“Run, Morty! Run!”
The sound of laser fire suddenly rang out along the middle floor as a pistol-wielding Rick - wearing the ski-mask he’d picked up back on Day 3- and Morty –wearing a pair of futuristic, recently purloined night-vision goggles and carrying a pile of stolen gizmos- leapt out through a half-melted glass storefront and back out onto the street, feet pounding against the asphalt in an attempt to put some distance between themselves and any potential do-gooders.
Morty screamed in between breaths as he tried to keep up with his grandfather, who had already executed a one-handed vault over a noodle stand in an attempt to allay any pursers. That said, almost two years of nonstop running on planets with different gravities had given him fairly good cardiovascular endurance skills.
“Look *urp* M-morty, it’s not a crime, what we’re doing!” Rick turned down a random alleyway as he spoke, accidentally stepping on the face of an alien dozing in the gutter… causing it to wail in pain at the sudden impact of foot on face.
“Yeah? T-Then why are we running?” Morty desperately tried to keep pace, earning another strangled cry from the extraterrestrial.
“Because the real crime here is the fact that society allows this kind of shit to happen. Now shut up and run!” Rick shoved some more people out of the way as they came to an intersection in the road; momentarily thrown off balance, the scientist looked around, ignoring the confused bystanders.
“Rick! What are we doing?! What are you doing?!”
“We’re trying to find a way back down to the lab, Morty! This way!” Rick turned and sprinted down another street at random. Located just ahead, positioned next to a graffiti-scrawled billboard, was an escalator, people queuing up for a ride down to the slums in a (fairly) orderly fashion. In one practiced motion, Rick shoved three bystanders out of the way and valuted onto the railing, sliding down it and bolting down another random street.
There was the faint huff-puff of out-of-breath running as Morty desperately tried to scramble down the rolling escalator... only for the breathing to turn into a protracted wail as the teenager slipped midway through, recovering from a potentially humiliating fall at the last minute. Picking up what he'd dropped- and hastily mumbling "sorrys" to someone who he'd accidentally slammed into, he darted into the stygian, neon-lit gloom after his grandfather.
edited 18th Apr '16 9:33:29 AM by Locoman
Screw the Lion!
Plague Knight frowned under his mask. While their was sufficient residue on the arrow shaft to reproduce crystalized knockout compound, the resulting crystals were all tiny little pebbles that could fit on top of one's finger prints. All the crystals produced brought and crushed simultaneously would only be half as effective as the whole crystal. The crystals could just take time to grow to full size, but the process may take several months without magic, and even then the rate of growth could be extremely drastic depending on what kinds of magic used. Unfortunately, due to the changing nature of the City and the God of this realm's unpredictable nature, time was not a luxury to be afforded.
The knight dubbed the experiment a partial failure and gathered up all the crystals produced and put them all into a thin layer of a textile he found in the pub's kitchen called "cheese cloth". The crystals were bound to be useful for something.
"Alright everyone, time to wake up!" he called out to everyone in the pub. "Better get to the library and see the full extent of the wyrdness this day brings us!" He quickly looked around. "Where's Ranma?" he asked.
edited 18th Apr '16 8:06:42 AM by UdtheImp
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
The City, Bottom Tier
Nanoha looked around as she heard the shout. The man in white certainly looked strange, but given what had happened to her already she wasn't really about to be surprised. She felt her grip on Raising Heart tighten a little, even though there was nothing to suggest this stranger was a threat to her.
"I... I don't suppose you know where this is do you?"
"Yup. That tasted purple."
I just want to help!
Cole flinched a bit at the hug, looking at Sawyer with those glowing eyes, before he just silently clutched at her, hanging on for dear life. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, I don't want this to happen...I don't, I don't...I don't..."
The glow faded slowly, the scratches of light on his skin going out as well, before he sniffed once, shivering. "I...it's going to try to hurt you...because of me...I'm sorry...I...we need to get back to the library so you can be safe from it...the librarian won't let anyone hurt you there..."
Toa of Anarchy
"I was actually about to ask you the same thing," said Arthur sadly. "Y-You're not lost, are you? Are your parents around anywhere?"
