Nightshift 27: Second Floor, hallway containing disciplinary therapy rooms and nurse station

[full_score]

((From here. ))As Claude stepped into the dark hallway, he made sure to shine his flashlight beam enough to light their way forward. Doing a quick scan of the area, Claude noticed the closed doors along their path. He swallowed hard. Were they torturing Ashton in one of these rooms? Who else did they have trapped here

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[bond_off_lame]

Axel had quickly returned Dias’s nod with one of his own, offering a small wave back to the kid as he did so and grinned at the blond’s words afterwards

[angels_inflight]

"I'm Naminé," She introduced herself to the others, once the door was broken down. The hallway was very unsettling as Naminé walked in. The flashlight beams didn't reveal any hidden creatures lurking before the, though she was certain that one would show up sooner or later

[dementorkiss]

They were right. Something was guarding.

Coldness crept down the hallway, passing over the three like an army of tiny, unseen spiders. In its wake, a thin layer of frost forming on the walls and floor as the chill advanced. Whatever sources of light they held dimmed a little, giving the shadows more territory. The scent of carrion exploding with maggots under a hot sun seemed to come from the hallway itself, clogging the senses.

That wasn't the worst unfortunately.

It would have begun to feel like every pleasant feeling and memory they had ever had was being taken away. Any hope or happiness was being pulled from the air itself.

Something was at the far end of the hallway, sucking the air in with a rattle like a dying man struggling for breath. It hung in midair for now, waiting, weaking its prey. Its tattered clothing drifted, moving around it like a live thing in itself. A grey hand that had once been human extended as if beckoning to them, the skin grey and slicked with a thin layer of slime.

[heavens_too_far]

Dias' sword was pure metal. Even though he'd long ago cannibalized the remains of one of his partially-destroyed shirts to wrap around the grip in order to give him both a more secure hold on the blade and to protect his hands, he still felt the chill biting into his fingers right through the fabric as the inexplicable frost coated his blade. That - and a passing thought that sudden changes in temperature couldn't be good for the integrity of the metal - was the first noticeable change

[stray_shinigami]

[from here]

Renji didn't rush into the room; he knew there were other people ahead of them and he didn't want to jump into the middle of someone's fight. That was a good way to get injured by so-called "friendly fire." He moved to the side, skirting the wall, and tried to get a sense of what was going on.

Two steps in, he caught himself from stumbling. He put his hand against the wall, registering the cold and wet of frost leeching the warmth from his skin. It smelled bad, but no worse than where he'd grown up; it was the heaviness of the air, the feeling of oppression and doom, like he would never be happy again, that caught him.

He made himself take a deep breath and let it out slowly, made himself think. He'd never felt this before, but it was familiar all the same, a piece of knowledge being test.

"Oh shit," he said. Even his voice felt heavy and thick.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia nodded at Renji's explanation, shivering. She didn't remember it being so cold up here last night; perhaps there was one of those 'refrigerator' machines nearby? But they didn't usually make everything around them cold...

As they approached the commotion ahead, Rukia heard voices and a thud; probably someone ramming a door. She didn't really pay attention to what was being said, though, as Renji stumbled ahead of her.

"Renji?" she asked, her teeth chattering. She felt strangely sluggish and hopeless. Why were they even bothering to try and rescue anyone? They were all stuck here, anyway, with no chance of escape-- Shaking her head slightly, Rukia frowned. What was she thinking? The sense of despair was still there, though, and her fingers were going numb as frost slowly began to form on Sode no Shirayuki's blade.

[scintillatingly]

It had been a long time since Sora had felt coldness like this. It wasn't like being in the snow - that much he could handle, and he'd done so while in The Land of Dragons. This was different; it was worse.

It chilled right through, past bones and to the core of a person, closing them off and deadening everything warm. He had felt like this - useless, hopeless - only twice in his life before now, as far as he could remember.

When he had been a Heartless, and when he had found out that all of the work he had being doing, all of the darkness he had been killing, had just been helping along the organization he had been trying to stop.

He breathed hard, and it became visible in front of him. His face and his fingers were stinging and going numb from the cold, and he just couldn't find it in him to do anything about it. He remained near the door, and nothing was motivating him to keep moving.

[stray_shinigami]

"I think that..." Renji had to collect his thoughts and try again. It was hard to concentrate when all he wanted to do was give in and lie down. All that prevented that urge, coupled with the depression he'd felt earlier, from overtaking him was that he'd never given up in his life, not once. And Sora and Rukia were there; he needed to be strong for them, and lead

[bored_narrator]

[from here]

Kyon slowly worked his way down the hall, one hand on the wall, the other grasping his lower abdomen. It was starting to get harder to fight back the smell.

A few more feet, and Kyon collapsed to the floor, weak and hungry as the doctor had taunted him.

[son_ofkrypton]

[From here]

Clark finally put two and two together (Robin Hood and a fox Robin Hood) and was on the verge of asking Robin if he was serious about being the Robin Hood - from that Disney movie, right? - or what was this about "magic" powers. He'd run into his fair share of people with powers humans simply didn't have and he had to say that the prospect of finding some here was both a relief and kind of a problem, considering the track record of all the previous encounters. Any questions he had were put on hold as they went deeper into Landels.

He realized he didn't really need his flash light to see - there was a dim, faintly reddish light in this area, enough that he could sorta see now.

