Nightshift 33: The Grand Ballroom

[blood_and_pocky]

[from here]Before they’d even reached the bottom of the stairs, Aidou heard the sound of trickling water. And once he stepped onto the black marble floor, it was oddly the first thing he focused on. Fountains… His gaze trailed them up, to the seemingly infinite expanse of ceiling

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[traitors_smile]

The creatures here all seemed to have their own little quirks about them. While he didn't expect both blood and pus to come oozing from the wound he'd left behind, he wasn't terribly surprised. It was the overpowering smell though, that was hard to ignore. He stumbled backward, almost choking on the horrible stench.

One of the other patients caused enough of a distraction though, for him to gain his bearings. He wasn't sure what to make of the giant's reaction to pain. It didn't seem to feel much, but at least it gave pause. Aside from the smell, he didn't see reason not to continue to press his attack, but the shout from Ran seemed to say otherwise.

He tried to put some distance between himself and the creature, but all was not about to go according to plan. The metal creature's hand snaked out to grab him. It probably would have caught him too, if he hadn't used flashstep to cross the distance from where he stood to Rangiku in the blink of an eye. The skill left him dizzy, with black spots dancing in his vision and blood that dripped from his nose, but it got him where he needed to be.

[[to here]]

[blurred_divide]

Already naturally sensitive to anyone's blood, the smell became overpowering, and not in a good way. It was enough to distract him for a second. By the time his focus was pulled back, the monster was reaching for the patients, who were now...gone?

Helpful.

Anya and Willow might've made it to the other side during the creature's distraction, but Angel was still trapped on the stairs. And he was pretty sure if he darted around in front, the thing would just grab him.

He jumped on it instead while it was still turned around, trying to stay on its back just long enough to slice some part of it open before it threw him off.

Which was half of the point. If it tossed him anywhere but back up the stairs, he'd have a clear path to the door. Probably.

[wishescankill]

Anya was definitely starting to feel woozy from blood loss. She didn't have the strength to stay in the fight, but she couldn't just leave the other Scoobies, as much as she wished she had the lack of morality necessary to do so.

Willow had headed for the door, which was good, but Angel had apparently decided to go through the creature instead of around it. Why did men always have to do things the hard way?

Mustering up all her energy, Anya dropped to one knee and swung her sword at the monster's legs, hoping to knock it off its feet.

"This isn't the World Wresting Foundation!" she shouted at Angel. "Get off its back!"

[light_wicca]

As much as Willow wanted to help, the fact remained that all she had as a viable weapon was a small scalpel. Much more deadly in the hands of a vampire, she'd observed, than in hers. Normally, her first thought would be her magic, but on top of everything that had happened in the past few months to drive her away from it, using even a simple spell here seemed to render her dizzy just walking. Willow didn't think that she had the strength to try anything more, no matter how easy. She looked forlornly down at the small scalpel in her hand, remembering how easy it used to be to send it rocketing into a monster's chest with a little magic push.

Here, all she could really do was grip the wall behind her to stay upright and hope that Angel and Anya won. Or at least didn't lose.