advantage of the moment to slash up and in at its opponent with the long shard of glass.

Yet again, Kibitoshin found himself faced with yet another conundrum. On one hand this was Sech's battle; getting too involved, while saving his skin, certainly wouldn't save Sech's pride. And that was what was really at stake here. Even if he couldn't understand it personally, Vegeta had managed to make him at least appreciate how much pride meant to some people.

His hands tightened around the shelf and flashlight. This is impossible! Why can't I be more like Sechs and hit first, worry later?

A moment's hesitation could mean as much as a lifetime in battle. His eyes followed the gleam of Sech's axe into the skeleton's forearm but instead of cleaving the bone in two the blade stuck, and then he was following another flash- but this one came from their opponent's own weapon.

In that moment something suddenly became very, very clear to Kibitoshin: if Sech is dead it won't matter how proud he feels about it. Decided once and for all, he took his shelf and threw it as hard as he could at the creature. The least he could do was try and throw it off!

The crunch of blade impacting flesh and bone didn't give way to the satisfying sensation of chopping off his target's limb. Sechs' feral expression intensified as he let out an infuriated growl through his teeth.

Dammit! This guy's made of tough stuff! His axe was just too blunt! The Titan Blade would have easily sliced through the grinning corpse like a knife through warm butter! With his hands still clutched around the axe's handle, Sechs knew he needed to pull his weapon back for another strike before the creature had a chance to attack.

When the deadly blade flashed towards Sechs, he immediately threw his right foot out to kick against the creature. His efforts helped him messily wrench the blade out from the monster's arm, but his attempt to distance himself from his enemy wasn't fast enough. There was a sickening sound of flesh being stabbed that was immediately followed by an agonized holler from Sechs. Toppling back with the bloody axe slipping from his grip, Sechs fell hard upon the tiled floor with the large glass shard now planted deep into the side of his thigh. His double bit weapon landed nearby with a raucous clang.

The glass had pierced far through the muscle, setting his whole leg into a state of fiery pain that felt far worse than his sprained arm. Splayed out on his back, the injured Replica heavily grunted with pain as he grasped around the embedded blade in his leg with one bloody hand. Struggling to bear with his sudden deep wound, Sechs' other arm painfully stretched out to reach his fallen weapon which laid mere inches from his straining fingers. NO! I'm not down until I'm out! Yet as persevering his stubborn will was Sechs wasn't sure his breakable human form could last once the creature would take advantage of his fall. Nearly blinded by the darkness and pain, Sechs missed sight of Kibitoshin's shelf hurtling in at his attacker.

Edited 2009-09-20 19:56 (UTC)

The mirabis gave another eerie, breathy laugh as the shard of glass bit deep into Sechs' leg and, as the patient went down, it stepped forward, no doubt intending to finish the job--

There was a dull thump as the board hit the mirabis with enough force to draw its attention away from Sechs and to the other, now unarmed, patient. Its face (if it could be called that at any rate) was already an almost rictus grin of rotten bone and the remains of flesh, but it somehow managed to give the impression of smiling wider. It glanced down at Sechs briefly, then seemed to dismiss him, bending instead to pick up the board Kibitoshin had thrown at it and advancing on the smaller man.

The shelf hit its target just as the shard of glass sank into Sech's unprotected leg. The effect, however, was far less satisfying than the initial whack had been, and the board bounced off of the creature's back. Then, skeletal face split into what almost seemed a leer, it turned around, picked up the board and moved towards him.

Kibitoshin's pupils contracted. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no no no nononono-

He scrabbled backwards, holding his torch out in front of him as though the beam were a laser of some sort rather than a dim, battery-powered light that could barely cut through air, let alone solid bone. Out of impulse as much as terror he flashed the light on and off in the creature's face, casting slanting shadows across the structure and lighting it in new creative and terrifying ways, all in the hope that it would maybe confuse it. H-he had to buy time! Anything to put off... to put off...

He gulped. To put off the inevitable.

NO! This couldn't be happening! It was far too much like the time when Sechs found himself trapped in Whophon's illusion. The Replica's darkest side emerged from his shadow, taunting and mocking him for being nothing but a weak, useless clone. When Sechs attempted to destroy his horrible shadow, he was shocked to find that he had stabbed himself with his own blade in the process. Was this the same scenario? Was the creature supposed to be his true side? He couldn't damage the creature enough and was now under its mercy...

Unable to reach his axe, Sechs tried to retrieve the glass out from his leg but found just lightly tugging at the embedded shard to be far too agonizing for him to bear. This was it. Any moment the creature was going to pounce on him with its claws tearing away at his skin and its teeth puncturing into his flesh. It was going to take Sechs out of his misery, like a scrapped Replica that had finished its purpose... Shutting his eyes tight, Sechs tensed his body up for the final blow... Was this the end...?

But the assault never came. Instead Sechs heard something bounce off his attacker. Opening his eyes, the Replica caught sight of the creature picking up a shelf - Kibitoshin's shelf! What?! Why was Kibitoshin still here? He should have gotten himself out of the bathroom while he still had the chance! Why risk himself for someone he barely knew?

It didn't matter now. Kibitoshin, who had just saved Sechs' life, was now in risk himself! Seeing the creature approach his unarmed friend set off an intense fury inside Sechs. "No!! Leave him alone you sick bastard! It's me you want!"

Rolling over onto his belly, Sechs grabbed his axe and then forced himself up onto his feet despite the raging affliction in his leg. Barely able to repress his pained groans, Sechs used his axe as a support while he heavily limped towards the creature. He could barely move his leg; it felt like most of the muscles needed to walk had been stabbed by the glass. Yet he had to keep going, this wasn't over just yet... Seeing Kibitohin's flashlight frantically flickering on and off, Sechs could only hope that would buy him enough time to limp over to the creature before it attacked his ally.

"NO!! Leave him alone!" Sechs shouted in a fit of agonized fury, "your battle is with ME!!" Once he had stumbled within striking distance from the fetid predator, Sechs lifted his axe and threw himself forward with his blade flying in towards the creature's neck.

Edited 2009-09-22 02:45 (UTC)

The mirabis tilted its head, eyeing Kibitoshin as it advanced on him. The dangerous opponent was down, there was nothing to stop it from taking its time killing this one, then returning to finish the other. Its opponents would be defeated, and to the victor went the spoils--

Apparently Sechs hadn't been as defeated as the mirabis had assumed. His shouts of rage had masked that he was up once more, and armed to boot. The mirabis realised its decision to ignore him until later was a fatal one, as there was no time for it to avoid the blow. The blade of the axe caught the rotten neck, shredding the decaying flesh and shattering the bone.

But if Sechs had hoped for some sort of trophy from the fight, he was to be denied even that much; no sooner had the axe finished it off and the mirabis was gone, leaving only some fragments of glass left over from the mirror to show that it had ever been.

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NIGHTSHIFT 43: MEN'S BATHROOMS (M41-M80)

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