Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[yaint]

For a man who claimed to be the lesser idiot of the pair of them, Daryl certainly did not have the thought to be gentle with Jackson's fragile body. "Easy, eas- whoa!" he cried as he was lifted about three storeys in the air, forced to watch the churning, bottomless abyss beneath him until he was pulled into the vent.


"There you are!" came Claire's voice from somewhere not too far in front. She must have gone in with Lorn right behind her, but still her nose picked up those familiar scents. "Everyone's moving real quick-like, y'know. They're sayin' there are turnings all over the place."


"Great," Jackson mumbled into Daryl's shoes, biting his tongue so that he would not feel queasy in such a strange position. "Let's just hope... Ugh, that n-nobody gets lost. I can't see a bloody thing. Just - whatever. Daryl, let's get moving when Bella makes it. Wait, is - I can't feel it, Bella, are you in safely yet? That's everyone, right..?"

 

[Yoki]

"Yeah. I'm good." Bella had already gotten inside with the wheelchair when Jackson had called, although...it was a rather awkward fit, "Will you guys be quiet now? You realise where we are, don't you?" Honestly, she just didn't want to get caught in there, someone would get stabbed to death with a quinque...she didn't want to be that someone... Once everyone was inside they could be as loud as they wanted... Actually, that was probably also a bad idea. Whatever. They'd see. 


Daryl started to move forwards as others did, already getting annoyed with Jackson clinging to him, but he could deal with it for the time being. They just had to get out quickly. 


"Well...let whoever is at the front deal with it..." He muttered, "They chose to get in first so they can deal with directions... It'll be fine, just shut the fuck up..." Honestly. Climbing through vents was not on his bucket list, and he shouldn't be joking to himself in such a serious situation, but who cared? They were in now, one way or another they were going to get into a fight. "Let's just get outta here." 

 

[yaint]

"S-Sorry, Bella." It was too dark inside that tunnel for anybody to see, but at that moment Jackson's face flushed red. Knowing that they would be found as soon as they entered the building was no reason to blow the operation so early on. The more time they could by to work in secret, the better, and Bella was right to be nervous.


The group began to move forwards through the vent, shuffling awkwardly around tight corners when the tunnel closed off in front of them. Barely a whisper was passed from person to person but for the occasional 'watch out, there's a drop'. They just kept moving forwards, sometimes wondering if they were trapped or where the first opening would take them. 


After what felt like hours, however, there was another whisper passed back. Something about a way out, about an investigator. Jackson heard none of it until Claire tried to quietly pass the message down to Lorn: "They're sayin' there's an openin' but there are doves talkin' in the room so we gotta turn around. Lorn, where's your hand at?" The girl fumbled blindly behind her until her fingers found his. She grabbed hold, shuffled around and accidentally kicked the person who had been in front of her.


Jackson felt like melting into the metal around him at the thought of having to turn the opposite way, but something about that announcement made him stop and think. "Wait a minute," he hissed. "Doves? Daryl, d-did she say Doves? What are they talking about?"

 

[Yoki]

"Claire. Sh." Lorn squeezed her fingers, shaking his head, even he at this point was telling her to be quiet...though whether it was out of worry for being found or not couldn't be told by the tone of his voice. It seemed like he just thought she should be quieter when speaking. 


"Saying there's some in the room." Daryl muttered, shaking his head, "Y'know, if I was at the front I'd just go in, take 'em out." He sighed, obviously disappointed that they might have to turn around... They could just wait, see if they left, go in...but that might take too long. This wasn't any good at all. His brow furrowed when he went through what Jackson had said first in his head, "Wait..." The man hissed, "Why?"


This was so much more hassle than Bella wanted... They had to get somewhere where she she could set up a wheelchair again, and then they had to go and...holy shit she was nervous. More nervous than she thought she would be....if this failed then they were going to have a lot of doves on their tails, and a lot of trouble. 

 

[yaint]

Claire, having clumsily turned around so that she was for once face to face with the boy wearing the red mask, forgot for a moment that they were being quiet. She retorted to Lorn's instruction by stamping at the floor with the palms of her hands, and then someone pinching her foot made her realise her mistake.


The ghouls all fell silent. Jackson stared into space, and an unfamiliar voice that sounded like it was miles away stated, "Wait, I just heard something."


"The subject, Ma'am?" someone else from the faraway place inquired.


"No, it's as though... Nothing. Forget it."


Silence reigned once more. The people, whom Jackson assumed to be investigators, continued on with their conversation. Whispering of a captive held for interrogation echoed back through the hollow chamber for several minutes before anyone deemed it safe to move again.


"That was close," the ghoul at the front began with a huge but silent breath, "You should think before you act, girl. There was a turning a way back to the left which we can try instead. It's got about a three-metre vertical drop, so you'll want to be careful. No need to turn around if we all shuffle backwards a little way."


The instructions were so quiet that several people had to repeat them in chunks to those out of earshot. Jackson heard the message loud and clear when Claire dared to use her voice again. "Bella, we have to - to go backwards a little," he told her, "Do you think you c-could grab on to my feet for a moment? We won't be in here too much longer, I sw- I swear. As soon as we find an empty room, we go."

