TILT - Log 5: Out Of Bounds!
Apr. 4th, 2024 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsMadin and Mel wake in the world of Super Smash Brothers.
Madin lay on the ground for a long time before the reality of where they were sank in and they sat up, shocked, face damp from drool. Not the mansion. Not anywhere they'd seen before. They were alone except for Mel. "What the fuck is going on?"
Groaning, Mel sat up and surveyed their surroundings. A beautiful field as far as the eye could see, tall grasses and wildflowers. She dug her fingers into the ground and picked up a handful of dirt. “This virtual reality thing sure is realistic.” The dirt cascaded down from her palm. It felt so real.
The grass under Madin's body was perfectly green, alternating between clumps of artfully longer grass and the smooth blankness of a golf course. It was too perfect. They ran their fingers over it for a moment, repeating "What the fuck." Finally getting to their feet, Madin shook their head, offering Mel a hand up. "This wasn't on the list of what we were supposed to do."
Mel accepted the hand. “Yeah, wasn’t it supposed to be like educational? Space an’ shit.” A vague sense of unease settled in the back of Mel’s mind. Something wasn’t right. She turned to Madin. “Maybe we shoul-“
A voice boomed across the otherwise quiet field. “FIGHTERS, CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS!”
Madin took three steps away from her, training that had been drilled in bone deep demanding that this was a time to have plasma blades out and visible. For the first time since they were fourteen, nothing happened when Madin went to activate them. Absolutely nothing. "I can't use my powers." They sounded far more anxious than they had a moment ago.
Mel barely noticed Madin’s reaction- she was too busy looking at the spheres of light that had encircled them, each containing a different weapon. “What in the-“ She moved towards one as if to touch it before registering what Madin said. “What?” She tried to lift off but her feet remained firmly on the ground, just like in the woods. “Fuck, I can’t either.”
Madin lunged for the weapons, grabbing a comically oversized sword. They felt better holding something. "Mel, what is going on here?"
“I ain’t got a clue.” She gravitated towards a bow and quiver. It was the only thing she was really familiar with, after her lesson from Clint. As soon as Mel took it, the ground began to shake. “Shit!” She crouched on instinct as a multiple rectangular patches of grass launched themselves into the sky, Madin and Mel in tow.
"Is that Mario?" Madin asked, disbelieving. He was on one of the other platforms, leaping into the air. "What the fuck. He's not real.”
Mel was beginning to realize what was going on. She had never been one for video games, but this was looking like something that she had seen Jeb and Ray Jr play. “I think we have to fight him, or push him off or somethin’. Why else would we need these?” She said, gesturing to the weapons they were holding.
The same voice from before thundered “3, 2, 1, GO!”
Mario was, bluntly, a cunt. He fell from the sky, landing in front of the two mutants. "It's a me, Mario!" He was all cartoon proportions and a fist the size of Madin's head swung at them. They ducked and swung back with the flat of the sword. "Mel! Get back." Madin echoed their words, stumbling backwards. "Is he alive or VR? I don't want to kill someone."
“He should jus’ be VR! Like I don’t think he’s an actual person.” Mel yelled as she gave Madin space, feeling somewhat useless. God, what the actual fuck.
Not a person. Not a person. Madin swung again, lessons with Shatterstar fueling the swing. Mario jumped, jumped again in mid air, flipped and landed with an earth shaking this that sent Madin to their knees.
Mel, who was fumbling with her bow and an arrow, took this as an opportunity. “Stay down!” She drew back, prayed that it wouldn’t hit Madin, and fired at the Italian plumber, arrow thrumming with energy as she released. It hit Mario in the chest and seemed to stun him for a moment before dissolving.
Madin took the moment he was stunned to swing their stupid giant sword again. It hit Mario centre chest in a shower of sparks and he fell backwards, rolling off the platform. "Oh my god."
