Day 28: Bus 2

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo tugged on the collar of the light blue sweater she was wearing as she followed her nurse to wherever these buses were, winding her hair up into its customary bun as she went. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was about to go outside of the institute's borders. Maybe the Head Doctor was about to make an error and the shinigami, as well as

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[bigshotbarret]

Barret was pissed. Really pissed. Seeing red pissed. He didn't know if Rufus was saved, or if his team was ok. Once again, another nightshift lost with virtually nothing accomplished except intervening between Reno and Yuffie to prevent death and bloodshed. Not that he didn't feel she needed a smack upside the head at the very least, but death-by-Turk was something he wasn't prepared to allow to happen. They had bigger problems.

The clothing given was a much needed improvement from the smiley pieces of shit they wore day-to-day, but the fact that the clothes he wore now were a bit on the tight side left him nearly squirming. He was pissed, AND he was chaffing. Pissed was now an understatement.

He was wary more than ever, keeping a careful eye trained on an enemy every so often, just to make sure he didn't flip his script and go cruisin' to give a bruisin'. He wanted to see his teammates, see Rufus to make sure they were at the very least...still alive.

[robin_fox]

Robin's nurse had sat down with him and they'd discussed his behaviour. After promising (convincingly) that he'd behave, she decided not to dose him up on any of the small sweets they gave to trouble makers to slow them down.

Although she looked like she wanted to change her mind when Robin was given his clothes. Dungarees, she'd called them. And she'd given him a woolly red jumper to keep him warm and 'doc martins'. Heavy boots, but sturdy. They slowed him down a little, actually. It wouldn't be enough, of course, but it was a subtle start.

Robin wandered onto the bus. He was a little worried about the disappearing boy from last night, but he was learning to have faith. Spotting a familiar face, he sat down and smiled.

"Big bear, you don't look happy. Bad night?"

[bigshotbarret]

He could have been mean. He could have acted like an asshole. Somehow or another, the muffin he was munching and the juice box he was sipping was ever so slowly calming his nerves. Besides, the presence of Robin seemed to soothe him as well. He wasn't intimidating or imposing, and appeared genuinely concerned for the dark skinned warrior.

Looking over at the man with a fairly subdued expression, he shrugged a little, "In a way. One of my..." He stopped, thinking of the right words to use to describe an old enemy, "...ally was taken last night. Me and my teammates went to get him, but just before I woke, a rat bit one of the girls with us, and another three headed straight for us. Don't know what happened to anyone, and haven't seen any of 'em yet. Just this crazy fucker..." he jerked his head toward Sephiroth, "who does belong in this mental asylum if anyone here does."

[robin_fox]

"Taken?" Robin asked, eyebrows raised slightly. He'd heard of people going missing, others being taken to that place....that he was supposed to get to last night. Woops. He'd have to try and talk to Miss Rukia later. He was thrilled to find he still had his spade in the morning

[bigshotbarret]

"Yeah, taken. Probably experimented on." Wallace shook his head at the thought. Part of him didn't want to know, wanted to avoid Rufus so he wouldn't know. But that was the cowards' way. There was no escape from these horrors

[robin_fox]

Robin thought about that. Experiments. There's was a chance that death was actually a better option. "What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger," he said, with a nod. There. Positive.

"You'd be a terrible person if you didn't," he pointed out. "But faith is good." It wasn't always easy if you cared too much about people, but without faith, Robin would be dead already. Johnny was a godsend.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he said, with a wry smile. There was a LOT that could happen. But you had to try. "I'll take the day as it comes." He reached down and picked Barret's litter up, putting it in the strange netting on the seat in front.

"So. What is this room, anyway? What's with the wheels outside?"

[bigshotbarret]

Barret responded with little more than a grunt to his words of comfort as well as his decision on his course of action for the day. He couldn't fault the guy for wanting to make an attempt at escape. Hell, he wanted to do the same, but he remembered what Reno said to him in the past. What then? How do they get back to where they belonged? Was it a case of simply running far enough away to start over again in a world unfamiliar? He didn't know, and wanted to find out what he could before he made his battle plan too hastily.

Cutting a sharp look over at the ignorant man, he slowly quirked a grin and shook his head with a chuckle, "You a trip, man..." he said more to himself than to Robin, "You really don't know what this is?" He nearly burst out with laughter, but withheld it, not wanting to completely humiliate the kid, "It's a bus. It's gonna take us to town. That's what the wheels are for. Shit man, where you from, some prehistoric era?"

[robin_fox]

Robin continued to smile. Big Bear was still a doubter. He probably thought Robin expected something more, but mostly he just wanted to test the waters, see what was out there. Long term plans never worked because you could only plan your own actions. You had to be willing to change and adapt. To a certain extent. He wasn't going to adapt to a Phony King.

