Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Monfrox]

"Sounds good to me, Fvaar. The unbearable lightness of being. And it works; but perhaps we shouldn't touch it if real pineapples turn into icons of one. Unless someone here has a secret ambition to be Han Solo in carbonite and no one told me. Anyone?"

Tilt paused for a moment and nodded to himself. "I didn't think so. OK, so now that we have no pineapple, but we still have keys and a feather and a knife...and we've ruled out sacrificing any blood, fishy or human, to these tiles as too dark a solution...what can we do? Are we supposed to tickle the tiles with the feather? Do something else?" He studied Brit's Buck knife, trying to figure out what other attachments it had. "Any ideas?"

"Ain't got nothin, Captain." Brit said. The buck knife was small and slim, and the only other attachements it had were two different smaller blades. It wasn't a multi-tool or a Swiss Army knife like he'd like to have, but it was only to help as a minor annoyance if he ever got into a fight and there was no one around to help him.

[Cerillium]

Turtleboss squealed and pushed away from Serina. He seemed to waver between staying beside her and darting away. The result of his stressful indecision was that he bloated up like a leathery bladder.

"Hngh," he grunted and then turned on his tail and began to book down the street towards home.

---

"Jeez, just climb in already," Trice laughed. She peered up at the rearview mirror to adjust her bangs and her eyes widened. "Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Snow, grab him and pull him in. Fuck!"

Trice threw the car into gear and revved the engine. Behind them, and approaching more rabidly than she was comfortable with, was a wall of nothing which veered around the Industrial District Snow had been peering at earlier but had begun to eat away the highway beyond it. The back end of the Opera House was struck and it was impossible for Trice to be certain, but it appeared that the wall violently and silently erased it. The edges turned to wisps or ash, she wasn't too sure, and then were overtaken by the wall and vanished. Her heart raced. "GET HIM IN, DAMN IT!"

[Zarkanians]

Without stopping to think, Snow pushed the door open (two seconds to pull the handle and push it open), grabbed Smith and pulled him (a further five; Snow wasn't very fit and Smith, being a soldier, was), and shut the door (one second). Then he looked back.

"What the fuck...?!" he whispered, eyes widening in shock. That was nothing. That was the Space Beyond the Stars. The human mind was incapable of comprehending perfect nonexistence. When they hear 'nothing,' most people envision the vacuum of space, or a wall of black goo, or a sheet of mist thick as butter. He tried to look at it, and the result was a feeling like fingers scraping at his brain. He closed his eyes, whimpering, and turned away as far as he was able.

[ApertureScienceInc]

Quite alarmed at the giant wall of nonexistence heading their way, PXM grew panicked. "That isn't not there... its not gone... energy can't be created or destroyed... nothing is gone forever..." he muttered to himself. True loss not only irked him, but terrified him with the notion that things could be lost forever. Extinction? Cloning! Death? Reanimation! Destruction? It was part of the reason he was obsessed with science fiction and time travel, nothing could be lost. But there it was, a terror more frightning than any monster. They had to reboot this universe before it was too late, and everything would return. Right?

The question petrified him as he looked at the whiteness through the vanity mirror.

[Cerillium]

Without stopping to think, Snow pushed the door open (two seconds to pull the handle and push it open), grabbed Smith and pulled him (a further five; Snow wasn't very fit and Smith, being a soldier, was), and shut the door (one second). Then he looked back.

"What the fuck...?!" he whispered, eyes widening in shock. That was nothing. That was the Space Beyond the Stars. The human mind was incapable of comprehending perfect nonexistence. When they hear 'nothing,' most people envision the vacuum of space, or a wall of black goo, or a sheet of mist thick as butter. He tried to look at it, and the result was a feeling like fingers scraping at his brain. He closed his eyes, whimpering, and turned away as far as he was able.

Bodies pressed backwards into the soft seat springs as Trice mashed the gas pedal to the floor. Swith's beloved Opel Ambassador, tenderly pimped out by Minerva's neurotic lads, responded with a roar. She jumped the curb and pedestrians screamed and shook their fists at her. Trice, like honey badger, didn't care.