There was a pause and everything stopped for an instant - the breeze, the music in the distance, everything - before flashing lights and triumphal music began, booming out in a crescendo and then stopping. "Mel. How are we going to get out of here?"
Mel watched as another boss materialized on the platform above them. “I guess we fight on.”
***
"I should have had a paid feed for this one. Nintendo freaks are nuts about this game. I mean, flat out insane. Nintendo could release two a year with their least known franchises involved as the main battlers and it would still sell a million copies. Ooh, maybe that's what I'll do after this test year. Miss Coriander, get our people looking for the location of Yahtzee Croshaw. His haters would pay a mint to watch him get beaten to death in a simulated game he hates!"
***
They pair had fallen into a bit of a rhythm as they made their way through the levels. Slash, shoot, stun, stab. Mel didn’t have time to feel bad that she wasn’t taking many hits, she had to focus that energy on hitting the bosses so Madin wouldn’t have to.
Unfortunately, Peach wasn’t making that easy with her stupid umbrella.
“Madin, duck!” Mel shouted as she shot another arrow at the princess. Peach blocked it effortlessly by merely opening her umbrella. “Shit!” This was not working.
Madin straightened and swung their sword. Peach blocked it, too, and they were finally close enough to try a tackle. They dove at Peach, under the umbrella and the two crashed to the floor. "Shoot her in the fucking face!"
“I can’t get a clear shot!” Madin was much too close to the line of fire and Mel had no idea what these arrows would do to an actual person, but she wasn’t keen to find out.
Madin punched Peach in the throat (robot throat? What the fuck? What the fuck was this) and that, apparently, counted as another win. The robot went still.
Madin kicked it off the platform. It landed on Link. This time, when the music began, no one appeared. "Mel? What's going on?" Like Mel would know. Like there were any fucking answers here.
Mel glanced around for the next boss. Peach had been number four… shouldn’t they be nearing the end? (There was an end, right? There had to be.) A sinking feeling settled in her stomach as another opponent failed to materialize. “I’m- I ain’t sure.” She really hoped she was wrong.
"There's nothing happening!" Madin took a step back and looked up at the perfect blue sky. "Oy! Cunts! Fucking let us out!" Shouting had no more effect than it had previously.
For the dozenth time, Mel reached up to the side of her head and felt for the button that was supposed to let her leave the VR. It was more habit than anything at this point. There was never anything there.
She felt when the breeze died out, just like before all the previous matches. Turning to the other mutant uneasily, Mel said, “Madin, I think it-“
The voice she had grown to loathe thundered once more. “3, 2, 1, GO!”
The penny dropped. "Oh no no no no," Madin whispered. "I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this."
Mel backed up towards the edge of the platform, bow shaking in her grip. “I ain’t gon’ fight you. They can’t- I’m not gonna.” What went unsaid was that either way this was not a fight she could win. They both knew it.
Madin put the stupid giant sword down. "I'm not fighting you, babe. They can't fucking make me." Yeah, the people who had knocked them out, stuck them in a lifesize knockoff of Smash Bros and attacked them over and over couldn't do anything. "Do you think we can just climb down and make a run for it?"
“Not without breakin’ something serious.” She was really starting to miss her powers. How easy it would’ve been to fly them both down. “An’ even then, it’s a game. One of us has to win for it to end.”
"They don't get to tell me what to do," Madin said, dropping flat and crawling on their stomach to the edge of the pillar, dangling their head and shoulders over and running their fingers over the side, to feel the smooth metal. "Pass me the sword. What if it's an illusion or something? And then hold my legs. I'll see if I can reach the whole way down. Don't push me off the side, but."
Mel handed down the sword as she ran through different scenarios of escaping. Only one seemed like it would work- and it made her stomach turn. She was willing to try it their way first. “Okay,” she said, getting to her knees and grabbing hold of Madin’s ankles. “I’ve got ya.”
