Night 54: Soccer/Recreational Field

[promisedawhale]

[from here]Though the night felt the same as any other, Brook felt that something was a little different than the usual. It was as though he could sense something about the place - like where things were dangerous and where they wouldn't be. Usually he knew that pretty well without the strange feeling. The Sun Room was always a big no-entry, and

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[bodhiandspirit]

[from here]

Here it was. The recreational field looked dramatically different than it had just a few hours ago, now that the sun had set and the institute had shed its daytime façade.

Rita could feel her heart beating faster than usual. She wasn't sure if it was anticipation of testing a new magic theory, or if it was anxiety over the knowledge of how risky it was to make herself a target. Still, she wasn't going to rest until she saw the results for herself: she just had to know if she could use heraldry as effectively as she wanted.

The mage took about ten steps away from the door, wanting to stay close in case she needed to retreat. There, she retrieved the piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it. It would be ready for when she needed it. For the time being, Rita stood idly, shining her flashlight around the field. Her plan would be in jeopardy if she let an enemy catch her by surprise, so she needed to stay alert.

[damned_monsters]

There was no movement to be seen, not yet: the night was still young and the field empty of anything other than grass that stirred gently in the faint night breeze. Although... there was one spot, a little farther into the field, where the neat and even spread of grass was interrupted by a pile of bare dirt.

It could be nothing, of course. It could always be nothing. At night, though, and here, that was less than likely.

[tiassa]

[bodhiandspirit]

Hmph. Nothing? For all the warnings about monsters that floated about the institute by word of mouth, they were annoyingly scarce when Rita actually needed one. Maybe people exaggerated the danger, or maybe this was just Rita's luck

[damned_monsters]

The pile of dirt remained nothing but a pile of dirt as she approached, but once she was closer two long, blunt-clawed hands thrust up through it and thrust the loose soil aside, allowing the head and shoulders of a vaguely humanoid creature to emerge.

For a second it paused there, its sickly-grey tongue lolling out of the absurdly overlarge mouth that was the only feature on its leathery face -- and then it surged up and out of the hole, its small, stocky body moving with more determination than speed as it swiped at the girl with one claw-tipped hand.

[shorttank]

[from here]

Leela pushed the door open, and looked around. No not-DOOP guys, no spooky houses with an appetite. Just a girl consulting a piece of paper. Leela relaxed a little.

"Looks clear," she told Gaignun, and stepped out. She didn't have much of a plan. That was a problem. She was still disappointed in the rebels for not showing up when they'd had a perfect distraction. On the other hand, she still also really liked the idea of being part of a resistance. No, The Resistance. It deserved capital letters. They could have a subtle code to identify each other, like a scrap of colored fabric pinned to their shirts, or… Maybe that wouldn't work. They could have slogans, though. They already had an underground radio, that was good. It was important to have the stylistic trappings before you tried actually resisting. Good for morale.

"I need to try to find someone. Are you up for climbing walls?"

[falseblack]

Nigredo followed obediently, somewhat satisfied in his momentary lapse in propriety to use a false name and its appropriate persona. If Rubedo could maintain similar habits, why couldn't he? It wouldn't harm Leela, at least, and if by chance an antagonist came along that required his special set of skills, he would assist. He wasn't cruel. He just--

The boy understood, vaguely. The logic proved flighty, but it remained all the same: this was a distraction. A pull away from a direction unwanted, to think of things other than what one brother was doing as the other slept. Facts of death and opposing wishes in exchange for a child's play.

He barely heard Leela's question. "Uh." Green eyes pulled down to his injured hand. "I should be...good." Good was what Rubedo would say. Yes, Nigredo should emulate him for the night.

[shorttank]

"I can give you a boost if you need one."

The poor little guy seemed preoccupied. Probably scared. Leela couldn't blame him. She would be the grownup now, to make up in a way for being immature this morning. She headed for the wall, cautiously. It was funny how needing to reassure someone else made her feel less scared. Usually, it was yelling at someone else not to be a moron that distracted her from scared-ness.

"How long have you been here?" she aksed, making the usual small talk.

[falseblack]

The offer for a boost came as a slight offense, reminding Nigredo of his glaringly short stature. Suddenly, he was aware that the woman was more than a head taller, and an immature element wanted to huff at the prospect.

Oh, right. He was pretending to be Rubedo, wasn't he? Isn't this the part where he'd act as though he was wounded pride incarnate and demand his recognition as the link master? ...On second thought, maybe modifying the base set of behaviors might be best. "Actually," Nigredo began, glancing up at the wall before them, "I wouldn't mind one."