It took the pedestrians a few moments to realize that their world was disintegrating and they screamed anew and began to ran. For them it was too late. It was fortune that was preserving the people in the car, for the moment, because of all people present only Trice knew the actual roads. She'd drawn them by hand.

They rocketed down Harcourt and the car gained Vance Avenue purely by drifting into the turn. Tiny Autrice, the small girl who hated driving in Dayton because of the traffic, didn't care if she took out newspaper stands or small posts. The Opel, a heavy machine built long before anyone thought plastic would be a clever idea for a car, took the beating and kept running.

"My car!" The words were a growled moan of desperation. It was her dream car and she'd always wanted one just like it. "You can't have my car!"

Trice, caught up in the horror of losing everything, mostly the people she loved, stomped the gas again and the car picked up speed. This was Zark. This was Thriller. This was NVE. These were the writers who breathed life into the characters she'd fallen deeply in love with despite all their quirks and silliness. She had wept when she read that Thriller died. She had wept when the Raptor House had gone away. She had gazed at the screen in hopes of seeing Snow's posts. Real life had taken these characters away but she'd be damned if some fakey universe would take away their writers - her friends.

"We'll take Abercrombe," she growled and the car drifted again. It slaughtered a meter maid's empty electric cart. "We'll take that to Main."

[Giovenith]

"Oh crap, Turtleboss! He ran away!" Serina shot upward to her feet again, stumbling back and forth a bit as she frantically struggled on whether or not to go after the waterbear. What could they do now?! They needed him to know what to do!

"Guys, he just ran away," she emphasized again, pointing after the animal. "Obviously something is messed up with this. Do we leave, do I go get him? What?" Truthfully, she wasn't even sure how she could catch Turtleboss. The waterbear seemed at-ease enough with her, but it was clear he realized that she, Gio, was not... Gio.

[New Aksarben]

Jacob glanced back when he heard an odd noise coming from behind him(along with Gio's exclamations), and noticed that Turtleboss seemed to be scampering back towards the building. "What the.... What scared the tardigrade?" He asked of no one in particular, glancing around to see what might have spooked it. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.... Nothing at all.... Wait.... "......Why can't I see anything past a certain point in the city?" He asked, noticing a distinct lack of... well, anything, past a certain point. He couldn't really describe what it was, just that there wasn't anything past a certain point, and that point seemed to be getting closer and closer. In fact, it was approaching at quite a rapid pace, making his eyes widen slightly.

"Uh.... Guys! I think things are disappearing faster now! We should probably either start running or try finishing up figuring out this puzzle... Either way, I don't want to stick around here too long. We might not be able to outrun that.... wall of nothing, for lack of a better name. Can't really name nothing after all." He stood back up, staring towards the opposite direction of the building, and then glancing around towards the others worriedly. "My vote is for running. Unless someone thinks we have a way to get back faster than running."

[Tiltjuice]

Jacob glanced back when he heard an odd noise coming from behind him(along with Gio's exclamations), and noticed that Turtleboss seemed to be scampering back towards the building. "What the.... What scared the tardigrade?" He asked of no one in particular, glancing around to see what might have spooked it. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.... Nothing at all.... Wait.... "......Why can't I see anything past a certain point in the city?" He asked, noticing a distinct lack of... well, anything, past a certain point. He couldn't really describe what it was, just that there wasn't anything past a certain point, and that point seemed to be getting closer and closer. In fact, it was approaching at quite a rapid pace, making his eyes widen slightly.

"Uh.... Guys! I think things are disappearing faster now! We should probably either start running or try finishing up figuring out this puzzle... Either way, I don't want to stick around here too long. We might not be able to outrun that.... wall of nothing, for lack of a better name. Can't really name nothing after all." He stood back up, staring towards the opposite direction of the building, and then glancing around towards the others worriedly. "My vote is for running. Unless someone thinks we have a way to get back faster than running."

