Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[train_tracer]

[from here]Just like last night, Vino turned the bend to find that he was first in the main hallway again. He couldn't decide if he preferred it or not. Patience wasn't his favorite virtue, but he supposed he'd have to wait. The two meeting places he would have to be at were right next to each other, right? So that was fine. If he had to wait a

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[ham_fisted]

[from here; sorry for the delay and repost!]

This was shaping up to be one of his worst nights in the institute, but he knew the only way that would happen was if he let it! The further he got from the other hall, the quicker his thoughts straightened themselves out. He considered himself really lucky that he hadn't been attacked by anything so far, knock on wood. There was no way of knowing whether any of the mess back there belonged to any "patients", especially when he didn't have a flashlight, but if there had been a way, he would have been putting himself in danger by hanging around! He had to try and remember that.

Gumshoe knew he looked pale right now, but he had to force himself to suck it up. And while he had half a mind to turn back and check on Miss and Ms. Skye, he knew they would have left their rooms by now, or were about to. He just had to remind himself: he might be afraid that people he knew could get hurt, but that went for everyone else, too!

Since the only people that were next to the Sun Room doors were two young boys and a girl, he guessed this was his stop. Maybe they'd be able to tell him what was going on! After shooting another worried look behind him, he jogged towards the group and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey there, pals!" he called out tiredly, loud enough for them to hear him. "You must be Tear and... um..." He glanced at the tallest of them all (excluding himself, of course), then stopped beside the shorter boy and looked down at him inquiringly. Gumshoe didn't comment on the cat ears for the time being. He'd seen enough weird-looking accessories on people in his time that it was getting to be par for the course. (Besides, he was only a kid! Let him wear whatever he wanted.)

[melodists]

From her vantage, Tear witnessed the peace in the central hallway deteriorate as people and monsters clashed. Most appeared to manage what was sent to them, and thus, Tear centered her efforts on securing the area. Reinforced pens worked almost as well as knives, a fact that quickly proved useful when faced against a pack of rats. The teenager had just finished dispatching the last creature when a boy approached.

"Ritsuka," she started, readjusting her stance to serve as a guard to the newcomer. "Yes, it looks like you're the first one." Blue eyes quickly surveyed for damage on Ritsuka's person (while doing very well to ignore the twitching of cat ears). She was relieved to find that nothing was obviously wrong.

Still, it couldn't hurt to be certain. "Are you all right? Did you run into any trouble?" asked Tear. "Also, how are you in defending yourself?" The boy never appeared to be a fighter, but she knew better than to judge another's capacity based upon looks. The soldier did need to know, however. If Ritsuka couldn't or wouldn't fight, she would need to adjust their travel accordingly.

As she made the mental assessments, a voice and a snicker reached her ears. The familiarity of it caused the Melodist to halt all proccesses, but eventually, she remembered her duties and his last appearance and tried to remain natural in her greeting. Tried being the keyword. "L-Luke!" she stammered, before shaking her head to regain focus. Things suddenly felt awkward, and Tear hadn't a clue as to how to approach greeting the boy she thought had vanished.

Fortunately, another joined the gathering in the hallway--a tall, bulky man assumed to be Mr. Gumshoe. The presence of two neutral parties somehow served to reemphasize their mission, and Tear managed to regain her composure. "I'm glad you could make it," she finally told Luke with a smile, before turning her attention to Gumshoe. "Yes, I'm Tear Grants." She quickly gestured to the two beside her. "This is Ritsuka and my friend Luke."

[forgot_it_all]

He'd been first, but they didn't have to wait for long. Soon enough a redhead who seemed just a bit too excited to be meeting up with them dropped in. Following him and his rather excited greeting came a tall guy that Ritsuka had seen around before. He had no idea what his name was, but it seemed like the confusion was mutual. Four people in a group, three who were likely to be fighters, and the sounds of things dying in the halls around them - what a joyous night. Ritsuka sighed and bowed his head shallowly in greeting to the redhead (Luke, apparently) and the taller man, hoping he'd give his name, too.

Introductions were out of the way and other than a few glances, no one was asking about his ears and tail so Ritsuka left that alone in favor of answering Tear's earlier question. "I ran into about as much trouble as everyone else here," or so he assumed. He'd run fast enough to get past most of the monsters and for once it seemed the creatures of this Institute had bigger fish to fry. They'd gone about attacking the fighters and stronger people, leaving Ritsuka to move on freely. It seemed strange, but the Sacrifice wasn't about to go jumping in front of killer cats just to test a theory. "And I can...defend myself, but if it means fighting, then no. I don't fight."

His ears flattened against his head, tail curling under him as he realized just how bad that sounded. He was no coward, but he wasn't a fighter either like most of the people here. He had no idea how Tear and the others would react to his contradictory existence, but then he also didn't want to explain the whys and hows of his philosophy either. Hopefully none of them asked. "I take it all of you are fighters though?"

LOL he's not getting out so easily

[dispersive]

Ritsuka. Riiight, that was the name. Luke lifted his right hand, the one not holding his sword, and greeted the young boy with a muted smile. "Nice to meet--Whoa!" He quickly got out of the way as one more joined their party behind him. Now he was no longer the tallest one. Luke's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. And it had looked to be such a promising night! Groaning inwardly, the young man made room and stepped closer to Tear who was quick to take the lead. That was fine with him.

