Night 18: Hallway Near Waiting Room 2/Doctor's Offices

[dawning_dreams]

"Hell if I know," Cid growled back, not quite liking the demanding tone Brock was taking but at the same time likening it to his own mode of speech. "Didn't you hear the announcement on the intercom earlier? Fucker's insinuating some weird shit and I'm guessing the patients he mentioned are a part of it

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[dawning_dreams]

Things went to shit pretty quickly, as they usually did in battles. That, Cid was used to. It wasn't a big deal to keep his eye on the pie so to speak, to make sure he was always facing the glint of red cape even when Brock charged and the reckless man fell, to keep a tight, painful grip on his meager weapon even after hearing that fucking arrogant, fucking not Vincent voice come out of Vincent's mouth.

Perhaps the pilot had made that thought so soon, however.

Perhaps he had only counted on protecting himself.

Some faint sign of blond hair came along with another figure. Cid glanced over to get a better look at the newcomers and found himself staring.

"Cloud...?" He mumbled under his breath, wondering how the hell he had the shitty luck to end up with someone whose face he knew at the last possible moment he needed it. He grit his teeth and ran in the direction of the fellow AVALANCHE member that wasn't currently in a brainwashed delirium.

"CLOUD! WATCH OUT, HE AIN'T---" Cid began before his run slowed and he realized something was very wrong. The kid's eyes were vacant, and the eyes themselves were bigger, the proportions of his face slightly off from what the pilot was used to.

Fuck. He'd been pulled from before, hadn't he?

"Shit!" Cid grunted just in time to hear Vincent's ominous words and whirl around to face him. The guy was transforming?! Oh, HELL.

...Well, Hellmasker, Cid guessed, but THAT WASN'T THE FUCKING POINT. Chainsaw was the main word that pounded through the consciousness of the pilot's brain, as was the sentiment that he should stay as far fucking away from it as fucking possible.

"Cloud! Fuck it all, kid!" Cid growled, grabbing Cloud by the wrist and beginning to pull him away from the fight, legs straining and knuckles white as he made the effort to save a guy who probably didn't remember him in the first place.

Cid was no coward, but when it came down to choosing between his pride and keeping his comrade's asses alive, he'd take the ass.

[soulofdiscord]

As Chusa stepped forward, almost even with her, Scholar Ling raised her arm to bar her passage, lacquer-black eyes focused on the chaos in front of her. A transformation style... that man was cut from the same mold as herself. And yet he wasn't restrained, his powers not sliced away by this place? How could such a thing be?

...more importantly, how could she gain that kind of power?

"Wait," she said, her voice absurdly calm and yet cutting over the roar of the chainsaw with apparent ease. "Hold. Watch."

She could feel something from the other woman, something about her soul was most definitely at odds with Ling's own... and she slowly looked at Chusa, wondering what had happened. What was this place, where the rules seemed to shift? Though... that could work in her favor. With the slightest bit of emphasis, she whispered, "Learn."

The boy was lost, spiritually and mentally. And yet one wished to save him against the overwhelming odds of a master of transformations, armed with superior weaponry and skill? The choice was the incorrect one, and Ling almost wished that Kyo had followed, so he could see the end result. Tragedy was all that could befall.

...besides. If Cid's strength was not enough to save the child, and the child had not the strength to save himself, then his life was forfeit regardless. If not now, then later. The sooner this lesson was learned, the better all would be.

[blacksustenance]

Brock went down hard, huffing for breath even as the symbiote railed at him to get up on his feet for another round. They weren't sure what this other patient was - there was no sense of another symbiote, despite the transformation, and the Other was certain that they could take him if they kept out of range of the gun and the chainsaws. Brock struggled to his feet, one hand on his bruised ribs, and complied, giving a final wheeze and doggedly going after Cid's "friend" once more.

He wasn't quite sure how to tackle this new transformation though; he hadn't fought much in the way of mutants, and they were far too used to fighting with their full abilities, not when the weak Host was taking the brunt of the force.

Brock snapped out a claw again, a black circle oozing out to cover his chest, leaving the other hand bare; it wasn't much, but it was the best they could do to protect his vitals. They went after the rampaging mutant, following the roaring buzz of the chainsaw and the muscled back presented to them.