"Running it is. After that waterbear!"

Tilt flipped the knife back to Mon and began waving at everyone. "Go, go, go! Anyone need a lift? I can carry someone if they're light enough. Being dissolved is not my idea of a good time!"

[Zarkanians]

Snow's face felt like it was coated in salt. Soft salt. It scratched at his pores and made him itch and sweat. Nothing couldn't be. Nothing couldn't exist. Something couldn't just be nothing; there was always something to stop the nothing. Nothing was literally impossible, because simply by existing nothing became something, and was therefore no longer nothing. But--his eyes opened a crack and he turned his head just a little to the left--no no no no no no no; his eyes slammed shut hard enough to hurt. He began sobbing quietly; tears were streaming from his eyes. This wasn't possible. By the laws of infinite possibility, even this world was possible--the world they'd written into being had to exist somewhere, because somewhere all the laws they'd created were true and all the things they'd talked about had happened. But nothing couldn't be. His heart was hitting him again. The dove. Was there an ice-berg?

"Was there an ice-berg?" he asked, his voice both quiet and shrill. He didn't even notice the driving.

[Fvaarniimar]

Jacob glanced back when he heard an odd noise coming from behind him(along with Gio's exclamations), and noticed that Turtleboss seemed to be scampering back towards the building. "What the.... What scared the tardigrade?" He asked of no one in particular, glancing around to see what might have spooked it. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.... Nothing at all.... Wait.... "......Why can't I see anything past a certain point in the city?" He asked, noticing a distinct lack of... well, anything, past a certain point. He couldn't really describe what it was, just that there wasn't anything past a certain point, and that point seemed to be getting closer and closer. In fact, it was approaching at quite a rapid pace, making his eyes widen slightly.

"Uh.... Guys! I think things are disappearing faster now! We should probably either start running or try finishing up figuring out this puzzle... Either way, I don't want to stick around here too long. We might not be able to outrun that.... wall of nothing, for lack of a better name. Can't really name nothing after all." He stood back up, staring towards the opposite direction of the building, and then glancing around towards the others worriedly. "My vote is for running. Unless someone thinks we have a way to get back faster than running."

"Running it is. After that waterbear!"

Tilt flipped the knife back to Mon and began waving at everyone. "Go, go, go! Anyone need a lift? I can carry someone if they're light enough. Being dissolved is not my idea of a good time!"

"Fuck."

The girl spoke as quickly as she could, drawing on her experience in theatre and choir to project as much as possible- time clearly was running short. This was no time to edit words, or be shy, or have to repeat. Was she scared? Yeah. But Fvaar had always hoped that she could do something huge. She placed a hand next to her hair, as though to style it.

"Let's try Gio's idea, right now. If we can get saltwater, that would- THE FISH TANKS! I think saltwater or something could be connected to this place- market- and that might help. I'll tie my feather to something in case it doesn't work."

Then, something occurred to her.

"I also-" Fvaar started searching for long sticks, half yelling- "Have some sugar. We can try that too."

[New Aksarben]

Jacob glanced back when he heard an odd noise coming from behind him(along with Gio's exclamations), and noticed that Turtleboss seemed to be scampering back towards the building. "What the.... What scared the tardigrade?" He asked of no one in particular, glancing around to see what might have spooked it. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.... Nothing at all.... Wait.... "......Why can't I see anything past a certain point in the city?" He asked, noticing a distinct lack of... well, anything, past a certain point. He couldn't really describe what it was, just that there wasn't anything past a certain point, and that point seemed to be getting closer and closer. In fact, it was approaching at quite a rapid pace, making his eyes widen slightly.

"Uh.... Guys! I think things are disappearing faster now! We should probably either start running or try finishing up figuring out this puzzle... Either way, I don't want to stick around here too long. We might not be able to outrun that.... wall of nothing, for lack of a better name. Can't really name nothing after all." He stood back up, staring towards the opposite direction of the building, and then glancing around towards the others worriedly. "My vote is for running. Unless someone thinks we have a way to get back faster than running."

