"Vincent, we need get moving to the others. I've no idea what that Grit just did, but it doesn't sound like we're going to enjoy it."

As much as Vincent wanted to sit around and chat with the voice on the other side of the robot, Kat had a point. They couldn't exactly stick around with the howling and whatnot. He bobbed his head slowly in agreement as she removed the head of the robot. "Alright."

"This thing has a small powerpack in its head, it's so it can be transferred to more specialised surgical bodies if needed without shutting down." She explained. "Won't last long without being reattached to another body, maybe ten minutes- so I would avoid being too chatty."

She flashed a grin, adrenaline pumping through her as she handed Vincent the head.

"Now let's go!"

The head had a bit of heft to it, but outside of that that it clearly was meant to be carried from the design it had. Probably exactly for the same reasons as Kat explained. He smiled back. "Good to see a smile on that lovely face of yours." He knew it wasn't really appropriate to flirt at a time like this, but instinct and habit kicked in. He was so used to flirting with women that he couldn't help himself. @MsChimeric

He followed her down the stairs and saw the Grit boy run off and hop over and across cafeteria tables.

< Oh it's such a relief to hear a human voice, > the queen's voice said through a speaker in the robot head. < I hear a commotion, are you under attack? What sector of the Wall are you in? I can send you an escort. >

Vincent opened his mouth to respond, but the Grit came to a locked door it let loose another howl which the others outside responded to. That thing was an enemy, but was the Queen actually a friend? He didn't trust her especially since this particular incident. "How exactly do you expect to protect us with most of the city's population turned to stone and the city overrun with the very enemy you strove so hard to keep out? Can you afford to spare the men to escort us from the Wall to wherever you are? I bet this entire incident is your fault anyways."

Vincent let his frustration decide his actions; something that he didn't do too often, but considering the circumstances he didn't care enough. He didn't trust the Queen. The only thing she knew how to do was hide from the Grit and even then she failed. Out of fear, she had prisoners build the Wall up as high as possible and then even higher. Now they were within the Wall as if it weren't even an obstacle. This was her failure. If they had fought the Grit instead of hiding from them perhaps the story would be different.

Then he began to form an idea in his head. Kill all the Grit. They were the enemy after all. He had the power of magic and technology on his side. With the two of them together the possibilities were infinite. He had seen the Grit's symbol and the power it possessed to consume souls. If he could modify that perhaps he could make it even better. He knew only the basics of magic, but now more than ever before did he want to master it.

He glanced over at the roughed up group of people. He had to make sure they lived. He pulled his pen out of his special container that Father had made for it and stepped over to Moth whom seemed to take the most severe of injuries. The gash was pretty nasty on his forearm. "Hey let me see that arm. I can stop the bleeding and then we should get out of here." He put the robot head on the floor and glanced over towards where the Grit went. "Better not chase after a cornered animal." He then looked back at Moth and prepared to write his Sigil over the wound with the stylus that Father made him.

He looked the man right in the eye. "I can draw a Sigil that can stop the bleeding on your arm, but I have to draw it over your wound or it won't work. That means it'll hurt, but once I'm done the bleeding will stop until tomorrow. Hopefully by then we'll have the time and space to properly fix it up." Vincent personally felt that this man wasn't fit to survive in this new cruel world, but perhaps he would be surprised. @Dud

As Flor came crashing over the railing he managed to get an arm onto the railing and spin himself as he crashed onto the floor. The impact on his back and the wrenching of his arm was still pretty intense, but all of his years of falling and stunts had made him pretty adept to react to falling situations. He lied on his back for a moment as he recovered and took in the circumstances around him. Moth came to save Maria, but it seemed he took quite a beating from the boy. It didn't even seem like the boy was scared anymore, now he was just being maniacle and aggresive. Although Maria seemed pretty crazy in her fear, but her face certainly showed it.

As Vincent and Kat came running down the stairs the boy quickly covered Maria's head and pushed her over Flor. He quickly caught her, instead of letting her trip over him and down the flight of stairs next to him. Flor hurt more after catching the flailing girls elbows than he did crashing over the railing. "Ow! Wait! It's ok now. He ran off." He quickly tried to calm Maria from her situation. He set her down next to him gently and helped get her jacket off of her head. "There you go. Now I'm going to check on that animal for one sec." He turned around and looked through the door to the cafeteria. He saw the boy struggling with the lock to a door that led outside. The other side of the door showed the outlines of many more Grit. Their shadows being cast through the distorted glass in the door. Flor decided that area was better off closed and he began to shut the doors.

When he finished he returned to Maria. "Are you ok? We may need to start moving much faster than we are. It looks like the Grit may be catching up to us."

Moth manhandled the Grit child, and the smack of his hand across the creature's face rang out in the stairwell. The boy's head snapped to the side with the impact -- and then he lunged with a terrible speed. The child drove his sharpened teeth deep into Moth's forearm, scraping bone and drawing a mouthful of blood. He would have continued his assault, except Maria thrashed him suddenly against the rail and forced him to release Moth.

Bright red flooded Moth's vision as a dark wet stain spread across the left arm of his suit. The flexible plastic screens on the sleeve were cracked and flickered slightly before burning out. He opened his mouth several times but no sound came out.

He looked the man right in the eye. "I can draw a Sigil that can stop the bleeding on your arm, but I have to draw it over your wound or it won't work. That means it'll hurt, but once I'm done the bleeding will stop until tomorrow. Hopefully by then we'll have the time and space to properly fix it up." Vincent personally felt that this man wasn't fit to survive in this new cruel world, but perhaps he would be surprised.

The words and sounds flowed around him as though he was no longer a part of anything going on. Moth stared back at Vincent, wide-eyed, and let out a single squeak. He fell backward, stiff as rock, landing flat with a thud and passing out.

<Snipped quote>
The Grit yelped and scrabbled against Maria's coat every time she flung him into the railing, and his claws had ripped long gashes into the candy-filled coat. Maria was suddenly gone out of the coat and yanking at it instead; the boy dug in deeper, latched onto the coat, snarling, claws ripping savagely at it, unwilling to let it go. He spilled candy on the floor, furiously trying to search through the pockets while shoving at Maria. He wanted the pink stone, but all he found were wrappers -- and he was getting madder.

Maria was also getting progressively more frustrated at the Grit-child's stubbornness, especially when she saw the torture her poor jacket was going through; candy and wrappers everywhere, huge gashes in the fabric, and the little bastard just wouldn't. Let. Go! Face twisted in a snarl not unlike the boy's, Maria yanked even harder, using one foot to hold down the jacket while her hands pulled at the Grit-child.

Meanwhile, Kat was rushing down the stairs with Vincent not far behind, a robot-head heavy in his arms.

< Oh, it's such a relief to hear a human voice, > the queen's voice said through a speaker in the robot head. < I hear a commotion, are you under attack? What sector of the Wall are you in? I can send you an escort. >

The boy glanced over to where Kat and Vincent approached; alarmed, he flung the coat over Maria's head and shoved her into Flor. While they were occupied he launched himself at Liam, throwing him to the ground, and bounded through a door into the next room -- beyond which was the outside of the wall, where the masses of Grit were howling.

