Night 59: Staff Only Outdoor Patio

[stray_shinigami]

Renji stepped out onto the patio. It was nice to be out of the oppressive halls, but he didn't let his guard down. If it was a monster party, there'd likely be some nasty things outside

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[stray_shinigami]

"Well, we'll see when we get to the roof," Renji said. He was still of the opinion that it was worth trying with the big guns, but he also wasn't going to be surprised if it didn't work at that point. "I don't know... any big monsters you feel like killing? Any inmates that could do with a little liquifying? This would be the night to do it. If it's been four weeks, I got no fucking clue what's happening around here these gays." He grinned. "Other option is, could just go down to the basement if the third floor's not working out, I guess."

He might have had a few more thoughts on the matter, but a quiet squeaking noise caught his attention. It sounded more like the scrape of metal on metal than anything else, but then he caught a whiff of something putrid on the wind. He turned toward the railing that surrounded the patio, quietly taking Zabiamaru down from his shoulder.

The first bat flew up over the railing, and he was ready. He snapped Zabimaru around it, the sword spiraling around the monster and cutting it into an explosion of bloody shreds.

[bastard_sadi]

Daemon snorted quietly and shook his head. "I'm tempted just to say all of them. The monsters at least. But we might as well explore our options while we have the ability. The roof, the boundaries, and then perhaps the basement?" he suggested.

There wasn't time for an answer because apparently they'd been discovered again. "Bats," he sighed in frustration. "They really are enjoying sending out fodder tonight, aren't they? There are more?" he asked, his gaze turning to the railing as he braced for more. Although he admitted to surprise. Usually there were bigger things outside than mere bats...

[stray_shinigami]

Renji nodded. "If going up isn't an option, can't hurt to try the other one and see if we get further there. I can do a quick run around to locate the boundaries after we check the roof."

He shrugged. "Dunno. When I've got Zabimaru, pretty much everything feels like fodder if it's not a big-ass Hollow." He grinned, head tilting slightly to the side. "And yeah, there are more coming."

As he spoke, more bats flew up over the balcony, heading straight for them. Renji tore another one out of the air with one whip of Zabimaru, splattering the creature across two of the picnic tables.

[bastard_sadi]

Three swooped down at Daemon and he was distracted for a moment by the smell, lifting his sleeve to cover his arm as he threw up a barrier. One bounced off it, sensing it too late to avoid it, but the other two swooped sharply to the side, disappearing into the darkness, though he doubted they were actually gone.

He'd give the fodder around here points for persistence, at least.

Spotting another pair of bats swooping in at him, he held up a hand again, tossing out another barrier that they avoided. Smart little bastards, but he'd been expecting the sharp turn and had tossed two more up to either side to box them in. The pair fell to the shiny pavement of the patio, their bodies twitching from the impact.

It was a pity he didn't have one of Lucivar's sticks at the moment. This could actually be fun.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji tracked the two that flew to the side; negligently he flipped Zabimaru after one, catching the bat and flipping it back. It rocketed into the wall nearest the door, where it became a bat-shaped blood splat.

He stepped a little closer to Daemon to give himself a better angle and cut another bat from the air. Most of it rained down on the patio, while its ears, strangely pristine, landed near the door like two falling leaves.

[bastard_sadi]

Daemon had caught sight of the end of that last attack an shot Renji a skeptical look, lips twitching in bemusement as he followed the path of the remains of the bat as they landed in front of the door.

"Getting a little fancy there, are we?" he retorted, his tone dry as he gave the Shinigami a Look.

[stray_shinigami]

"Shinigami work in mysterious ways," Renji intoned with mock seriousness. He flicked Zabimaru out again, and a bat splattered all over one of the umbrellas. "If you want, I can just go back to reducing everything to a fine red mist. Wouldn't want to disturb your delicate sensibilities."

[triplecrossing]

[From here.]

With any luck, Lydia thought as she stepped outside, she and Claude would be seen as fellow patients rather than part of the military force. That would rely on it being dark enough for the patients to not notice the different uniform, but Lydia could always cross her fingers and hope for the best there.

What they walked into turned out to be far different from what she'd expected, however. There were two patients on the patio, but there was also a whole swarm of bats attacking them. She paused for a moment, noting that there were a few corpses (or pieces of them, anyway) scattered across the area already. Were these two responsible for what they had seen back near the meeting room?

"We'll fight our way through," she said under her breath to Claude, glancing from the ongoing combat to the edge of the patio. That was all she needed to focus on right now. Sighing to herself, Lydia drew up her handgun and started forward.