Madin couldn't reach the ground, even with the sword. The floor really was too far away to jump to. They wriggled back onto the platform and sat up. "We're fucked. What if we just wait? I really think you jumped to murder a bit quickly." They bit their lip, trying not to cry. "Smash Bros times out, right?"
“But what happens to us if it does?” Mel felt oddly calm. Maybe it was the beautiful scenery, or the certainty she felt that this was the only way. “You have a better chance of stoppin’ whoever’s on the other side.” They didn’t actually know if she would die in the real world. What if it was like a video game and she’d just have to start again? Then at least Madin could help get her out.
Madin scootched closer to her and held out their hands, torn between the urge to hug Mel and punch her. "No. You're a fucking coward and you're trying to put this on me and you jumped to murder way, way, way too fucking fast."
“Yeah, I am, but do you see any other solution? One of us dies or we both do.” She grasped their hands and looked Madin in the eye. “I trust you. If you wanna wait this out, we can. If you change yer mind, well..”
Madin pulled their hands away. "I'm still not going to kill you." They thought for a moment. "What if we just punch each other for a bit? It's better than murder!" Their voice rose into a yell. Better than murder like that was an option
Mel flopped to lie down to the grass of the platform. “Sure, we can do that if it’ll make ya feel better.” There were worse places to die. Perfect clouds made their way across the perfect sky.
"Get up." Madin stood and shook out their hands. "You happy yet," they shouted at the sky. They felt absolutely sick at the thought of it all.
Mel barked a laugh and got up, stretching out her knuckles. This whole thing was so ridiculous. “We pullin’ punches or actually fightin’?”
Madin followed up with a one two punch combination and an elbow. If fighting was the way out, they'd make it seem real. God, this was so fucked.
“Nice.” Mel swung with a decent right hook. She wasn’t so useless in this kind of fight.
They blocked it and kicked out at Mel.
She managed to dodge and use the leverage to jab at Madin’s stomach. Nothing seemed to be changing. The game wasn’t convinced.
Madin swung again, conscious of all the ways they could really fuck Mel up if they tried.
It made solid connection and Mel cursed under her breath, stumbling back a bit. She took a cheap shot at Madin’s jaw, lacking the force to hit much.
Madin moved with it, absorbing the hit. They lunged forward in a tackle, knocking Mel to the ground, careful to avoid the edges.
Mel struggled under them, attempting to roll Madin off. She reached up to try and pull some hair or something, not caring about it being dirty.
Madin headbutted her and pulled away, gasping, climbing back to their feet.
Mel sucked in a breath between clenched teeth, clambering up. She kicked at Madin’s knee. “You really oughta tried for a pin. That might’ve convinced ‘em.”
***
"Fuck Jackson Galaxy!" screamed one operator as he crouched beside a bleeding coworker who had identified as a cat person until approximately thirty seconds ago.
The menace in question was currently facing down a middle-aged man with a stainless steel trashcan and anxious expression. Back arched and hissing evilly, Sharon paced back and forth across a keyboard, tail bristling in challenge.
"I'll get him," the man panted. He hefted the can, took aim, and let it loose.
Sharon leaped clear and disappeared beneath the opposite workstate. The trash can struck the desk, rebounded into the monitor, and then directly into the face of a nearby operator.
"Way to go, Ravi," muttered his colleague. The young woman pulled out her phone and started to dial. "Screw it. I'm calling security."
Ten seconds later the screaming started. Sharon was clawing her way up someone's inner leg, teeth-first.
***
Mel was dodging a swing from Madin when Pac-Man spawned. They had been fighting aimlessly for too long and she was tired of it. “Holy- watch out!”
The platforms began to move, cracks appearing in the virtual reality around them as Pac-Man rolled off the side with a forlorn waka waka. As the illusion broke, the ground was revealed to be far closer than either had assumed. "Come on!" Madin threw the sword down and jumped after it. They landed with a thud.
