damned_institute | Nightshift 46: Arts & Crafts Room

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Nightshift 46: Arts & Crafts Room

[From here]

Neku might not have been in the Arts and Crafts room before, but he'd had it pointed out to him enough times to make it easy to locate. The door opened easily and he made room for the others to slip inside while he let his flashlight search the room. A quick scan revealed nothing, though he was somewhat concerned over what tuning into other frequencies might do. If they had psychos with guns running around at night, he could only imagine what kind of Noise might be contributing to it.

Now it was on to the important part. Risking their lives for art supplies.

How was he supposed to know what CAT wanted anyway? He took a few steps toward the shelves at the other end of the room. The tables were bare, so the stuff had to be back there. Josh knew Mr. H pretty well, so would he want to pick the stuff out? Or would he just enjoy himself and laugh when Neku picked the wrong supplies? Then again, Mr. H, had entrusted the task to Neku. And Neku definitely knew CAT's work. Focus. Something in bright primary colors, black, maybe some white too. He opened the nearest cabinet and started rummaging through the supplies.

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"Well... that was exciting." Joshua had been glad that no one had shot at them while they had made their escape, but still, having a door between himself and whoever that other person was made him feel a bit safer. The fear of mortality was a novel emotion, and Joshua wasn't particularly keen to feel it, but it was an important thing, something he'd nearly forgotten. Usually he had no shortage of confidence, but that, too, was something that had changed here.

What surprised him, more than Neku's reluctance to help or the fact that someone would turn down help against someone with a pistol, though, was the fact that Leonard had stuck around. Most adults tended to leave kids to their own devices, and that wasn't exactly Joshua's chosen age group, either. This, too, was a new experience. Or at least, an experience novel by the virtue of how long it had been since Joshua had last felt it.

For now, though, while he waited out the unwelcome new sensation of blood pounding in his ears in time to the rapid beating of his heart, he giggled as he watched Neku poking around. He didn't go immediately for what Mr. H. would want? Did the man not tell Neku? Or was it something else entirely? Hm... for now, he'd sit back and watch, see what Neku did. The real question was, would Neku take a best guess, or would he ask for a second opinion?

Third into the room, Leonard turned and closed the door behind him, physically separating his group from the Sun Room. He glanced over his shoulder, turning to face the room, surveying with his flashlight. Okay, what are we doing here?

He watched the teenagers, watching their actions. One stood silently, the other immediately got to work. We're looking for something, Leonard concluded, making his way toward a cabinet himself. He paused before opening it, digging through his pockets for some clue as to what they were looking for. He retrieved his journal, flipping through the first few pages under his light.

"Exciting. Yeah. I'd kind of like to be done with exciting for a while," Neku pointed out, glancing over his shoulder for a moment before turning back to his work.

It shouldn't take much in the way of supplies to make a handful of pins, it was the Imagination that was important. Neku picked up several sheets of blank white paper and a pair of the crappy kid's scissors. Glue, some tubes of paint, a couple brushes, it was all added to the pile. Glitter, he ignored for the most part. Shiki might get a kick out of it, but it wasn't something CAT was known for using.

He hadn't expected much help, but when he heard Joshua just giggling away and Leonard just flipping through his journal, he made a face and rolled his eyes. Good thing his back was turned to them as he finished up collecting the items. Seriously though, Joshua should know this kind of thing and wasn't it partly for his benefit too? He didn't want a useless partner if he was in a pinch.

After a moment Neku spotted some of the sculpting clay. That might actually work pretty well, he decided. CAT wasn't just a painter after all. And he'd definitely be able to get something that looked more like a pin and lasted longer if it was made of something sturdy. As an after-thought he grabbed some of the buttons, thread, and a dull needle. If they couldn't find safety pins, they could sew the damn things on for all he cared, so long as he could use them. Once collected, he set the supplies on the table, crossing his arms and looking to Joshua for approval.

"That gonna do it?"

Paints and glitter weren't the only things present in the darkness of the room this night, as shortly became apparent. In the darkness something stirred, awakened by the voices and sounds of movement, and as it shifted the sharp tang of ozone overlaid with sulfur drifted through the air.

There were three to choose from, and it stayed still a moment longer to decide, the ozone reek growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.

Joshua's eyes were drawn more to Leonard than to Neku, when the older man started drifting off and searching through his journal. That had only been a couple of minutes from the last time he'd consulted his journal until now... which meant, in theory, that Leonard's memory loss was shorter than Joshua had anticipated. He'd guesstimated it before at about a day, maybe less. If it was a matter of minutes, then that made things much easier and much more difficult at the same time.

...it did make things more interesting, though. Joshua was always up for something interesting. "You aren't going to find anything in there," he prompted Leonard, "this is mostly Neku's errand."

And just as he thought, when Neku asked his question, Joshua found almost nothing to complain about. Sculpting clay was an interesting choice, same with the needle and thread, but Neku had pretty much everything that Mr. H. might need. Even still, the question was almost begging for a comment, and Joshua couldn't quite resist. "Oh, I'm certain that he could work perfectly well with all of that. Of course, for some of his designs, especially for pins, he usually uses something with a bolder color, like a marker." Not quite a compliment, and not quite a suggestion either. Like many of the things Joshua said, it was up to the person who heard him to determine how to feel about it.

What wasn't so ambiguous was the smell in the air. Joshua sniffed when he scented that sharp ozone smell, and his hand unconsciously went for his cell phone. Someone outside, and now something in here as well? That was... not necessarily a good thing.