 

[Yoki]

'The subject,' Lorn mouthed to himself as news of someone being held for interrogation drifted past his ears. Once he was content with whatever he'd been thinking up, he shrugged and started to turn around with the others... There was something to do whilst everyone else decided to work on freeing the other ghouls. 


"Uh. Yeah." Bella nodded, grabbing at Jackson's feet and starting to pull backwards, "I just...really hope we're out of here soon like you say." Spaces like this definitely weren't in her comfort zone, and probably weren't in anyone else's either, it was too easy to be caught... 


The group had moved off to the turning, managing to get down the drop without too many issues. Not too long after that drop an empty room had been called out, it wasn't too big, but it was a room nonetheless. They were able to get out there, get prepared, and leave... Although, they may have to be quick if they didn't want to get caught by anyone. 


"Fuck this passage... Fuck  vents..." Daryl muttered, "Can you just tell them to hurry the fuck up already, god fucking damn." Obviously, he was getting very agitated being stuck in a small space without any leg room for such a long period of time... Anyone sensible and normal would have gotten pissed off at that surely. The man was in the perfect mood to kill a couple of doves, or...maybe a couple dozen, yeah, that sounded about right. "Get the fuck out, get the fuck out..." He muttered to himself, waiting as the line shuffled forwards. 

 

[yaint]

Two white sparks flashed in the distance as the leading navigator made a quick check back on all of his followers trapped between the suffocating walls,  his eyes dancing across their silhouettes trapped in the darkness of his shadow. "We're working on it," he confirmed. "There's an empty room here. Heads down, I'm going to try and break through."


That announcement was less warning than everyone would have liked. Claire had craned her neck to peer past her own shoulder at Lorn, and the first deafening crash from up ahead shocked her into kicking back. "My bad!" she cried when her foot whacked the boy's jaw. 


"Shh!" several people from both her front and back hushed. But their efforts were worthless, because another enormous screech of muscle on metal rang through the air


 Again and again, that earsplitting noise returned, triggering flinching and cringing in waves with every iteration. Then, suddenly, the front ghoul's voice came back. "Go, go, go!" he demanded, and then his voice trailed off as light drowned the edges of the vent around everyone else's silhouette. 


People started crawling over the metal teeth which lined the opening. One by one, the ghouls dropped down head-first and cartwheeled onto their feet. Mimicking Lorn's show-off nature, Claire attempted an impressive backflip as part of her landing sequence. "C'mon then!" she called at the younger male, beckoning with both arms and bouncing on her knees with anticipation.

 

[Yoki]

As Claire's heel connected with Lorn's jaw there wasn't even a grunt of pain from the boy, not like the time Callum had hit him and he'd yelped, no, this time he didn't even react. Instead he simply batted her foot away and wiped his cheek, continuing to stay silent... It was definitely new for the boy. 


"Fucking hell..." Daryl muttered from the back, putting his head in his hands for a moment. Although he didn't have much time to complain about the children, as soon all he could hear was the clanging and banging as the grate was opened up before them. Well that definitely wasn't quiet. "Fuck...we're gonna have doves on our asses." Once they got out of here they'd immediately be thrown into combat, there was no way someone didn't hear that noise. 


Everyone had started to climb out, Lorn following Claire with an equally impression handspring as he exited the pipe, brushing himself off. He could see the girl's excitement, and he mimicked it, grinning and nodding before grabbing her wrist to head towards the door. They were going to have to stay in smaller groups to fight, stronger people more split up... They all needed to defend themselves and their team if they wanted this to succeed. 


Once Daryl was out most people had already managed to file into their teams, others moving around. It was strange to think that they were inside of a ghoul detention centre, but this was where it got dangerous... Bella was out after she'd pushed Jackson a little bit and had Daryl catch him, before they had both proceeded to rather quickly set up the wheelchair. With them in the back it was unlikely anyone would have seen. 


"Masks down!" 


This was it. 

 

[yaint]

No windows. All lights dead. Long shadows stretching across an already-dark floor made rows of hospital beds, a familiar sight to Jackson, look disorienting and strange. 


When the rest of the party had got out and heard nothing but the distant hum of electricity, they thought for a moment that their less-than-cunning escape had gone without attracting any unwanted attention. Claire squeezed Lorn's hand tight as she stumbled after him on her tip-toes. "We made it," she hissed, her yellowed teeth baring in a wide grin. Then the door at the end of the room slammed open.


"Hands up!" A tall figure towered in the doorway, a cool white light illuminating the edges of her curled hair and the shiny metal of the case in her left hand. "Everyone, on your knees. Any weapons on the floor. Lambert, Jackson, you're coming with us."


"No he ain't!" Before Jackson even had time to realise the very real trouble they were all now in, Claire had leapt up again. Her kagune was out in an instant, black and red eyes flashing with readiness. She had been waiting for a chance to get back at the doves, and she made that very clear when the spines on her dark purple wings hardened and shot at the woman in the doorway.