[revansremnant]

So, Cloud now had both a name and people who knew and were concerned about him. Though Cid's actions clearly indicated that he knew far more of the situation than anyone else and Cid was of the opinion that getting away from the person that he normally spent almost all of his time with was vastly important.

The woman who barred her path was dressed the same as all the other inmates here, but she had none of the 'lost' feeling that so many of the others - including Chusa - tended to project. It was as if the other woman had simply paused here on a trip and was simply having a look around before she moved on.

With the chainblade now roaring to an anrgy life, Chusa could appreciate the design a bit more. The cutting teeth were moving fast enough to shred unprotected bodies, not that it was deterring the man moving to attack. Chusa shifted her feet a bit, cautious of the lingering damage there but didn't move forward.

She had to raise her voice a bit to be heard over the howl of the blade, but Cid was right there, "What's he capable of like this?" She'd a feeling that the other two men weren't about to back down.

[strengthtolive]

His eyes widened in disbelief as the creature seemed to .. mutate (change?) into something else. He hadn't been told anything like that, but then, he doubted that he would be told something important as that. Probably even overhearing what he had might have been too much. Unsure of what to do, what he could do, he was thinking of running back to the other group and abandoning the people to their own devices. He wasn't a First Class; he had no reason to be in the middle of the fray in the first place!

However, what stopped him was that one of people was calling out his name. He thought he had misheard but he was definitely being called to. Obvious confusion was evident as he couldn't place who this person was; not someone originally from the town and he wasn't famous enough to be spoken about. Yet, here this person was running towards him, grabbing onto his wrist to drag him off away from the battle.

Even if that was what he was going to do in the beginning, he didn't need some civilian saving him. He had to have some sense of pride to do it himself. Trying to pull his arm away, he fought to be left alone. Even digging his heels into the ground so hinder the other's attempts to move them even more. Of course, he felt like he was coming off more as a stubborn child than anything else, but he already committed himself to staying (at least, long enough to make his escape unaided) to stop now.

[perfect_meld]

They froze at the sound of the chainsaw. Not out of fear though, oh hell no. It was giddy anticipation. The kind you got at Christmas Eve, and you were waitin' for the presents and Santa, only this time it was some fucker with chainsaw.

Finally....finally going to see a chainsawing!

It was Kasady's first thought, with the symbiote following straight behind, its waves of honest-to-God delight radiating throughout their shared body. The alien hadn't exactly seen one of these in action, and in person. Tonight was gonna be treat for both of them. Even if they'd gotten shot in the foot.

So this guy was some kinda freakshow. A regular carnie. Just like those mutants... those X-Men that pranced around in tights. He'd caught wind of them on the news every now and then. Seemed sorta weird.

Well, the Spider did too, but it somehow seemed less strange when he did it.

They watched from where they lay, grinning. Kasady swore that the roar of the chainsaw had his teeth rattling in his head.

Come on, come on, DO IT!

[reduxvalentine]

Seek out the weakest prey and attack.

Single eye rolling sickeningly back in his head, it paused jerkily, head twitching for a split second before darting toward the two struggling nearby.

Dashing with inhuman speed, it raised the chainsaw---

...And in a single motion swung, cleaving the heavy weapon through the shoulder of the young one and pulling. Bright red suddenly coated its eye, its head, its body as hard bone shattered under the force of the saw, and when he screamed, it convulsed and drove the saw further.

The boy stopped screaming eventually.

Tearing through muscle and ribs and flesh as viscera and blood splattered the wall, the saw suddenly jammed, coming to a screeching halt as it caught near the hip.

It released the saw, embedded in Cloud's torso, and they both dropped to the floor, broken.

[dawning_dreams]

Cloud didn't seem to be responding to the pilot's yells, and although there was commotion going on around and behind him, Cid wasn't in any kind of position to pay attention to it. The chainsaw was still roaring, his heart was still pounding, and the worst part of it all was the familiarity of the sounds, and the fact that the so-called manifestation of Vincent's sins were supposed to be a welcome relief when they showed themselves.

But not here. Not at fucking Landel's.

The sound was getting closer, and although Cid was pulling as hard as he could at the blond kid's wrist, they weren't fucking getting anywhere, and the sound was just getting louder and louder to the point that Cid was just about to turn around and throw the kid out of the weapon's reach---when he heard a hiss, felt a shudder from the kid's hand, and then heard a noise akin to a plane's propeller getting stuck in pebbled ground.

