Day 41: Courtyard

[thatdamnedninja]

All praise to Leviathan, the Flower of Wutai was freeYuffie all but bolted away from the weirdo she'd shared her breakfast table with. She wanted to get to the courtyard as soon as possible, wanted to be free of the jolting disquiet brought on by Albedo's creepy grin, strange attitude, and his questions. If it hadn't been for the night before - and

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[whiny_egomaniac]

"Four days".

That was the estimate given him by his nurse after breakfast. Four more days until this cast could be removed, after which Starscream could abandon these crutches and maneuver freely and properly. In the meantime, unfortunately for him, he was limited, but worse still, vulnerable, as the previous day's...activities had proven. And protests to remain indoors, investigating their doubtless lackluster library, fell on deaf ears. Thus, he was out here again, the site of the first attack.

And now MEGATRON was here.

It wasn't his Megatron, no...but according to Lugnut, this Megatron also had a negative history with Starscream's doppelganger. Starscream's only recourse would be to continue to beg forgiveness...even if he didn't know this one personally, it had worked in his own universe, and might serve to spare his life, if only for a little while

[should_be_dead]

If the claims of the unnamed man from breakfast had been ridiculous, Tenzen didn't know what to call what had been written on the board. Among the unnecessary rubbish littered on it's surface, he had located what should have been an attempt at explaining the situation. Only it sounded simply laughable, as if he had indeed been reading the ramblings of some delusional fool.

These people must be collectively mad. What he had collected from the announcement and the board post only confirmed this; this appeared to be a hospital filled with insane people. That still didn't explain why he was here, however

[whiny_egomaniac]

Starscream looked up from his quiet contemplation, stirred from thought by the presence of another patient. As usual, he'd hoped to pay him no mind - what care had he for the fickleness of human musings? - and so bowed his head again, seeking to continue to find a resolution to his problem. Something about this 'patient', however, piqued his interest; the way he held himself, the way he stared at the walls...this must be one of the new batch of 'inmates' the intercom had advertised. And from this one's attitude, he clearly didn't care for the situation at all.

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" he spat out, hoping that disbelief was the primary line of thinking going through the flesh-creature's mind right now. "These walls, the 'doctors'...it all seems an elaborate hoax, doesn't it?"

[should_be_dead]

The walls did not appear too difficult to climb. It shouldn't be difficult to escape his room during the night and head outside. The ninja had no idea why he had even awoke here, and though he was curious about the reason he did not wish to delay taking out the remaining four Kouga and become the true lord of Tsubakagure.

"And you are going to tell me it isn't?" Tenzen said, shifting his glance from the walls to the man sitting beside him as he crossed his arms. He hadn't really the intention to converse with the people here, but now that the other had spoken up he had decided to answer.

[arc_wrench]

HK very much disliked being outdoors in his meatbag form when he wasn't killing things. So many other organisms, bacterial, plant, protist or animal, covering every centimeter of the environment. All the better to remind him that he was a meatbag, and that meatbags could catch viruses and other malfunctions from the air and soil. It was so disgusting.

But at least he had an... interview to look forward to. HK was a little confused about this. It had been phrased as something like a fight, which he always loved, but... The one of much capslock had been very confusing over the bulletin board.

Well. At least he knew what the meatbag looked like, even if the meatbag had only seen his (so painfully superior) droid self last night. He had so enjoyed that. He wanted that to happen again!

[reserved for Spider Jerusalem!]

[iwascloned]

As Spider entered the courtyard, he finally started putting some thought into how exactly he was going to actually carry out all of the threats he'd levied against the murderous robot. It wasn't as if his teeth actually pierced steel. Or was it? He could never remember until he actually tried it. The plastic knife he'd taken from breakfast would be useless, unless he could get it into a crevice in the machine's armor and leverage out some vital piece of wiring. Wiring, he was pretty sure, he could pierce with his teeth. But where was the robot?

Spider scanned the courtyard suspiciously, at first wondering how a fully armed robotic murder-machine would be able to mingle with the general population, and then wondering if this whole setup had just been an elaborate prank at his expense. If it was, it wasn't a very good one. He wasn't even covered in pig excrement yet.

[arc_wrench]

Aaaah, there we are. Target locked. HK couldn't resist just going up behind the meatbag and tapping it on the shoulder, pulling his hand back fast, just in case. "Greeting: Good morning, meatbag!" And now to see what sort of mayhem might ensue.