[damned_soldiers]

Claude's concerns fell along similar threads of logic, a detail more evident when the door fell away and he recognized one of the forms in the dark. The man nearly groaned at the realization--sighed when he recalled Lydia's warning about chitchat. Here stood one who would undoubtedly narrow in on his identity and (former) association the instant Claude opened his mouth, and his charge had to caution him about chatting.

Normally, he would hope everyone would play ignorance, but the bats were proving to be an obstacle. And a handgun could only accomplish so much. He sighed in mild irritation and pulled his cap tighter to his head. "If we get stopped for words," Claude muttered, bringing both hands to ready, "don't blame me." It was a thinly-veiled apology for any setbacks; it would probably stall any backhanding coming to him at the end of the night.

Internal circuits flared to life. An unfamiliar color of flame rose from the joints at his shoulders to his fingertips, lighting their position with a heated blue glow. When Lydia moved, he was already in motion, hands reaching to a cluster of bats nearby. In a swift gesture, the bats exploded in blue and red flame, tainting the area with the smell of searing flesh.

[bastard_sadi]

"Mother Night!"

Daemon had been dealing with his own cluster of bats when another group nearby burst into flame, completely destroying his night vision. His arm covered his face out of sheer instinct, despite being shielded and the last remaining bat within his vision made an attempt to graze his forearm. Cursing again at the distraction, Daemon flicked his fingers.

The bat's body dropped in one direction. Its head bounced in another until it landed at the feet of one of the newcomers.

Daemon turned, tense and wary for a moment. Nothing they'd seen so far had been friendly, but these were the first humans they'd come across, as well. The woman didn't strike him as immediately familiar, but that wasn't unusual. No one did these days. But the male... he'd seen that particular flare of fire before. And recently.

He stepped sideways, subtly putting himself between Renji and the two newcomers, knowing if there were any remaining bats after that little fireshow, the Shinigami could handle them easily. As for the possible threat behind them... If worse came to worse, he was wearing a double-layered Black shield, while Renji only had his sword. Brilliant at offense, possibly not so much at defense. He was fairly certain the male couldn't set him on fire, just as he was fairly certain Renji might have the same luck as Chipp. No, on second thought, Renji was likely to annoy the soldier more quickly...

At least the man had been willing to talk last night, but this was the first time Daemon had ever encountered one of this place's minions on the run from something. Was it because they all had their powers back? Or was there something else happening here he'd missed last night? Maybe he'd asked the wrong questions after all...

"Good evening, Harrington. Did you find your mole?"

[stray_shinigami]

Renji spared a quick glance back at the door to see the two new people come through. "Ch. Guess I'll stop playing, then," he said. He snapped Zabimaru into three lightning fast cuts, ripping through the bats nearest him when he caught sight of the fire from the corner of his eye. While he pulled back the segments of Zabimaru, he took a few flash steps just to get him out of the way of any other bats. It also gave him a second to examine what was happening.

The fire, he steered clear of, and that was fine. Zabimaru had as much reach as he needed. He reappeared further down the patio and sent the sword screaming out through the air to clear at a few stragglers that hadn't been hit with flame. One bat tried to fly toward Daemon; he followed into an almost negligent flick that wrapped the swords links around the bat, ripping it from the air and sending it hurtling into an untimely and messy demise on the wall.

Then he was back in his former position near Daemon in a flash. He rested Zabimaru at ready on his shoulder, the full weight of his regard settling on the two new people. He had no idea who they were, but after four weeks, that wasn't surprising. He did notice they were dressed a little differently. That, and something in Daemon's tone kept him quiet and stone-faced. He twisted one foot slightly against the concrete of the patio, ready to launch himself if necessary.

For all he knew, they'd be having a party in the next three seconds. Or he'd be chasing down these mortals and killing them. The former sounded better than the latter, but either way he was ready to jump.

[triplecrossing]

Claude's comment seemed strange, but Lydia decided to leave it unanswered. If he was trying to cover himself, then she would just have to accept that. They weren't required to stop and speak with anyone, though, even if it was someone who might have a bone to pick with the so-called Major Harrington.

However, the two patients they came across ended up putting on a show of their own, both of them using their newly gained powers like they were stretching muscles that had been starting to atrophy. Lydia also watched Claude's little trick with the fire and realized that she was a bit outmatched. It was a good thing they were all on the same side, then.

