Shiki was a little disappointed. When she heard the words 'field trip', she had expected the town to be a whole lot bigger. How could you even go shopping properly in a town like this? There needed to be a whole lot more stores, she decided. Two department stores, boutiques, and a record store, at least.

She walked down the main street. Maybe she'd stumble into something.

[M95]

Before he was even entirely awake, Steve was aware that he wasn't in his own bed. The mattress and the pillows and the comforter and sheets weren't his. It only took him a split second to go from being asleep to being fully awake. He waited a few moments, pretending to be still asleep and listening for the sounds of anyone else in the room. He could barely hear the faint, rhythmic sounds of someone else breathing from across the room.

After a moment, Steve opened his eyes and stared across the room at the other bed. It was occupied with a large man in plain gray clothing, and the room itself wasn't particularly interesting.

Sitting up, Steve glanced down at himself. Gray hospital scrubs with a smiley face on the chest. This was a bit strange, even by his standards. Steve had been banged up by the Argonaut pretty badly, but his body could handle a lot more than most people. Most of his injuries had healed by the time he'd gone to bed, and as he stretched now he couldn't feel any lingering pain or soreness.

Steve got out of bed and wondered how long he'd been unconscious, there were no windows to give a time of day or night. He didn't remember having any dreams, so he couldn't have been asleep too long. And this wasn't at all like Steve's usual dreams, so he probably wasn't still asleep. With dreams mostly ruled out, Steve was at a loss for how he'd gotten here. It was extremely unlikely that he'd been abducted somehow from the Avengers tower; he would have woken up if someone had entered his room. And even if they had managed to get into his room and drug him without waking him up, there was still the fact that the rest of the security in the Avengers tower was tight.

Sneaking in and then sneaking out with him without anyone noticing would've been almost impossible. That left psychics and magic as potential causes, though he couldn't imagine why anyone would kidnap him just to put him in a room like this. Steve searched the room carefully, locating nothing more interesting than a flashlight and a radio. While it wasn't as old as the type he'd used during World War II, it certainly wasn't very modern looking, and the presence of the flashlight was odd as well.

There were a bunch of pens, and hwile those might've made good weapons for someone like Bullseye or Taskmaster, Steve didn't see much point in carrying them. Satisfied that he hadn't missed anything that might be useful or a clue to what was going on, Steve tried the door knob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked.

Whatever this was, so far it didn't make much sense, and was a bit more concerning than waking up in less than perfect condition in a cell somewhere. At least then, it was quite obvious what his captor's intentions were, and he could work on breaking out.

Steve paused and glanced at his room mate before deciding to let the man keep sleeping. The hallway outside his room was dark, and there was no sign of anyone in it. Steve grabbed the flashlight, eyed the radio for a moment before taking it, and cautiously edged out into the hall. He wasn't entirely sure what he would find out there, so he remained quiet and alert.

The intercom came on, and as it did, it seemed to carry a little more interference than usual for a daytime announcement, a little more static. While the patients might have thought for a moment that once again the elusive woman on the radio had hacked into the Head Doctor's system, the man himself soon proved that theory faulty as he laughed over the broadcast.

"Hello, hello, everyone, and I'm sorry for the bad quality of this broadcast; we've been having some technical difficulties lately, you see, and we wanted to make sure everything was fixed by tomo...."

His voice crackled out into inaudibility for a moment before fading back in.

"Yes, hopefully that will be done soon. In any case, now's the time that you all head back to your rooms to enjoy a delicious meal... seasoned salmon! Yes, we have filets of very tasty, very juicy salmon seasoned with herbs and garlic; on the side, we have mashed potatoes, peas, and to drink, our usual assortment of beverages. For dinner, you'll all be enjoying vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce."

The intercom's broadcast crackled again. The Head Doctor laughed, seemingly a little nervously.

