"Alright, fine!" Jeremy shouted as he followed Zoro into the restroom. "Lets do it loud crazy way then! Tall, don't worry about the extinguisher, focus on the woman! I'm not seeing Maddie, so just get the other one out for now! Venkman, keep doing what you're doing, don't take your eyes off the flame! Glasses, stop trying to intimidate the tiger and keep your head behind the table! I don't want it deciding to take a swing at you and slashing your throat! Not only would it take away our only real line of defence, a death on the premises would probably stop people from eating here! And Negan, I like the enthusiasm, but you were a bit early on the actual 'opening the door' part! Please, for the love of god, do not close it too early too!"

As he shouted, he also poked the torch over the table, trying to keep the tiger from getting close to it. After all, if the tiger did decide to try and push past the table, he wasn't sure they'd be able to do much about it, honestly...

Cheri was pissed. It was not so much that she was almost taken for a fool by the practical joke, no, it was the fact that they just had to use a poor animal that had no idea it was in on such a ruse! And for what gain? Go viral and get a million views? Assholes. She was going to leave this ignorant armpit of a town and find her bro, but not before putting an end this bullshit setup.

A sharp head shake she gave. A disdaining clicking sound she let out from her mouth, followed by a full on disdaining: “Uhm. Uhm. Uhmmmm…” Dark eyes glared, half-lidded at the scene unfolding before her very eyes.

There was another actor there dressed up like a… whachamacallsit..? A Gundam...? And right outside the bathroom door, there seemed to be a huddled group of people, most likely tourists, that fell for the prank. There was even sprays of ketchup and mustard on the door that was supposed to what..? Do gouts of condiments give some kind of ‘authenticity’ to the alien world on the other side of the door? Cheri just leaned up against the host stand, hands on hips, shaking her head at the sight. Sick, sick, people…

“Ai’ight then…! Yo, over here! What is wrong wit’y’all?! Man, don’t you know you bein’ punk’d? There is an actor white lady in there jerkin’ ya damn chains…! She not even a good actor neither! Fake af…! And buddy la cabeza de tortuga here in the cosplay, whachu supposed to be…? Optimechs Gundam-o-tron? You prolly in on it too, no…? Y’all been punk’d, man!

“But I just wanna’ know who is the pendejo animal handler here…? You gots soooome nerve bringing in a big cat like that just for a trick…!? Poor thing is most likely scared in there, just pacing around…! Shaaaaame and shade for your cruel ass…!

“And lemme tell ya somethin’ else… this ain’t funny, man. None of it. Been done before. Damn, no-good, copycat, Catwoman-wit-Ms.-Halle-Berry in it, straight to DVD, try-hard to viral wannabe bullshit por supuesto. I hope you get that all mic’d up on ya damned hidden cameras too! You din’t punk me! I’m callin’ y’all out! Fake AF Productions…! Drop the drama, let these people off the hook now. Now, man…!”

Cheri gave one last disdaining set of clicks from her mouth before turning around to leave the madness. But she just could not tear away her gaze from what she saw. Wide-eyed she stood there, glued to the spot, incredulous as she watched the action unfold. Gundam-o-tron was pew-pewwing away at the vines (how conveeeeeenient…) Then they opened the door. And complete with kit-bashed together flaming torch, diner table armour, and bellowing so absurdly that it would make even Tarzan himself blush, the tourists charged into the bathroom to ‘save’ the white lady.

_{"Naw maaaaaannnn…! What is wrong wit’y’alls…?}”

Gary Riley

Gary had just accepted the fire extinguisher, when the familiar-looking man from earlier suddenly appeared to lose his nerve and open the door far too earlier. Gary mentally cursed at that - what was the idiot thinking?

On his phone, he quickly Googled "How to survive a tiger attack."

Method 1 Surviving an Actual Tiger Attack

1. Try to remain calm and back away slowly. In the event that a tiger is tracking you or has begun to snarl at you and seems ready to attack, try to stay calm...
2. Make yourself big. Try to look and feel brave...
3. Repel an attacking tiger with noise...
4. Do whatever you can to survive.

Number four was not particularly helpful, and neither was number three, considering it was cornered, and chasing it out of the washroom or diner would just send it out into the streets...

In hindsight, this idea was borderline idiotic.

And then he realized someone was yelling over the chaos, about how this was some sort of prank. He was about to yell something along the lines of 'Shut the #!@$ up!', but thought better of it. Then he had an idea. A mad, perhaps even suicidal idea, but if it worked he would be a hero.

He quickly googled "will a fire extinguisher scare off a tiger", and then skimmed through the results.

