nowyouseeit | [WEEK 3: Tuesday evening, the library; Jay, Yukina]

[WEEK 3: Tuesday evening, the library; Jay, Yukina]

[he can still feel it. the sting from yesterday's sacrifice lingers in his index finger, a tiny ghost that can't be exorcised. the memory of his stomach dropping and turning inside out at the news of Dave's death is as fresh as the memory he's making now, as he walks up to the locked library with Yukina and Jay in tow. but even clearer than any of that, and what Kaito had decided to hold onto, because fuck it if he would ever let this place get to him, are Craftly's words]

["The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. That... that is what you must contend with. Your contract is binding and thus, until the very end... you must face the unknown."]

[he never thought this job would be easy. not from the very beginning, when it was obvious he was going to have the point a gun at a living being and pull the trigger in order to end this farce of a game with as many survivors as possible. so even with the pain from yesterday-- physical, and emotional-- still lingering in his mind, Kaito manages to hold his head up high. he promised he would, and he is if nothing a man of his word]

All right.

[a head that he tilts towards Jay and Yukina once they're standing in front of their target building, of course]

According to Jay's map, this is the library. Are you guys ready?

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[ STYX THAT'S TOO SPECIFIC

jay just... sloooowly turns to look at where they have the best view of the monster, wondering just how stupid their deaths are gonna look to the others?? probably very stupid??? they should probably like, try to find a hiding spot but if they move too quickly they might make more noise and what is with the acoustics in this damn library ]

[Yukina brings both her hands up to her mouth to keep from making a sound. This is bad. This is very, very bad.

Maybe they should have taken off their shoes and just walked around in socks before trying to climb the stairs.

Hindsight is 20/20, but it won't stop them from getting killed. She stays silent and wills the beast to go the fuck to sleep.

(That picture book was more prophetic than she knew.)]

[Their deaths are, indeed, going to be stupid as heck. They should have totally taken their shoes off before braving the stairs, but it's too late for that. The monster is uncurling, it's beady eyes glancing around the library before settling on them. Immediately, it reveals its mouth — a maw full of sharp teeth located on its torso as opposed to its head. The sound it produces is so foreign and vile that it will give all three of them a sharp pain in their inner ears for the next 10 hours, almost as if their eardrums were rejecting what they were being forced to hear.

This is quickly followed by subtle vibrations in the ground around them. The carpet will begin to shift, small bumps moving beneath it until something breaks through to the surface. Hundreds of grotesque creatures rush towards them, black foam frothing from their mouths as they move in eerie synchrony.

The gang should probably like, you know, super duper run for their lives. Maybe run up the stairs and pray the weird man rats are allergic to steps.]

[they hecked up]

[they hecked up so bad]

RUN!

[Kaito bellows the word without thinking, deciding right then and there that he isn't going to wait and see what those creepy man rats are. he reaches out to snag both Jay and Yukina by their wrists, bolting up the stairwell seconds later, totally dragging them with him. it's. it's instinct, mostly, Kaito please they can run on their own]

[ HE CAN DEFINITELY RUN ON HIS OWN, THANKS, and normally he would make a bigger fuss about that but he's too busy concentrating on getting ready to play whack-a-rat with his cleaver in case any get too close. also normally, he would take note of the fact that these are probably the same creatures that jake mentioned, but the horrible pain ringing in his head now is making it hard to concentrate on anything but getting the fuck out. ]

Should we try hiding somewhere?!

[ he has no clue what the heck is even going to be up these stairs so who knows if they can even find a hiding spot ]

Edited 2017-06-08 02:31 (UTC)

[THIS IS THE WORST.

Yukina's sort of used to getting dragged along, though, so she manages not to stumble when he pulls her - though she's finding, very quickly, that a kimono is not the greatest thing to be in when moving quickly. It's definitely slowing her down.

Her grip on the knife tightens, and she makes a small noise of terror as the rats get closer. Up the stairs, up the stairs...]

We have to get out! If we die here-

[Why did all three of them come at once?

...was this some kind of a plan to get them all killed? Why didn't Craftly stop them? How are the others supposed to survive without Kaito's gun to kill the prophets-?]

A window. Kaito-san, we have to find a window, we have to get you out of here...!

[The creatures are too fast, gaining on them far too quickly for comfort. Though Jay and Yukina will be able to take out some of them with their blades, there is nothing they can do to stop them from leaping at them and latching onto their flesh. Jay, in particular, will get multiple bites from the creatures before the three of them can make it upstairs. His skin will bubble and burn, black foam seeping into the injuries and quickly being absorbed into his bloodstream. The affected area will gain a sickly, green color within the next few hours — and by Friday morning he will have gained dozens of small eyes around the injury. Each of them will move independently of each other, and none will move under his command. The affected area will smell distinctively putrid, like an eye infection gone septic.