The woman protected her head and chest with the metal quinque case, but one of the barbs sank through the flesh in her leg. "Yes!" Claire celebrated. Still holding Lorn's hand, she yipped and hopped on the spot. But there was little time to celebrate, because the rest of that woman's squad had crept around the corner. In unison, they dropped their metal cases and a twisting, lethal organic weapon came writhing out of each.


Each investigator paired up with another to find a suitable target. There were six of them in total, and they went for the smaller, weaker-looking individuals first.


One pair were heading straight for Lorn and Claire, the front-most two who had dared to advance beyond everyone else. Claire grabbed at another barb on her wing in readiness, but a slam from one of the investigators' koukaku weapons made her leap away from the boy whose hand she held. She yelped, "Get back!" to her friend, but it was too late.


Now that two of the youngest ghouls had been separated, more duos were free to advance. Whilst Claire's attackers started to round her and Lorn into opposite corners, another pair ran for Caleb and two more at Bella and Jackson.


"Bella!" Jackson warbled in a low voice when an investigator crystallised their quinque and thrust it in warning at the wall between them. Without a quinque or any bullets left for Claire's pistol, he was weaponless, defenseless, forced to trust this woman to fight his battle for him.

 

[Yoki]

"Geeze!" Lorn muttered, hopping to the side as a quinque barrelled down next to him, "Careful with that thing." There was a grin on his face now, although, the doves wouldn't be able to see it...but that didn't matter. He hopped backwards around a meter, dodging another incoming attack as he was surrounded and cut off from Claire. "You guys just don't know when to quit, do you?" Suddenly, his hopping stopped and he stood still, "That's fine, but at least give me a warning." With that, he rolled up his sleeves, diving to the side as another quinque slashed at his head. Where was Claire? Once he was on his feet, his stance changed and those blue eyes of his locking onto his opponent and turned a dark, menacing black and blood red, however, no kagune was released. "If you wanna tango, let's tango." 


"Huh?" Bella definitely wasn't reading for the attack was was aimed right for her, her eyes widened and her eyes turned that familiar black and red and she attempted to release her kagune. However, before those small, wing-like structures could form on her back something long, thin, and pointed had rammed the investigator towards a wall. Daryl.


Bella's eyes locked onto the green orbs her friend possessed, he gave her a nod, and she nodded back before he ran for the investigator in front of him. The help had been great, but she still had one more person to deal with, and so...she did. The woman stood in front of Jackson, her kagune slithering and forming from her back, a large array of hardened sharp releasing towards her opponent. Sure, she wasn't exactly the strongest, but she could hold her own for awhile...just until the others started to fight with her. 


"Get everyone out!" The call was Daryl's all too familiar voice, "It's too cramped!" 


"On it!" Diana's strict voice rang out as she exploded from the back of the crowd. Her eyes were black as the night sky, and her left arm was completely covered in what appeared to be a kagune, sharp, bulky, lethal. It's blade curved, covered in spines and curled in spikes around where the hand would be. She was ready. 


She didn't stop barrelling towards the remaining doves, instead, she did the opposite, jumping at them and slashing straight down. Her attack was, of course, stopped, however, that wasn't the aim of it. She simply wanted to keep them busy. "EVERYONE OUT!" She yelled, "HELP ANYONE IN TROUBLE, THE REST SPREAD OUT!" She pushed on the koukaku quinque attempting to go up against her own, attempting to hold them at an awkward angle as people started to file out of the room, releasing their own kagune once they had the space. 


The minute investigators entered the room, Caleb spooked. He felt his hear rate increasing, he couldn't breathe properly, everything felt...unreal... They were doing this, they were actually doing this... Why did he agree? Why did he come? The boy shook his head, hands coming to his chest as he whimpered and backed up. This was idiotic...he didn't want to kill people, he'd abandoned this, it...it hurt to do this. They all had lives, they had families...he couldn-


Caleb hadn't even noticed the investigators heading straight for him in his panic, but...someone had. His head turned just to see Dane barging into someone with all of his weight in order to put off their aim, his arm was outstretched...or...what would have been his arm. Instead of a hand there was a dark red bulk of muscle that came up his arm and all the way around his shoulder. The end of his kagune had clamped the other investigator's quinque and pulled it to the side, barely missing Caleb's head. It was an awkward and dangerous position to be in, but he wouldn't let Caleb get injured. 


"You okay?" Dane's voice was almost comforting in this situation, but it didn't stop Caleb cowering... He couldn't do this here, Dane would die if he hesitated, others would die if he hesitated...but...either way someone was going to die... But...it couldn't be Dane, anybody but done. 


"Y-Yeah." Caleb swallowed hard, stepping forwards, "I'm fine." He had no choice, he had to help.

 

[yaint]

Confronted by an opposing force more than fifty men strong, the first team of investigators were outnumbered and overpowered, and they knew that they were in trouble. Half of their squad had already fallen to wounds in their stomachs and hearts. Someone's severed head painted a bloody trail across the tiled floor as it rolled beneath one of the beds. 


The sight of so much bloodshed made Jackson want to vomit. It was sick, disgusting, more frightening than he had prepared himself for, and he felt like he was petrified. In the end, it was Diana's call to action which shook him from his state of shock. 