As he waited for said boosting to start, he glanced at the peripheral with obvious caution. Committing his observations to memory was less obvious. "I've been here for three weeks now." Almost a month. It was far too long and too short for proper comprehension. "How about you?"

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

Taura stepped out on the field without her usual care in checking for ambushes; if Aigis had beaten her here, the woman could be in trouble.

The field was relatively quiet; a shock of purple hair by the wall had to be Leela, shepherding a tiny figure over to the wall. She would have said bodyguarding, by the set of her shoulders, but she could be wrong; the little one might be guarding her. Skill and technology -- or, here, magic -- were incredible equalizers.

That being said, there was no excuse for neglecting her own skills. She stepped over to the wall, examined it for hair, and pressed her hands against it while stretching her legs. She stayed close to the door; it was an exposed position, visible to anyone, which had her a little nervous. Friend or foe, either would be able to find her, but the door wasn't far.

[for Aigis, with possibly Zack & co dropping by.]

[no_dont_go]

[from here]

It struck Aigis after stepping out into the dark night that she had no idea whom she should look for. The name "Taura" could indicate any age or gender. It certainly wasn't Japanese but that was the only information she could glean from the name itself. It made her a little more wary but also nervous. How would she know who to approach?

The field was, luckily, sparsely populated for now. At the very least no monsters were about, though it was possible a brainwashed patient was hanging around in the shadows. Aigis was relatively positive she would have noticed if she were about to be attacked, though. She sensed no obvious animosity.

She would have to take a chance then. Hefting the claws she carried in one hand and shining about with her flashlight, she hesitantly stepped out into the open. "Taura-san?" Her voice was small but unafraid. "Taura-san?"

[ninelivesonce]

Taura had watched people emerging from the building in clumps -- a small, blonde-haired woman was one of the only ones to come out alone. Taura had already started walking over when the woman made any inquiries moot.

"Ms. Aigis?" Her voice was deep enough that, in the dark that it might be mistaken for a man's, but even a cursory glance would correct that. "Over here." She took a few long steps closer. "It's been remarkably peaceful out here tonight. You ready for a workout?"

She smiled, suddenly hesitant. Should she be friendly? Stern? Teaching styles, command styles; it was all the same conundrum. How was she supposed to know what Taura's style was without on-the-job experience? And how was she supposed to get that experience without getting anyone killed by her inexperience?

Miles could make it up as he went along, but he overestimated his friends. That's how I get them to do the impossible. Could it really be that simple? She let the smile widen. "First, we just need to get you comfortable with your new body

[no_dont_go]

"Ah, yes." Aigis turned, finding her instructor to be a tall, solid woman. She offered a small smile and bowed in greeting. "Indeed. Let us get to it."

She felt no fear and nodded to show her preparedness. Fighting was something that came innate, programmed. The style was what she needed to learn, but she was certain she could pick it up with just a little practice. And practice, whether it was against a dummy, a sparring partner or a monster made no difference to her. She would rather not hurt a fellow captive but she understood it was not a fight to the death, so she held no complaints. She did pause a moment after the comment about eating, though. Perhaps it was a figure of speech?

"Thank you for your consideration, Taura-san. I will do my best to keep up." She raised the claws in her hands and offered them to her teacher. "Will we have a chance to practice with these at some point?" That was her main goal, but she would understand if Taura found them too dangerous for hand-to-hand sparring for their first lesson.

[spandexorgtfo]

[from here]

The field was not empty: there were already several patients out and about, some of which, if he was seeing things rightly, were already scaling the opposite wall. There was also a taller woman standing right by the door, apparently waiting for someone. (It was a strange place to wait, the field.) Kratos, on instinct, was careful to give her space, even though the odds were that she was not on Special Counseling.

From farther off into the field came the sounds of a fight, meaning that they would not be able to enjoy the same eerie serenity they'd been granted the previous night. Monsters were once again out and about - strangely, it felt as if the world were right again - so they would need to be on their guard - and move with as much speed as they could without attracting unwanted attention.

Nodding to Soma, Kratos began to move as silently and quickly as he could across the field, heading for the vine-covered walls.

[madeinthehrl]

Another fight, but as before, it sounded as if the creature was being dealt with capably. No sign of the soldiers yet, if they were still here. Then again, things were likely to get even more dangerous past the Institute's walls.