This wasn't his show, so Luke was comfortable sinking in behind his friend and letting her take the reins. He had no clue as to how this place worked and until he got a whole lot smarter, the best he could offer was a sword and suggestions. That was good enough for now.

When the cat boy spoke up, though, Luke glanced at Tear and said, "Yeah, we're both fighters, and..." His attention turned upward at the man beside him. If this guy wasn't a fighter, he was seriously in the wrong business then.

"That's okay, though. I mean, not everyone knows how to fight," the replica placated, missing the entire point in the process. "You do, right?" Luke asked the larger man.

[ham_fisted]

The sounds echoing up and down the hallway were really unnerving, to say the least. Normally, meeting new people in this place might have been enough to distract Gumshoe for a few minutes, tops. But when you combined those ghastly screeches and howls nearby with how the bottom of his boots were slick with blood, how the smell of it seemed to be coming from everywhere, and how his mind kept replaying images of the mess he'd just left behind... It was only a matter of time before Gumshoe would have to let go of all that pent-up, nervous energy.

In all his years, he didn't think he'd ever come across a mess like that. He just hoped no one had been badly hurt in the fights that must have gone on in there, and that they wouldn't find another area like it upstairs.

He had guessed which one of them was Tear on the first try, he realized absently. Not that it had been very hard. Tear didn't really sound like the kind of name you'd give to a boy. Or maybe it did. Believe it or not, he wasn't always good with names.

"And in case it wasn't obvious, I'm Detective Gumshoe," he offered quickly in turn, probably sounding a little too excited for his own good. Now that that was settled... "Anyway, have you three got any idea what's going on!?" he exclaimed, unable to keep his composure any longer. "I must have passed at least a dozen monsters on my way here! Thankfully, nothing tried to attack me."

To the boy's question, Gumshoe scratched the back of his head, failing to notice that his hands were still shaking. "Me? Well, I know how to confront people, if that's what you mean." It was part of his job, after all. In most cases, resisting suspects didn't give him that much trouble. Controlling people was essentially the same as fighting them, wasn't it? It required a lot of strength, at least. (I got into so many wrestling matches as a kid, was a thought that didn't make it out of his mouth.) "I don't know if I'm cut out for fighting monsters, though." If his previous encounters with them were any indication. He remembered kicking that girl after she'd attacked him and Mr. Edgeworth (a thought that brought on a small amount of guilt, even weeks after the fact), but--

The detective glanced between the three kids. "...But I'm pretty good at sprinting! I've taken part in heaps of relays." He was vaguely aware that he sounded too excited again, but it didn't stop him from letting out a short (albeit nervous) laugh.

[melodists]

Ritsuka presented an answer she had expected. Tear nodded once, keeping her show of understanding to the very basic. She was hardly in a position to question his reasons; she only needed to use the facts to better their journey. Furthermore, Luke answered for both of them in regards to their status, leaving only the stranger without an official standpoint on fighting. Once that was cleared, they could continue on. "We'll make sure you don't have to fight," she assured the boy.

As Tear returned her focus to larger man, her eyes widened at the mention of his title. This would be the second member of the law she had the pleasure of meeting. "You work for a police organization?" the Melodist chanced, wonder evident in her tone.

At his question, however, she immediately grew serious and took to explaining. "Something happened earlier tonight to release the binds on our powers. They put up a force field and released a slew of monsters. To contain us, I suspect." A frown. They wouldn't have much room to navigate this night.

When Gumshoe laid out his abilities, Tear blinked. She had expected some combat experience from a member of law enforcement, but it seemed monsters were not common enemies in his world. That left majority of the defense on Tear and Luke's shoulders. She didn't mind the prospect; however, this meant laying down some ground rules. "Alright," said Tear with a nod to Gumshoe. "I'll take the lead. Ritsuka, if you can stay right behind me, I would appreciate that. Mr. Gumshoe, please follow behind Ritsuka, and Luke, could you take the rear?" She threw a significant look at the last person.

[forgot_it_all]

Wait, the new guy was a police officer? Ritsuka took a half step back to look up at him curiously, wondering how a police officer could look so much like a human teddy bear. All the ones he'd seen tended to be either the slim-faced bookworm type or the rough and tumble beat cop type.... Then again, most of the police he knew came from television shows, and the man's name - Gumshoe - proved he was from a different country. Which did make him wonder why a police officer had so little combat experience, but Ritsuka decided it would be rude to comment. He seemed sheepish enough as it was and, being a detective, maybe he simply stayed on the investigative end and stayed away from the chase the culprit over fences and across train tracks part.

"Yeah, alright." Fighting, it seemed, was going to be a necessity tonight. And without Soubi, Ritsuka was pretty much reduced to being a regular kid again. A regular kid with cat ears and heightened hearing, sure, but a regular kid nonetheless. Staying back while the others rushed forward was one way to be efficient, even if Ritsuka didn't like the idea of them cutting through the swathes of monsters that were bound to come after them. Stepping into line behind Tear, he added, "Just...try not to hurt the things too much, alright?"