As Vincent and Kat came running down the stairs the boy quickly covered Maria's head and pushed her over Flor. He quickly caught her, instead of letting her trip over him and down the flight of stairs next to him. Flor hurt more after catching the flailing girls elbows than he did crashing over the railing. "Ow! Wait! It's ok now. He ran off." He set her down next to him gently and helped get her jacket off of her head. "There you go. Now I'm going to check on that animal for one sec."

Maria, surprised by the sudden release of pressure, toppled backwards into Flor, coat over her head and arms flailing. She felt her elbows hit something, so she kept whaling at it until she heard Flor's voice reassuring her and saw that he was her rescuer from the clutches of her own jacket. "O-oh! I'm so sorry, was that you that I just beat up? Here, let me make it up to you, I'm sure I've got a nice candy somewhere..."

When he finished he returned to Maria. "Are you ok? We may need to start moving much faster than we are. It looks like the Grit may be catching up to us."

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a bit shaken up." She looked at her jacket forlornly. "...And kinda depressed at the state of my jacket. It was a gift from my dad. Oh well. It's still wearable. Heh, and it looks like that mini-Grit opened up some new pockets. Just let me gather up some of this candy that went everywhere and I'll be good to go." Maria started darting around the room, grabbing fallen candy, having seemingly gotten over the shock of being attacked by a real, actual Grit (even if it looked more like a little kid).

Meanwhile, Kat was rushing down the stairs with Vincent not far behind, a robot-head heavy in his arms.

< Oh, it's such a relief to hear a human voice, > the queen's voice said through a speaker in the robot head. < I hear a commotion, are you under attack? What sector of the Wall are you in? I can send you an escort. >

The boy glanced over to where Kat and Vincent approached; alarmed, he flung the coat over Maria's head and shoved her into Flor. While they were occupied he launched himself at Liam, throwing him to the ground, and bounded through a door into the next room -- beyond which was the outside of the wall, where the masses of Grit were howling.

The first thing that struck Kat was how human the Grit seemed, especially compared to the ones that had attacked them on the wall. So human did the Grit seem that the fight at the base of this section of the staircase appeared almost comical; a kid going up against a group of adults. However, the strength of the boy (and here, again, she couldn’t help but think of the Grit as a boy, he reminded her a little of one of her brothers when they were children) was clearly something extra-ordinary. Not to mention whatever magic he had performed earlier. Kat didn’t really trust magic much at the best of times. Magic was something she felt refused to play by the rules her machines understood; hence why the runes she had tattooed on her person were so basic.
Such thoughts were immediately thrust out of her mind, however, when the boy charged towards the exit to the outside of the wall, and the howling Grit beyond. Almost in response to that howl, Kat swore loudly and profusely.

We need to get out of here!

Vincent opened his mouth to respond, but the Grit came to a locked door it let loose another howl which the others outside responded to. That thing was an enemy, but was the Queen actually a friend? He didn't trust her especially since this particular incident. "How exactly do you expect to protect us with most of the city's population turned to stone and the city overrun with the very enemy you strove so hard to keep out? Can you afford to spare the men to escort us from the Wall to wherever you are? I bet this entire incident is your fault anyways."
…
He put the robot head on the floor and glanced over towards where the Grit went. "Better not chase after a cornered animal." He then looked back at Moth and prepared to write his Sigil over the wound with the stylus that Father made him.

Although Vincent being so frank to the Queen was quite entertaining it was perhaps, felt Kat, not a great way to convince someone to help you. Especially given that they seemed likely to be overrun by Grit at any second. After Vincent put the head down, Kat walked over and picked it back up.

“Erm, your majesty, if you can help us then any help you can give in the next five minutes or so would be very much appreciated! Out location is…”

From her jacket she pulled out her tech-specs and switched them to GPS mode. Looking at their co-ordinates, she read their location out to the robot head (thinking of it as talking to a robot head was a lot less nervewracking than accepting she was talking to the queen).

Having finished, she folded her tech-specs and put them back in her jacket, turning to the others.

He turned around and looked through the door to the cafeteria. He saw the boy struggling with the lock to a door that led outside. The other side of the door showed the outlines of many more Grit. Their shadows being cast through the distorted glass in the door. Flor decided that area was better off closed and he began to shut the doors.

When he finished he returned to Maria. "Are you ok? We may need to start moving much faster than we are. It looks like the Grit may be catching up to us."

“I’m doubt that’s a may.” Kat stated, frowning. “We need to get out of here right now. Those stars-” She pointed over at the stairs leaning downwards, “-seem like the only way.”

She looked over at Vincent, who held a collapsed Moth in his arms. “Can you carry him? Say if he gets too heavy, we’ll take turns till he wakes up.”

With the robot head in her arms, Kat started heading towards the stairs.

“Let’s go!”

"How exactly do you expect to protect us with most of the city's population turned to stone and the city overrun with the very enemy you strove so hard to keep out? Can you afford to spare the men to escort us from the Wall to wherever you are? I bet this entire incident is your fault anyways."

< You're probably right. > The queen's voice was quick with an answer, solemn yet still maintaining the hope with which she greeted the city each morning. < I can't see or understand what you're going through, and I'm sorry it's happening. The only thing we can do is move forward. Let me help you. >

After Vincent put the head down, Kat walked over and picked it back up.

“Erm, your majesty, if you can help us then any help you can give in the next five minutes or so would be very much appreciated! Out location is…”

Once the coordinates had been given, the queen spoke again. < On their way. Get everyone as far down the stairs as you can. I see you on my map. >

The other side of the door showed the outlines of many more Grit. Their shadows being cast through the distorted glass in the door. Flor decided that area was better off closed and he shut the cafeteria doors.

Vincent looked Moth right in the eye. "I can draw a Sigil that can stop the bleeding on your arm, but I have to draw it over your wound or it won't work. That means it'll hurt, but once I'm done the bleeding will stop until tomorrow."

Moth stared back at Vincent, wide-eyed, and let out a single squeak. He fell backward, stiff as rock, landing flat with a thud and passing out.

Maria started darting around the room, grabbing fallen candy, having seemingly gotten over the shock of being attacked by a real, actual Grit (even if it looked more like a little kid).

Kat looked over at Vincent, who held a collapsed Moth in his arms. “Can you carry him? Say if he gets too heavy, we’ll take turns till he wakes up.”

With the robot head in her arms, Kat started heading towards the stairs.

“Let’s go!”

With the cafeteria doors now closed and locked, there was no way to see what was making that horrible screeching noise within. It was metal-on-metal, followed by a squeal and a bang -- the Grit child had opened the door to the outside.

He wasn't trying to get out.

He was letting the others in.

"Ho, heel! To me!" The child hollered, just as the beasts crashed and shattered the tables and benches, their scales and spines and feathers filling the room. "There are alive ones here. Break that door, bring them to me."

A roaring, screeching mass of fur and claws and slitted eyes rushed the flimsy doors that Flor had shut, and they slammed their collective bodies against them.

BANG

BANG

CRASH

The doors exploded into splinters, and all manner of nightmares flooded into the landing -- three-headed, jagged-toothed, bat-winged monstrosities, with five legs or eight legs or no legs at all. The landing immediately filled with a foul stench of bile and sulfur. One of the Grit -- a gigantic snake with a rooster's head -- hissed and rattled and coughed a ball of fire that flared and blackened the wall of the downward stairwell.