'Another great tool to scare the predator and have them release the victim is a CO2 fire extinguisher, which was used in the 2nd Missouri tiger attack to...'

That was all he needed. Confirmation bias at its finest.

He set his phone on a nearby table, resting it against a salt shaker so that it would have a full view of the action. Then, with fire extinguisher in hand, he rushed towards the door, pointed it at the tiger, and unleashed foamy hell. "GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!" He shouted to whoever was still in there.

If he was lucky, the sudden noise, pressure, and burst of foam would distract the tiger long enough for the woman to escape.

If he was unlucky, he was dead.

Jill did not react to the first round of yelling. Or rather, she did react—by flinching and staying exactly where she was.

To be fair, she was getting a lot of conflicting messages, and her heartbeat had become very loud in her ears, and her breath was coming a little short. It was becoming hard to know who to listen to, and so far—aside from the verbal assault from the woman who thought this was some kind of prank—she hadn't suffered any actual injury from inside the relative safety of the stall.

But that final yell, accompanied by the promising roar of what sounded like a a blowtorch or a firehose—hopefully some kind of tiger-deterrent—had a level of confident surety to it.

Eyes on the door, she told herself. Don't even look at anything else. You can figure it out after you make it to the door.

And so she dropped from her perch, fumbled the lock open, and bolted.

She made it through the noisy crowd, stumbling as she tried not to knock into anyone (and almost failed). She only caught a glimpse of the tiger, of the foam bursting out of the fire extinguisher, of the actual torch being brandished by one of the men, and then she was free.

She only made it as far as the inner part of the diner before her knees gave up, and she dropped to huddle in the nearest corner, arms held protectively over her head.

"Shit," she muttered. "Hell, goddamn, goddamn it!" The swearing only made her feel mildly better, but it was either swear or cry, and she just couldn't do that here. Her heart was pounding in double-time, there were too many people, and the medication she tried so hard not to take was still in the goddamn bathroom with her phone and duffel bag.

A RECAP:

POW! D's 'laser' gun shot with a noise that momentarily deafened the diner; a cartridge (attached to the gun with a rainbow-shimmering wire) shot out of the weapon and embedded itself in the wall with the high-pitched ratatatatatatatatatat of pulsing electricity. The vines immediately surrounding the cartridge shuddered and smoked. With a small fwoom, the vines caught fire.

Flames reached brightly along the crisscross of leaves and stems; they flickered in the blackening leaves and smoldered in the old wallpaper.

Luckily, Gary had the fire extinguisher at-hand.

David flung open the door with little warning to the rest of those gathered. While the tiger inside lowered its head and pressed its ears back against its skull, David proceeded to take pictures.

The photo inside the bathroom showed that it was aged and decayed; the walls were brown and broken, the tiles shattered by creeping vines and roots. In the photograph, where the tiger should have been standing was only a white smudge. A trick of the light.

The photo of the diner showed just the vacant booths, tables heavy with half-eaten meals, and the same dragonfly still perched on the lampshade.

Reis, using the little table as a shield, shoved his way through the narrow door with a snarl and a roar that surprised even the tiger. The beast took a few steps back toward the sinks. Taut muscles moved beneath deadly stripes; power coiled in its haunches. It bared its long fangs in the light of Jeremy's torch. Its eyes glowed bright, reflecting the flames, while Cheri howled ridicule from behind them.

A low hissing noise announced Gary had pulled the trigger on the fire extinguisher. While he shouted, a pressurized stream of white foam gushed and smoked over the edge of the table, effectively putting out Jeremy's torch.

The tiger, struck in the face, snarled and rushed to the far side of the bathroom, out of reach of the foam. It slunk along the wall there, its fur stuck and crackling white and dripping, its jaws open.

It was enough for Jill to make a dash out of the stall and through the crowded doorway -- safe.



The decay -- the vines, the roots, the weeds and bramble -- was spreading rapidly. All around our heroes, the diner was falling into a state of disrepair as if it had been vacant for decades: crumbled leather seats choked with matted stuffing, tables broken and scraped, old dishes shattered on a warped and cracked floor. The ceiling was crisscrossed with creeping vines; the walls were split and rotting. The cool November wind drafted through the room. The diner's comforting aromas of bacon and eggs and coffee had been completely replaced by the sharp smell of decomposed wood and cold mist.

From the front of the diner, where Cheri stood, she could see the aged disintegration swallowing the diner; it approached her rapidly, heralded by twisting vines. Behind her, the MISSING posters on the corkboard drifted and trembled in a cold draft; the door still led outside into a perfectly normal parking lot, where the evacuated diner patrons were getting into their cars.

Police sirens wailed in the distance, fast approaching, flashing red and blue through the diner windows.

