Anise couldn't get out of the Cafeteria fast enough. The stench of rotted food was overwhelming, and she was starting to feel sick. Most of her nausea came from seeing the people around her eating it, though. Even her friends! Anise didn't know what to do... What if lunch ended up being the same
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"We..." The Maximal tailed off, frowning again. He couldn't exactly call seeing their fearless leader and the team kid fight to the death 'working out'- but at the same time, it almost had, in a way. Jones was back on his feet- well, wheels- and they'd apparently managed to complete that set of tasks, which made for progress of a kind. Couldn't say they'd actually accomplished anything when they didn't have anything to show for it except for aches, pains and bad memories, but it was something.
He sighed, rubbing his head through his hair defeatedly. "We survived. Got a feeling that's as good as it gets down there." For now. They still had one last door to torture themselves with. Glancing sideways so that he wouldn't quite have to meet the man's eye too carefully, he gave Peter an uneasy look that was equal parts concerned and troubled. "Don't try it. It's not pretty."
[they can't mention specifics, right?]
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Maybe Depth Charge just wasn't in the mood to talk about it. That was totally understandable, especially if what he'd been through had been in the same vein as the rest of the institute, which was likely the case. In fact, it had probably been even worse. Peter barely knew anything about the basement, which was why he was so eager to learn something now, but he didn't want to push the other man.
What bothered him more was when Depth Charge immediately warned him to not follow in his footsteps. It seemed pretty hypocritical and Peter tended to let his stubborn streak show when someone told him to not do something. It was part of being a younger sibling. He realized that the other man was worried for him, which he could almost understand. Peter was well aware that he didn't look like he would amount to much in a fight, and with his weakened powers he was pretty limited. But...
"How so? I mean, I'm not exactly dying to get down there, but you made it through in one piece. If you pulled it off, then..." Well, then so could he, was what he wanted to say. But he didn't want to sound arrogant, either. Peter sighed, glancing away to stare at the closest shelf for a moment. Maybe he was being difficult for no reason. Maybe it was better to trust someone he'd just decided counted as a friend. But if the basement was the key to getting out of here, then how could he ignore it?
"Did you find anything out down there?" he decided to ask. "You know, about escaping?"
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Still, he respected Peter a lot more than that; he at least owed it to the guy to give him an actual reason for it rather than just hinting around the issue.
"Look, when we got past those doors..." He sighed, breaking off irritably as he tried to find a way of wording it before abandoning tact and telling it straight. "One minute we're in a hallway, the next I'm-"
He blanked.
Depth Charge blinked for a moment, thrown, and tried again even more solemnly than ever. "I had to-" This time he felt the block. It was like running into a diecast wall, as though his processor had locked down the second he'd so much as tried to conjure up the details- or, slag, not even the details. Even the events alone were out of bounds. And there was no way it could have been trauma talking- or not talking- there. He'd given his life story way too many times for what had happened to dent his ability to speak.
So was the Institute doing this, whatever 'this' was? "... I can't," he said finally, wincing slightly. "I can't talk."
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If it had really been that bad, then Peter couldn't blame the man for having a hard time finding the right words. It wasn't always easy to talk about this sort of thing, though this was really just putting him in more suspense. What could have been so horrible that Depth Charge's tongue was tied?
Right as Peter was about to tell the man to forget it (he really didn't want Depth Charge to push himself), the guy finally explained what was happening.
"You can't? As in... physically can't? Or..." It didn't sound like Depth Charge was refusing to speak but rather that he couldn't, which was really bizarre and only made Peter more curious about what was hidden down below.
"All right, well, tell me one thing," he said, deciding to revise his strategy. He didn't want to linger on this topic for too long, but he needed to know this much, at the least. "Was it worth it?" The man's warning had hinted that the answer to that was no, but Peter wanted to make sure.
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So much for a marginally improved mood.
"Yeah. Exactly that," he admitted finally, the breathing turning to a far harsher sigh. "Guess they don't want to spoil the surprise for people." And wouldn't that just be the kicker? People waltzing back up and letting people know that the basement didn't just seem like a death trap, it actually was one, and there wasn't even a consolation prize for the lucky winners. ' course, it wouldn't be enough to stop some of the idiots in this place from trying anyway - he had to credit Peter with actually asking questions before considering hurling himself in danger's way- but it'd stop enough people as to ruin the fun.
He just had to hope he could answer Peter's question in some way- and not just because of the block. Truth was, he was still working out the answer to that one himself.
"Honestly, Peter? Beats me." He shook his head impatiently. "We finished it, things seem to have worked-" The tourniquet tightened around his words; he squeezed out a benign alternative. "I don't know. Call me stupid, ain't never been much of a thinker, but I just don't see the point."
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But that was par for the course for this whole place.
Peter sighed and leaned himself against the bookshelf, his mind as far away from the idea of reading as possible in light of this new information. Escapism would have been nice right about now, but it wasn't going to get him anywhere.
Depth Charge didn't have a very solid answer to that question, but the fact that he was uncertain at all made it clear that the basement might not be the right way to go after all. It was a good thing Peter had never been that focused on it in the first place. "All right then. I'll hold off for now. I figure I'll be of more use if I focus on the paramedic thing, anyway."
He realized it was more or less a consolation prize for not having it in him to be a real hero right now, but at least he'd come to terms with it.
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Because it wasn't as though he didn't trust the guy by himself. He wasn't the Scarecrow, who'd befriend a zombie if it didn't try and bite him first, and he wasn't Forte, cocky enough for the entire Institute. Peter was level-headed and smart enough to play to his strengths rather than try to prove a point about his weaknesses (hypocritical though it was for him to say that). He wasn't going to charge into trouble without a second thought. He wasn't a pushover.
But none of that had mattered when Jones and Spider-Man stepped into the ring.
The silence was started to get awkward. Agitated, Depth Charge looked away, then to Peter's books, then back away again. "Good. Great. Gear." He sounded irritated, but not at Peter. "I'm not saying you couldn't do it. I just..." Slowly, he let himself look up to meet the man's eyes. "What happened down there? I don't ever want to see it happen to you."
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It was kind of difficult to talk about your past in this place, mainly because there was no guarantee that they were going to make it back. Peter had told himself that there was no other option, but it wasn't like death was impossible here. The idea that home might never come was one that he tried to avoid thinking about, but...
Yeah, he was going to do that right now.
What the man said next was surprisingly heartfelt, even if he might not have meant it to be. Peter raised both of his eyebrows and then allowed his face to break into a smile. "Thanks. I appreciate the concern, really." Depth Charge had actually pulled off showing concern without being condescending, which was a fine line to walk -- and yet Peter responded well to it when someone succeeded.
"Anyway, I didn't mean to push you about that. Anything else worth chatting about?" He wanted to get away from that topic now that he'd exhausted it. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could even cheer the guy up.
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