Meanwhile, as Tick's keen vision swept his grimy surroundings, he happened to notice a great kerfuffle going on over at the escalators, with a man and a boy crashing through and bolting off into the night. "Hmm..." The Tick stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes, in the hopes that this thoughtful look would trigger some deductive abilities in himself. "Ski masks...firearms...miscellaneous goods under one arm, running as if their lives depended on it? E-GAD! A thief and accomplice making haste from the scene of a crime! Come, Arthur! Evil is afoot, and that foot is off at a run!"
The Tick sprinted in hot pursuit of the two robbers. Arthur looked nervously between him and Nanoha, before finally calling "Be right there, Tick! Just have to make sure this kid's in safe hands, okay?"
edited 18th Apr '16 9:17:16 AM by LizardOfAus
For the Horde!
Ben gazed around at the place that surrounded him. Upon Garret walking up and doing the same thing, he turned over to the thief. "Yeah, classy is right," Ben responded. "We should totally take a look around. The Author may be some kind of crazy puppetmaster making us hurt people for his amusement, but you gotta admit, sometimes he's got style. C'mon, guys!" With that, Ben began to wander down one of the streets (greatly thankful that there were no book-cars to run him over this time), eyes wide at all of the technological marvels he was looking at.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Lizard Metabolism
Middle Layer, Hotel
Sawyer said nothing, merely finalizing the process of calming Cole down with a small kiss on top of his head before letting him go and moving out of the bed. She made her way to the pile of her clothes and reached down for the collar, putting it on. The familiar piece of electronics made her feel a little better; it's been three days after all.
"No." Was her response as she looked at the spirit. Her voice was quite like the one back at Day 4, but more jagged, with pauses. "This is a... declaration of war. We will hunt... it down and kill it. And then we will... hunt it down again."
How do lizards fly?
Once woken up however, he was quick to get up. He stretched, and in doing so noticed that he was finally normal. He was back to his regular tallness, his chiseled physique was in full feature instead of the ridiculous noodle arms of yesterday. Mostly, this was a blessing because he was entirely sick of yesterday's inanity by the time he had first crossed the street. Otherwise, it was finally going to be feasible to pick up chicks looking like this.
Plague Knight, who hadn't really gotten any taller or less weird-looking compared to last night, asked where Ranma was. Hol Horse couldn't spot her either, but he could spot an open window, the choice of egress for any rebellious teenager. "Well, she probably went out there, huh?" He walked over, and looked outside.
If things hadn't changed, his jaw probably would've fallen down a very long distance.
What was in front of him was incredible! Where there was nothing but antiquity the last time, the whole place was some kind of futuristic metropolis! The first thing that went through his head was that it all looked like that one movie, it came out a few years ago...and he couldn't remember the name. Harrison Ford was in it, that's all he needed to get.
The second thing that went through his mind was that he was on top of a skyscraper, and people generally don't jump out of 50-story buildings. If there was anyone who could survive a hundred foot drop, it would be Ranma, but Hol Horse was pretty sure he himself couldn't go out and expect the same. "I guess we ain't goin' down this way." The whole themes business was explained to him last night, and it certainly had changed quite a lot. "I've got no idea where Ranma is," he said to Plague Knight as he took himself out of the windowframe. "We ain't gonna find out by sitting on our asses here, obviously." Dang, that was a cool one liner. Yesterday had only tempered his quipping ability it seems.
edited 18th Apr '16 10:33:51 AM by wikkit
Jedi of the Old Republic
Twilight, having followed Ben and company outside, took to the sky to look around.
What is this "signature" of which people speak?
For the Horde!
Ben looked up as Twilight took off. "She has the right idea, flying would totally be faster than walking. But not as fast as XLR8!"
Ben readied his Omnitrix, turning it until he got to the desired alien. He grinned and slammed his hand onto the watch's face. The wonderful green glow was back, finally, and when the light lifted, XLR8 stood there, with a smirk on his face. "I could look at this whole city in the blink of an eye. Meet you guys back at the library, all right?" With that, he zoomed off to explore the city. Pristine gardens, fountains, and crystalline skyscrapers and structures seemed to flank his vision. He raised a "brow", however, when he saw stairs that led down into the ground. He didn't know this city had a subway system.
