Nightshift 23: Second floor; east wing, near railed area

[damn-legends.livejournal.com]

[[From here]]

This space. All around him, emptiness. Even his hushed, near-silent footsteps boomed with echo in the emptiness of the corridor; he stopped dead and listened hard.

There was something. Something moving along the corridor, slowly, regular. A scrape, like a wounded man dragging an injured leg. And he could feel something too - feel it, the heat in this cold space...

He gripped his pipe tightly, and ran as quietly as he could towards the nearest wall, bracing his body against it.

Was it coming closer?

Comments

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

Even in the darkness this creature still had its sense of direction, limping down the corridor, every other step met with a slight twitch of its shoulders. It knew that there was another being nearby, its movements quickening almost in excitement towards the patient.

It forced out a noise from the back of its throat; something in between a groan and a gurgle, and when it came closer its morbid features would become known to the man. The scapula of this creature's right side was without a limb, instead replaced with a bulge of scarred flesh and infected stitching. The other side was a different story, for not only did it have its original limb, underneath it laid the other stitched on haphazardly. The monster's head had been shifted to the side and attached right above its neck with its trachea, esophagus and spine exposed at the side. This abomination had no eyes, the scarring of the orbicularis oculi making it obvious that they were simply scooped out. Yet despite this it was still able to maneuver easily along the stretched hallway. Probably the most disturbing feature was that its thoracic cage had clearly been removed, the quick rise and fall in the middle of its chest was a sign of its own heart beating underneath the folds of skin.

Large pieces of skin had been stripped away revealing the tender flesh underneath, much like both legs that wobbled with each step. At first glance one would wonder how such a thing could even exist, seemingly lost as it wandered aimlessly around. But just as it came several feet away from Snake it ceased, unmoving except for a quick twitch every few seconds.

And then all of a sudden, like it gained the accuracy and precision of a graceful fighter, it lunged towards the man without warning.

[damn-legends.livejournal.com]

Snake barely even had time to register what the thing was before it lunged. With a howl of surprise he dived gracelessly to the left, landing in a half-crouch to soak up the impact - he swung his head around and stared down his shoulder at the thing, at the pitiful eyeless dragging thing, chopped and scarred and so far beyond inhuman - and yet not - and it stunned him, deer in the headlights -

Get UP - he screamed at himself in his head. Get up get up MOVE -

His shoulders moved without the rest of him and he tumbled a metre to the left, finally standing.

Years and years of never touching a close-combat weapon automatically raised the bar to fire a shot at its head - before Snake realised in a spit-second what was wrong with that, and drew it up like a baton.

The thing had no eyes, he realised. Simply scars in what used to be its face. If it was hunting by sound, he guessed, than if he could remain silent then it would have trouble honing in on its position, and he could strike it in its exposed, vulnerable organs.

He steeled his shoulders. He was ready.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

Indeed the creature hunted by sound, ears painfully acute to the surrounding noises that echoed through this once silent corridor. Seeing as that it barely missed its target, the monster attempted to swing its arms at Snake, but instead was met with air once more. It stumbled somewhat at the slack before quickly recovering, twitching madly and throwing its head around in an attempt to hone in on the patient's movements.

However, this proved to be more difficult as it was forced to listen harder, as far as the near-silent breaths of its victim.

A moment's more of waiting and the leftover lunged again, this time not directly at Snake, but a foot to the side of him.

[damn-legends.livejournal.com]

Snake could tell from the angle the creature leapt that it would not make contact, and smirked. He'd called it right. As long as he didn't make a noise...as long as he didn't panic...

Without moving his feet, he twisted his upper body and brought the end of his pipe sharply down on what he hoped was the creature's head, resisting the urge to cry out or grunt with the exertion.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

It was safe to say that this body of leftovers hadn't been expecting the sharp stab at its head, faltering in its steps and letting out a loud cry. Yet that didn't mean that Snake was out of the woods just yet. The man may have not made a sound, but the direction of where the pipe had come from was a good hint to where its origins lie.

The creature's arm surged forward, making contact with skin and lets its decaying nails scratch down harshly at the flesh.

[damn-legends.livejournal.com]

Snake bit back a gasp of pain as the stupid damn smiley face on the front of his standard issue shirt bloomed red as the blood soaked into it. Normally he wouldn't worry about a little bleeding, but normally he had enough nanomachines in his system to set off a metal detector busily patching up his blood vessels, even during downtime - he didn't believe in being too careful.

With a sudden growl he thrust the pipe with all his strength, aiming it at the creature's boneless chest as if he were fighting with a spear and not a pipe.

[idolism]

_{[from over here]}

Coming up to the railing, he draped his arms along it and stared at the ensuing struggle like someone idly watching a street performance. The woman with the hot poker? Nice. This place had some eccentric attractions.

But he wasn't there to interfere in that. Aidou had his own kink to stomp out before he could move on with the rest of his night.

[madvampireking.livejournal.com]

((From: here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/98560.html)))

Aidou had to know he was there, with how he broke off from the other two. He would expect no less He had hoped to catch him by surprise, but hey. The smell of a living corpse wasn't exactly hard to miss, to someone with enhanced senses. "So, you've decided to stop running."

He stood up, using his inhuman height to its fullest advantage.

"I'm going to kill you now. Any last words?"

[idolism]

"Running? What a stupid thing to say."

Aidou didn't acknowledge anymore of Alucard's words, however. He absently tapped his forefinger against the banister.

"Let's make one thing clear: by rights, I'm obliged to kill you. But I'm already engaged tonight, and you are a waste of my time." With a hand cupping his chin, Aidou rewarded Alucard with a flat glance. "So I'm granting you a reprieve. It's as simple as that."

[madvampireking.livejournal.com]

"So be it."

He had no qualms on attacking defenseless prey, and if Aidou wanted to discard his own life as carelessly as he was, Alucard did not care the slightest. WIthout any further hesitation, he moved to knock the boy over with a kick to the shins, wanting to have him pinned to the floor.

His hands would be the first to go.

[idolism]

He was trying to go for an image of Kaname-sama in his moment of reluctant mercy; he'd never understood the how or why of it, only that Kaname-sama had made it a point not to devalue himself by indulging the other in a fight. Aidou found it hard to do the same. Especially getting attacked from behind, that was just weak.

Swinging himself up, he avoided Alucard entirely by straightening into a handstand, and leaping away, coming to a stop further along the railing, balanced neatly on his feet.

"Are you stupid? I said take your pathetic existence away, and enjoy what time you have left."

Kicking Alucard in the face would probably defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?

[faithful-dog.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/100422.html#comments)]

Naoe didn't wait for the two boys to catch up to him. He headed straight past the stairs to the a hallway that he thought would lead him back to where he knew Takaya was being held.

He froze, however, when he realized there was a great deal of commotion going on in the area. That, he also realized, was an understatement.

He needed to get by without being seen because he wasn't in the mood to be stopped by a fight. He waited and listened for his chance.

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Sasuke stalked after Yoshiaki, matching the man's reckless pace with no small amount of irritation. There was something troubling about the man's devotion -- obsession, nearly -- made no lesser by the fact that the same person of whom Yoshiaki claimed ownership clearly detested both the claim and the claimer.

"Yoshiaki," he said, voice low but brooking no argument. "Stop. You have no idea where we are, and you did not see how we came to be here."

(Sasuke had, and it troubled him, because there was no ability or technique he knew of that simply misplaced objects. It was almost like having been thrown abruptly into another world, but that was impossible without the manipulation of reality, and that required -- Mangekyou -- no. There was no way.

There had to be another reason. Her eyes were red. She was not Itachi.)

Taking charge distracted him from whatever-it-was, and so he did, scoping out the area carefully. There was a wide rail area that surrounded empty space -- above the Sun Room, then? Sasuke hadn't been up here at night before, but in the day, that was fairly close to where they'd been.

The commotion around him caught his attention long enough for him to notice Aidou and Alucard, another two he wanted to work with again. And apparently some conflict near the railing itself. Further stopping would drive Yoshiaki to working alone, though, and Sasuke remained interested in any potential power Takaya might have.

Still, he was getting impatient with the prospect of 'saving' Takaya ...

"Left," he said briefly, and mentally set a time limit before continuing in that direction. If saving Takaya did not happen within half an hour, Sasuke was leaving Lee with Yoshiaki and striking out on his own.

[youthfulrocklee.livejournal.com]

Lee had raised an eyebrow at the way Naoe had reacted. Instability was dangerous, especially in a place like this.

Still, when Naoe began to move again, and Sasuke followed, he trailed after him, once more observing the conversation between his other two teammates.

For a brief second, he thought about Sakura, wondering if she was all right this night, and if he would see here again. He had to hope that he would, but the life of a shinobi taught him that people could leave life swiftly.

"This is foolish," he said finally and firmly. "I, too, wish to rescue Takaya from whatever punishments he is enduring, but if we are simply going to take the same route as we did beforehand, we shall be asking for grave problems. We must consider different routes to attempt this breakin, and pick the best choice, or to have more help to devise a different strategy."

Would they actually bother to listen to him? Sasuke might, he decided, but it was clear that Naoe's attitude towards him was like hanging around Master Guy on a normal day. That was not entirely hopeful, really.

If Neji had been here, he would have been able to see through the walls to what lay ahead...if things had been in normal circumstances, that was. But they were powerless here...

Or at least...those with gifts...

