Chapter 8: Rescue Mission?

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Dorm Hallway

Unit: Shadow

Time: Early Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 5

Delta was a little late in getting to breakfast, so Shadow went to go get him up, and was amused to see that his dorm room has amassed an audience, but suddenly realized that the atmosphere was off. He approached the small crowd, which, in reality, only consisted of Ayaka, Monika, Rias, and Kurumu. "Is this where the line starts?" He attempted to make a joke, but Rias looked serious. "Delta hasn't opened his door, and we can't see anything from the outside. We've been out here for a while." Ayaka looked mildly annoyed. "I was here first…" Project Shadow shook his head. "Outta my way, I'll deal with it." He got down on both knees in front of the door and, with the skill of a ninja, picked the lock and opened the door. They all stepped inside and looked around. Kurumu spoke up. "He's not here, where is he?" The girls began to search the room, when all of a sudden, Shadow Man felt a drop of liquid hit his shoulder. He looked at his shoulder and saw that the liquid was… red? He looked up and said calmly. "Hey guys? Quick question." The all stopped searching and looked at him. "Do the words 'Beyond Darkness' scrawled in ceiling blood mean Delta's in trouble?" Rias rolled her eyes. "Did you write it?" Shadow Man looked at her and responded with a sarcastic. "Yes, I dragged a small animal in here, slaughtered it for fun, and then wrote words in that blood on the ceiling. All while you were searching the room." Everyone stared at one another before the girls' eyes widened in utter horror as they all slowly looked up. Ayaka was the first to react properly, and she did so by fainting. Monika and Rias screamed, and Kurumu just stared at the ceiling in absolute shock and terror. Shadow took control of the situation quickly. "Everyone outside, get to the common room, let's move!"

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Private Club room

Unit: Shadow

Time: Early Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 5

Everyone that was in the room sat on one piece of furniture each. Azazel paced back and forth across the room. "This is very serious. We didn't detect any new projects or anything like that, so this was done by someone on the inside. Which is a serious accusation to make to someone, and if I'm not mistaken, I believe that Shadow has some work to prepare for?" Project Shadow nodded. "We move out early in the morning, and our group is growing larger by the minute. It wouldn't surprise me if we moved the entirety of the regular Projects by tomorrow. He won't be happy, and I'm not expecting an easy mission." Azazel laughed. "You never do, Shadow. Anyway, I think that for now, we need to wait until we have more evidence. That is, unless these lovely ladies wish to venture out and try to figure it out on their own?" Ayaka stood up, with Monika quickly following after. "I'll go." "As will I." Shadow shook his head. "As much as I would appreciate their help… It's too dangerous. Whatever the hell wrote that message and whatever took Delta... It's only one of two things…" Shadow trailed off, bowed a little, and left without another word.

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Delta woke up to a painful throbbing in his head, and his ankles and legs a little sore. He stood up, wincing a little, and looked around. He could make nothing out of the room before him. It looked like a standard dorm room. He thought he had just imagined everything, but then froze when a girlish giggle echoed throughout the room. Maybe the building. He wasn't sure. He quickly assessed his surroundings and, finding no clear source of the giggles, began to look for the door. It was dark, but the door handle gave off a faint gleam as he made his way to it. He opened the door to find more darkness. "How exciting. If I wasn't entirely sure that whatever dragged me here wasn't trying to kill me for whatever reason, I'd almost say 'screw it' and try to sleep on that bed behind me." He turned and looked at it. The longer he looked at it, the more appealing it got. Shaking his head, he stepped into the hallway, looking up and down the hallway. He sighed. Nothing was going to be easy, was it?

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Outside

Unit: Shadow

Time: Mid-Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 5

Shadow stood outside the run down looking dorm building. His cloak flowed in the wind. He stared at the building, flipping a shuriken between his fingers. Two more hooded and cloaked figures approached him, his back turned to them. "About time you two showed up. Given the claw marks made in the mud, I'd say he was dragged into here." One of the hooded figures spoke. "You think so? Could just be another animal." The other figure shook his head. "No, he's right. Look closely at how the grass is dug. They were dug in that direction, meaning he was facing away from the building, meaning he was pulled into it by something." Shadow turned to the two. "I hate to ask you guys about another mission, especially with Numbers two, four, and five still missing… But this guy has beaten Project Alpha, by himself. If he can do it single handedly, he'll be a valuable asset to the operation. So come on. Let's go get him. Hell, knowing him, he's probably wandering around trying to find his way out as we speak."

