Fantasy False World (MAIN)

[MJ ._.]

Roya frowned at Zee. "Is it really time to listen to your pod?" She grunted and looked around at the woods surrounding them. "What if that thing appears? Could you see that... the thing resembling a reaper?" She asked the guy wondering if he could here her then sighed. She had found the pool by trying to use the power slept in her mind so decided to leave the deciding to her subconscious again. She close her eyes and thought of home. Many familiar images of her apartment, her family and her parents' house came to her mind but the was flying an unknown image among them; she and that ipod boy jumping into the pool. The girl opened her eyes and smiled at Zee. "Don't you want to join your friend?" She asked him and suddenly grabbed him by wrist and pooled him down into the water as she dived into the pool.

Roya's head broke water's surface and stuck out of the pound. She took deep breathes by mouth before being able to see properly. Two young men were soaking in the water. "Ned? Lemming? Where are we?" She asked.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Roya frowned at Zee. "Is it really time to listen to your pod?" She grunted and looked around at the woods surrounding them. "What if that thing appears? Could you see that... the thing resembling a reaper?" She asked the guy wondering if he could here her then sighed. She had found the pool by trying to use the power slept in her mind so decided to leave the deciding to her subconscious again. She close her eyes and thought of home. Many familiar images of her apartment, her family and her parents' house came to her mind but the was flying an unknown image among them; she and that ipod boy jumping into the pool. The girl opened her eyes and smiled at Zee. "Don't you want to join your friend?" She asked him and suddenly grabbed him by wrist and pooled him down into the water as she dived into the pool.

Roya's head broke water's surface and stuck out of the pound. She took deep breathes by mouth before being able to see properly. Two young men were soaking in the water. "Ned? Lemming? Where are we?" She asked.

Suddenly, Zee and Roya emerged from the water as well.

"If I'm correct." Ned started, "we're back at square one..."

Ned looked around the area. He was sure it was the park again.

"Come on, let's see if we can find another clue... There must be something around here." Ned said as he trudged through the water, slowly picking up pace as he moved into shallower parts of the pond.

 

[11254man]

Zee was in a near catatonic state, attempting in vain to take in everything around him. His music was still blaring.
Lemming noticed this and moved over to him. "You ok kiddo'?" Zee did not respond, and on top of that, Lemming could hardly be heard amidst the music.
He reached into Zee's pocket, taking out the device and turning the volume to a reasonable drone. He then repeated, "You ok?"
Lemming looked up at him, though only for a moment before going back to sporadically surveying the area.
"Wh-where are we?" Zee shakily replied at last.
"Back to square one, quote the other guy" Lemming responded, pulling Zee up and out of the shallow pool. "Come on, we might as well get going to wherever we need to next."
Zee halfheartedly nodded his head

 

[MJ ._.]

"Oh... then we've not escaped the illusion yet?" Asked the girl in disappointment as dragged her legs in the water toward the edge of the pool. Stepping to the dry earth, she clenched her shirt and trousers to squeeze water out of them. "What a mess... I wish I could dry myself immediately..." She mumbled then watch others regrouping. "Well, now we know that part of park isn't safe to go. Dread or what ever that thing was is there... how about leaving the park and searching for clues in the city? If these people are part of the game then they might give us some hints." Roya suggested.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

(Hey guys, sorry for the wait. Had to take a break for a bit and never had time to really get on the site...)

Ned looked over his shoulder, seeing Lemming tending to Zee, who looked as though he was having an existential crisis. He suddenly turned his attention to Roya, who suggested going back into the city area. The only problem was figuring out exactly where to go. One wrong move and they could end up in a bad situation.

"Roya, you seem to have good instincts. Where should we go from here?" Ned asked, surprising himself. He usually did everything on his own. 'Teamwork' had never been his best characteristic.

Choices:

Northside- suburban, richer part of city
City Center- Center of city. filled with Museums and places of all sorts of Arts.
Southside- seedier part of the city. Crime and abandoned buildings/structures

MJ ._. 11254man

 

[11254man]

"Yeah, whaddya' wanna do lady?" Lemming asked, laying down on a nearby bench.
As soon as Zee had taken a few seconds to calm himself, he looked far more at home. While not relaxed in any sense, he was no longer panicking. He was, however, still rather wet from landing as abruptly as he did in the shallow pool.
Lemming glanced over at him, any fears about his permanent condition quelled to at least a moderate degree.

 

[MJ ._.]

