Lucas

The thrilling race begins, Master Mini-Porky advancing step by slow step!

It's a nice leisurely stroll for the not-Porkybot contestants. At least no one has to worry about falling in at this pace.

Lucas keeps just one step behind, doing his best not to take the lead as they approach the finish line.

"We might have a photo finish for second place at this rate!" the host shouts. "But another exciting victory for Master Mini-Porky!"

From:

That's it? Autor thinks, shaking his head. He shuffles along the bridge, watching his fellow contestants to ensure that he crosses the finish line at the same time as they do.

From:

a1enzo

Enzo sighs deeply several times, muttering about easy mode, and eventually turns around and finishes his crossing backward.

From:

"Now then! Let us move on to the third and final game!"

Everyone is ushered into the next room. A line of bicycle pumps sits inside, each one with a different colored balloon at the end.

"The final game is 'To Whom Goes the Boom?' Use your air pump to quickly inflate your balloon until...BOOM! The first to pop his balloon wins. I'm tripling the points for this final game, so our three tied for second place have a very good chance of coming from behind to win it all! Please try your best!"

From:

Autor reins in a sigh and grips the handles of the pump. Following the Porkybot's lead, he fills his balloon at a pace so sedate that he's yawning--until the bot's pops first.

Autor jumps and slams the handle down, popping his balloon. Blinking, he looks to his friends. "These have all been really easy."

From:

That might not be the sort of comment Master Mini-Porky would like to hear. Fortunately, the pop of Lucas's balloon covers it up.

From:

a1enzo

Enzo, following suit, scowls. "More like a different kind of hard."

Seriously. Winning would have been easier than holding back this much.

From:

Autor grins at him. "Fair enough," he says, and then turns to the Porkybot for their next set of instructions.

From:

The host applauds Master Mini-Porky's stunning last victory.

"I hereby deem all of you fit to meet Master Porky."

He opens the door to the next room, revealing a waterway and a boat. Lining the sides of the channel are a collection of objects, presumably Porky's. A group of phones, an ancient ATM, a couple of buses, a helicopter, a yellow submarine, a chrome device in the shape of a Mr. Saturn, a mech in the shape of a spider, and, for some reason, a pair of sesame seeds.

"Anyone else getting a weird, wrong vibe about this room?" Kumatora asks.

From:

"Hate to say it," Dinah says helpfully from the back, "but I've been getting a weird, wrong vibe for a while, now."

From:

"Yeah, but this is a new one," Duster comments. "These were the same things we saw in the cinema. It's like walking into a stalker's house."

Lucas reaches into a pocket, thoughtful, and pulls out a yo-yo. What did Lil' Miss Marshmallow call it? King P's precious Best Friend Yo-yo?

"His best friend?" Lucas asks himself aloud.

The boat ride ends just as he wonders what sort of a person King Porky would have as a best friend.

From:

Autor doesn't make a comment on the shrine, as the mention of stalking doesn't faze him.

No, what's caught his attention is the huge window taking up the wall opposite the entrance of the new room. His boots click on the metal floor as he steps off the boat and glances around. "This is the most roundabout way to a top floor I've ever heard of."

Edited Date: 2013-12-18 02:28 am (UTC)

From:

"The beginning of the end," calls a tinny voice. "The end of everything."

A young blond boy almost identical to the Master Mini-Porky stands in wait near the window.

"Let's be friends. I'm Porky. I'm really just this meek little boy."

He steps towards the group, forcing them to step back.

"Please dote over me more. Please talk to me like good boys and girls. You know, just like me."

Duster and Kumatora each put an arm over Lucas as they back up. He shakes his head slightly, unsure how to answer Porky.

"That's not very nice, now is it?" Porky asks, the tinny voice now stilted. "Actually...I'm not very nice, either."

A small beeping is their only warning before the Porky-bot explodes.

From:

a1enzo

Enzo was already moving forward at signs of obvious creepiness; when the creepiness turns to ominous beeping, he dives in front of the group, getting everyone either within range of his forcefield or behind it. A big enough bang will overload the field and force it to recharge, but then, it doesn't need to hold for long against a single explosion.

From:

One thankfully brief explosion is the least of their worries. Five more Porky-bots drop from the ceiling and close in, all clamoring for attention. A couple throw themselves on the ground to play dead. One begins to cry. Another bows up and down and apologizes over and over. The last moves behind the apologizing one to use him as a shield.

Kumatora and Duster try to push the resisting bots away while Lucas casts a PSI shield on everyone in the party.

From:

"Is it safe to assume that all of these will explode?" Autor shouts, standing up from his crouch. Sylladex in one hand and one of his grenades in the other, he darts to Enzo's side.

From:

"Unless we can shut them down first?" Dinah suggests. She takes a couple of steps back in order to give her a running jump over the force field. "Keep it strong, Enzo."

With that between her and her friends, she takes a breath.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

From:

"Oh shit!" Kumatora yelps when she hears multiple bots beeping. And then, as fast as she can, she crouches down and puts her hands against the floor. "PK Ground!"

The PSI attack spreads the bots further out just as they explode one by one...

...only to be replaced by five more Porky-bots.

From:

a1enzo

Frag. That did it. They're okay, but... "My force field needs time to recharge!" he says, abandoning the defence and sending the nearest bot flying with a powerful kick. "And how many of these things are there going to be, anyway?"

From:

"Slightly fewer than we can handle," Dinah says firmly. Her scream didn't disable, so she sweep kicks one as far away as she can on her way to racing towards another, wrestling it to the ground and away from the others.

"Robots usually have 'off' buttons, right?"

(All the while praying: please don't explode while I'm holding you, please don't explode while...)

From:

"Haven't seen one yet," Duster answers, pinning the kicked bot to a wall with his staples.

"I'm really sorry," whimpers the Porky-bot in Dinah's hold.

From:

Autor picks one distanced from the others off with a well-placed flash bang. He tosses another up into the holes in the ceiling and waits for beeping. "I don't think anymore are dropping down!" he says. "But be careful!"

From:

"Oh man."

Dinah, for the record, hates throwing things. She turns away from her friends, and hurls the Porkybot away from her, while rolling backwards to give herself as much distance as possible.

"I say we get out of here."

From: