Night 49: Staff Training Area (Second Floor)

[timedork]

[From here]The disorientation that came when he crossed through a door was getting easier to accommodate, with the Doctor bracing himself for a shift in perception and trying to keep steady, but it was still difficult to fully anticipate. The sensation that came with teleportation seemed to be different every time

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[scarefaux]

[From here.]

As expected, that sickening feeling came back as soon as the Scarecrow stepped through the doorway. He put his hand on the frame, steadying himself as he took another step into the room. He stayed near the wall next to the door, waiting for the others.

Curious, he took a quick look around the room, despite his light's failing strength. No windows to the street, that familiar smell that was in most of the hallways in the air- "I think we're back in the Institute," he offered. "I don't recognize where we are, though."

[bitpartgod]

How embarrassing! Kibitoshin ducked his head shamefully, blushing a guilty red as he followed them through the next door. He didn't mean to be scared and slow them down, really, he didn't! But there were just so many things that could possibly go wrong when this was happening, and he didn't know how long it would be be before something did happen...

Head still swimming from the sudden change, it took the Kaioshin a moment to adjust himself to their new surroundings. Computers, books, lots of chairs... no, he had no idea where they were. But the Scarecrow was right, they definitely weren't in Doyleton anymore.

Part-relieved, part-exhasperated, Kibitoshin flopped against the doorframe with a sigh. "This is making my head spin! How are we supposed to do anything if every time we try to move we get teleported somewhere else?"

[tiny_chef]

As Remy went through the door, he became dizzy, and felt a sudden impulse to sit down. He sank to the floor, and the beam of his flashlight arced up across the room.

There was something pale in the corner, pale and -- human -- and -- it didn't have arms or legs. It was there on its back, unmoving, staring up at nothing, with an open mouth. The room didn't smell any worse than the rest of the Institute, so whatever had happened was a recent occurrence.

"G-guys. Guys," Remy stuttered, sounding deeply unsettled. "I think someone is dead over there."

[scarefaux]

Kibitoshin was right: how were they supposed to accomplish anything if the doors kept taking them to seemingly random places each time they stepped through one? The Wizard Landel had some impressive tricks, but this was certainly--

He stiffened, looking to where Remy was sitting on the floor, all thoughts halting. "Really?" he asked, curious as well as frightened. A part of him couldn't deny that he was interested in finding out more about death and what happened to humans who suffered from it. He knew Abe would probably chastise him for thinking like that.

The rest of him had no desire to stay in the room with a dead someone. After all, there had to be a reason they were dead in the first place. What if that reason was still in the room?

"W- what should we do?" He knelt beside Remy, ready to help him to his feet in the event they needed to make a quick escape (or follow Kibitoshin, should he flee immediately from the mere thought of there being anything dangerous lurking in the dark).

[bitpartgod]

A dead body?!

Kibitoshin was down on the floor next to Remy in a shot, huddling down in the dark out of the sight of the hundreds of monstrous eyes he suddenly imagined were staring them down from the corners of the room. If there was a body around here that meant there had to be monsters nearby. After all, what kind of monster would kill its prey, then just walk away before it ate any-

- t-too graphic! Why had he thought of that?! Now all he could think of was being eaten alive, and that really wasn’t the kind of motivational thinking he needed to keep him going right now. He tried to move up on his haunches, scanning the room for danger, but all he could see from down on the floor was a lot of books and a (fake?) skull sitting nearby. But did that mean they were hiding in wait, just looking out for an opportunity to attack when they least expected it?

“I don’t know!” he hissed to the Scarecrow, voice trembling. “I-I can’t even see the body! What if there are monsters in here, still?”

[tiny_chef]

Remy was still feeling dizzy and frightened, and then in only a moment, Scarecrow was on the floor next to him and Kibitoshin was practically clinging. Remy was wide-eyed and the set of his mouth was grave.

"Don't you think if there were monsters in here, we would be able to hear them, or at least smell them?" His voice only shook a little this time. Something terrible had happened in this room, but that didn't mean it would repeat itself. He found that he was curious about what had happened, in spite of his racing heartbeat and shallow breathing

[scarefaux]

"W-well, who's to s-say that they'd have much of a smell?" the Scarecrow said with a sideways glance to Remy, not wanting to fully take his eyes off the darkness ahead of them. Who knew what could be lurking over there? What if they were on the second floor? Or in a room in the Horrible Hallway

[bitpartgod]

"And w-who's to say we'd be able to smell them if they did?" Kibitoshin added, still using his quietest please-don't-hear-me whisper- though, really, the room was quiet enough that their voices might have well been roars for all it mattered. But if that was really the case, why, then, hadn't whatever had gotten Remy's body (n-not that the body is Remy's, just that he spotted it first!) managed to home in on them yet

[tiny_chef]

Remy was almost surprised enough by Kibitoshin's question that he forgot to avert his gaze -- but only almost. Instead, he focused on Kibitoshin's face and said, "You wouldn't be able to smell them? I would

[scarefaux]

"The Wizard Landel, that's who," the Scarecrow answered, dusting off his hands and knees. His hand went to his pocket, touching the outside lightly- his find was still in there. "I can't imagine this is here for any reason other than to scare people like us."

On second thought, he could think of another reason a fake body would be lying suspiciously in a room. "... Unless it's some sort of a trap. Something to lure us over here so some other something could get us." Spooked by his own statement, he took another quick scan around the room, jiggling his flashlight back to life as it dimmed. He thought he saw a shadow move around the side of the desk, but it was simply a trick of the light. What wasn't imagined was the strange form he saw in the opposite corner: a jagged body made of white sticks, dark eyes with no life to them at all staring straight at him

[bitpartgod]

Just when he'd been so sure about this room being safe(ish), the Scarecrow had to go and suggest that they'd been walking into a trap all along! "I don't know about that," he said hastily, darting an anxious look around the room, "it wouldn't be a very good trap, if that was the case. I just wanted to run away from it."

Then again, he wasn't 'everybody', was he? And if even Remy and the Scarecrow hadn't thought twice about going in for a better look, maybe that meant that he was just being a big coward. The thought wasn't an encouraging one, to say the least of it, but it did snap him into action. It was time to stop being so damn scared of everything and take control! He was a Kaioshin, and it was his duty to protect those with him and

[tiny_chef]

It took Remy a moment to right himself after Kibitoshin bumped into him, and he wondered if he was wearing a sign that only the other two could see: KNOCK ME OVER. If he didn't want to get hurt, he'd have to give them a little more space for the rest of the night. But since they were frightened, they seemed to be sticking together.

The skeleton was something else. He could tell that it had belonged to a human once, but that was a long time ago. Whatever had killed it probably wouldn't be bothering them. Maybe it had even died the normal way!

"Come on," he said, tugging at Kibitoshin's sleeve. "Let's go. When we get to a place we like, we'll stay there for a while, but if we end up in Doyleton again" -- he said the name of the town with derision -- "we'll just turn around and leave."

He looked over at the Scarecrow, waiting for his decision, ready to march back to the door.

[scarefaux]

The Scarecrow gave a nod to Remy, his eyes darting nervously back to the corner. Grabbing his flashlight, he scooted around the end of the desk and followed his friends, heading for the door at a quick pace.

"That sounds like a good idea," he agreed, taking one last cautionary look around the room. It seemed so safe in comparison to Doyleton; however, he'd rather be somewhere positively, absolutely, undeniably safer than a room with a fake body lying suspiciously in the floor. "Hopefully, we'll find a place that's got some light."

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