"My opinion?" Roya usually like to express her ideas but seeing three guys looking at her expecting something for their survival made her nervous wishing that she wasn't there. The girl shivered and felt cold for being wet head to toe. She clenched sides of her shirt to get rid of water soaked in it. "Well... I don't know what to think of. If I try to find a way to finish it soon... I'm afraid I might see the path to our death." She said and paused at the ominous thought. "Let's cut out places we've never been at... for me it's the sought... they say soughtside isn't good for good girls. Then let me see... if I concentrated on being safe..." She closed her eyes and frowned wishing for safety and comfort like her dear home. The scene that came to her mind was a memory of her childhood when her parents had taken her to candy exhibition that had been held for limited time. Roya gulped and opened her eyes; even the memory of it was mouth watering. "I remember that there was a large hall in building of art galleries. It's located in city center." She said.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

"City Center... Constantly busy and swarming with people..." Ned thought, making sure Roya's choice made the most logical sense.

He didn't find anything that'd make City Center stand out as a threat, and seeing as how all of them must have gone through it at some point in their lives, it made the most sense that something important should be there.

"Alright, city center it is then." Ned said, adding, "Any objections?"

MJ ._. 11254man

 

[11254man]

"Nope." Lemming hopped up from the bench, stuffing his hands in their respective pockets.
Zee glanced around, seemingly no longer in sensory overload. He took a deep breath.
"No objections here."

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

"Good, then let's get moving. It looks like the Sun is beginning to set..." Ned said, realizing that they were more than likely going to spend the night in this world.

Ned led the group through the city and towards the City Center. It would take roughly thirty minutes to walk there, plus any traffic, but there was no time to risk getting a cab or catching bus. Ned listened carefully to the chatter around them, picking out every detail he could from the crowd, hoping it'd come together and make sense. It was mainly random jargon, but he knew it'd come in handy later. Suddenly, something caught Ned's eye, but he forced himself to not react. Someone was watching them...

"Act natural, we are being watched..."

In front of us is a four-way intersection, meaning we have three paths to choose from.

Forward- Business district (Banks, corporate buildings, etc.)
Left- Recreational district (pawn shops, toy stores, etc.)
Right- Tourist district (Hotels, restaurants, etc.)

"If we run, we may lose them or worse, they catch us... Best we play it safe." Ned said, looking at Roya casually, saying, "Can you read them at all without staring? You seem to have a thing with predictions..." Ned said, smiling as though he was having a friendly chat.

If you can read them, you'll know that they are stalking us. If you're able to continue reading them, you'll find that they are trying to lead or take us all somewhere. You can't tell where.

MJ ._. 11254man

 

[MJ ._.]

As it was decided to walk to the city center, Roya moved out of the park along with three guys without caring about her wet clothes. If it was a fake world then she wouldn't care about her looks or catching cold. On the way, as she watched the city, everything seemed so normal. Maybe it was too normal but she wondered if the illusion was being fed by her own memories of the place then she couldn't be sure about its originality. Ned was in his focused mod that was turning to his default mod in her perspective. Perhaps he was making connections between things he observed and yet were out of her reach to notice. The result came out soon; "Act natural, we are being watched..." He said. Roya stopped peering at him and looked ahead. 'Natural? Nothing is natural about this damned trip.' She thought. Meanwhile she was asked to use her ability to find more information about stalkers. "Read them? Are they books?" She asked in low tone and laughed slightly. "I doubt if I can do that... but I can try to see what result of each action might be." She said then read the signs that lead the way. "I like to try the left path. There must be full of funny, interesting or cute objects..." She uttered and sighed, remaining silence for a few moment as if reviewing her memories. "No matter where we go, they'll be on our tail. That's what a stalkers does... but when I think of letting them get to us, I see them taking us to a place which is unclear to me. And when I think of never stopping for them to catch us, I see ourselves being pushed to a corner... we go on our feet but end up at the same unknown place." She explained results of her clairvoyance.

 

[11254man]

Lemming sighed. "More stuff they want us to know. I mean, seeing as nothing here would have an individual mind," He said in a quiet voice, stretching his arms up over his head. "I really wouldn't mind just letting em' get to us though, seeing as it'll happen anyhow. I don't want to walk more than is required."

Zee was facing away from the stalkers, looking directly ahead. "On the bright side, they don't have any weapons, but... I mean. I guess they could just make some appear, huh?"

Lemming glanced at Ned, then Zee, a look of unsure nervousness plastered across the latter.
(I attempted to post this one on Wednesday, but now just realized it didn't post. Whoops...)

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

"Hmm..." Ned mumbled as he thought of a possible solution. "Lemming is partly right, they'll catch us at every corner, but going on the idea that this is a game would conclude the man behind this all plays to his own set of rules." Ned spoke quietly so only Roya, Zee, and Lemming could hear, "He wants a challenge from us... If we put our heads together, we just might be able to outwit him..."

Suddenly, Ned noticed footsteps, at least six different sets, converging towards them. The footsteps came from behind and were barely noticeable due to the sound of the crowd drowning them out. They had at least 30 seconds before they'd be caught...

"How are your fighting skills?" Ned asked everyone, keeping his eyes pointed straight ahead.