Some were too big to squeeze through the door, while others were nimble and on the humans' heels in an instant, teeth flashing.

The stairwell was filled with howls and snarls.

Something metallic was clanking toward them from the bottom of the stairs, rushing at an incredible speed.

An eight-foot-tall robot with the highest tech in speed and joint control -- painted in the queen's violet-and-gold -- appeared on the lower landing and immediately shot a Grit out of the air behind Vincent with a flash of a laser pistol.

"C'mon, twerps, let's go!" the robot hollered in a very human voice. A rune was etched into its chest -- this robot was enchanted. "Is this everyone? Move it! Comin' through! Go down, go down down down! I'll take this guy, run faster!"

The robot reached out with one arm, grabbed the unconscious Moth and slung him over its broad shoulder like he was a ragdoll, shooting all the while.

< You're probably right. > The queen's voice was quick with an answer, solemn yet still maintaining the hope with which she greeted the city each morning. < I can't see or understand what you're going through, and I'm sorry it's happening. The only thing we can do is move forward. Let me help you. >

Somehow, the Queen's response only hardened Vincent's dislike of her and the quickness of her response removed any weight that her statement might have had on him. He had expected that though, so the disappointment wasn't a surprise. Part of him considered asking about his father, but he suspected that someone would accept her offer, but it certainly would not be him.

“Erm, your majesty, if you can help us then any help you can give in the next five minutes or so would be very much appreciated! Out location is…”

He smiled internally, because he had anticipated correctly and that was a pleasant feeling for him.

After he explained what he did to the shocked Moth, the man fainted. Vincent gave the man a disappointed look, but said nothing. At the very least this made it easier for him to write the Sigil out. He started writing it out and halfway through he heard the door tear open and all sorts of a racket of monstrosity came through the door. Adrenaline spiked, and he nearly lost his focus, but he managed to finish it safely. Immediately after finishing, the green ink of the Sigil glowed and the blood stopped flowing from the bite wound.



He stood up to face the incoming Grit, but he was not entirely prepared to see what he did. From the amalgamation of monsters that came through that door or struggled to there was one that decided that he would be appropriate prey. It had a snake head and around the base of its neck, the scales turned into fur and the body of a hyena, it's front paws were actually talons like a bird, and its hind legs were that of a frog. The ugly thing leaped at him and he struggled between the urge to fight it and the urge to jump out its way.

He wrapped his fingers around the handle of the scalpel he took from the operating room and tensed, but a blast from a laser knocked it out of the air and caused it to crash down on a table with a crunching sound that could be either the table as it broke from the collision or the Grit itself. Expecting the worst, Vincent guessed that it was just the table and turned to look at what fired the laser and saw a robot towering over everyone armed with a laser.

"C'mon, twerps, let's go!" the robot hollered in a very human voice. A rune was etched into its chest -- this robot was enchanted. "Is this everyone? Move it! Comin' through! Go down, go down down down! I'll take this guy, run faster!"

The Queen's escort came quicker than he had expected, but that was fairly good news and Vincent quickly complied with the robot's request. He ran down the stairs that the robot came from, he was hardly prepared for battle with an army of monsters. He glanced over his shoulder only once to make sure that others were following him.

Liam watched the ensuing struggle as Moth, Maria and Flor were essentially man-handled by a kid with bunny ears. Liam let out a short chuckle that was unfortunately interrupted when the rabbit child hurled himself at Carter with full force, knocking him prone before it bounded for the cafeteria door. Liam let out a small groan as he stood up. “Sunva gun that child is the devil incarnate.” Liam sighed as he dusted himself off. As he did he looked up and noticed that Moth was unconscious. “Hey you lot need hel-“ Liam was interrupted yet again, this time by the howling of Grit. With a quick murmur Liam got down on one knee and aimed his gun at the doors Flor had closed moments ago.

“So uh I feel like I am repeating myself but we need to get out of here. Preferably right now.” He said as he knelt down and watched the doors. As he did he heard the same doors begin rattling and shaking, before bursting open, revealing what seemed like a sea of grit as they charged the group. Liam started shooting almost immediately once this happened managing to dispose of about four of them. As the fight continued Liam’s eye widened in both fear and awe of what he saw charge at him. The beast had the body of a cheetah, the legs of a wolf, the head of a tiger and what appeared to be horns of a bull.

Liam shrugged off any feeling of fear as he rolled out of the way of the Grit’s charge with ease. Liam then aimed down his sights and shot at the beast hitting, and almost blasting off, the right hind leg of the beast. With a shriek of pain the beast lunged at him, this time catching him before he could get out of the way. As the beast pinned Liam down he lost his grip on his gun and watched it skid across the ground. The beast now sunk his claws into Liam’s torso forcing a cry of pain from him. Liam swung wildly at the beast, his fists only fazing the Monster for a second before the beast went in to bite his face off. Fortunately through some miracle Liam managed to lodge his left forearm in the beast’s mouth, preventing it from doing anything other than gnaw at his hand.

Liam then swung a right hook into the eye of the beast. With a whimper the Grit moved backwards off of Liam, dragging its claws across his torso. As the beast recoiled its damaged leg gave way and he fell to the floor. Liam instantly sprung up and charged the Grit, his adrenaline blotting out all the pain he would have felt from his wounds. In one swift motion Liam unsheathed his sword and stuck it into the side of the beast’s head. The beast squirmed for a few seconds before its body fell limp. With a groan Liam turned and looked for his gun. It was at around this time his adrenaline started fading as he fell on his hands and knees and spat out some blood. The pain from his hand was dulled by the severity of his torso wounds. Liam watched as blood dripped from his torso."heh heh, Man 1, Grit 0.5 cause you know, almost half dead." he said with a small chuckle before he gritted his teeth as hard as he possibly could and took off in a sprint towards the direction of his gun. As he did he almost immediately saw his gun and picked it up and started to fire at the grit again.

As he began firing he noticed someone, or in this case something, approach him. Liam looked and saw a massive robot bounding towards them.

"C'mon, twerps, let's go!" the robot hollered in a very human voice. A rune was etched into its chest -- this robot was enchanted. "Is this everyone? Move it! Comin' through! Go down, go down down down! I'll take this guy, run faster!"

Liam instantly noticed the colours of the queen painted on the robot. Liam was about to run towards the robot when he realised that most of the group had yet to join him at the stairs. Cursing under his breath Liam got down on one knee yet again and started firing at the Grit yet again “Hello you bloody snails let’s GET MOVING!!! I ain’t planning to die in some stairway!” he shouted as he continued to fire at the Grit…

Darkness pulsed and wrapped around him in great throbbing waves. The endless black expanse spun him as it cradled him and he slid, directionless, across the midnight Ether. The rhythmic churn of his heartbeat vibrated in time with the flow as the lightless ocean surrounding him pushed him on.

An indeterminate time passed until Moth found his footing and the world opened around him. The land was black featureless dirt, hard and cold beneath his bare feet. There was a barely discernible break on the horizon where land met sky, a sky the color of the infinite space between worlds.

