Night 58: West Wing, Hall 2-A

[princeofthemoon]

[ from here ]The hallway in front of them did not seem much different from those downstairs, or the one which he had followed last night - there were more doors, in different locations, but the corridor itself had no real identifying characteristics, nothing that marked it as different from any other place in this facility. Sesshoumaru was growing

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[damned_monsters]

The lurcher could feel the impact just as strongly as its target. It knew that it had inflicted a severe injury on the human, and more than that, Stefan's blood was now so close, a smell that set the creature on edge and made it hungrier. Retaliation from its prey was expected, but the monster still let out a hollow groaning sound when the knife plunged into its tough skin.

It didn't pierce as deeply as it might have with another monster, though, and while blood was drawn the lurcher was hardly deterred from its assault. It worked better fighting up close, where it was able to grab its prey and crush. Which was what it attempted now: one of its meaty hands shot out to grab for the human's throat, aiming to crush Stefan against the wall.

The lucentien had been planning to incapacitate Vino next, to tear into that flesh and put the lurcher into more of a frenzy, but it wasn't given the chance. The human danced away from it with more grace than it possessed itself and then moved forward with an attack of his own. The lucentien had no way to avoid it in time; the railing hit it in the legs, causing them to buckle. It fell backward, crumpling against the wall and then sliding down against the floor with a clanging noise.

But even if it had been downed, that didn't mean it was out of the fight. It remained there, waiting for the human to get close again.

[boketa]

[From here]

"Claire!" The name echoed down the hallway at a level just above wincing. "Claaaaire! Claire? Cl--"

The calling stopped, but the echoes continued down the hallway as Goku gazed at a strange sight. Four people were standing in the hallway--well, one was on the ground, but still--and it wasn't exactly a friendly exchange. He quickly ran forward and stopped close by the downed victim that glowed much like his dead friend had.

It was difficult to discern, but the monkey boy had to try. Giving the thing a nudge, Goku asked," Claire?"

[This will be a three-person fight now. Our fourth won't be coming.]

[broodings]

Stefan kept hold of the knife. He hadn't expected to be able to hold onto the ape for long, not with his injured arm, and while a feral snarl escaped Stefan's lips as he caught scent of the animal's blood, he still had enough sense to not lose his weapon. The blade slid out and he let go of his handful of hair, preparing for the impact of the floor again, only to be caught midair and slammed hard against the wall. The air went out of Stefan's lungs; he choked, both hands coming down on the ape's arm, fighting to pull it off his neck, fighting to keep himself aloft.

He saw a golden glow dance out of his sight and heard a child's voice ring out in the hallway, but all of his attention was on the heat and stink of the creature trying to crush him to death. His vision darkened at the edges. The pain in his chest flared as he struggled for breath. He saw his brother's face before his eyes, and Elena's. Her voice. Stefan. He hadn't survived for a century and a half only to be killed trying to find a meal. Just beyond his grasp, he could smell its blood, warm and alive, and that gave him the strength to kick out at the ape with his legs, just as he drove the knife down again on its arm.

[train_tracer]

--!! How surprising! It'd worked! Just in case though, Vino jumped out of range again, watching as the monster toppled backward and hit the wall, sliding down with a clang... wait, a clang? That was a strange sound for a body to make.

In any case, it seemed that the thing wasn't very coordinated. That's one advantage over it, then! Strange that the creature just lay there though. Vino would have thought it might quickly try and regain its footing after it had gone down, considering how it seemed to be running on a one-track mind focused simply on reaching a target. The unnatural way it moved and targeted things with speed had seemed to show that. Strange. Normally, Vino would have immediately charged back in to deal in an extra blow, but the strangeness of this made him pause for just long enough for a roar from the other monster and the sound of a loud impact to distract him.

Vino glanced to the side to see that the giant, ape-like monster had the other man pinned to the wall with a crushing hand around his neck. Oh. That wasn't good. It looked like he was having trouble. Vino was torn, though. On one hand, he had his own monster to fight, but on the other, this man had tried to protect him (unnecessary an effort it had been, but still appreciated). He seemed like a decent person, the kind that Vino really liked. It wouldn't be hero-like of him at all to ignore his plight, right? But his monster...

