Logs:The Block Event

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The Block Event

Sometimes the NeverNever is a Never Should Have.

Dramatis Personae

Felix, Lei, and Rick. Loa as GM.

8 December, 2008


After stepping through, a new reality awaits.

Location

Windward Coast - The Block - NeverNever

Plot(s)

Plot:Beyond Zebra


The Block

This is a bustling city made entirely of brightly colored, interlocking bricks, in all of its rectangular glory. Nothing exists here that isn't bounded by 90 degree angles - from the square orange sun in the sky to the chevron-shaped blue river that cuts its way between gray-shaded towers and yellow brick roads. Green parks with blocky trees beneath which blocky people sit dot the landscape, and vivid storefronts hawk wares with slogans like "Squarest deals in town" and "It's hip to be square." Rhomboid clouds cast angular shadows on the ground.

The city center is a district affectionately known to locals as "The Block," bounded on its four corners by the Theatre in the Square, the Trapezoo, the RhomBus Depot, and the music venue, the ParalleloJam.


This log is a continuation of the Strange Weather scene

The sounds heard in this portion of... reality?... are definitely odd. Nothing has the full, round, tones that it would in the normality of the space that a human, or even partially human, body typically resides in. Here, everything is sharp, cut, flat, toned like there's no real softening to the edges. Voices of those in the city are just as blocky as the bodies they come from.

As Felix steps through the doorway, he seems like himself. Until he looks. And he, in fact, is now blocky. His hands are just blocks with longer, rectangular blocks attached to them. His arms are rectangular. Everything moves in precise angles.


Felix winced at the sounds, covering his ears and shutting his eyes for a moment at the geometric oddness of the NeverNever. It was then that he realized what he'd become, looking down at himself in shock and horror. His blocky mouth opened, crying out in fear. "What the everloving shit is this?!"


Lei comes into the NeverNever through the shiny, new opening from reality.


The sounds heard in this portion of... reality?... are definitely odd. Nothing has the full, round, tones that it would in the normality of the space that a human, or even partially human, body typically resides in. Here, everything is sharp, cut, flat, toned like there's no real softening to the edges. Voices of those in the city are just as blocky as the bodies they come from.

As Lei steps through the doorway, she seems like herself. Until she looks. And she, in fact, is now blocky. Her hands are just blocks with longer, rectangular blocks attached to them. Her arms are rectangular. Everything moves in precise angles.


The sounds that Felix had made came out with a strange sort of sharpness to them. His own voice was still deep enough to be recognized as male, and even kind of as his own, but he doesn't have any of the softening to the edges of it.


Lei looks around the area, surprised at the shape of things. She frowns, then looks down at herself, eyes going wide, or she thinks they are, at the sight that greets her. "Ah... Well, this is strange." Her hands flex, the woman trying to curl those rectangular blocks into a fist.


Rick comes into the NeverNever through the shiny, new opening from reality.


A minute or so after Felix and Lei -- or maybe an hour, who knows how much time has passed in here -- Rick steps through the sparkling slash in the air as well. "Whoa!" he exclaims, before he adds, "What?" The sound of his own voice has seemed to startle him, considering it doesn't sound the same as usual. He looks down at himself, and holds his hands up in front of his face with a laugh that sounds like a child crashing a tower. "This is crazy," he says as his hands fall to his sides again and he starts to look around.


Felix could only stare at his hands and feet and well... everything about himself. For someone who shifted this might be easier to deal with than someone who didn't, but it was still really goddamn weird. He winced again at the sound of his own voice, knocking the yelling off pretty quick. He looked to Lei and then Rick as they came in, nodding his blocky head. His voice was quiet, not particularly caring for the sound. "Yeah this is... I dunno what this is. Where are we?" He looked to the others.


Not long after Felix, Lei, and Rick have come through the opening, other people seem to be trailing in. Some of them seem surprised, others... well this might as well be business as usual, because they just start walking into the town proper, and going about whatever it was they were doing earlier.

Several people are sitting at tables eating. Triangles and rectangles of different, solid, colors were being consumed in square bites. The ground underneath Felix, Lei, and Rick depressed in solid square sections, like their feet leaving footsteps, but they looked more like the impressions left by a fence pole.