He whirled around, though the action wasn't fast enough, wasn't strong enough, to help in any way when the inevitable came. He was quick enough to see it, though--to bear witness with wide eyes when the dark form of one friend tore through another, to feel his blood go cold and his breath go numb as warm, sticky globules spattered against his cheek and felt anything but.

One final rush of the stuff, a spray that got his grey uniform as red as the guilt that weighted his heart and the nausea that swarmed the pit of his stomach. He took a step back as the guts and acid and blood and blood quickly pooled around the ruined body, hands shaking, mouth trembling.

It'd been a long time since he'd thought about the war, really thought about it, about the rotting corpses and dismembered limbs. It was easy to forget when you weren't in the thick of it, easy to forget how bad things could get when it was your people falling down and dying.

And now that's what had happened to the kid.

Dead... dead, dead... Cid found himself wondering, found himself thinking in the numb kind of detachment that comes to some instead of tears, thinking of his theory, of clones and memories and timelines and continuity--that if one had died, the rest could die too, and if Cloud was gone and Cid was still here, able to remember the exploits this Cloud had never lived to see...

Then Cid wasn't Cid at all.

The pilot (could he call himself that?) slowly looked up with deadened eyes, taking in the sight of the thing that had done this, the thing that this shithole had turned against him, or perhaps which it had created. He wondered what he had to fight for.

Then he wondered what he had to die for.

The answer to both was the same, and although it was a bleak conclusion, the process had given him something to ponder, something to stray upon, something raw and animalistic that made him grip his weapon and narrow his eyes, twist his mouth and let out a roar that came from some instinct with no nobility, no purpose, no higher cause.

He had nothing to fight for, nothing to die for, nothing to live for but to live.

He rushed at the creature that had been his friend, leaping in the air and hanging between the ceiling and the ground before landing on the monster's shoulders and twisting around. He aimed for the point between the thing's sinewy shoulder blades and thrust the weapon down as hard as he fucking could.

[revansremnant]

She learned something new about herself in this moment. She'd seen men die before. Stood upon the field of battle, heard them scream, smelled the blood as it smoked off of her body, seen the terror and felt the lives slip away. Dim as it was, she could feel the young man, Cloud, dying.

She'd brought him here, to the place of his death. Oh, she hadn't forced him, but he'd followed, he'd trusted. And now his blood caked her, sprayed across her body and face. A lick at her lips was rewarded by a hot, coppery - and oddly sweet - taste.

She was... angry. She wasn't entirely sure why... she hadn't known Cloud, she wasn't responsible for him, but... but... he'd been with her. Followed her. He'd been... hers.

She didn't like people taking away what was hers.

Something coiled inside, tight and very cold.

The fact that her opponent wasn't entirely human didn't bother her, her eyes flickered over the altered body, assessing, categorizing. Nerve bundles there... pressure points... joints... pay attention to that odd cybernetic arm...

Cid leapt forward, the man had a surprisingly strong leap, going up high on what had been once a man named Vincent. Which left the low for her. The steel pipe in her hand lashed out in a fast opening pattern, aiming with instinctive precision on the leg to numb and cripple, sciatic nerve, knee joint, outer thigh, Chusa struck hard, long ingrained training taking over.

There was no howl from her, no battle cry or shriek. Just a silent join into battle.

[soulofdiscord]

Scholar Ling's reaction to what happened was quite a bit different than that of Chusa or of Cid Highwind. She didn't learn anything new about herself- for she remembered tearing men apart with as much savage glee and brutal efficiency. She didn't lose any part of herself- for Vincent's actions confirmed her philosophy, wrote out the Way in crimson in such a way that any could understand, and the boy only deserved the fate he received.

Rather, she learned about the others there. She learned from their reactions, from what they did, and in an instant, she knew how best to serve the Way.

The air suddenly seemed to be frigid, the Scholar's breath coming out as a cloud as she drew upon the frigid depths of her own soul. She changed her place in the world, to that of the cold arbiter of truth, and even if this world did not respect her place- yet- it could not help but to obey. Steam seemed to play off of her fingers as she gathered the cold into her hands, focusing it, giving it purpose...

...and then, with absolute and ruthless precision, she flung it at that creature's face, seeking to blind and slow, hoping to freeze solid, and the sharpened ice would slice like a blade should it hit.