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Thunk. "I swear to whatever God exists if I run into another wall in this blasted darkness…" Delta rubbed his face, trying to ease the pain a little. He'd run into too many walls to count, and the girlish laughter kept switching around on him, turning him around in circles. As much as he'd like to draw his blade and his arm cannon and start blasting away, for nothing else than a little light, the building itself seemed to not allow him. Not like he hadn't tried. In vain, however, as he soon realized he'd be given no such grace. So, he continued stumbling around in the darkness, barely making progress. He tripped over a snag of carpet, not falling down entirely. He laughed triumphantly, and then took another step and fell flat on his face. Grumbling, he got up, re-initiating his stumble-walk forward. The girlish giggling was directly in front of him now, and he made his way towards it. He resolved to keep going forward, completely ignoring the giggling. That didn't seem to be a problem now, as the more he moved forward, the louder the laughter got. He finally passed through some kind of dense fog into a dimly lit room. He sighed. It wasn't much better, but beggars can't be choosers. He looked around. It looked like a version of the private club room he'd seen before, only this time, it was lit by candles. He friends sat around, seemingly as though they hadn't noticed him yet. They didn't move. They hadn't spoken a word since he entered. They just… stared. Not at him, mind you. He followed their eyes to see what they were fixated on. They all seemed to be staring at Monika. Who was laying down on the couch, her eyes closed. He was uneasy, and very uncomfortable. He felt like something was wrong, but he didn't know what. He looked around again. Yep. Everyone was definitely staring at Monika. They didn't seem angry. They just looked blankly at her. Even so, the stareing of his friends made him uneasy. He moved about the room, checking every nook and cranny, being sure to not touch any of the bodies. He didn't know what would happen if he did touch them, and he wasn't exactly about to find out.

Creak…

All at once, Delta whipped around. He looked to see what had changed, and nothing seemed to change. He shrugged, and went back to searching through the drawers of the desk Azazel usually sat at. He got a chill up his spine. He looked up and found everyone exactly as they were, with everyone staring at Monika, and Monika staring at Azazel's desk. He went back to searching through the desk. He found a key within the desk, unsure of what he needed to do with it.

Creak….

He looked up to find everyone how he left them. Everyone staring at Monika, and Monika standing in front of one of the couches. He shut the drawer before realizing exactly why he was getting repeated chills down his spine. He looked up in horror as Monika stood before him, a devilish grin plastered on her face. Her eyes were still closed, and Delta wasn't sure he wanted to see them opened. Everyone else was staring right at Monika, and so he kept an eye on Monika as he walked backwards towards the door. He quickly opened the door and turned around to step through it before hearing one more giggle. He turned around, unsure if he should have, but it was too late. Everyone was staring at Delta, the same devilish grin on Monika upon all of their faces. Their faces all matched, and Delta was having exactly none of that today. He whipped around to run out the door, but was stopped by what looked like Monika. It wasn't Monika, and he realized that as he slowly turned around and felt the growing horror upon him as everyone in the room stared at him with evil grins upon their faces. He shut his eyes as he heard their footsteps approach him in perfect unison, almost like an army marching upon an enemy. Except that "enemy" was Delta, and he was utterly defenseless as they approached.

