Night 50: Main Hallway, 2-Center

[chainsaw_royal]

[From here]All quiet so far. None of the usual sounds of combat could be heard coming from the Sun Room. It seems they'd beaten the usual crowd of people heading through there. Of course, this just meant they'd be the first to be ambushed. Wonderful

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[zack_fair]

She'd been selling flowers. Even after Cloud had met her, she'd been doing that. Zack couldn't help smiling to himself at the thought. Maybe she'd only done it as a way to remember him, but he appreciated the gesture either way. It was a fitting way for his two friends to meet, in his opinion. While Zack was sure that Aerith had abandoned that business after going on her journey with Cloud, that wasn't the point. She'd done it on her own. She'd gotten by without him.

The soldier had been left so distracted by that train of thought that he didn't notice the woman standing nearby until she spoke up. She was giving off some sort of light and was also dressed in different clothing. That didn't necessarily mean she was brainwashed, though. Aerith had had her outfit from home, as did Yuffie (a new version of it, anyway).

It was hard to tell from the question she asked, too. Zack frowned at her, trying to discern if she was a threat or not. The thing she was holding did look kind of dangerous, but that didn't answer the question for sure. Either way, he wasn't going to attack until he'd confirmed it. "Guess we need it hammered into our head one more time," he said with a lopsided grin, stepping forward. "Mind spelling it out for us?"

He couldn't help realizing that if she was looking for a fight, the Thunder materia might not work so well against her. The thing she was wielding seemed to be crackling with some sort of lightning, after all.

[notthistrain]

Running into other patients here wasn't anything unexpected, but running into one who seemed to want to hinder them in some way...? Cloud narrowed his eyes at the woman, taking in her appearance. Zack might not have been ready to attack her yet, but the blond kept a good grip on the handle of his loaned blade. He'd already fought another patient once and he didn't want to have to do so again, but he would if need be.

He could have taken her location as a sign that they were getting close to their intended goal, but somehow he doubted it was that simple. Landel simply spread the brainwashed patients around so there was a better chance of more people running into them and being hindered or delayed in some way or other. It was quite the game he played with them.

Then again, a chat really might be all that was necessary. Oh for it to be so easy...

[mistressmadgirl]

Agatha ignored the incomprehensible answer; most of her attention was on the blond, who seemed to be fidgeting with a weapon of his own. "Hey!" she barked, flourishing her foil a little. "None of that!"

If he seriously tried to draw on her, they were going to have to do this the hard way. Agatha sighed inwardly; why had hardly anyone been smart about this?

[zack_fair]

If anything, it looked like Cloud was more anxious about this than he was. Zack knew that there was no harm in being prepared, but you also had to consider the possibility that tensions were going to run high if people started to swing their weapons around. Couldn't this just be talked through? Not that he was against a fight, but when brainwashing was involved that made things much more complicated. Monsters, at least, were easy, but this...

It looked like Cloud's fidgeting had only gotten the woman more agitated, which in turn caused Zack to tense. He wasn't the one with the sword, so it wasn't like he could really lead this charge unless he was feeling particularly foolhardy, but he wondered if appealing to her would do any good.

"Look, none of us want to get hurt, I don't think," he pointed out with a well-meaning frown, hoping she would listen. "We just need to get to the chapel, so..." It wasn't even that much further, and it wasn't like they'd be doing anything bad. Maybe she would hear them out, but he wasn't going to assume that would be the case.

[notthistrain]

She hadn't attacked them yet. Cloud lowered his weapon, even though it looked like she could attack them at any moment. Whether or not she was brainwashed by the institute, she'd apparently claimed this hall as her own. If they wanted to get anywhere they'd have to figure out what her deal was.

Zack was right in that talking was probably best, but somehow he didn't think that was going to get them anywhere. Nevertheless, he tried to appear less hostile. "We won't be long." He could have told her they were looking for their friend, but the less they could give out about their motives to anyone who might potentially be working with the Institute (even if only temporarily) the better.

If Zack was completely against fighting her, he supposed they could always make a run for it.

[mistressmadgirl]

This was just bizarre. While she couldn't make out what they were saying, their tone and body language was incredibly conciliatory. Were- were they trying to get her to let them past? That... was actually kind of funny, even cute. Obviously it wasn't going to happen, but even so!

Agatha laughed loudly, in that unsettling Sparky way, and finally swung her weapon at the blond. "Cute," she cackled, "but no!"

[zack_fair]

The second that the woman started laughing, Zack knew that they were out of luck. That wasn't a well-meaning, this-was-all-a-misunderstanding laugh. That was a you're-gonna-pay laugh, and he was prepped for her attack.

Not that her weapon was anything he was used to. The only thing that he could think of was maybe Reno's electro-mag rod, but there was still a huge gap between the two. When she lashed out at Cloud, Zack's immediate reaction was to race forward and intercept the strike, but he knew that was a terrible idea. He wasn't armed and he had no way of healing himself in this place. That could easily turn into the cliffs above Midgar all over again.

"What gives?" he snapped as he tried to move around to the girl's side so that he could give her a whack over the head with his flashlight. This was still two-on-one, even if she was armed, so maybe they could quickly incapacitate her and then move on.

[notthistrain]

The woman came at Cloud, and he had to force himself not to block her attack with his own sword. That blade was charged with electricity, and the last thing he needed to do was give her a nice conduit through which to fry him easier. Instead, he jumped back away from the attack.

Perhaps the best thing to do at this point would have been to back off and try a different way. However, having someone block their way here might as well have been a neon sign telling him they were headed in the right direction. Even if it wasn't Aerith they'd find, it didn't seem right to just obey her and leave - if she'd even let them do that to begin with. Luke hadn't been too keen on letting them go when he'd faced him in the sun room.

It was past time for arguing, it seemed. Zack was more the type to chat mid-combat than he was anyway. "This isn't necessary," was all he said. "You don't have to do this." And of course it figured that the first real enemy they'd run across after attaining a lightning materia would be one that already had that element at her disposal.

[mistressmadgirl]

Oh, geargrit, these guys knew what they were doing too. One was backing up, but not quite in retreat-- fortunately, he seemed unwilling to use his sword, maybe its grip wasn't insulated like hers and if so she could use that-- and the other was trying to flank her. Trying to keep them both where she could see them would be incredibly awkward, and keep Agatha from moving the way she wanted to.

Which made this decision time. Sidle around awkwardly, or try and take out the blond before the dark one could do whatever he was planning to do? She didn't know how good they were... but they did seem too good for as quick a victory as she'd need. Damn.

"You people are getting on my nerves," she snarled, as she half-turned to keep both prisoners in her field of vision. She waved the foil threateningly at the dark one, just to let him know he was not unnoticed; they were both a little too far away to actually hit at the moment.

[zack_fair]

It looked like Cloud had also picked up on the fact that getting hit by the woman's weapon was going to leave a serious mark, meaning their hands were tied in most ways. The materia was too risky of an option; Zack had come across monsters that absorbed certain elements, and if their opponent was wearing some sort of lightning-absorbing material, they would just be doing her a favor. They couldn't take that chance.

Cloud seemed to be waffling between retreating and looking for an opening, but Zack tried to focus on his side of the fight. The woman attempted to swing her weapon at him to keep him at bay, but that just spurred him to fall into a crouch and then push off of the ground, springing toward her legs. She probably wouldn't be looking to guard her lower body as much, right?

It meant getting dangerously close to her, but Zack thought that he had a pretty good chance of knocking her to the ground. If he managed that, they could have an opportunity to just run past, if she turned out to not be the sort of person who took thrill in a chase.