Quickly, he made his way to the stairs and carefully moved down them. It was like stepping into a completely new world: a bustling, dark metropolis that was entirely different from the shining utopian spires above.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
feeling blue
Sans was taking a leisurely walk through the city, outside of the aethestics and the fact that the city was segmented, there didn't look like much had changed, at least not in apparent way. The book cars were definitely gone now, which was kinda sad because those were actually pretty funny and not at all an issue for him. Now there were just neon lights illuminating the place, at least it was pretty colorful.
However, as he walked he found himself feeling more and more tired. The lack of sleep through the night was really getting to him so he would probably have to take some time to try to get some sleep somewhere in the city, maybe lying on an actual bed would help him sleep well, just thinking about it was making him feel sleepy.
Letting out a yawn, Sans resumed his trip through this new city, hoping something interesting would happen soon to help keep him awake.
edited 18th Apr '16 11:12:04 AM by FullMoon
For the Horde!
After standing for a bit to catch his breath, XLR8 zoomed off to continue searching the city for anything interesting. The streets were lined with shop after shop of high-tech gadgets (that he would have to check into at some point or another). He would also attempt to try and find a cell phone shop, somewhere where he could get some method of communication in order to use that new cell phone tower that they had managed to get up.
As he looked around at the shops absent-mindedly, he stopped before he nearly bumped into a certain skeleton. "Sans!" XLR8 exclaimed. "It's me, Ben! Sorry I nearly bowled you over, guess I wasn't looking where I was going."
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
The City, Bottom Tier
"Well, I guess I'm lost in the sense that I just arrived here and I don't know where here is."
Nanoha paused, before levitating a few inches up into the air.
"And you don't need to worry about me. I can handle myself pretty well."
edited 18th Apr '16 12:05:11 PM by Deadbeatloser22
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Screw the Lion!
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Plague Knight said to Hol Horse. "More pressing concerns is to head to the library," he said, exiting the restaurant with the cowboy most likely following. "First is to find a means of traveling to the upper floor," he explained as he looked up at the ceiling. "I assume the library would be located there, as I find it doubtful there may be anything below us."
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
Munching the breads idly but steadily, Ranma quickly made work of the store goods before dusting her dainty hands of crumbs. Enjoying that feeling of not quite fullness but not quite empty stomach, the girl stood up and stretched herself, grunting in exultation that her body was back to normal. Though still quite small, she now looked like a proper young teenager instead of a childish caricature of a human youth. "Yosh, let's do this thing." Clenching a hand, the girl bounded on over to the open window she had left before peering inside, finding Hol Horse and Plague Knight up and at it.
"Yo guys, the city seems pretty likey cake. I mean like how cakes have different layers." Waving cheerily as she stepped into the whatever dozen it was floor that the pub was placed on, the much more cheery girl reported her findings. "So like, the bottom is pretty dirty and stuff, kinda like slums and junkyards combined. Middle layer seems to be middle class and the top seems to be full of rich people with too much money and stuff. "So, what's the plan for now?" Really, she seemed a huge departure from yesterday, a one eighty degree shift as it were. Probably had to do with the fact that proper physique had been restored and the feeling of finally feeling like oneself was regained. If anything, she was gleaming with positivity, though that had half to do with all the shiny display boards and artificial lighting flashing in the background.
I just want to help!
"No!" Cole shook his head, eyes wide. "You don't understand! It wants to hurt you because of me, I can't...I can't let him hurt you for me!" Cole got to his feet, hurrying to grab for his clothes to start hurriedly getting dressed. "We have to get to to the library, or at least find the others, get somewhere that's safe so they can protect you! You don't know what he could do! What he could make me do!"
THE SLORG!