[iwascloned]

Nope. No robots anywhere. Spider was about to give up and try and get some of the drugs from his room when someone - OR SOMETHING - tapped him on the shoulder. Spider whirled around, snarling.

"Alright, you shortcircuited cumdumpster, I'm here to rip your - who the fuck are you?"

[ruthless_hunter]

Lockdown searched around the courtyard for a suitable place for waiting, eventually setting on a bench overlooking the pond.

On his way to breakfast, he had checked the bulletin board as usual, to see if Starscream or anyone else had any jobs for him. There were none, but he did find something very interesting.

Someone had drawn up a crude sketch of his muscle car mode and taped it to the board. It wasn't the most well-drawn thing ever, but when Lockdown had seen it, the first thing he thought was, It's me. According to the details on the sketch, whoever had drawn it wanted him to meet them at this time, and take the sketch with him.

Lockdown had a few guesses as to who it was that wanted to meet him. Either it was one of the bots from his own world, or someone had learned what he used to look like (or, at least what his alt. mode use to look like). Well, hopefully he would find out soon enough.

[reserved for Blitzwing]

[lossofface]

The last thing Blitzwing wanted was to give Starscream a warning that Lugnut's wrath was on the verge of the descending on him -- and by the same token, he also wanted to make sure the ensuing brawl would be as quick and painless for his side as possible. Thus, this meeting, and the roundabout means he'd used to arrange it.

Stepping out into the courtyard, his silly human skin prickling at the chill in the air that he'd scarcely have noticed in his real body, he kept a sharp optic out for his sketch. He'd recognize his work anywhere; and the fact that it had been so quickly removed from the board surely meant that someone had taken the hint.

Someone with rather strange notions about decoration, it seemed. He sat down next to Lockdown on the bench, leaving a healthy distance between them. Of course it had to be Lockdown; who else would go around done up like that?

"Did you draw those on yourself?" he asked, shamelessly pointing at Lockdown's face.

[ruthless_hunter]

Lockdown looked over at the man who had sat down next to him. He was taller than the bounty hunter and had red hair. That and a crazy grin. He recognized the voice and accent, as well as crazy tone, almost immediately. There was no mistaking it.

"No, I woke up with them," Lockdown answered. "Thankfully, they seem to be permanent." Even if he was stuck in this weak form, at least he still had some part reminiscent of his original body. Plus, he really liked those markings.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you're Blitzwing," He said dryly.

[lossofface]

"Ooh, nice one," Blitzwing said with a giggle. So, they were permanent, huh? He wondered how humans managed something like that. Though it didn't really sound like something for him; he changed his mind far too often for permanent decorations. He bet he could get something that looked the same with some markers, though...He'd have to see about getting some!

Right now, though it was time for business. Pressganging himself into an expression of serious intent, he said quite calmly, but bluntly, "Lugnut is planning to make his move against Starscream soon. In light of your history with the Decepticons --" A single failed mission, however ignoble, couldn't entirely outweigh several million years of service, after all. "--I'm willing to offer you a chance to step aside and leave us to it." An ice-like smirk played across his lips. "There might even be something in it for you, beyond the chance to skip the grievous bodily harm."

Who needed subtlety when you knew exactly what the other party valued, after all?

[scalyfishman]

It was difficult to say whether the institute’s nurses had allowed Depth Charge to sleep late out of sympathy or out of spite. Emerging from the blood-spattered darkness of the night into the stark, bleached light of reality, he didn’t really care all that much either way. Forte was dead. He understood that much. What he didn’t understand was how he could ever have let it happen.

They had barely known each other, that was true, but Forte had been under his protection last night. And that meant keeping him safe at all costs, even if it led to self-termination. That was his duty. His purpose. Slag, hadn’t he learned his lesson yet? Weren’t Colony Omicron and Starbase Rugby punishment enough for him? Or was he simply destined to be a failure with one-hundred-and-one sparks resting on his conscience, floating through some kind of shadowy, haunted half-life without a prayer or a hope

[human_sponge]

Peter had been glad to see Tyki again, even though he still thought the man was a little on the strange side. He could accept that that was probably the effect of them being from different places and backgrounds, though. He still didn't understand why the man changed around at night, but he didn't want to be too pushy with his questions either.

