Night 52: Sun Room

[composers_proxy]

[from here]

Last time he'd been in the Sun Room at night, there'd been some crazy guy with a gun and Neku really wasn't looking to have another bullet in him, so he was cautious as he pushed the door open, his flashlight darting from place to place.  He might not have all his old psychs on him, but he still had a few of Mr. H's pins and those would

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[scintillatingly]

As for Sora, his last time in the Sun Room at night had been with Riku and Kairi, which only caused him to think back to what the two of them were doing once more. But he couldn't let himself get distracted, especially since they were probably on the brink of being attacked. Just because it was quiet didn't mean there wasn't something lurking in the corner of the room and waiting for the most perfect moment to strike.

Nodding in response to Neku's comment, Sora followed after him, using his flashlight to search the area and yet coming up with nothing. He wasn't convinced that it was unguarded yet -- while it had happened in the past, it wasn't very common.

"Just stay on guard," he warned the two, keeping his voice to a whisper that would hopefully only be heard by Neku and Soma. Sora wished that he could have had his Keyblade out and ready so that he'd be able to respond immediately when they were attacked, but it just wouldn't come until he was in direct danger.

Well, chances were that would be happening pretty soon.

[piggy_king]

It was just as Sora thought. There was indeed something hiding in the shadows, but it was far from dangerous. A small, plump boy sat whimpering in the corner, tears dripping down from his cheeks and his arms wrapped around his knees. If night at Landel's was a challenge for the strongest and smartest individuals that Landel had spent years gathering, then one could only imagine how terrifying a night at the institute would be for a mere child.

"H-Hello?" the child called out tentatively when he saw the beams coming from the groups' flashlights, wiping tears from his cheeks with one chubby hand, "Is...Is someone there?"

In the background, one could hear a low chuckling if one listened hard enough, and was that faint buzzing coming from the boy or the intercom above him?

[madeinthehrl]

Soma moved noiselessly forward, fingers curling tighter around her spear. Still nothing. Except--was that a whimper? She directed the beam of her flashlight toward the sound. A child? What was he doing here? And that wasn't the only thing present: there was something in the background, past the whimpers and at the edge of her hearing. A noise like buzzing, or laughter, or both.

She almost jumped when Marie unfolded herself in her mind, a low hum of worry filling her ears. Something's wrong here. I don't know what, but...

Soma swallowed hard and nodded in wordless acknowledgment. "Stay back," she said aloud, quietly but firmly. "Do you hear that buzzing sound? It might be a trap." Any other girl her age might have been moved to run to the child and comfort him, but Soma had been raised a soldier. She didn't know what this was, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

She halted about ten feet from the boy and addressed him: "Are you lost? Where's your room?"

[composers_proxy]

As if he had to be told to stay on guard. The last thing he wanted was to be taken by surprise in the middle of the Sun Room. As the others made their way in, he glanced around, drawn immediately to the sound of the little boy sobbing in the corner. Neku wasn't exactly great with kids, but he didn't like the idea of one of them being left here alone to fend things off

[scintillatingly]

While Sora normally wouldn't have hesitated to run to the aid of a crying child, this place (and some of his previous experiences) had taught him to be more careful than that. And with both Soma and Neku approaching the situation with caution, he had to do the same. Besides, it wasn't as if they were ignoring the boy. They were just keeping their distance.

He also noticed that noise that only barely seemed to be there, buzzing at the back of his mind. He glanced around from one side of the room to the other, looking for a source and not finding anything. He honestly couldn't tell where the noise was coming from, and if it was laughing or something else...

"How did you get here?" he asked the boy, watching him with some guarded concern in his eyes. Nothing had lashed out and attacked them yet, but this whole thing seemed like a set-up. He wasn't going to fall for a trap so easily!

[piggy_king]

"Please help, I'm so sca-" the boy sobbed, stopping short when the group kept their distance. Almost instantly, his demeanor changed. The terrified look on his face vanished and was replaced by an annoyed look, "Tch. And here I had you pegged for a bunch of idiots that would rescue a child in distress without a second thought. Well, no point in drawing out this charade any longer

[madeinthehrl]

The change in the boy's demeanor was something Soma had practically expected. What happened after--the corresponding change in voice, the boy falling apart, some sort of spiderlike mobile suit dropping from the ceiling--was something she had not.

But there was barely time for her to be surprised. Already some sort of green gas was spraying at them--tear gas, he had said. Soma returned the spear to its resting place at her back and withdrew her gun. This didn't look like a fight that could be resolved via hand-to-hand combat.

One last glance to memorize the scene in front of her, one deep breath just before the gas reached them, and she shut her eyes and fired at the glass tube. She wasn't trying to kill the man, and she highly doubted she would, but there was little else she could do at the moment.

[composers_proxy]

The change was immediate and more than enough to put Neku on his guard. Robo kids and now a giant mecha in the shape of a monster was about to descend on them. It was like something out of those zentai-suited live-action kids shows. Only real. And about to confirm everyone's suspicions that the Sun Room was a very bad idea at night.

