Sal Grant

After Sal entered, he immediately began searching for the person in charge, but everyone in this store seemed to be buying candy. Not a full minute passed, when suddenly a long woman, dressed in a gray skirt, floated above his head. The smile on her face revealed some sharp teeth. She was probably one of these Sailor Senshi, Sal has seen on TV.

"Welcome humans. Let's play a little game, shall we?"

With this Announcement, the room started to be engulved by a strange, dark mist, until it was completely dark. A loud clicking noise indicated that the doors had been shut. "Oh, I hope that Miss Haley had already entered. I don't want her to catch a cold outside." Sal mumbled to himself, despite it being a warm summer day.

After this, he focused his attention back to the Sailor Scout. He definitely didn't have time to play a Game with her - at least not until he finally got his candles. But maybe she could tell him what happened to the Candle Kiosk he has been looking for. Sal raised his cane and started to poke the air above him with the golden bull on its top, trying to hit Echo.

"Excuse me, young Lady..." he said with a polite voice. "Can you please tell me what happened to the Candle Kiosk I have heard so much about? You know, I really wanted to buy some beautiful candles, but this Candy Shop seems to have replaced the Store I was looking for. Maybe there are still some candles left? Could you go to the back and see if you can find any?"

Stella Haley

To the other visitors at the Kandy Kiosk, Stella probably seemed as if she had downed a bucketful of candy prior to entering the store. The strange young woman darted from aisle to aisle dipping her hands into the bins of candy and fishing through them with her stubby fingers.

“Wow! Everything in here is so...shiny! And look! There are so many different kinds of people here! This must be a top-rated destination on TripAdvisor! I can't believe we didn't come here sooner!” she exclaimed over her shoulder to the old man. Stella's eyes sparkled. She continued to dance around the store, obsessing over the bright colors of the displays and the motley of candies in the bins, until she checked the price printed on the back of the matcha chocolate bar in her hands. “.........Six-hundred yen for just this? Mr. Grant, I think this place might be a—” Suddenly, a strange black mist shrouded the storefront and the exits locked with an audible click. “—tourist trap.”

"Welcome humans. Let's play a little game, shall we?" came a strange feminine whisper. Stella looked upward. There, directly above all of the other customers, hovered a mischievous-looking woman in a gray skirt.

“........” Stella stood there staring into the darkness with a wide smile forming upon her face. “O.M.G.,” the dark-skinned woman gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth in surprise. “Are we going to be contestants on a game show!? I love Japanese game shows!” She squealed in excitement. Just wait until her friends back home heard about this! They'd be so jealous!

Theron Barton

The candy shop itself didn't set off any immediate alarms—and that only reinforced his belief that it was a trap. Whatever otherworldly forces had arranged this, they had spared no expense in replicating an ideal candy shop as far as Earth standards. Theron couldn't help commending them for the amount of research they must have put in. He couldn't exactly feel excited about this, since there was no way to tell yet whether the aliens were hostile or friendly, but he appreciated the attention to detail. The little things really showed the quality of an organization.

When the doors slammed shut and the woman appeared, addressing those in the store as "humans", some people reacted with fear.

Theron fist-punched the air, his red curls bouncing as he did so.

"I knew it!" he gasped, elated. NOW EVERYONE WHO HAD DOUBTED HIM BEFORE, THEY'D SEE!

Echo

Echo's eyebrow twitched at the reactions her arrival evoked in the little humans.

There was not nearly enough fear for her tastes. One of them was even trying to poke her with some sort of strangely decorated stick. And had that been a... cheer?!

Floating a little higher out of reach, Echo gathered her composure once more, and ignored everything. They were just humans, after all. What did it matter if they were too stupid to properly quake at her very presence?

She'd show them her powers soon enough.

"Here's the game: you're now all my personal toys. Congratulations." She laughed and dark energy gathered in her hands once again.

The energy sought out and encompassed every living thing in the Kiosk, crackling over their skin, stinging like hundreds of little static shocks.

A moment later, the lights came back on within the Kandy Kiosk.

But everyone had disappeared.  