Lei continues to look around, her eyes following the other people coming in and watching as some of them move to start performing the activities they had been doing previously. Then her head is craning this way and that, pausing when she sees the parking lot her truck would have been in on the other side, but not seeing it represented there. "I think," she says, a bit slowly. "We're on the other side. Enola mentioned it. The... Never something. Neverland? I don't know. Which means to get back..." Here she's turning around fully, looking for the slash she entered through.


"The Nevernever," Rick supplies after Lei explains, but he doesn't seem in a hurry to get back, at least not yet. "Like, Faerie and stuff like that." He looks at the food on the table, letting out another little laugh. "Think any of that tastes good?" he asks his companions. "Lost my doughnut." He reaches up to rub his ear, though makes a face at the feel of block on block. It is obviously not something that he's used to.


Watching as more people came through, Felix raised a rectangular eyebrow. The food got a look and a brief frown, before he looked to Lei and Rick. "The what? Neverland? Like Peter Pan or Michael Jackson? Enola did? To get back we do what?" He looked at the Duplo woman curiously, not quite panicking before blinking at Rick. "Fairies? Like... fairies? Seriously?" He ran block fingers through block hair but pulled away quickly. "Wow that's a weird feeling..." He eyed the food again. "Maybe? If you go to fairy land aren't you not supposed to eat stuff? It screwed over Molly O' Reilly in the books of magic..."


From this side of the universe, the place where everyone had come through looks more like a tiny, bright, spot of light just kind of hovering there. It wasn't much larger than a clump of pixels on a computer screen, and nowhere near as big as the one they'd entered through.

Along The Block, in town, lights started to flash. Red, blue, green, yellow, pink. A loud, hollow voice could be heard in its sharpness, decidedly female, with the high pitch. "THE EVENT WILL COMMENCE IN 10 MINUTES!" Cheers came from the crowd, or at least from most in the crowd, even those sitting at the nearby table lifted their arms, a few pieces of hexagonal green (lettuce maybe?) falling out of a triangular taco or two.


Lei shakes her head quickly before pointing a blocky hand at Felix. "What he said. I didn't remember the name. I remember the other things that Enola told me, though. Warnings. Don't accept food or drink. Don't thank anyone. Don't stray from the path. That last is less useful here." She then examines the little spot of light and sighs. "Back the way we came. Not sure if we can get through there..." Then the announcement has Leilani turning toward the town again. "Event... Might should check that out. I just can't imagine this all happened by accident."


"Probably not," Rick concedes, but he does sound a little bit disappointed. His attention is also caught by the voice, though, and he turns with a grin. "Yeah," he says, "think we should. I could probably get us back through there after." Again, his voice is pretty unconcerned, and instead, he sounds kind of excited. "Wonder if it's a game or something. Like, a sport. Bloccer." This makes him laugh again. Coming through to this place has made him a little more giddy than usual, it seems. At least, to those who know him normally.


"Don't thank anyone? Hrm. Well ok..." Felix nodded at her comment, raising his feet to look at the ground, and more importantly... his feet. When the call went out and the lights flashed, he started and looked about. "Yeah... if for no other reason than not being there might not go well..." He frowned, looking around. "Wherever it is... if a voice says "incoming game' I am the hell out of here..."


People began standing up to move toward town. Those that seemed totally comfortable in the world and living their lives were surprisingly kind to others that were walking around looking confused. Many a squarish arm was wrapped around a rectangular set of shoulders, to lead people away.

The man eating his taco finished up and stood with the others at the table, then looked over with his odd, square eyes at the trio of Lei, Rick, and Felix, then jerked his rectangular thumb at town. "You guys better get a move on, being in sooner is better than later. Things get a little rougher out here if you're stuck after the event doors close up!" His angular, strangely sharp voice didn't quite echo, but it did have a hollow tone to it.


Lei looks toward Felix a bit oddly before replying, "I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about." Then she's turning to face toward town again. Though the odd man's voice draws her attention again, and prompts a brief, hastily hidden wince. She takes a deep breath then and nods before saying, "It was good of you to volunteer that information." Then she's walking past, making her way toward town.