Soma increased her own pace in turn, keeping close to Kratos and watching their surroundings closely as she ran. There was still a chance that this place might hold something stronger; it would be a tactical mistake to leave it unguarded for two nights in a row.

[spandexorgtfo]

They reached the wall with remarkable ease - so much that Kratos hesitated for a second because it was almost as if someone wanted them to get over the wall in no time at all, which meant that they were unknowingly throwing themselves into more danger. But really, he couldn't know that, not until they saw what was on the other side.

Checking to make sure his sword was secured at his hip, he grabbed two vines, tested their strength, and then began to haul himself up the wall, praying that nothing would happen upon them in this brief instance of complete vulnerability.

As it was, nothing sprang out of nowhere in the short time that he was scaling the wall. Once he'd reached the top, Kratos paused to check on Soma, also taking the time to spare the field another look - just in case.

[madeinthehrl]

The vines held Soma's weight easily as she scrambled up after Kratos, swinging her legs over the top of the wall before looking back. The fight behind them seemed to have ended in favor of the patients, and the field had gone quiet again, except for the sounds of conversation.

Nothing holding them back, then. Her natural impatience got the better of her, and with one last scan of her surroundings, she slid off the wall, landing lightly on the other side.

[doneinthree]

[from here]

The recreational field, and this time not the location of the last time he'd been brutally ripped open by a long-clawed monster. Fun times. Kirk scanned the grassy expanse with a critical eye, able to make out enough in the darkness to tell they weren't the only travelling party out here right now... and that the field wasn't free of danger. Whoever was dealing with that particular breed of mad science fauna seemed to have the situation well in hand, at least.

If their luck held, that would be only thing anyone had to worry about out here. And if not... well. It was a short run to the other side of the field.

"Busy tonight," commented Kirk in a low voice. "How are you at climbing walls, Mister Spock?" The smile on his face fading into a more serious expression as he turned to face his crew again. He hadn't forgotten about his original questions.

[hes_deadjim]

"It bit me on the hand, but it also got that substance on my skin at the same time. It could've been any of those," McCoy told him. It could even have been the smell, although though that hadn't been that strong. There were plenty of ways to introduce something to a human body and he'd gone through plenty of those options in a short space of time. "I didn't exactly have any way to test out which before things started going funny. By then, I thought I was back on the EnterpriseHe'd be lying if he said he wasn't just the slightest bit relieved when they came out into the recreational field and Jim commented on that wall. Jim was starting to get near where Spock had now. Now he was less ready to talk about it. Spock had seen right away what had been problematic with it. So would Jim. Most people who didn't know Kirk's reputation didn't give him enough credit when they met him, which tended to come back and bite them. They tended to see him as just some attractive, hot shot captain first thing, dangerously overlooking that Jim was a

[dual_worlds]

So far McCoy's story matched what he'd told Spock this morning, except Spock knew there were more details than what the doctor was willing to share. Yes, he had thought he was on the Enterprise, but something else obviously happened to make him react so violently toward an officer.

But it wasn't his place to interrogate McCoy now, and so Spock decided not to raise that point for the time being. In all likelihood, he would need to discuss the matter privately with Kirk once they weren't preoccupied with conducting an investigation of the grounds surrounding the institute.

Kirk's question only reinforced that fact, and it became clear that they were going to focus on more immediate matters for the time being. Spock glanced over at the captain, about to answer. As he did so, however, fragments of images seemed to pour into his head: the sun room, the courtyard, a hallway on the second floor, and the area in which patients exited the buses after their trip from Doyleton. Those were the locations of tonight's 'brainwashed' patients

[doneinthree]

"The Enterprise?" Kirk echoed in undisguised surprise. Only a hallucination, obviously, but he had to wonder what Bones might have imagined happening on the ship to warrant attacking Spock. Then again, maybe it was too reasonable to expect that Spock would appear as himself in a hallucination set on the Enterprise, so... maybe he'd been a Romulan. Or a med student. Really, the most baffling thing about this was imagining Bones trying to hurt anybody with anything other than grouchy words or a hypospray.

Which meant there had to be more to it, but Kirk only said: "Hold that thought." The monster - zombie, creature, whatever - fighting the two prisoners in the distance had crumpled, and Kirk shined his flashlight around them again. He didn't believe for a minute that that was the only aggressor out here, not after that one night with the giant snake-bird-woman and the dogs. Honestly, the sooner they got of the rec field, the better he'd feel