Only to find themselves in a strange new place...

Quote :

This area is inhabited by vampires and zombies, many of whom seem quite inquisitive.  Most of them live in run-down-looking homes.  Many among them seem a bit preoccupied with work and creating and asking riddles is a common pastime here.  Magic is quite commonplace.  The surrounding countryside is mostly mountainous and dotted with huge trees, colorful shrubs, and grass.  The whole thing is in a very remote location that's impossible to reach except by accident.  It has no official leadership.

Quote :

Goal: New location! Thanks to Echo's shenanigans and the help of a random generator, our characters have found themselves teleported to a weird area that definitely does not look like home. How does your character deal with this sudden transportation? What will your character do? How will you find your way home? Will there be someone to help them?

Try to post a reaction and such by the end of July 27th!

Luna


Luna knew this was going to happen. She'd sent the distress call out ages ago but did Usagi ever show up? Of course not. Not in any manner even close to "timely", anyway.

How was that girl always late for everything?

She did hope Usagi was okay. The recent attacks had been ramping up lately, and that was part of the reason Luna had been left alone to investigate this Kiosk. Everyone had split up to try and find more information about this new enemy. Luna ended up selecting this popular Kandy Kiosk, despite all the pouting her decision created.

There was no way Luna would leave Usagi alone to investigate a place full of candy. Nor most of the other girls, for that matter. They were nearly just as bad!

The youma was quicker on the attack than Luna had given her credit for, however. And it had been of a strange method... Teleportation rather than straight out energy-sapping? That was much different than the other attacks so far.

Fur still tingling from the magic, Luna sat and watched. All around her were the forms of the humans caught up in this attack. None of them appeared to be injured, at least.

But this place was not Tokyo. Not anywhere close, if she had to guess. The trees and shrubbery seemed innocent enough, though if she concentrated her hearing, was that a dull kind of moaning in the distance? Better not to alert the humans of that strange sound just yet.

In fact, she would much prefer not to make her presence known at all if she could help it. Not as anything other than a cute cat deserving of soft pats, anyway.

It was perhaps best to just wait until the senshi finally got here and saved everyone. It wasn't as if she had any powers herself, and these were just civilians.

For now, Luna decided she would simply wait, and keep an eye out for any clues.

Surely Usagi wasn't that far away.

Karyn Morse


Karyn grabbed her phone with the flashlight still on and put it in her pocket. She stopped moving trying to figure things out..maybe this was a dream...wait no cause she was awake.

"Here's the game: you're now all my personal toys. Congratulations."


Karyn listened to that and yelled, "HEY!! We are not anyones toys...lady?..Thing...?"

Then she felt a lot of stinging shocks from something and it hurt a bit then she thought that the lights came back on in the Kiosk but ...they weren't there anymore... "Where the heck are we and is everyone ok??" Karyn looked around for the women that she met earlier...

Clarence McFadden
Clarence felt – well, he wasn't sure how to describe what he felt.  He had been in a dark candy store.  It was creepy and all, but he had known where he was.  Now he was somewhere else, with a woman who was insisting that he – and everyone near him – were going to be her toys.  He glanced down at his phone.

No signal.  Clarence huffed a breath.  “D-darn.”  He had to admit that he hadn't really expected anything else, but it would have been nice to be able to call someone, though he didn't know who he would have called.  He doubted Tokyo police really did much wherever they were now.

On the upside, he could run now, if he wanted.  He wasn't trapped anymore.  But he didn't know where he was, and he didn't know if his surroundings were better or worse than staying here.  He thrust his phone into his pocket, ignoring the way it pushed against his leg, held close by the tight pocket.

He still didn't see much he could do, and he returned to the idea of trying to find a group.  Maybe someone else would know what was going on.  Because whatever happened, he didn't want to be someone else's toy.  He took a deep breath before he straightened his spine.  It didn't do much, but he felt better standing as tall as he could.  Then he forced himself to speak loudly enough for everyone around to hear, “Anyone kn-now what is g-going on?  O-or where we've end-d-d-ed up?”

