The Great Mall Adventure (V.2)

After what seemed ages, Hermione's legs began to ache as she realized how big this place was. Is there any way out of here? Does everyone just...shop and don't do anything else? She quickly paced to a bench that was beside a clothing store and sat down heavily with a huff. She sighed as she placed her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on them, peering inside the store. On the countertop of the checkout table were ice cold, perspiring water bottles. Hermione licked her dry lips as she held out her wand in the direction of them. "Accio water bottle!" With this Summoning Charm, a bottle levitated towards her and she grabbed it from the air. She twisted it open and chugged down half of its contents. She then slid back and rested her head on the back of the bench, placing her wand in the pocket on the inside of her sweater. What am I gonna do here?

Torsolus stood in wobbly, giddy glee. His eyes lit up and his smile was as wide and bumpy as a pea pod. He looked like he could melt where he stood--a puddle of melted marshmallow goop with lipstick in the middle of it.

He tried to say, "Thank you, I'll treasure it always," "You are the most wonderful person," "I love you and you deserve every ounce of it" and "I think I'm dying" all at the same time, but only got out "thhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeheheheheheheeeee~<3".

It took him a minute to recollect himself. He BARELY squeaked out a quick 'thank you' without choking on his own tongue. This was so much better than an autograph, because an autograph would be difficult for him to hang onto for very long. Even if the lipstick faded, however, the memory of that touch--that expression of sincere goodwill--would remain forever.

He coughed a little. "Gosh. Wish I had something to pay you back with!! Um. Ahem. Well....let's go f-find. The door. And your universe, and establish communications with it."

Hermione finally stood up from the bench and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. She fluffed her hair with her hands on the sides and proceeded onwards to...nowhere.

As she continued strolling along her way glancing along the various shops, she had a puzzled and anxious expression etched on her face. Despite wanting to ask someone where on earth she was, Hermione was totally unsure of whom to ask amid the packs of people.

Ulala giggled at the sight of Torsolus' reaction. "Aw! It's no problem at all. Now let's go get this show back on air!" she cheered, performing another brief dance in celebration. She was clearly bursting with enthusiasm, and fully ready for anything that came their way. In other words, she was back to her usual self. "If you have any idea where to look, please lead the way!" she told him mid-dance.

----------

Once she was beginning to grow bored with grinding along the railing, Gum took a quick look around. Her attention was soon caught by the opposite railing: the one lining the other walkway, across the dizzying drop. A wide, excited grin slowly spread across her face. Hey, what if I built up a little more speed and...? Yeah... Yeeeah...!
She was going for it.
Gum hopped off of her current railing, spinning around slightly before landing on the walkway she was currently on. She rolled towards the wall, putting some distance between her and the edge. Then, after locking her sights on her goal, eyes afire, she launched forward, pushing against the floor with ferocious kicks to build up speed. Once she was close enough, she hopped back up onto the railing. Then, after taking a moment to judge the distance, she sprung off, over the edge, and into the air with all of her strength.
"YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!"
Onlookers screamed in horror, but Gum was screaming with euphoric laughter as she soared over the drop, fully embracing and being swept away in the resulting adrenaline rush. As she flew, she performed a single flip, staring wide-eyed at the seemingly endless distance below her in exhilarated amazement for the moment she was upside-down. Everything almost felt as if it were playing out in slow motion, despite it happening with incredible, relentless speed. Before she knew it, however, the other railing was drawing near, and focus was required if she wanted to walk away from this stunt with her life. Furrowing her brows, she straightened her posture, then braced herself for the landing, never for a moment allowing her focus to stray away from her target.
Thankfully, the landing was a success. With a "clang", Gum's skates landed directly on the railing, leading to a brief grind before she hopped off onto the walkway. Laughing some more, she twirled, then bounced once in place, still feeling thoroughly thrilled from the experience. By now, her mood had fully recovered from her encounter with the grouchy customer. If only she were able to tune in and listen to her usual music, things would be even better. After breathing a bittersweet sigh, she casually skated along at a surprisingly-relaxed pace... for now.
After a little while of skating, Gum had picked up a little speed. However, she noticed that the crowd was substantially thicker in this area. It was quite difficult for her to proceed, as people didn't have much room to clear out of her way. She slowed down again, but before long, she still ended up regularly colliding with others. "Ugh! Hey; WATCH it! I-... Oof! HEY! Rrrgh! Get outta my WA-... NGH!"
"You stupid or something, kid?! Take those skates off!!" one man remarked angrily after being collided with.
"Buzz off!" Gum snapped back at him, pushing past, and still stubbornly struggling to get through the busy area.
As it turned out, at this moment, she was rolling right towards Hermione in the confusion.

"WELL! Um." Torsolus regathered himself, and his clothing items. "Why don't we tryyyy the door?? I came in through a door!" He ran to the very nearby door he had come in through. He opened it and peered through. "Ha, portal-mall doors. That's new! I love new things! I sure as muffins wouldn't have thought of that, hehe! Let's see if anything resembles Space Channel 5...."

In hindsight, I am IMMEASURABLY grateful that her first reaction to hearing the name of her universe was, "I picked the right station", and not, "If my whole universe is named after my one station, is it really that small?" or, "What is my existence?" Or, "How do I go on in this cruel multiverse?" Hehe....lucky!

"Oh! ... Neat!"
Ulala coolly swayed and strode towards the strange door after Torsolus. "Actually, I came in through a door like this, too!" she recalled, also leaning in for a look. "But as soon as I stepped out of it, it just kinda... vanished. At the time, I thought they were just supposed to do that or something. Guess it's a bit more complicated, huh?"

"Yeaaaaah....." Torsolus mused, half-listening. "It is now occurring to me that thiiiis is probably the Steven Universe Universe Universe....and also that I don't know how to switch it over to yours. Ummm. Can you see any Mall staff nearby? They might know how to get you in contact with home better than I." He stuck his head in slightly. "This IS outer space though. So, don't stick your head in too far!"

Hermione stood dumbfounded in the center of the swarming people as she anxiously glanced around for assistance. She suddenly spotted a vibrant girl roller skating her way in her direction. "Heyyy...!" Hermione called out desperately, keeping her wand hidden inside her sweater as she waved her arms above her head, "Heyy! Helloooooo! Over here!" Hermione was amazed at her splendid roller skating skills and it revealed in her gaping expression. She's never seen anyone so extraordinary before! No witch or wizard she knew could excel so well in a muggle activity! I wonder if she can tell me where I am? She seems to be familiar with this...mall.

"I seeeeeeee..." Careful not to lean in too far, as per Torsolus' warning, Ulala took a moment to simply admire the view through the door. It may not have been what they were looking for, but the idea that she was looking into a full-sized, entirely different universe than the one she called home amazed and excited her. She couldn't help imagining who might call this place home, and what they could all be up to at this moment. Was everyone having a good time together? How much music was being made? How many songs were being sung? How many dance parties were currently being held?
However, she was becoming very distracted.
"... Oh! Sorry," Ulala apologized somewhat embarrassedly, snapping out of her daydream. "I guess I should probably get to asking someone for help now..." After turning around, she looked out for any potential staff. Eventually she spotted someone who appeared to be a security guard, patrolling the area. "Oh; there!" she suddenly chirped, motioning towards the guard with an outstretched hand. Quickly, she headed in his direction. "Excuse me!"

The guard turned to look in their direction, listening.

----------

"Huhh?!" Gum looked forward to see a girl who was seemingly trying to get her attention for some reason. She skidded harshly to a stop, very narrowly avoiding colliding with her. "Uh... What's up?" she asked casually as she straightened up, shifted to lean more on one leg, and nonchalantly rested a hand on her hip. There must have been some reason why this stranger had so eagerly tried to grab her attention.

"WHOA!" Hermione suddenly shouted as the girl nearly crashed into her, jumping backwards in natural response. "Ah, sorry," she quickly added, "no offense intended, you were just so sudden!" Then looking up at her face with a pleading look, she asked, "Umm, I'm sorry to interrupt you but...I'm really lost here! I sorta...just ended up here...I honestly have no idea where I am. A portkey took me here from Knockturn Alley..." Hermione's British accent was filled with bewilderment as she glanced all around.

"By the way, you can roller skate really well! It seems more like a natural talent than from so much practice! You don't seem like a muggle to me at all! I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger!" The girl held out her hand with a beam that illuminated her face.

Torsolus looked with admiration at the awe in Ulala's eyes as she wondered at this entirely new universe before her. He envied her curiosity and amazement. During the time he might have reveled in the various works of the creators, he was instead wracked with grief, and by the time he'd finally moved on, the existence of multiple, vast universes was just part of his reality; something he took for granted.

Hehe....I should be like that flying Police Box I saw. Take people with me, if they want it. Not intrude into their story, but make them part of mine.

His thoughts were interrupted when Ulala ran to ask the guard for help. "Wait, I can--" but she had already caught his attention. He ran to catch up with her.

"Um! Hi! We're trying to find Ulala's universe--Space Channel 5? She's going to do an AWESOME news report on this mall!! Heheheheeeee I can't wait to watch!! But first she needs to establish communications with her home, so do you know how we can find a portal to her universe, please?? :D"

Flint was thumbing through his phone, reading through his text conversation with his mom to see if she had anything else she needed from him. His bag with the necklace hooked over his arm. Seeing no information on the subject, he texted her 

"*Hey. Anything else you need?"

... 

The familiar three dots of someone replying 

"*No, that should be good, kiddo. Why don'tcha come back home? <3" 

Flint groaned, and hurriedly clicked his phone off, and stuffed it in the pocket in his sweater.

He realized he wasn't quite sure how he could get back, considering he didn't have the ability to make portals to other dimensions. Honestly, he had slipped through a portal that was already fading to get here. One left by someone else. He hesitated, realizing he'd have to deal with that 'someone else' incase they were dangerous. He shook the thought off. Not now.

 Glancing up, he saw the girl from earlier, U-Ooh--Oh yeah, Ulala, talking to a mall cop with a weird humanoid person who looked... Not quite human. Flint hesitated, slowing his walk enough to give him time to judge the situation, both to see what the humanoid creature was, if he could remember what he had been shown, and to see if he really wanted to be a part of this, before he approached the Mall cop about a way out.

He got closer, and locked his gaze, less hostile, slightly, then before, with Ulala. "Hey." he forced distantly.

Gum gave a slight laugh under her breath, appearing somewhat amused by the girl's reaction to the near-collision. However, after listening to what she had to say, she gave her head a slow, subtle shake. Just as she was about to respond, though, Hermione went on to compliment her skating skills, then introduce herself. A wide, self-satisfied smile appeared on her lips. "Heh! Not sure what a 'muggle' is, but... I know; I rock, right? Thanks," she responded cockily to the compliment, a bit of a laugh in her voice. "They call me Gum, by the way. Nice to meetcha," she told her, heartily returning the handshake, wearing a grin that appeared a little smug, but still friendly. "Anyway," she continued, finally getting around to respond to what was initially said, "I hate to tell ya, but... I'm just as lost as you are. Heck, I don't even know how I GOT here."
She then recalled the moment she first found herself in the Mall.
"I was just out for a little skate--on our OWN TURF, minding my OWN BUSINESS--when all of a sudden, BANG! Something whacked me RIGHT in the head! Well, that's what it felt like, anyway. I never saw what--or WHO--hit me... Can't wait to figure that out..."
For a moment, she grew distracted, wondering who could have done this, and imagining the moment she met them.
"... Meh, anyway," she continued, shrugging, "whatever hit me, it must've been wicked. Everything was there, then it all just... went dark. When I woke up, I was lying on the floor of this mall--which I've never seen before in my LIFE, by the way. And there was no sign of whoever brought me here, either. It's just... ughhhh..." She sighed deeply. "So yeah. Now I'm kinda just... waiting for the gang to get here. Knowin' 'em, they're probably out looking for me as we speak."

----------

"Yeah; this is a SUPER-special report!" Ulala chimed in with Torsolus as he spoke with the guard.

The guard leaned a little closer, appearing to be listening intensely. Or perhaps not.
One of his eyebrows raised.
Then, in a rather strange and creepy fashion, he simply, slowly shrugged.

