Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-West

[doneinthree]

[from here]

Kirk ran into the main hallway and found nothing there except more pink light coating everything. His gut feeling said that if something was happening, it should've happened already, but he was a loss to explain what was going on. The system (if he could call it that, vague as it was to describe the whole Landel's torture/

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

The main hallway was quiet, steeped in blood-red light. A young man was fidgeting across the way, trying not to look worried, but other than that, she was alone. She avoided meeting his eyes as they both kept their stations. Habit, mostly; before a trial there were very few people a prosecutor would run into who didn't have something to hide. Even the defense; a good attorney would have something up his sleeve, or thought he did, and tipping his hand would be the worst thing he could do.

She felt about as prepared as she had for her first trial. Alone, except for the detective. It hadn't been Gant then, either, though he'd made his presence known. Routine, procedural, except that nothing could quite be called routine when it was people lives that hung in the balance.

[Badd]

[tasteoftruth]

[ From here.]

Another point in Byrne's disfavor. All that sprinting down the halls and he hadn't noticed Badd huddled behind a corner, waiting for him to pass so he could run the opposite direction. If Byrne caught him he'd probably pull a prosecutorial interrogation about what Badd had said earlier, and he just didn't have time for it.

And on top of it...look what they'd done last night. Who knows what they'd make him think tonight and who he might try to kill. Badd made his way down the hall at a near run until he caught a glimpse of Lana bathed in rosy light.

"I'm here, let's go," he snapped.

[fourstonewalls]

Badd arrived not long after Lana had; she let herself relax a little. He'd always radiated confidence, and not the sort that came from co-opting other people's success.

"I take it Prosecutor Faraday will not be joining us?" Badd hadn't mentioned it, but they seemed close. Closer than she'd realized, until she'd seen how Kay looked up to him. Not so aloof then, was he? The gruff exterior was just that, although something -- or someone had it in full force tonight.

Lana didn't delay in leading them into the stairwell, watching out for more creatures as she went.

[to here]

[broodings]

[from here]

He'd almost forgotten what it was like. Magic, he'd called it once, being all of seventeen years old and at a loss for grander words to describe the sensation of pure movement. Stefan ran straight through the winding hallways, his feet barely making a noise, dodging around people without ever being seen. It wasn't just the speed, it was the power too. This feeling of being stronger and faster than anything alive, of feeling capable of doing anything, being anyone. He'd taken it granted, at times - how could he not, when being a vampire had become as essential as breathing to him? What little he remembered about being human was that what he'd been here, this weakening caused by a device or witchcraft or whatever else, wasn't anything close to it

[sanguinario]

[From here.]

Once he hit a hallway away from the blocks, he took off fast enough to put a bullet to shame. Within three seconds he had passed by everything, everything he meant to stop at - past the male block, the female block - everything was getting slightly fainter and he could just barely recognize his own thoughts in the chaos, just barely.

There were so many heart beats, twisted up in words he wasn't actually hearing, so many people rejoicing and searching and it was all just too damn much. Even now, Aguilar couldn't stop torturing him, it wasn't bad enough last night -

Within three seconds from just outside his own block he had crashed into the wall of the main hallway outside all of the patient blocks - not a wall this time, something softer, and a heartbeat was pounding in his ear but all he could hear was joy, no confusion or fear or trepidation but joy. It smelled familiar and without thinking he was snarling, pinning the body under him that he had sent to the floor. Because it was familiar, it was like him which meant

[broodings]

Considering how he was literally just standing in the middle of the hallway and listening to all of the people and creatures moving around, Stefan should've heard this attack coming. The fact that he didn't instantly set off warning bells in his head as he fell, slammed too fast and too hard by something which hadn't even been there a moment ago. He fought instinctively at the impossibly heavy thing which pinned him down, shoving at it with all of his considerable strength until they rolled over and Stefan was on top.

He sounded back a growl to match the animal snarl which filled his ears, and breathed in a strange, inhuman scent (but not unfamiliar - what was it?) before his eyes had caught up to what he was seeing. A too-white face, blood red eyes, teeth bared.

Edward?

Stefan blinked, forcing away the haze of blood lust and aggression, echoing the thought of calm down over and over in his head until he felt his heart slow. "Edward," he repeated aloud this time, his hands and arms and legs still on the other vampire's body,

[sanguinario]

Entirely unsure whether the thought of calm was his own or someone else's, it still helped to actually work its meaning on him, even among the threat he was met with. His lip lowered, the animal sound extinguished. He blinked.

