Nightshift 33: Kitchen

[blood_and_pocky]

[from here]

The first and only time he’d come to the kitchen, it’d been his first night, and it had started with chocolate cake, too. And ended with fighting off lizards, meeting Sasuke, and being inflicted with Alucard. There weren’t any good memories of this place (if that could seriously be said of any part of the building

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[spirit_forge]

His slippers made splashing sounds as he stepped in the dark liquid. There was no need to inspect it since he was very familiar with the smell. How many battlefields or dead bodies had he seen before he became desensitized to this scent?

Following at the rear, he saw Hokuto pause and could guess what she saw, a corpse. It wasn't that shocking. After all, people died everyday, especially in this place. However, he was a little surprised at the victim's identity.

Hisoka...

He hadn't really known his fellow patient that well, but Hisoka had helped him when he first arrived, answering Archer's questions about the Institute. Even so, he wasn't particularly moved by his death since they weren't exactly close.

Hokuto's reaction was perfectly natural, so what did that say about Archer, who barely even batted an eyelash? No matter. This wasn't the place or time, especially when the Alien was probably close by. Placing his hand on her back, he urged her along, while trying to provide some comfort. "Come one. We need to move," he offered in a low voice.

[silent_predator]

The wound was healed up, and there wasn't any more blood dripping from it to give it away. All that remained was the desire to kill, eat, survive. What came through here were intruders, prey.

The alien had been curled into a near ball, hidden against the ceiling. amongst the pots and pans that dangled from their holding places.

Three, one further away, two had stopped to look at its meal.

Gracefully, it moved out of the wall of metal: it had learned now not to hit against them. Claws tensed, and released, as it crawled along the ceiling, bringing it over to the intruders.

The xenomorph dropped down silently behind Hokuto and Archer.

[jurisfictional]

Thursday paused for a moment. It seemed Hokuto had known the victim, and much as all of Thursday's instincts were screaming at her to cut and run to the other side of the kitchen, she forced herself to stay still. They couldn't waste any more time here, but someone who was badly affected by the death would be more likely to make mistakes in a fight. They had to give her a moment.

"Let's go," she murmured quietly, after a few seconds. "It's not too far to..."

Her voice trailed off as her eye caught movement behind her team. Oh, shit.

"Behind you," she said suddenly, sharply. GSD, why now?

[akarusa]

Hokuto wasn't surprised in the least to hear Thursday's warning, somehow. Maybe she was just too horrified or shocked to feel anything else; she didn't know. Her mind wasn't functioning nearly as well as it should be, which wasn't good; she didn't technically need to think, but she needed to be able to react.

She looked at Archer; she was still trembling a little, and some of it was adrenaline. Do we run? She meant to ask it out loud, but she was so tense she didn't think she could speak. She had to hold herself together, hold everything in, just until they got out of here.

[spirit_forge]

Seeing that she wasn't moving, Archer answered Hokuto's mental question as easily as possible, articulated in a way that left no room for questions. "Move!" His fierce shout was accompanied by a quick nudge, which wasn't as hard as it could have been, to get her moving.

As he started running, Archer was torn between two choices. On one hand, people who looked back, in movies, traditionally got caught, but as a battle-hardened warrior, he had learned a valuable lesson, never look away from your enemy. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the ugly bastard in all its glory, towering over them, looking exactly like a scene from the movie.

[silent_predator]

The alien charged, limbs bursting into action.

It didn't run after the intruders this time. Instead, it tore over the floor, and onto the closest wall, running on all fours, tail sailing behind it like some kind of deranged cat.

Their species were fast learners. It was part of their race's perfection, the ability to adapt. It was mirrored by their very makeup, how the exoskeleton shed microlayers to adapt to the enviroment.

This time, the xenomorph had caught on.

It was running on the walls, claws sending up pieces of it... it was running right towards the fridge door, to cut them off.

[jurisfictional]

Oh, GSD. Did the thing know where they were going? Thursday tried to keep an eye on it as she ran, but the creature was so bloody fast. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all -

Still, she couldn't think of anything to do besides run. She had a feeling her baseball bat would be little to no use against that thing. Yanking a pen out of her waistband, she flung the object in the general direction of its intended path, knowing quite well that it would probably have no effect whatsoever.

GSD, what she wouldn't give for an eraserhead and her old Browning right now.

[akarusa]

Hokuto's mind kicked back into gear at least somewhat when the thing started trying to cut them off; she managed to think, Acid blood--don't cut it-- Like she could.

