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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[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.

[boketa]

Taura had been right about those pronouns. Goku had found the door in question easily enough, but then it sort of went downhill from there. He stared at it, then to talkative one, and back at the door with the most befuddled look. Instead of questioning, Goku simply took another bite out of his apple, hoping the extra sugar would shake loose some working brain cells.

But it was the taller person's last comment that finally broke through to him. "Ah, Really?" Goku waddled forward with his long tail swishing behind him, eager to find himself a barrel of ice cream he could actually sit in. He'd asked, of course, but the doctors had given him nothing more than this one measly apple! Reward would follow after a job well done, they said. Well, no one told Goku that job would take all night! Now these two thieves were going to help

[ninelivesonce]

Something smelled like cake. Taura was about to suggest a joint expedition -- she could lift their diminutive roadblock up for a quick look around, when negotiations broke down completely. It hadn't cost them anything to try. Them, at least. The boy was screaming. Taura hadn't been around many kids; seeing one so clearly in pain that she'd inflicted was a novel, ugly experience. What had they done to him?

"If that's what you want." Taura jogged forward, making herself a target. If Rita could keep her cool in a fight, keeping his eyes on Taura would give her time to do something. What, Taura wasn't quite sure. Long-distance combat magic could be anything, but she was envisioning something like plasma arc fire, only maybe some weird bright color. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Let us go, or take responsibility for the consequences." She loomed, and waggled the metal claw strapped to her right hand at him in a cheerful little wave

[bodhiandspirit]

Rita was visibly startled when the boy started screaming as if in pain. What the heck just happened to him? She'd heard about patients being brainwashed into attacking other people at night, but... what did they do to this kid?

To add to the surprise, now that the boy was closer, she could see that thing moving around behind him. Was that... a tail? He looked otherwise human, but there was no mistaking it. Considering Rita had seen a boy with cat ears the other day, though, it wasn't too hard to believe what she was seeing

[boketa]

"Yeah!" This was exactly what he wanted! A good fight with a strong opponent. He wasn't sure what this "responsibility" or "consequences" was, but it couldn't have been that important. He'd learned that about long words; they really weren't necessary. Goku was going 13 years strong without using anything bigger than "ham" or "crotch kick".

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, c'mon let's go!" He had been ready for a fight since he got here and Goku was not letting anything stop him now! It was time to take the initiative and strike! The monkey boy focused on the bigger one for now, lethal claws and all. He, or she, was ready to go and that was a beautiful sight! Not as good as a bucket of ice cream, but what honestly was?

Sprinting forward to meet Taura, the little fighter slammed the butt of his staff into the soft carpet below and hoisted himself up and into the air, aiming for a quick kick to the face!

[ninelivesonce]

That was one way to overcome a difference in height. Little bugger was fast, and not at all intimidated by her, which meant this wasn't necessarily going to be over before it started.

In either direction. Since so far the ceiling hadn't started spewing vehicles and he hadn't sprouted any extra limbs. Maybe for once it would be a fair fight. So far, so good.

Right now, however, she had a foot to dodge. Taura ducked and bounced up to face him again. "You'll have to be faster than that," she said, and picked up the table she'd stepped past. It was about the same size he was, though it flew through the air towards him much less gracefully.

[bodhiandspirit]

It took no time at all for the kid to close the distance between himself and Taura, but Rita wasn't worried about Taura. With her size and apparent strength, she wasn't likely to have much trouble defending herself

[boketa]

"Ah--?!" Goku shot passed Taura with disbelief. There were few people who were quick enough to dodge him. This meant.... Well, this meant this person was actually a fighter

[ninelivesonce]

Dodging kicks was one thing; plasma fire wasn't something that one dodged. Either you had a mirror field generator, or you didn't. This wasn't plasma, he'd called it ki, but it was moving just as fast, and it was coming straight for her.

Her golden eyes went wide; that was all the time for a reaction she had, before the ball of energy hit her square in the chest, picking her up and slamming her against the wall. Two feet over and she'd have taken the door to the library off its hinges. Her throwing star had made the attempt -- one spike was buried a handsbreadth into the door.

That might have been better -- concrete walls were hard. But so was Taura's skull. She slid down into a crouch, blinking furiously. It didn't help her eyes re-adjust to the dark, but reflexes were reflexes

[bodhiandspirit]

Looked like the double-attack was effective. For a moment, Rita thought the battle might have finished as soon as it began, but the kid had more endurance than expected.

Ki? Before Rita had a chance to consider what that could refer to, the boy answered most of the questions in her mind with a single attack. The ability to channel one's own energy into an attack like that... It wasn't magic, but it was similar to the sorts of artes that warriors could use when equipped with a bodhi blastia

ffffff sorry Taura

[boketa]

"Oops!" He said, clearly concerned for the tall person that went flying backwards. Ohh boy, if Goku killed her, those white doctors were going to be pretty pissed. He often forgot how unwieldy his strength could be at time. All that could be done for now, however, was to cradle the back of his spiky black hair with little hands and wait for signs of life from him, or her.

Thankfully, she emerged and was fired up as ever. Goku gleefully stopped in front of her, waiting for the battering ram with open arms and a giant grin. Bracing himself on two short legs, the monkey boy held her aloft with a strong arm. The other was a bit more side-tracked. It trailed down her chest until it hit a familiar mushy bump. Moving to the left, it found another. That could only mean one thing!

"Oh hey! Yer a girl!" He shouted proudly to the rest of the Sun Room inhabitants, completely absorbed by his marvelous new discovery.

[ninelivesonce]

Taura was used to things colliding with her chest mid-fight. Heads, sometimes, and not always quite as unintentionally as their owners claimed. But being almost clinically groped was new. So was being picked up, rather than doing the picking up. "Eeurp!" She couldn't help the noise, even as she delighted in the fact, if he was touching her, he hadn't simply blown her to smithereens.

This really was very odd from the other side. She'd have to remember that, next time she had someone dangling from her hand, trying in vain to grab her.

Hang on. Her arms were still longer. Hah. She let him hold her aloft, and swung her arms as if struggling for balance. Then she brought her left hand down, the one without the claw, and slammed the back of her fist between his legs. "You're not!"

She braced herself for the drop; if he was like other men he would be folding under her right about...now. But it wasn't very far to fall.

[bodhiandspirit]

Fortunately for Rita, Taura kept the brat busy enough that she was able to make it to the north end of the room. There, she looked back to the fight... and had to restrain herself to keep from planting her palm in her face.

Really? She stepped away from the fight for barely a minute, and it already degenerated into the kinds of things nursery school kids would do?

The short break allowed Rita to catch her breath, but her body ached with every movement she made. It was hard to gauge how much more spellcasting she could take... but she wanted this to be over as soon as possible. She sighed loudly, casting a disapproving glare at the others in the room, then began preparing another fireball. That kid was a lot stronger than she imagined, so she and Taura wouldn't need to pull any punches.

short sorry

[boketa]

"Ah--!" Goku's everything decided to shut down while his balls screamed in pain. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a good knock down there, but nothing every prepared you for it. It hurt every time.

As expected, the monkey boy crumpled right to the floor despite his infinitesimal power and strength. His stubby little hands came down and grabbed himself as he doubled over to wail like a wounded dog.