Night 56: Sun Room

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

The sun room was quiet, with the artificial hush that came from snow blanketing the big windows. The halls upstairs weren't; while it wasn't quite a fight that had broken out up there, it was heading that way. Possibly irrevocably, as what the boy up there had just called the brainwash brigade didn't do negotiation. At all. Even if

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[bodhiandspirit]

It made sense for Taura to go first, so Rita followed without objecting. When they stepped inside the room, she also heard voices from above... but she couldn't make out what was being said. Whatever was going on, Rita didn't care to be spotted by them either, and when Taura moved to the side of the room, she did the same, stepping soundlessly as she walked.

Wide areas like these were perfect for enemies to find and pursue them in, so they needed to move as quickly and quietly as possible... Fortunately, Taura seemed to already understand that fact.

[boketa]

The snowfall tapped like frantic fingers against the glass window of the Sun Room ceiling. Moonlight was fleeting at best, but the piling of snow and the thick lining of clouds produced an eerie glow that dimly lit the large room. The light wind seemed to rub against the glass in a toneless hum below the soft staccato of slush and ice. It grew above the snow as the patients continued unmolested through the the large room. A tune began to form, chipper and bright, despite the grim situation

[ninelivesonce]

Taura had been wary as soon as the noises started; she'd tried to hurry, but it was too late. The fact that the boy that faced them, clad in something she thought was traditional -- though was that really the right color? -- didn't surprise her any more. The fact that he was a good foot and a half shorter than Admiral Naismith did; he was barely half her height now.

Rita could pick him up with one hand and dangle him over the floor

[bodhiandspirit]

When she heard the humming, Rita raised her gaze as she kept moving, but she didn't spot the boy until he dropped down from above. She hoped they could make it to the other side before anyone - or anything - interfered, but they had no such luck. When their pursuer addressed them, she stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.

... Wait, was this a joke? What she thought was supposed to be an institute guard turned out to be some pint-sized brat. One who couldn't even stop stuffing his face long enough to threaten them properly. This was what the institute was throwing at them? It was actually a little insulting.

Rita folded her arms, frowning with disdain. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered. For now, she supposed she'd leave negotiation to Taura. If talking didn't work, she'd be ready to do what she had to do.

[scarletspeedstr]

[from here]

The sun room was, as pretty much every place here was of a night, dark. But for once it wasn't empty, though Wally wasn't sure if that was really a good thing or not. He hoped that there being other people here already meant that they'd be safe going through here, because the last thing he wanted was another attack when he was pretty much running on empty and both he and Edward had wrecked arms. He wouldn't be able to protect Edward as well as he could if he was fed and healthy and he'd never forgive himself if someone else he was with got badly hurt.

So while Wally held out hope that they'd get lucky and that they wouldn't get attacked, he still kept an eye on the area, trying to figure out the best way he could use what little speed he had here to get Edward out of the way first if something did attack before helping the others here.

[sanguinario]

"You worry too much," Edward said quietly, entering the dark behind him. Even to Edward's eyes - though they were significantly less powerful than they once had been - the room was too dark to see very far past the flashlight. This room had always been on his avoidance list; a near-permanent resident considering the risks involved. That was exactly why he had to go, though. He couldn't trust nothing would go wrong if Bella ever attempted this trip. She needed food or she was going to waste away, and that was more than enough to keep Edward convicted

[scarletspeedstr]

"In this place, can you really blame me?" Wally returned, keeping his voice low as he led the way further across the room. The cafeteria wasn't much further, but at night the sun room felt way bigger than it had any right to be. He kept expecting something to jump out at him or grab him like it had the night before.

Edward's words distracted him from the crawling feeling at the back of his neck, and Wally shot him a tight, amused smile. "You don't know that, and even if you did, I'd take the risk anyway than leave someone to get hurt. Now come on, the door's right here."

And to his relief, it was, solid and exactly like it was supposed to look and nothing looking like it was about to eat them either. Still, there was no point in waiting around, so Wally pushed the door open and ducked through it.

[Bending time a little to bypass the fight with permission and heading here]

[anemptydecapo]

[From here]Venom remembered the last time he had taken to traversing through the sun room. To make a short story shorter: it ended badly. There had been no lost limbs, perhaps, but there had been a number of bruised egos and two subsequent bridge-burnings (which, in hindsight, may have been more of bridge-meeting-molotov cocktail than an average bridge-burning. It was not a good bridge). It did give him pause, though. What ever did happen to the other two assassins? Where would he be now if he had stayed with them instead of chasing ghosts

[scintillatingly]

Sora had made attempts to pass through the Sun Room more times than he could count, and it hardly ever ended well. The last time he had been here had been with Soma and Neku, hadn't it? They'd fought that robot and the man who had been controlling it, and the end result had left him with mixed feelings. He doubted anything that out of the ordinary would be happening tonight, but how could he ever really be sure of that

[anemptydecapo]

It was in luck the there no windows on the walls--it left only one direction for light to shine. The shadows lurking amongst the edges of the room made it more capable for hiding inside them, though the occasional jagged edge of a door frame or the bulletin board scratching against his back as he pressed past was enough to temporarily spark paranoia through his brain. He would have liked to blame the drugs on his being set on edge, but it was only experience; the last time he was here, he'd been spotted easily

[bitpartgod]

[from here, also time-skipped!]

