Night 54: Cafeteria

[tsunagari]

[from here]This was a cafeteria. He knew the moment he entered even without light and no memory of the location. The size of the room and the smells it provided were enough. Sai was well used to working in the dark even before coming to the Institute, however long ago that had been, and he was sure he'd have no difficulty navigating through this

Comments

[promisedawhale]

Sai was just full of surprises tonight. Brook supposed he should have expected it, the boy being a ninja and all, but it still took all he could to keep up when Sai took off running. If he'd been a skeleton again, he knew he would have been faster. No point in thinking of that now though. He was only thankful to get inside the Cafeteria with the door shut behind him.

"You're quite fast, Sai-san," he observed as he left the door to look around. The rooms were dark as ever, but there didn't seem to be anyone else there. He could only think whatever was in the Sun Room had kept others from getting through. Good that they'd taken the longer route then! "Now... we go down and around this wall here," he explained a little more now that they were in the clear from an enemy, "then there should be a door to the Kitchen. Once you get into the refrigerator there's a trap door in the corner that will take us down."

[tsunagari]

Quickness was a necessity, though this didn't need to be said. Sai followed Brook's instructions, heading along the wall in that general direction. There was no point in going straight through the room, as navigating around the tables would only prolong the trip and put them in a more unfortunate position should something show up looking for a fight. Even if they hadn't yet seen anything that night, the ninja somehow didn't have any doubt that dangers existed. Aside from that fact that Brook didn't seem like the sort of man who would lie to him about that, something in the back of his mind posed its own sort of warning, as if he'd run into them before

[promisedawhale]

Being fast was all well and good for avoiding enemies, but Brook wasn't usually one to move fast when there wasn't a pressing danger. Even on Thriller Bark he'd strolled a bit when there hadn't been zombies about. Maybe he was being a bit too casual about things. At least Sai was there to somewhat keep him on track, and to give him some conversation. There was no reason to hum when you had company.

"Not usually. Then again, it's been a while since I've been over this way. It may change each night," he told him as they pressed on, "But quite is better than the sounds of fighting any day. Oh, here we are!" he found the door and with little hesitation pushed through it.

[gone here]

[see_my_back]

[from here]

So far, so good. The only bad luck tonight had been her own it seemed. They'd gone unimpeded through most of the institute and for that at least, she was grateful. The sounds of battle were all distant, though it was no reason to let her guard down, especially when she felt so off her game tonight.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Something less than inspiring, that response, but Sakura wasn't the type to withhold information maliciously. Either she genuinely didn't know, or she genuinely couldn't talk about it. With the way the day had gone and the mysterious return of his own chakra, Sasuke was willing to bet that it was the former.

Still, he frowned as he followed the two trails of chakra in front of him as the grass gave way to pavement and the sounds of feet shuffling over concrete changed to footsteps on tile, then the click of another door.

"I had powers restored to me tonight," he said after a moment, offering information in trade just in case there was more. "But I'm not under the Institute's control. I assume it's not the same case with you, but something may still be different."

[[to here, skipping Renamon with permission!! SORRY FOR REPOSTS /o\]]

[doctor_voodoo]

[From here.]

Slippers sliding on the tile floor, Facilier scrambled through the door and into the darkness of the adjoining room, his body bent forwards and his nerves dreading the possible impact of the deadly sword striking into his flesh. His Shadow followed suit, its flat expression a comical caricature of Facilier's distress as it looked behind for any weapons flying in for the kill--

Thankfully, no sword or blazing magic followed them, and Facilier gave out a great sigh of relief. Once Carter had joined, the Shadow merged with the darkness; Facilier couldn't afford to scare off his only guide -- at least not yetPanting and heaving, the witch doctor stumbled away from the door and leaned his thin body against the wall, wiping the trailing sweat off his forehead with his arm. His free hand lifted his flashlight up to observe their new surroundings, finding himself in what appeared to be a plain and lifeless cafeteria. To his relief, the windows and doors showed a way to the outside, but he still felt far too rattled over what

[stlg13bomber]

Carter didn't stop after the door was slammed shut. It was a shadow, it could go anywhere it pleased. He grabbed one of Facilier's flashlights and shone it wrong, twisting until he could see his own shadow lying peacefully on the ground and Facilier's behind him. He watched both for a full half a minute, making sure it wasn't about to try anything funny, before he finally answered

[doctor_voodoo]

Just as Facilier was catching his breath, his annoyance with Carter flared up when he suddenly stumbled towards him and snatched the extra flashlight from his pocket without a word. The witch doctor rolled his eyes; the fool should have kept his own flashlight and given him the crowbar instead! He would have been able to deal with that whole Pilgrim fiasco if he had it

[stlg13bomber]

"But I was sure..." Things had been pretty confusing in there. Maybe Facilier was right, maybe it was his imagination. He hoped it was his imagination

[stlg13bomber]

[ To here.]

Carter held his crowbar close as he skulked out into the dark cafeteria again. No shadows. It was fine. Everything was fine. And obviously Facilier understood the danger now so he'd be on the lookout for shadows too and it would all be fine. He followed his confused brain to another door on the west side of the cafeteria, one he hadn't paid much attention to before. This felt like the right door, somehow. And all he had to do was turn the handle and then they'd learn what mystery awaited them on his brain map.

"It's locked," Carter said, disappointed to have come so far and been thwarted by a mere bit of metal. He jiggled the handle a few more times and then lightly swung the crowbar at the door in frustration. If only there were some way to just break their way through--

Oh. Right.

Carter wedged his crowbar into the little gap between door and wall and began to heave. With one hand out of commission, he wasn't very effective. "Hey, can you help me?"

[doctor_voodoo]

Following close behind the sergeant, Facilier could only scan his surroundings with a heightened sense of apprehension. The revelation of the possible presence of the angry Loa and a different style of dark magic compromised some of the usual comfort Facilier enjoyed in the shadows. His own Shadow seemed to have lost some of its capabilities; he could only hope that it wouldn't go berserk against him either...

He felt somewhat better once they arrived at one of the doors to the outside. Seeing the night sky beyond the window promised the witch doctor the opportunity to distance himself from this horrid place as much as possible. Unfortunately, the foolish Carter wasn't helping Facilier get to freedom as fast as he should be!

Facilier gave a great roll of his eyes in the darkness before approaching the struggling sergeant, his large bony hands sharing Carter's grip on the crowbar. "Alright! Though I did suggest carrying the crowbar for you but

[blood_and_pocky]

[from here]

The blood scent was thinner in the cafeteria, less insistent, one of a few indicators that suggested it was probably a less worrisome area than the Sun Room. There were, after all, only two people within, fiddling with one of the locks. Not much of a threat.

The vampire didn’t test that assessment by tarrying. Soundlessly, he crossed the room at a run, keeping to the shadows.

[to here]