Night 56: Sun Room
[from here]
The sun room was quiet, with the artificial hush that came from snow blanketing the big windows. The halls upstairs weren't; while it wasn't quite a fight that had broken out up there, it was heading that way. Possibly irrevocably, as what the boy up there had just called the brainwash brigade didn't do negotiation. At all. Even if ( Read more... )
The sun room was quiet, with the artificial hush that came from snow blanketing the big windows. The halls upstairs weren't; while it wasn't quite a fight that had broken out up there, it was heading that way. Possibly irrevocably, as what the boy up there had just called the brainwash brigade didn't do negotiation. At all. Even if ( Read more... )
A sharp crack silenced the song, but only for a moment. It returned muffled as another slice of something juicy was punctured and thoroughly smacked.
"Hey!" A young voice called from up high. Something small fell to the first floor and broke its fall on a nearby sofa cushion. Long iron staff in hand (twice the size of its owner), Son Goku hopped off the couch and pointed a stubby finger--and incidentally a half-eaten apple--at the intruders trying to slink past.
"You! Sneaky thief fellas--" or possible ladies, but it was difficult to differentiate with this lighting and not being anywhere near the person's crotch for a quick poke. It was low on the list of priorities right now, anyway. Men or women, these Red Ribbon grunts were not getting past him! The dragon balls the institute had collected were to be protected at all cost! The monkey boy, back in his traditional orange and blue gi, took an aggressive stance toward them.
"--don'tcha come any closer, or you'll be sorry!" His heavy staff, the nyoibo, was thrust in front of him like a spear to fend off any funny business these tricksy army grunts threw his way. The apple was stuffed into his mouth to keep both hands free for an attack! Unfortunately, it left little to be comprehended from here on out. "Mmmm mhk mh mmwwhh mh kmmm!"
[Translation: Go back the way you came!]
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Rita could pick him up with one hand and dangle him over the floor.
"The door is over there. We are over here. If you go there," she called out, in a gravelly contralto that likely did little to aid his ability to identify pronouns, "we don't need to come any closer." She pointed with the throwing star to the opposite side of the room. None of the brainwashed patients had been willing to listen to reason in the past, but they'd been taken in by Landel's crew. It couldn't hurt to try, as she stepped away without moving either closer or further from either door. It did put one more piece of furniture in between; a low table, which she stepped over.
"I'm not going to take your dinner, if that's what you're afraid of." She didn't dare look to see if Rita had found cover; they'd been over this. Distance and strength, strength and distance. Taura couldn't do much from here, but unless he pulled out a gun from somewhere improbable, she'd let him come to her. "Come with us and I'll show you where they keep the ice cream."
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... Wait, was this a joke? What she thought was supposed to be an institute guard turned out to be some pint-sized brat. One who couldn't even stop stuffing his face long enough to threaten them properly. This was what the institute was throwing at them? It was actually a little insulting.
Rita folded her arms, frowning with disdain. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered. For now, she supposed she'd leave negotiation to Taura. If talking didn't work, she'd be ready to do what she had to do.
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But it was the taller person's last comment that finally broke through to him. "Ah, Really?" Goku waddled forward with his long tail swishing behind him, eager to find himself a barrel of ice cream he could actually sit in. He'd asked, of course, but the doctors had given him nothing more than this one measly apple! Reward would follow after a job well done, they said. Well, no one told Goku that job would take all night! Now these two thieves were going to help--
A memory; visions of white hands and a bed holding him down. They talked above, but the monkey boy couldn't hear them over his own cries as something hot and electrifying tunneled through his brain.
Within the quiet of the Sun Room, Goku stumbled back and screamed, holding his head tight in the hopes that it would keep the flashes of memory from pouring out. His apple fell and rolled off into the darkness.
"No, no, no! They said you'd try and trick me! They said that! Well, I won't be tricked, you cheaters!" Eventually, Goku straightened himself and, with a grim expression, stared down the pair of tricksters. "Yer not gonna get past me without a fight."
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"If that's what you want." Taura jogged forward, making herself a target. If Rita could keep her cool in a fight, keeping his eyes on Taura would give her time to do something. What, Taura wasn't quite sure. Long-distance combat magic could be anything, but she was envisioning something like plasma arc fire, only maybe some weird bright color. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Let us go, or take responsibility for the consequences." She loomed, and waggled the metal claw strapped to her right hand at him in a cheerful little wave.
She was going to have to try to avoid using it; that had to be a fellow patient, and he was just a kid. She really didn't want to hurt him; but he didn't need to know that.
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To add to the surprise, now that the boy was closer, she could see that thing moving around behind him. Was that... a tail? He looked otherwise human, but there was no mistaking it. Considering Rita had seen a boy with cat ears the other day, though, it wasn't too hard to believe what she was seeing.
More importantly, it looked like the brat was raring for a fight. "Fine, whatever. If we're going to fight, let's make it quick," she casually retorted, unfolding her arms and bringing them up in a casting position. She still wanted to test out her heraldry... but she was reluctant to use a spell of impaling on a kid that size. Even Rita wasn't that heartless.
Instead, she focused on conjuring a fireball. Below her feet, a fiery red magic circle appeared. Sparks of red light appeared to evaporate from the circle and gather before the palm of her hand.