Shielded by a circle of his allies, Jackson tugged at Bella's arm. "Come on," he said, "W-we have to - to get out of here. Let's go." Then he rolled through the swarm of ghouls, glasses slipping down his nose on a film of sweat, and they were out of the strange, ominous hospital room.


Claire joined the group shortly afterwards. There was a gash in her face running from one cheek to the other, but even panting and wiping away the blood trickling down her neck she managed a grin in Lorn's direction. "What was you saying about tangoes few seconds ago?"

 

[Yoki]

"Oh!" Bella felt her arm tugged at as more people dashed for the doves, taking them out at the speed of lightening through sheer force, they were outnumbered, it was stupid for them to have come into such a small space alone when there wasn't much room to move or attack. They couldn't avoid attacks when there were fifty odd ghouls and almost none of them in comparison. 


The woman had followed after Jackson, Daryl not too far behind, at the back there was even more bloodshed, with Dane having been helped out of his position by Caleb stabbing at one of the investigators attacking them with his kagune and another few ghouls from Aegis coming in from behind. Once they'd freed themselves, they too were headed straight for the door. 


"Hm?" Having danced around his attacker and allowed someone else to take them out, Lorn was now leaned up against a wall outside of the door, staring at the kagune that ran from the woman at the front of the group's arm... Her name was Diana, he didn't recognise that, but he recognised how that thing looked... After a good minute or so of staring, Lorn shrugged it off and turned his head again, just to catch eyes with Claire. "Uh," He laughed, shaking his head, "Doesn't matter." Pushing himself off of the wall, he put his hands in his pockets and walked over to the girl, "You got hurt there?" 


"Heads up!" Someone from the left of the two children called as they heard footsteps from down the hallway, it seemed it wouldn't be long until more people arrived...and it was unlikely that this time they were going to come alone. 


"Spread out! Get Jackson to the doors, we've got to get to all floors!" Diana called, urging people in different directions, "Group up!" 

 

[yaint]

Claire melodramatically dropped her weight against Lorn and gasped through her gas mask for the air she needed. As quick as she was, her strength did not last when she had to run and attack simultaneously; the lack of protection on the upper half of her face had let her feel the shock of someone's blade. Still, she insisted, "It ain't so bad. Lookit, it's healin'." Then she raised a finger and tapped at the tough sinew inside her cheek where the flesh was already knitting itself back together. "An' look at this, I got this weird cut on my hand that looks a whole lot like a-"


Crash.


There was no warning but the noise, no time to prepare or even for Claire to realise that this was not the place for conversation. In a second she was on her feet again, her eyes glaring a darker black than before. New spines sprouted from the base of her kagune, ready to fly at the first person to make a move.


*


"Keep your eyes peeled!" Jackson squawked above the noise of a thousand rushed footsteps. "My group especially, we're the - their number one - shit!" 'Number one target', as he had been about to say, was right - he cut off his sentence not because of a pounding headache, but because he had to duck below a spray of crystal shards. He was lucky to have escaped with a few grazes to the hands and legs - had he been any slower, that attack would have slit his throat. The thought made him anxious. Death, he kept brushing with death. People were dying...


These investigators had apparently come from nowhere at all. They swarmed from around the corners of this wide corridor, which people slowly began to realise was lined with cells containing imprisoned ghouls. All those who were conscious were slamming their hands against the glass walls, whooping for the fight and taunting the CCG with their red eyes.


Those ghouls were the people everyone was here to rescue. 


Someone grabbed on to the back of Jackson's wheelchair and thrust something into his hands. It was a quinque, ukaku-type. It wasn't ideal for his level of mobility, but it was better than nothing at all. The weapon wrapped itself around his left forearm and splayed out at the front. "C'mon, c'mon," the person pushing him ushered, "Diana's got the call. Where the hell's this control room?"


"I - I d-don't know. It won't be on this floor, uh, can we find a lift anywhere?"


"Everyone look for an elevator!" the ghoul yelled back to Diana. "Looking for an elevator!" several more of the group echoed. Somewhere within the battle, Tommy-Jones heard the call and kept shouting it back and forth. Every one of the investigators must have heard that, which would be a problem... But at this point, getting as many hands on deck as they could was more important than being sneaky at this moment. Their cover had been blown long ago. 

 

[Yoki]

"Jesus Christ." Lorn sighed, placing his hands in his pockets, "They don't ever give up." He spun on his heels, turning away from the fight, who cared about a bunch of people the others would handle anyway... He just wanted to see if there was anything interesting on the floor, or...how to get down to the next. "So where's this elevator..." 


*


Daryl had moved over in front of Jackson, not wanting any of the stronger doves to reach him, he knew that he should find a target and attack, but he'd rather wait for them to come to him. By now the large hallway was starting to fill with both men and women with quinques in hands, this was going to be quite the fight... He looked around, searching for the others, but...the only person he saw out of the four he wanted to was Bella. Good. At least she was around, maybe the others were able to keep each other safe. 


After motioning to the woman to get with Jackson's group, he turned his attention onto a woman approaching, locking his crimson orbs with her blue and shifting his legs into position. His kagune thrashed against the ground, practically taunting her to approach, if he was going to start a fight it might as well be now... They had to get off this floor, so he had to clear the path for Jackson and the rest of the ground. 