Getting to go outside was usually a double-edged sword for Peter, mainly because it always led to him staring up at the sky and willing himself to just fly. Of all his powers, it was the one he missed the most. He'd picked it up from someone he cared about, it had been the first one he'd been aware of

[scalyfishman]

Depth Charge let out a long, slow breath, rubbing his eyes. He just needed to think. He hadn't been doing much of that lately. And none of that self-pitying slag, either. Some honest-to-Primus spark-searching. Not that there was much opportunity for something like that around a place like this; he'd have better luck trying to split raw energon with a toothpick. Couldn't turn your back here for one second, as that night had demonstrated all too painfully.

Speaking of which, it looked as though he'd been caught out again. Letting his hands drop from his face he found himself looking up at another patient: tallish, brown hair and eyes, looking down at him with a curious expression. Depth Charge's own expression held fast- there wouldn't have been a game of poker on Cybertron he couldn't have won with it.

"Yeah?" He shrugged, more than a little apathetic. "Maybe. Depends how much damage I could do with it, whatever it is. What does it matter to you?"

[human_sponge]

Peter had to fight not to laugh a little when the stranger assumed that Advil was some kind of weapon. He didn't know how the man had jumped to that sort of conclusion considering the context, but maybe it was better that he didn't know.

"It's a painkiller," he explained. "A type of medicine that relieves pain," he quickly clarified, since if the guy didn't know what Advil was then he probably didn't know what a painkiller was either. It quickly classified him as not from Peter's world or time, in any case. "Like I said, you kind of look like you need one."

Some people didn't like to be worried over, and maybe this guy was like that. He definitely wasn't in a good mood, but that didn't mean he didn't want to talk to anyone. Peter would leave if that's what the guy would prefer, but for now he'd rather make sure he was okay.

[razing_phoenix]

Guy had to admit that seeing Rangiku first thing in the morning was enough to improve his mood. It was always nice when he managed to have a conversation with a girl who wasn't already familiar with his phobia and have it go off without a hitch. He hoped that things worked out for her regarding the new problem that she had, though if it really became a big deal he was sure there would be news about it on the bulletin board

[thatdamnedninja]

Speaking of various victims.

When Yuffie raised her head just enough to check out who'd sat so nearby, she startled so badly that she almost tipped herself straight into the pond. The noise she made was -- not quite a yelp, not quite a gasp, and not quite a 'help!'. The back of her t-shirt was getting wet-- part of her leg was in the water! This was so completely uncool, absolutely incriminating, and she scrambled to right herself before she could do something even more embarrassing. This was one of the guys that she'd been hoping not to see; part of the group that she'd overestimated. And now was so not the time, especially when she couldn't quite get a grip on the grass.

Gawd, as long as he didn't jump up and try to kick her back into the pond, maybe this wouldn't end too badly. If he did, she'd have to, well, grab him and pull him in too, and that really wouldn't do much for her track record. Maybe she could just pretend that a worm had bit her on the ass? Yeah. Right.

[razing_phoenix]

Guy had vaguely noticed the girl who was sitting near him, but he only really acknowledged her presence when she almost fell right into the pond. Before he'd really thought about it, Guy had started to get to his feet. He had no idea if the girl could swim, after all, and seeing how he was trained in maritime rescue, he would have been the guy for the job

[thatdamnedninja]

It wasn't that Yuffie couldn't swim; she could. Pretty damn well, in fact, since Wutai was full of rivers and her town was so close to the sea. It was just that she didn't really relish the idea of falling into a pond like some kind of clumsy, un-ninja like loser. Who knew what sort of gunk was floating around in there? What if there were dead monster bits? And what if the nurses decided---

-- The guy was getting up.

Luckily, Yuffie was well on the way to hauling herself to safety, having eventually found purchase. Her socks would require some major wringing if she didn't want to wander around with half a pond in her slipper for the rest of the day, but her pants weren't full of fish and a quick shake didn't reveal any pondweed or bugs flying everywhere. The guy -- blond, green eyes - was… walking towards her. Crap! What if he really did want to kick her into the pond? Should she just dive right back in and save him the trouble? Uh, yeah, not happening.

Besides, he was injured. She knew he was, so there was nothing to be worried