Night 52: Bus Unloading Area

[spandexorgtfo]

[from here]As they stepped outside, Kratos took a deep breath, taking a moment to savor the feeling of fresh air, even though it was still tainted with the silent evil that surrounded the institute. Then, moment finished, he returned to the task at hand

Comments

[repelling]

The calm before the storm; a nice line, but Uryuu hadn't much time to appreciate it (or the skill with which Kratos-san demolished the lock) before the doors opened -- cold. Though immediately the hairs on his arms lifted with goosebumps, he otherwise made no sign of the temperature affecting him. He could handle it, he would handle it

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos gave a slight nod of approval as Ishida slipped a pen in between the doors. It was never a bad thing to prepare for the possibility of escape, especially in this place. Although, the idea of actually fleeing back into the institute - now that was a strange one.

He looked back to the road, wondering what exactly lay in wait for them. "Indeed." 'More compelling', again, was one way of putting it.

[spandexorgtfo]

[to here]

[thestormishere]

[ From here. ]

There was a small object on the ground that Lightning noticed while slipping through the door... after a moment, she realized where she'd seen it before: the bundle of similar items back in the desk of 'her' room. However, she didn't hesitate at all in choosing to ignore it- whatever they were, they were apparently not in short supply... and she wasn't about to go picking up things she didn't recognize the use for. It was very possible that whoever had left it there in the doorway had done it on purpose.

She was already conflicted enough. As much as she wanted to simply ask the man about his own power, she refrained, still holding that letting him demonstrate again first might be wiser. Exactly how that was going to take place, however, remained to be seen. Wary as she was, the thought preoccupied her as she stepped outside, taking a deep breath of the chill air in the same way she had the night before. The area seemed quite different with the outside lights on, of course... the young woman briefly squinted with

[justthedealer]

"Mutant." Remy was quick to correct her. "I was born dis way." So she wasn't from somewhere that was familiar with mutants. That might or might not work against the whole prejudice thing, but he'd do what he could with what he was given. She didn't exactly have the best of attitudes to begin with. "An' if we're givin' out names, you can call me Gambit." With a name like Lightning, she shouldn't have too much trouble accepting that.

Now that they were outside, the man backed away from the entrance just enough to get a better view of the exterior. It was pretty basic, nothing he hadn't scaled before. Of course then he'd usually had the proper tools needed for the job and right now he was left with nothing but the clothes on his back, some playing cards, a flashlight, a radio, and some pens. This wasn't exactly wall climbing material and as much as he'd been thinking it over on the way out he couldn't quite figure out how to make this wall climbing material. He just had to hope the building itself had some options available

[thestormishere]

Mutant? Lightning's brows drew together as she digested that. Although she'd heard of it, problematic things like mutations or birth defects were rare in Cocoon, due to the advanced health care its residents became entitled to at... well, birth. That was especially true of expectant mothers- anything to keep the people mostly happy, of course. Mostly. That same health care hadn't been able to save either of her parents, after all, and she now knew the true reason the fal'Cie had for keeping the world's population complacent. Did they really care about Cocoon's people? Definitely not.

Of course, obviously he wasn't from Cocoon anyway. At this point, Lightning wasn't sure whether or not he should be glad for it, unusual 'mutant' traits aside. "I see... 'Gambit' it is," she answered simply, echoing what he'd said earlier, and left it at that. It was a strange name for a strange person, but she certainly wasn't one to judge

[justthedealer]

Remy kept close to his new companion, if only so that they wouldn't get too separated in the dark. If there were indeed monsters here, that would be when they'd strike. The flickering lights made that easier for now, but it also made it easier to be distracted by possible fleeting shapes out of the corners of his eyes. It felt for a moment as if they were already surrounded, beasts waiting right where the darkness began, and he kept one hand on the pack of cards in his pocket

[doyoustillsee]

[From here]

Wherever this place was, it looked the same, felt the same, largely even smelled the same as "outside" did back on Kanda's Earth. A little more polluted, but like many things, Kanda didn't pay any attention to that either. He was outside of that wretched building, and it didn't look like there was anyone around to stop him from leaving it for good.

There were two figures already moving down the road ahead of him, but as he watched, they left the road and headed into the forest. What good that would do them, Kanda couldn't begin to imagine. Better to keep to the road, to head to the nearest town to find new clothes to blend in and a method of mass transportation to put some real distance between himself and this place.

