xp_logs | Early Sunday Morning And Things Are A Little Bit Crap

The last of the kids.

Matt and Sarah Vale, Kyle and Tabitha

Kyle'd not bothered with a flashlight. The red-filtered one that Tabitha had provided more than enough light for him, and besides, he wasn't using his eyes all that much anyway. The real trick wasn't finding the kids - it was going after the one kid who could hear him and smell him coming and wouldn't be hampered by the dark tunnels.

The kid Kyle'd been actually teaching to use his powers. This had to be what Logan felt like sometimes, he thought. If Logan didn't pull a runner every time things got a little weird, the jerk.

The tunnels were still high enough that he could stand straight, and for once Kyle was in his uniform boots because God only knew what someone might step on down here or what might be living under the water. Yeah, maybe sewer gators were an urban legend, but he wasn't risking having to grow back toes, or feet or hands or anything. As he and Tabitha approached a T-junction he stopped, flashing a "wait" hand signal and listened carefully. Footsteps down both paths - but he could hear two sets down one, and the occasional ticky-tack of a cane.

Matt grabbed at Sarah when he heard footsteps. She was holding his shoulder and letting him lead, though he was as unfamiliar with these tunnels as she was. He was blind however and unhampered in the dark and his powers were only a bonus here. Sound reverberated just enough to be annoying, but it also meant it traveled farther. That worked out well. Smell actually was more troublesome, sewers stunk. He was almost used to the stink now though, which was probably not a good thing. They needed to defend the tunnels though and protect Annalee. Protect Artie.

Tabitha stuck to Kyle's backside like glue. She could see little more than the shadow of his body. When he stopped, ,her hand went to a flare. She touched the cylinder to Kyle's shoulder and waited for further signals.

Halting when Matt grabbed her, Sarah looked around to see what why he'd done so, only she couldn't really see anything in the darkness that surrounded them. Even though she was the only one of them who could see, it was Matt who was leading the way. "What is it?" she whispered to him, as soft as she possibly could because she knew they had to be quiet but, well, she wanted to know what was going on, exactly.

Kyle shook his head to let Tabitha know to hold off on the flare - it wouldn't do crap against Matt and if the kids were going to be cooperative he didn't -want- to blind Sarah even temporarily. The footsteps and tapping cane noise were getting closer, not further away, thank God, and he directed Tabitha towards the sewer wall, pressing her hand flat against it as if to say "Stay put we'll wait for them." The quieter he and Tabitha were, the more of a advantage they'd have in surprising the kids - and while any fight would already be grossly one-sided, because he and Tabitha had all the advantages here, it wouldn't do them any good to go rushing into an unknown situation if the kids were heading towards them.

Tabs pressed her back against the wall. She closed her eyes, as if that would help her hear. But she _could_ make out some footsteps. She couldn't tell how many or who, but that's what Kyle was for, right? So she stayed behind him, trusting him to make the right move.

Slowly, Matt led Sarah forward again, but he shifted his grip on his cane so that the loop at the top wasn't around his wrist anymore and his hand gripping the top of the fiberglass stick. Now, he was gripping it slightly farther down, prepared to use it as a bat if necessary. He'd done that more than once to defend himself. He wasn't formally trained in any sort of fighting or even self defense, but he could wield his cane like a bat and his father had been a boxer. Matt could throw a mean punch.

If it hadn't been Matt, Kyle would have been working harder to keep silent. But there was just no point to it, the kid could probably hear his heartbeat and breathing, because if they got any closer, Kyle sure as hell was going to be able to hear Matt breathing. He gestured with a walking motion to Tabitha, and nudged her forward. Maybe if he kept a few paces back, he could get the element of surprise.

Sarah followed, not saying anything else when she didn't get a reply from Matt. She could sense the tension now, that someone or something was close to them now, and she had no idea who to expect. All she knew was that they had to defend the tunnels, that was their main objective, even if she had no real idea how to fight if it came down to it. Mainly she stood slightly behind Matt, ready to back him up if necessary.

Tabs shot a narrow-eyed look into the dark behind her. She inched her way forward. Kyle was completely silent behind her. She took another step forward, and managed to trip on something. Her stumble echoed in the tunnel. With a sigh, she gave up on her personal stealth.

The echo and reverberation at that distance when combined with the sewer tunnels made the area around them light up like a Christmas tree inside Matt's head and he stopped, heart pounding as two people-shapes emerged ahead of him. What the hell? He was blind, he shouldn't be able to see anything! What. The Hell?!

Dammit, they stopped. Kyle had been hoping they'd keep coming towards him and Tabs, and now the kids weren't moving at all. He shrugged to himself and decided patience wasn't working anymore. He got to Tabitha's side, helped her up, and then popped on the dimmed flashlight he'd been keeping in his pocket. "Guys, come on out. I know you're there, you know I'm there, lets just get out of here to somewhere it doesn't smell like poo, huh?"

She murmured a low "thanks" and brushed herself off. "With clean, running water, please? I think I fell in something." Only half-true. Everything was something down here.

Sarah froze at the sound of someone else's voice, unsure of what to do next. Even though it was pitch black, she turned to Matt, her hand tightening a little at his shoulder. "What do we do now?" she whispered to him. She felt pretty much completely useless, with no offensive capabilities of her own, or defensive ones either when she thought about it. If it came to a fight, well, she wouldn't be of much use at all.

"Defend," Matt replied simply. They had to defend their home. That was why they were out here. It didn't matter that neither of them were trained fighters or that neither of them had offensive powers. Matt's were barely defensive. Sarah was useless in the dark, but they had to defend. Letting go of Sarah, he ran at their opponents, determined to do his best, even if he failed.

Kyle's plan was pretty simple. Wait for Matt to get in range, and then take him down carefully. Which worked just fine, right up until the point where Matt got close enough to actually hit him. Kyle had just stayed still, anticipating that he could just grab Matt and hold him still until the kid calmed down. He.. hadn't exactly been counting on the kid actually getting lucky and having a really solid right hook. The skinny blind kid wasn't supposed to actually know how to punch someone! He wasn't even supposed to know where Kyle -was-. "Son of a..." He staggered back, let go of Matt's shirt and rubbed at his jaw.

Tabitha took a step forward and in front of Kyle before her brain fully engaged. "Defend? Defend from what?" She kept her hands loose and ready to move in case Matt took another swing. "We're here to take you home. Where there's the green house and books in braille and a regular supply of food and warm, dry beds." She watched the shadowy movements of her students' bodies. "You remember home, right?"