The tiger bared its long teeth and snarled a deep, terrifying roar that shook the broken bathroom tiles.

CRASH!

In an explosion of dust and brick, the wall of the bathroom -- beneath the window where Cheri had stood only moments before -- collapsed. The tiger skidded hurriedly out of the way of rubble spilled across the tiles, broken crumbles of brick and shards of ceramic; dust billowed everywhere. Left behind was a big ragged hole in the wall, and dim sunlight filtered by the cloudy sky outside.

Outside the hole was a forested, ghostly decay of broken asphalt and overgrown cement where roads and sidewalks once had been.

"C'mon, c'mon, hurry up!" someone called from the other side of the hole. It was a thin boy in shorts and sandals, standing with a scrawny hand against the crumbled brick, leaning in. His eyes were completely white ... and five-point antlers grew heavy from his head. He glanced at the bathroom door and startled to see people standing there -- he disappeared around the corner.

The tiger scrambled quickly -- and without a second glance, bolted over the rubble and out through the newly created doorway.

Gary Riley

Gary sprayed the tiger with a desperate sort of grim determination, saying nothing, but his face carried an expression that said 'I'll see you in hell.' Then the tiger retreated, and his expression turned to pure surprise, which then shifted to alarm when he realized the nearby vines were on fire. He quickly used the last of the extinguisher's contents to put it out, and he was about to slam the door and run when a hole opened in the wall, and some weird deer-kid appeared to yell at the tiger.

What.

Then he realized the decay was spreading.

"OUT! NOW!" Gary shouted, turning and shoving his way past those behind him. He stopped to grab his phone, and hoped that it got a good view of the wackiness that just unfolded. No sooner did he have it, did he notice that the girl who fled the bathroom had collapsed on the floor, and appeared to be having some sort of panic attack. Understandable, given the circumstances, but hardly ideal.

"Come on," he urged her, trying to keep his voice as a calm as possible. "You're almost there, you need to move." He extended a hand to help her up.

AKira hated Duskwick. And he was pretty sure the placed hated him back with a even worse fervor. His car had stopped working at the city limits. HIs dress, a pretty little sunflower thing, had been soaked by freak accident with a watertower. His heels were still in a good condition, and he still held himself with confidence. The Doc Martins looked good on him, far better then on some skaterlooking hipster girl. He made everything look good, no matter who the clothes had been originally meant for. IT was his thing. Not that this Podunk town would understand.

Following that great human instnict that is known as hunger, he shuffled down the street towards a diner he knew would be nearby. By the time he reached it, he felt something was off. More then usual. The darkness was more solid and thick in the alleys and corners. He pulled his jacked tigher around himself and hurried his steps. Something was going on and he didn't like it. Thats when someone came fleeing out the diner just as he was about to open the door. He fell backwards onto his ass with a "oof"

"I hate this town" He reiterated as he picked himself off the parking lot. "Bunch of good for nothing countrybumk-" He looked up, seeing what was going on inside for the first time. He blinked. "What" He hears some boy yell for a girl to get up and start running. "What the everloving shit" His hand immedietly went for the straight razor in his pocket. Flicking it up. "SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON"

Seeing the girl on the ground, one thing came to focus at least. Whatever was left of his care for other people kicked in. Stepping past the commotion, hi eyes were set on the bathroom. In all that cursing and panicking, he could figur out she needed something from the toilet. And he had been around junkies and people on meds for long enough to figure out she needed something.

"Get up, I got your stuff girl, you'll be fine." Meanwhile, he slung the duffelbag over his shoulder. He did not see her phone for all the tiles and dirt, not that he knew to look for it in the first place. He just grabbed the obvius thing.

The vine lit up in flames, but still continued to grow. D took a step backwards, less interested in the fire than the vines' growth. They were taking over it seemed. The Hunter noted this repeatedly as the fire extinguisher put out the fire her gun had created. She made a small face, cringing at the wallpaper pealing oddly to the heat and exasperating as the white fumes settled the fire. This is a debacle, she thought to herself flatly, reaffirming the situation as she lowered her gun and turned herself, right as a man, without much warning, bolted into the bathroom; the Google Glasses Guy tucked in with his table; and she seemed to be the only one standing there. She did not try to change the situation; even after the woman fell to the ground in a panic -- which resulted in some crazy guy angrily helping her; even after there was a huge roar -- which shook her more than she had expected; even after the crash -- which came as a surprise to her.

However, when the tiger and the strange looking boy who had just appeared, both ran away, D ran after them, as well, without much thought to say anything else. Her gun tucked and clicked to a holster on her back, and her hand quickly pressed a button on her goggles, changing the light settings for Daylight. The volume control was also adjusted, tunneling the sirens and adding a subtle white noise of filtration for concentration and other sound catches. The others could handle themselves.