Edwin

No sooner had he been approaching the woman with the box of mcsnappers did he feel a quick jolt of pain; though it faded within seconds. He cursed and checked himself. His very fancy suit was still in tact, and further examination determined that he was fortunate to have escaped any injuries. Was the electricity faulty here-and did he just get shocked? Between this and the security locking them in, the potential list of blackmail kept piling up and up.

Then his vision came back. He wasn't in the building anymore.

"...What?"

Edwin and the rest of the crowd ended up outside in the middle of some worn down suburban area. He heard two people shout, but was too dumbstruck to respond.

He paced back and forth for a bit, before smacking his fist in his palm in revelation. 

"I've been knocked unconscious by those damn loose wires!" It made perfect sense! How else could his surroundings have changed so suddenly? He was in an electrocution-induced, frenzied nightmare!  

"Guess I don't need to blackmail." Edwin He put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "The fact that I'm probably being rushed to the ER is enough for a full-blown lawsuit."

Edwin grinned. This business was beyond finished; and his would flourish again! But this time, with Mcsnappers. He'd have to remember to add claiming ownership of the classic snack formula as part of the inevitable courtroom negotiations.

Theron Barton

The world shocked and spun and swirled and suddenly changed. Theron took a step back, still reeling from the pin-prick feeling on his skin, and the colourless eyes of the pale-skinned man darted around to take in the place. It looked odd and run-down, and definitely not somewhere that he was familiar with.

Had they all been abducted?!

Thankfully, he had prepared himself for something like this! All that time reading memoirs and tell-alls about alien invasions and interactions with those from distant planets would really pay off today! His mind was whirling with all of the "definitely dos" and "absolutely don'ts" that he had absorbed from every late-night documentary and click-bait online article. He ran a hand through his pink-tinted rosy curls, pupils dilated with the thrill of excitement.

One of the young women asked if everyone was okay right as Theron whipped one of his monitors from a pocket, glad he had kept his grip on the essential briefcase. He scanned the area, checking for signs of alien technology, eyes focused and alert.

Jana Newton


"Owwww..." Jana groaned as she pushed herself off the ground. She looked around. Where were they? There seemed to be a lot of plants, but she thought she saw some houses around too that looked rather run down.

Hmm, maybe I could go over to the houses and ask about this place. Wait, maybe I could get some people to come with me, it might be dangerous. 


She looked around and saw a man that was pointing around with a monitor, like this was Star Trek or something. Kinda weird, but maybe he knew something about this place, or at least how to get out. 

She approached him and said, "Excuse me sir? I was thinking about going over to one of those houses with a few people and asking for help. You seem to have some idea of what's happening here, so would you like to come with?"

Mara West


Mara was confused as the world suddenly, changed? She came here to get candy, not end up in...an underworld-ish place! Mara hid behind the others, trying to not be seen. "This place is scary! I wanted candy!" She worried they might not make it back to Kandy Kiosk.


Am I supposed to ask for help? Directions? How can I get back? Mara thought as her legs began to wobble. Were they all lost?

Theron Barton

He didn't immediately realize that the azure-haired young woman was speaking to him, as he was so focused on his instruments. As a result, his reaction was delayed, only turning to face her after several seconds of empty silence had already passed.

The pale eyes stared at her quizzically, continuously darting back to his instruments. When he spoke, his voice was deep and calm.

"I'm sorry, miss...whatever your name is, but I can't recommend approaching the unknown without a bit more data," he replied. "I wouldn't quite say that I know what is going on, but I have a few ideas. I was hoping to gather a bit more information about our mysterious location that might lend towards a better assessment of our options."

He was careful not to say: "ALIENS! EVERYTHING HERE IS BECAUSE OF ALIENS!"

Most people didn't respond well to such a thing.

Dina Craft
Oh, there were so many different varieties of sweet, sweet candy! Oh heck no, this diet was being thrown out of the window right now. She could definitely start her diet again later. Because, how often did something like this happened? Dina did not usually walk into candy stores, so this was unusual and she had to accommodate this special occasion. Besides, cheat days were a thing, right? She'd just have a few cheat days in a row while she finished the candy she would buy.