Fortunately(?) for them, the larger beast stomps forward, causing several books and shelves to fall. Many of the small creatures will be crushed under them, but the rest will remain skittering around the first floor. Hissing and snapping their teeth at the group, it's definitely not advisable for them to return downstairs.

On the second floor they will find a multitude of old desks, tables and chairs. Toppled over and damaged, they may serve as a hiding spot if they can get to them quickly enough. There are, strangely enough, no shelves or books in this area. Instead, an elegant chandelier hangs high from the ceiling. Glass windows illuminate the room, but it's quite a drop from here to the ground. They won't get away unharmed if they try that right now. In the middle of the room is the same hole they were able to spot from downstairs. The hole which, now that they're up here, looks like it was made by something large breaking through the ground from below.

Something large, like the monster downstairs.

From above and around them, they can hear the telltale sound of hissing. Below them, the beast's sickening roars and the "rats" as they move around. And the more noise is produced downstairs, the more trouble manifests for them. Particularly, spiders the size of their heads. They drop down from the ceiling, covering the windows on the west wing and obscuring their most immediate way out. Some of them may even drop on top of them.

It's fight or die now, kids.]

All three of us have to get out of here, not just me, so both of you keep running. . .!

[that's in response to Yukina's yelling, and before he can say anything else those gross man rats start leaping at them. Kaito has no sharp weapons, but he does have a handgun and he knows how to pistol whip things!! don't ask how, guys]

[he lets go of Jay's wrist and yanks the firearm from his belt, swings it around and knocks as many of those creepy things aside as he can as they run. he curses audibly when some of them latch onto Jay, does his best to whack those ones as well (if Jay doesn't get them first with his sharp weapon), but at least by then the vibrations of Fluffy's stomping knocks bookshelves over, crushing the. . . things. . . before they can follow them up the stairwell]

[Kaito's panting by the time they reach the second floor, and his eyes light up when he sees the window. he's dealt with harsh falls before, managed to descend from second story windows and come out of the plummet unharmed, so he thinks he can handle it. . . but then he remembers the other two are with him, and-- well. they'll have to figure something out. the window is their only choice, if they don't want to die here]

Look! Through there!

[and he bolts for said window, Yukina's wrist still in his grip. but the brief flicker of hope is crushed as the spiders suddenly descend from the ceiling and block their closest exit. he slams on the breaks and practically trips, skidding across the ground as he tries back up back up back up because fuck spiders]

[fuck this whole library, honestly]

[ the bites come as a surprise, but not too much of a big one. he's gotten bitten in fights before, living on an island filled with monster, so for now he doesn't pay too much mind to it. it hurts, but as long as he can fight and as long as it doesn't slow him down too considerable, it's fine. he'll deal with it once they're out of here.

unlike kaito, who stops, jay immediately goes to attack the closest spiders. while he's not as fast as he normally would be because of his injury, he's still quick and he's still good with a blade. he prefers long distance combat, but he only has one weapon on him (two, if you count the scalpel in his pocket) and he doesn't think he'd get them back if he throws them.

he doesn't really move too far from kaito and yukina though, mostly just trying to get rid of the spiders that are too close?? but, you know, injured and there's a lot of them, so who knows how well that goes. ]

[There's a window, it's just ahead of them, they're going to make it -

Those hopes are utterly dashed as the spiders descend from the ceiling, and she barely manages to muffle a gasp before Kaito is backing up. She's not so quick to change direction, and it unbalances her, sending her to the ground before she can catch herself.

She yanks her wrist out of Kaito's grasp - after all, she doesn't want to slow him down.

A moment later, one of the spiders lands on her, and she lets out a shriek as she slashes at it with the knife. It's easier said than done, and she doesn't know if her attack will hit - all she knows is that she needs to get back on her feet, to regroup, to get out of here with Kaito and Jay before something terrible happens.

Yukina isn't ready to die yet.]

No—!

[The spiders, while not numerous, are large. Large enough to overtake them if they don't move quickly, and while Kaito and Jay will be able to fend off their attacks while relatively unharmed... the same cannot be said of Yukina. The last swing of her knife takes the spider's head clean off, but that only causes blood to spill out of its carcass and onto her body. Viscous and thick, the "blood" turns out to be a potent acid. It will burn through layers of her skin, giving her first and second degree burns on several areas of her body. Arms, collarbone and whatever else is in range of the acid — Yukina's going to come out of this experience with some scarring. But for now, she needs to focus on staying alive.