"Running it is. After that waterbear!"

Tilt flipped the knife back to Mon and began waving at everyone. "Go, go, go! Anyone need a lift? I can carry someone if they're light enough. Being dissolved is not my idea of a good time!"

"Its not mine either!" Jacob responded, shoving the keys back into his pocket. He glanced around to see if they were just running or if they could get a ride from some vehicle or another." Should we get a car or something? Some of us might not be able to run fast enough to escape it, and it does seem to be getting closer very fast...." He glanced among the group, wondering if anyone had any ideas how to get back to the building quickly and safely. Fvaar seemed to want to keep trying things, but Jacob wasn't sure at all what they could do in the time they had.

"Fvaar, it might be a good idea to just run. I have no idea how far away that wall is, but Its getting closer by the second. WE might not have time to try anything we've said, okay? I don't want anyone to die, at least not of people I know. If anywhere is safe, it has to be the building."

[Giovenith]

"Fucking canary in a coal mine, man!" Serina exclaimed in what could only have been assumed to be a kind of agreement in the general distress of the situation. She swished her head in contained panic. "I can run fine," she explained to Tilt. "We should really, really get going though!"

Serina thought back, briefly, very briefly given the problem at hand, of a trip to the Milwaukee museum she'd had with her mother and her mother's friends when she was younger. They had been walking through "old town Milwaukee" (known to most as "the creepy-ass village with all the mannequins"), when it was announced several times over the intercom that the museum would soon be closing. Despite this, her mother and the other adults kept stopping and looking and talking, stopping and looking and talking, dilly-dallying to what built up a very frustrated and scared child, who, believing they'd all be in trouble if they were not out in time, had continued to rush the adults with panicked fervency. Her mother had settled her down with the oh-so-very-soothing, "Calm down Serina, they're not going to chase us out with torches and pitchforks!" To this day, Serina still acted like being late (for things she cared about) would result in said unseen torches and pitchforks. Considering that a much more hefty consequence was at hand, the teen felt justified in this mentality.

"Do we really have to do that now?" she asked regarding Fvaar's suggestion, not angrily, but with panicked rush. "Turtleboss just RAN like it didn't even matter! YES, Jacob!" Good sense, NA had always had. Serina quickly darted up a few more feet ahead, not too far from her friends, but enough to send the physical message. "Come on!"

[Fvaarniimar]

"Running it is. After that waterbear!"

Tilt flipped the knife back to Mon and began waving at everyone. "Go, go, go! Anyone need a lift? I can carry someone if they're light enough. Being dissolved is not my idea of a good time!"

"Its not mine either!" Jacob responded, shoving the keys back into his pocket. He glanced around to see if they were just running or if they could get a ride from some vehicle or another." Should we get a car or something? Some of us might not be able to run fast enough to escape it, and it does seem to be getting closer very fast...." He glanced among the group, wondering if anyone had any ideas how to get back to the building quickly and safely. Fvaar seemed to want to keep trying things, but Jacob wasn't sure at all what they could do in the time they had.

"Fvaar, it might be a good idea to just run. I have no idea how far away that wall is, but Its getting closer by the second. WE might not have time to try anything we've said, okay? I don't want anyone to die, at least not of people I know. If anywhere is safe, it has to be the building."

The girl nodded, and then, shutting her eyes and repeating the same mantra as before in a low whimper, opened her sugar and threw the contents of the packet on the pineapple. It wasn't a liquid, but it also wasn't a clue that the party could end up later requiring. Besides, she'd grabbed it.

"I have a feeling that even the building might not be safe." She glanced one more time at the pineapple; should nothing happen, she would run as fast as possible.

[Cerillium]

Ren was a sarcastic beast. He mocked people in horror movies. He cheered with his fellow countrymen ran from Gojira and laughed with some unfortunate fuck was stupid enough to stop running to look behind. Death had a nasty habit of catching up with the hesitant or foolish. Ren had never considered himself foolish but he was hesitant to bail on this hodgepodge group of teens and young adults.