It wasn't that Kibitoshin had planned on fighting anything- he'd practically run all the way to the main hallway just in case he ran into something nasty on the way. All by himself like this, there wasn't really very much he could do in terms of getting in and helping people, though he was more than willing to lend a hand if things got really bad, or if someone was just as alone as he was and under attack.

No, what he'd really wanted to do was see if he could heal. That was where his real strengths lay, wasn't it? And if there were monsters, there was a chance he'd be too late to help or even just get in the way in a fight- but helping people pick up the pieces afterwards, that was something he was an expert at. Even Franziska had said as much to him, he reasoned as he approached the Sun Room doors, though not in so many words; Franziska would never have used the word "strengths" in relation to him.

Now that thought definitely gave him a little pang. Maybe it was time to talk to her about what

[boketa]

"Hey!" A familiar, high-pitched voice called out from the darkness. There was no flashy entrance, except for the warning shot of ki that lit up the room and drilled a hole in the wall behind this new enemy. After getting thoroughly tricked by the last group of cheaters, Goku was taking no chances with his latest prey! His balls were staying far away from this guy! Or girl.

"Listen, you! You can't come through here 'cause I ain't gonna letcha! So go back, ya Red Ribbon trickster!"

Finally, a pint-sized kid with an orange and blue gi waddled up into the moonlight filtering down through the glass window above. His nyoibo was held behind his head, ready to crack some skull at any time.

[bitpartgod]

Kibitoshin felt the sudden spike in energy before he saw the light coming, a juddering bolt to the pit of his stomach that hit him like a sudden wave of vertigo at the top of a rollercoaster; it was pure instinct that moved him at a throw to the side, staggering onto a nearby armchair with a look of utter shock plastered across his face. He knew that ki energy.

It can't be. No way! There's no way they'd be able to get Goku, is there?!

Oh, yes. There was every way.

He stared at the boy standing him front of him, staff in hand, and felt his heart began to pound. That power level... even if it was barely a fraction of the power he'd sensed in his adult counterpart, it was still considerably greater than his own frail human form. And Goku- Goku sounded like he meant businessDesperately, while he racked his brains for just what red ribbons had to do with this, he took a step backwards as if it would appease. "Goku! Goku, it's me! It's Kibitoshin!" he managed, eyes wide. No, wait, he barely remembered who he was anyway! "You know, the-

[boketa]

The name rang no bells in his head, but the comment about looking like a granny, now that was funny! He laughed like a jackass, almost toppling over in his exuberance if it weren't for Gohan's nyoibo keeping him anchored to the floor.

"Granny-lookin' or not, I can't let ya pass! You know my name, but I dunno yours!"

Another ball of ki whizzed across the room as a warning shot. The monkey boy knew he'd get in big trouble if he accidentally killed one of these grunts. Sizzling them to a nice delicious crisp would not earn him brownie points with the institute. They'd take away his dragon balls forever!

[gargantuanlaugh]

[And timeskippy away from danger from here]

Gant didn't take much time to survey the area, just pushed through at full speed. He could hear the sounds of intense battle, but without his flashlight on it was easy to ignore that, for the most part. Gant found himself sweating, nonetheless. He could only hope Mike was right behind him, and that if anything attacked them, the kid would be the first it would nab. The man's screams would at least alert Gant that he needed to run faster.

[dork_at_duty]

The only thing that Meekins had a chance to say before they entered the double doors was "Yes, Sir!", but once they entered the giant room, he understood why the Police Chief had urged him to stay quiet. There was indeed a battle raging over to the side... the assailant being a... little kid? Attacking a tall, wispy-looking young man with a big staff? The crazed look in the little boy's eyes made Meekins whimper. He knew that following his boss's orders was the smartest thing to do right now.

As quietly as he could manage, Meekins trotted right behind Gant towards another large door to the north.

[gargantuanlaugh]

Gant had learned very quickly that even the children here could be plenty dangerous. Even if it was a child he probably had some sort of superpower up his sleeve, but Gant wasn't willing to stick around and become target practice.

At least this place was keeping him in shape. He was quite winded when he managed to make it to the doorway that led into the Cafeteria. How lucky, the door was already open. So he just let himself in.

[to here]