"Huh?" Rick looks over at the square man, his eyebrows raising, before he nods, and says, "Oh, sure. Thanks, man." He smiles, giving him a thumbs up, and then starts after Lei, taking a couple quicker steps before he falls in a little behind her. He looks around as he goes, but it's still more absent than purposeful, since there is still a lot to take in.


Felix grinned at Lei and shrugged. "I get that sometimes." He blinked as people started heading off, nodding to the blocky fellow who offered up the information. "Oh uh... cool. We'll be there yeah." He looked to the others before heading after. "Can't imagine what this is. On the other hand... if this is a Morlock dinner bell and these guys are all Eloi, we're screwed..."


It's not precisely a flood of people, but there were many people kind of angling around one another, heading in toward the heart of The Block. It wasn't so much a smooth movement, as it was like watching a river move in an old school version of the Oregon Trail. People looked normal, this wasn't some cartoon existence, but they were just all blocks. Hard, angular blocks. The lights in the city started to flash faster, and all of the bricks that made up the walls started glowing their different colors, bathing the incoming people with their shades.

From the direction they'd entered, a long, rectangular object that is a bright red comes sailing in, and lands on the ground. It looks to be tied to a square shaped length of rope, that leads back to the little pixel that was this inner side of the rift.


Lei slaps her face against her palm with a clatter at Rick's words, shaking her head. She doesn't stop moving, continuing along. She lets herself get carried away with the crowd, as they obviously know where they're going, while she... Doesn't. Not exactly. The shifting shades of light prompt her to blink and shake her head slightly. Felix's words prompt another, "Still have no clue what you're talking about. Is it English? Are you sure?" She glances back as she hears something fall to the ground behind her, spotting a rope and something red. "Looks like they're trying to give us a way out if it's needed." Despite that she doesn't stop moving forward, obviously intent on seeing what the event is.


Whether Rick notices that he's the impetus behind Lei's facepalm or not, he doesn't show it. He just continues to walk, though Felix's words get a slightly confused glance of his own, before he looks back over his shoulder at whatever Lei has mentioned. "Oh, that was nice," he says, but he, too, just continues on.


Felix peered at Lei. "Morlocks? Eloi? The Time Machine?" He shrugged and looked to Rick for backup hopefully. When Lei looked behind them, Felix did likewise, peering. "Oh hey cool. That was nice of them. Wonder why they didn't come through..." He shrugged, clunking along after them. As they approached the throng, Felix looked about curiously. "I still have no idea what's going on but it looks like it's already mostly full. The doors on the other side already closed."


The level of excited chatter happening with all the blocky people filing into the heart of The Block was almost too much to handle. If there had been a little mellower edges to everything, it would have just sounded like a din, but with everyone's voices having such jagged edges, it was like each individual voice carried all by itself. Cacophony. A group of little, tiny, block people were running around with very high pitched voices, laughing and giggling, but it was less the bubbly, rounded sound of children in the normal world, and more like a staccato rhythm as it tapped at the air and they continued to chase one another between larger, presumably adult, block people.

As the trio and then the last of the people at the tables made their way through the doors into the square, the mammoth stacks of blocks slowly started to close, and when they did, they hit with a hollow, heavy, THUD!

The lights continued to flash faster and faster, until suddenly, they just all came on, flooding the world with harsh illumination that directly shone down onto the square, and what had to be a couple of hundred block people at least. That sharp, high voice came over the air again "One and all, the event is about to begin! Please remember, you must take part in the event. Any attempt to resist taking part will be dealt with via expulsion from the event, and you will be outside the gate for the remainder of the event to fend for yourself."


Lei shakes her head at Felix's words and replies, "Nope. As for why they didn't come through... Either common sense or no sense of adventure. Take your pick." She glances back when the large block-built doors shut behind them and frowns, before turning her attention back forward. The sudden light causes her to wince and reach up to shade her eyes, before her attention is taken by the speaking voice. "Right... Have to participate, or get tossed out into what that guy said was rough..." After a couple seconds she's bending down to examine her boots, to see how they changed, and if she can start to undo the lacing on them.


Rick looks past as the group of what are clearly children run by, and he laughs again, though it fades at the next announcement. He winces, too, his head shifting back as he blinks a couple of times to clear his vision. "Sounds fun," he remarks as his eyes start to adjust slightly, and he can at least look without too much discomfort.