"Ah, yes, perhaps we'll be able to finish the repairing tomorrow, when all of you are away at... Doyleton! Yes, yes, you're all in for a fun and exciting day, a day whose activities will be new for some and a welcome familiarity to others. You'll be under strict supervision, of course, but... well, I suppose you'll find out all about the circumstances tomorrow, before you set off, mm? Yes! In any case... I hope you all enjoy dinner!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began ushering patients back to their quarters.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. (You can find your character's room assignment here.) Remember, everyone responds to this post with their character's room number in the subject line. ]

_{[from here]}

If there was one thing that made Aidou the best person in the whole damn Institute to be partnered up with during a night time adventure, it was that he was a vampire. A genius vampire, at that.

The vampire part just meant that he could clearly see that the cafeteria was unoccupied, from his position just inside the doors. The genius part meant that Aidou didn't move farther in until he'd passed a glance over the entire room, listening as well as watching. Making sure his initial once over was right. Or as right as he could hope to be, with his overly sharp senses slightly dulled as they were.

He didn't bother to hide the fact that he didn't have a flashlight, at least not this time. Jack might have still been using his, but Aidou had to admit that complaining about it was rather moot, given that he'd probably see something sooner than Jack, and could tell him to turn it off if he had to. Hopefully the kitchen would be just as unremarkable, he thought, looking over his shoulder briefly to check on the others before starting up the center row.

[from here]

Upon entering this hallway, he did slow his movements a little just to be more careful. He did know the way, but this was not a hallway he was used to traversing and that was reason enough to be more careful. The trip through it was quick enough though as he slipped into what was the only female block he was aware of. F3 wasn't far now.

[gone here]

Guy let out a sigh of relief as he made his way out onto the field, glad to have some fresh air and sunshine after going so many days without it. That was one of the hardest things about being kept in this place, in his opinion. At least during their journey they had been outside more often than not.

Even though he spent most of his nights moving around or fighting some monster or even running from a monster when he bit off more than he could chew, Guy still felt the urge to do something active now. Being in the thick of danger was pretty different from exercising for the sake of it, after all. Besides, considering how physically taxing the night always was, it was good to keep in shape.

His talk with Allelujah had also left him bursting with excitement at the thought of satellites and colonies in space and mobile suits, so working off his energy would be a good idea. He figured a few laps around the field was just what he needed, so he found a relatively clear area and started doing a series of stretches.

If he was lucky, maybe once he was done running he could convince one of the nurses to give him a bat so he could practice some swordplay. He had his own bat, but he was usually too busy using it to bludgeon things rather than to practice the finesse that sword work required.

[For Sync.]

[From here.]

He was close now.

Sync could hear footsteps from within the previous hall, signifying that there were at least a few people out and about. That meant it was a good thing he left as early as he did; he wasn’t in the mood to brush elbows with anyone else.

The God-General paid no more mind to what was behind him, instead focusing on what was ahead. Now that he was traversing in one the larger hallways he knew he had to keep his guard up since there was a greater chance of getting ambushed. Sync slowed his pace all up until he reached the doors that led to the Entry Room, giving one last glance behind him before testing the door.

Finding it unlocked, he slipped in without a sound.

[To here.]

[from here]

Renji let the ladies through ahead of him, then shut the door. He wasn't going to hold it shut or anything, but he didn't want it open in case something was following them. He'd become remarkably paranoid in a short time.

"Okay," he said. "I think... there's a tile or something, back there. Artemis was the one that found it last night." He pointed in the general area he was talking about. This time, he would actually pay attention to how the hell they got through to the basement.

[from here]

Because there were always so many idiots heading to the Sun room during the night, Albel Nox was a little surprised to discover he was actually the first idiot person to enter it. Even when he opened the door, he could tell there wasn't a single sign of battle just yet.

The warrior wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or not.

It had been a while (only a couple of nights, really) since he had a good fight, and the captain found himself itching for a new one. He lived his life on the battle field, and going without any fighting (or good opponents) for too long made him restless.

He swept the small beam of his flashlight around the room, not letting his guard down as he closed the door behind him and walked further into the room.