Dina had selected a few treats and placed them in her basket as the lights went out. She quirked an eyebrow, but thought little of it until someone began to speak. What the person had to say did not interest her and she assumed they were apologizing for the momentary loss of lights. "That's fine, just turn the lights back on whenever you can!" She called out sympathetically. Although, how would she pay if the lights were out? Oh well, Dina would just have to browse a little longer.

But, nope, wait, now all of the candy was gone. Dina's hand had been perched over a basket of gummies, but now all of the candy bins had vanished. In fact, the entire store had vanished and she was now in an all-together new place. She looked around and saw the other customers and also vampires and zombies, oh my! Dina clutched the shopping basket to her chest and screamed in terror. And she kept screaming. And then, she bolted. She had to get away from this place as fast as she could!

Barbara Young

Barbara had yet to move since the... teleportation? How could she even be attempting to make sense of what had happened. Teleportation and magic and evil beings had no place in her world of budgets and accounting.

She had heard of these teenage girls running around the city fighting "evil", but she had heard the same about people dressing up as superheroes in other countries too.

She had never in her life thought it was real.

A shiver raced through her, and she jumped at the terrorized scream coming from one girl. Barbara glanced over but the other girl was already running away.

"Wait!" she called out, but she had a feeling that the fear would not let that girl hear any sort of reason right now.

Glancing at everyone still standing where they'd arrived, Barbara muttered to herself about the whole situation before addressing the entire group. "We should stick together. Getting split up like this... it seems kind of dangerous, don't you think?"

But then, that'd mean they'd have to go after that screaming girl. Taking a closer look at her surroundings did not make Barbara terrible keen to go forward. She felt perfectly content to just wait right where she was.

On the other hand, she felt kind of worried... who know what kind of place this truly was.

Mysterious Man

A well-dressed man approached the group, looking a little cautious. He looked from one person to the other, quiet and studious. A glint of fangs caught the light as he smiled at them all.

"Welcome," he said, his voice thick with a strange accent. "Come to our village, all visitors are welcome. We can enjoy a..." he paused and glanced at a couple of delicious looking necks, "warm snack together."

He took a step back and gestured for the group to move with him. His smile seemed genuine, but his observation of throats was not terribly discrete.

Quote :

Goal: What are you going to do? Do you go with this man and see what happens? Do you decline and risk offending him and his village? Something warns you that getting too friendly with these villages might be a bad decision, but can you really refuse?

Show us your character's reaction to this new development!

Try to reach this goal by the end of July 30th!

Karyn Morse


Karyn was trying to figure all this out..like how did they go from a candy store..to the middle of nowhere. Also who or what was that lady who was being mean to them before? Before she could go look for answers a mysterious man walked up to them and spoke with them.


"Come to our village, all visitors are welcome. We can enjoy a..."   "warm snack together."



Karyn looked at him and asked, "What kind of food do you all have? I'm hungry...but I need to know what you have because sometimes i lose interest if I don't know what I'm eating..you know what i mean?"

Edwin
Edwin just blinked, and cocked his head for a better view of the guy. 

Was this really the best interpretation his mind could come up with of a vampire? If anything, Dracula should have been in this nightmare, not some random guy staring at everyone's necks. 

"Eh, sure; why not?" Edwin shrugged and walked toward the guy. "Is it gonna be in a "fancy"-" He made air quotes upon saying the word fancy."-ballroom that looks hundreds of years old because it actually is? Are you gonna be serving raw meat or blood-I mean, champagne?" 

Well, might as well ride this dream out for all it's worth. The more detail for the lawsuit, the better.

Clarence McFadden

No one answered Clarence, but he wasn't surprised.  After all, everyone had to be in just as much shock as he was.  And now, to make it all worse, some strange man was inviting them around for a snack!

Clarence shook his head, ignoring the way his blond hair sprayed across his vision.  He couldn't possibly be hungry with so much weird (and frightening) stuff going on.  Even if he was somehow hungry, he certainly wasn't going to trust a stranger.  Wasn't that what parents told little kids?  Never take candy from strangers, and all that?

