Nightshift 36: Main Hallway, 2-West

[spirit_forge]

[from here]No one else appeared to be in the hallway. It should've been good news, but Archer still found it disconcerting. There were usually other patients around by now, but he couldn't be certain. His sense of time felt off in this place

Comments

[brightlyshine]

It was helpful to be moving, to be doing something. Elena was really glad that Rude had came to get her, had made this suggestion. The problem itself wasn't fixed, but she did know that sulking in her room all night wouldn't have helped. This was something she could do, could help with.

She glanced over at Rude and gave him the tiniest of smiles before moving towards the next hallway, hand close to the knife's handle so she could grab it at a moment's notice. She'd been studying the hallway maps a little too.

[To here.]

[yin_yang_fox]

[from here]

It was empty upstairs for once, and Renamon was thankful. The soft sounds of walking came from somewhere close, but it didn't interest her. She had business to do.

This hallway, then.

[yin_yang_fox]

[to here]

[yin_yang_fox]

[from here]

In Renamon's opinion, there was always something in these main upper halls, and so she went the cautious route. She stopped at the corner of the last hallway and this one, and focused herself completely, ignored the discomfort in her foot and the weight in her hand. Ignoring even her job right now, and even the thought of Rika visiting her.

It took longer than it had before, but it worked. Renamon slid out of the visible spectrum and kept walking.

[yin_yang_fox]

[to here]

[whiteychan]

[from here]

The stairs were a little tricky, his body not quite wanting to remember how to work. Thankfully there was a railing and he was able to use it for support and mostly hide his condition. He did, however, stop at the top of the stairs, at the intersection leading towards their eventual goal. He leaned up against the wall briefly. "Give me a moment," he said to Artemis and Toboe. "Then we'll continue."

[nakanai_toboe]

Toboe nodded. "Okay." Really, Hitsugaya looked like he needed more than just a little break. But Toboe set himself to keeping watch for anything waiting to attack without saying anything else. He smelled that Renamon had been through this hallway already--judging from the strength of the scent amongst the reek of blood and decay, more than once. He didn't see anything threatening in the shadows, at least not yet.

[byname_bynature]

While Toboe may have thought the Captain looked like he needed a little rest, Artemis was convinced that there was something seriously wrong with the Captain. Since when did he make bad puns and laugh at them? Since when did he laugh? Artemis had been far too taken aback by the joked to say something like, 'Oh yes, I've never heard that one before, Captain. I shall have to write it down'. So he kept it to himself when he finally realized it in the stairwell.

This whole situation made Artemis very nervous. Hitsugaya was clearly out of commission, Artemis had no idea if Toboe had any super-secret abilities or powers that he wasn't yet aware of, and Artemis was traveling tonight with oxygen tubes stuffed up his nose and a tank slung at his side. Oh yes, this was a brilliantly formed rescue group.

But he had promised Momo that he would look after not only Hitsugaya, but Renji as well. He'd been entrusted with those tasks and this time he was going to finish them. No matter what it took.

[whiteychan]

Hitsugaya paused for a few seconds, giving himself a chance to focus himself. The movement was helping, though, as the physical exertion kept him awake and as focused as possible. As the night progressed, too, so did he gradually feel better and better.

Not perfect, certainly, but well enough to continue. "Let's keep going," he said. "This should be easy. There hasn't been any sign of monsters in this coming corridor in days...if something shows up, we withdraw. Neither Fowl nor I are in prime condition for combat. That's why we're doing the easy job tonight."

He didn't mean to say the last sentence out loud and inwardly cursed himself for his lack of control. He didn't need to justify his reasons to them, especially not in such a simple manner. Who said this was the "easy" job, anyways? "Abarai should be right around this corner," he said, brushing past his words. "Let's be quick about it."