(Sorry for the long wait. Had to take a break from writing for a while... Everyone still interested? Btw, I can have this end relatively soon if you'd all like, but if not, I'm sure I can figure out a way to prolong the ending. just let me know.)

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

MJ ._. 11254man

 

[MJ ._.]

"Fighting?" Roya asked in fear as looked around fro the thread approaching or a way to escape. "I have never fought before..." She whispered nervously. Ned expected them to outwit their captor while she had no idea how think in someone else's framework which was unknown to her.

(If you can continue this for long then I'm in. I have no problem with occasional hiatuses.)

 

[11254man]

"Well let me tell ya'!" Resounded Lemming, clasping his hands behind his head, "I don't doubt I hold the record for most bar fights started-"
"And lost." Lemming tacked on, in an attempt at levity.
Lemming shot him a dirty look, continuing on. "Anyhow, I'd say yeah, I'm not half bad."
Zee, now realizing the question was also aimed his way, simply shrugged, entirely unsure of how good of a fighter he'd be when it truly came down to it.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

(I'm really sorry about this, I never got a notification that you guys responded, so I just thought you all gave up on it... I'll have a reply up tomorrow and will be watching this a lot more carefully from now on. Sorry for the long wait once again... >_<

 

[11254man]

(It's all good)

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

"Alright, when I turn around, start running towards the business district (forward), I'll try and find you all..." Ned said, waiting a second before turning around. The people who were following them were just a few feet away, almost grabbing distance. "Follow me, will you?" Ned growled, throwing a punch at the nearest man and hitting his mark.

"Grab em!" Another man screamed, sending the six men into a flurry....

If you stay and fight, the chances of success are slim, but not impossible.

If you run, you are likely to outrun and escape the men. You are more likely to escape if you split up.

MJ ._. 11254man

 

[MJ ._.]

"Good luck..." Roya whispered before dashing forward in fear. She was aware of her weakness in hand to hand battle so there was no sense for her to stay and fight. The girl ran as fast as she could trying to get as far as possible as if could break edges of that delusional world like that.
Irish_Dragon_76 11254man

 

[11254man]

"Alright Zee," Lemming began, but by that time Zee was already halfway down the block. "Ok then," He continued, shrugging. He unzipped his sweatshirt, tossing it to the ground behind him. He got into a vague fighting stance, preparing for the worst. (Lemming is going to be out of the picture for a bit, whatever happens to him will be found out later.

Zee could barely breathe by the next four turns. He hadn't a clue where he was, and Lemming was nowhere in sight.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Ned heard three of the six men run after Roya, Zee, and Lemming, leaving the other three, with one on the ground, to take care of. "Let's go you bastards, you and me! Come on!" Ned shouted, taunting the men as they began to circle around him. the one on the ground stood up, wiping his mouth to clean the blood from his lips. They were all well dressed individuals, like average businessmen, their faces all had the same expression, determination to do whatever it takes to grab Ned and the others.

Ned closed his eyes, allowing him to utilize his sense of feeling and hearing much better. He'd be able to track them more accurately without sight now. One man scraped his foot against the ground in order to lunge at Ned, giving Ned more than enough time to dodge the attack, grab him by the color of his suite, and sling him into another man.

"Come on, this is pathetic... I've even closed my eyes for you all!" Ned taunted, waiting patiently for another assault, he blocked out every other thought, trying not to think too hard on the others or whether or not they escaped.

MJ ._.
One man is far behind you, but if you don't shake him somehow soon, he'll catch up.

Turn into a busier part of the street and try to hide in the crowds or try and outrun him by entering a nearby building (All of which are large business buildings with multiple floors.)

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

11254man
Not sure what's going on with Lemming, but this seems interesting. Mind PMing me some details just so we are on the same page?

Zee has shaken the men, but is hopelessly lost unless he can retrace his steps back to Ned. Finding Roya in the business section of the city would be like finding a needle in a haystack, but it wouldn't be impossible. The two men are either fighting Lemming or prowling the streets for you

 

[MJ ._.]

Roya dared to look back after a quarter of running like crazy in neat street. She still could see at least one of those men Ned had showed her running effortlessly toward her while she was almost out of breath. The girl ran to a group of young people who had left building and walked among them for a while then jumped into a random building they were passing by. The building was probably a sky scraper as she could see more than five elevators that each covered about 20 floors. She didn't have time to care for signs so dropped herself into the closest elevator which doors was open hopping that her chaser wouldn't arrive in time to see where she had gone.
Irish_Dragon_76

 

[11254man]

Zee quickly realized the men were no longer following him. The giant, boxy skyscrapers did not make it easy to find his way, and the street signs were absolutely useless. As cars went by, he closed his eyes, beginning to zone out. He chuckled, if only to himself at this point. "Alright... so I'm here... and..." He nodded to himself, jogging down the street and down as close to a direct path to Roya as was possible.