"Kuso." Yeah, it was an oh shit moment. "Anata no jinsei no tame ni jikko."

Seriously? Had he just said that? It was a cheesy line from a movie. An American movie. Jesus Christ. It's amazing what surfaces in the mind when shit hits the fan. Determined to not make those his last words ever, he screamed, "RUN!" and did precisely that. The trolley was too slow and already down the block. There weren't any vehicles on Main. It was foot power or nothing. He estimated that a proper jog would be fast enough to beat the wall but how fast could the others run?

[New Aksarben]

"Fucking canary in a coal mine, man!" Serina exclaimed in what could only have been assumed to be a kind of agreement in the general distress of the situation. She swished her head in contained panic. "I can run fine," she explained to Tilt. "We should really, really get going though!"

Serina thought back, briefly, very briefly given the problem at hand, of a trip to the Milwaukee museum she'd had with her mother and her mother's friends when she was younger. They had been walking through "old town Milwaukee" (known to most as "the creepy-ass village with all the mannequins"), when it was announced several times over the intercom that the museum would soon be closing. Despite this, her mother and the other adults kept stopping and looking and talking, stopping and looking and talking, dilly-dallying to what built up a very frustrated and scared child, who, believing they'd all be in trouble if they were not out in time, had continued to rush the adults with panicked fervency. Her mother had settled her down with the oh-so-very-soothing, "Calm down Serina, they're not going to chase us out with torches and pitchforks!" To this day, Serina still acted like being late (for things she cared about) would result in said unseen torches and pitchforks. Considering that a much more hefty consequence was at hand, the teen felt justified in this mentality.

"Do we really have to do that now?" she asked regarding Fvaar's suggestion, not angrily, but with panicked rush. "Turtleboss just RAN like it didn't even matter! YES, Jacob!" Good sense, NA had always had. Serina quickly darted up a few more feet ahead, not too far from her friends, but enough to send the physical message. "Come on!"

"Welp, that's all the convincing necessary, I feel. So... yeah, everyone run!" Jacob exclaimed worriedly, before just running off after the waterbear. The time to think about what was going on was was over, after all. Right now all that mattered was getting to safety. Even if that meant being exhausted when you wer there. At least being dead tired was better then not existing! So Jacob started running, hoping that his weight wouldn't slow him down too much, seeing as this was like the one situation when it would matter if you were a few seconds too slow. He sincerely hoped it was going slow enough that they could outpace it, even the slower ones of their number.

Jacob's run was basically roughly a fit person's jogging speed, but when he was /really/ in a rush, He could book it a lot faster than normal, and much more like a fit person's running speed. And this definitely warranted not being slow, so Jacob simply ran as fast as he could after Cer, seeing as... well there was nothing else to do but run. It would be stupid to stay in place after all!

[Monfrox]

"Ain't got time for that, now! On your feet! WE ARE LEAVING!" Brit shouted at Fvaar using his command voice he acquired through the 7 years he spent in CAP in a manner reminiscent of an old British soldier that anyone that played the first widely known modern First-Person Shooter game would recognize immediately as a reference which was one of many he made whenever possible. He didn't really care whether she thought he was being a dick about it or not, but he grabbed her arm and yanked her along. At least until she started running by herself. He wasn't keen on being wiped out of existence much like the others weren't, but he hoped his finite amount of stamina would hold him until they reached the building, and he also hoped that Fvaar wouldn't hate him for it afterward.

[Tiltjuice]

Tilt took off at a full-tilt (sorry) dead sprint. One of his classmates had once suggested he try out for track after seeing him cross the entire school grounds in something that was a very short amount of time. It wasn't Olympic-level, but very few people were. Trailed by Bran, Remmy, Fraire and all others who weren't actively around, he formed one of the leading dots in that long, drawn-out chain of people fleeing the nothingness wave.

