Nightshift 24: Cafeteria

[dancingdagger]

[from here]The chaos from the Sun Room slowly faded into the background as Larsa dragged Penelo into the Cafeteria. While this was a wise choice, Penelo couldn't believe it. They had left Protoman and Gabranth behind

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[entrust_to_few]

"You need not worry of Gabranth, Penelo." Larsa started after taking a moment to catch his breath. "I have been entrusted to him since I was a mere infant. I know well of his limits so he will be fine even without his armor."

He sighed slightly, straightening himself and looking over his shoulder.

"But that does not exclude the fact that there were others there as well." Larsa was forced to stop and contemplate his options, despite the danger that was occurring in the previous room.

"The safest way to return is to exit the Cafeteria and hug the building as we traverse the field and back towards the M Blocks, provided we move quickly and efficiently."

[dancingdagger]

Larsa was right, but Penelo somehow felt guilty. Granted, Gabranth had a sword and she had a broken broomstick, but she still felt like she should have been helping the ex-Judge rather than running. But Gabranth would have wanted her to stay with Larsa, wouldn't he?

"Yeah, you're right," She nodded, scanning the Cafeteria for an exit. It sounded like Larsa knew where these doors went.

"We better hurry then. Before it's too late..."

[entrust_to_few]

Nodding quickly at Penelo's words, Larsa aimed his flashlights towards the left side of the cafeteria, doing his best to recreate the maps he had seen in his head. He spotted a set of double doors almost immediately, looking over his shoulder a final time to make sure no one was following before jogging over.

Fully expecting the doors to give away, he frowned when they rattled only slightly. Larsa gave it another attempt, and once more his actions came to no avail. This obstacle had been something he had hoped not to encounter during dire situations, already taking a glance towards the various chairs that scattered the Cafeteria’s floors.

"I guess we've no choice but to use brute force."

[dancingdagger]

The door refused to yield to Larsa, and Penelo feared that it was locked until she bent down to take a closer look.

It looked a bit rusted. Like the locks in that hall that she and Kazuo found last night. Penelo grinned, knowing that they would still be able to escape.

"I've seen doors like these. It'll open once we kick it hard enough," Penelo informed Larsa, and she immediately started demonstrating by backing up and giving the door a fierce jump kick.

It rattled, but didn't quite give way. And Penelo found herself on the floor, having missed her landing.

"Ow! Um... I didn't mean to do that..."

[judgemagister]

[from here.]

The cafeteria was decidedly empty, which was as well for him. The pain was mostly gone but for a dull ache, which would soon disappear. He'd have a bruise to show for the effort, but it had been half-hearted. Or he was losing his touch. It didn't matter much, either way.

Looking behind him, he wasn't sure if the other man had followed. Why was he so much more interested in himself rather than the companion he had been traveling with?

He supposed he'd find out soon.

[devils_tactics]

Kazuo caught up to him and paused to rearrange the cord he was carrying. He glanced toward the broken door ahead of them. "Looks like someone did our work for us. Good. We should keep moving so that thing doesn't decide to come along."

He looked back to the man. "I'm Kazuo. You are?"

[judgemagister]

"All the simpler," he added his agreement, moving towards the door that lay half on its hinges. The door lead outside, so this must have been the right way. Someone must had broken it only a bit sooner, for he couldn't remember it being this way earlier in the day.

"Noah," he responded simply, before passing through the door and into the Courtyard.

[to here.]

[devils_tactics]

(also exits here

[usoppsenchou]

[from here]

Feeling a growing headache, Usopp glanced around the room. It wasn't as easy to see in as the Sun Room, and he squinted, wishing he had some goggles. Not that they'd do any good against darkness--it would just make him feel better

This place was insane. Not as bad as Skypiea, but the night was still pretty young and Usopp still probably had a billion monsters to run away from.

It looked like a door had been smashed open on the other side of the room... by a monster or by his roommate and friends? If there were any monsters lurking in the corners of this room, he wouldn't be able to see them until he was standing right on top of them... Usopp shuddered a bit. At least he still had the flashlight and rubber band. The urge to just scream "Luffy!" at the top of his lungs and see if maybe one of his crewmates was somewhere within hearing was growing.

[face_of_chaos]

(( From Here))

The events from the Sunroom had been disappointing at best, but the knight summarised it down to the fact that there must have been more important matters for him to attend to. Yuber made his way through the doors and back into the cafeteria. The room was dark, but he could still make out the basic outline of the tables and structures inside the room.