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"Yeah, yeah, whatever, c'mon let's go!" He had been ready for a fight since he got here and Goku was not letting anything stop him now! It was time to take the initiative and strike! The monkey boy focused on the bigger one for now, lethal claws and all. He, or she, was ready to go and that was a beautiful sight! Not as good as a bucket of ice cream, but what honestly was?
Sprinting forward to meet Taura, the little fighter slammed the butt of his staff into the soft carpet below and hoisted himself up and into the air, aiming for a quick kick to the face!
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In either direction. Since so far the ceiling hadn't started spewing vehicles and he hadn't sprouted any extra limbs. Maybe for once it would be a fair fight. So far, so good.
Right now, however, she had a foot to dodge. Taura ducked and bounced up to face him again. "You'll have to be faster than that," she said, and picked up the table she'd stepped past. It was about the same size he was, though it flew through the air towards him much less gracefully.
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As Taura made her counterattack, Rita focused on completing her spell. Before long, the fireball before her palm was fully formed. She released it immediately, sending it soaring at the kid. If he managed to block or evade Taura's attack, then perhaps Rita's would still connect.
The second the ball of fire left Rita's hands, however, she felt as if a great amount of her own energy went with it. She was hit by a wave of dizziness, and as her legs wobbled beneath her, she shot one hand out to the wall, balancing herself against it. Her face was moist with sweat. This sort of exhaustion wasn't normal, not after casting just one spell...
... No, that wasn't right. When she examined that magic stone earlier, she used a healing spell. This was actually her second spell of the night. She didn't have nearly as much energy to spare as she originally thought.
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Falling to the ground, Goku twisted around quickly to face his worthy opponent with a pleased smile. Or, well, that had been the plan. All of a sudden, the tall one was no longer there and everything seemed to grow dark--
"Ah!" Something big and thick hit him square in the face. His strong arms held the wood at bay, but it unfortunately blocked the view of the giant fire ball that was whizzing right for him. The table snapped in half by the brute force of the attack and sent him slamming back into the floor.
Goku and the last of the table sizzled where it lay. Finally, a groan came from the quiet body as he sat up and held his poor face.
"Saaaa! That hurt!" Goku squawked as he rubbed his nose frantically. Those big, vacant, black eyes of his looked to either opponent. "He he, didn't know ya could throw ki around too!" Jumping up, he threw his small arm out and a blast of energy as bright as liquid moonlight tore through the room for the two ladies.
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Her golden eyes went wide; that was all the time for a reaction she had, before the ball of energy hit her square in the chest, picking her up and slamming her against the wall. Two feet over and she'd have taken the door to the library off its hinges. Her throwing star had made the attempt -- one spike was buried a handsbreadth into the door.
That might have been better -- concrete walls were hard. But so was Taura's skull. She slid down into a crouch, blinking furiously. It didn't help her eyes re-adjust to the dark, but reflexes were reflexes.
Where was he now? She could hear him moving, and he could surely see her -- sneaking up on him wouldn't work. So she charged, running straight towards where she could hear him. Either he'd be able to strike again or he wouldn't; and Rita might get a chance for another fireball.
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Ki? Before Rita had a chance to consider what that could refer to, the boy answered most of the questions in her mind with a single attack. The ability to channel one's own energy into an attack like that... It wasn't magic, but it was similar to the sorts of artes that warriors could use when equipped with a bodhi blastia.
Her legs still weak, Rita was only barely able to stagger out of the way before Taura was sent crashing into the wall next to her. She winced at the sound of the woman's body colliding with the concrete, but amazingly, Taura was back on her feet in no time.
If she had enough time to catch her breath, Rita knew she could pull off another spell... but in the meantime, she needed to get herself out of danger's path. She continued along the wall, walking quietly towards the Cafeteria doors. Ideally, she'd create an opportunity to flank the kid, if she regained enough energy to keep fighting. And if not, then perhaps she'd secure an escape route instead - one that would allow them to move forward.
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Thankfully, she emerged and was fired up as ever. Goku gleefully stopped in front of her, waiting for the battering ram with open arms and a giant grin. Bracing himself on two short legs, the monkey boy held her aloft with a strong arm. The other was a bit more side-tracked. It trailed down her chest until it hit a familiar mushy bump. Moving to the left, it found another. That could only mean one thing!
"Oh hey! Yer a girl!" He shouted proudly to the rest of the Sun Room inhabitants, completely absorbed by his marvelous new discovery.
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This really was very odd from the other side. She'd have to remember that, next time she had someone dangling from her hand, trying in vain to grab her.
Hang on. Her arms were still longer. Hah. She let him hold her aloft, and swung her arms as if struggling for balance. Then she brought her left hand down, the one without the claw, and slammed the back of her fist between his legs. "You're not!"
She braced herself for the drop; if he was like other men he would be folding under her right about...now. But it wasn't very far to fall.
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Really? She stepped away from the fight for barely a minute, and it already degenerated into the kinds of things nursery school kids would do?
The short break allowed Rita to catch her breath, but her body ached with every movement she made. It was hard to gauge how much more spellcasting she could take... but she wanted this to be over as soon as possible. She sighed loudly, casting a disapproving glare at the others in the room, then began preparing another fireball. That kid was a lot stronger than she imagined, so she and Taura wouldn't need to pull any punches.
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As expected, the monkey boy crumpled right to the floor despite his infinitesimal power and strength. His stubby little hands came down and grabbed himself as he doubled over to wail like a wounded dog.
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