"I wouldn't touch those things if I were you!" he yelled without looking back.

[Morlodania]

James was honestly utterly confused. Sure, he had a general idea of what was going on... But everything was frantic. He stood, trying to unravel the commotion, before sighing loudly, giving up, and just shouting at the top of his lungs in a rather commanding voice. "Time to move the fuck out, people, we go a whole lot of nothing coming at us, and I'd rather not join it." He looked to Fvaar, who had thrown sugar on a pineapple... And then started running, rather slowly, as far as he was concerned, toward the building. He sprinted to catch up to her, and ran alongside her. "Need a lift, Fvaar?" He smiled to her, running rather slow for himself, and holding pace with her. "Because I can run way faster than this, if you want a ride."

[Cerillium]

Tilt, in the lead, was soon overtaking the water bear. Turtleboss' stumpy legs were useless for speed. The others, such as Bran and James, were capable of kicking up their heels if pressed. It's amazing what blind fear could do to a person. The fish mongers and those gathered in the market had caught on to their peril and had also scattered. They didn't have Turtleboss to guide them. Some darted into store and slammed the doors shut. Others ran towards the ocean in the primitive belief that water would prevent a land disaster from striking them. Sadly, the horizon was quickly rushing in; it swallowed water, fishing vessels and the buoys that outlined shipping lanes.

Ren wasn't a distance runner. He'd had a stent placed nearly a year ago and had given up on most sports hobbies such as boxing and climbing. Needless to say, his cardio fitness had gone downhill, much to his regret at the moment. Why do I smoke so much? What was I thinking? Fuck. He refused to be the guy who looked behind. The guy who looked behind always died. Always. It was an irrational thought but the Building would save him. He believed it. It had to. This couldn't be the end. He ignored the stitch in his side and willed himself to run.

The group soon passed Chaos. The Building was in sight. Somewhere in there, Khan was manning the fort. They just had to reach the doors.

---

Please don't let me hit anyone. Please don't. The NPCs were real to her. Bones had made it so. They were living beings with a right to not be molested. It angered her when new characters run by immature players senselessly slaughtered them. It would haunt her if she actually hit one.

The car began to protest the speed and turns but held up. They crested the Market District and gained Main Street. Trice blew through the plastic poles that served as a barrier for cars. Tough shit. Give me a ticket when you catch me.

The Fish Market was a block away but people had rushed out and ran helter skelter. She laid on the horn and guided the car onto the curb and back to the street to avoid a group running in the road.

The car's end rose and for a brief moment the occupants had a view of the cobblestone street before being launched in the air. The wall ate its way through them like a scanner's beam. "FUCK! YOU CAN'T HAVE MY CAR!" Trice screamed and, having no need to hold onto the steering wheel, threw herself across the seat to hug PXM. The wall's leading edge passed over them and the car tumbled into nothingness. It felt as if they'd tumbled into space itself. Gravity ceased. It was nothing but whiteness and the interior of the car where they held on to whatever they could. Trice drew a breath to scream and found that she couldn't. It wasn't painful. It simply was that she didn't need breath in her lungs. She screamed anyway and the sound reverberated around the small space.

The car slowed and then drifted. There wasn't any sense of up or down so it was impossible to tell if they were oriented right. Snow's loose strands of hair formed a halo around his head. Trice's necklace lifted from her chest to hover aimlessly. Klaus and Minerva's cigarette butts floated out of the ashtray.

"Holy fucking mother of God," Autrice let go of PXM. "Are we dead? Is this death?"

[Fvaarniimar]

James was honestly utterly confused. Sure, he had a general idea of what was going on... But everything was frantic. He stood, trying to unravel the commotion, before sighing loudly, giving up, and just shouting at the top of his lungs in a rather commanding voice. "Time to move the fuck out, people, we go a whole lot of nothing coming at us, and I'd rather not join it." He looked to Fvaar, who had thrown sugar on a pineapple... And then started running, rather slowly, as far as he was concerned, toward the building. He sprinted to catch up to her, and ran alongside her. "Need a lift, Fvaar?" He smiled to her, running rather slow for himself, and holding pace with her. "Because I can run way faster than this, if you want a ride."

