70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school taking a really hard test, and then Dracula shows up, and then everybody's naked ... anything is possible when it comes to what people see in their sleep.]

[But what appears in the darkness in this particular spot in the spaceless, shifting mass of dreaming souls... is a door.]

[It's old, and covered with boards and bolts, rusted near-through in some places. The lock is broken-- mangled and half-melted and wrenched out of the keyhole. The only thing on it that doesn't look ancient is a scrap of torn notebook-paper that's taped up on it at roughly eye-level. It reads only a single phrase:]</sub>

Fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh.

<sub>[More importantly, though... the door is ajar. Through the gap come the scents of rust and metal-- and something organic, fleshy-- and a low, deep hum of industrial machinery. It's not a door that anyone in their right mind would want to go through. ... But for anyone who may have stumbled this far into the dreams of their fellow lost souls, either in flight from some other nightmare or just pure, wandering curiosity... there's just no other place to go but through the door.]




[Go on. Open it. After all.... it's only a dream.]</sub>

[ooc: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, GUYS. Thanks for being patient! If you commented on that planning post, there's something spooky planned for your character to do here so please feel free to tag or not tag as it pleases you!]

~*~

[ooc: This is the IC post for what was announced over here! Even if you didn't comment there, feel free to participate! I'm still happy to whip up Silent Hill scenarios for folks!]

Comments

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Definitely right... and apparently he'd been a great deal more suspicious than the person whose deep inner subconscious he was currently thrashing around in had been. That's whatcha get for being hot-headed and vengeance-oriented, Heather.]

[It's HARD to shoot at something when there's a lot of murky water between your eyes and what you're shooting at-- but the gun does its job. The first few cards merely ricochet off of Leonard's crusty, armored body-- but if he keeps firing, one nicks the tender skin at the edge of his-- ... mouth? Nostrils? Who knows WHAT the fuck they are, but he recoils with a roar, a greasy, tentacle-like black tongue flicking out of the hole to lap at the dark blood trickling from the slice.]</sub>

FILTH!

<sub>[He sounds even angrier-- somehow he's just been getting exponentially angrier ever since this entire encounter began. But now, he sounds positively murderous... and there is literally NO doubt about what's on his mind when he aims a sharp, powerful blow at the gun-holding hand sticking above the water, trying to knock it out of Kaito's grip and away into the murky depths.]

[Because if there's one thing Leonard Wolf has always been good at, it's beating up unarmed children. If his daughter were still alive... she could attest to that.]</sub>

[bakaitoukid]

[Kaito can feel Leonard recoil, the pressure of the foot that was pinning him down slackening as the monster withdraws with a loud cry that punctures even the silent blanket of the water.

Now--!

Almost immediately, before the creature can lash out and knock his weapon away, he plunges his hand back into the water and pushes, as hard as he can, against the sole of the foot that was keeping him from moving, aiming to both throw his captor off balance and free himself.

There's enough space for him to push himself free, through the water and away from the immediate danger looming above him. Once there is enough space between him and Leonard, he breaks through the water with a gasp, sucking in the stale yet life-giving air of the sewer into his lungs as his opponent thrashes about.

He didn't want to stick around and wait to see what this guy planned on doing now that he had managed to push himself free... with no hesitation, Kaito darts toward the edges flanking the sewer waters again as fast as he can, reaching out to pull himself out so he can make another mad dash for the tunnel. He keeps his card gun in one hand, just in case Leonard tries to lash out at him again]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The flesh that Kaito shoves his hand against is rocky and hard, like the shell of some awful, spiny crab. The foot shifts, but not without likely gouging a nasty scrape into Kaito's side-- and scratching up the hand he pushed with.]

[Leonard tilts, knocked off-balance by the unexpected push-- but unlike the odd, stumbling amphibians that Kaito had encountered earlier, who seemed as awkward in the water as they did on land, he is anything but. Bigger, stronger, faster, and most importantly, smarter. Even if he was also friggin' crazy. As the thief makes his bid for escape, Leonard lunges after him, cutting through the water with with loud and relentless splashes that nonetheless don't seem to slow him down in the slightest. Heather had hated the way he could zip through the water like that...]

[Kaito's quickness will allow him to reach the edge and haul himself partially out of the water-- but the monster is right on his tail and that monstrous bladed claw will clamp down hard one whatever's closest-- his shoulders, his legs or just his neck if at all possible. But no matter where he grabs, he has one objective in his mind. To drag the boy down into the water and beat him until the murky water turns maroon.]</sub>

I failed with my daughter and that rotten little whore, but there is no reason I cannot send you hurtling down into the fires of Hell! Your kind is beyond education!

[bakaitoukid]

[The tough, spiky skin slices into Kaito's side and palm easily, drawing blood and pain-- but the magician has had worse and is well-practiced in ignoring injuries like this one. Despite the fact that his shirt is now stained with bits of scarlet, and despite the fact the murky water stings his wounds, he pushes on, spurred forward by pure adrenaline, planting his hands on the sides of the concrete and hoisting himself up--

Or at least trying to. He feels that claw grab the back of his leg tightly, ready to pull him back, ready to pull him downward, back into the water where he would certainly attempt to drown him.

Like hell...