As the morning pressed on, there was a familiar blur in the middle of the central desks, and suddenly Miss Tairee was there, looking like her normal self again. She took a quick look around, spotting her computer at the desk, also back to its plain self. "Finally, back to regular business" Miss Tairee thought aloud, sitting down at the computer and getting to typing as one of the civvies came over to read the plaques.
One thing XLR8 might notice is that the middle layer seemed to have a lot more people in it than the top layer; right now it was mainly just people getting a look around and trying to find some breakfast.
Though a bit oddly, there was a particular diner a bit down the street that people weren't approaching much. Standing just in front of the doors was a couple of those women with cat features, currently talking to a certain half-snake woman. Silanea had a whole posse of non-humans there with her, most prominently the two-headed ogre, finally back to his rather large proper self. The conversation didn't look hostile, but the presence of the whole group of non-humans with their logo clearly on display was enough to dissuade most of the passers by from getting close, especially the humans.
"More new arrivals, huh?" a voice called out to Nanoha and Arthur, as a couple figures stepped forward towards the balcony from one of the grimy alleys. A human man, and a hunchbacked alien with an intimidating frame to him. Both had a symbol of three intersecting lines on their person; the man had a fireaxe hanging by his side via a makeshift sling attached to it, while the krogan had a large revolver holstered on his side. Aside from the fact that they were armed, neither seemed particularly hostile in their demeanor.
"Welcome to the interdimensional fuckfest" the human man continued, motioning to the city with open arms as a way of introduction. "You can say goodbye to your homes, 'cause you just got pulled out of there to here, and nobody has found a way out yet. Don't get used to the way this place looks, 'cause it changes every day" he explained very roughly and haphazardly.
"So who are you, and what's your deal?" the krogan asked, not really fazed by Arthur's outfit or Nanoha's floating.
edited 18th Apr '16 1:23:51 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Akuma Shogun
Lune peacefully slumbered through the day, unaware of the people already up and about. She also somehow slept through Ben screaming about a horrible nightmare last night. When she heard Rex mention that restaurant, she mumbled that she really needs a way to remember things better, like a notepad. She wondered how those catgirls were doing, after she left them in the cold like that.
She also mumbled in her sleep about facing the dreaded Neo Granzon once again. Even though she and the Elemental Lords forgave Shu during the Gaia Saber war, Lune still felt that Shu might backstab the others again. That guy really can't be trusted farther than he can be thrown.
Lune had that same dream about fighting the Neo Granzon from last night, and mumbled strange things about her dream: Ben and Caro turning gigantic with their respective powers, Zelda piloting an awesome ninja robot, Rex somehow controlling a gigantic construct and Ranma piloting a martial arts-themed robot. From the descriptions she gave to each thing mentioned in her dream, it would be awesome if each of the things mentioned came to life somehow, and then it ended the same way last time: an interruption during the valiant charge at the Neo Granzon.
Lune woke up, and she looked around the library, somehow unaware of the overnight changes. As she did a couple of warm-up stretches, she watched Ms. Tairee poof in and greeted whoever was in the library at the time.
"Good morning, guys... Anything I miss?"
edited 18th Apr '16 1:52:02 PM by josh6243
The King Without a Kingdom
Middle layer, street
Bill was floating down the sidewalk at the same time when he saw a familiar skeleton and one of his forms again. " You again? Why do we keep running into each other?"
It's been 3000 years…
Lizard Metabolism
Hotel, Middle Layer
"I can protect my... self." Sawyer remained stalwart in her decision, if her frown was any indication.
And that's when an idea flashed over her. "That crow will... have to learn not to... mess with you. Or me." A faint, ghoulish smile greeted Cole as the cleaner grabbed her clothes and moved over to the separate room to get changed, giving the spirit a small pat on the shoulder as she walked past him. "And I think... I know just who... can help us..."
How do lizards fly?
"Shit!" A massive blue slab of a man was sprinting down the street in pursuit of the duo, and the lab was still nowhere in sight. As he ran, Rick occasionally paused to knock down everything in his path, in an attempt to hinder the blue man- a fruit stall, a noodle stall, another noodle stall...