Mel grabbed her bow and leaped off the side. Was this what happened when the game timed out? “Do you think we can get out somehow from here?”
The endless green fields flickered and sparked before powering down. The room wasn't much larger than a basketball court. Doors were now visible around the edges. Madin reached out and took Mel's hand. "Yeah."
Mel booked it towards one of the doors, Madin in tow. Where they actually out now or still trapped? The ground felt as real as the field had beneath her shoes.
The door wasn't even locked. After all this, the door wasn't even locked. It opened to a utilitarian corridor.
“Is this.. real?” Mel asked, glancing out into the hallways cautiously.
"I think so," Madin replied, feeling a tingle of energy at their fingers. "Powers are back."
Mel floated an inch up from the ground, letting out a breath of relief. “Thank the Lord. Where the hell are we now?” Not that Madin would know.
Buildings followed a pattern. Going down the hall took them alongside the room they'd been held in. "No idea. We can go down the hall or through the wall." Madin pulled power and plasma blades sparked on each fist as they cut a rectangle through the wall. Flames flickered on the edges of the hole as Madin kicked the wall in.
“Neat.” Those powers could’ve been useful in the game. The hole revealed a.. storage closet? Mel stepped through and eyed the cleaning supplies, picking up a broom. That was a bit anticlimactic. “Um.. okay.”
Madin sighed and stepped back into the hallway, after giving the room a baleful glance. They moved down the hall a little way and cut another hole, coughing at the fumes. Fuck this place. It deserved property damage. This time, they emerged into some kind of office.
Mel followed- through the door that had been about five feet away from Madin’s hole. She shouldered the broom and gave them a look. “Now yer jus’ showin’ off.”
"There was a door?" Madin asked, sounding a little sad and pathetic as they shook out fingers the stung from their powers. They headed across the room to the other, slamming it open.
About ten armed guards greeted them in the next room, looking like they were about to deploy. Mel gripped her newfound weapon. This wasn’t a game anymore.
Madin lay on the ground for a long time before the reality of where they were sank in and they sat up, shocked, face damp from drool. Not the mansion. Not anywhere they'd seen before. They were alone except for Mel. "What the fuck is going on?"
Groaning, Mel sat up and surveyed their surroundings. A beautiful field as far as the eye could see, tall grasses and wildflowers. She dug her fingers into the ground and picked up a handful of dirt. “This virtual reality thing sure is realistic.” The dirt cascaded down from her palm. It felt so real.
The grass under Madin's body was perfectly green, alternating between clumps of artfully longer grass and the smooth blankness of a golf course. It was too perfect. They ran their fingers over it for a moment, repeating "What the fuck." Finally getting to their feet, Madin shook their head, offering Mel a hand up. "This wasn't on the list of what we were supposed to do."
Mel accepted the hand. “Yeah, wasn’t it supposed to be like educational? Space an’ shit.” A vague sense of unease settled in the back of Mel’s mind. Something wasn’t right. She turned to Madin. “Maybe we shoul-“
A voice boomed across the otherwise quiet field. “FIGHTERS, CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS!”
Madin took three steps away from her, training that had been drilled in bone deep demanding that this was a time to have plasma blades out and visible. For the first time since they were fourteen, nothing happened when Madin went to activate them. Absolutely nothing. "I can't use my powers." They sounded far more anxious than they had a moment ago.
Mel barely noticed Madin’s reaction- she was too busy looking at the spheres of light that had encircled them, each containing a different weapon. “What in the-“ She moved towards one as if to touch it before registering what Madin said. “What?” She tried to lift off but her feet remained firmly on the ground, just like in the woods. “Fuck, I can’t either.”
Madin lunged for the weapons, grabbing a comically oversized sword. They felt better holding something. "Mel, what is going on here?"
“I ain’t got a clue.” She gravitated towards a bow and quiver. It was the only thing she was really familiar with, after her lesson from Clint. As soon as Mel took it, the ground began to shake. “Shit!” She crouched on instinct as a multiple rectangular patches of grass launched themselves into the sky, Madin and Mel in tow.
