Nightshift 41: Cafeteria

[giftofstars]

[from here]

Upon entering the cafeteria, Sakura fell prey to a cool chill. Unlike the Sun Room, the cafeteria seemed eerily dark, almost as if something would lurch out and attack from an unlit corner. The group made their way to the other end of the cafeteria to a locked door, and Sakura gave a tug on the door with one hand. "It won't open..."

Comments

[klockworkdeath]

tick

tick

Silent save for the soft ticking of his heart, Kroenen stepped up behind this new, larger group. They shouldn't be in here... Nobody should be here. The idea of blood shed would have brought a smile to his face, if he'd still had the knack for such an expression.

The tall, dark-haired young man and the fair-haired one... How would they react if he went after the smallest? A single tonfa spun down towards her arm, making a soft humming sound as it fell.

[guardiancomplex]

Touya frowned as Sakura tried the door. Locked hm? Well, he supposed he and Yue could just shoulder the door until it gave in (could Yue shoulder a door?). Or, they could try to bust the knob off and push it in? Take it off the hinges? What was that sound anyway? He didn't remember a clock being in the Cafeteria.

The young man turned to look for the source, coming face-to-face with someone who'd definitely not been there before. And they had blades. And one of them was coming down on--

"SAKURA!" he shouted, grabbing her firmly around her waist and pulling her back. The aluminum bat clattered to the floor.

[winged_moon]

Something alerted Yue to danger, though he wasn't sure what - perhaps the faint ticking in the quiet darkness of the cafeteria, or just the sound of the movement as he attacked. As he turned toward their attacker he had but a split second to react: his first thought was of Sakura's safety, but Touya's cry and the movement he could see out of the corner of his eye reassured him on that front.

Instead, the guardian lunged forward toward the figure, intending to distract him from the other two long enough to allow them to either escape the way they'd come or move on; it hardly mattered, so long as they managed to get out of danger. It was too close for him to use his bow, so Yue settled for aiming to drive an elbow into the figure's throat.

[giftofstars]

So engrossed with the task at hand, Sakura didn't realize how close she was to losing her arm until after Touya had pulled her backward. It took her a moment to process that they were being attacked, and momentarily paused, staring at the fight unfolding before her, before she started moving a bit farther back.

She clutched onto her flashlight a bit tighter and looked up at Touya. "O-Onii-chan... What should we do?" she asked.

[tsunagari]

[from here]

Pressing himself against the wall, Sai did his best to pick out what was taking place in the darkened room. The cafeteria was larger than the kitchen, thankfully. It would be worse for them if they were caught there. With this much space they might be able to navigate around the current scuffle.

Sai had shut was little emotions were starting to bud up completely down for the night - the good and the bad. Leaving the other group to their own devices would simply help them advance further in their own mission. He had a couple pieces of notebook paper and his ink and brush if they needed a distraction. Nodding back to the others, he motioned toward the clearer side of the cafeteria and kept moving.

[toobothersome]

Shikamaru froze as soon as the group had passed through the doors, then he hissed a quick and quiet "stop" to halt the other three as well. What he saw at the other end of the room wasn't the usual monster confrontation, not from what he could tell, and though his first instinct told him it was a brainwashed patient, a second of silent and intense focus pulled up the details on this creature from the bulletin he'd memorized earlier. The ticking. Several warnings, all severe, but as much as he wanted to keep the group safe, he couldn't advise retreat--Kakashi would see through that and overrule, leaving them divided even more vulnerable. And since the creature and its victims were blocking the opposite door, there was no way they'd get by without a confrontation

[alwayscomesback]

These guys moved fast! Too fast for Sokka to really respond to everything with more than a, "S-sure...?" as though he both understood and yet didn't.

But who would have understood everything being thrown in his face so fast?! He'd never gone beyond that hallway back there, and now he'd just been drug through a room with a giant scorpion, some giant laying on the floor and things falling from the air! And now there was this ticking and... "Did you just say bleeds sand?!" he squeaked, somehow observing the hushed tones of the group despite his surprise

[lostonlifesroad]

Unlike Sai, Kakashi couldn't simply walk away from the scene in the cafeteria this time. The people involved in this new fight were obviously trying, and obviously failing to protect themselves from the attacker. Even though Kakashi didn't know them, he wasn't the sort of person who could simply abandon even strangers in situations like this. Besides, this way their group had the advantage of making the first move; Shikamaru had already come up with a plan that best utilized that. And against someone who was apparently so difficult to defeat, Kakashi would much rather have as many circumstances falling in their favor as he could get

[aleaderwillrise]

[from here]

After a moment, Nathan realized he was on a mission -- he needed to get back to it. Standing around and staring at the sky wasn't going to help him get out of this place, that was for damn sure.