She wanted to learn more: about this place, about these people, about the power that they wielded and the depths of their souls. There was much to learn here... and yet, there was also so very much to teach.

[perfect_meld]

Ooooooh, that was just as messy as they'd expected. Actually, even more so. Just like in the movies, but even better. Christmas had come and instead of a bike, they'd gotten a motorcyle. That was just how surprising but satisfying that had been. Getting shot in the foot seemed like a small price to pay for in admission to see this show.

What they hadn't expected was how loud it was, as bones shattered, and the chainsaw jammed. They saw it in clear detail, thick blood and tissue, and bits of guts flying. The kid had practically been cleaved in half, and now Kasady understood why some of those really crazy sonovabitches used chainsaws, despite the risk to themselves. The symbiote couldn't help licking their lips, partly with envy.

You humans and your weapons can be very.... artful, it sounded impressed. Savage, and sometimes primitive, but highly satisfying.

You said it, Kasady answered. That was something, coming from the symbiote. Like a compliment. The symbiote had some genetic memories of its world. The serial killer wasn't sure how the hell that really worked, but the symbiote was able to show him a few of their weapons and execution methods. Those had been foreign, but ingenious. All of them. So for the symbiote to be impressed?

Kasady couldn't help but feel a little proud of the human race. Sometimes they did things right.

Despite the agonizing pain in his foot, Kasady managed to pull himself up. Unlike the others, he didn't move to attack.

Instead, he began to applaud.

[strengthtolive]

He, too, could hear the sound coming closer. In a fevered hope, he thought that it was heading to just his imagination. He stopped trying to stop the man from pulling him, long enough to just turn his head to see what was happening. A blinding pain ripped through his shoulder, screaming across his mind and shattered his delusion.

Cloud had no time to wonder about the sudden shift of reality, nor what memories were replaying for him. Instead, he could only focus on the pain, the agony, the path that it was going as he watched the saw travel down his chest in horror.

No, it wasn't quite the pain, but the shock of dying, of knowing that he was dying. He thought he was screaming, he was sure of it. But, eventually, he stopped. The saw had ripped through one of his lungs, filling his mouth with blood and muffling any further cries.

His vision faded, blotted in black, filled it.

Nothing.

[blacksustenance]

Brock skidded to a halt as he saw the chainsaw arc through the air, buzzing angrily, and then promptly tore almost right fucking through the blond kid. A spray of red blood and gore erupted from the gaping wounds, sending a wet splash of crimson at those unfortunate to be closest to the kill. Brock found himself rooted to the spot for a moment as his eyes took in the fine, nitty gritty details of the kill. As kills went, it was clumsy. Brutal but clumsy. He supposed he should feel some pity for the blond kid, but he was dead before he hit the floor, and there was really no sense in feeling sorry for what was just a mangled hunk of still-warm flesh.

Fresh meat, the symbiote shivered despite itself. It yearned, pulling even though it knew they were both not starving.

The world suddenly turned from the threat with the chainsaw, from Cid and the others, to the pitiful, tempting, beautiful corpse just lying there, with the best parts still intact. Brock quivered, even though he knew that whatever Alex did meant that they didn't have to eat to keep the pangs away (yet), and only started when he heard someone clapping a few feet away.

It was that youngling symbiote with the red-haired host. The fucker was actually applauding the kill. Brock had half of a mind to cuff some sense and maturity into the idiot, but found that he had more pressing matters. There was another symbiote and if he was like they were, they'd soon realize that this was essentially a free meal, young or not.

Competition.

Brock wasted no time in heading for the corpse, feeling as if he was being pulled then moving of his own accord, aware of the symbiote practically salivating in anticipation.

[reduxvalentine]

As one laudably clapped and one dove desperately for the bloody corpse of its kill, it was almost too distracted to notice the sudden charge of two more.

Almost.

Shrieking in unfortunately unavoidable pain as metal struck it from all sides, many sensitive but a few devastatingly detrimental, it doubled over as suddenly the citrus sweet stench of deadly noxious fumes rose steadily from its body, permeating the thick air.

It paused in its wake of toxin, staggering as the bodies around it weakened and ceased their attacks. Its body was twitching, convulsing, wracked with pain and almost defeated even as the heavy poison settled through the hallway.

Vincent collapsed lifelessly to the floor, and everyone else only seconds after.

(end thread)