Delta opened his eyes when he suddenly heard gunfire. He ducked down and attempted to locate the sound of the gunfire, which was scaring off his attackers. They screeched and screamed demonically before rushing off into the darkness behind the desk. He turned around to see Shadow and two other figures on either side of him. Shadow looked down at him. "Well, fancy seeing you here." He smiled and offered his hand, which Delta took and stood up. "Glad you're here, Shadow. Couple more seconds and…" He shook his head. "Well, I'd rather not think about that." Shadow chuckled. "I understand." Delta looked to the side of Shadow. "So… Uh… Who are your friends?" Shadow looked taken aback. "Oh my, where are my manners? Delta, these two are numbers One and Three. Number One, Number Three, this is Delta. Told you we'd find him here." The two figures removed their hoods. One had a blue helmet on, with a suit of armor not unlike Delta's. Three had a black helmet with a red outline, with messy blonde hair. Three nodded. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Three. My friends call me Axl!" Number One turned and looked behind him. "I'd give you pleasantries, but right now we've got bigger problems. Call me X." Delta nodded. "Right. So let's get go-" Delta froze up as he saw a flash of white in the darkness. It was large. It had hair in various places and it had red streaks along its body. Not blood, but closer to muscles. Its skin clung to its body, like it was a tight suit. Delta thought he saw the creature's spinal cord. Its fingers were long, like knives. Its eyes were black with white pupils. He stared into the darkness, trying to comprehend it all. "D-Did you guys see that thing?" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What thing?" Delta pointed. "That thing behind… you?" The creature wasn't there anymore. X nodded. "I saw it. We're gonna have company very soon…"

Thunk.

"I swear that the next person to step on my feet will be shot." "Sorry Delta, it's really hard to see in here." "Oh, don't worry Axl. It is pretty dark in luck with getting any light sources?" Shadow's voice rang out. "Not yet. I've been trying for a while and I've got nothing." Delta shuddered in the darkness. "Fine. These guys think that taking away our sight is gonna stop us well then that's just GREAT!" Delta shouted that last word, but as he did, a white circle appeared around him and grew larger. He could see the outlines of his friends, however imperfect, and the walls. He stopped and stared. "Did you guys see that?" "See what?" "That white circle…?" "Nope. Nothing. Sorry." Delta sighed. "Well, either way, I have an idea." He shouted again, recreating the white circle and walking a few paces forward. He repeated doing this until he came across what he figured was a crossroads. "Left, Right, or straight?" X spoke. "Shadow, you make decisions, I'm not comfortable with doing so." Axl nodded. "I agree. Shadow you do it." Shadow spoke for the first time since they left the fake clubroom. "Let's head left and follow the wall. Can't go wrong doing that." "Fair enough." Delta began to lead the group down the left hallway when something stopped him. "Uh, guys? Something you should know. When I speak, I see white circles. They bounce off the walls and allow me to get basic outlines." Axl spoke up from the darkness. "Alright but I don't see what that has to do wi-" "I just saw outlines like mine, but they were red." Everyone went silent. "Uh. I think that's the opposite of good." X sounded shakey. Shadow sounded sarcastic. "A little heavy handed with the symbolism, huh?" Axl was scared. "I don't care if it's heavy handed or not, if we have to avoid it, we're going the opposite direction." "Right. This way, gentlemen. Away from the badness that is the evil red circle." He said it jokingly, but there was an air of urgency to his voice. He directed them the exact opposite way. They ran for a bit, slowing down eventually. "Head count. Delta? "Here." "Axl?" "Here, boss." "Shadow?" "Right here." X sighed. "Good, we've got everyone. So, what's our plan now? Keep walking until we find something?" Delta sighed into the darkness. "Preeeeety much."

Location: Unknown

Unit: Unknown

Time: Mid - Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 4

"We should have gotten at least a call from him by now!" A figure that resembled a skeleton paced in front of nine other figures. "We're supposed to move out tonight, and take our brothers with us, but we can't get ahold of him and we don't know anything and we won't be able to know anything until he call us and I'm having a panic attack and I'm worried about him and-" A soft voice interrupted him. "Skull. It'll be okay. You worry too much about the little details. For now, we're gonna stick to the plan." The figure named Skull sighed. "I know, but it's almost like he's abandoning us. Don't you feel that way, Splash?" The figure shook her head. "We just have to trust Shadow. He's our leader, whether or not we admit it. So we've got to buck up and trust him. Even if he does this sometimes. We'll have to trust that he'll show up in time to help us out." "And if he doesn't?" "We'll have to stick to the plan. We'll be fine, Skull. You worry too much. It throws off your terrifying look." Skull rolled his eyes. "Fine. Alright everyone, let's try to get some rest. We'll need it."