She had her shovel out, but the last thing she wanted was to get into that thing's range; it was less than instinctual, but she pulled herself together enough to throw the strongest shield spell she could between the Alien and them. It was so unlikely to do any good, her shields were never anything like impressive, but she was panicked and desperate and maybe that would strengthen it just enough. If nothing else, running headlong into an invisible barrier that wasn't supposed to be there just might confuse the thing.

Dear gods, please...

[spirit_forge]

Oh shit! It was trying to cut them off! The movies really didn't give these guys' intelligence enough credit. Like a hunter, the Alien was trying to head them off, baring their entrance to the fridge, and then it could take its sweet time. With the way things were going, it looked like a fight was almost unavoidable, but out of the corner of his eye, Archer saw Thursday throw something at it. The object appeared too small to be an effective weapon, but maybe if they could distract it for even a moment they might have a chance.

Suddenly, his senses picked up the use of magic in the vicinity. Had someone used a spell, perhaps Hokuto or Thursday? There wasn't enough time to ask what spell had been cast, but he hoped it would improve their chances.

Following Thursday's lead and without pausing in his run, Archer quickly grabbed a pot off the rack, barely even looking at what he'd taken, and immediately threw it at the creature. If someone could draw its attention away from the door, perhaps the others could make it. A straight out fight would waste time, and Archer wasn't confident they could win without injuries. He'd seen the movies, although, now it seemed like a mixed blessing, knowing how truly horrific and powerful this creature was.

[silent_predator]

The pen didn't do much to distract it, nor did the pot.

Hokuto's barrier, however, was something else entirely

The thing wasn't enough to stop the alien's run entirely, but it did slow it down. Too late, there was the sensation, some obstruction right in front of it, but there wasn't any time to stop. There was a moment, as if the xenomorph had come up against a web, and hard.

The barrier shattered. The alien lost its grip on the wall, and half-fell, half-slid to a clumsy landing a few feet from the fridge door. It was shaking its head from side to side, tail lashing, clearly disoriented from the spell.

Snarling, it swiped at its face, as if trying to remove invisible fragments from it.

[jurisfictional]

Thursday wasted no time in covering the last few feet to the walk-in refrigerator. She lunged for the fridge door, yanking it open and jerking her head at the now-open doorway.

"Go! Go!"

She'd follow them as soon as they were in...and maybe, just maybe, the creature wouldn't think to follow them as well.

[akarusa]

It wasn't remotely stunned, Hokuto was sure, but she guessed the shield had confused it. Maybe even hurt, if it was sensitive to magic.

That wouldn't last long, though--definitely not long enough to let her and Archer run past it. Still fueled by sheer desperation, she threw another shield at it, this time trying to trap it in place. It wouldn't actually hold the alien at all, but it should be too confused to act for at least another few seconds, which should be all they needed to run past it. She hoped.

I know it won't work more than a few times... once it catches on that the shield isn't hurting it, then what?

[spirit_forge]

Was Hokuto drawing a magic sigil? That's what it looked like from his position. So it had been her who had cast the spell earlier. He wasn't sure just what that spell did, but it seemed to affect the Alien just now.

Immediately, Archer drew his sword and flashlight in each hand, ready to distract it. He didn't really think that fighting was a good decision, but with the Alien so close to the exit, there wasn't much choice. His blade was ready, and he took on a loose stance, ready to bolt. When his flashlight illuminated the creature's face, he felt a little repulsed by its appearance. Man, it was ugly looking.

If only there was some way to distract it... Damn, I can't remember anything significant from the movies... Isn't there anything we can do, aside from fighting it?`

[silent_predator]

The shield itself hadn't hurt it. The fall and clumsy landing hadn't either. The confusion had been from the sudden change in the air and its sudden halt of the xenomorph's charge.

Not this time.

The alien had time to sense this shield coming, this strange disturbance in the air that it couldn't taste or quite see. Hissing, it moved out of the way, the motion fluid.

The alien's leg bunched, right before it leapt for them both.

Its tail flashed, stabbing at the one with the sword.

[jurisfictional]

Thursday grimaced, resisting the urge to bolt for the door. That wouldn't help her teammates. She knew that. The problem was convincing her legs to stay still.

She swung her bat in a wide arc in front of her in an attempt to keep the thing from hitting her. "Come on!" she yelled at Hokuto and Archer. "Move!"

[akarusa]

Hokuto swore silently when she saw the alien just dodge her shield; it wasn't supposed to be able to do that! But, if it could sense magic or changes in the air, it made sense...

She managed to answer Thursday, "R-Right!" and ran for it. Her chest was so tight it felt hard to breathe, but she couldn't let that hold her back.