"What? I..." Morty turned his head and looked behind him... only to see the huge blue man trying to catch up with them. His question soon degenerated into a scream, as he tried to put a little more difference between himself and the bug-man.
"Split up! Split up!" Rick pulled the EMP-bomb out of his pocket, yanked the pin out with his teeth, and threw it over his shoulder. It bounced and clinked against the pavement... and then, with the sound of a hundred circuits suddenly fizzling, a small radius of the under-slum went completely dark. Ads, lights, everything within a few dozen meters flickered and died, plunging the area into near-complete darkness.
"Run, Morty!' There was the sound of little feet taking off into the darkness somewhere, as Rick- hopefully having bought a few seconds to regroup- leaned up against a pillar and cocked his pistol.
I just want to help!
"No, you..." Cole watched her go, then just let out a slightly shuddering sigh, pulling his clothes back on a bit haphazardly, struggling a bit to get his tattered tunic on, having to fix it as he pulled it on backwards the first time. "You have to find somewhere safe to go. I...I have to...I have to do something. I can't let it do this, I can't. I have to find my daggers..."
Aigis explained that she was created by a group called Kirijo in Japan. She decided not say anything else because it was classified. Rex thought that was a bit unnecessary because he wasn't going to post that on the internet or something but he understood that she had her secrets.
A brownish robot entered the library and took an interest in Aigis. She said she looked like a meatbag. Out of all the robots Rex had met, this was the only xenophobic one so he was particularly delighted and surprised when Aigis basically called him an idiot disguising the insult over a bunch of technical classifications for AIs.
"Wow, looks like your Japan is way more advanced than the quarians. At least they gave you a sense of humor, unlike Legion. I wonder if he was lucky enough to escape the city"
Shiara offered Rex the food she had in her bundle when he said he was going to have breakfast.
"Oh, cool. What do you have there?"
Before he could taste anything, Tairee appeared out of thin air and started doing her thing on the typewriter. She seemed pleased to not be a cartoon, a child or a princess anymore but Rex was a bit pissed by the whole thing.
"Yeah, it's good to be back to normal. Oh, wait, we're still trapped in a city playing stupid games so some jerk can write a mediocre book. I must have forgotten for a second" Rex's didn't hide the frustation an anger that came from being kidnapped for a week but he knew Tairee didn't have a say in her boss' schemes so he decided to stop venting.
"Do you know anything about the guy the plaque's talking about?"
edited 18th Apr '16 2:18:16 PM by DeisTheAlcano
Lizard Metabolism
Hotel
Sawyer returned, now dressed in her casual attire. Although she wore something similar two days ago, having the real deal was, just like with the Ultravoice and the chainsaw, be a real relief.
She completely forgot about Cole's daggers.
"I guess we'll... have to find you... something." She nodded, picking up the chainsaw, then pocketing her smaller Ultravoice as well. "Any other weapons... you can wield well?"
How do lizards fly?
Seventh Day
Sawyer had no real dream to speak of. She dreamed rarely and preferred it that way. What she dreamed about usually wasn't pretty.
Like tonight. Whatever that thing was, it ripped her consciousness out of her body to use it as a projectile and taunt Cole. True, she opened her eyes with a rather big frown, but something was slightly soothing in this horrifying situation.
She now knew what Old Feather Beak really was. And she was going to make it sorry.
But things had to come in a right order. She pulled herself up to a sit, bags under her eyes rather noticeable as she shuffled over to panicking Cole and pulled him into a small, comforting hug. She was poor at small, comforting hugs, but this had to do. Letting his head rest on her chest the cleaner smoothed out the spirit's hair, small hopefully soothing touches meant to calm him.
As she did her eyes regarded the room. Her normal clothes were back. The chainsaw wasn't a psychopath anymore. There was rather darkish outside, likely something to do with the new day. Her Ultravoice collar was among the clothes and she noticed the hand one also there.
Things were, at least in that regard, back to normal.
For now Cole was her priority. She couldn't really talk to him or even hum a comforting tune, so Sawyer just resorted to holding him in a hug.
Once that problem was solved, it would be time to go on a warpath.
How do lizards fly?