"... Is... that a no...?" Ulala looked a little disappointed.
However, all of a sudden, she heard a voice that she recognized from earlier.
"AH!" Quickly, she turned to face Flint. "H-hello?" she replied somewhat hesitantly. Remembering how unfriendly this individual had seemed earlier, she was very unsure about why he had returned to speak with her again.

(Wow weirdo guard is weirdo)

"hi." He said plainly, approaching the group. "You're both trying to get back now, right?" He asked, looking between her and the other creature, who he didn't care to introduce himself to quite yet, "from what I heard at least. Well, if you are, or if you're doing something of a similar nature.." He sounded as if whatever idea he was implying was not one he approved of, and he spoke just quickly enough to not let the creature with Ulala get a word in edgewise "maybe I can help you out." He sighed, the white Kattaca hated having to do this, but it'd be stupid not to get the assistance of two people with similar goals to him.

"for of course, I'm trying to get back to my dimension as well."

"Ohh!! Hello, sir! Nice to meet you! Um, do you know how miss Ulala can get home?" He turned to the guard. "No offense, sir. I'm just happy to get help from anyone who can...um. Help us." He turned back to Flint. "OH! Um, if you don't know where we can get back to her home," he eyed the portal again, thinking of looking for a switch. "Do you know where we can find someone who can? Or, at least, do you know where I can go to check out my things??"

Somehow, Torsolus had entirely missed the checkout/customer service desk in the store where he had obtained them.

"Ah, Gum, what an original name," Hermione smiled back after their warm handshake. "And well, a muggle...it's a non-magic folk. You see, I'm a witch who attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England. It's the finest wizarding school in the whole world!" The girl proudly stood up taller as she added, "and people refer to me as the brightest witch of my age. Not...not to brag or anything," she quickly added as her cheeks glowed a rosy hue. "It's a pleasure to meet you! So...so you're just as clueless as I am, huh? And you just happened to wake up here? And before that...something hit your head you say? This is odd. It's very very peculiar. What if there is something dark, like dark magic, is behind all of...this?" Hermione opened her arms to the vibrant activity taking place in the mall to emphasize her point. "It is a possibility since the portkey was in Knockturn Alley for me, a place for dark wizards...In the meanwhile, what do you say to sticking together? Who knows who or what could be the cause of all of this..." The girl slowly withdrew her vinewood wand from the pocket inside of her sweater and tucked back a lock of golden hair behind her ear with her wand-hand, gazing up at Gum with a determined expression.

The guard didn't seem offended. Actually, he hardly had any expression whatsoever.

Although Ulala was a little unsure about having the catlike creature join them, given what her first encounter with him was like, she did appear interested as he spoke, paying close attention. "You, too...?" she remarked upon hearing that he, too, was trying to find some way back to where he came from. "Huh... I wonder how many other people are actually in this exact same situation?" she pondered aloud. Given that she was currently with two other beings from completely different universes, the idea that, somewhere in this mall, there were more seemed quite plausible.

----------

"You don't say...?" Gum raised an eyebrow when she heard Hermione mention that she was actually a witch. She then listened rather curiously when the young witch went on to theorize about the possibility of a dark force being behind this strangeness. Due to past experience, she was somehow both somewhat skeptical and vaguely convinced at the same time. Upon seeing the wand in Hermione's hand, she only grew more curious.
"Hah. Well... Sure; you seem alright. I don't see why not," Gum responded to the suggestion of going together, sounding quite relaxed. "I mean, we don't even know where we are. I guess it sounds like a better idea to be lost with a buddy than to be lost on your own, right?" she commented with a slight smile. "... At the very least, we'll have someone to talk to, so we don't go totally nuts... hopefully," she continued, laughing. Idly, she glanced around, happening to spot a temptingly large, blank window just a few feet away.

"Ooooh...! Ha-..."