If there was some opponent hiding in this room, he'd find out soon enough. If there wasn't, it only meant he'd get to the basement faster. And whatever maggot hiding in said basement to fight.

The cafeteria was all but empty when Zelnick got there. He was a little disappointed; he had gotten the impression that patients usually ate dinner in their rooms, so he hadn't arranged to meet anyone, and there really wasn't anyone to sit by and engage in conversation yet.

Quietly, he collected dinner and a big glass of orange juice, and chose a seat near the food-serving counters. Talking for so long had made him thirsty... and, well, fruit juice was a luxury he had missed.

[Stalk away, my dearest Admiral. <3 ]

As much as Nia didn't want to leave her new friend alone she didn't have much choice in the matter when her nurse coerced her out of her room. She'd always been the type that wore her emotions on her sleeve, so it was easy to spot the look of dismay written on her face. Try as she might, Nia couldn't bring herself to smile, feeling like she let someone very dear to her down, and to her that was the worse feeling she could have ever felt.

But oh, did she try! It wasn't until they reached the Sun Room did she manage to smile for her nurse, trying to look for the silver lining in the clouds. At least no one was killed, or even seriously hurt for that matter, but she hoped no one would be punished too severely for his or her actions. Everyone must have had good reasons to fight, and until she was convinced otherwise she would only hope for their safety.

When her nurse offered her a choice of rooms to go to, the girl pursed her lips and thought hard, but it didn't take long for her gaze to land on a big board with several notes pinned on the surface. Her curiosity piqued immensely, and with her nurse's question long forgotten, Nia raised her arm and pointed over at the aforementioned object.

"If I may ask, what is that?" The woman followed her patient's gaze before laughing lightly, letting her hand rest on the child's head.

"Why, that's the bulletin board. It's an awfully popular place for patients to go to, especially if they want to talk to someone they can't seem to find. But the things they write there..." The nurse shook her head, but that was enough for Nia. She was already walking over to it, but she caught herself and offered the latter a cheerful smile.

"May I stay here?"

"Of course you can, Rachel. Just don't get in the wrong crowd, okay?" Nia hadn't the slightest clue of what the nurse was talking about, but she nodded nonetheless and sat herself on one of the chairs and began to read. However, not even a minute into it she found herself tilting her head out of habit.

What was a club?

[from here]

TK's first impression as he stepped into the low ceilinged room was that this place was really trying too hard to impress. The gold-colored walls might have been pretty, but it really wasn't doing much to detract from his general feelings about the whole facility.

Especially once his attention was grabbed by the large four-legged thing with a human face sitting on a pedestal in the center of the room. Well, bugger.

(From here)

Citan led the way down the stairs, all senses on alert. He was tense and his muscles were tightened as he made his way down. He didn't know what was waiting for them, but he knew that whatever was down here was important.

And when he finished the stairs and found himself in the basement for the first time, he knew he was right.

A great ballroom, something right out of the highest classes of Solaris, lay beneath the institute. Even in the dark, with only the beam of his flashlight, even with the wear and slight strange film of macabre that clung to the institute, it reminded him of a life left long ago.

"My god," he breathed, feeling impressed despite himself.

Nathan had never actually been in a nuthouse before and had only recently contemplated checking himself into one in a fit of sarcastic, self-depricating humor as of late. It was safe to say that he wasn't terribly familiar with the typical layout, even though he guessed it wasn't too hard to assume in this case. Everything was clean and painfully sterile-looking, if you could tell just by looking anyway, and he had to admit that they did a decent job of dressing this place up like a stereotypical, mental institution. They'd probably wait until evening to run whatever tests they wanted after they'd drugged everyone up nice and good.

The former congressman parted ways with his nurse, offering her a fairly sarcastic "thanks" as she let him loose in the expansive cafeteria. The food choices seemed pretty basic: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza... The sort of thing he'd been living off of for the past, couple of months. Nathan hadn't realized how hungry he was until he actually picked up a plate. Skeptical as he was of the food here, it probably didn't matter whether it was drugged or not; if he was where he naturally assumed he was, they'd have their way no matter what he did. The only thing not eating would accomplish would be to make things easier for them.

With a hamburger and some fries piled on his plate, Nathan scanned the large room for any familiar faces. If he'd been nabbed in his sleep, there was at least a small chance that they might've nabbed Parkman or one of the others too. Unfortunately, he seemed to have chosen the wrong place to get information. It was practically empty.

Great. It looked like he'd be keeping himself company for the time being. Always a fun person to pass the time with. Sitting down at an empty table, Nathan took a moment to stare his hamburger down before taking a hesitant bite.

'Visitors'? That didn't exactly conjure up happy thoughts for 622. It sounded more like code for a date with a torture droid or two. And even if it really was just a visitor, TK didn't even think for a moment that anyone could come to see him. His only real friend had been Commander Akobi, and he was dead... and the rest of the people he'd been on good terms with were other stormtroopers, and they were really dead, unless they had gotten snatched out of the Death Star's explosion like he had.

622 requested to head out to the Rec Field so he could get some exercise. He started doing push-ups, trying to get his mind off of 'what ifs'. Hypotheticals never did him any good at all. He just wished that things could go back to being simple, before all that mess had started on Raltiir. It wasn't as if he was no longer loyal. He still knew what the Empire stood for. But he wasn't sure how many of his superiors really cared about things the same way. They'd given Akobi a medal to cover up the fact that he'd ordered bombing runs while the rebels had jammed their sensors, and a medcenter had been hit in the process. Akobi had cared about it. He'd used up his last words telling 622 what really happened. But Akobi's superiors hadn't cared. They'd tried to make the whole issue just go away. TK didn't really think that was what was supposed to happen...

Fierfek, my brain won't shut up. TK stopped his warm-ups, grimacing slightly and running a hand through his short, dark hair. He'd hoped that things would be less complicated once he was dead.

[[From here.]]

Hokuto breathed a (hopefully silent) sigh of relief when they turned the corner and didn't see any monsters; being a black belt meant very little here, and she did not like being unarmed during Nightshift. A shovel wasn't much of a weapon, but it was a lot better than nothing.

She wasn't going to say a word about her reservations, but could they really even scale the walls here? Somehow that just seemed way too easy.

Artemis had always been skeptical as to whether or not the things present in the Institute actually turned into their nightly counterparts. He'd never seen a kitten turn into a rotting cat, or a nurse turn into a syringe-covered monstrosity. Now he had, and he was very sorry that he'd seen it up close and personal. It'd been difficult to keep from panicking and shoving Hokuto out of the way to bolt. Instead, his mind focused on the facts.

First, and foremost, the monsters were blocking the exits, offering no means of easy escape. The only way out was through. Second, he was not armed. Third, and by far the most disheartening point, neither was anyone else. As a normal fourteen-year-old would put it, they were screwed.

Six targets, a handful of patients. The only option was chaos, unless someone took charge. Someone could get seriously hurt inside such a small fighting arena. He wasn't going to be one of them. Legs shaking, he stood up on his seat, hunching slightly so his head wouldn't hit the ceiling. What was he doing...?

"Everyone!" He shouted, "I know this will sound insane, but remain calm! A house divided falls to the lightest blow!" The boy swiveled his eyes around the bus. Four nurses, two orderlies--Hitsugaya? Oh damn.

"F-form into groups and take them down! Anyone who cannot fight, get under the seats and stay out of the way!" Did his voice just crack?

[ entering from here with TK in tow ]

Oh so much joy, there was a place to play here, a pit full of plastic balls! Yes, so many fun things had been destroyed on her own world, why not enjoy what was offered here? After icecream. And the coupon was good for a whole meal too! Ed finally dropped TK's hand and sauntered up to the counter, presenting the slip of paper to the attendant with pride.

"Ed wishes to have her tummy filled with yummy!" The employee behind the counter took her coupon and before long Ed had her meal and sweet treat. She commandeered the first available table without a second thought, digging into her food with gusto.