Felix winced again as kids came running by. He wiggled a finger in his ear and frowned. "Damn and here I used to like having really good hearing. Ow." As the door shut behind them, Felix did his best from jumping, though the words of the voice did nothing to put him at ease, an arm going up to shade his eyes against the light. "Wow... I'm not sure what sounds worse. Being in here or out there." He nodded. "I'm sort of wondering why it gets so rough out there." He looked to a nearby block fella and nudged him. "I've never been caught outside. What happens if you do?" He could only shrug at Lei, unable to explain sightless cavern cannibals at the moment.


The lights of the block buildings started to move, each individual block started to glow brighter at the base, then all the way to the top of the buildings. Like watching chasing Christmas lights.

The dude near Felix looked over at him and shook his head. "It's bad, man, everything goes all sideways. I hear you drown in your own breath out there, where as in here? At least you've got a chance, right?" He smacked the back of Felix's rectangular shoulder with a heavy, rectangular hand. "Don't you worry. You just gotta make yourself look like the best thing on the menu."


Lei finishes her examination of her boots, then simply grips the sides as best she can and starts to wiggle the blocky ends of her legs, where her feet should be, out of them. That done she stands up again, and idly tugs at her shirt, as though testing it. "Best thing on the menu?" comes the question from Leilani. "Hopefully not in the sense that they, whoever they are, actually intend to eat any of us. I tend to disagree with that sort of action, myself. Violently. But if it's just putting on a show... Well, I can put forth an effort, but no clue how well I'll do."


Rick looks at the block man when he answers Felix, reaching up to scratch his head, though he makes a face again at the feeling of block on block. "Yeah, I'm not looking to get eaten," he agrees, and he glances back to where the block doors closed, but the rest of the answer is not all that pleasant either, and so he turns away again without attempting to get to them. "A chance," he repeats, and he nods once. "Well, that's okay. There's a lot of us in here."


Felix eyed the explainer at that. "Well... yeah I think I'd much rather take my chances in here but... what the hell does that mean? Last time I did that I got hit on by a kinda skeevy dude..." He grinned at Lei. "Yeah if eating's on the menu, I'm not. And probably just fine. But... whose menu?" He nodded to Rick. "Yeah. This place is packed. So what is it? Some sort of contest?"


The lights going up the buildings finally hit the top of the tallest two, and up there, both buildings held the number 33, in bright red lights, on a white background. Down in the square, a huge majority of the population screamed out loud "33!!!" Like it was a big deal. People began running around, and strangely, the kids that were playing their games were picked up to be held up high on shoulders. Their parents told them to wave their arms in the air, and make themselves look bigger.

The blocky man near Felix just shook his head. "You want to get eaten. That way, you aren't stuck here. If you get stuck here? You have to put in the work. Stuck here twice? Extra work. Stuck here three times?" His big, square eyes went half lidded, and he pointed to the buildings. "You're what helps make the city grow. My sweet Gilda went in last time. She's over on the far corner. I can't even walk that way anymore. Now, I just hope they put me near her. I'm not quite... I guess good at being delicious." The big block man took a huge breath. "Only 6 kids this time, so that's good. Everyone makes sure they get out first. Then it's all for themselves. You just gotta get yourself eaten, then you'll be alright. And don't go out there when you can't breathe. That's the fast way to help make the city taller."


The ground started to shake, trembling like something was coming, even the dirt that had covered the block tiles on the floor of the square were shaking and coming loose, little square hunks of earth bobbling and bouncing around as the tremors continued.

The woman's voice cut through the sound of the crowd "And now... THE EVENT!"


Lei watches with her attention split, partially watching the crowd and the lights, the rest going to listening to the man. She frowns at her explanation and shakes her head slightly before replying, "Right... Not too sure I want to be in here anymore." She glances back at the doors behind her, as though contemplating trying to get them open, before letting out a sigh and turning her attention forwards again.


"33?" Rick looks over at the buildings, lifting a hand to shade his eyes as he cranes his neck to see around one of the children on the shoulders of their parents. Or maybe they aren't their parents, considering what else the man says. "Yeah," he says as his hand falls, and he looks down at them, before glancing over at Felix with a shrug. He doesn't look quite as chill now as he had been looking, though.