He looked down, and his eyes struggled to focus as he tried to find his body. He couldn't quite see himself so much as...an echo of what he was. It was like his eyes were trying to discern him as he used to be, as he could have been, as he was at that time, and how he would be in the future, all at once. His arm felt weird. No matter how much he struggled to see it, something pushed his eyes away. It felt like...the way water smelled on hot wet fur. Like the sinews of an animal straining beneath coarse and matted hair. Like staring into a pitch black alley and feeling it stare right back. His heart beat louder in his ears.

The sound surrounded him, and he noticed a metallic edge to it. Like the clicking of gears in a massive clock. A warm breeze swept across the empty plain just then, tousling his hair and...

Oh. He was naked. So it was one of those dreams.

His arm began to burn. It was slow, starting at his hand and creeping past his wrist and up to his elbow. It felt like he was holding his hand in front of a bonfire and slowly reaching in.

Hurts, huh?

The voice startled him and he looked around and noticed a figure approaching. Shadows ran together across the black earth beneath the black sky and formed a black figure roughly the same size and shape as him. There was nothing else discernible about it until it opened its shimmering golden-pink eyes.

Hey buddy. Feels like a bitch, huh? Yeah, you're changing now and there's nothing that can stop it. You'll die eventually, but you have a while to go before that. Not much you can do but wait for it. You can fight it if you want, maybe prolong the inevitable a bit. Anyway, I was wondering when you'd finally notice me. I was there the first time you blacked out this morning, you know. Kinda slipped in when shit went crazy. Couldn't get your attention. But now...

Without moving through the space between, the eyes were suddenly nearly touching Moth's own.

Boo.

...

Darkness, and silence, and nothing.

Warmth, on his cheek.

The sound of metal gears clicking in time like a heartbeat.

"C'mon, twerps, let's go!" the robot hollered in a very human voice. A rune was etched into its chest -- this robot was enchanted. "Is this everyone? Move it! Comin' through! Go down, go down down down! I'll take this guy, run faster!"

Moth peeled himself from the drool that stuck his face to the robot's back. He felt the world shudder every few seconds as a blaster tore through the crowd of screaming, howling, roaring creatures that were attempting to surround them. BRA-KOOM. BRA-KOOM. He was nearly upside-down and blood was rushing to his head and pounding in his ears and making the world spin. Moth risked a glance as the robot that held him spun and fired its massive gun. "Tidal wave" came to mind as the Grit swarmed towards them in a million colors, the parts of hundreds of animals--real and imaginary--divided between them. The wave parted, and one soared up, nearly scraping the high ceiling of the cafeteria.

It was entirely insectoid, a combination of several mantis types taken to an extreme. It had the large head and bulbous glistening eyes of a leaf mantis, the top of its thorax spreading out like a cape in semblance of a flower mantis' body. Like a leaf mantis and orchid mantis, plant-like appendages sprang from along its body in a brilliant rainbow and fluttered as it soared, it's massive forelegs and curving abdominal segment sprouting the deadly spines of a flower mantis. The beast roared in a chittering screech and flourished wings, delicate and shimmering like intricate stained glass and humming like a turbine engine as it dove.

Half of Moth was enthralled by its beauty and practically fell in love. The other half nearly shat himself in terror.

"Ho, heel! To me!" The child hollered, just as the beasts crashed and shattered the tables and benches, their scales and spines and feathers filling the room. "There are alive ones here. Break that door, bring them to me."

As Maria started picking up the spilled candy, she heard the distant shouting of the Grit-child. As she worked, part of her mind wondered at his (its?) mode of speech. It... sounded awfully medieval. Maybe that was just how people talked, outside the wall? But that was preposterous, nobody lived outside the wall, and the Grit were all just monsters.

...Weren't they?

She went back to gathering her candy.

...Wait a second, he's shouting to the Grit. Something about alive ones?

A moment where her mind went blank, like a new piece of paper with the candy-coated, rose-tinted gears that made up Maria's mind turning and clanking behind it.

...Oh. That's us. Shit.

A roaring, screeching mass of fur and claws and slitted eyes rushed the flimsy doors that Flor had shut, and they slammed their collective bodies against them.

BANG

BANG

The world felt like it was suddenly doused in molasses. Maria turned her head - slow, slow, yet slower, if such a thing were possible - and stared at the door, just as the first BANG sounded. Her eyes, the only thing unaffected by the sudden downpour of sugary slowness, darted downwards to the candy scattered on the floor. Loath as she was to leave her parents' candy to these monsters(?) (even as she thought it, some treacherous part of her brain added a question mark to the word "monsters"), it just might work to prevent some of them from following them. She quickly grabbed a few of her favorites that were near her, stuffed them in her jacket, scooted away from the door, and prepared to run.

CRASH

The doors exploded into splinters, and all manner of nightmares flooded into the landing -- three-headed, jagged-toothed, bat-winged monstrosities, with five legs or eight legs or no legs at all. The landing immediately filled with a foul stench of bile and sulfur. One of the Grit -- a gigantic snake with a rooster's head -- hissed and rattled and coughed a ball of fire that flared and blackened the wall of the downward stairwell.

Some were too big to squeeze through the door, while others were nimble and on the humans' heels in an instant, teeth flashing.

The stairwell was filled with howls and snarls.

Something metallic was clanking toward them from the bottom of the stairs, rushing at an incredible speed.

An eight-foot-tall robot with the highest tech in speed and joint control -- painted in the queen's violet-and-gold -- appeared on the lower landing and immediately shot a Grit out of the air behind Vincent with a flash of a laser pistol.

"C'mon, twerps, let's go!" the robot hollered in a very human voice. A rune was etched into its chest -- this robot was enchanted. "Is this everyone? Move it! Comin' through! Go down, go down down down! I'll take this guy, run faster!"

The robot reached out with one arm, grabbed the unconscious Moth and slung him over its broad shoulder like he was a ragdoll, shooting all the while.

As the Grit burst through the door, Maria promptly started sprinting towards the stairs, her fear giving her feet wings. As one Grit, the nightmarish spawn of an octopus and some sort of large cat, lashed out at her with a tentacle, she narrowly dodged it and made it safely behind the robot, hiding behind it. "Guys, c'mere! We're safe over here!" She glanced up at Moth, who looked like he was just waking up from his impromptu nap, and smiled at him. "Hello, sunshine! Having a nice ride?" She giggled.

The Grit writhed, ripped and gnashed as sharp and as real as a terrifying blender. Liam, most of all, knew firsthand just how very real the nightmares could be. While Maria, Vincent and Kat dashed behind him to safety, Liam wrestled his own life out of the jaws of a hideous beast, until it fell. He was soaked in blood, all of it his own.

The Grit did not bleed.

Every shot of the robot's laser and every swing of Liam's sword opened up a dark, hollow gash. A Grit with half its head blown off fell lifeless to the ground. The Grit that Liam had slain lay in dry hollow pieces on the floor -- a floor that was littered with furry, scaled, feathery, shimmering corpses, each of them empty like husks filled with shadows. Sliced open, they seemed . . . incomplete. Not quite alive.

Moments after a Grit's corpse hit the floor, the body faded -- like a ghost, incorporeal, a hologram of what had nearly ripped Liam's life out of him with savage claws. The body soon became nothing but a shadowy smoke that drifted over the floor, swirling with the smoky remains of other dead Grit.