With speed that, though was certainly not as great as before, was still rather impressive, Lee moved in front of his two companions. He stopped Naoe, ready to punch the man if need be to knock some sense into him. Lee may have been weakened, but after so many years of physical training, it would still be a sucker punch.

"We need a plan," he said simply, eyes sharp and dark.

[faithful-dog.livejournal.com]

Naoe's eyes narrowed, but he stopped and listened to Lee. The boy made some sense. "Very well," he said, agreeing. "Not here, though." He didn't want to stay around where a fight was going on.

He moved quickly, careful to go the long way, passing people and the fights going on as he did. He tried a couple of doors but didn't bother with the ones that were locked or the ones that could be broken. Finally he found one that opened right away and ducked inside.

[somehow magically avoiding the fights to end up here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/105360.html)]

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/98560.html?view=6240256#t6240256)]

Unfortunately, he'd apparently been right about the source of the noise. He hated when that happened. He glanced around himself quickly, pressing back back into the shadows to stay hidden for the moment. He didn't want to walk into a fight just yet. He hoped the others would have the sense to wait until they could spot an opening and get past without being dragged into anything.

[repolarization.livejournal.com]

Ginji froze when he realized what was going on. There were fights going on. He wanted to help. He really did. Especially if someone was being attacked by a monster.

But it was with that woman. And he still wasn't sure how his mind was after that doctor hurt him.

He was scared.

He didn't show it though, because getting too scared was dangerous. Instead he hung close to the other men and waited to see what they would do.

[championofright.livejournal.com]

While it had been Darkwing's idea to turn on a flashlight in the first place, he found himself covering it with one hand as they moved through the second floor. For one thing, the other three patients he was with had suddenly seemed to hush, and it didn't take him long to realize why - there was a fight going on.

He hugged the wall near Yohji, crouching down close to the floor to remain hidden. He squinted through the dark, wishing he could use the flashlight to get a better look but knowing that would be a dead giveaway. He had never relied on light back home, but this situation was different.

He could make out three forms struggling near what looked like a railing. That couldn't be good - it would be long before one or more of them got thrown over.

They couldn't just ignore this, could they? People were in danger, and as a hero, it was his duty to help! He glanced at his companions, hoping they felt similarly. As it stood, he couldn't join the fight fast enough.

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

"Think it's personal?" Cliff kept his voice low - three shapes fighting, yeah, but they all looked pretty human to him. Even in the dark, he knew what that looked like. He wasn't about to get involved with a personal fight.

He tilted his head at the other side of the railing. "Unless they're in real trouble, lets go around. 's not our fight."

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

Yohji peered into the darkness, shuffling a little bit closer so he could see better what was going on; definitely looked human, although who knew in this place? He moved back to the group, keeping his voice low. "Not a clue, looks pretty vicious," he said softly. It looked, to be honest, like some kind of messed up lover's spat gone horribly wrong, but he wasn't about to say that out loud.

He nodded at Cliff in agreement, taking a few silent steps towards the other side. No sense getting involved when it was people they didn't know, a situation they didn't know. It was cold, but that's the way things were.

[faithful-dog.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/105360.html)]

Some of the commotion had died down, and that suited Naoe just fine. He didn't want for the two boys, knowing by now they would catch up when they had to. He was tolerating Sasuke's plan for now at least.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/104322.html)]

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/98560.html?view=6365952#t6365952)

She approached the balcony area carefully, wary of anything attacking in such a place where a fall would be so easy. She paused in the darkness near the railings, looking around, for any sign of danger before turning to the others. "Which way is the chapel?" They'd been lucky so far, but an attack would slow them further. She hoped that they could at least find evidence to help them to decide whether to trust the radio's hints.

[lighthearted]

A railing? Sora had never seen that before. The last time he had been upstairs was before the building had gone through its most recent change, so this was all new to him. While he'd been able to lead the way before, they were going to have to rely on something else now.

"You have a map, right?" Those weren't always easy to follow if they weren't detailed, but at this point it was all they had.

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

Rukia was about to lean toward Rangiku to take a look at the map when she heard a nasty popping noise, followed by the thud of a body hitting the floor. Head snapping up, Rukia tightened her grip on the bar and shone her flashlight in the direction of the sounds.

The beam revealed a woman on the floor (what was that pink stuff?), and two people standing over her. Rukia recognized the girl as Claire, but didn't know the man. "Claire?" Rukia said to no one in particular before rushing off in that direction to find out what was going on, or assist in the fight.

[Moving up here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/99440.html?thread=6227568#t6227568).]

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

Rangiku pulled out the map, glancing at it quickly bt the followed Rukia's gaze. Was that Claire? And there was obviously a fight going on. Without even thinking about it, she stuffed the map back into her pocket and followed the other shinigami over to help their friend.


[Following Rukia]