"Is that Mario?" Madin asked, disbelieving. He was on one of the other platforms, leaping into the air. "What the fuck. He's not real.”
Mel was beginning to realize what was going on. She had never been one for video games, but this was looking like something that she had seen Jeb and Ray Jr play. “I think we have to fight him, or push him off or somethin’. Why else would we need these?” She said, gesturing to the weapons they were holding.
The same voice from before thundered “3, 2, 1, GO!”
Mario was, bluntly, a cunt. He fell from the sky, landing in front of the two mutants. "It's a me, Mario!" He was all cartoon proportions and a fist the size of Madin's head swung at them. They ducked and swung back with the flat of the sword. "Mel! Get back." Madin echoed their words, stumbling backwards. "Is he alive or VR? I don't want to kill someone."
“He should jus’ be VR! Like I don’t think he’s an actual person.” Mel yelled as she gave Madin space, feeling somewhat useless. God, what the actual fuck.
Not a person. Not a person. Madin swung again, lessons with Shatterstar fueling the swing. Mario jumped, jumped again in mid air, flipped and landed with an earth shaking this that sent Madin to their knees.
Mel, who was fumbling with her bow and an arrow, took this as an opportunity. “Stay down!” She drew back, prayed that it wouldn’t hit Madin, and fired at the Italian plumber, arrow thrumming with energy as she released. It hit Mario in the chest and seemed to stun him for a moment before dissolving.
Madin took the moment he was stunned to swing their stupid giant sword again. It hit Mario centre chest in a shower of sparks and he fell backwards, rolling off the platform. "Oh my god."
There was a pause and everything stopped for an instant - the breeze, the music in the distance, everything - before flashing lights and triumphal music began, booming out in a crescendo and then stopping. "Mel. How are we going to get out of here?"
Mel watched as another boss materialized on the platform above them. “I guess we fight on.”
***
"I should have had a paid feed for this one. Nintendo freaks are nuts about this game. I mean, flat out insane. Nintendo could release two a year with their least known franchises involved as the main battlers and it would still sell a million copies. Ooh, maybe that's what I'll do after this test year. Miss Coriander, get our people looking for the location of Yahtzee Croshaw. His haters would pay a mint to watch him get beaten to death in a simulated game he hates!"
***
They pair had fallen into a bit of a rhythm as they made their way through the levels. Slash, shoot, stun, stab. Mel didn’t have time to feel bad that she wasn’t taking many hits, she had to focus that energy on hitting the bosses so Madin wouldn’t have to.
Unfortunately, Peach wasn’t making that easy with her stupid umbrella.
“Madin, duck!” Mel shouted as she shot another arrow at the princess. Peach blocked it effortlessly by merely opening her umbrella. “Shit!” This was not working.
Madin straightened and swung their sword. Peach blocked it, too, and they were finally close enough to try a tackle. They dove at Peach, under the umbrella and the two crashed to the floor. "Shoot her in the fucking face!"
“I can’t get a clear shot!” Madin was much too close to the line of fire and Mel had no idea what these arrows would do to an actual person, but she wasn’t keen to find out.
Madin punched Peach in the throat (robot throat? What the fuck? What the fuck was this) and that, apparently, counted as another win. The robot went still.
Madin kicked it off the platform. It landed on Link. This time, when the music began, no one appeared. "Mel? What's going on?" Like Mel would know. Like there were any fucking answers here.
Mel glanced around for the next boss. Peach had been number four… shouldn’t they be nearing the end? (There was an end, right? There had to be.) A sinking feeling settled in her stomach as another opponent failed to materialize. “I’m- I ain’t sure.” She really hoped she was wrong.
"There's nothing happening!" Madin took a step back and looked up at the perfect blue sky. "Oy! Cunts! Fucking let us out!" Shouting had no more effect than it had previously.