"Thanks. Both of you. You may have saved my life here." The girl shuddered, releasing her hand from Brit's.

"I'd appreciate that." Just how deep in shit they all were was hitting Fvaar, whose teeth were chattering. Maybe we should all exchange contact information and stuff...

She jumped onto James' back, feeling a bit safer.
for families. Some of us, like they were saying, might not make it. Selfishly, the girl hoped that if anyone didn't make it, it wouldn't be her.

There's got to be a way! The girl was growing hysterical. Scratch that, she'd been hysterical for a while but too stubborn to admit it. Silly as it felt, she murmured her mantra. Maybe she could be the one to see a way out of this.

As the world fell apart, Fvaar clung to the echoes of past dreams of being a hero, of scenes from her favorite books, TV shows, the like.

There had to be a way.

Something hit; her mother had, the night before, given her a lecture on prayer and needing to believe in something. And weren't there actual gods here, not all of them PCs? She started to repeat the prayer she'd said less than a day in the past.

I-if there's anyone out there who can accept me as I am- heck, if there's anyone out there period, we need some help. We're trying to save your world, but... We aren't really up to the task. Please. Someone. Help us.

Fvaar started sobbing uncontrollably.

[Zarkanians]

Please don't let me hit anyone. Please don't. The NPCs were real to her. Bones had made it so. They were living beings with a right to not be molested. It angered her when new characters run by immature players senselessly slaughtered them. It would haunt her if she actually hit one.

The car began to protest the speed and turns but held up. They crested the Market District and gained Main Street. Trice blew through the plastic poles that served as a barrier for cars. Tough shit. Give me a ticket when you catch me.

The Fish Market was a block away but people had rushed out and ran helter skelter. She laid on the horn and guided the car onto the curb and back to the street to avoid a group running in the road.

The car's end rose and for a brief moment the occupants had a view of the cobblestone street before being launched in the air. The wall ate its way through them like a scanner's beam. "FUCK! YOU CAN'T HAVE MY CAR!" Trice screamed and, having no need to hold onto the steering wheel, threw herself across the seat to hug PXM. The wall's leading edge passed over them and the car tumbled into nothingness. It felt as if they'd tumbled into space itself. Gravity ceased. It was nothing but whiteness and the interior of the car where they held on to whatever they could. Trice drew a breath to scream and found that she couldn't. It wasn't painful. It simply was that she didn't need breath in her lungs. She screamed anyway and the sound reverberated around the small space.

The car slowed and then drifted. There wasn't any sense of up or down so it was impossible to tell if they were oriented right. Snow's loose strands of hair formed a halo around his head. Trice's necklace lifted from her chest to hover aimlessly. Klaus and Minerva's cigarette butts floated out of the ashtray.

"Holy fucking mother of God," Autrice let go of PXM. "Are we dead? Is this death?"

Snow felt the weightlessness, and knew. He refused to open his eyes. They were still okay--the car was too real. The car existed, so it had its own little bubble of okayness around it. And they were real. Really real. They existed in the real world. Maybe they'd just float here until they died of starvation. Maybe the langoliers would show up and gobble them up like they gobbled up the things that had already happened.

He was mumbling the word "no" over and over and he hadn't even noticed. He closed his mouth hard, biting his tongue. He could taste blood. Salty. He sucked on it greedily, grabbing the leather seat and holding on for his life. He would never open his eyes again. It was all around them; he could feel it. Maybe they wouldn't starve. Maybe they'd use up all the air around the car first. Maybe they'd asphyxiate; maybe they'd die like fish. Flop. Flop flop. Ha ha ha.

"We're not dead," he whispered--a prayer, not a promise.