A man staggered out of the restroom into the mostly-abandoned diner. Bits of white fire extinguisher foam dripped from his long black hair, and his shirt was adorned with pink splotches. His eyes were open as wide as possible, his jaw dropped nearly to his chest. He removed his fancy electronic glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"The big bad tiger roared the wall down and escaped. No sign of the girl or that manager lady. Don't worry about shutting the door, let's just go", he said to the guy they'd left outside on door duty.

The sound of the sirens brought him much relief as he dragged his feet towards the exit. The lady they'd just rescued was huddled up in the diner having a panic attack or something. Stupid lady. She should get out of this damn cursed diner and then have her panic attack, like he planned on doing. Couldn't she see the weird vines and roots swallowing this place whole? The wall had even just collapsed. Whatever, he didn't care anymore. He grabbed a plate of half-eaten strawberry banana crepes off a table and gobbled it down on his way out.

He'd so much rather be at the office working awkwardly side-by-side with his ex-fiance than out here getting killed by tigers and whatever. The shocking realization stopped him mid-step. "That's it, I quit." He mumbled to himself. "OK Glass, make a call to the mayor. I'm going to cancel this meeting and just take the next flight back. Town's beyond saving anyway."

Nothing happened. Call could not be made. What the devil was going on now?! ... oh shit! He'd left his phone with that crazy cosplayer girl with the fake gun that was actually a real gun! This was bad. Very bad. What if those cops confiscated it as evidence? He let out a yell and kicked the wastebasket below the corkboard all the way to the other end of the diner, and then grabbed a plate and slammed it onto the floor. "I hate this! I hate this! I hate this!"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. Moment of truth. What should he do? Eyes opened, decision made. He turned around and sprinted back towards the restrooms and out the crumbling wall, into the decayed and twisted streets. He was going to get that phone back even if it killed him.

"Hey girl! Where did you go?!"

Jill glanced up. Another time, her brain might have been throwing out warnings: Stranger. Male. Too close.

But right now, with the diner crumbling around them, it instead grasped for a lifeline: Guy who seems to have his shit together.

She took the hand he offered her and let it pull her, unsteadily, to her feet. She realized, belatedly, that someone else had spoken to her—and was now making off with her bag.

"Hey!" Her voice shot up, once again into a higher register than she would have liked, but it was hard not to panic when she saw everything she currently owned in the hands of a stranger.

Then someone started smashing plates, and she flinched at the too-familiar sound, ducking her head.

Gary Riley

Gary glanced up at the woman who just answered... but then the woman opened her mouth, and Gary realized it was actually a man. A biological man, that is. Modern gender politics were confusing like that. Either way, he or she managed to one-up both Glasses-Man and the Cosplayer in terms of sheer ridiculousness. Wait... was that a knife in his hand?

The man began yelling, and Gary tightened his grip on the fire extinguisher, anticipating an attack. Though the extinguisher was empty, a good swing from it could still knock someone out. Thankfully, no attack came, and the oddly dressed stranger then ran toward the center of chaos, which everyone else had been clearly trying to get away from.

Truth be told, the erratic behavior of one individual was far from the strangest thing Gary had encountered today. Still, Gary's first impression of this stranger was not a good one. I should probably tell the police about that knife, when they arrive, he thought. If he doesn't get himself killed.

In the meantime, Gary pulled the woman back up to her feet. She seemed to be calming down, but then the newcomer reappeared from the bathroom moments later, duffel bag in hand, and began running directly towards them. Gary instinctively raised his fire extinguisher in a protective guard, but then the man claimed to have the girl's stuff. How did he know that was her stuff? Were they friends? Did she text him for help? Is that why he was so aggressive in his entrance? Then she began to protest, and Gary realized that must not be the case.

For a moment, Gary was unsure. He glanced down at the knife in the crossdresser's hand. Based on how quick the oddly dressed man had been to pull it out, he was probably dangerous, and easy to provoke. Just what they needed to complicate the situation. He needed to move, but he wasn't comfortable leaving the woman behind, and he certainly wasn't comfortable leaving her with this knife-brandishing stranger.

Fortunately for Gary, this was not the first time someone had pulled a knife on him. "Give her stuff back," he demanded firmly yet calmly, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard over Glass's tantrum, which caused the woman to panic once more. Only two people in this room have it together. "Then we need to get out of here. We can tell you what happened when we're outside."