At the far side of the hall, protected by the savage wall of monsters, the little rabbit-eared boy was on his knees with a bottle of ketchup, drawing a sigil on the slick vinyl floor. This sigil might seem familiar to Vincent or to Moth: it was the same sigil that was found littered throughout the city in the aftermath of the old Grit invasions, before the Wall. It was one of the sigils that had been forbidden by royal decree: drawing it was a surefire way to get thrown in prison.

The boy tossed aside the ketchup bottle and stepped back with a grin. The smoke of the dead Grit flowed around the ketchup sigil, churning faster and darker while the sigil glowed blue and gold. In less than a second, each Grit that Liam had slain -- every monster the robot had beheaded -- leaped out of the undulating cloud of shadowed smoke and rejoined the fight, good as new.

They were, in effect, immortal -- and there could never be an end to them, as long as the resurrection sigil remained intact.

But even immortal shadow-husks had a sweet tooth, it seemed.

At least half of the Grit broke away from the fight as soon as one of them discovered the sugar littering the upward staircase. While Maria ducked and dashed her way to the robot's safety, the many-legged and sharp-clawed Grit followed their noses to the stairs she'd just vacated. They scooped up chocolate, hard candies, licorice and taffy, gobbled them voraciously, fiddled with the wrappers, fought one another for certain sweet-smelling nougat-filled delights. One Grit with the spines of a porcupine and the beak of a hawk successfully filled its fellow Grit with facefuls of spines in its desire to protect a small hoard of white chocolate cremes. It hugged the candies and picked savage fights for the sake of keeping them, and it wasn't the only one.

Several Grit grabbed candy and ran off into the fray with it, where other monsters attacked them for possession of the sugar, and others got in on the fight for the sake of a fight.

Soon enough, Maria's candy had turned the Grit on one another, and they bit and scratched and sliced and slammed one another in a frenzied need to own just a sweet-smelling wrapper. They even killed one another, and the dead resurrected over the sigil and jumped right back in for a rematch.

Vincent ran down the stairs that the robot came from, he was hardly prepared for battle with an army of monsters. He glanced over his shoulder only once to make sure that others were following him.

Maria glanced up at Moth, who looked like he was just waking up from his impromptu nap, and smiled at him. "Hello, sunshine! Having a nice ride?" She giggled.

It was entirely insectoid, a combination of several mantis types taken to an extreme. It had the large head and bulbous glistening eyes of a leaf mantis, the top of its thorax spreading out like a cape in semblance of a flower mantis' body. Like a leaf mantis and orchid mantis, plant-like appendages sprang from along its body in a brilliant rainbow and fluttered as it soared, it's massive forelegs and curving abdominal segment sprouting the deadly spines of a flower mantis. The beast roared in a chittering screech and flourished wings, delicate and shimmering like intricate stained glass and humming like a turbine engine as it dove.

Half of Moth was enthralled by its beauty and practically fell in love. The other half nearly shat himself in terror.

The robot had just finished dispatching a batch of Grit, keeping them off Liam's back while the swordsman diced them up nicely, even in his injured state. With a mechanical flick of its arm, the robot shot a laser straight between the mantis-Grit's eyes, with zero regard for its grace or beauty. The Grit dropped like a ragdoll and immediately began to turn to smoke. It would be back before long.

The robot, still holding Moth over one shoulder, banged a metal hand against the railing to get Liam's attention. "Hey, Lancelot! We got everyone, I got your back!" As proof, a few well-placed laser shots dropped three Grit that were fighting over a dark chocolate macaroon.

"Vince!" The robot hollered down the stairs, where Vincent was the one farthest along. Of course, the robot had facial recognition software built into its cameras. "Lead the way, buddy, down five flights and out through the armory." He shot a few more Grit out of existence. PEW! PEW! "Pick yourselves up somethin' nice, but do it quick." The robot moved fast down the stairs as he spoke, trusting that everyone was running as fast as they could ahead of him.

< "There should be a teleport sigil waiting for you on the other side of the armory," > the queen's voice said through the robot head in Kat's arms. < "It'll bring you directly to the palace." >

Moth was waking up and moving around, so in a clear moment the huge robot stopped and leaned down to set the accountant on his feet. As he did so, a winged, snake-eyed Grit suddenly appeared behind the robot and sank its massive claws into the robot's shoulder and neck; sparks flew and wires popped as the robot's casing was easily sliced open.

The robot shifted and glitched and dropped Moth on the stairs, unable to turn around to shoot the Grit that had got him. "Aw hell, this is a new suit!" the robot complained. The Grit flapped its enormous leathery wings and began to drag the robot back up the stairs.

The way below was clear, and four flights down were the open doors of the armory, just as promised. The doors led into a modest room filled with form-fitting suits of black armor, shields and helmets and boots stacked on shelves along the walls or folded into strong chests.

Directly across the room, the door to the outside was open, letting in the half-sunlight, half-midnight sky. A breeze swirled in through the door, and though they could hear the BOOM BOOM BOOM of the attack on the Wall, the Grit appeared not to have noticed this particular entrance. The city was clear and still on the other side of the door.

Just outside the door, on the cement railed landing, a detailed sigil had been drawn with a quick but precise hand. The marks were still very fresh -- but there was no one around. A part of the railing had been bent outward, and some of the markings inside the sigil looked a bit more rushed than others.

The Grit screeched above; the candy was almost gone.

"Vince!" The robot hollered down the stairs, where Vincent was the one farthest along. Of course, the robot had facial recognition software built into its cameras. "Lead the way, buddy, down five flights and out through the armory." He shot a few more Grit out of existence. PEW! PEW! "Pick yourselves up somethin' nice, but do it quick."

Vincent winced internally as the robot called down to him. He expected the robot to have some sort of facial recognition database, but he absolutely hated being called "Vince". He felt chills down his spine every time he heard himself being called that. He shook his head to shake off the chills and continued down the stairs keeping an eye out for anymore soulstones on the way.

He looked over at Kat, who he had just caught up with. "I'm with you."

< "There should be a teleport sigil waiting for you on the other side of the armory," > the queen's voice said through the robot head in Kat's arms. < "It'll bring you directly to the palace." >

He partially didn't want to go through the sigil into the palace, but he also had no way of judging how safe it would be for him to leave the wall in any other way. Once he made it to the armory, he looked carefully at the armor to see if there were any varieties or if they were the same. Once he judged that they were all the same he hesitated to put any armor on. He had heard from the sound of the metal just how easily the Grit could tear through metal, how could this armor do any better?

He stepped over to the sigil and scanned it over, burning it into his memory. This could only be the teleportation sigil. He remembered reading about them and how they needed someone to be familiar with the location to effectively teleport without another sigil to guide on the other side. Two sigils were most effective and they worked both ways as entrances and exits. He could tell that this one, while rushed would still work as needed.

Vincent looked around while deciding what to do next. The half-midnight half-daylight sky was an incredible sight. He could tell the city was still calm here. Although, he doubted that would last long especially with the Grit not too far behind them. He looked over to Kat and anyone else that had come through the door. He really didn't want to go to the palace, so he decided that he'd let everyone else through before making a final decision to go through or not. "Everyone else go first, I'll make sure that the sigil stays operating."