[New Aksarben]

Jacob continued his running, trying his best to not glance back at the oncoming wall. He knew if he did he would see how far away it was, and it would scare him to the point that he wouldn't be able to keep going. He had to just keep running and keep up with the group. But he was not a runner, let alone a distance one. Jacob knew from video games that if you were running from something, to just not look back. IF you did it would take too much time and you likely would end up dying. But this was real, with potentially unknown consequences should they be caught by this wall of nothing.

The running was horrible to Jacob. HE had always hated running. Mainly because he had never been in shape ever. He was panting, huffing and puffing, just trying to keep up with the group. By now he was probably near the back of the pack, which was probably the worst place to be in this situation. But Jacob continued to chug along the best he could. Hopefully he wouldn't fall behind too much and hopefully the wall wouldn't catch up with him. He didn't want to know what would happen if he was caught.

[Cerillium]

James would be well-winded by time he gained the Building. How he managed to not lose his balance was beyond comprehension (ooc: fudged dice rolls, if you must know). The rest were soon through the door. Every last one of the Market group had made it.

Ren set Turtleboss down and backed away from the thing. The last person in slammed the door. The wall continued, swallowing up city people and buildings, ocean and beach, parks and trees and the giraffe statue. Chaos blew to ash and disappeared. The wall passed over yet the building was intact. They still had air. They had gravity. The Building alone remained. Nothing could be seen beyond the windows except, in the very distance, Snow's Industrial District. The Observatory group was gone, or so they thought.

[Morlodania]

James held onto Fvaar as he ran, pulling up to the front of the group with ease. Military fitness for the win, he guessed. He thought only about keeping this one person safe, really, keeping Fvaar, the person he had decided to seek out, alive and safe. He silently ushered a prayer, not only to the Christian God he so vehemently prescribed to as a Catholic, but to any and all gods this universe might have, including the one he had written as a joke for his own nation, the one he occasionally claimed, even in real life, to be the prophet of. Now would be a great time to get a little drop of pure cuteness to come in and save them...

James heard Fvaar sobbing on his back, and coo'd softly to her. "Fvaar... Calm down... I've got you, alright? We'll be fine. I won't let anything, and I mean anything get you, you got that. You're under my protection, and not even God himself fucks with those I'm protecting." After that, he yelled back, as commanding as always. "Building's right there, everyone, you can see it from here. Don't stop, keep pushing. Easy shit, right? It's just a little run!" He himself picked up the pace, not about to let... Nothing, for lack of a better term, claim him or Fvaar.

Once at the door, he pulled inside, and sat Fvaar down, breathing heavily. Probably the fastest he had ever run. He looked around, and saw... That Trice was missing. Her and Fvaar were the only two he knew by sight... And she was gone... Not here. James cursed himself for not being able to save everyone. He kicked a wall, hard, and recoiled, his short fuse burned through by now. He cursed himself, over and over again, before simply sitting on the floor, silent, and meditating.

[New Aksarben]

James would be well-winded by time he gained the Building. How he managed to not lose his balance was beyond comprehension (ooc: fudged dice rolls, if you must know). The rest were soon through the door. Every last one of the Market group had made it.

Ren set Turtleboss down and backed away from the thing. The last person in slammed the door. The wall continued, swallowing up city people and buildings, ocean and beach, parks and trees and the giraffe statue. Chaos blew to ash and disappeared. The wall passed over yet the building was intact. They still had air. They had gravity. The Building alone remained. Nothing could be seen beyond the windows except, in the very distance, Snow's Industrial District. The Observatory group was gone, or so they thought.

Jacob sat down heavily on the thinking bench, wondering how they had all managed to make it back. "How.... how did we make it back here.... without losing anyone?" He was forgetting the group that had gone to the observatory for now, seeing as he was simply exhausted from their run. He held his head in his hands, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths to try recovering his stamina. He hoped that there was still a way to escape from this place, before it was too late. Even if it now seemed like a remote chance for that happening ever, he had to keep hope that they would get back. That HE would get home and escape from this and get back to normal life. It was basically all they had left after all.