“Give back?” Akira blinked. Then looked down at the Duffel bag, and to the knife. The moment of realization hit him a like train made of irony. He wanted to facepalm, but the razor made that a potentially dangerous action. So he settled for looking a bit embarrassed. Not that he felt he was the strangest person around by any stretch. Between the man soaked in fire extinguisher foam, to the girl who apparently just bolted through a hole in the bathroom that Akira only now realized was there. A armed girl for that matter, in some sort of cosplay. Compared to to all going around him, he looked positively normal.

Aside from his knife. And possibly the fact he cross dressed. But he didn’t expect small town USA to understand anything that deviated from their old and slightly more narrow view of thingss. It’s why he had left in the first place.

“Sorry about the knife.” He folded the razor down and slipped it into his pocket as he went over the panicking girl and the man by her. He made sure his movements were relaxed and as non threatening as possible. Hopefully, they were not to spooked by his admittedly quick temper and rash actions. “Its my safety blanket, albeit a sharp one. Been on the road and looking like me, you learn to go armed. A lot of bad, narrow minded idiots out there.”

“And by the way? I wasn’t stealing.” He had to admit as the situation was a bit on the crazy side, he would not fault them for their reaction. Instead he shrugged off the duffel bag carefully. “I’ve been around people on meds for my entire life. Anxiety and panic attacks are a bitch, figured she wanted what was inside it. My bad.” He pushed the duffel bag across floor with his foot. Giving the diner a proper look over now that some people have cleared. The vines growing over everything made him think of all those sci-fi movies his brother likes, were nature had taken back the world after humanity is almost destroyed.

Collecting himself, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he turned to panicking girl. “Sorry If I spooked you. You got your stuff. We’ll get you out of here safe alright?” His voice calm and soft, full of empathy now that he wasn’t visibly bristling with tension even though Akira felt simmering underneath the surface.

“Getting out of here seems like an idea. But.. that girl just ran past me an trough a hole in the wall?. I was just coming over here to get some help with my car, when there was all the roaring and screaming and some panicking people bowled me over. Just… What the fuck is going on?.” This town had already begun proving to be a mistake and a living nightmare for him. The plate crashing sure did not help the situation.

"What in the hell...?"

David watched, frozen next to the bathroom door, as all the events played out. With the lady behind him having a panic attack and getting evacuated by the other journalist who'd also sprayed the tiger with copious amounts of fire-fighting foam, the idiot young lady with a real gun who'd fired it into the bathroom, everything was chaotic and noisy and frenetic. But only he noticed the young boy standing behind the bathroom wall that had crumbled for reasons unknown, disappearing into the brush as he apparently commanded the tiger to follow him. Without pause, he raised his camera and attempted to snap a picture of the boy's retreating form, pushing the shutter as soon as he had his camera up.

The diner, now mostly abandoned, was silent save for the noise of the people outside. David stood up and dusted himself off, giving the diner and its bathroom a once-over with his eyes. Mostly abandoned was right, but what puzzled him was the mysterious hole in the wall of the bathroom. The young lady with the weird armour and functioning gun had disappeared into it as well, but he'd chalked that up to all the strange occurrences that were bombarding the diner. After all, who in the world had access to that kind of technology if they weren't strange to begin with?

He turned to see the journalist and the other lady being confronted by some guy in a skirt with a knife. The confrontation wasn't too heated though, as the skirt guy gave over what appeared to be the lady's belongings in a duffel bag. David walked over to the journalist whose name he'd failed to get and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm going in after her. If I don't return, well, tell the story of what happened here. Make sure the name David Sawyer doesn't go down the drain. I've covered wars, y'know."

That said, he turned and headed into the bathroom. The hole in the wall mystified him; from the front, it looked like it headed into some sort of forested area, overgrown by vines and weeds. But he knew on the opposite side of the wall was the parking lot and street, not this...weird misty place. He raised his camera and took a picture of the hole, framing it against the rest of the untouched wall. Then, with a deep breath and a roll of his shoulders, David stepped through the hole and into the unknown.

"Now, where's that lady with all the armour gone..."

@Not Fishing@Hellis@DJAtomika@lady horatio@Briza@Zoro

Jeremy flinched violently when the tiger roared, watching in confusion as a hole was blasted in the wall because of it.

That doesn't seem right... He thought to himself.

Honestly, he probably might've reacted a lot more coherently, and loudly, most of the time. However, things were moving at a mile a minute by this points and he was quickly finding himself overwhelmed. He watched in curiosity as a boy with fucking ANTLERS appeared from the other side of the hole, which despite possibly having a couple of similarities, still seemed quite a bit different to the streets he knew were on the other side...

Yeah, there was something weird on the other side of that wall... He didn't know what it was, but maybe... Just maybe... He'd be able to find Eleanor on the other side...