Finally, he got around to looking at all the people around him.  It was well past time to do something.  Clarence saw a woman, one of the ones who had been talking a lot.  And she had sounded like she was thinking about going into town with the strange, creepy man.  Who had been staring at them like they might be dinner.  Clarence wasn't sure if she was planning something clever or not, but he wanted to find out what was going on, so he should start asking questions.  Quietly, he slipped beside her and scuffed his shoe, hoping he wouldn't surprise her.

“P-pardon me, b-b-but are you p-planning to g-g-go with him?  I mean, y-y-you don't really know him.  D-do you?”

Dina Craft
Although someone did call out for her to wait, Dina could not hear them in her panic. She did not know what was happening, but she knew she had to get away from all of the strange things that were happening around her. If she kept running, maybe she could outrun all of it and everything would go back to normal. If no one ran after her, it would not take long for her to leave the group altogether.

Or, maybe, she had never been a long-distance runner. She had never been a runner of any kind, actually, not even as a child. Truthfully, Dina would proudly be exhausted after a few minutes, even with the adrenaline. She skipped P.E. for a reason.

Theron Barton

Theron quirked an eyebrow at the dapper and mysterious gentleman. He wasn't even subtle about his clear vampire characteristics—so much so, in fact, that the rose-haired young man wondered if he was an actor. Perhaps this was some sort of theme park. That would explain how heavy-handed some of the decor seemed, as well as this man's behaviour. Now he reviewed the place anew, searching for hints that might show this was only a facade intended to set a theme.

Hmm... no, he really wasn't picking up on anything like that. Neither were any of his instruments. Looks like that theory wasn't about to be proven true. Instead, not quite settling on a choice to stay or follow, Theron aimed a hand-held wand at the probable vampire, wondering if it would read anything interesting from the fellow.

Mysterious Man

A loud crack pierces through the air overhead as the entire environment shudders. Was that glass shattering?

Those who were looking would see that the dapper newcomer seemed to grow thinner. Almost... ghostlike? A moment later he was back to regular solidarity.

He smiled, seemingly unaffected at all by the small earthquake or the piercing sound. Or his temporary incorporeal-ness.

In fact, he didn't appear to have noticed anything at all!

"I have all kinds of delicious morsels back in the village," he said. "Please, come with me."

He began to turn back towards the village to lead the way. But he was only able to take a couple of steps before the world shuddered once more.

He paused this time, his body gaining that translucent gleam. It flashed, like a lightbulb trying to come back to life.

And then he disappeared.

For only a second. A heartbeat later and he was back where the group had first spotted him. He was making his way back up to join them, caution back in his movements. He looked from person to person for one quiet moment, before he smiled - fangs and all.

"Welcome," he said. His voice was just as accented as before. "Come to our village, all visitors are welcome. We can enjoy a..." he paused once more, seemingly unaffected by the fact that he had done this trick already once before, "warm snack together."

Quote :

Goal: What is going on? With the world in perpetual earthquake and the dapper vampire seemingly broken, how will your character react to this development?

It's strange though... it's almost as though you can hear voices in the wind. Female voices. Should you investigate? Or are you just going as crazy as the rest of this place?

Try to post your character's reaction as soon as you can! We'll be making a push to end this on the 6th!

Luna

Luna's heart was still racing from those shudders in the ground. No, that wasn't the right way to think of it. This felt more like the entire world was shaking.

She glared suspiciously at the dapper vampire man as he came back up to join the group, spouting off the same nonsense as he had previously. This was not right. None of this was right.

She frowned, and glanced around, trying to pick up more clues. She hadn't spotted anythng as of late, but now she knew that it was even more important to find the way out of here.

Luna knew she needed to get everyone together to work as a group so that they could find the exit and leave this place before something bad happened.

A familiar voice caused her ears to perk up and she turned her head. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Usagi.

