Varia's Chained Cloud (Nanbaka x OC x KHR)

Breakout 23

Sneaking around corners and knocking out the puppets was mostly Liang's job as he was efficient and quick with it.

The group moved around the prison, sneaking around to not get caught by the dolls patrolling around.

"Now that I look closer, it really is creepy... this thing," Honey said, looking down at the doll as Nico poked at it.

"It was made to resemble humans," Liang informed casually. "That's why if you aim for the neck and heart areas, you can stop it in an instant."

Uno cried, hugging the wall. "Hey, hey, I didn't hear anything about those creepy dolls being here! Why did you tell me?!"

"Because you probably would've freaked out if I had..." Jyugo answered, sweat dripping down his cheek.

"What happened to the high spirits you had last installment?" Trios questioned.

"Actually, those things have shown up every time we've been wandering the halls, right?" the purple haired male commented. "Are you gonna have to get rid of all of them?"

"As you'd expect, that would be impossible for me and Upa," Liang replied. "We don't want to waste our stamina as we go along after all. However, if Hibari were here then it would lessen the burden on us."

"I wonder where she is..." Nico whispered, sadly frowning.

Trios pointed at the paint on the wall. "That's certainly true. This is still only the first floor. I think it would be a good idea to act only when necessary as we continue," he said, analyzing the situation. "Since even if we defeat those dolls, there's no end to them. Besides, if Liang and Upa become unable to move, we won't be able to do anything."

"That's true, most of us are all noncombatants after all~" Uno agreed without shame.

Liang deadpanned. "If you get it, then could you keep your voice down? Those things are attracted by noise."

"'Kayyyy, I got it~" Uno crossed his arms, continuing to talk beside just agreeing to Liang's warning. "Actually, with the basement having five floors, we're gonna have to go around checking all of them to find Hajime and the others, huh~" He closed his eyes, looking down. "It would be nice if we at least knew which floor they were on. It's really gonna take a lot of work, huh... Wait." His eyes snapped open as he angrily looked over his shoulder. "Who the hell's been pulling on my hair this whole time?!"

He was met face to face with one of the dolls and turned to stone.

"GYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Akiri twitched, eye fluttering open as she let out a mix of a groan and grunt. Once her vision came to her, no longer being blurry, she assessed the damage on her body.

'Looks like the Chemist-Dotard did a good job patching me up... Still, I have internal bleeding, fractured ribs, two at least broken... A sprained wrist... Multiple cuts and burn marks... Most likely a concussion and my eye is injured... At times like these I wish I had sun flames... Huh, at least that guy left a change of clothes for me.' She was thankful for that at least, considering her clothes were bloody, ripped, and singed.

She pondered for a moment. 'That flame user was surprisingly strong and caused a lot of damage. Will I be able to complete my mission in this state?' Akiri scoffed, smirking to herself. '...What am I thinking, of course I will. I'm a Hibari and Xanxus' cloud after all.'

"Urk..." Forcing herself up from the floor, she used the wall to help her before she pushed off, standing on her too legs, wincing for a split moment at the injuries.