Of course, whatever was on the other side was almost definitely dangerous, so he, or anyone really who was planning to go there would probably need to prepare very, very wel-

Oh, nope, never mind. Venkman just jumped through without a second thought. Well, she had a gun and armour, so he guessed she technically counted as prepared. Without that kind of equipment though, you'd have to be retar-

Ah, of course it would be right as that thought crossed his mind that Glasses would run through as well... That was actually fitting.

Before he could follow that particular line of thought much further though, he heard the sounds of stern voices behind him. While he did want to find his sister, he figured he should at least make sure no one else tried to kill each other in his sisters diner.

"Alright, shits hard enough as it is!" He said loudly. "Who the hells trying to start shit no-, Oh. Lao."

Jeremy wasn't actually sure how he felt about the... guy? He didn't wanna make any assumptions along those lines just in case it ended with his head getting ripped off from his shoulders.

"So, still hate our town and everyone in it?" He asked, deciding that it might do to just try and remain casual about everything at the moment. "Well, you don't actually need to answer, I don't really care all that much at the moment. I'm assuming you're here to help? Cool. Just don't start a fight, ok? You too, Tall. Don't start a fight, and help Miss Irealldontcareatthemoment. Everything's gone to shit today, but maybe you guys can salvage it on this end..."

He turned to David.

"You're going through too? Cool. I'm gonna follow you through. Ellie might be on the other side, and I gotta find her before something happens to her. Can't sign my paycheck if she gets eaten by a tiger, after all."

Part of him wondered if this might not actually be the time for jokes, but he eventually decided he'd probably explode in seconds if he didn't use them to vent...

And so, he stepped through the hole, stretching and taking a deep breath in once he stepped out on the other side.

"Aaaah... Smells like shit."

@DJAtomika @lady horatio

Gary Riley

David would not have made it three steps before Gary dropped the fire extinguisher and attempted to seize him by the back of the collar. "And how many more people are going to go in after you?" Gary demanded, assuming that the grab succeeded. "If she goes missing, that's one disappearance. If you go missing, that's two, plus whoever follows you. At some point you have to cut your losses! The authorities are going to be here soon; let them take care of it!"

In the corner of the eye, he watched the employee from earlier run in as well, and there was no sign of the Glasses-Man, but Gary certainly hadn't seen him leave through the front. Why is everyone making bad decisions?

Gary released his grip on David. If the man still insisted on charging in pursuit of a goddamn tiger and some unknown magical bullshit, that was his call to make, and Gary wasn't going to argue the matter further.

"Everyone who still wants to live, follow me!" Gary shouted, and then he marched toward the exit, stopping only to make sure the woman who had fled from the bathroom was following him.

Heat crept up the back of Jill's neck—embarrassment, both that she'd misread the situation, and that her anxiety had been so obvious that both men were now speaking to her in determinedly calm tones. She ducked her head, accepting the bag with a nod and a muttered, "Thanks." Graceful under pressure she was not, though she genuinely appreciated their help amidst the continuing chaos.

She could still feel her insides trying to come apart, but she wasn't about to palm a Xanax in front of a pair of strangers—and with nothing to wash it down, besides. So she simply shouldered the bag, ignoring the older man's attempt to play hero—That seems a bit dramatic, she thought, probably unfairly—and instead firmly turning in the direction that their de facto leader was heading.

"Shit got weird," she said—still muttering, still watching her feet as she walked. Giving the man in the flowered dress an explanation seemed the least she could do, especially when he was being so nice…and no longer yelling.

One hand flicked restlessly around the diner in an expressive but vague gesture. "This place was totally normal when I got here. I took a table and, like an idiot, almost immediately spilled coffee on myself. I went into the bathroom to change, and then everything went to hell." She glanced up and then away again. "I heard someone come running in, and the next thing I knew, there was an actual tiger in the next stall."

Jill shrugged one shoulder, as if she didn't really care if he believed her, one way or the other. And she didn't, not really—the diner was still falling apart around them, and there were certainly enough witnesses to corroborate her account. "The vines and stuff, it all started right around the same time."

Another set of disdaining clicks escaped Cheri’s lips. But the wry smile and glint in those dark eyes were undeniable. Regardless of the bullshit setup and campy overacting, the real-time-Jumanji special effects were simply wonderful, all things considered. The ‘spread of decay and horrors oooohhhhh…’ was really well done to the point of allowing Cheri to actually imagine a sweeping yet janky orchestral tune to go along with it. Some time ago when Cheri was not Cheri but someone else entirely, she sub-headlined in a big musical production in the city, so she knew quality when she saw it.