That settled it. She gave a cough to clear her voice, before speaking up for the first time. "If you will excuse me, I think we must work together to find the way out of this world." She sat very prim and proper, head held high and calm. A cat she may be, but she was still the authority figure here. "Yes, I am a talking cat, it's all very surprising, but there is no time for those kinds of thoughts!"

She paused, before continuing. "Someone should go look for that girl who ran off and bring her back here. Everyone else, look around you for things that don't belong. Maybe a crack in the sky, I've seen that happen before in situations like this."

Quote :

Note: First person that wants their character to spot a strange occurance just has to post about it first! You can decide what it is! (perhaps a pile of candy they remember seeing in the shop before? Your choice xD)

Ramona

Ramona had stood stalk still since the group's transportation from the Kandy Kiosk. With each new strange occurance and each of the other group members' reactions (especially the man with those strange instruments), she just kept counting things and saying to herself, 'this isn't happening'. There were 36 trees she could see in front of them without turning her head. The tall fading man had 4 long fangs.

Ramona gulped hard. She had completely forgotten about the lady that she was previously conversing with, too shocked to even blink. Her face was whiter than usual and her teeth clenched tight.

And now a voice right below her was claiming to be a talking cat. Somehow its tone was soothing though and she looked warily down.

"Sh-sh-shiny" she managed to force out. It was on the ground right next to the black cat. "It's... It's..." She couldn't muster up another word. It took all her effort to hold out a stiff hand and point to the shiny object before collapsing in a faint.

Clarence McFadden

There was a cat started talking to them.  “G-g-good God!  I think I might be going insane.”  He paused for a moment.  "I hope I am g-g-going insane.”  He really did.  The alternative was much, much worse.

It would mean that this was all real.

Clarence forced himself to leave his nerves for a moment, though he had to grip his thigh tightly through his pants to focus.  The cat had mentioned a girl running away.  Clarence could almost remember something like that, though he had dismissed it in the torrent of his own worries.  He winced a little.  He  imagined what his mother would have to say if she ever found out he had left someone alone to run scared in a strange and possibly dangerous situation.  Just the thought of the lecture was enough to make him bow his head.  

He turned to face the strange cat.  He wasn't sure about taking orders from it, but the order made since.  And he had been looking for information and direction.  Maybe this was the answer.  Even if it meant going out in their weird place alone.  He had wanted to do something.  He had wanted information.  He had wanted some idea of what to do.  Now he was complaining about what he was given.  Clarence forced his head up straight, though he knew there was nothing he could do about his voice, which he already knew would be small and stuttering.  He used it anyway.

“I'll g-go after her.  I think I know w-w-where she went.  W-Well, the d-d-direction, anyway.  Someone let me know if y-you all go somewhere, p-p-please.”  Clarence pulled out his phone, looking at it hopefully.  He knew that he wouldn't get the result he hoped for.  As he thought, there was no sign of service here, so it wouldn't do him any good to get a number from one of the others to stay in contact.  He would really be on his own if he left, and he didn't like that idea at all.

He looked around, hoping to see someone else who looked like they were going to fetch the girl.  No one jumped out at him, though, and he thought he should really get going.  Maybe someone would join him as he was leaving.  He wiggled his phone back into his pocket, keeping it on him in case he needed it for a light, or could find somewhere with service, though he didn't think that would happen.  His phone had never been great in rural areas, and this certainly felt rural - and weird.  Trying to remember exactly what the frightened woman looked like, Clarence reluctantly turned away from the group and followed in the direction he vaguely remembered her running toward.

Karyn Morse


Karyn was about to follow the man when he..um...disappeared? Karen thought to herself about how a man could just disappear like that and then he Returned!! This time though he went through the same speech from the first time..exactly like the first time... "Are you ok mister?" she asked carefully wanting to know but not wanting to scare him...even though it was her scared of him...

Dina Craft
Adrenaline and fear could only carry Dina so far away from the rest of the group. After several minutes of running at a frantic pace, her adrenaline began to ebb and her exhaustion began to rise. It was not long before her lungs burned and she needed to stop to catch her breath. Her heart felt ready to beat out of her chest as the stitch in her side grew and her breath came out ragged. Leaning against a tree with her eyes closed, Dina flipped back and forth between desperately wishing everything away to an effort of trying to control her body.