Felix nodded, looking decidedly sick. "What? What the fuck? Are you kidding? And this shit just happens?" He snarled, clearly looking pissed off. "Dunno what the hell 33 is... does that mean 33 to be eaten?" His lips went back from his teeth. "I do the eating..." When the floor started to shake and the ground seemed to come apart, Felix looked to the others. "I'm not sure if it's better to try and play the game or not..."


From the far end of the Square, a huge shadow came out from one of the buildings. As it moved its way into the light, it looked like a giant, square... Earthworm, kind of. More like the Sarlac Pit had elected to start moving around on land, done in square, with lots of rectangular teeth protruding along the inner workings of its open maw. It was black, deep in that huge, gaping hole that must have been a mouth. As it moved forward, people literally started throwing the small, child-sized blocks into the mouth of the creature. One, two... there were screams, begging from the children as they tried to cling to whomever was tossing them, but as the massive worm-thing came closer, each kid went in. Soon enough, though, those screams were gone, and the children block people were long gone to the deep darkness at the back of its open mouth.

The man that had been talking to Felix lifted his arms up and started whooping at the big worm thing. Other people were dancing. Still others had started singing, or trying to climb up onto other people like they were step ladders. The numbers up on the towers counted down backward as each of the kids were taken in, and it sat at 27, now.


Lei pulls a face as the square thing emerges. Then her eyes go wide and she starts to try and push through the crowd. She's not quick enough though, and the children are gone, causing her to stop and stare for a few minutes. Her eyes flick toward the numbers on the towers before she lets out a low snarl and says, "You know... I have to admit that there's this curiosity as to what Sarlac tastes like."


Rick's eyes are wide as the children get thrown into the mouth of the thing, whatever it is, and he yells out, "No!" but of course, it has no effect. They're already inside it. "What the fuck?!" he exclaims, his head jerking back over to the guy who is now waving his arms around like a maniac. "But how do you even know what happens if you get eaten?! How is that gonna be //better//?" He doesn't try to wave his arms or look delicious. Instead, he looks back over his shoulder again at the doors. "Drowning in your own breath is sounding like a real option."


Felix stared in horror. "Jesus jumping pogo sticks, what the fuck is this?!" He looked to the blocky man who'd been explaining things. "Why the fuck is this good?!" As children wailed and screamed in terror, he rounded on the block man. "Who the hell is running this?! What's the goddamn point?!" His voice was beginning to grow hoarse and break, and he was shaking in outrage. At the comments of his companions he nodded, hands clenching into fists. "This NeverNever shit... this is like... a real place? Or just some fucked up fantasy? Because I kind of want to fuck up the fantasy..."


The quality of the light changed, dimming considerably, as the wash of too bright came down to be something softer. Then, as people moved and attempted to get the attention of the creature, a single spotlight moved over the gathered crowd. A roar of frustration and anger came from the giant Sarlac Worm, and it continued to move forward.

Panic seemed to cause people to behave even more like imbeciles as they tried to get the attention of the massive worm-thing, but a single, solitary, light, moved around until it fell directly onto Rick. He was bathed, head to toe, in bright light, and that light expanded, including Lei and Felix. A couple more spotlights moved through the crowd, landing onto people that didn't seem to be moving to attempt to get the attention of the creature that would be eating 27 more of them.


Lei glares toward the worm thing even as it roars. Shaking her head she replies to Felix, "I don't know. From what Enola says it's... Realish? Real but mutable? I'm hardly an expert on it." Her gaze breaks away after she says this, turning to look when the spotlight falls on Rick. She opens her mouth to say something, only to pause when the light expands, covering her as well. After a moment she lets out a breath and looks toward Felix. "So... You can still turn into that bird... Lizard... Thing, right? Because I'm thinking we're either going to have to stop it from eating us, or carve our way out."


"It's real enough," Rick replies. "Real enough to kill us." He might have said something else, too, but when the spotlight falls on him, his voice cuts off, and he looks up, squinting against the glare. "Shit!" He looks away again and toward the thing. "Come on! We're not even trying! Eat that guy!" He jerks a thumb at the blockhead. It's fine if the guy wants it, right?