As Gum looked in Hermione's direction again, about to tell her "Hang on a sec" before going to tag the window, she noticed that, strangely, she wasn't there. "... Hah...??" She gave a quick look around, but she was nowhere to be seen. "... Uhhh... Hey, are you... showing off or something...?" she asked slowly, with an uneasy chuckle, wondering if the girl had somehow turned herself invisible. However, she didn't receive any sort of response; suddenly, it seemed that she was alone once again.
Despite now feeling rather unsettled, Gum slowly approached the large window she had spotted anyway, then took out some paint and left a colorful tag, just as she had originally intended to. She only briefly rolled back to admire her work before moving on ahead. The weirdness of this situation caused her to grow more convinced that some sort of malevolent force could, in fact, be at play here.

(For future readers: Hermione's sudden disappearance in this post was due to her RPer leaving the site, and was necessary to "unlock" Gum.)

Name: Beat
Gender: Male
What is this character from?: Jet Set Radio
Species: Human
Age: 17
Appearance: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/jetsetradio/images/9/9c/BeatJSR.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100813025400
Personality and traits: Beat is friendly, confident, and has a generally easygoing disposition. He can sometimes be seen joking around, and may tease others occasionally, though mostly only in a lighthearted fashion under normal circumstances. Despite his laid-back attitude, he is highly capable of being serious when a situation calls for it, and displays much determination when faced with a challenge/goal. In competition, he may come off as cocky at times, but is otherwise a pretty good sport for the most part; when he loses at something, he is far more likely to just pick himself back up and keep trying, as opposed to wallowing in the disappointment of defeat. (Will RP out anything else)
Abilities/powers/talents/etc.: Being a member of the GGs, Beat is an "aggressive inline" skater and tagger/graffiti artist. His skill levels, when compared to the fellow members of his group, are quite well-rounded; he doesn't excel notably in one specific area, but his abilities are all around the same slightly/somewhat above-average range. However, his skating skill is slightly superior to that of his skill as a graffiti artist.
Other: He is the founder and leader of the GGs, the previously-mentioned gang of aggressive inline skating, graffiti tagging youths from the city of Tokyo-to. It should be noted (as previously mentioned here, in Gum (another GG)'s character form) that he and the other GGs have gotten through some gravely dangerous situations in the past, with the assistance of nothing more than some cans of spray paint and their skating abilities. Thus, it would be wise to not dismiss him (or any of the GGs, for that matter) as "just some random punk".

----------

Elsewhere in the overwhelmingly-vast mall, a 17-year-old boy wearing brightly-colored rollerblades on his feet suddenly came bursting through what appeared to be a portal of some kind, which promptly disappeared behind him. "HwaaaAAAAA!" he cried out as he rapidly rolled ahead, scrambling to keep his balance in his sudden, apparent shock. As it turned out, the boy had absolutely no intention of coming to the grand mall. in fact, he had never seen nor heard of it in his life- he had simply been out skating in the familiar streets of Tokyo-to, searching for a longtime friend and member of his group who had been absent for an increasingly unsettling amount of time, when some kind of portal seemed to open up right in front of him.
After several shoppers had to frantically clear out of the boy's path, he finally managed to regain his stability and skidded to a stop, taking a deep breath as he gazed in bewilderment at his surroundings. "Ooookay... uh..." he mumbled softly to himself as he tried to make sense of his situation. Just a moment before, he had known exactly where he was- and now he had somehow, much to his absolute confusion, appeared in what seemed to be a shopping mall. "... This kinda looks like... a mall...? Um..." How he could have gotten here in the first place was completely beyond his understanding, and immediately, he felt a strong need to search for a way back to where he came from. Slowly, he turned around and started rolling along slowly, an unsettled frown spreading across his face when he saw nothing but more unfamiliarity along the way. "Alright, then," he sighed, attempting to push away his quickly-growing feeling of unease. "Guess I should try going this way..."

Torsolus studied the guard's blank face. He gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"M-maybe helping lost folks...just isn't part of his job description. Poor man. I'm going to try Customer Service in the store I just came from! Those fellas interact with lost folks all day long! Maybe they'll know how to hook you up with home, Ulala! And get you home, too, sir!" He added to Flint.

"I'll be right back! Keep talking to him, or follow me, or whatever you like! Thanks!"

He re-fumbled together all his clothes and rushed back to the little mini-store. It was something akin to JC-Penny.