What was happening?

The noises surrounding her felt like they were getting louder. She whimpered and clutched her hands against her ears. But, one noise rang true and inspired a small amount of hope. Dina whimpered again, because she knew she would have to open her eyes. One eye opened just slightly as she looked at the figure approaching her. Oh, wait! That was someone from the candy shop! Oh, dear lord, she was saved! Surely he would know what to do to get out of this hell hole.

With a squeal of delight, she flung herself forward toward the man. "Oh, thank god!" Dina cried. "I was so scared!"

Edwin

At some point, he heard an alarming cracking sound. He dove for the ground, covering his head. What on earth was going on? As if on a broken videotape, the vampire started his routine over again, even with the dramatic pause at the same moment. Wincing, Edwin stood up, his entire body jarred from the fall. 

Wait, jarred?

At this moment, Edwin felt as though he would have a heart attack. His mouth became dry, his hands began to shake. 

You can't feel this type of pain in dreams. That only meant this was real. 

At this moment, one of the men from before began stammering to...a talking cat? 

"No." Edwin mumbled, placing his hands over his ears in an attempt to drone out the madness. "no. nonononono. This cannot be real. This can't be happening...!"

Clarence McFadden

Clarence let out a sharp breath as he caught the woman hurling toward him.  They should both be thankful that he had decent reflexes.  He had to admit, it was nice to feel appreciated, even if it came with what he feared might be bruises.  

He wasn't sure where they were, but he did know that he had walked in what he thought was a fairly straight line, at least, according to the position of the sun.  He hoped that, wherever they were, the sun moved somewhat like it did in Tokyo.  He turned his attention for a moment to the woman in front of him, who was saying she had been afraid.

“B-being scared seems l-l-like a fair response, b-but we n-need to d-d-do something, yeah?”  Clarence forced himself to grin at the girl.  “I-I-I am scared t-too, but there are a l-lot of us here.  I am sure w-we can think of something.”  Clarence took a step back, creating some careful space between to two of them.  “L-let's get b-b-back to the others.  We c-can't do much w-w-walking around here on our own.”

Clarence considered telling the woman about the talking cat and what had happened with the others, but he decided against it.  She was already scared, and he would have time to discuss it on the short walk.  It wasn't like it would take a long time to share.  Instead, Clarence offered the woman his hand, “I'm C-C-Clarence McFadden.”

Theron Barton

His instruments made a high-pitched whirring noise only seconds before a previously-unknown voice spoke up. They didn't register anything from the neatly-dressed man trying to lead the group towards "warm snacks", even as the gentleman's body flickered in an out of existence. The way that he repeated his phrase seemed vaguely familiar to Theron, but it took a few moments for him to make the connection: it seemed like something from a video game. This was how an NPC might behave, wasn't it? Hmm, how intriguing!

The cat was much, much more intruding. Unlike some of the others, Theron immediately crouched down to the feline's level, staring at it intently. The "cell phone" in his jacket pocket beeped erratically. He swiped his fingers through the dark pink curls of his hair, focusing colourless eyes on the cat.

"More proof!" he muttered, gleeful. "Are you familiar with our knowledge of the cosmos? From where do you originate?"

Maybe it wouldn't lie to him. Maybe.

Dina Craft
Clarence, thankfully, caught Dina. Her terror began to ebb as she was reassured by the presence of someone vaguely familiar. As the terror in her heart began to fade, her clarity began to return and she could hear the wisdom in Clarence's words. Her fear had caused her to run away from the group, who could only offer protection if she was nearby. By running away in terror, she had accidentally thrown away the best method of keeping herself safe. 

He offered his hand and an introduction to her, Clarence McFadden. Dina tried to smile, but she still felt weakened by her fear. "Dina Craft," she said, weakly shaking his hand. "Thank you," she said softly, still trying to bring back the strength into her voice. "Could you lead the way back to them?" She asked, ready to walk with him back to where they had came.