Nightshift 21: Top of the stairs, near Nurse Quarters and Decom 2
[ From here. ]Nowe proceeded up the stairs cautiously, checking ahead of him constantly for any sign of the huge sword-dragging beast that Kurosaki had described. He saw no sign of it immediately and felt it safe to keep going, reaching the top of the staircase without incident. He looked around him. The hallway was familiar, certainly. He
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He rushed toward his redheaded friend, grabbing another towel from his waistband and quickly whipping it around his arm to use as a makeshift shield against the creatures' claws and teeth. He headed for the one he'd hit already, holding his towel-wrapped arm in front of him in case they tried to leap up and bite him. He had to keep his flashlight on it... finally he caught up to it and repeated the same blow as before with the flashlight, aiming for the bump he'd already inflicted on the creature. He tried to drive the edge of the flashlight down first, wondering what might happen if he managed to pop a hole in the thing's body.
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The others were getting hurt, too. It didn't matter.
Running up so that he was standing among Nowe and Renji, he kept the light on the monsters with much determination, as if he was hoping that it would eventually start to burn their grey skin.
He wanted his Keyblade. He tried to force it out again, but it refused. So he stood at the ready, prepared to kick.
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So he couldn't get out of the way, not fully. But he might as well use that problem as an advantage, if a small one.
He dodged to the side; the creature's talons dug into his shoulder and upper arm. He let out a snarl of pain, but didn't pause as he drove his other pen toward its neck with all his strength, aiming to sever arteries and drive it as far up toward the brain as he could.
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screeeech thump
screeeech thump
From behind the men, as if approaching from the left-hand hallway, came the sounds. They began suddenly and too close to be normal; it was as if their source had lingered on the edge of the hallway, waiting for them to go by, before moving.
And then Pyramid Head loomed into the group, sword dragging behind him.
At first, he didn't seem to notice what was going on - that a fight was occurring around him. Perhaps he was confused? But that could be quickly dispelled from anyone's thoughts as he forced his way into the middle of the fray and slammed one foot down on top of one of the gray, hairless things - whichever one happened to be unfortunate enough to be close to him at the time.
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And then the air changed. A strange hush came over the creatures before a new panic set in. The one that had sunk its claws into Renji's arm attempted to climb up him, the pen jabbed awkwardly into its neck. Odd colored black blood oozed out, and even as the creature was losing blood it still tried to climb over him.
One necrit didn't move quick enough. With a sickening squelch it was crushed beneath Pyramid Head.
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Tonight had just been like a bad game of Tetris; everything kept stacking up, and not one bit evenly.
"Dammit, that is the big thing I mentioned earlier!" he exclaimed, having to raise his voice high over the clamor. Thrusting himself away from Pyramid Head, his back sharply slammed into the wall behind him in an effort to dodge. Tensed and ready, he watched with no hidden sense of anxiety in his eyes for the giant's next move.
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He'd never known fear quite like this. There had been some when Gismor had tried to poison him, but even that was nothing compared to watching the huge monster trudge toward them. He'd had his weapons when he'd faced Gismor. Now he had nothing, and was utterly powerless.
His hand was shaking violently. The flashlight slipped from his hand and clattered loudly to the ground, the batteries scattering across the floor. Nowe backed away, slowly, and then remembered that there was nowhere to go. They were trapped, and it was coming right for them.
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For a moment, he was frozen, unsure of what to do. It was the clatter of Nowe's flashlight that woke him up. Everyone was scared, but they couldn't just stand there. Something had to be done. Putting his flashlight away, Sora focused. The Keyblade had refused to come before, but he could already feel his adrenaline building with this larger threat.
There was a flash of light as it appeared - not that it seemed to bother their foe.
His hand snapped in Kurosaki's direction as he held tight to his weapon protectively. "What do we do?"
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He didn't wait to see if it was dazed or dead; he turned to face this monster that had Ichigo and Nowe so scared. Then he leapt forward, putting himself between it and Nowe. Sora, at least, had his weapon now.