"Oh," he said, letting his thoughts catch up, "oh, god. I'm so sorry Stefan, I can't -"

Calm down. That was his thought this time

[hes_deadjim]

[from here]

What was Jim even thinking? He'd only just gotten Spock poking around his brain the night before. Spock must've explained to him what happened, because if Jim didn't know he was recovering, then he was taking a big gamble or he was desperate. McCoy didn't even know what to tell him if Spock hadn't gotten around to it. Sorry, sir, got my brain scrambled by a Vulcan. Gave up your plan, the other you, my you, to the enemy and almost ruined the party's escape because I couldn't hold him off long enough. He hadn't even gotten around to how he treated Jim

[doneinthree]

Kirk guiltily dropped his arm back to his side the moment he heard Bones' voice, which he realized too late only provided more damning evidence of his injury. Whoops. But no use regretting the past, even the past of two seconds ago. Kirk shifted the pipe to his other hand and brought his arm up to rest the pipe on his shoulder, becoming the very poster boy for casual 'Nothing to see here, Doctor, what are you talking about?' innocence.

"I'm fine." He looked Bones over with a careful thoroughness that was as familiar as it was vaguely disquieting, searching for some sign, new or old, of McCoy's deteriorating mental state. Spock had "corrected his condition" (Kirk had spent two minutes puzzling over that statement, trying to figure out this could be a Vulcan euphemism for... anything), and the doctor did in fact look remarkably improved. A little cranky, yes, but that was Bones on a good day

[hes_deadjim]

Fine. As fine as he was every other time he found trouble. The innocent, nothing to see here look stopped working a few years back. He was more and more convinced Jim got into something, if the ginger handling of his arm wasn't proof enough, the guilt he radiated did the trick. "Bull. What the hell did you get into

[doneinthree]

"You mean the pile of fur and meat two hallways back? Hard to miss it." Despite the flippancy of his words, the humour had faded from Kirk's face. Not because of Bones - his admission that he was still recovering, while also showing some of that gruff practicality Jim knew well, was enough to reassure him that he had nothing immediate to worry about from his CMO.

Not while Landel's was apparently undergoing a Code Red. As long as Bones appeared to be on the mend, Kirk would take his chances bringing him along. He'd much rather have the entire crew gathered during a crisis, and if something did go wrong with Bones, he and Spock could manage it together.

"As soon as everyone gets here, we need to find out what's going on. This is too much noise for just some big bad cat-killer wandering around." Like that alone wouldn't be bad enough. He knew full well how disadvantaged they were when it came to fighting giant monsters, much less things which could kill giant monsters in a blink, but not looking for trouble wasn't an option

[yin_yang_fox]

[from here and briefly for Nigredo]

From the shift of one hall to another, Renamon had slid out of the visible and physical spectrum. There was a feel to it, like a return of something you had known for very long and been without. She could still access it here, even with the nulled abilities, but not like this; no, not like this at all.

She would remain here for the time being--she had another meeting to hold for, at any rate--but she slid around individuals who knew nothing of her presence, for at this point, she did not exist-- And it was something like being free, even now. Something like coming home.

[falseblack]

[From here.]

The world was seeped in conflict, in chaos, and Nigredo would testify with every fiber of his being on the similarities. Wouldn't dwell on it for more than a minute. There existed a promise to fulfill, for one. For another, it seemed he had a stalker. Stalkers. Six insects and only a well-armed, fully-powered U.R.T.V. to fend for himself.

A single flicker of concentration, and each creature reeled back from an explosion of light--some maimed, the rest dead. Nigredo ignored the aftereffects, however, and continued his search for Renamon in the hallway, wondering why every time he was keen on a plan, something had to interfere. Like powers.

Always powers.

[yin_yang_fox]

Her senses had returned to what they had been, and when the boy entered the hall, her eyes registered it. Just as she registered the clack of limbs on tile, more sets than she would like--as much as she would prefer now. The Digimon made to move forward, and instead fell back at the burst of energy, green and phosphorous. That was.... The insects lay dead and dying, and Nigredo continued as if nothing had occurred.

She slid out into sight in front of him, head tipped to the side. "I was about to ask you how you managed at night, but it seems that question is irrelevant." There was a trace of a smile around her lips--she glanced behind him for meaning, then returned with approval.

[falseblack]

Another stepped in his sights without warning, placing Nigredo in a horrendous state of surprise as his heart lurched forth against its cage. He halted in his steps and tried to breathe. Bewilderment would only make that more difficult.

He finally gained a measure of composure, and the child glanced up at the adult with something like fear in his eyes. Not for her, no, but for another. "I apologize, but I don't have time," he forced out, reaching to grab the other's free hand. With his own, Nigredo pressed the ring to the palm and released, stepping back in the process. "Let me know when you've finished."

[vinesofregret]

[From here]

Hakkai turned the corner into the bigger hallway. He glanced his flashlight around, looking for any more creatures sneaking up on him. For the moment, it looked like he was safe. He would have to keep his guard up - he had relaxed a little during the day, but it clear this was as dangerous as his travels had been, at least.

Onward to his meeting point, then.

[To here]