Felix grinned viciously to Lei, nodding. "Oh yes I do... but this time... this time I'm thinking bigger." Even as he spoke a change was coming over him. His eyes grew a bright yellow as his skin became a dull grey. The words seemed to have a hard time coming out of his mouth. "Rick... I'll take surfing lessons from you forever if you dig deep and set. This thing. ON FUCKING FIRE!"

Then Felix was off and running, moving through the crowd even if the light did try and keep up. Not that it would be hard to find him. Just follow the sound of one man screaming. Not in outrage or fury... but pain. Whether or not the block existence made it any harder to shift was debatable, but it didn't look comfortable. There was no good way for the human eye to track that much mass simply... coming into being, but the sight was sickly to behold, accompanied by the sound of breaking bones. There wasn't a blocky human moving through the crowd anymore but a huge shape roaring it's way towards the Sarlac monster. Thirty feet long from snout to tail, talons crashing into the ground as it plowed towards it's target. Fangs glistening. A behemoth.


As the Huge, block-built behemoth that was Felix went running through the group out toward the massive Sarlac worm beast, the Sarlac turned to face BeheLix, and lifted up, making a strangely delighted sound. Just as it looked like the newly en-massed size of Felix would have him in ideal striking range, though, the huge Sarlac Worm came down onto him, enveloping Felix completely into the massive chasm of its mouth. Then, it reared back, and swallowed Felix away completely.

The Numbers at the top of the two largest buildings both dropped down to 26, simultaneously.

Just as this was happening, outside, several loud pops could be heard as what looked like possibly human created fireworks were going off high enough in the air to be seen over the lines of the closed gates to the town square. There were three of them, and they certainly sparkled and glowed brightly in vivid colors, but they were also VERY loud. Their booming noises echoed well against the solid lines of the world. Even though the fireworks were pixelated just like everything else in this world seemed to be, they were very noticeable and sparkly.

While Felix was no longer under the spotlight, it did remain shining on Lei and Rick. Very, very brightly. People around them were making crazy sounds, and attempting to move away. The one helpful man, that had given them so many answers, seemed to grunt out "You have to try! OR YOU GET SENT OUTSIDE!" He almost panicked as he spoke, then started jumping around with his arms flapping about.


Felix steps through a new opening back to Reality.


Lei grins viciously as Felix changes into a blocky beast. But that grin is short lived, as she watches him get swallowed whole by the giant worm thing. "That... Just isn't really fair," Lei says, shaking her head slightly. Oddly, despite the sound of the fireworks, or whatever they are, going off, Lei doesn't look back. Instead she stands, watching the Sarlac thing and rolling her shoulders slightly. Or making the attempt at any rate. As the block man speaks up she replies distractedly, "You keep saying that." Then she mutters softly, "Wonder if I can dodge that thing until it gives up and goes for another."


"Felix!" Rick starts to run toward the thing, which hopefully at least makes it look like he's trying, but he can't do anything before whatever Felix has turned into is eaten up before their very eyes. "Damnit!" He looks back then, his attention caught just for a moment by the fireworks. He can't spend too long contemplating it, though. Instead, he turns around again and starts waving his arms. "Hey!" he yells at the Sarlacc-like creature. "Come on! Over here!"


The massive creature moved through the crowd, it gobbled one woman that had stood up on top of another person and leapt into the air, like it was catching itself a flying fish sandwich. The number went down to 25. Another man was screaming like some sort of banshee, jumping into the air and doing flips, waving his arms as he landed his blocky self, and the Sarlac worm picked him up and tossed him back, much as he'd eaten Felix. The number dropped to 24.

Then, the Sarlac Worm spotted Rick. Somehow, Rick managed to really get its attention. Perhaps it was a fond way the massive maw was welcomed. Perhaps it just felt right, but its attention moved solidly to Rick. It rushed forward, making a slurpy, chortly sound as it did so. Then, it moved down onto Rick like some sort of wily waterfall, crashing into the ground around the man and closing up, until it could tilt the front of itself back, and swallow Rick away.