But then he heard the unexpectedly loud voice of a child... calling his name. 'Claire, Claire' it said, which was... decidedly weird. He wasn't the only 'Claire' at the Institute, right? But it was still weird. He turned back to find a small kid leaning over the downed body of his glowing monster, prodding it with a foot and calling it 'Claire.'

... This child wasn't too bright, was he? But either way, that wasn't the best idea with a monster like that. It was dangerous!

"Hey! Watch out!" Vino called out, already moving back in, railing held ready to strike. Of the two, the child looked more helpless. The young man had survived a few injuries already, right? Vino hoped the other man could at least hold out until he finished rescuing this boy first.

[damned_monsters]

The lucentien had been waiting for its prey to draw in close again, and in a way, that was what happened. It was unexpected how another human joined the fight, drawing up right next to the creature and attempting to communicate with it. The monster didn't respond to the words, of course. No, all this meant to it was that it had an easier chance to cause more pain.

Its bladed hand shot out immediately, aiming to slice into the small human. And luckily enough, this whole change in events had also brought the larger human closer, giving it a chance to strike out at him as well. The creature's other hand swiped toward Vino with a deadly precision. If it was lucky, it could injure both of them in one go.

The lurcher was completely distracted by its grapple with Stefan, meanwhile. It snarled in frustration when the human kicked out at it and then bellowed more loudly when it was stabbed once more. Its grip loosened, but only so that it could pull Stefan away from the wall and toss him bodily to the side. Once the human hit the floor, it would take another approach at harming him.

[boketa]

"Eh--? Uwaahhh!" When the thing lashed out at him, Goku stumbled back with a yelp, but it wasn't fast enough. A sharp pain spread across his chubby chest and he hit the floor with a smack, flailing like, well, a wounded child.

"What the heck?! I was tryin' ta help ya!" Rolling over on his stomach, Goku eventually got his weight up on his stubby feet and turned to face his attacker. Now, the monkey boy could see that the creature on the floor wasn't a human. It wasn't not exactly, but it definitely didn't smell the same.

A quick glance down, Goku realized his shirt had been ripped open. A shallow cut across his sternum bled, but it only left him smiling. His short arm unsheathed his red staff and held it poised for a fight in front of him.

"Let's do this!" He howled excitedly.

[broodings]

Stefan landed hard, coughing as he struggled to draw breath again. Each inhalation hurt. He propped himself up on elbows and knees, and prodded gingerly at where his torso hurt the most. A broken rib, he guessed, but nothing protruded strangely from under his skin - the sad silver lining to a very bad night so far. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have worried. His bones could knit themselves back together in minutes, but in here, Stefan knew he had a long recovery ahead of him.

Assuming he survived this night at all. His eyes closed, just as the scent of blood filled his senses. Not the salty bitterness of the ape's, but something else... something human. Stefan scrambled to his feet, wounded arm still clamped across his chest and his knife in the other hand, dangling by his side. His hallway companions - the redhead, and the child he'd heard earlier - had the golden doll against a wall.

And the thing had drawn blood from one of them.

When he moved next, it was without thinking. Stefan dashed forward, around the ape's lumbering mass, and came at the taller human at full speed, intending to knock him over. There was the sound of his knife clattering on the floor somewhere behind him, and another sound, deep inside his head, protesting what he was doing; but his teeth were bared and the whites of his eyes burned a dark inhuman red. He didn't care about anything right now except for his prey.

[train_tracer]

Vino had gone in with the intent of pulling the child out of danger, but of course, the monster was quicker. What the creature lacked certainly wasn't speed. It would be something he would have to keep in mind during the course of the battle.

The child had leaped back with a cry, a line of red peeking out from the slashed cloth of his shirt. Well, so much for rescuing-- Vino hadn't been fast enough to move back. The monsters vicious claws swept toward him and the metal bar he had at hand only managed to block part of the attack, the metal screeching with the friction and leaving gaping slashes that revealed the hollow inside. And the remaining part of the attack that hadn't been blocked? It ripped into Vino's shoulder, tearing into muscle, just a few inches short of hitting the base of his neck. If he had been only a little slower, those blades would have gone into his throat.