Moth leaned against a wall as the world slowly stopped spinning. The left sleeve of his shirt was gone, probably ripped off by Vincent when he worked his magic on the holes in his arm. Apparently he had only been out for a few minutes, though he was dizzy and groggy and struggling to stand as though it had been much longer. He kept thinking about the dream he had, about the eyes that burned into his memory and made him question everything he had seen that day. What was his mind trying to tell him? What role did he play in all of this?

His stomach rumbled. When would he find something to eat?

Hopefully soon. Moth shouldered himself off the wall onto his own two feet. His favorite shoes, his semi-formal brown felt saddle shoes, were scuffed to hell and back. All the running, all the terror and blind corners and crazed robots and attacking monstrosities had left his clothes in pieces. A voice had mentioned they were passing through an armory. In the gloom of the darkened room between the bottom of the stairwell and the door to the outside, he could make out riot gear lining the metal shelves spaced along the floor. Armor, helmets, boots, shields...

Moth breathed out sharply and the world beyond that day came back to him. A memory, when he was ten. The side of his face pressed to the pavement, the roar of a crowd and heavy boots stomping the ground around him. Cacophonic screaming as the dark and stifling heat closed around him. Then arms, reaching. A dozen of them, grabbing him and pulling him up into the air and the light...

Moth shuddered. He needed better shoes, and the boots were his only option. He lifted a small plastic-like shield the size of a buckler and held it at arm's length. It was incredibly light. It curved slightly, a ring of seven interlocking hexagons tinted a light orange. Moth's favorite color. In the dim outside light that filtered in, he got a better look at his arm. The skin where Vincent's sigil had pulled the wound closed was thick and bunched together like a bad scar. Moth's arm was incredibly sore, but he felt no sharp pain. He thought he could see something there, some...black lines in the creases of his forearm. Maybe it was a trick of the low light.

The others in the group that remained wandered around him. The one the robot had called Vince, Katrina, Maria (thankfully unharmed)...some muscley guy, Lance or something...a worker from on top the Wall...and that was it. That was all that was left of the ones who stuffed themselves into the trolley on top of the Wall just that morning, so long ago. Moth breathed out, shaking. There was a portal to gods-knew-where, just outside. He slid the shield onto his left arm, his bad arm, and stuffed a pair of combat boots under his right and stepped through the door to the outer landing.

A hot wind hit him, making his eyes water and his hair whip around his face. The crash of the Grit's assault on the outside of the Wall was much clearer here, the breeze pulsing in time with the resonant BOOMs every few seconds. Moth risked a glance at the sky. The line across the city was angled, but still perfectly split between night and day. All the stories of the Grit mentioned their ability with wild magics, but Moth had never imagined something so powerful could actually exist. Vincent and Katrina were already outside, standing before a swirling circle of rainbow-colored liquid metal on one wall.

"Everyone else go first, I'll make sure that the sigil stays operating."

Permanent portals in the city were plugged directly into the Ether and looked like simple doorways into other rooms. The accounting firm Moth interned at used a lot of them to move about Periphery. Sometimes those other rooms were entirely out of proportion to the one Moth would be standing in, but after feeling his stomach turn a few times, he had gotten used to it. Temporary portals used a bit of wild magic, and in turn looked like swirling death machines that would rip off one's flesh and churn one's body into a pile of silvery goo. Moth groaned quietly.

Hopefully wherever they were going would have lunch.

It was like she was watching a play at a great distance- the sounds were tinny, the claws and teeth of the grit charging through the door seemed far-away and fake, poor special effects from a low quality movie.

"C'mon, twerps, let's go!" the robot hollered in a very human voice. A rune was etched into its chest -- this robot was enchanted. "Is this everyone? Move it! Comin' through! Go down, go down down down! I'll take this guy, run faster!"

Lurched back into the present, Kat continued her descent down the stairs, looking behind her to make sure everyone was following. She'd barely had time to get a look at the robot but had picked up the sigil, and recognised the make as a high-quality royal servant. It was unlikely to last long against the oncoming grit, but it stood a hell of a lot of a better chance than any of them.

The robot shouted some directions at Vincent, who had just caught up with her as they fled down the stairs. She hadn't really seen much of the oncoming grit and battle upstairs, but looking up noted a hazy smoke which seemed to be flowing not up but out of the landing and back towards the hall.

He looked over at Kat, who he had just caught up with. "I'm with you."

Hearing Vincent's words, Kat turned back towards him. She found herself smirking, without really having thought about it.

"Glad to hear it. Try to keep up!"

She increased her speed- half running, half sliding down the stairs, flinging herself round the banister as they rounded corners.

< "There should be a teleport sigil waiting for you on the other side of the armory," > the queen's voice said through the robot head in Kat's arms. < "It'll bring you directly to the palace." >

"Got it." Kat barked, and moments later they burst through the door into the armoury to see, for what felt like the first time in hours, an outer landing and beyond it, Periphery.

One step closer to finding you. Kat thought as she stopped, trying to catch her breath, reaching into her jacket pocket and squeezing her Tech-Specs. Please be safe.

There wasn't much time for rest- the royal guard bot had been pretty clear that they didn't have time to waste. Looking around, Kat disregarded the body armour pretty quickly- it was only going to weigh her down, and her bag with all the miscellaneous implants was already getting quite heavy- and went to the weapons rack. She wasn't much of a shot, but noticed that the rifle models had what looked assisted aiming modules installed. It was probably only going to upgrade her from an appalling shot to a poor one, but those were still odds she was willing to take. Grabbing a laser rifle off the shelf, she slung it over her back along with an extra battery pack which she stuffed into her bag.

Vincent was by the teleportation sigil, examining it and the city beyond. Stepping out beside him, Kat took in the damage that had been done. The city itself was eerily silent, with only the resounding crashes of the Grit's assault on the wall as background noise. The sky was split half night, half day- something out of a nightmare, something that made Kat's stomach clench into worried knots.

You could almost convince yourself everyone was sleeping. She mused. Except for the knowledge that Periphery never sleeps.

Vincent turned to her. "Everyone else go first, I'll make sure that the sigil stays operating."

Kat looked at him sideways, biting back the obvious question- she'd used teleportation sigils before, and as far as she was aware they didn't tend to be that unstable. Then again, magic was hardly her area of expertise. She'd noticed Vincent seemed to be reacting to this in a way completely alien to her own reaction- not that that was a reason to distrust him, he'd been nothing but helpful to the rest of them. However, it was undoubtable that something was going on with him that she had failed to understand, maybe couldn't understand. It was a sad thought, and made her feel suddenly quite alone.

"Ah, you're giving me a head start then? Well, thanks for that."

She started towards the portal but before going through hesitated and looked over her shoulder back at Vincent. She was still holding onto the robot head, but it was rapidly losing power and unlikely to last much longer. Part of her wanted to leave it on this side in case Vincent needed to get in contact with them. However, given his discussion with the Queen earlier it was unlikely he would use it.

"Make sure you stay safe, Vincent. I'll see you later."

Giving Moth an encouraging smile, Kat stepped through into the liquid metal of the portal.

“Tch what a pain in my ass.” Liam grunted as he looked at his left forearm. By now he lost all sense of feeling in his whole left arm, the only thing letting him know that it was all intact was when it flayed around whilst he was moving. His torso wasn’t in good shape either, with his singlet now being soaked in his own blood. As Liam pulled away from the group of grit that were charging the group he noticed the grit he killed earlier....alive and well. That’s when he noticed what seemed to be a portal that appeared to be resurrecting fallen Grit.