Leonard's words didn't even register in Kaito's frantically churning mind. He is so focused on getting out of this situation alive that he doesn't care what kind of nonsensical jibberish this creature is spouting off. As soon as that claw clamps down on the back of his leg he whips around, planting the barrel of his card gun against his underarm that had grabbed him, right at the joint of the elbow, where (hopefully) his hard skin was the weakest.

Without hesitation, he fires again]

[foolishwren]

_{[Sometimes people are so fanatical they don't even care whether or not anyone's listening. As soon as Leonard's bladelike hands get a solid grip on Kaito's legs, the beast doubles his efforts, leaning in close enough that the magician can probably smell his fishlike-- yes, fishlike breath-- voice going from roars to a venomous hiss.]}

I sacrifice myself to the blood of criminals!

<sub>[... And then the gun goes off.]

[Kaito is right on the money-- the card cuts into the tender flesh of the joint, far deeper than the nick he had delivered before-- and Leonard rears back, a guttural scream tearing from his deformed throat and echoing through the cavern. Strings of white, crablike flesh squirt out of the elbow grotesquely as he reels backwards further into the water, severed by the card's sharp edge.]

[But... he doesn't let go.]

[The Glory of God could overcome all pain... and what better could he do to attain God's approval than to punish a heretic?]

[Taking advantage of the grip that Kaito sacrificed to turn and fire his weapon, Leonard gives an enormous HEAVE, trying to dislodge the boy from the concrete ledge and send him into the water for good, despite the hideous pain he must have been feeling coursing up and down his brutally-injured limb. As long as he could still grip... he would.]

[QUICK KAITO DO IT AGAIN IF HE GETS YOU IN THE WATER IT'S ALL OVER--!]</sub>

[bakaitoukid]

[AUGH GREAT SOME FREAKY GUY SMELLING LIKE HIS WORST FEAR, THIS IS THE BEST DREAM EVER-- only not really.

Kaito's balance is upset by the massive heave, his fingers slipping against the concrete as he almost loses his grip completely. Leonard is thrashing about faaaar too much behind him for him to aim straight and true like he had a few seconds ago, but he had to try, even with the movement and the awkward position and his slipping hand--

Jaw clenched, brows furrowed, and gaze trained steadily on his moving target, Kaito whips his card gun downward again and aims for that same soft spot at Leonard's elbow... firing one last shot in an attempt to free himself.

Just as his grip on the concrete comes completely loose]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The aim might have been off, but between the shot and the injury he had inflicted beforehand... it's enough.]

[There's another scream, even higher in pitch, hideous and inhuman, and an awful, wet crackle as the arm rips away from the elbow entirely. Leonard staggers backwards, head jerking and spasming atop his shoulders with a series of hideous squelches. Both of his arms are now nothing more than dripping stumps, ending at the elbows.]

[The severed hand is still clamped around Kaito's leg, however-- but even as his own grip fails and sends him sliding into the water, the pulling,/i> has stopped. Now's his chance to get out for good, if he hurries--!</sub>

[bakaitoukid]

[Kaito goes plunging back into the water with a large splash, his scrapes and injuries stinging painfully as he crashes. Once again, he finds himself sucking in a deep, sharp breath in an attempt to ignore the pain, scrambling to his feet yet again and barely paying the thrashing Leonard any mind as he hoists himself to dry land, successfully this time.

He nearly slips, his sneakers and clothing soaked at this point, as he darts across the concrete and practically dives into the tunnel he had entered through, blocking the loud screams and cries from his mind as he crawls through the cramped space toward safety.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The severed arm, still clinging to Kaito's leg, clatters along limply behind him as he runs, leaving dark splatters of blood. Leonard's horrible screams fall away as Kaito makes his way upwards, which he'll find goes incredibly fast, even as steep and slick as it is.]

[Behind him, the tunnel simply falls away into darkness like an unraveling spool of thread.]

[But at the same time, in a way that could almost be nothing more than an illusion brought on by the cramped tunnel and the adrenaline (and perhaps that's all it is), he may notice his vision dimming, shrinking-- the light ahead flickering like a slow car ride's view of the sun behind tree branches, growing smaller all the while even as it comes undeniably closer.]

[If he can make it to the last leg of the climb before the darkness around the corners of his vision closes in entirely, something else will suddenly block out the light-- a figure, one with a familiar face. Dirty, frantic (and somehow... blurry?), but familiar.]</sub>



.... Kaito...!


<sub>[And then everything is gone. Not in a rush... just a slowly, mutedly fading away.]

[It was all just a dream, after all.]</sub>

[bakaitoukid]

[He's breathing heavily, panting almost, as he crawls up the tunnel. The pain from his injuries is suddenly sharper than before, pulsating through his hand and side and spreading as he climbs. He winces, swallowing and biting his tongue and urging himself forward.

He feels his stomach twist as the corners of his vision begin to darken. No... I wasn't hurt that badly! Damn it, I'm so close, I'm not going to pass out here--! But it isn't anything he can actively stop. He hardly even considers the possibility that the dream is simply beginning to unravel around him as he struggles upward, higher and higher, determined to at least make it to freedom before he passes out. He nearly makes it too, and as the familiar silhouette suddenly appears against the brightness, he starts and blinks in surprise.

Hea--

And then everything is gone]