Night 48: Grand Ballroom

[sasuke_of_sound]

[[from here]]The only place in the Institute Sasuke was truly uncomfortable navigating was the basement. He'd walked the halls of the structure aboveground enough days and nights by now to know the layout like the back of his hands; he used the hand that was beginning to grow slightly callused from nights of following the walls as a secondary

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[blood_and_pocky]

The underground ballroom was far larger than any of the indoor spaces above, and that alone meant extra caution. With its expanse, the columns that ringed it, and the burbling of the fountain, it was difficult to know what might lay in the areas out of sight. But movement that wasn’t theirs, however slight, was like ripples in a pond.

Aidou sensed a disturbance before he saw it. There was no blood, no indicator of a previous attack, but something grated against his better instincts. Something familiar to him. The weight of a killing intent was like well-known musical notes playing up and down his spine. Before the man opened his mouth, the vampire was looking in the same direction, poised three steps up from Sasuke.

When it came to the Institute, Aidou didn’t believe in bad luck--they’d gotten to the basement unscathed, but now there was a threat in their way. That was that. And there was no going back, just forward. Even so, with an immediate exit at their backs, their position was advantageous, despite appearing to be the only prisoners around… More were possibly coming down, too… The options passed by one after the other in his mind.

It was then that he caught sight of a splash of red, a red too riotous to blend in with the room. Wait, it couldn't be--that thing?

But it was too much to be coincidence.

"Familiar company to me, I think," he said, and the cutting edge to his tone gave away what he didn’t. If it was that thing… Then that really was a coincidence, wasn’t it?

[sasuke_of_sound]

The same movements of other two that Sasuke relied on to pinpoint their position were what prevented him from noticing the faint sound that marked tonight's guardian for this area. It took Zack's warning for the tension already-marked in Sasuke's posture to sharpen into threat -- he turned fully in the direction opposite to Zack, and then Aidou's, voice.

They would logically choose to face their opponent, after all, and judging by the way caution overrode immediate panic in their tones, there was still enough distance between them and whatever it was to leave room for preparation. Stance loose enough to allow quick action in any direction, Sasuke catalogued their options and arrived at much the same conclusion as Aidou had.

Decided, he let the Sharingan bleed into his eyes in order to assess the opponent -- and found himself started by the fact that he recognised the chakra currently pacing towards them. It was the same as what he had almost thought was a product of one of Orochimaru's curse-seals, the chakra that had burst through Heat's arm the night they'd killed the aquila.

This, however, was a form distinctly non-human -- but it was undoubtedly the same chakra. Was this what Heat had meant when he'd claimed to be a demon? Did that mean he was under the control of the Institute tonight, then?

"I know this chakra as well," he said lowly. "It's one of the brainwashed patients."

But if Aidou had seen it before, that meant that Heat had been taken for Special Counselling multiple times. Sasuke frowned and let the Sharingan fade out of his eyes -- conserving the limited use he had of the doujutsu, because he suspected he'd need it later -- and tried to remember how many times he'd heard of someone being taken more than once. as well

[idontregret]

They knew he was there now. That meant there was no further need to hold back. Agni broke into a dash toward them, claws tearing across the marble. There were three targets, all able-bodied, and that made for a promising hunt. One of his heads bellowed a roar that echoed across the ballroom.

There was a familiar scent among them, and the beast dove for it instinctively. It didn't help that the flash of red in the boy's eyes had mirrored his own in his human form and something about that angered Agni beyond reason. That wasn't a difficult task given his current state of mind.

One large, red, familiar clawed appendage slashed toward Sasuke, hoping to shed first blood for the night.

[zack_fair]

Both of them immediately tensed after his warning, ready to fight. That was good, since it meant they were sharp and up for a tussle if it came to it. Considering the size and amount of teeth that the monster seemed to have, Zack was pretty sure that they weren't going to be able to weasel out of this one.

He wouldn't have been as bothered by that prospect if he was probably armed, but he had to wonder what a flashlight could do against something like that. Zack was willing to wing it, but he paused when Aidou mentioned that the thing was familiar -- and then Sasuke expanded on that by saying it was someone who'd been brainwashed.

Suddenly, Zack thought back on the people he'd seen warped by Jenova cells, the people who'd practically been driven mad by what had been done to them. Even if he hadn't wanted to face against them, he'd still had to. He didn't want to have to do the same thing in this case, but when had there ever been a choice?

"So what are we supposed to--" But by then the beast was charging, and Zack had to scramble out of the way when it pounced. "Whoa!" It was going straight for the Sasuke kid, who was armed, but that didn't mean much against two sets of fangs.