This was his second injury upon arriving at the Institute. The place seemed intent on breaking his records, didn't it? It had already broken his running record of no injuries for years. Well, he wasn't about to break his record of silence, was it? That wouldn't be good at all, would it? He took the attack with little more than a grunt of surprise, throwing a counter at the creature's arm with the railing with his right, mostly to get the monster's claws away from him so he could move away.

Even with the sudden, searing pain, Vino already knew to get away before the monster could do even more damage. Once he was a reasonable distance away, eyes still watching the creature, his blood dripping from its bladed hands, he assessed the damage by feel, jaw stubbornly gritted. The muscle was torn, but it looked like his collarbone was still intact. Good, no broken bones, just muscle. Which also wasn't good, but he could live with that. He tentatively raised his left shoulder, breath coming out in a hiss. Ow, ow... ouch. Still functional, mostly. Painfully so, but again, he could work with it. He figured he must look like he'd just gotten mauled by a bear, huh? Though bears were far easier to kill than this thing was proving to be.

Without taking his eyes off the glowing monster, Claire asked the newcomer, "I'm guessing by that red staff you got there that you can fight, right? There's another monster somewhere over there. Go get that one. This one's mi--"

And then suddenly, from the side, something barreled into him, knocking him off balance. Vino hit the floor hard, the injured shoulder screaming. Luckily, whatever had slammed into him had come from his right, where he'd had the metal railing to get in between him and his attacker. It took several seconds for Vino to see clearly past the blinding-white pain, but when he could focus his sight again, he was... surprised, to say the least.
It looked like the other man had gotten away from the ape-like monster after all, but... could this really be him? Vino noticed the red eyes instantly even while working to keep that railing in between them. And then the... fangs? Fangs. Somewhere in his memories, Vino thought he recognized something. A book he'd read, perhaps, He must not have liked it much if he couldn't remember many of the details. Then again, it was sort of hard to think in this kind of situation.

"Hey... looks like you made it out of that monster's grasp, huh? Good to know you're still alive," Vino said, a grin managing to work its way across his face despite it all. Even with all the difficulties he had to deal with, this was still exciting, wasn't it? "It didn't turn you into a monster, too, did it? Either way, I don't really plan on being your dinner tonight. Let's remember our priorities, alright?"

He winced when he jostled his shoulder, using both hands to hold the railing between him and those teeth. If it hadn't been for his shoulder, Vino might have already shoved the man off, but this sudden disadvantage required some getting used to. There was always the gun in his pocket... no, that was cheating. Besides, those bullets were meant for others. Vino had decided he liked the guy, but he supposed he could always break his arm if he had to.

[train_tracer]

"Hey, are you listening to me?" he continued, eyes wide, reflecting the other's red ones. There was more than one nightmare monster among them. If he called the Rail Tracer, there would be blood all over the walls by the end of all this, and if the other man didn't come to himself soon, the Rail Tracer didn't need to differentiate between what blood he spilled.

[damned_monsters]

Both of the lucentien's attacks had landed true, causing more and more blood to spill across the hallway floor. Whether the creature got any joy out of it was difficult to say, but it had definitely regained an advantage. Unfortunately, Vino's final strike with his weapon hit the lucentien's blades with a large amount of force, bending some of the backward.

Undeterred, the creature started to press itself against the wall and push to its feet. The way its body moved made it seem like it was being hiked up by strings, just like a puppet. The glow of its body hadn't diminished thus far and it seemed ready to continue the job it had started.

The lurcher, meanwhile, had lost its prey in a most unexpected way. The apelike creature was left confused for a moment as it watched one human attack another. Seeing no reason to interrupt, the monster instead focused its attention on the newest addition to the fight: the small one.

Letting out a low growl, it advanced on the boy, one hand shooting out to punch or grab.

[boketa]

"Ha ha haa!" Goku let out his own childish growl in response. The pair of them ran straight towards each other like mirror images.

With his nyoibo already out in front of him, the monkey boy held it vertical in front of him to defend against the arm that tried to make a grab for him. Using the lurcher's formidable weight against it as a spring board for pole vaulting, Goku leaped up and over the tall creature, hoping to land and follow up with a heavy swing of his staff into its kidney from behind.