"If we can't fight it, scatter." He glanced toward Kurosaki, though most of his attention was still on the monster.
The only question was which way to scatter; up the hall to the questionable hiding places those rooms might provide, or try to get around this thing now, in limited space. Normally he would have said option one was better, but they'd already run across monsters. Who knew what was in the rooms, or even further up the hall.
Kurosaki had been here longer; he knew what this thing was. Renji trusted him to make the choice of which way to go.
It'd just better be a quick decision.
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Silence prevailed for a moment --
One was against the wall. Three were standing free.
screeeeee
Pyramid head swung his sword up and out, a terrible arc of rusted metal aiming straight for Renji and Sora - and thus Nowe, behind them - and eventually Ichigo, if he went all the way around.
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Fear was the only voice Ichigo Kurosaki could hear. His own fear booming like an avalanche's roar, and nothing else. He could see Nowe, the terror in his eyes, the quivering in his hands; he could even watch, as if the moment was being forcibly stretched out across time, as the flashlight fell and crashed against the hardened surface of the floor, but the sound of it was all lost. He could see Sora, staring back at him for hope and direction, but all Ichigo could see was the boy's lips moving silently.
Like watching a thunderstorm roll across the sky, Ichigo stared up at Pyramid Head, feeling the unreproachable strength rise over him and blanket him completely. He felt its power, the unmistakable feeling of being overwhelmed even before the first clap of thunder. Doubt flooded in, joined by impossibility, and lastly, the ever-constant concept of mortality, and his first instinct was to run. He was barely able to dodge to the side, narrowly avoiding the sweeping arc of Pyramid Head's grim blade.
Run, you idiot! Move those legs and run!
Ichigo's eyes shifted sharply, searching the hallway for the means to escape. His brain was practically throbbing, as the single individual of rational thought struggled to move against the flow of a panick-stricken crowd. There were doors, rooms where they could flee into, maybe barricade and hide themselves away. This creature was too strong for them to hold back, though; perhaps they'd stack a desk, some chairs, even a bookcase against the doorway, but this beast and its monstrous weapon would cleave through it all in a heartbeat. They would be left in even tighter quarters, their only exit blocked. Even if they scattered, like Renji suggested, one of the four was going to get stopped by this creature, as there simply wasn't enough room in the hallway to slip by it easily.
Ichigo still fought to wear a brave face, but the stern and confident mask he wore was beginning to break away. His view shot back to Sora, Nowe, and Renji once again. Sora, still looking at him, was waiting for an answer, but for a brief moment, all Ichigo could think about was how long he had known the young man with the brown, jagged hair. Not long, not even long enough to know much about him at all. Nowe wasn't much different; after all, he'd just met him tonight. Renji was different, as they had worked together in the past, but still, the deeper bonds of friendship had not yet been laid between them.
Thinking about how scarcely he knew these men made his next conscious thought all the more crazy.
All the fear suddenly drained out of Ichigo's features, his eyes sharpenening once again and his jaw finally drawing the strength to be clentched determinedly.
"Renji..." Ichigo began, speaking through the confusion in a surprisingly calm voice. "Take them and run. Don't you dare turn around."
Using the wall to push himself forward, Ichigo leapt at Pyramid Head unrelentingly, his arms outstretched forward to shove and tackle the creature with every ounce of strength he could find. Ichigo would start to struggle madly, even if the monster chose to grab him, punching and kicking at every opening, every organ and vital spot he could strike, raising such a din, anything at all to keep it distracted.
"RUN!" he screamed.
Fear or not, Ichigo Kurosaki was a protector.
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"Sora. You're the smallest of us, you should try and get past him before he traps us all. I'll come with you, and we can get behind him and try to confuse him," he said as quickly as he could, jumping back to his feet once the sword was a safe distance away. He ran back to his flashlight, lifting it in his hand. It wasn't going to do any good, but he needed it for that sense of safety he was so desperate for, especially now.