"I really don't know," he shrugged, unashamed. "A bus? How will it take us?" He stood up and looked t the front. Nothing pulling. To the back? Nothing pushing. No holes to the side for rowing or turning or any such thing. "I'm from... King Richard's England...? There's a book about me, you know? Not entirely accurate, but there's a 'movie' too, that sounds better."

[bigshotbarret]

This time Barret did laugh. At everything. At Robin's ignorance to modern day technology (at least to him), claiming he was in a book and in a movie. For all he knew, it could have been true, but it didn't keep him from finding the situation completely hilarious.

When he settled down, he ran his non-metal hand over his cornrows as he thought of the best way to describe a vehicles' mechanics, "It's a complex process. Has to do with gears, motors, wheels, fuel, and a bunch of other shit used to put it in motion. You best just enjoy the ride, and hope it's a smooth one." He chuckled, "What kind of book you in, Robin? I ain't never heard of no England before."

[robin_fox]

Robin shook his head, laughing along. It wasn't good for your pride to be so uneducated, but pride wasn't good for your general being. Well, not to some extents. All in all, it was fun learning new things and being around this magic that was modern technology.

"So it moves through a series of chain events located inside the structure itself? Impressive." Definitely something to look up and tell home about. "I think I shall enjoy it very much," he grinned, "bumpy or not."

Robin remembered the man talking about his planet, Gayer or something. Of course he wouldn't know England.
"Well...not a whole lot of people believe in me, I'm more folklore than fact according to them. But I brought justice to my people and it seems that was never forgotten! As for England...it's a marvelous country, a prime section of Europe and rather powerful too. Our King is a... fellow named Richard."

Barret bear already thought he was nuts, the animal talk could be saved for later.

[bigshotbarret]

Barret eased his laughter, listening to the explanation. Really thinking on it, he figured it wasn't so farfetched as what his own life probably sounded to someone who didn't live in his world. The fact that he was believing they were all from different worlds' and not just crazy was saying a lot in itself. He'd be willing to give Robin the benefit of the doubt.

"So you're kind of a story book celeb, eh? Not too badm impressive really. I ain't apart of no folklore or anything like that that I know of, but me and my team tried to bring justice to our people also. Helped save our Planet from him..." again, he indicated toward Sephiroth. He could have said Shin-Ra, but things would have been complicated enough with simply mentioning the former.

[robin_fox]

"I was more of a general nuisance and local hero back my time, but my story seems to have made it through the ages," he said proudly. "A fellow in the fight for justice, eh? I knew there was a reason I liked you. Besides the similarity to Johnny, of course."
Robin looked back at the frightfully pale man with the strange hair. "And did he get his comeuppance?"

[bigshotbarret]

Barret could see how he could be a nuisance, though strangely he wasn't quite bothersome to him. Not yet, anyway. This Johnny though...he'd have to ask about him later.

"He got somethin' all right. Technically, in my world...he's been killed at least twice." He sighed just thinking about it, how evil could cheat death so many times. The Devil, if there was one, must have been laughing his balls off. "He's like a God Damn cat with nine lives or somethin' crazy like that. I jus' don't get it.."

He attempted to change the subject, "Who is Johnny, this guy I keep remindin' you of? A friend of yours I'm guessin'?"

[robin_fox]

"Damn guy won't stay down, huh?" It was strange to think the dead were once again walking, but Robin supposed that was his bonus for having his world changed so dramatically - it made these other things easier to believe

[bigshotbarret]

Sure, he was amused, but he willed himself to hold it in, knowing Robin had never experienced anything like this. He wondered how many other people were in that same predicament. Maybe there were those that were further advanced, and this was nothing compared to what they had experienced. For the time being, he kept his amusement to himself.

He did stiffen and straighten when the pale man acted as if he were going to bolt out of the window, ready to grab him if he made the attempt.

"Hey now, it's all right, the bus is jus' takin' us to town now," he tried to soothe as Robin's eyes bobbled in his head like a frightened doe.

"Bear?" There was a sliver of suspicion in his tone. "You mean a 'bear of a man', don't ya?"

[robin_fox]

"Yeah, yeah...I know," he said, still distracted. He managed to park him bum on the seat, but his knuckles were white as he gripped the seat in front and his body seemed to elongate as he kept trying to watch the front.

He glances at Barret and smiled a little. "You could say that, sure. And my wife's definitely a bit of a fox."

There was another metal thing coming towards them. Smaller. But faster.
"WHAT IS THAT?" he shouted, grabbing Barret's collar and ducking down, trying to pull his friend with him.