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

Comments

[scientist_skye]

So much for the unrealistic hope that Agatha spoke English. The language she used to warn them was unfamiliar, but the message was clear: Go away. Ema gave Agatha a long, examining look as Lana moved between them. There was no recognition in Agatha's face, no hint that there might be any sort of mercy should they charge forward. Right now, they occupied opposing sides, and Agatha was armed far better than she or Lana was. Where had that sword come from, anyway?

Hopefully this confrontation wouldn't end with a sword fight between Agatha and Utena. That would be unfair to the pink-haired companion; this wasn't her responsibility, really. Ema couldn't help but glance back at Utena, wondering how much she was taking in with the linguistic handicap.

Even though Agatha wouldn't be able to discern her words, Ema lowered her voice when she responded to Lana's statement. "What do you mean, then?" The option was obvious to Lana, apparently, but not to Ema. What else could they do? Talking was out of the question, and she was fairly sure that Lana didn't mean 'stand at the edge of the hallway and tell people to turn away'--not with the way Lana was holding the candlestick, anyway.

[mistressmadgirl]

Huh. Almost everyone else Agatha had confronted had shown signs of either retreating or making a fight of it by now, but these women seemed to be settling in to hold their ground, as if they'd found what they were looking for. Odd. There wasn't much in this hallway.

"That did not mean stick around," she sighed. They wouldn't understand it, chattering away in something she thought might be some kind of English- she couldn't even be sure of that, let alone understand it- but sometimes you just needed to complain.

Now, how to approach these? One was armed, another was holding a candlestick as if it were a weapon and taking a very protective stance toward the one that didn't have anything. Those two first, maybe? To keep them from interfering in the harder fight, like that damn kid had done?

[fourstonewalls]

"What is she most intent on right now?" They didn't need a common tongue for go away to be a clear request. "And what isn't she doing?" Come on, Ema. See it. Or must I be more concerned about the aftereffects of that noise.

Ms. Tenjou, on the other hand, might well have come to the same conclusion but have missed the nuances. Very well. Lana tilted her right hand, moving the flashlight without any sudden, large motions. It traced out a line along the floor, much closer to Lana's feet than Agatha's, but unwavering. Then it snapped back to its position between them. "She's not attacking." Her voice was clear and well-enunciated; Ms. Tenjou might get a few words. "If we can keep it that way, we can wait this out. We need to stop anyone else from interfering."

She slid one heel backwards, and then joined it with the first. Retreating to advance. It wasn't an option much used by the prosecution, but an electrified sword did remarkable things to widen the scope of appropriate tactics. Cutting a deal, that's all they were doing. They wouldn't attack, and neither would Agatha, and by tomorrow things would be different.

So why did it still feel like giving up?

[roseoverture]

Utena wasn't taking in much with the linguistic handicap, frankly. The most she got were the most obvious bits - "get away or eat electricity on a stick" and Lana drawing a line in the sand (or the floor, as it were). That she interpreted to mean keep the redheaded woman at bay, which made sense to Utena; the longer they could keep her away from any other patients, the better. Whether that was through pure defense or through putting on some fighting moves, she didn't know yet. All she knew was that she was ready to do whatever she could to make sure everyone came out of this alive and unhurt.

For now, Utena stayed her ground while Ema and Lana took their retreating steps, her sword raised but only in a defensive stance for the moment. If the redhead made any sudden moves, she was ready to spring forward and block aggressively.

[scientist_skye]

"She's trying to get us to leave. She's not attacking," Ema mumbled in reply. Apparently Lana did intend to stand their ground and prevent other people from getting close. Ema was a little surprised, but more than that she was grateful. Attacking Agatha was not something she had considered when they set out earlier that night, and it was a course of action she wanted to avoid.

Utena seemed to get the message clearly enough, for which Ema was also grateful. She had taken an obviously defensive stance that communicated that she didn't want to fight, but she would defend if Agatha charged.

So, even without words, hopefully the trio had made their stance clear. It was up to Agatha now; hopefully she wouldn't attack.