"Oh," Leonard remarked, giving the kid a thankful nod for the information. He flipped through his polaroids quickly- Joshua. I don't have one of the other kid. Hm.

He returned them and his journal to his pocket, opening the cabinet anyway. Markers. Could be handy. He tucked three markers into his pocket- red, blue, and black. Just as he was shutting the doors, one more object caught his eye- Glue stick. He grabbed it quickly, adding it to his growing collection of items.

As he shut cabinet, he felt the rush of air in his face, catching wind of a sharp smell in the air. Gas? No, what is that? "You smell that?"

Neku's errand? Huh. That would account for the complete lack of help he was getting. Or why Joshua seemed to think he didn't have to do anything. As if Joshua wasn't going to benefit if his partner got stronger.

He frowned when Joshua gave his response, but turned back to the cabinet and took a handful of markers as well, then set about putting his collection into his pockets. What he could fit of it, at least. He paused a moment to double-knot the pajama pants; that would be all he needed, losing his shorts in the middle of making a run for it or something. Then again, he was used to adding on lots of tacky accessories just to have to fight in it later.

That still left the paper and the sewing supplies, but those he could probably carry in one arm and still keep the flashlight in the other. All in all, things had gone pretty smoothly. Neku turned, closing the cabinet he'd been sifting through and cocked an eyebrow at Leonard's suggestion.

There was definitely something strange in the air. It took a second or two to place it, but it was hard not to recall exactly when he'd smelled the same sort of thing before. A-East, where Def March was supposed to have their concert back in the Game. But that was when they'd had to take down that huge Bat Noise that was causing so much disruption in the area. Even with pins it'd been a tough fight, but with nothing but art supplies? They'd be royally hosed. Not to mention he wasn't even sure where it was in the first place. Was he just imagining things?

In a normal fight, he'd just have to find the Noise, tune in, then work with his partner to get rid of it. But he could hardly even see here and Psychs were out too.

"I don't wanna stick around to find out what it is. Let's bail."

They were moving - were they leaving? No, that couldn't happen, not so quickly.

The tempest moved forward to the edge of the cupboard that was its perch, wings lifting; they stroked the air once, twice, three times, ever-increasing flickers of electricity playing over tarnished feathers with each movement, outlining the creature in faint blue light. And on the fourth down-stroke electricity arced from wingtip to wingtip and then shot forward, aiming for the closest one, the one that had awoken it from sleep with his rummaging.

That smell got stronger with each passing moment, and Joshua frowned as he tried to puzzle it out. Ozone, now what would cause that? Usually the only thing that would make such a smell would be an electric... arc...

He saw it just as the creature was building up the discharge. No time to use his psyche, no time to get in the way... "Neku, watch out!" Already, though, Joshua was reaching for his phone. He probably didn't have enough power to wipe the thing out like he'd want to, but at the least, he might be able to buy some time. If it came to that.

The sudden spark of electricity was enough to get Leonard's full attention. "Hey! What happened?" He turned quickly, turning on his flashlight as he headed toward the other teen.

He stopped a few steps from him, inner caution warning him that the area might be dangerous. Shining his light around the ceiling, he looked for loose wires or anything that may have caused arc of electricity.

The freakish almost bird thing just happened to appear right over his head. Just my luck. He didn't catch sight of it until a few sparks started to light up the room. And by the time Joshua called out, Neku was already backpedaling to get away from the electro-bird thing.

The bad thing about lightning attacks was that no matter where it hit you, even if it only managed to graze you, it still hurt like a bitch and sent spasms through his muscles. While the blue bolt struck him around the ankle as he tried to retreat, the ensuing chaos when his leg refused to follow simple instructions was enough to send him crashing backward into the nearest table. The papers he'd collected as well as the needle and thread that'd been in his hands were scattered and it was all he could do to try to shake it off and get back up.

With wings still poised the tempest's head lowered, turning from one side to the other as though the creature was trying to get the best view of its target. It shifted its weight from one foot to the other as static sparks dancing over the length of its body for a moment, then abruptly launched into the air with a sweep of its broad wings. The ceiling in this room was annoyingly low, too low for it to get very high above those who had invaded its territory.

It circled once, the sparks dancing over its feathers again growing in strength, but this time when the lightning arced between its wings it surged forth not in one bolt, but three weaker ones. Two weren't aimed at anything in particular, but the third landed between the room's occupants and the door, as though trying to warn them against trying to flee.

Well this... wasn't good. Normally, Noise with lightning powers wouldn't be too bad. Considering their frequency, normally he and Neku could take it without too many problems, and then dish it out with their Psyches. The problem, of course, was that this wasn't the case any longer. They were pretty much normal, so Joshua wasn't surprised when Neku crashed to the ground when a bolt of electricity struck him.

And those bolts kept striking, going wide and just showing off the creature's power. If they couldn't get out of this room, then they were going to be in a bad way. He couldn't pay attention to Leonard in a situation like this, sadly- instead, he whipped out his phone. Usually, he'd have preferred a dramatic snap of the wrist to bring the phone into action, but being the brick it was, he couldn't do that. Even still, though... he had some power in it.

More importantly, it could still serve as a focus for his Inspiration. He couldn't exactly pick up a car and fling it like he used to, but maybe something smaller might work just as well. He'd just have to focus, concentrate... easier said than done with all that electricity dancing around. But so long as he wasn't struck, he'd be all right. Of course, he wasn't sure whether Neku would remember to play their little game now of all times, but even if he didn't, Joshua could manage something.

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Nightshift 46: Arts & Crafts Room

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