Quickly moving to the double doors leading to the cafeteria, Nathan pulled one open, stepping into the dark room and letting it fall shut behind him.

He stopped in the doorway, however, upon seeing what was happening in the room. Gritting his teeth, Nathan quickly turned his flashlight off. It was easy to see what was going on just on the other side of the room -- some sort of... fight? But it didn't look like the harmless type, or even the mildly bad kind. Whatever was attacking those people looked like it was out for blood, and Nathan could only watch, only eventually able to tear his eyes away to glance at the group of four or so who'd come into the doors just before him. One was whispering to the rest, and Nathan couldn't quite make out the words but he got the feeling that they were planning on counter-attacking

[chocomancer]

[ from here ]

Slipping into the Cafeteria, Wonka began to work his way around the edge of the room, if only to get closer and see what was happening. It looked as though whatever this bladed thing was, it had at least stopped attacking the others... although the fight had left it right in front of the door they were trying to get through. Troublesome, that.

[gald_digger]

It figured that the stupid thing would be right where they wanted to go. Still, it was being kept busy, which meant an opportunity to get past it was bound to come up. They couldn't do this quickly without being noticed, but if they took it slow and used the darkness and furniture for cover... Right, the long food counter just by the kitchen doors could be used to keep them out of sight and out of attack range. So as long as they got to the far right corner of the room without trouble, they'd be completely safe

[chocomancer]

Wonka followed behind Anise, not too comfortably, as she made her way to the table the would wait under. It still didn't feel right, hiding behind children when he was in danger. But then, so many of the children here were so much like adults: able to defend themselves physically and mentally, experienced in the weary ways of the world.

At least his guide tonight hadn't lost her youthful enthusiasm.

Joining Anise under the table, Wonka took a few moments to appraise the situation. Still no chance to get in... the clockwork man was standing fast in front of the door, even in the face of the other group's attacks. If this kept up too long, he might have to make an opening himself...

[gald_digger]

Fortunately for Anise, Wonka didn't seem to have any of the tendencies that the other people she had guarded before had. Ion tended to wander off or attract danger without meaning to, and Emperor Peony had been all too eager to run ahead when exploring dangerous areas. At least some people could stay in one spot for a few minutes without winding up in trouble.

As she watched a few men join the fight and clash with the metal-looking man, Anise held her breath. It didn't look like she needed to worry too much though, since the strangers seemed strong enough to hold their own ground against a strong enemy like that. That wasn't to say she was sure they'd win, but at least they weren't going down easily

[full_score]

((From here.))

Claude knew he wasn't always the most reliable person when it came to keeping a look-out, but even he could tell something was off as soon as they stepped into the cafeteria. Frowning, he squinted in the darkness as he tried to get a better idea of what was happening. They could have used a flashlight, but now probably wasn't the best time to draw attention to themselves.

"I don't know if we'll be able to get through the door at this rate," he hissed under his breath. "We might have to wait for an opening, or..."

Or what? They sure as hell couldn't turn back. And as for charging in, well...Claude wouldn't be opposed to it, although Dias and Guy were probably a bit smarter than that. They might wind up doing more harm than good, considering how many people seemed to be up ahead in the first place.

He inwardly sighed. They'd gotten so lucky with the sun room, too!

[razing_phoenix]

It wasn't a huge surprise that there was a fight raging on here. Guy didn't think it was likely for there to ever be a time where the path to the basement was completely clear. At least it looked like the monster (or human? Guy couldn't tell from this distance) was already engaged. Unfortunately, the fight was happening pretty close to the kitchen door, which meant sneaking around wasn't going to be easy.

He wasn't sure what the status of the fight was, but right now it was hard to tell if it might be in their best interest to help out.

"Waiting might be the best idea, yeah," Guy said even as he tightened his grip on his sword. One could never be too careful. He knew that it would be best to avoid a fight if they could, but it wasn't like that was always possible.

"We might want to move a little closer just so we can track the fight a bit better, though." As it was right now, he could really only see blurs of movement in the darkness with bits of detail coming out every now and then.

[heavens_too_far]

Unfortunately, Dias' night vision was a bit better than Guy's. Too many nights in the forests of Expel were doubtless to blame

[full_score]

As much as Claude wanted to help them, there were already quite a few people involved in the fighting already. What if they just got in their way? There was such a thing as too many cooks in the kitchen, after all. But if they wanted their help, Claude was more than willing to lend a hand, especially to someone who knew Dias