He put all his clothes on the checkout counter. "Excuse me?? Hi! I have a couple of friends who would like to go home, or at least have access to it...they've had a wonderful experience! Yes! And we found one of your portals but we don't know how to switch it to their worlds?? The young lady, her name's Ulala, white dress, blue highlights, gave me a lil' kiss right here, see, very sweet, hehehe...she's from this world, 'Space Channel 5'? I think it was? You might've heard of it? She wants to report on this mall for it? UM. And I know the gentleman, bipedal white cat, red hoodie, big wings, foul mood, no worries, that's just him, hehe. Um. He's from 'Kattacus'. Spell it, that's 'K-A-T-T, um, A-C-U-S.' That's his world. Um, could you help me send them home and stuff, so they can, y'know, tell their friends about this great mall of yours?? Hehehe!

OH also I'd like to purchase these items, I hope you take Rubees? *item dump* They're like Rupees, but they're from Zelda CD-i, they're a little different, not sure if you take them, err.....yeah. Whatever works?"

"Okay! Let me just try asking this employee again; maybe he didn't catch what we said or something."
After calling to Torsolus as he left, Ulala turned back to the guard. "Er, sorry, sir. Let me try explaining our situation again, OK?" she told him, not giving up on him just yet. "I'm trying to find a link to my home universe, and so is this individual," she explained calmly, smoothly and stylishly motioning to Flint with her hand when she mentioned him. "However, we're not sure how. We HAVE found an active portal, but it doesn't lead to either of our universes. So what I'm asking you, sir, is if you either know how to change the portal's destination, or know where we can find active portals leading to our universes," she continued, trying to be as clear as possible. "According to our new friend--the gentleman who just left--my universe is apparently actually called "Space Channel 5". As for this fellow... um..." She turned to Flint to ask him. "Sorry, but do you know the name of your universe, by any chance...?"

----------

"Uhhhhhhhhh... Sorry, but... this... wasn't mentioned... in my training," the cashier slowly and confusedly commented in response to Torsolus speaking about sending people to different universes. "I can definitely assist you with your purchase, however. And yes, we accept recognized currencies of all varieties," he explained, accepting the payment of Rubees. He then took the pile of clothes, placed it in a very large bag, and handed it back to his customer. "Here you are, sir; have a nice day."

"Oh! Ahaha, thank you!"

He almost left with his purchase, but then remembered and turned back around.

"Um....do you know where I can find someone who DOES know about how to leave? May I speak to a manager?"

"Uhhhhhhmmm... We don't really... deal with such matters, here... so..."
As usual, this fellow didn't seem to be of any help with anything outside of the Mall, either.

----------

In an almost dazed state of mind, Gum kept simply rolling along in a subdued fashion. She didn't even attempt any tricks--just slowly and steadily made her way forward to nowhere in particular. Suddenly, however, she growled and gave a quick, rough shake of her head, feeling an irritated urge to snap out of this uneasy mood. Rrgh...! Come ON, Gum! Are you REALLY gonna let THIS push you down?! Buck up!! she told herself mentally, trying to regain confidence. After this, she took off with a burst of speed, deciding that in order to get back to feeling like she usually did, she ought to act like it, too. By doing this, hopefully, it would lead to her mind following suit.
After pausing to spray a huge, vibrant tag across another large, blank window, Gum came rushing around a corner, and into a completely different section of the mall. In this section, she found herself on a central walkway. This walkway was parallel to the two walkways at the edges--which were, of course, bordered by countless storefronts in the walls--and separated by a drop spanning a seemingly-endless number of floors. In the distance, a narrow bridge connected the three walkways, but it was quite some distance away. Gum was in no mood to endure such a tedious route, of course, so her attention shifted to the railings and the distance between them. More specifically, the distance between the walkways themselves. Hm. It looks about the same as that jump I made earlier...

By now, the ink battle that had taken place between Slyk, Lill, Callie, and Marie was over, and the group of Inklings now once again continued to wander through the mall.

"{Eeee...!}" Lill suddenly let out a small squeal, still very clearly thrilled that she had gotten the chance to battle in the same arena as her heroes. "{That was so much fun, you guys!}" Going by her cheery attitude, it was difficult to tell that her team had, in fact, suffered a fairly large defeat.