"Let's fucking go." The man growled, practically to himself, darting forwards almost the exact same time the investigator in front of him did. 


"CAREFUL!" Diana jumped in front of a rather reckless male ghoul, knocking his attack's quinque to the side just before it hit the man, "Back up." She muttered, thrashing her blade out at the human man holding the koukaku type quinque. What an even match. She could deal with this. The woman threw her blade forwards, pushing her opponent back as they fought. Everyone had to be on the lookout for that elevator, she could see several ghouls darting through the crowds, others locked up in dangerous fights... She knew she wouldn't be able to save everyone...not with how precise these doves were being, but she could try. She just had to hope that their wit and instinct alone was enough to get them out of a sticky situation. 


"ELEVATOR! - " The call came from further down the hallway to the left, but it was quickly silenced. No one had seen the person who had called, but they were unlikely to ever see them again with how hastily their call had been silenced, in those situations you had to assume the worst. However, they knew the direction, and already people were starting to turn. 



"Move." 


"Down there!" 


"Don't go it alone." 


People were communicating, trying to clear the way to the elevator, groups stayed back to deal with doves, others went to defend their entrance, it was a mess...but...for such a situation, an organised mess. 


"Did you hear that." Bella nudged the ghoul next to her, then looked to Jackson, "That way, come on. Hey!" She waved towards Daryl, "Back us up!" Despite not replying, he did seem to hear, but she didn't want to bother him too much... It'd put him off, and this was no easy feat. "Come on." 

 

[yaint]

Jackson was as good as a running man with a gun. Armed, tensed, with a heartbeat his allies could hear and eyes locked on those doors growing within his field of view. He took a moment to cross himself. When he brought his hand back to his side, his fingers were slick with someone else's blood. 


"Not slowing down, not slowing down," the person behind him cried as they skidded around to avoid someone retching on the floor. A second glance and there was another smaller person shaking their shoulders, clawing at their shirt to stand them up. Callum. The two brothers would get left behind if they weren't quick, but neither showed signs of moving until someone's piercing scream shocked them to their feet. 


It was more of a feeble limp than a run, but they were trailing after everybody in front. Jackson took somebody out just as their shadow appeared on Bella's back. Someone extended their quinque and tangled it into Daryl's kagune, but slowing down wouldn't matter now.


They were already here.


If there was any form of security on these doors, it was at least not on the outside. Someone punched a button with so much force that it sank into the wall, and the elevator doors slid open.


Jackson was the first inside. Others started filling up behind him, squashing themselves into the cramped space until it became a struggle to breathe, even through the masks. "Guys!" Jackson hissed at Daryl, Bella and all of the other figures writhing behind them. Someone had to stick their foot in between the doors to keep them from closing. "Get inside, now!"

 

[Yoki]

There was a slam as Daryl whipped his kagune out behind him, sending someone flying into the wall. He wasn't going for the kill, he just wanted them to get away whilst they all got into the elevator. This was going to be a tight squeeze, and whilst some groups had chosen to stay and defend, it was still difficult to try and fit everyone in. 


Both Bella and Daryl were the last in, after Diana, Caleb, and Dane. Everyone who needed to get in was in, the rest stayed to defend the level, which was good...they needed to keep the doves busy for as long as thy possibly could.


Just as Daryl had gone to slam a button and the doors were about to be released, someone slipped inside, luckily they didn't take up much room. Lorn. The young boy grinned up at the green haired man, who just scowled, he didn't seem bothered by the tight squeeze, in fact he seemed to find this rather amusing, but he moved away from the doors of the elevator and squeezed himself in between a bunch of other ghouls. It was...safer. 


The doors slammed shut suddenly, causing some to jump, and then they were descending, heading down to the lower floors... This...was where it got difficult, even for them. The further down they went, the worse a time they were going to have... All Daryl hoped was that everyone, or at least most, got out alive. It was wishful thinking, but if they got all of the ghouls locked up out...the doves would get overrun for sure. 

 

[yaint]

The elevator creaked and groaned under the weight of too many people. Soon the cables would give, or someone would smash through the glass door encapsulating them like fish in a bowl; there were already cracks in its side, they grew with every hit from an unseen opponent.


Jackson punched buttons without knowing what their numbers meant. There were several locked floors, but where they went didn't matter - they just had to be away, away from here and from all of the bloodshed, even if just for a moment. Faces kept pressing against the walls. People gasped for breath.


'Going down,' said the synthetic voice inside the elevator, and then they dropped.


Several people yelped at the suddenness with which the seemingly solid floor beneath them gave way. A familiar blonde-haired figure wormed her way through the crowds to find Lorn, only to tell him that, "I think I'm gonna throw up." 


"If you're going to be sick, do it that way," Callum wheezed as he and a couple of other ghouls pressed away from the Irish girl, whose face had turned a bloodless grey.


*


Minutes went by. The elevator hissed every few floors as air flooded in and out, and everybody briefly clutched at their aching ears. Jackson had no idea which floor they were even going to until they finally screeched to a halt.


'Doors opening,' the synthetic voice warned. People tensed, ready to pile out into the empty space outside, but when lights flashed on and white gas hissed through the vents, Jackson realised that they had not escaped the danger.


The doors slid open.


Waiting for everyone was a fair-haired man with a round, freckled face. He held a trident in his left hand, its vicious prongs angled away from the person stood next to him. He was an older man, straight-backed and clear of face; no blemishes, no blights. Even his expression was blank. If he had not raised his arm, he could have been mistaken for a white-haired wax sculpture. 


"Kill them," the older man commanded.


The blond investigator tensed the thick muscles on his shoulders. "Yes, Sir," he agreed shakily, and lunged with his trident at the knot of ghouls in the elevator.

 

[Yoki]

Everyone's eyes turned to the duo standing outside of the doors waiting for them as the now rickety elevator opened up. 


"Of fucking course." Daryl muttered, he should have expected this, everyone probably knew that they were there...if they saw the elevator coming down. No. He didn't have time to dwell. The older of the two males had already dished out an order to the younger, who had immediately readied a rather dangerous looking trident. "Fucking great." Daryl shifted his feet to move as the man lunged...but...someone got in before him. 


A shape broke from the crowd, barely missing the trident that was held up and ramming their full body into the other man to try and send the two toppling backwards. It was a dangerous move, but it could have just saved a hell lot of people from death or severe injury... Daryl recognised that hair, that build. Dane. Dane...was he fucking crazy!? 


"EVERYBODY OUT!" His voice was sharp and extremely loud, in seconds he'd pushed through to move out of the small space and into the open, Dane had just given them an exit, and whether they could see properly or not, it didn't matter... They had to take the opportunity and use it to the best of their ability, "SPREAD OUT!" 


"Ohohoho." Lorn laughed, grabbing Claire's wrist, "C'mon, this is just starting to get interesting." Without asking the girl, he started forwards, dragging her along behind him and out to the side. He didn't look like he was about to get involved in the fight, in fact, he just looked like he was having a lot of fun watching it all transpire.

 

[yaint]

Jackson saw it happen even after he closed his eyes. That man, the one with the boyish face and those bright, curious green eyes. He lunged with his trident, skewering them like pigs on a spit-roast. And not one person screamed in agony, because when Jackson opened his eyes he realised that none of the nightmare was real.


Dane had saved them all.


"I swear you're crazy, I do!" Claire shrieked as she stumbled out after the boy, her wrist flying in front of her whilst she struggled to keep up. "An' I still think I'm gonna throw up!"


Mouth agape in horror, Jackson could only watch as Dane resisted the man with the trident. He had caught their enemy by surprise with that quick-thinking, but it was quickly becoming apparent that he was not the strongest of the two. The blond man's muscles barely even trembled. He flipped Dane around as easily as though the ghoul were a doll, and in one swift movement he struck the ridges of the man's spine with the butt of his trident.


Crack.


Someone was already carting Jackson out of the elevator, but he saw the way Dane's lower body went limp. He saw the way that the investigator raised his trident and readily aimed its prongs at the man's ribcage.


This person was going to kill Dane, and Jackson could not watch. He closed his eyes and prayed for the man he had never called his friend as he and the ghouls around him fled the area like cowards.

 

[Yoki]

"You betcha!" Lorn laughed, skipping backwards, but keeping out of vision, "Pick your feet up." Without so much as looking back, Lorn had carried on, not because he was afraid...but because there were other things to do. 


That crack was horrendous, it shook both Bella and Daryl to the core, they were frozen in position...unable to move as their friend's back as cracked because of his foolish yet insanely brave act. It was unreal, he couldn't die. Dane, although somewhat irritating with his teasing, was part of the glue that held them together... He came into their little group and quickly because family, he cared for them all, despite Daryl's temper, Kedin's moody nature, Bella's bossy attitude, Nathan's habit to never join in with the family, Rachael's late nature, and...Caleb's negative view of the world and himself. Through all of that he'd stayed with them, every fight, every argument, he'd kept them together... He'd gone from that kid with no future but crime to someone well rounded and deserving of everything life had to offer, if anything...he was the last person that deserved to die in that facility. And to think, he risked his life to save that of other's yet again... Just like he always did. 


No. Not it wouldn't happen. He wasn't going to be allowed to die, not him. Daryl gritted his teeth, his eyes locked on that trident aimed above his friend's rib cage. They might fight, they might argue, but Dane was his brother and nothing would change that. He'd always fight for him. No matter what. 


The man was ready to jump forwards, to attack, to stop that trident hitting, but then...then there was an ear piercing scream. It sounded like the person was in agony, like their body had just been ripped in two and that was the only sound that they could possibly make. Honestly, it reminded Daryl of someone being torture, slowly, painfully, but...it didn't come from Dane. 


All eyes turned towards the source of the noise, but as quickly as it had started, it had ended again. And then something else ripped its way through the crowd. Like lightening a long, sleek appendage with two points at the end that almost looked like a mouth struck out at the blond man aiming for Dane's ribs. Three more appendages followed, two striking for the shoulders, one to knock away the trident, another aimed towards his head. 