She took in the one patient's question with a blank expression and then kept moving, tempted to drag Claude with her. "He is the mole. That should explain why we can't stand around and talk." And with that, Lydia started to jog across the patio, darting around the areas where the ground was slick with blood.

A bat came her way and she took a shot at it as she ran, watching as it fell out of the air. It seemed that she wasn't rusty after all. "You know how to break your fall when we jump, right?" she called back to Claude, hoping that he was following her.

[damned_soldiers]

Explosions of this nature oft caught the eye, and here, he drew two sets. The flashier appeared as cautious as the more familiar, and both seemed ready to adjust the target of their aggression at a moment's notice. On another night, Claude might not have cared. He might have forced a confrontation for the sake of relieving boredom or worse, for the sake of contention itself. With Lydia, however, he couldn't afford to do as he wished.

Unfortunately, before the man could offer an answer to the question posed, Lydia spoke in his stead. Outlined the scenario with such poignancy and lack of dramatics that Claude had to suppress a groan. Dammit, Lydia. There went the chance for subtlety. The disappointment was easily read from his expression.

"What she said," he chimed after a brief pause. "Don't worry. We have no intention of being in your way." With a friendly gesture to the pair, he rushed after his partner, pausing occasionally to fling away stray bats and thus, keep her back free from aggressors. "Sure, that's just the easy part," he called back, eyeing the woman with amusement. "You certain this is what you want? There are less self-destructive ways to get out."

[bastard_sadi]

Things were clicking into place quickly with that little revelation and he eyed Harrington with a hint of respect in his golden gaze, lips curving into a slow smile as he inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Good for you," he stated, amusement lurking in his tone. It was also quite evident that he wasn't exactly giving all the orders tonight, either, which Daemon also understood all too well.

Sensing the lady's urgency in getting the mole out - whoever the pair of them might be - Daemon shared a glance with Renji before peering down over the railing into the darkness below. "That's a bit of a jump and setting things on fire won't make your landing any softer. Considering this wild goose chase for a mole ended up in us having our powers back, perhaps we can return the favor," he mused mildly, approaching the pair.

A bat rose up out of the darkness behind the female - persistent little pests, weren't they? - and Daemon swatted it away almost absently, throwing up a shield between it and them before it could get too close. He was more interested in Harrington than fodder for the moment.

"Am I right in guessing you had something to do with this? I don't believe in coincidences that large. But either way, if you're a thorn in their backside, then I'm more than happy to assist in any way you need. And we can get you down and keep the predators busy for a little while, if need be."

He didn't bother asking to go with them. If leaving were that easy for the patients here, it would have been done already. Besides, Daemon wasn't leaving this place until it was nothing more than a pile of smoking rubble. He wasn't taking any chances of it rising again, no matter what the cost. So instead, he merely offered his hand to the soldier and let him make his own decision.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji relaxed almost imperceptibly at Daemon's words. For now, he'd just go with it; he trusted Daemon, and he was well aware that there was plenty in the situation that he didn't know about. He'd just better get some answers on the other end of things. The quick look he shot Daemon said as much.

"Hn." He dropped Zabimaru from his shoulder, tracing one finger along the blade to return him to his katana form as he followed after the man and the woman. He sheathed the sword smoothly and then jumped, landing lightly next to Lydia. "You want to move fast, I can do fast. However far it is I can go."

[triplecrossing]

It was strange, the way the three men were making sure to keep the bats off of her back. Lydia noticed, but she didn't think it was a good idea to comment on it. They probably thought it was chivalrous, but too often that kind of behavior could border on demeaning. After being patronized by Landel for far too long, the woman was a bit sensitive to that sort of thing. She wasn't going to tell them to stop, but she wasn't going to offer her thanks either.

Besides, the one man's offer to help was far more intriguing in the end. For some reason she hadn't expected them to be so willing to extend their aid, but it seemed that the pair understood the sacrifices that she and Claude had made to pull this off.

"Yes, we found a way to jam the device that Aguilar was using to suppress your abilities," she explained as succinctly as she could. "And a little help would probably do us good, though you don't need to take us any further than into the courtyard." She and Claude could manage to climb over the wall on their own, and as the one man had said, they would probably be busy keeping more of those monsters at bay.

Having someone to clear the path was useful, she had to admit. She just hoped that they didn't ask to come with them. They couldn't afford to smuggle even one patient with them, as much as she was tempted to. For one thing, it wouldn't be fair to the others. For another, it was far too dangerous when the two of them were fugitives themselves.