The spiders continue to descend as Fluffy stomps around in the first floor. He's moved to the west wing now, tentacles and claws trying to reach for them through the staircase. They're fortunate enough that it hasn't put those wings to good use by leaping up the chasm on the ground, but their luck will run out if they don't move quickly. Between the large beast, the spiders and the man-rats slowly filtering upstairs, remaining on the west end will only result in their deaths.

What now?]

[Kaito had been swinging at the spiders with his weapon, trying to keep them at bay as much as possible. but then Yukina trips, and one lands on top of her, and the flash of her knife takes off its head, and he darts to her side in an instant.]

East! We've got to move east!

[the windows there aren't blocked, they still have a chance, they just need to move]

[ he glances at yukina, wincing at what he can see of the damage. he can tell that will scar later and is probably unbearably painful now, but just like with his bites, it's a problem that will have to be dealt with later.

jay lets kaito deal with getting yukina back on her feet as he attempts to clear a path for them, heading eastward. but then there's... the hole. ]

We're going to have to cross it!

[On instinct, she brings up her arms to shield her face - and it's probably a good thing that she does, because her arms manage to keep any of it from getting in her eyes. Some of it splatters onto her left cheek, though, and she hisses through her teeth before trying to wipe it away with the palm of her hand - another mistake, as it just ends up smearing it.

It hurts. Everything hurts, and she knows from experience that screaming it out won't help, so she struggles to her feet when Kaito comes to her side.]

Don't touch me! [She hisses.] I can - I can run. But don't touch the blood.

[The acid is eating through parts of her kimono, and though it's hard to move in, at least the layers are keeping it from spreading too much. The worst of it is her arms, her collarbone, and the bits that have slipped down under her collar because of the angle - but she can take stock of the damage later.

East. They have to go east. They have to survive.

If it wasn't for everything that Tarukane had done to her in the past, she'd be too shell-shocked to move now. As it is, she's able to work through the pain even without her powers to heal up the damage as it comes, so once she's on her feet again, she'll make for the hole along with Jay and Kaito to attempt to cross it.]

[The beast roars as they move for the east side, its claws and tendrils taking out rats and spiders alike in its fury. It doesn't take a genius to figure out it's calling for their blood, slime and ooze flying everywhere as its movements become more frantic. The western staircase, unfortunately, can't handle this much weight. It ends up caving and snapping in half as the monster tries to reach them through it — and with it, it takes out a good portion of the western side of the second floor. The flooring crumbles, desks and chairs alike falling through the cracks and landing downstairs with a resounding crack. Anyone who visits the library in the future is going to have to watch out for splinters, gosh.

All in all, it's good they're moving east. If they move quickly they'll avoid a nasty fall, but that doesn't mean their troubles are over. They still have to cross the chasm, and with only a sliver of flooring on the southern and northern edges of the second floor, they'll have to be careful in how they cross. Better hope their balance is impeccable, or else they're going to become food for the blood gods.]

[it's a good thing Yukina warns him, because Kaito was in the process of reaching out to her. he aborts the motion when she yells at him to stay back, hand clenching into a fist. useless-- there's nothing he can do to help her until they get out of here]

[he bolts for the east end of the floor, nearly tripping as the shocks of the west end collapsing shake underneath his feet. but he comes to a stop at the beginning of the chasm, gaze flickering between the north and south slivers of flooring]

[he steps back, fingers flexing around the handle of his gun, and nods at the other two]

You go first. Let me have your backs. If the big guy catches up to us, I'll shoot.

[he hates using a bullet like this, but. better to be down a bullet than to be dead, right?]

[ jay wants to argue. he agrees with yukina over the fact that out of all of them, kaito is the one who needs to make it out alive the most. craftly is probably disappointed in them over the fact that they put the hunters' mission at risk by all three of them coming here.

"it is my duty to keep you from doing anything incredibly ill-advised."

they're going to have to apologize to him later, if they all make it out of this.

still, kaito is right. even though both jay and yukina are armed, they can only really take out the smaller creatures with their weapons. and any case, they can only attack if the beast gets too close, and if that happens it'll be over. at least with kaito's gun, he has distance on his side. so jay goes first, mostly so he can fight off anything that might suddenly show up from in front of them. and if the path breaks or something, it'd be better if he falls to his death than yukina. ]

Please be safe-

[As safe as any of them can be when there's a raging tentacle beast out for their blood, anyway.

Yukina's expression is deeply concerned as Kaito stays behind and as Jay forges on - once he's made it part of the way there, she starts after him, glancing over her shoulder and hoping that Kaito will catch up with them soon.]