He didn't have a way to equip all the pins at once, but the three he had on hand should be enough to help out. Radio Waves had worked well last night, and he didn't like to be without some kind of healing spells, so Run for the Clinic! was kept close at hand too. Last was Scalpels and Swords and he hadn't had a chance to break in either of the last two. So trying them out for the first time on a giant hulking metal monster spraying some kind of gas at them? Not ideal

[scintillatingly]

The act hadn't been kept up for long. Sora frowned as the boy's tone suddenly changed, becoming deeper and cruel. The idea of someone falling for that and then paying the price was enough to bother him. Who did this person think he was, trying to pull that sort of trick

[piggy_king]

Porky yelped as the girl fired her gun at directly at his tube. The mech he was in was not known for its agility, and it certainly didn't help that he was backed up in the corner in a room as comparatively small as the sun room. Perhaps it would have been better to be hiding in the center of the room so he could attack from behind. While Porky lamented his poor choice of hiding places, the bullet pierced the glass tube easily and missed Porky by mere inches, lodging itself into the metal headrest next to him.

"It's times like these that I consider investing in a plexiglass tube..." Porky muttered, shaking his head angrily, "That or one of those physical force fields we've got for the infantry. Then again, if I didn't have a psychic shield, I wouldn't be able to do this!" The psychic bolts that one of the boys had fired off at Porky were repelled by a bright pink force field and sent hurtling back at its sender. "You may as well turn back and run away, little boy! You're going up against the one guy in the institute with anti-psychic

[madeinthehrl]

So the tube could be pierced by bullets, judging from the yelp and the sound of shattering glass. That was an encouraging sign, and one Soma hadn't expected. Less encouragingly, whatever Neku had attempted to do had evidently failed--but if he possessed psychic abilities, surely there were other things he could do to fight. The mobile suit was similar in build to the Agrissa, and while she'd never seen the AEU armor in action herself, she'd seen footage of its destruction. If they could upset its balance, reaching the pilot would become far easier

[composers_proxy]

Neku was a little too focused on his own attacks to notice Sora charging without so much as a weapon in hand until it was too late to call him back, but he'd fought together with Sora before, so the guy had to have an inkling of what to he was doing. What took him completely by surprise though, was the fact that his own force rounds bounced off a bright pink field with all the speed and focus he'd sent them out with. Just his luck. What were the odds they bastard would have anti-psychic tech

[scintillatingly]

One attack had connected, but the other one had been reflected back at Neku. Sora was only vaguely aware of how that turned out for his friend, though he did hear him yell in pain, followed by the thump of him falling to the floor. As much as he wanted to turn back and help the other boy, he needed to focus on what they were fighting. If they held back with their attacks, then chances were the machine would just overwhelm them

[piggy_king]

"Such a pity..." Porky sighed as he shook his head sadly, the attacking leg recoiling from its failed attack. If that bullet hadn't knocked it off course, there was no way that key-brat would have survived, "Here I was offering you a chance to just retreat and relax in your rooms, but youinsist on duking it out. Well, don't blame me if you get hurt. I'm just doing my job here, kiddies. Anyway, I may as well bust out the big guns now." Porky scratched his head. Landel had been pretty cheap with what he gave Porky. Normally he'd be throwing bombs all around the room and sucking up their life energy with all sorts of crazy gizmos and whatnot, but all he'd really let Porky have was the mech and some teargas and superglue. Looks like he'd have to be creative if he was gonna fight back with any efficiency

[madeinthehrl]

Soma had heard Neku hit the ground behind her, but she hadn't had time to look back. With any luck, he'd be all right. Besides, she seemed to have the pilot's attention now; hopefully she could keep it.

The old man was still talking. He talked too much, she decided, though she wouldn't say it out loud. It gave them something of an advantage. If he kept revealing his plans like that, like some sort of terrible movie villain, she wouldn't be needing her brainwaves for the fight at all.

She tensed but held her ground as the mobile suit charged at her, Marie thrumming like a taut wire in the back of her mind. Closer--closer--now, and the supersoldier ducked and rolled forward, past the arms' immediate range and toward the protected glass tube. She had misjudged her timing, and one of the arms tore across her back as she hurtled past, but she pushed the pain away and kept going.

"You'll have to try harder than that, old man!" she shouted. If she could irritate him, keep him distracted, it would give Sora an opportunity to get closer.

[composers_proxy]

It didn't help that it was hard to see, his eyes red and watery from the gas, his stamina hurting after taking those rounds, but to have to be beaten by this guy who seemed like a third rate throwback to every old video game boss fight ever was just humiliating. When he shouted out the order for his mecha to transform, Neku had to fight the urge to mutter every profanity he could think of. Really? Was this seriously happening? So much of it seemed like something out of a bad dream.

As if that wasn't enough, there was battle music. Battle Music. In all of its 8-bit glory no less. Music while fighting, sure. He listened to his headphones all the time while battling the Noise. But this? He couldn't even find words to describe it. If it weren't actually happening instead of being something he'd see on a Saturday morning anime for children, he might've spared a moment to face-palm at it all. But since the giant robot mantis was attacking his team-mates, that made it a little harder to ignore