The person they belonged to had already stepped forwards, already made their way out of the crowd, teary eyed but obviously full of rage. And...it was the last person anyone expected to see. 


Caleb. 


"D-D-DON'T Y-YOU T-...TOUCH HIM!" It was obvious it took a lot of force for him to even utter one word, but he forced them all out, his voice breaking at certain points, "I-I'll- I'll...K-KILL YOU!" The boy's last two words were screamed as he balled his hands into fists and moved forwards again, he was afraid, hurt, but he wouldn't let Dane be killed...no way. 


"DON'T..." The male on the floor cough, this was stupid, no way...no way was Caleb doing this. Dane moved his arm, going into his pocket. It was fine, Caleb didn't have to, he didn't need to, it really was all fine. He'd done this to himself after all. "...don't...don't be stupid..." It hurt to talk, he couldn't really move, he'd pretty much accepted his fate after ramming into this guy...but...he should have expected it. And...he was being ignored. 


"HOLY FUCKING..." Daryl cursed, "GET BACK HERE! DON'T DO THAT!" He agreed with Dane on this one, Daryl could take this guy...he could deal with him, but Caleb... The guy was practically a kid, he didn't fight anyone, he was the most passive person Daryl knew. Pitting a guy like that against a dove like this... It was certain death... "DID YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?! BACK THE FUCK OFF!" 

 

[yaint]

'Don't you touch him!'


That was the voice of the purest, hottest rage any living being could muster, and Jackson recognised what that meant even from the distance over which he had fled. Caleb had seen everything, and anger had turned him suicidal. Throwing himself into that... Dane was not a weak man. Taking on this enemy was as good as throwing one's life away - or it would have been, but then something odd happened. The blond haired man's head whipped up. He made eye contact with the monster Caleb had unleashed, and a second later Dane's body had fallen from his grip.


"I'm sorry," the investigator insisted. "I didn't - I was only-"


"Associate Special Class," a low voice growled back. The white-haired man loomed in the shadows, just out of reach. His expression was stony, dark and unreadable. The investigator looked back for instruction. "Kill. Them."


The boyish investigator nodded solemnly. "Yes Sir," he murmured. Carefully he stepped over Dane and twirled the trident between his fingers. It snapped to a halt with the prongs pointed in Caleb's direction. Everyone else was gone. This boy, this entity of fury, was the largest danger remaining and logic deduced that he was at the top of the kill list.


Slowly, his steps heavy with reluctance, the investigator advanced. He found the gap between the boy's writhing kagune and hurled the trident directly at his stomach.

 

[Yoki]

Caleb was whimpering, crying, obviously he knew what being down like that meant for Dane. Someone was going to kill him, and if he didn't protect him then...then who would? But...he was afraid, and the investigator in front of him would easily be able to tell that from just looking as his shaky, tear-filled, blue eyes. 


It was like everything the male in front of him said went right through him, Caleb couldn't hear any of it...all he could hear was the sound of rushing blood in his ears. His arms were wrapped around is diaphragm, and his eyes stared straight forwards, but...they seemed to be looking at nothing at all...he wasn't focusing...he couldn't focus. They were trying to kill Dane. Dane was going to die. No, no no no... He wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let them take him away. This was a bad idea, he'd said this was a bad idea, why did no one listen to him? No. 


That blank look on his face didn't stop the boy from side stepping the investigator's attack. His eyes looked down as he avoided the trident, but they showed no sign of even registering that he nearly got stabbed. His mind was somewhere else, his body reacting as if needed to so that he could survive. What was happening? This wasn't real... Someone needed to pinch him... Pinch him already! 


Caleb squeezed his eyes closed, tears falling to create little puddles on the ground. 


"Y-You...did this... WH-WHY? WHY-WHY W-WOULD Y-Y-YOU HURT...- HURT HIM!?" The boy's head shot up, eyes filled with a strange mix of both fury and agony, they had now found something to focus on... The man attacking him. "WH-WHAT DID I-I EVER DO TO YOU!?" He was screaming in distress, his voice clearly portraying the fear, hurt, and confusion he felt. He didn't hurt people...he hadn't hurt people for a very long time... He didn't want anyone to get hurt...but...this man wanted to kill them...he wanted to kill Dane. It wouldn't happen. Dane wasn't supposed to die here... 


Stumbling backwards, Caleb let out a sounds somewhere between a laugh and a sob, his hands moving from around his waist to grip his head. "F-FINE..." He mumbled, "FINE!" The blond ghoul balled his fists even tighter, but...his breakdown wasn't what caused Daryl to stop in his tracks, eyes widening... It was...it was the sudden transformation of the boy in front of him. A strange, new sort of kagune moved to cover his body, spanning down one of his arms, wrapping around his neck, and forming odd rib like structures around his middle. His hips were covered by what seemed to be a slightly hardened kagune and from his back several, enormous appendages appeared, each breaking off at the ends into two to four separate tentacle-like structures with what took the appearance of large, spiked mouths at the end. 