For the dozenth time, Mel reached up to the side of her head and felt for the button that was supposed to let her leave the VR. It was more habit than anything at this point. There was never anything there.
She felt when the breeze died out, just like before all the previous matches. Turning to the other mutant uneasily, Mel said, “Madin, I think it-“
The voice she had grown to loathe thundered once more. “3, 2, 1, GO!”
The penny dropped. "Oh no no no no," Madin whispered. "I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this."
Mel backed up towards the edge of the platform, bow shaking in her grip. “I ain’t gon’ fight you. They can’t- I’m not gonna.” What went unsaid was that either way this was not a fight she could win. They both knew it.
Madin put the stupid giant sword down. "I'm not fighting you, babe. They can't fucking make me." Yeah, the people who had knocked them out, stuck them in a lifesize knockoff of Smash Bros and attacked them over and over couldn't do anything. "Do you think we can just climb down and make a run for it?"
“Not without breakin’ something serious.” She was really starting to miss her powers. How easy it would’ve been to fly them both down. “An’ even then, it’s a game. One of us has to win for it to end.”
"They don't get to tell me what to do," Madin said, dropping flat and crawling on their stomach to the edge of the pillar, dangling their head and shoulders over and running their fingers over the side, to feel the smooth metal. "Pass me the sword. What if it's an illusion or something? And then hold my legs. I'll see if I can reach the whole way down. Don't push me off the side, but."
Mel handed down the sword as she ran through different scenarios of escaping. Only one seemed like it would work- and it made her stomach turn. She was willing to try it their way first. “Okay,” she said, getting to her knees and grabbing hold of Madin’s ankles. “I’ve got ya.”
Madin couldn't reach the ground, even with the sword. The floor really was too far away to jump to. They wriggled back onto the platform and sat up. "We're fucked. What if we just wait? I really think you jumped to murder a bit quickly." They bit their lip, trying not to cry. "Smash Bros times out, right?"
“But what happens to us if it does?” Mel felt oddly calm. Maybe it was the beautiful scenery, or the certainty she felt that this was the only way. “You have a better chance of stoppin’ whoever’s on the other side.” They didn’t actually know if she would die in the real world. What if it was like a video game and she’d just have to start again? Then at least Madin could help get her out.
Madin scootched closer to her and held out their hands, torn between the urge to hug Mel and punch her. "No. You're a fucking coward and you're trying to put this on me and you jumped to murder way, way, way too fucking fast."
“Yeah, I am, but do you see any other solution? One of us dies or we both do.” She grasped their hands and looked Madin in the eye. “I trust you. If you wanna wait this out, we can. If you change yer mind, well..”
Madin pulled their hands away. "I'm still not going to kill you." They thought for a moment. "What if we just punch each other for a bit? It's better than murder!" Their voice rose into a yell. Better than murder like that was an option
Mel flopped to lie down to the grass of the platform. “Sure, we can do that if it’ll make ya feel better.” There were worse places to die. Perfect clouds made their way across the perfect sky.
"Get up." Madin stood and shook out their hands. "You happy yet," they shouted at the sky. They felt absolutely sick at the thought of it all.
Mel barked a laugh and got up, stretching out her knuckles. This whole thing was so ridiculous. “We pullin’ punches or actually fightin’?”
Madin followed up with a one two punch combination and an elbow. If fighting was the way out, they'd make it seem real. God, this was so fucked.
“Nice.” Mel swung with a decent right hook. She wasn’t so useless in this kind of fight.
They blocked it and kicked out at Mel.
She managed to dodge and use the leverage to jab at Madin’s stomach. Nothing seemed to be changing. The game wasn’t convinced.
Madin swung again, conscious of all the ways they could really fuck Mel up if they tried.
It made solid connection and Mel cursed under her breath, stumbling back a bit. She took a cheap shot at Madin’s jaw, lacking the force to hit much.