It was why the black knight found his movements halting however when it seemed that a human stood in his way. “You’re in my way.” Yuber stated simply, as he stood towering above the man standing in front of him. If it was one thing he disliked, were others standing in his path. He would give this human one chance to remove themselves from standing in front of him before he would act.

[usoppsenchou]

The leap was quite impressive from a stand-still, and more impressive still was how quickly Usopp managed to go from standing directly in Yuber's way to standing a good five feet away from him, turned and threatening him with... a pulled back rubber band.

"O-oh." Usopp took a deep breath as soon as he saw who it was, putting his rubber band away again. Another guy from the Sun Room, and better yet, one who hadn't actually attacked him. "Hey, I don't guess you've got any idea where you're going?"

He didn't seem like the friendliest guy.... in fact, maybe more like the loomingest guy... but any direction was better than none.

[face_of_chaos]

There was always a sense of satisfaction to be felt when he saw humans various reactions to his presence, and this one was proving to be no different. Placing a hand on his hip, Yuber’s long blonde hair began to slip over his shoulders while he regarded the ‘weapon’ wielding human. He was unsure of exactly what weapon they held, but it didn’t exactly seem terribly threatening.

“Any location with a possible location is my destination.” Yuber replied with in a smooth voice. Raising up a hand to brush back his long strands of hair, the knight took a moment to braid the ends of the tresses, before stepping past the shorter man.

Yuber’s gaze shifted from the other man as the knight began to scan the room for any possible weapons. “I do hope that there are more challenges than what was found in the Sunroom.” The black knight offhandedly said before moving his way deeper into the room.

[the_hero_of_man]

[from here]

The sunroom fight showed Protoman how frail this shell truly was, and how limited his tactics given such weak tools. He was however, able to allow Penelo to escape, and he found himself pleased about that. He may not have been built for it, but he found a purpose in protecting humans.

He detached his rubber band and flashlight from his arm as he scanned the area. The door to the left looked busted open, and 2 people from the sunroom were walking straight ahead, to where food was served.

Protoman was unsure which way Penelo fled however, and still unsure if the fight he just left would chase him. He hid behind a table watching the pair already in there, as well as the door he just entered.

[usoppsenchou]

[returning from here]

He was carrying an awful lot in those two baskets, the frying pans aside--and he was glad that he'd be heading back to his room to unload some of it soon. He'd resigned himself to a 'stay,' or at least that he wouldn't be escaping tonight... from the sounds of things, this place was a lot more complicated than any simple insane asylum, which probably meant that he'd have to figure out who was behind it and beat them up (or, with luck, Luffy and the others would catch up with him and he could point Luffy in the right direction to do the beating up) before he'd be able to leave.

Nonetheless, he was in high spirits still and went back to humming as he followed behind Yuber's back to re-enter the cafeteria. He remained blissfully unaware of the 'patient' hiding behind one of the tables in the room. The flashlight had also been tucked into one of the baskets, although turned on... granting a small but ill-directed path of light for their feet, to avoid tripping.

[face_of_chaos]

(( Coming in from here))Scanning his attention over the room, Yuber sensed the presence of another in the area as they kept themselves hidden. He remained unmoving as Yuber assessed the level of danger they could represent, but found himself relaxing his guard a moment later. They were of little threat to either of them if he could sense them so easily, and with that the black knight turned his attention back onto his companion

[usoppsenchou]

Chaos? That was funny, he sure looked like a human. But Usopp was willing to give his cool companion the benefit of the doubt--especially after that 'twenty seven who guard the realm' comment. It was probably some honorary title... and it'd still explain why the guy seemed so keen on asking if Usopp was chaotic.

Which he was, of course. Chaotic like crazy"Yeah, I thought we could leave them in my room." Unlike Zoro, Usopp had a pretty strong sense of direction, and was fairly sure he could find his way back to the room... although it meant tiptoeing through the Sun Room again, now that he thought of it

[face_of_chaos]

It seemed to be a logical place to store Usopp’s spoils to be stashed. The matter of fact though was that creature his companion spoke of, the one he’d witnessed in the other room before taking his leave into the cafeteria. He doubted that there would be enough attention given to cause a panic, and yet the desire to cause disorder remained strong inside of him.

Glancing back towards his companion, Yuber’s mismatched gaze trailed over Usopp’s figure, and it was in that moment that the knight had made his decision. Granted the battle which could occur in the Sun Room would be refreshing, he had allied himself with this human for now, and to some extent, Yuber would respect their decisions. Besides after Usopp’s burden was lifted, there was still the opportunity to seek out more Chaos.

“Then we shall attempt a different route.” The knight eventually replied with, as his hand lifted up to point towards the doors leading to the courtyard.