blech. that was… so… *shudder*.

these kids would never do that stuff. i really don’t think they’re the asskicking type.

let’s get the awful taste of kicked ass out of your mouth, shall we?

Criss: Leo?

Leo: um, yes?

Criss: that was awesome.

Leo giggles.

Leo: thanks. i don’t even really know what i did.

Criss: i think you just fired a fuckin doomsday laser.

Malcom: can we never do this again? i hate fighting.

Ellis: dawg, i wish. i think Old Dawg has plans for us, though. quest y plans.

Vera: we ain’t gotta listen to that frail little shit. we can make ah own choices.

Luke: huh. you’re right. that’s a very good sentiment.

Vera: you’re damn right it is.

Jen: what if the Old Man’s quest is important?

Malcom: we don’t even know what the quest IS, and i assume you four don’t either. makes it kind of hard to care.

Jen: yeah. i guess that’s fair.

Jax: maybe we should... stop lying down.

Ellis: yeah, prob’ly.

eight kids scrape themselves off the floor and struggle to their feet. they glance around the hall.

all of the doorways the creatures came out of are filled with black, pulsing voids. the weirdly bright darkness doesn’t let you see through these black holes.

it does, however, let you see to the end of the hall. now, instead of being shrouded in darkness, it’s glowing with Leo’s light. a tall, imposing door stands at the end.

we approach the imposing gateway. suddenly, the residue of light vanishes, being sucked back into Leo. an imposing darkness is left behind, slightly permeable, but not as visible as the rest of House B.

Jen grabs the imposing doorknob, needing two hands because of its imposing size. he turns it. he forces the imposing metal slab open with a groan, and

SMASH CUT

Duff and Bree awaken to hear the pantry door open with a CREEEAK.

they sit up with a jolt and tense up as a crowd of figures enters. Bree raises a finger and

SMASH CUTS

to Ben and Callie. these two come across a room that reeks of importance. the room itself is bleak and bare, save for one thing. all the importance radiates from the thing.

that thing is in the center of the far wall. it is a

SMASH CUT

Bree raises a finger and pops off a bolt of light at the encroaching enemies. the bolt strikes Leo right in the chest.

Leo stumbles back with an '''oof!''' Bree, realizing that she’s just shot a person, lowers her finger.

Leo’s skin slowly starts to turn green… no, wait. it’s glowing. his skin is glowing in the same shade of green as the bolts that Bree fires.

Leo stands dizzily for a second as the glow intensifies. it starts to illuminate the air around him.

suddenly that glow seems to concentrate itself into one of his hands. it radiates blinding light, the. ejects itself from his fist in the form of a beam.

the powerful laser strikes the floor and burns right through it.

Ellis: uhhh…

suddenly, with a soft, viscous sound, spiders ooze from the smoking hole like pus from a wound. Duff screams and everyone staggers back. the advancing arachnids quickly block off the threshold, splitting the parties and trapping Duff and Bree.

the only thing we can do is

SMASH CUT

that thing sits in the center of the wall. it is an elevator.

sort of. yes, it’s an elevator, it has a panel and a shaft and everything, but the actual EVEVATOR part of it is missing. there’s no doors, and tha car is out of sight. all we can see is an empty, dark pit with wires trailing down into the abyss.

Ben walks toward it. maybe he’s acting on an impulse, or maybe it’s a compulsion(*cough*UPPERCASE), but he looks confused as he reaches up and presses the '''call''' button.

a mechanical whirring starts up, and the cables and chains begin to rattle. the car starts to rise, somewhere below.

when Ben peers into the shaft, there is no car to be found. all we see is a shadowed, hollow ravine that seems to descend into eternity.

Ben: this place is fucking creepy. let’s get out.

Callie: that’s fair.

together they

SMASH CUT

the only thing we can do is watch Luke say, '''we need them over here.'''

Bree and Duff suddenly rise up and come flying through the doorway to land, sprawling, at the feet of the other kids.

they scramble into an upright position and everyone runs down the hall for a bit before stopping.

Duff: okay.

Duff: name, pronoun, and explaination on what the fuck just happened.

Luke, he/him.

Leo, boy.

Vera, thay/them.

Jax, she.

Criss, he/him.

Ellis, a guy.

Malcom, he/him.

Jen, he/him.

Luke: to answer your question, i have no idea what happened.

Leo: i think i sucked up her laser.

Bree: it’s not a laser! it’s a bugbeam!

Leo: um… what?

Duff: it’d be better if we left it at that.

Bree: i turn people into bugs!

Leo blanches.

Leo: um… that’s gross.

Luke: yes. let’s change the subject. we need a

SMASH CUT

he forces the huge metal slab open with a groan, and we find a bleak, bare room with an empty elevator shaft in the far wall. a whirring sound fills the room as cables and chains rattle behind the missing door.

Malcom: aren’t elevators supposed to be silent?

Criss:… yeah, don’t know if i’ve ever ridden in one, though.

Criss: don’t know anything before a few weeks ago.

Malcom: that’s kind of a given though.

Malcom: '''you wake up in a dark room. you have no idea who, what, when, or where you are.'''

Criss: you don’t know WHAT you are?

Malcom: yeah. you could be like a chicken or something, and the author just forgot to describe you.

Luke: what if you didn’t just wake up in the strange room?

Luke: what if you hatched there?

Criss: dang, man. that’s juicy.

Vera: ah we gonna keep goin’ or what?

Luke: this place seems useless so yes. onward.

8 kids exit through the only other door in the room and proceed to

SMASH CUT

…

WHIPLASH

debate the philosophical question that Luke brought up.

Ellis: i mean, i s’pose we coulda been, like… created here.

Ellis: why are we old, though?

Malcom: and who would’ve made us?

Jen: maybe the Old Man? we could be like his apprentices or something.

Malcom: or his puppets.

Jen: the Old Man seems kind of like a good guy, though.

Luke: we don’t really have any evidence to support that.

Luke: actually, if you’re the questioning type, his vagueness about our '''quest''' could be seen as suspicious.

Leo: i don’t think he’s being evil. i think he’s making a story.

Luke: what do you mean?

Leo: cause of the heroes and quests and superpowers and stuff. like in a story.

Leo: maybe this is a magic world and he pulled us here from the real one.

Luke: huh. smart. you’re pretty insightful.

Leo looks down at the floor.

Leo: thanks.

we continue searching the house. it seems like everyone’s forgotten about the spray can Luke was using to mark the door. i don’t thing many people would really care, either. we’re just enjoying a blissful break from monsters and onslaughts.

the moment ends when we hit a