“Damn Rabbit-demon-child-thing.” Liam mumbled as he straightened himself out and prepared for three Grit who had started to dart for him. As they charged him, Liam sprinted towards them. Just as the Grit were about to pounce on him, Liam suddenly dodged towards the left, thrusting his sword into the nearest of the three grit, His sword impaling the side of its temple. The two other Grit could only manage to snarl at Liam before they too fell lifeless on the floor, their heads tumbling on the ground next to them.

With a heavy sigh, Liam turned towards the large cluster of Grit to find that they weren’t coming after him, but instead were fighting each other for....candy? Liam stared for a few seconds as the grit fought, and died, to get the candy. Liam let out a small chuckle at the sight before instantly regretting it as his body replied with a sharp pain.

The robot, still holding Moth over one shoulder, banged a metal hand against the railing to get Liam's attention. "Hey, Lancelot! We got everyone, I got your back!" As proof, a few well-placed laser shots dropped three Grit that were fighting over a dark chocolate macaroon.

“Hmph showoff.” Liam scoffed as he made his way downwards. As he walked down the stairs he suddenly stopped, leaning on the railing to rest. His breathing had intensified and his moves were sluggish, two things that rarely happen when Liam fights. Then again fighting Grit atop the Wall of periphery as half of the city is cloaked in darkness is also a rare thing. With yet another heavy sigh Liam forced himself off the wall. Just as he did so...

A winged, snake-eyed Grit suddenly appeared behind the robot and sank its massive claws into the robot's shoulder and neck; sparks flew and wires popped as the robot's casing was easily sliced open.

Liam reared back and nearly fell backwards down the stairs as the grit grabbed their robotic saviour. “Damn, the grit is man han- Wait robot-handling that thing.” Liam thought. Before Liam now stood two choices; One, get out of dodge, run like a bat out of hell towards and don’t look back or Two, attempt to help the thing. As he thought of his options an old memory...

An old man sat at the head of a small dining table in a room only lit by a few candles, a bandage in one hand and a wet cloth in the other. Beside him was a boy, no more than fifteen, bleeding from the head, nose, mouth and knuckle’s. The man placed the wet cloth on the teen’s head, wiping off the blood, before wrapping the bandage over the boy’s head.

“How many were there this time?” the old man said, his voice held pity, but also irritation. The boy grunted and moved back slightly before return to his original position. “The usually three.” He said trying not to look at the old man directly in the eye. The man finished bandaging the boy’s head and stared at the boy with a stern gaze. “Let me see your hands.” The man said as the teen instantly raised his fists.

With a sigh the man began cleaning and bandaging the child’s hands. “What have we told you about starting fights? We agreed that in exchange for everything we give you, you must no longer fight.”

“But, D-“

“No but’s” the man said, cutting the kid off. “You know how dangerous those folk are, if you do anything to aggravate them further there’s no telling what they wi-“

“It wasn’t me! It was some other kid they started beating up, I felt bad for the him so I helped.” The child blurted.

The man stopped and looked at the boy, a small smile creeping on to his wrinkled, withered face. “But the kid ran off once the fight was over. He didn’t even say thank you. Idiot, maybe next time he gets beat up I’ll just igno-“ The teen scoffed before the man clasped both of his cheeks.

“NEVER say that.” The man said, now a worried expression now beset upon his face. “A great man once said that the path of the good and righteous is a long and difficult one, but those strong in spirit and kind in heart will walk it. You have both those things, although it may be hard to believe right now. If you spend your life wanting praise for the good deeds you commit, then it no longer becomes kindness from the heart, rather you will use kind acts as a front to gain, well praise of course. However if you choose to live a life where you don’t expect a reward for all the good you do, you will gain, in my opinion, true happiness. Promise me that you will never even think of uttering those words again. Promise me that you will help those in need if you are able to. Promise me.......Liam.

Liam snapped back into reality as the robot complained about his new suit. “Tch I guess we shall pick door number one.”[/color] Liam muttered as he forced himself up the stairs, narrowly dodging the robot that was being dragged up the steps. As Liam moved past the robot, Liam propelled himself upwards towards the leg of the beast, slashing as he reached it before nearly tumbling down the stairs , catching himself at the last moment. Liam, not knowing whether he freed the robot or not, darted past it and continued down the stairs.

"Sorry big guy, that was the best I could do." Liam shouted back to him as he made for the armoury. Once he entered it he took a moment to look at everything in it before grabbing one set of the black amour as he quickly made his way outside he stopped once more and looked at the city of Periphery.

Before when Liam saw the sky, “Crack in two” he had not been able to really look at the resulting effects. For now, at least, there was some time to take it all in. “A beautiful mess. Light and dark both together, existing under one sky, yet so different from each other. We humans too must both light and darkness within us, the question is which will we support as the fight rages on. For some they favour the night and others favour the morning. The greatest battle one will ever have is the battle of their hearts.” Liam said aloud before realising that Vincent was present.

Liam jerked back and let out a slight, somewhat girly, gasp as he jerked back, before composing himself and letting out a cough. “Uh Vincent, didn’t know you were here, I thought you would have gone with the rest of them." Liam said puffing his chest out, in a futile attempt to play off the girlish gasp. “W-why don’t you head on in, I got your back. But please hurry up I do feel rather, shall we say, out of it currently.” Liam said as he threw the armour into the portal and faced the door that led into the armoury drawing his sword and lowering his stance. No matter what happened next, Liam wasn’t going to move until he was sure everyone had escaped...

A rumble, a rattle and a scrabble resounded down the stairs within the wall. The lights flickered and went dark on the stairwell; they flashed and shattered in the armory. Everything went dark save the light of the open door. Growls, snarls, chitters and yips closed in on the darkness in the hall. Their eyes gleamed.

The robot sharpshooter blasted his way through the wall of fur and scales, and its lightbulb eyes glared at Liam and Vincent. "Go! I'll shut it behind you."

It was time to make their escape.



To step through the liquid silver portal was like passing through a beaded doorway -- and on the other side, their feet met etched stone and sand. They stood in a vast cavern, sharp with stalagmites and stalactites, weedy vines and hooded mushrooms, illuminated by glowing crystals embedded in the rock and hovering, magnetized, between the sharp points.

Behind them was only more sand and rock, and under their feet was a flat stone that had been etched long ago with a receiving sigil; the portal, it seemed, only worked one way.

The hiss and clank of machinery resounded behind them, around the bend of solid rock. After a few moments, a young woman sprinted out from behind the rock and rushed toward them; she was dressed all in pale violet, her crown shimmered in the light of the stones, and her gray hair was spun delicately just as it had been that morning. Behind the queen, two enchanted robots followed her quick pace, their gun-arms held at ready, as if they expected the grit might have discovered the portal.

With wet eyes, the queen rushed directly at Moth and Kat, flung her arms about their necks and pulled them into an awkward embrace. She was smaller than she appeared on the screen over the city; her head barely reached Moth's shoulders.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see living faces," she said quickly, stepping back and grasping Kat's hand.