No, she was not a technical, nor lighting, nor make-up and FX wizard, but she truly was impressed; so much so she let out a small laugh. The ‘smells of decay and horrors oooooohhhh..’ was a nice, nice touch. In fact, her mind had changed from utter outrage from the fact that ‘there could be a poor tiger out there on the loose and so many little children would be in danger! Victims! Victims!’ to that of—

“Yeeeeeeeahhhh… shoot. Ai’ight then. This is actually pretty dope, y’all...” a bashful ‘tsssss’ sound she let out.

But then suddenly she pointed accusingly at the group huddled together: desperate white lady in danger, reeeeally tall heroic-ish tourist dude, and eccentric plant (an actor in on the ruse) with the oddly sexy floral get up, bod and look, "y’all over here, doe… take some lessons. Not you, sir, you just an easy tourist mark that fell for it. But you twooooo…? Sista’, y’all too pitchy and over-actory stressy. And you Mr. Sista,’ that straight razor followed up wit dat ‘rage screech’ was way, way, way, like swing, batta-batta’ swing waaaaay over the top. Like check yo’self, bruh. But yo makup and wardrobe… uhm-uhm-uhhhhmm... lit af, boi…! I’mma defo gunna meet y’alls director and producers fo’sho…!”

What actually sold her that the production was legit was when the boy, dressed up like a man-child-Bambi, popped up and called them over. 'Dorbs..! No way they would let a child actor up in here if the tiger was not an experienced veteran animal actor with a professionnal and proper handler/trainer. A smile, a genuine and shining one at that, lit up her face now as she picked up her bags and marched past the huddle of people to meet the people ‘behind the scenes.’ That and she wanted to pet the tiger. A real live TIGER!!

She passed by the reeeally tall, heroic-ish tourist dude that proclaimed he was some kind of saviour leading the wounded and weary out from this ‘lair of abomination and horrors ooooohhh…’ A long-lashed wink she shot him and flashed him a smile as she passed, “S’alright, hero-maaaan…! We gunna’ be A1-A-OK-G.I. Joe, real American hero-like… por supuesto, son….!”



A giggle could not help but escape her lips as vines nearly nuzzled up against her nose, arms and neck. Because they were probably a latex compound of some sort, she did not want to touch them. And so Cheri faked one way then went the other, strutting on into the bathroom entrance without letting them touch her. FX props sometimes gave her rashes when made of certain latex compounds afterall.

As she made her way into the opening ‘created by the sonic BOOM! roar of a tiger oooooooh…’ she slung the bags over her shoulder and shook her head at the marvellous set design piece she was walking into. ‘Daaaaaaayaaaaammmm…!” gasped Cheri, eyes wide, shimmering and shining just like a little girl who walked into Sugar Island Candy Emporium for the first time.

By now, she actually felt jealous for not being in on this eloabourate and gorgeous production. So she set out to chat up the actors before finding the creators of the prank. Cheri saw the other tourist dude, nodded at him then looked around for the Gundam-thingie and the plant actor who played the 'Cook.' Actually, this guy was pretty good as the lead for the setup. Natural and convincing. Kind of funny too.

She was okay with a quick peek-a-boo here regardless of all the cameras around recording her. Meeting the creators of this prank and then petting a live tiger would be sooooooo worth it. And besides... Icognito! She had her hood on anywaaaaays. And besides even that, it was just gonna be a quick meet n’ greet here and as soon as that was that, she would rescue a kind citizen from the burden of a car and be well on her way out of here well before nightfall.

“Pretty freaky cool, amirite,” Cheri called out to the tourist dude with the camera. The tall woman tossed him an upward chinbob then proceeded to take another sweeping gaze of the surroundings before resting her dark eyes upon the Cook actor, “Man, y’alls budget must be straight up right outta' James Cameron’s wallet, bro!”

A small laugh she gave up then long legs marched confidently, yet with enough hip bump, over to the Cook actor. “Nailed it, man. Killed your role. You good. You gooooood… that whole ‘in ya face’ moment with dude-in-dress back there..? Daaaaayaaammm… that emotion was too real, for reals... props to you and the production, Mr-- oh, sorry, din’t getcha name…?”

The girl couldn't have gone far, but that didn't help much with all these newly sprouted plants blocking the view. He wondered just how far this curse was going to spread, but quickly banished the thought from his mind. Giving in to despair was not an option.