[broodings]

Metal dug into his neck and under his chin, holding his face too far from his prey. Blood stained his shoulder black, and the smell of it was like a fire in his throat. Stefan struggled, teeth snapping, against the man's strength, even as his brain dragged itself out of the red haze to force meaning into the man's words. Hey, he was saying, are you listening to me?

And suddenly Stefan was.

Hunger and aggression gave way to confusion, and when he blinked, the blood seemed to drain from his eyes just as he threw himself off, rolling onto his side. Pain shot through his arm and chest, but he welcomed it, letting the pain clear the blood from his mind. "I'm..." he started, at a loss over how to apologize for trying to eat him. No time. He heard both of the creatures moving behind them, and turned just in time to see the ape swipe at the young boy. "Watch out!"

Before the warning was out of his mouth, the child had leapt, inhumanly agile. Stefan stared, then looked back over to the red-haired man- "You're okay, right?" -before pulling himself back to his feet. His knife. He'd dropped the knife. Where...?

There. Stefan raced forward to snatch it off the floor, anchoring himself on the too-human pain of his injuries. He could beat himself up later for his lack of control; right now, they were all still in danger. That boy would get himself crushed if he slowed down at all and got caught in the ape's grip... "Hey! Go for its eyes!"

[train_tracer]

Vino noticed the change in the man's eyes, though he couldn't say exactly what had happened. It was like watching fog clear up. The blood-red in his eyes drained out; when he blinked, it was mostly gone already, and by that time, it seemed the other man had already come to himself, pulling away and rolling onto his side.

Vino sat up, watching the man, more curious than wary. What had that book been about? There had been a term he felt would aptly describe this man... he thought, anyway. Oh, but again, distractions were just everywhere tonight, weren't they? Right, right, those two monsters. In that moment when the other man had attacked him, the bigger creature had gone to attack the child.

But his gaze turned immediately to the other one -- his monster. It was taking its time getting up. Ah, it looked like Vino's counter strike had succeeded in bending back a few of its knife-like nails. One point for Vino then, and one point for the monster, if the wound in his shoulder was anything to go by.

"Fine, just fine. Just a scratch, see?" Vino said, mind already focusing on the fight and not the injury. He could still move his arm and that was good enough.

He moved in again, knowing he had to keep this glowing creature down if he wanted more chances at striking and actually making a dent. This time, he held the railing horizontally, holding it so that he could ram the other end into the monster with all his weight and momentum backing it. He was hoping to pin the arm with the unbent nails so that he could keep those weapons away at least. Attacking with bent-back weapons wasn't quite as effective, Vino figured. And then perhaps he could try another tactic once he got close enough.

[damned_monsters]

The lurcher had not been ready for such a small human to be able to jump clear over its large body in such a way, and so the smack to its back landed easily. The pressure was enough to send it stumbling forward, but in the end all it managed to do was anger the monster further. The hallway was thick with the smell of blood by now, which only sent it into more of a frenzy. It spun itself around and snarled at the boy, swiping at it with one of its powerful hands.

The lucentien, meanwhile, had been backed into a corner even more than it realized. Right as it got to its feet, it was hit again, but this time it was only its arm that was pinned to the wall. This seemed to make more of an effect on it, and it thrashed its head from side to side as it wildly tried to piece into the human's skin with its free hand.

[boketa]

"Eh?" Well, that wasn't what he had expected. Master Roshi and Jackie Chun were about the only people he knew that had taken one of his hits and stayed on their feet.

"Wow, yer strong!" Goku complimented the monster with a cheery grin. Finally, he had found a worthy opponent who could take more than a few punches. Hell, the monkey boy might actually break a sweat!

"Come on!" he growled and waited for the barrage. The monster was quick; in fact, the kid was having a bit of trouble keeping one step ahead of him. His focus broke when he heard someone call out to him.

"His.. eyes--? Uwwah!" The divide in his attention left Goku on the receiving end of a particularly lethal fist. It sent him reeling back and onto the floor. The air in his lungs had been literally punched out of his body. Slowly, through his ragged wheezing, the monkey boy got back on his feet and slowly turned around. He didn't have the energy to run after him. It would be best served recuperating and seeing if the hulking beast came after him or got distracted by an immediate bystander.