[As they cross the chasm, they'll find the best way to go about it is to press their backs to the wall as they carefully make their way to the other side. That, of course, is easier said than done. The beast rages on, its movements strong enough to cause the building to shake violently. It's a wonder the Library hasn't come down around them, but perhaps that's due to the sigils outside of its walls. A protective charm meant to keep the Library's guardian right where it belongs.

Yukina and Jay will make it across safely, if not covered in dust from the building and blood from their own injuries. Kaito, who has remained relatively unscathed until now, will not be nearly as fortunate. For you see — though the beast is a creature of instinct, it's still capable of analyzing its environment. When it notices the three hunters have begun to move east, it follows. The only warning they will get is a deafening roar, terrible enough to their senses that it causes their vision to shake and blur.

The next thing Kaito will know is that he's been impaled through his shoulder, one of the beast's smaller appendages holding him up like a humanoid shish-kabab. It yanks him down, pulling him off his feet and towards the second floor. Suspended in the air by his shoulder, Kaito will have to think fast unless he wants to be eaten alive.

After all, he only has a couple of seconds before the monster tosses him into its mouth and chews him up. Nice.]

[relief courses through him as Yukina and Jay make it across the chasm. they're going to be okay, they'll be fine, they'll be alive, even if they'll have to treat some injuries later--]

[and the next thing he knows his shoulder is burning, white hot with pain that pierces through him like electricity. he's vaguely aware of the fact that his feet have left the ground, vaguely aware that he is being suspended in the air by a tendril that has embedded itself in his skin and bone like a hook. vaguely aware of the gaping maw underneath him, full of sharp teeth and stinky saliva and oh god he can't die like this, he can't, he can't]

[it's fortunate the creature grabbed him by the shoulder of the arm that wasn't holding the gun. with a yell, adrenaline pumping through his veins and telling him to survive god damn it, he levels his handgun at that mouth. at the creature that snaps at him hungrily from below]

[his finger twitches on the trigger]

[and he shoots]

Edited 2017-06-08 19:56 (UTC)

Kaito!

[ he almost runs right back to where kaito is, but stops when he reaches the edge because of the sound of gunfire. he's so dead, how is a bullet going to stop something like that? ]

Kaito-san...!!

[Oh god oh god he's going to die, isn't he-? What can they do? There has to be something they can do...

Yukina starts back along with Jay, but also stops at the edge. They don't have ranged weapons... There's nothing they have that can stop the beast.]

[What happens next is probably not what they expect.

The Gangster's rules are simple. Four shots, each intended for those "who have selected to speak the words of monsters." What Kaito's handbook does not specify, however, is how effective it will be on monsters themselves. Neither does it specify how, exactly, his aim will be true. As Kaito pulls the trigger, an invisible force will steady his hand and redirect the focus towards the beast's head. Golden lights will burst from the muzzle, and for an instant, Kaito will be unable to smell anything but sulfur and copper. A moment later, the bullet lands smackdab in the center of the beast's forehead.

Its head blows up in a mess of gore; slime, blood and slippery flesh coat the library's walls, floor and ceiling. All three of them will be unable to avoid getting hit with the stuff, though Kaito in particular will be absolutely covered in it — but that's not as pressing as what happens next. Now that the monster is dead, he'll find himself falling to the ground along with the rest of its body. The impact will definitely give him more injuries for the road, and from his position, he'll see a dog tag hanging from the remains of the beast's collar.

The engraving says "Fluffy" in neat, cursive script. Cute.

A second later, someone sighs. Warm breath brushes against the Hunters's neck as the Library is plunged into darkness.]

She didn't give you a gun so you would kill my dog, little one. [Says a feminine voice, identical to the one they heard when they first entered the building.] But what else can be expected from three nimrods? Go to sleep and don't bother us until next week.

[An intense drowsiness will take over them, causing Yukina and Jay to pitch forward and crumple to the ground.

They'll wake up a hour later on the floor of Room 112, sloppily applied bandages and emergency dressings (in Kaito's case) around their injuries. Someone will have left a bottle of fish antibiotics (amoxicillin) and a sling on top of the pull out couch, but they'll need to hunt down any additional medical supplies.

They might also need a bath to get the gore off of their hair and clothes but, eh. You're welcome, kids.]

Edited 2017-06-08 20:53 (UTC)

[WHY FISH]

[WHY!!]

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[WEEK 3: Tuesday evening, the library; Jay, Yukina]

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bon appetite mon amies

PHANTOM THIEF IS NOT ON THE MENU!!

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