It was also cold, far too cold to be natural. Nevermind that he saw what looked like movement (fighting?) down the hall; maybe other patients, but there was also just this generally horrible, icy feeling, like a physical weight pressing down on him

[broken_exorcist]

Allen's expression became puzzled as Robin kept talking. A fox? That wasn't possible. He'd know if Robin wasn't in his proper body, wouldn't he? It seemed his eye was only complicating things, not helping. There were so many different people here from different worlds that it wasn't any use at all

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali gasped as she entered the next room. She wasn't expecting the sudden chill of the room. It was hopeless. They were going to waste away here, and she was never going to see Komui again. Why were they even bothering with this? Tears welled up in her eyes but refused to fall. "Allen..." she whispered quietly. "I'm sorry." Sorry for being so weak, for not being able to be there for him while he had been trapped here all this time. She was a horrible friend and deserved to be trapped here

[dawning_dreams]

[ From here. ]

It'd be accurate to say that stepping through that door was like stepping into some kind of warring hell. Cid didn't think he'd ever seen so many people fighting off monsters in one place, not even when he'd run into Vincent during his berserker stunt, and the inexplicable feeling of dread and hopelessness seemed to have increased tenfold.

"Shit..." He grunted, glancing around as he kept near the wall. On one hand, he felt like lending a hand to these other patients would be both the right thing to do and conducive to their cause, but on the other hand, he didn't want to be mistaken for some other hooligan and become the victim of friendly fire. He glanced back to his group and yelled over the ruckus: "Any ideas?"

[bigshotbarret]

[From Here]

Barret followed Cid once he confirmed their route. He trusted the pilots' instincts, and it was clear that chaos had already erupted. The noise was loud and near deafening. It was clear that other rescues were being attempted and thwarted, much to his dismay. He felt the urge to aid those who may need it, but at the moment they had a mission to follow through with.

"Cloud, got something in that bag I can borrow?" He asked before turning his attention to Cid, trying to think quick on his feet, "There are probably multiple rooms down there--one of them gotta hold Rufus. We'll search 'em and try to avoid the fights for now. Once we got Rufus, we'll cover the rescue team," he jerked his head toward the group behind them, "and get the fuck out of here."

He half turned toward the other team, "Hear that guys? We'll search each room, steer clear of the battlefield, and get the President the fuck outta here!" He turned back toward the Hallway, "Y'all ready for this?"

[dementorkiss]

It was indeed quite a scene to say the least. The Dementor was still in the centre of the hallway although it was backing up quick enough. The horrible smell of rotted meat and dust was clogging the air although at the edges it was starting to pull away along with the intense cold. Hopelessness and despair were still hanging in the air, trying to get a fingerhold on these new people even as the Dementor was slowly pulling back. The closer they got to it, the worse it would become. Every bad memory or feeling would be pulled to the forefront of their minds while any good would be drawn out.

More rats scrambled over the pile of victims at the other end of the hallway, the cat-sized creatures squeaking in rage. Beady eyes fixed on this new prey, three of them scrambled over the MU patients and headed for Cid's group.

[1mperturbable]

Stepping forward behind his group, Cloud peering around Barret’s arm to survey the situation. It was fairly clear that they had to work in their own little chaotic box. He shifted his weight as the three large rodents charged for Barret and Cid and noted that it really did appear that he was the only one to bring weapons.

Leaping up and over Barret’s head, he dropped the blade in his left hand down to Barret’s hand as he passed over. He flipped in the air, surveying the rats as he went before he twisted around to settle on the ground behind all three. He drew the second blade from the make-shift bag even as he swung out with his baseball bat to take the rodents by surprise.

He tightened his grip on the blade before tossing it back the way that he had come to Cid. At least if they were all armed, it would lead to less damage on everyone. “They are on lend. I charge interest outside of battle,” he called to his companions.

[offduty]

[from here.]

Oh hell. Even Reno hadn't quite been expecting this. It wasn't just a fight, it was fucking chaos.

Someone was gonna lose an eye tonight.

In any case, Barret spoke his thoughts - avoid the battle, skip to the rescue. But he could feel something in the air. Distracting and chilling, enough for him to stumble to a stop and for the first time, he wondered what the hell he was even doing. Keep the President safe, right? Wasn't that in his job description? Yeah, he was just doing wonders in that department...

"Sonofabitch." He shot a look at Elena, trying to shake off the sensation but ultimately failing. It was something he hadn't felt in a long time. "Just me or...?"

[dementorkiss]

Like the others before, the Dementor was thankfully not focused on Reno's little group although its area effect was still there. It weakened some as the creature was drawing backwards, but to get to the victims they would have to pass by it since it currently hung in the middle of the hallway. The further it retreated, the closer it came to the MU victims.

The rats were pretty much engaged all around although a particularly nasty one the size of a cocker spaniel was perched on Rufus' shoulder and eyeing Reno's party. Its black oilspot eyes fixed on them, a filthy paw waving at them before it rested it on Rufus' temple. Sharp yellow teeth chattered as it squeaked challengingly.

[materianinja]

Yuffie wasn't sure what she expected when entering the room, but a miniature battlefield wasn't it. She had seen fights before on her world, had lived through two wars, had seen more than a few of the creatures that roamed these halls at night, but this? There was something about this and the wraith-like thing in the middle of the room that sent an uncomfortable chill down her spine