wooooow! that’s waaaaay too much action! sooooooooo boring.

Must you speak like that?

yessssssssss, i doooooooo! wait. i mean muuuuuuust. excuse me while i summarize all the boring shit that was about to happen.

Leo escapes. yaaaaay!

Bree escapes. yaaaaay!

Malcom escapes. yaaaaay!

when the door smashes open where Jax is, a mysterious black figure appears and tries to kill her. she suddenly fires a bolt of grey light from her finger and hits the thing, making it vanish. original, right? she leaves the room.

You’re diminishing the [Allegory] of the scene with your lazy summarizing.

yawn.

anyway, the same thing happens for the other three kids who just escaped go through basically the same thing. Leo enters a room with an A rug, gets attracted by a weird figure, and absorbs all the light in the room to fire some kind of laser.

Bree enters a room with a B rug, gets attacked, and fires a bolt that turns the figure into an insect. Malcom enters a room with a C rug, gets ATK’D and throws a chair at it. the chair suddenly zooms really fast and obliterates the thing.

LET’S HIT YOU WITH 2 MORE CHARACTERS!

Criss escapes into the C room, A FRIGHTENING FIGURE APPEARS!, and he runs, not fighting it and discovering his power. Duff enters the B room and throws a punch at the FRIGHTENING FIGURE!, but his hand just goes through the thing. BUT WAIT! suddenly the thing goes flying back from an unseen blow. all of his attacks have a delay, and they’re stronger than they should be.

let’s get to the good stuff. Leo and Jax meet because they both entered the A room. we finally get some dialogue!

Leo, breathing heavily, opens the door slowly. it doesn’t explode. nothing tries to kill him. all we see is a normal looking living room, with a tv and some couches… wait! there’s someone else there. a huddled figure in a green hoodie. i presume that Leo presumes the figure is a girl. i also presume that he presumes the person is a threat.

Leo: are you gonna kill me?

Jax jumps.

Jax: woah! i’m…i…who’re you?

Leo: sorry. did i scare you?

Jax: um… yeah. it’s ok.

…

Jax: what were you just asking?

Leo: i thought you were gonna kill me at first. you seem kinda nice though.

Jax: oh… ok. i was a bit scared by you at first too at first.

Jax: sorry. i said that weird.

Leo: what’s your name?

Jax: i’m… i’m Jax. she/her.

Leo: my name’s Leo. boy.

Jax: …… do you want to come sit down?

Leo: sure!

Leo walks over and sits on the couch beside Jax.

Leo: how old are you? i’m 8.

Jax: i’m 13… i think i am at least.

Jax: i know how old i am but not… my birthday?

Jax: it makes no sense.

Leo: i don’t know my birthday either. or my family. or where i live.

Leo: but i know how to do math!!

Leo: it’s weird.

Jax: are you told to do a quest, too?

Jax: i mean, were you?

Leo: yeah! i don’t know what the quest is. but it seems scary.

Leo: maybe i was supposed to find you?

Jax: maybe. that maybe makes sense.

Jax: but if we were supposed to meet, what do we do next?

Leo: i don’t know. maybe just wait?

Jax: i guess.

…

Leo: does that tv work?

Such frivolous [banter]. Must you waste so much time?

ignoring [them], we move on to the next group of kids. Duff and Bree.

Duff opens the door and is immediately greeted by someone shouting in his face.

Bree: if you come in i’ll kill you!

Duff freezes.

Duff: excuse me?

Bree: you heard me! i just killed a ghost and i’ll kill you too!

Duff: i’m not a ghost. i’m at least sixty percent alive.

Bree: that makes no sense! don’t move!

Duff: i promise i won’t hurt you. i just killed a ghost, too.

Bree: i think you’re lying!

Duff: i don’t even think the ghosts could speak. do i SOUND like a ghost to you?

Bree: you sound scary!

Duff: i’m scared, too. in fact, i’m still worried that a ghost might come to kill me. so help me out and let me in!

[lowercase], please. There’s no need to drag this on like this.

Bree: go away!

sUdDeNlY aN Old Man ApPeArS; iN tHe RoOm Bree iS iN.

You used that semicolon incorrectly.

i KnOw.

the Old Man says “Bree, the other Child means no harm. let him into the room.”

Bree looks over. while she’s distracted, the Duff steps into the room.

Bree: you! go away!

Bree fires a bolt from her finger and Duff quickly ducks it.

tHe Old Man hOlDs uP HiS hAnD. a BrIgHt LiGhT FiLlS tHe RoOm. ThE tWo KiDs’ MiNds CoNnEcT…. blah blah blah.

sigh…

the Old Man vanishes, and the two kids now know that they are not threats. at least i think they do. well, i KNOW they do, but i’m trying to stay in character even though it’s plainly obvious that the Old Man just invaded these kids’ minds to make them trust each other.

i don’t even want to continue their conversation, so i’ll just get to the other two: Criss and Malcom!

Criss opens the door to find a large kitchen. pots and pans, stoves and sinks, everywhere. and in the middle, a kid sits on a barstool, looking at Criss with a startled expression. they regard each other for a second before the kid in the kitchen speaks.

Malcom: nice suit.

Criss: thanks.

Criss is wearing a black suit with pink pinstripes, and a fedora with a similar color scheme.

Malcom: i’m assuming you came here from a '''cell'''?

Criss: y…..yeah. you got any idea where we are?

Malcom: nope. none at all. all i know is that i’m outside the cell, and that i was just almost killed by some kind of phantom.

Criss: hold up. one of those things jumped you, too?

Malcom: yeah. i chucked something at it, and the thing i threw suddenly starts flying at like a million miles an hour, and the ghost just got demolished. then i ran here and started waiting around for something to happen.

Criss: oh. same, kinda. i just bolted when i saw that thing. ain’t no way i’m fightin’ some random monster comin’ at me.

Malcom: yeah, that makes sense, i guess. i’m starting to wonder if there’s something i’m supposed to be doing. other than sitting here.

Criss: some Old Guy talked to you, right?

Malcom: yeah.

Criss: he didn’t give you any hints?

Malcom: did he give you any?

Criss: absolutely nothin’. i’m kinda hungry though, so a kitchen is a nice start.

Malcom: hm. yeah. i looked around, but i couldn’t really find anything. all the cupboards just have dishes, and there’s no fridge.

Criss: oh. that sucks. wanna go lookin’ for some grub then?

Malcom: sure. why not.

Malcom hops off the stool he’s sitting on. he and Criss make their way towards a door across the room.

Criss: hey, what’s your name? i’m Criss. he/him.

Malcom. he/him.

the two boys open the door, and space inverts.