He blazed a trail through the sinister vines and crumbling piles of asphalt, keeping his eyes and ears out for any prowling tigers, strange antlered kids, the girl, and any other unfathomable dangers that were undoubtedly around the corner. He didn't get very far when a sound caught his attention. A woman's voice. And judging both by her mannerisms and the amount of sense she was not making, there could be no doubt it was that same rambling heckler from when they were charging into the restrooms. Luckily she didn't seem to be talking to mister Reis, so he carried on his way, making an effort to be especially stealthy to escape her notice. He didn't know why she was out here instead of back with the police, but it sure made him feel better that someone had volunteered to be tiger bait.

Back to the matter at hand, if he was the cosplayer girl, where would he run off to? Come to think of it, she had acted somewhat calm throughout the whole ordeal, almost as if she had expected this to happen. Was she somehow responsible for this whole mess? All the strange things started happening soon after she entered the diner, with the first strange event arguably being her entrance.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where the girl would head off to, and didn't want to try yelling out to her again until he was farther away from the heckler lady. But he had another idea. He kept following the remains of the road, heading towards the bus stop where he'd seen a phone booth earlier. It wasn't everyday you came across such ancient technology lying around, a true testament to this town's backwardness if there ever was one. Here's hoping it still worked.

Gary Riley

When Gary saw that the girl was not only following him, but also seemed to have pulled herself together, he was relieved. One less thing to worry about. But the vines were continuing to spread, and he had already spent quite a bit of time talking and arguing, so he broke into a run. He hit the button to stop recording on his phone and shoved it into his pocket, before bursting out the front door.

The first thing he noticed was the police cruiser, and the two officers heading their way. He was immediately faced with a crisis: how could he explain what was happening? If he told them too much, they would dismiss him as crazy. If he told them too little, they would be going in blind and completely unaware of the danger. "It's bad," he told them. "A missing girl turned up in the diner and locked herself in the bathroom, then a bunch of vines started growing everywhere. When some people tried to get in, they said there was a tiger in there, but went in anyway. I don't know what happened to them, but that building isn't safe."

Okay, that still sounded completely insane, but at least he told them about the vines and the tiger, which were the two main dangers. He wasn't going to mention the portal; if it was still there they would see for themselves, and right now there was absolutely no way for him to put that into words.

He moved out of the war of the door, and leaned against the wall, suddenly aware of how quickly his heart had been beating. How had he remained so calm back there? He remembered spraying the tiger with a fire extinguisher. Even though it worked, it had been stupid. What was I thinking?

The town was starting to look less like a B-movie and more like some high-production Michael Bay had produced -- at least, according to the commercials. The dialogue seemed cheesy, but the graphics and scenery were... making her feel a little nervous. She was still feeling courageous and bold, especially in the sanctity of her suit, complete with her (tacky) helmet. There was a lot of things she had scene during her time as an agent, but this was fairly huge. The mist was getting thicker the more she jogged through the streets, and her goggles were adjusted, again. Her lenses changed colors, scanning the various statistics, and information ran to compile the data. It was as if she was not even in the same world.

Seeing something that she thought was the tail of a tiger, she turned the street corner and jumped over a vine cracking through the sidewalk. Breaths panted from her, and the suit was feeling heavier, now as she balanced her vision through her headgear. This would make for a good story for Aubrey, she told her herself, considering whenever they would hangout next. Aubrey was always busy with her boyfriend, but maybe...

D's pace slowed to a jog, and her body bent a little. Her mouth opened and let out a few exasperated sighs. Not having eaten breakfast was already making things difficult. Great... she thought. Breathing in as she straightened herself and looked around the streets, she untucked her goggles from her face and studied the scenery with her naked eyes. It was all murky and foggy. Her eyes moved around as a hand was placed on her hip. This was big, she repeated over in her mind. This was not the first haunted town she had visited. She had visited several, and they were usually false flags. In fact, most paranormal activity was false flags. but at least, this place is recognizable.

The tiger and the boy were no where in sight, and she felt a small shiver thinking about the two creatures she had been chasing. There was an eery feeling that she could sense. It was her very own paranormal gift, she decided. Her father had broken it down to human instinct and conditioning. If anything, it only proved her vocation and nothing more. Lookin' into it is only going to complicate things. He rarely ever said something about not looking into something, and D held that advice close to her and simply reminded herself that she was just "not a normie."

Her lips closed as she caught her breath and relaxed her breathing, "Where are you?" she whispered, hoping her question would be answered. Sometimes those little tricks worked. Her hand raised and pulled her goggles over her eyes, again. A small frown perked to the side of her face with inquiry, "Left. Right. Left. Right..." A moment of silence passed as she considered her options. Any of them could be wrong, and any of them could be right. Going to the hotel or finding a place for a snack was also an option. She decided on continuing forward.

Cupping her hands over her mouth she let out a small call, "Maddie?" it was a start to the next several minutes of the new level's first challenge.