Nightshift 42: Morris Park

[coldest_blood]

It had been easy enough during the daylight to dismiss the idea of monsters as a mass hallucination or the result of some sort of psychotropics. Bond, standing in a bank of fog that had not been present just moments before, suddenly found it just that much harder to rationalize. The trees lining the park looked warped and twisted where their

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[numberii]

Had he not kept track of what was going on, Xigbar would have sworn that he had had just a little too much vodka. There was no way that there could be zombies around, and yet, just before nightfall, boom, zombies. Everywhere. The idea was absolutely absurd, and yet, he still had to accept it.

After he had, he realized that there were zombies everywhere. So, after the initial shock wore off (that of the zombies and of Rangiku's kiss,) he immediately went to do what he did best. In this case, re-enact Halloween Town and kick a bunch of zombie butt!

Of course, there was someone else right there in the middle of a swarm, and Xigbar had to roll his eye. He could identify that shock of hair anywhere, and that meant he had to work quick to make sure Admiral ZEX didn't get eaten. Which would really be a horrible thing; how could he have a pleasurable conversation and more after that when he was reduced to "Uuuugh... braaaaaaains..."?

That in mind, Xigbar wobbled towards the crowd, throwing his pokeball at the zombies nearest him first. Not only was it amazing that he could hit his target even while the world was spinning, but that he had enough clarity of mind to call out, "Dude, Admiral! C'mere before they have you for a snack!"

[wantsyourzex]

One of the creatures had come too close to him for comfort. His human body was a far cry from his VUX one, but one makes the best of what they have. Hopefully it wouldn't make this too difficult.

He waited, swung out with his branch and struck the creature right in the face. It sent an unpleasant shock through the stiff joints of his arms, but the blow seemed enough to take care of the transformed human for now. It crumpled to the ground with a low groan. He tried to spin and continue the momentum of his swing, but his human arms didn't bend as his natural arms would have, and he stumbled back a bit to try and regain his balance. Even though these human-esque monsters apparently weren't the sturdiest of creatures, they had numbers on their side. Taking them out one by one would be foolish... there were far too many of them, and they'd no doubt overcome him by sheer force of numbers soon enough. Hmm.

He blinked when he heard someone call out to him. That voice sounded familiar... it was difficult to see through the fog and groaning bodies, but if that was who he thought it was...

"Xigbar?" Yes, assistance was most welcome right now! Far preferable to facing these things by himself. Now he just needed to get over to him... ZEX struck out again, managing to knock another of the creatures to the ground. Ugh, the stiff joints of human limbs made this more painful than he'd expected! "Do you know what these things are?" No one had mentioned anything like this to him before-

A jolt went through him. These creatures were endless, and his allies... "Have you seen the Captain?"

[numberii]

"C'mon, I'll tell you more when we get outta here!" Clearly, Admiral ZEX had never survived a zombie attack. Granted, Xigbar hadn't either- they weren't quite the same as the Halloween Town Heartless- but he knew well enough what to do. The simple fact of the matter was that ZEX was probably going to get himself eaten at this rate, and Xigbar couldn't allow that!

So he used what he had at hand. He grabbed a trash can as he ran to the Admiral, then used it as an impromptu battering ram, shoving zombies aside as he tried to rush towards the VUX. Sure, it was a rash idea, and totally not Xigbar's style at all, but darn if he was going to let his Admiral get eaten!

Once he managed to get to the other man, he shrugged. Zelnick could be anywhere, and trying to find him in this place? Totally not going to work. At all. Besides, wasn't it just a tad annoying to have someone ask about another dude, especially when they were in a really complicated not-really-settled series of relationships? Dude! "C'mon, we can talk when we don't have people trying to eat us."

[wantsyourzex]

Getting out of here was definitely a good idea. Particularly since it seemed that one of the zombies he'd knocked down didn't seem inclined to stay there. While he waved his branch wildly at the other grasping creatures to try and keep them away, the one near to him began grabbing at his feet. At least these things didn't have claws, but this was already far too close for comfort. He tried to kick it off and not fall over in the process, and it was really only luck that kept him upright.

At least Xigbar was close to him now (interesting tactic getting here, too!), enough so to hopefully cover him should something go wrong. And there were definitely enough of these things to make that a distinct possibility.

"Yes, I agree." ZEX kicked the one on the ground in the face, causing it to finally let his foot go, although he wasn't sure it'd stay down there for long. He sounded a bit breathless. Human adrenaline never did him any favors. "This doesn't seem like the best place to be at the moment." He would have felt better knowing where his Captain was, but he had to make sure he himself didn't die first. "Where do you think we should-"

Something behind him grabbed the loose cloth hanging from the neck of the long-sleeved garment he was wearing, and ZEX choked for a second as it tried to yank him back. Some of the creatures must have gotten behind him... he struggled to break free and not strangle himself in the process. Ugh, who designed human clothing this way?!

[numberii]

Wait, ZEX had just been grabbed by a zombie? By the collar? Now that just wasn't the way it was supposed to be! Xigbar tried to think rapidly, his booze-addled mind making him feel both reckless and bullet-proof at the same time. He was the freaking Freeshooter! This meant he was totally going to be able to do this!

Which meant that he grabbed ZEX by the arm, deciding that it was finally time for him to show off, just a little bit. That, and he didn't have anything sharp, so he couldn't remove ZEX's shirt... er, get the zombie off of him. Yes. That was totally what he meant.

With that, he used his power, warping space around the both of them. He wanted to show that he had awesome teleportation powers, but being more than slightly tipsy, the results were... well... practically non-existent. Barely even happened, let alone drained him of anything or even moved them over an inch.

Which was more than a little aggravating. So, in a fit of pique, he used the trash can and slammed it over the zombie's head, letting it slide all the way down to its thighs. Should buy them a little bit of time, right? Right. Time to book. Now he tried to lead ZEX again, this time towards the outer end of the swarm. He hoped. "We gotta find somewhere safe where they can't get to us an' get some weapons too. Police station, one hundred percent!"

[wantsyourzex]

ZEX's human mind was panicking and flooding him with chemicals as usual, great, so if anything strange had happened with space and time, it escaped his notice.

Not so much the metal can, which thankfully broke the creature's grip on his clothing. He coughed a bit when he was released, stumbling away although thankfully Xigbar's grip on his arm kept him standing. At this point he was more than willing to follow Xigbar's directions. He didn't have many other ideas, and pretty much any place other than here had to be safer.

"Yes," ZEX said a bit breathlessly, trying to keep up behind him and avoid the creature's grasping hands. How many of these things were there? Where did they call come from? "Yes, let's do that."

[numberii]

By now, Xigbar had kind of figured out what the Zombie Attack Pattern was. Try to grab with the hand, pull close, then try to bite with those nasty, but sharp, teeth. Simple attack, but deadly if it worked. Especially considering that if they slowed down for even a second, then the rest would start joining in.

That meant Xigbar had to push away the offending limbs, his inherent grasp of space and distances working to keep both of them at least moving quickly. Even zombie swarms couldn't last forever, after all, and after some harrowing near-misses, Xigbar broke through the lines and dragged ZEX after him.

All they had to do was get to the sheriff's office. After that, they should be sitting pretty. He sincerely hoped, anyway- just a pokeball alone was no good at all for his purposes. And why couldn't he have his gun arrows!? If he'd just had his equipment, this would be the most kick-ass game ever! It'd be him with a load of zombies, and a very clear prize if he won. After all, the action hero always got the damsel in distress, and in the absence of that, ZEX would do. But now? Nope, gotta run, and run fast.

((To here, ruuuuuun!))