[to here]

[jokers_wildcard]

[from here]

There. Harley reached the final step, but kept her hand against the wall to keep from getting too dizzy. Last thing she needed was to end up falling right back down those stairs. The world was spinning too much to immediately head off so she chose to wait a few minutes, at least long enough to be able to walk again.

Harley turned her gaze back to Crane, who had quietly followed her up. She half wondered how she must look to him, wiped out from climbing a single flight of stairs. She blinked trying to clear her head, when she realized something else this guy had said didn't quite add up.

He had mentioned it before, but she still found it odd how someone could be from Arkham and not have heard of her. Although she supposed she shouldn't really lump herself in with the Joker, even if they were an item.

...Wait! Her eyes suddenly lit up in revelation (or the closest thing to it while half sedated). That was it! Crane here was from Arkham! He could verify she wasn't crazy! Well, more so.

"I... I'm a..." Okay, calm down,

[scaredy_crow]

Her...babies? She certainly didn't look like the motherly sort, but appearances could certainly be deceiving. Still, the word lab had caught his attention. He did want to see what chemicals he could find to remake his fear toxin with, after all. And they were going in the same direction, so it didn't hurt for him to follow her up the stairs and continue asking questions

[jokers_wildcard]

If not for the medication still holding her back, she'd have enthusiastically agreed. She had no intentions of letting anything stop her from finding her two darlings. Harley would fight tooth and nail before letting anything happen to them. That half-handed reassurance Crane had so casually offered actually gave her a sense of peace, a boost in confidence. Funny how the mild support of one other person just made her feel so much more capable

[scaredy_crow]

And there it was.

"Fear toxin, yes. As I thought. Actually, you could say I know Scarecrow fairly intimately," he said, staring back at her with a blank expression. She'd said that this Professor Crane was a friend, so hopefully what he intended to reveal would go over well. He could certainly find some way to use someone like her. "In fact, back in Gotham, I also went by the name Scarecrow."

She was most definitely from a different Gotham than he was. This proved the alternate Gotham theory, so now it was just a matter of explaining it to her.

"Tell me, Ms. Quinn, have you heard any of the rumors since you've been here that relate to alternate realities? It seems that's the problem that we have on our hands, and why I'm not the same Scarecrow you know."

[enigmaticmedium]

[from here]

There were other people in the hallway, enough that Xelloss was a bit surprised. This area wasn't exactly out of the way, but it also wasn't a hub of activity the way the main halls downstairs seemed to be. Well, in Xelloss's experience, at least. He turned to make sure Anise was still following. Were the other patients competitors for the possible prize, or simply passing on their way to some other goal?

It was getting a little exciting. He waited at the top of the staircase for her, smiling still. Searching with only one flashlight would also probably be rather exciting, in a different way...

[gald_digger]

Anise was grateful that Xelloss didn't have anything to say about the embarrassing stumble. Most of her friends would rub it in with some light teasing, and the ones who wouldn't would still rub it in unintentionally by asking if she was okay. This way, it was easy enough to put it behind her and keep moving. Quickly, but not too quickly.

The girl caught up to her partner in no time, matching his smile with one of her own. Just as he said, there was a faint glow from the direction of the Sun Room, and visibility was a little better, but Anise decided not to run ahead again, for the sake of avoiding any more embarrassing incidents.

There were more people up there than Anise had expected, and she gave a somewhat disappointed look as she glanced around. The last thing she wanted was competition for these prizes. Oh well! If she wanted to avoid that, then they would just have to keep moving without stopping.

[enigmaticmedium]

She smiled back at him, so he turned his attention back to the hallway and their destination. They could still possibly get what they were looking for, if they kept moving. And if they didn't get it, it was hardly worse than Anise's track record so far on following clues.

Xelloss did wonder what sort of item it would be. He only knew about the radio prizes in passing, and had never even considered looking for one before. He doubted it would be anything he'd particularly want. But he couldn't complain, since after all, he'd already met someone else interesting thanks to his volunteering.

[to here]