Thinking fast, Zack did what came to mind first, which was to hurtle his flashlight right at the back of one of the creature's heads. That might be enough to throw it off balance or distract it, at least. It was the best he had to work with at the moment; he just hoped he'd be able to collect the light again at some point down the line.

[blood_and_pocky]

If Landel’s usual rules held true, then the video game reject’s scope of movement was only the ballroom. And in the ballroom, any prisoner was a worthwhile target after Landel had incited his guard dog to attack.

To that end, the response seemed clear enough to Aidou.

“Back!” he shouted at Sasuke, over the sounds of Agni’s rampaging. A complete retreat was definitely not an option at this point, not when they were so close, but what looked like a retreat on the surface could be an opportunity in disguise if things played out well.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke had scarcely stopped the flow of chakra to his eyes before Zack shouted out a startled warning that meant he'd have to use them again. Shit, he thought, this isn't going to be a five-minute fight --

The first fight since Itachi that might not be, and even Itachi had been -- almost easy, even restricted. The thought invaded without warning and left Sasuke a half-second slow to react, but it was all the time needed for the Sharingan that whirled to life to abruptly Heat's demon-form almost on top of him. One arm (and from this close there was no way Sasuke could be mistaken that it was Heat's chakra) was outstretched and posed immediate threat to Sasuke.

Sasuke snapped into action without the luxury of considering the feasibility of Aidou's near-command. Dropping low to make sure that even if the blow connected it wouldn't be at the height of its strength, he pushed forward in a crouching leap, skewing right in hopes of dodging under that arm completely.

At the same time he stabbed leftwards at the creature's ankle -- the ornamental sword he still held in one hand forcing him to stretch the attack from his right side, giving it less power than he might have liked. Still, he aimed for the bright lines of chakra marking what on a human would have been the ankle tendons. Hopefully the musculature of a demon was similar enough.

Occupied as he was and surrounded by the sound of Heat's attack, Sasuke completely failed to notice other two entering the ballroom.

[idontregret]

There was another roar from Agni as Sasuke's sword connected with his ankle. However, the demon's skin was thick and the blow wasn't hard enough to cause any real damage. It was the fact that it had hit in the first place that had him angered.

Others had entered the room as well, and that made the situation more complicated. No one was to get through. For just a moment, Agni diverted his attention from the ninja with one head and breathed a long jet of flames in the direction of the two who were watching. There were five of them and one of him, but he'd keep all of them at bay for as long as he had to. No little human was getting past his watch that easily.

He pulled away from Sasuke in order to take up a position closer to the center of the room where he'd be able to get at all of them, even if it ended up taking more spells than physical attacks.

[zack_fair]

In the scuffle, Zack wasn't even able to determine if his flashlight had hit the thing or not. Even if it had, it clearly hadn't done much damage -- which wasn't a huge surprise, he had to admit. He needed more than just a blunt object if he hoped to leave a mark. Not that he was sure he wanted to, if this really was a brainwashed patient.

Aidou was ordering them back, but Zack wasn't inclined to listen. Not when Sasuke had almost gotten torn into just then; not when there were two more patients behind them.

Two patients who almost got fried by the monster's fire. Zack hadn't been ready for that, though he probably should have been. That made this whole fight even more complicated. Sure, he'd gone up against Ifrit, but hadn't he relied on a certain someone's help for that? Not that he couldn't handle things on his own!

He just wished he had a sword. Or even some Materia, really.

At least the fiend had retreated for the moment. It gave them some time. Zack snapped his attention over to Aidou and Sasuke. "Do you know if it has any weak spots? Some way we can take it down without hurting it too badly?" They just needed to buy some time so that they could keep moving. Killing the monster was clearly out of the question, since it apparently wasn't a monster at all. Zack was hoping he could put his foot down on that point.

[blood_and_pocky]

Ugh! What the hell were these guys doing!?

It was bad enough that Sasuke hadn’t gotten out of range in time, but now he was openly attacking the very enemy it would be a fool’s errand to engage. As if proving the point, the beast belched a stream of fire at the stairs, and although the vampire was quick to put distance between him and the duo, the heat of the flames warmed the right side of his body. The grunt he’d released at the dodge was more and more a growl of aggravation.

This was not a good change in affairs. Now the two further up were escaping, and Zack was talking about handicapping them further by showing the thing mercy. In an out-and-out battle, of course they’d have no choice but try and hurt it! Badly. Humanoid in his other shape or not, a beast was a beast, and Aidou would kill it before-

"If it’s a real elemental, then its weakness would be squelching its fire," he spat out, coming to a halt two steps down. His voice had changed: it was equal parts cold and ferociousness. Beginning to lose the veneer of humanity. "With the intelligence of a human."

Of course it would be the cold. But Aidou was not fighting this thing on behalf of a boy who wanted to press an attack… Sasuke. Don’t be stupid.