Madin moved with it, absorbing the hit. They lunged forward in a tackle, knocking Mel to the ground, careful to avoid the edges.
Mel struggled under them, attempting to roll Madin off. She reached up to try and pull some hair or something, not caring about it being dirty.
Madin headbutted her and pulled away, gasping, climbing back to their feet.
Mel sucked in a breath between clenched teeth, clambering up. She kicked at Madin’s knee. “You really oughta tried for a pin. That might’ve convinced ‘em.”
***
"Fuck Jackson Galaxy!" screamed one operator as he crouched beside a bleeding coworker who had identified as a cat person until approximately thirty seconds ago.
The menace in question was currently facing down a middle-aged man with a stainless steel trashcan and anxious expression. Back arched and hissing evilly, Sharon paced back and forth across a keyboard, tail bristling in challenge.
"I'll get him," the man panted. He hefted the can, took aim, and let it loose.
Sharon leaped clear and disappeared beneath the opposite workstate. The trash can struck the desk, rebounded into the monitor, and then directly into the face of a nearby operator.
"Way to go, Ravi," muttered his colleague. The young woman pulled out her phone and started to dial. "Screw it. I'm calling security."
Ten seconds later the screaming started. Sharon was clawing her way up someone's inner leg, teeth-first.
***
Mel was dodging a swing from Madin when Pac-Man spawned. They had been fighting aimlessly for too long and she was tired of it. “Holy- watch out!”
The platforms began to move, cracks appearing in the virtual reality around them as Pac-Man rolled off the side with a forlorn waka waka. As the illusion broke, the ground was revealed to be far closer than either had assumed. "Come on!" Madin threw the sword down and jumped after it. They landed with a thud.
Mel grabbed her bow and leaped off the side. Was this what happened when the game timed out? “Do you think we can get out somehow from here?”
The endless green fields flickered and sparked before powering down. The room wasn't much larger than a basketball court. Doors were now visible around the edges. Madin reached out and took Mel's hand. "Yeah."
Mel booked it towards one of the doors, Madin in tow. Where they actually out now or still trapped? The ground felt as real as the field had beneath her shoes.
The door wasn't even locked. After all this, the door wasn't even locked. It opened to a utilitarian corridor.
“Is this.. real?” Mel asked, glancing out into the hallways cautiously.
"I think so," Madin replied, feeling a tingle of energy at their fingers. "Powers are back."
Mel floated an inch up from the ground, letting out a breath of relief. “Thank the Lord. Where the hell are we now?” Not that Madin would know.
Buildings followed a pattern. Going down the hall took them alongside the room they'd been held in. "No idea. We can go down the hall or through the wall." Madin pulled power and plasma blades sparked on each fist as they cut a rectangle through the wall. Flames flickered on the edges of the hole as Madin kicked the wall in.
“Neat.” Those powers could’ve been useful in the game. The hole revealed a.. storage closet? Mel stepped through and eyed the cleaning supplies, picking up a broom. That was a bit anticlimactic. “Um.. okay.”
Madin sighed and stepped back into the hallway, after giving the room a baleful glance. They moved down the hall a little way and cut another hole, coughing at the fumes. Fuck this place. It deserved property damage. This time, they emerged into some kind of office.
Mel followed- through the door that had been about five feet away from Madin’s hole. She shouldered the broom and gave them a look. “Now yer jus’ showin’ off.”
"There was a door?" Madin asked, sounding a little sad and pathetic as they shook out fingers the stung from their powers. They headed across the room to the other, slamming it open.
About ten armed guards greeted them in the next room, looking like they were about to deploy. Mel gripped her newfound weapon. This wasn’t a game anymore.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-07 02:39 am (UTC)Also, lol. Inside you there are two wolves:
Madin: *furiously attempting to problem-solve around the murder thing*
Mel: Guess one of us has got to die, and it should probably be me.