It was no wonder no one ever made it out of here, Kanda thought with something approaching disgust as he stepped down off the curb and headed for the open road. It didn't look like anyone ever really tried.

[damned_monsters]

The moonlight was stronger than they liked. Of course, it didn't matter to them if they had light or not as they were nocturnal creatures by nature and thus were accustomed to hunting even on new moon nights, but for their prey? It made all the difference. It meant they could see their shadows slipping over the ground as they circled in the air. It meant their element of surprise was lost. The hunt tonight would be difficult, especially since the lights were on inside. They could see the pale squares of light shining up through the sunlight roof and out of the windows. They hated the light. They hated it so.

The light, however, was not enough to deter them as the giant birds hunkered up to the edge of the building. Their curved talons gripped the plaster and concrete, digging holes into the walls, as they waited for people to come out. A few at first, ones that didn't entirely appetize them and a few that were promising, but with too many others.

Then he came. Alone. Walking across the open road. Alone.Two juvenile

...lol Kanda = SO DOOMED. X'D

[doyoustillsee]

It was a bright night--bright enough that Kanda could see his shadow stretching out beside him on the ground...and the way it kept moving when it shouldn't have. He did his best to ignore it, but he'd never been very patient, so he'd only walked 100 metres or so away from the building before he'd stopped, head down, watching his shadow through suspiciously narrowed eyes.

And at first, nothing happened. It behaved like any regular shadow would have.

Then, just as he was getting ready to write it off as another stupid illusion--his shadow gave an unmistakable writhing twist. Eyes widening slightly, muscles tensed, Kanda watched, waiting for it (or someone, something else) to attack, for the shadow-controlling Akuma or Noah to reveal themselves, for something else to happen; when nothing did, the Exorcist scowled, giving a sneering sort of snort as he started forward down the road again. Pointless, just a waste of someone's energy. How stupid

He will learn to never go out alone again 8)

[damned_monsters]

They missed and the birds careened off in two directions, one to the right and the other to the left. The disliked missing on their initial dive. It meant that attacking would be more difficult. They'd need to keep at the prey rather than just drag it off into the sky and drop it to the ground. Most people couldn't survive a fall from thirty stories up. It was messy, but it worked.

Now they'd need to actually hunt this thing. How annoying. The aquilas' scream filled the air, a bone-chilling noise that seemed to ricochet off the buildings into a sharper, more piercing sound. They came back around as one, the two of them flapping their wings to gain altitude and speed as they curved back towards Kanda. One came at his back, talons raked forward, aiming at his injured side, while the other waited to see where he could roll.

[buryyourdemons]

[from here]

The outside was much as it was the night before--the difference only in occupants. The sounds gave away the sounds of fighting but as they weren't close, he only remained wary. First, the task at hand. Then he would move differently.

Gaara stepped to the side of the door and crouched, loosening his hold on the cloth to allow a trickle of sand to escape and nestle into the ground. His hand touched away, speeding the process. As much as he was able. Unmoving, he answered his sister, actions explaining more than his words. "Gathering."

[bothersomewoman]

Everything that Shikamaru had said made sense, and that kept Temari's reaction to his hold tempered to nothing more than equally narrowed eyes. Did he think that she didn't want to stop, to figure out what was going to happen to them and somehow try to prepare for the damage? But Temari's loyalty ultimately fell to her village and to her brother, and she had followed Gaara outside--but not without grabbimg hold of Shikamaru's wrist to make sure he followed

[toobothersome]

Against his better judgment, Shikamaru allowed himself to be pulled outdoors into stark moonlight, where the existence of shadow itself couldn't be eliminated by a flick of a flashlight button. Complete darkness was an odd exemption, something he'd never had to use in a fight, but he'd seen enough of his own shougi pieces returned to play under his opponent's control to know that it could be more wise to make oneself helpless than risk having one's strength used against them

[buryyourdemons]

Gaara felt his mind split, a familiar sensation not unlike the mindset derived in missions when focus must be kept on many different points. He listened without any response as Shikamaru spoke, knowing his sister would ask any questions that needed asking. To know that only night was a definite was something worth knowing. He had felt weaker during the day, but it didn't occur to him that even this little that he could do now would be further gone with morning's light