Then Vincent seemed to step out of thin air onto the engraved sigil, and the queen very nearly attacked him from behind for the sake of a hug, as if to reassure herself that he was flesh and blood.

Liam stepped onto the sigil, and the queen stopped short before touching him. "Oh, gods. You need medical attention." She looked up to her robot escorts and motioned in the air; a tall, red-plated robot jogged forward. The queen smiled warmly and touched Liam's face. "You'll be all right. We're safe here."

She stepped back to allow the robot to assess Liam's injuries for immediate treatment, and she looked up to the others gathered there. "We're underneath the palace spire. We should be safe, at least for awhile."

Berry stumbled through and out the other side of the silver curtains of the portal with a disorientating twist in her stomach and a ring in her ears. At any other time, Berry would probably have complained about it and how they really should try to make it more accommodating for the older generation. However, considering she had just spent goodness knows how long running from The Grit coupled with the sky splitting in two and her friends turned to stone, Berry was just glad to still be alive to feel somewhat uncomfortable.
“Oh good gracious me.” She murmured and clutched her chest feeling her heart beat frantically.

Her gaze wandered around taking everything in around her from the stone walls, to the strangers she had nearly walked into, to the robots guarding The Queen. Berry’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. It was The Queen. The Actual Queen!

“The Spire?” She breathed in awe and looked above. Stunned by the idea that directly above them sat hundreds of tons of brick and metal. “Oh good gracious me.”

Feeling utter terror rise once again in her throat Berry took a deep breath and pushed it back down. She hadn’t become a successful performer by letting fear and nerves get the best of her, and she wasn’t about to start now. As they say: The Show Must Go On.

“Your Majesty.” She stepped forward, holding her chin up high and hands held neatly by her hips. “I do apologise for how rude this may sound but I must ask; Do you have any idea what is happening?”

Whilst she asked she kept an ear out for any other movement from the portal behind her, hoping the others she had travelled with had survived their journey to where one of the robots had said there were weapons. She kept waiting. Her stomach squirmed with worry.

Vincent hesitated as Liam urged for him to go ahead. A part of him somewhere actually didn't want to follow after everyone else. He wanted to run freely through the city with free reign to play around with his skills and improve on them. He felt that if he entered that portal he'd enter nothing, but a velvet prison. That was a feeling he didn't particularly care for. Then the robot sharpshooter burst through a mass of the Grit that had managed to follow them downstairs in quite the racket.

At this point, Vincent's hesitation had caused him such delay that now he had no choice but to run for the safety of the portal. He suspected the portal would only last for one or two more uses before collapsing on itself. Such a hastily built portal lacked any permanence. Father always drilled quality over quantity into him. Vincent always preferred quality time rather than learning, but now he wished that he paid better attention. He dismissed such thoughts quickly as he had no time to waste on regrets and what ifs.

Stepping through the portal left Vincent with a disorienting feeling which passed quickly enough. He let out a small shout of surprise as the Queen leaped on him to hug him from behind. He felt he had made his feelings about her clear and yet the Queen still embraced him. He was quite impressed at her resilience and caught off guard by her energy. She pulled herself off of Vincent as he stepped off the sigil and Liam appeared behind him.

Vincent saw Kat and Moth were alright. He nodded to Kat with a light smile. He barely acknowledge Moth as a presence. He was truly impressed by Liam's resilience to still be standing after taking such serious injury.

Vincent bowed his head towards Liam respectfully. "Well done."

Then the Queen addressed the group.

She stepped back to allow the robot to assess Liam's injuries for immediate treatment, and she looked up to the others gathered there. "We're underneath the palace spire. We should be safe, at least for awhile."

Vincent frowned. Safe was good at least for now. Everyone here needed to rest and recover after what happened, except maybe Kat and himself. He glanced over to Kat, whom he suspected that she didn't want to stick around for long, because she wanted to find her family. He simply felt that staying around would be a waste of time.

"So, how are we going to deal with this problem?" He immediately asked with a serious tone. "Hiding clearly isn't going to work. The effort put into the Wall was clearly wasted since the Grit cleared it so easily and are already working on getting the grounded Grit inside. From what I've seen our current pool of weapons to fight back are very much lacking."

He then pointed towards the ceiling. "And what in the Hell is going on with the sky out there?" He had no interest in holding back his tone in speaking with the Queen when most of her subjects were frozen in stone or dead or scattered to the wind.

A great calm settled over Moth as a cool, damp breeze tousled his blond hair and made his eyes water. Sunlight filtered through the chamber from somewhere far above, casting a rainbow of reflections across the towering stone monoliths as they pulsed silently throughout the massive cavern.

Dizzy, Moth was speechless as the tiny Queen embraced him and Katrina joyously, her words floating around him without him hearing. As various people clamored for her attention, he slipped away. A small old woman had joined them at some point, flustered and out of breath as she gaped openly at the Queen's presence. Moth passed her, walking to the edge of a smooth, flat stone surface that jutted out over the sandy cavern floor and fell heavily to a sitting position with his legs hanging over the edge. He still had the shield on his left arm, the pair of boots clutched tightly in his right. He pulled off the shield and his shoes and set them aside, slipping on the combat boots with slight apprehension. Again, memories flooded back of a decade gone by. The gruff, rhythmic chanting filled his ears and the intertwined lights and shadows around him grew stronger, alternating white and black like people hurling themselves forward and backward in a furious mob...

He tied the laces as he had been taught back then, snapping them tightly into several knots and tucking the laces in. He stared at his new boots and the modern world flowed back to him. He could still hear the others talking over each other excitedly somewhere behind him. That old woman. So there were others who yet lived. If there were others not on the Wall that morning who were still moving, then...

Moth stood abruptly, shaking. If the Queen could create a portal to bring them there, then she could definitely send them elsewhere in Periphery. The lower residential district. Moth had to go to the residential district. He had to know. He had to hope.

He swallowed, hard, and picked up his shield and tattered shoes and walked back to the group. His gait slowed and he breathed out in a quiver. He nearly sobbed with relief. For the first time that day Moth felt himself relax. For the moment, they were safe. The towering violet and gold machines just behind the group attested to that. The mile-high cave was obscenely beautiful, once Moth actually took notice of it, and the combat boots were damn comfortable. His stomach vibrated angrily.

If the Queen was granting requests, Moth planned on first asking for lunch.

Maria had scrambled downstairs after everyone, glancing around quickly at the various weapons and armor on display. Her eyes settled on a large tower shield, lying on a rack next to a bin that said "EXPLOSIVE: DO NOT TOUCH, EXCEPT IN EMERGENCIES." Well, this certainly counts as an emergency, I would say. Maria thought. She opened the box and grabbed a double handful of the small, colorful balls it contained, then put them - carefully - into one of her jacket pockets, making sure to nest them among candy wrappers and various other soft bits and bobs. As an afterthought, she also grabbed the tower shield next to the grenades, noting that it was a good bit lighter than she thought it would have been. She was admiring the intricate design on the shield (a maze-like design etched into the front, spiraling outwards into a design that looked similar to a stylized set of bull's horns), when the lights suddenly went out. She looked up indignantly, and got out "Hey, who turned-" before catching sight of something that made her heart stop.

Dozens of eyes, belonging to almost that number of Grit. All looking directly at her.