The laugh that came from the boy was terrifying, is was maddened, insane, nothing like the boy had been moments ago. His eyes were still that familiar black and red, but something about them didn't look right, they looked more threatening...more...intense. Whilst there were still tears falling from them, it didn't look like that mattered anymore. Everything he had was trained on the investigator that had attacked Dane, and he looked ready to kill. 


"Fine." 


"Holy fuck..." Daryl could hardly breathe, no one had told him about this... No one had fucking warned him about this! Caleb was the most innocent, jumpy individual...there was no way... That couldn't be him. He would never. He wasn't... "Caleb's a..." To think. He wasn't as defenceless as they'd all been led to believe...and Dane never told them...if he'd ever known. 

 

[yaint]

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Lorn, hold up!" Her hand still number by the tightness around her wrist, Claire dug her heels into the floor and pulled back. Two pale grey eyes, almost glowing in the darkness, tracked along the floor until they found it. Him. The figure with a kagune that wound around his body and snapped madly in the air. She would have said the word, or asked Lorn another question like she always did. Caleb was inside of that thing, but... Did the doves know that?


If they did or didn't, they clearly could not care less. "Kakuja, Sir," the younger investigator commented. "He dodged my quinque."


"Then use your hands!" that low voice snarled from a corner. The young investigator flinched, but he did not argue, as he never had. Hands-on against a dangerous enemy was not necessarily suicide for a superhuman. 


Claire took a step backwards as the dove took one towards Caleb. The man's arms were outstretched, his eyes locked on to the tendrils of his kagune. And then he was gone. Too fast for the human eye to follow, the man whirled around Caleb's side and snatched one of those snapping mouths out of the air. It was in his hands, like reigns on a donkey, and he began to pull Caleb away from the safety of the elevator, out of Dane's path. 

 

[Yoki]

"Now that...was unexpected." Lorn's hands returned to his pockets as he surveyed the situation, "I hardly even noticed that guy. He was like...the silent type, nervous and shit...who would have thought..." His sentence trailed off as his ocean blue eyes followed the battle before him. "Should take some tips from this guy Claire, looks like he might make us all stronger." He didn't even look to the girl as he spoke, seemingly fixated by the fight between investigator and kakuja. 


It didn't seem like this boy enjoyed being pulled around like a horse, in fact as he was swung his eyes widened, not in fear or surprise, but in a strange sort of rage. He gladly moved away from the elevators, heels scraping the floor, before he'd taken off too. Another of those large, beast like appendages descended on the dove attacking him, the mouth-like structures opening at the ends to latch onto his arms. Another came from the other side, followed by the sound of more laughing as Caleb attempted to pull back the part of his kagune this investigator had hold of. There was blood-lust in his eyes, even if he didn't succeed, it seemed it wouldn't affect any of his actions. He was enraged. 


Whilst still in shock over Caleb keeping such a secret from their group, Daryl chose to try and defend his friends. They could fight about this later, he could shout at Dane when the man came out alive. Right now...he had a job to do. Caleb could hold his own, but...there wasn't just one investigator, there was that man...behind the younger one... He hadn't  acted, but Daryl didn't trust it, take him out... Take him out before he caused Caleb any harm. 


"Alright you fucking maniac." He muttered to himself, but stared in Caleb's direction, "I'll help you." With that he'd darted forwards, completely ignoring the fight between the two superhuman individuals in the hallway and aiming his attack directly at the man in the shadows. Unlike his previous attacks to some investigators, he used a sweeping motion for this one. He needed to find out where exactly this guy was, it would force him to move. Daryl would have taunted, but now wasn't the time, they may not know his identity yet, but if they knew anything they'd work it out by the kagune...and then he could be in trouble. 

 

[yaint]

He moved like clockwork. One arm tensed to pull Caleb to. Two legs straightened to increase the strength of the pull. Several times he came quite close to reaching his lost trident again, but Caleb's retaliation always chased his groping hands away. This boy was dangerous. His kagune came crashing down, and the fight's first blood was spilled when his opponent caught the sharp edges in his palms.


Claire did not know whether to cheer or to be horrified. "Is Dane dead?" she hissed into Lorn's ear, creases appearing in her forehead as she watched over the battle and the limp man on the floor. "No-no! Look, he breathed. Dane! What'cha doing!? Get up, you can kill this guy dead!"


The investigator in the shadows disagreed. "For the last time, Aaron," he began, then paused to lick the film of sweat from his upper lip, "Stop stalling and make the kill. We are running out of time."


"No!" Claire said just as Aaron nodded his head and flitted around to Caleb's back. "Don't you hurt Caleb, not before he tears you all up into little pieces!"


It was at that point that the investigator named Aaron froze. "I... Won't," he promised her, and then looked desperately to his elder for help. His hands were trembling when he searched through the shadows... But his elder was not listening, because he was too busy fending off an attack from the one and only Jester.


Luckily for Daryl, he had caught his target by surprise. There was no swift dodge, no catching of the kagune in his hands. He fell hard on his side with a heavy thud, and then he grabbed his opponent's foot. "You've made some new friends, Jester," he said. The frosty glint was in his eye as he grinned upwards at his foe. "Getting soft, perchance?"