No one in this group was going to do the smart thing and run. That he could tell, judging by the noise Ichigo was making and what he knew of Sora and Renji's personalities. He wasn't going to be dumb enough to try and waste his breath convincing Sora to get away from the area, and no way in hell was he running himself. But if they could have people all around the monster, maybe they could confuse it so they had the chance to get past him all at once.
Nowe grasped Sora's shoulder tightly, pointing him in the direction of the narrow space between the monster's body and the wall.
"We'll try to get through there and cause a distraction behind him. I'll go first in case he tries to take a swing at us. Ready?" He managed a very weak smile meant to be encouraging, and then, appearing to be following Ichigo's screamed advice, his feet pounding on the floor as he ran for the open space, slowing his pace just slightly so Sora could keep up.
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Ending up on the floor for the second time that night, the boy knew that he had to be thankful. Trying to block that much larger weapon with his own would have probably just resulted with him getting thrown against the opposite wall.
It seemed that everyone else had dodged the attack as well. At least this thing, frightening as it was, moved slowly.
When Kurosaki gave him the worst possible answer - telling him to run while he tried to take it on his own (and jumping at it like a madman!), Sora was once again at a loss. Again, it was Nowe that helped, forming a sensible plan.
"Got it," he said, returning the smile and then dashing after Nowe as they gunned it. He held his blade at the ready, prepared to slash at the creature as he bolted past it.
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"Don't look back!" he shouted. "I'm right behind you!"
He wasn't happy about this plan, but he trusted Kurosaki if he thought this was necessary. He wasn't happy about anyone getting left behind. But it was also the best bet for getting the kids out. And there wasn't time to bicker about who was going to play the distraction.
And fuck, but Kurosaki was better off in that role right now anyway, because he wasn't bleeding all over the goddamn place. He'd have the best chance of making it out.
All this flashed through Renji's mind as he ran up behind the kids. As the made their beeline for the monster, he was only inches behind them, ready to give them an extra shove for speed - or act as a body shield if it came to that.
That was what he was there for. He kept his attention on the monster, ready to leap to block any attack that might come as they fled past.
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And that was when Nowe, Sora, and Renji went rushing at him, all aiming to escape through the same space.
Pyramid Head let go of his sword, leaving it stuck in the wall, although it was possible that it could be jerked free. As Nowe tried to slip by, Pyramid Head whipped his right hand out and forward, grabbing the side of Nowe's face and slamming his head into the wall with a ferocity that may or may not have left cracks.
His hand stayed there, keeping Nowe to the wall, even as he tried to grab Ichigo and fling him away - or would he simply keep him there? The helmet betrayed no intentions, no emotions.
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Ichigo became a flurry once he crashed against Pyramid Head, tenaciously striking as fast and as hard as he possibly could. One after another, while he twisted his body away from those crushing hands until his muscles ached and moaned from so much contortion, he rained his fist into the creature's open chest.
Nowe's injury took him by surprise. He had hoped using himself as bait would lure the monster away from the others, but it then seemed as if he wasn't being distracting or annoying enough to capture its attention. Kurosaki, glaring like twin daggers, grit his teeth grindingly together; he'd just have to hit it harder, if that was the case.
One of the creature's hands nearly wrapped its oily fingers around Ichigo's leg, but the shinigami representative only managed to pull it away from its fingers in the nick of time, but it cost him his grip and his balance. He fell backwards then, slamming his back hard against the floor, but it was there, lying out flat, that he noticed how close he was to a thick, solid doorframe, one he could easily use as leverage.
"Let go of him!" he shouted. With a grip so tight that it could have splintered the wood around his fingers, Ichigo held tightly to it, then lashed out with his long, lanky legs around one of Pyramid Head's feet. Quickly, he locked his ankles together and pulled, desperately using the adrenaline monopolizing his bloodstream at the moment to compensate for the differences in their strengths.
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