"{Heh... Yeah, it was,}" Marie responded in a laid-back voice, glancing over at Slyk for a moment with a bit of a lopsided, triumphant grin.

----------

As Beat kept rolling forward at a cautious pace for a while, this entire situation continued to feel rather surreal to him, almost as though he had suddenly entered some kind of bizarre dream. Any familiar faces...? he started to wonder, proceeding to briefly scan the crowds of mallgoers for anyone he might happen to recognize. ... Nope. Absolutely none. he soon concluded, this realization only making him feel even more lost.
Then, at that moment, something else came quickly rushing back to the center of Beat's thoughts. Argh, I don't have time to linger around here acting confused! I've still gotta find Gum...! All of a sudden, his expression growing determined, he began to pick up his pace, occasionally hopping onto the back of a bench and grinding across it for some extra speed. Maybe she somehow ended up here, too...! This possibility crossing his mind, he made a point of watching out for any possible signs of his fellow GG as he rocketed ahead.

"{Word,}" Slyk chimed in, offering a fist-bump to Marie.

"{Yeah; good job, you guys!}" Callie cheerfully congratulated Slyk and Marie. Then, with a somewhat-apologetic expression, she turned to Lill. "{Still, sorry about messing up out there and stuff. After I got splatted that one time near the beginning, it just totally messed with my head. But you did great!}"

----------

Facing and keeping her focus on the two railings on either side of the drop, Gum rolled backwards in preparation. Once she was at a satisfactory distance, she dashed forward, jumped onto the first railing, and leaped with all her might towards the one on the other side. Just as she had done before, she screamed and laughed gleefully as she whooshed through the air. This time, as opposed to a flip, she performed a different trick. While airborne, she brought her knees up somewhat closer to her chest, but held out her left foot, almost as if performing an aerial kick. Her right hand was roughly touching her right ankle, while her left arm was held out to the side, palm open. She then held this pose for just a moment, while she was at the highest point of the jump, before preparing to land. However, just as she had straightened her posture, she happened to spot a nearby food court just ahead. In truth, she hadn't eaten in a while; as a result, this sight sort of grabbed her attention, causing her gaze to drift towards it instead of where she was about to land. Mm... Wish I had some cash on me, she thought to herself, just now realizing how hungry she was.
Unfortunately, due to her distraction, Gum's landing didn't work out as planned. Her skates hit the railing at a bit of an awkward angle, causing her to quickly lose her balance. "W-wha...!" Noticing this, her eyes widened in shock, her heart practically stopped, and she suddenly felt a cold sweat come rushing over her. Horrifyingly, she then slipped backwards over the edge, letting out a loud, harsh gasp. Thankfully, she just barely reacted in time to grab onto the vertical bars supporting the handrail, narrowly avoiding a surely-fatal plummet. However, she was still left dangling in an extremely dangerous position.
Her heart now feeling as if it could come bursting out of her chest at any moment, Gum tried desperately to pull herself up. However, as she was only supported by her hands clutching the bars, it was of hardly any use; she simply wasn't strong enough. With no other choice left, she resorted to crying for help.
"H-HELP!! S-SOMEBODY!! P-PLEEEEEEEEAAAAASE!!"
Gum's strained, terrified shrieks filled the air.

Her grin increasing ever-so-slightly, Marie swiftly returned Slyk's fist-bump.

"{Aww, don't worry about it!}" Lill started reassuringly. "{I had such a great time being on your team, and you were still super-good anyway!}" she continued, staring up at Callie with large eyes. "{But... T-thanks, heehee,}" she finished with a bit of a giggle, unable to help feeling giddy when she received a compliment from the older Inkling.

At that moment, what seemed to be the sound of fearful screaming suddenly caught the attention of both Marie and Lill.

"{WHOA! What's that?!}" Lill yelped, concerned and frightened by the sound as it filled her ears.

"{Waah...!} Marie gasped, glancing around as she searched for the source of the cries. "{I-I dunno... It must be coming from somewhere up ahead,} she noted, growing rather uneasy.

"{Yeah... C'mon, guys; it can't be very far!}" Suddenly, Lill started running ahead despite her uncertainty, feeling a strong urge to investigate.