Meanwhile, the quality of the spotlight on Lei had changed somewhat. Instead of the light being a sort of white shade, it had begun to glow red. A vibrant, virulent red. Everyone around her stepped back solidly, leaving her plenty of space, and seemed to be attempting to move even further, like she was scarier than the worm.


Rick steps through a new opening back to Reality.


Lei looks toward Rick when he yells out, then scowls as he's eaten. She glances up as the light on her changes, then takes a look around as the block-like people step away. "I do hope you realize," Leilani says, to nobody in particular. "That whatever that signifies? I'm not going to make it easy." She shifts her stance, doing her best to keep her body ready to move on a moment's notice. Though she does glance down and mutter, "Of all the things to miss right now, I didn't think it would be the ability to tap my toes..."


The massive Sarlac Worm let out a nearly ear splitting cry into the city... and as all of the spotlights had gone red... people were suddenly lifted, including Lei. It was much like being in a tractor beam, in some sci-fi fantasy movie or television show. There were a total of 5 people lifted, all in all, and they were brought up high into the air, then the beam shifted, and they were all pushed out beyond the wall, beyond the gates, into the area outside with the picnic tables, blocky trees, the strange chevron river. The red flotation device was still there, some distance away, as it was at the place they'd entered.

Once outside of the gates, however, there was absolutely no breathable air. Any attempt to inhale was almost like breathing in water, but not quite. It was more like attempting to breath with a layer of cellophane over the mouth, and it simply pressed in against the softer parts of the mouth, like it would fill the lungs if not stopped.


Lei continued to glare at the worm, until she felt herself starting to be lifted up. She struggles, but without any traction she can't do a thing to escape the beam. Her eyes widen, then narrow when she realizes she's being moved toward the walls. Remembering what was said about being outside, she prepares herself by taking a deep breath, and tensing her body so that she can, effectively, hit the ground running, orienting herself toward the red, blocky flotation device and it's attached rope before she's let down from her suspended state.

It doesn't quite work out that way though, as once she's on the ground Lei tries to start running, only for it to turn into a bit of a stumble. She manages to recover, so that she can keep moving, but it is hardly graceful or efficient in getting her toward her hopeful escape.


Inside the walls, people can be heard trying to get the attention of the big worm thing, trying to get eaten. There were no more spotlights. Two of the people that were with Lei when transported out of the Square seemed to stop not two or three steps after they'd landed to the sandy-ish ground, grasping at their chest, or their throat, with their odd, blocky hands, then fell over, their square mouths opening and shutting like fish out of water. The other two that had been transported out seemed to be following after Lei, confusion the most obvious thing on their faces, and as they couldn't talk, all they could do was stumble along.

Ahead of where they were moving, and ultimately at the goal, three more bright, burning fireworks traveled into the world and went off, showering sparks and making their huge, loud, banging sounds into the strange block-world.


Lei lets out a low growl and stops where she is. Looking around she notices the two following her and points toward the red flotation device. Then she's turning on her heel and running back. When she reaches the two that fell to the ground she grabs them, one by the ankle each, positioning them so that she can drag them behind herself, and ensuring she has a good, firm grip. Then she's moving again, though it would be generous to call it a run, especially with her dragging the others. More of a quick moving shuffle, really.


The two laying on the ground are obviously trying not to die, but somewhat failing. The two that were still moving, however, just nodded to Lei, as their faces started to turn red from lack of oxygen. But they did keep moving, heading over to where the bright red rectangle was waiting. As Lei grabbed ankles, the two laying down didn't fight, just kind of flopped and moved with her. Luckily, the movement over pixilated sand wasn't as terrible as it could be.

Once everyone managed to get to the flotation device, the rope was still there, waiting, leading to that small, odd, little place where the world opened up to reality. It didn't really look like anything would fit through there, but the rope fit just fine, and seemed extremely tiny through the opening, even though its square shape looked normal size in the block world.


Lei looks from the rope, to the two that she was dragging along with her. She grabs the flotation device and quickly loops the rope attached around the waist of both the block-people she'd dragged over with her, doing her best to do it quickly while still making sure it's secure. That done she starts to climb the rope, making an effort to get to the hole to reality, despite the fact that it seems it won't be large enough to allow her through.


Lei steps through a new opening back to Reality.


To read more of this scene, find the log here: Strange Weather