The Mysterious Misery Society

[Villamvihar]

The troubles started as soon as Dusk Avenue 57 came into view.

It was probably the largest billboard of Taj Mahal that humanity had ever set up, stretching for dozens of metres in every direction in a perfectly proportionate manner. It was also obviously and incredibly fake judging by the dozens of supports that were braced against it, all of which should have been painted over in a manner so as to blend into the picture if it were not for someone being too lazy to do their job properly. The signs which have been hung up on them did not help either, especially seeing as they proudly proclaimed "FRESHLY PAINTED, DON'T TOUCH" in bright, red letters that no one could miss unless they were blind.

Then there was also the suspicious lack of activity. True, this was a remote place within the city, but it was practically dead even though it was a Friday evening when most people would go out and party with their friends or head home to their beloved family, which meant they had to pass through this street given its position. Even worse, the nearby buildings that were not covered by the absurdly large billboard were completely void of life as well. There were no lights on in any of them and sensitive eyes could note the fact that all of her entrances had new gates installed with thick, iron bars that prevented entry. Said gates did not seem to have any locks either, but one would be hard-pressed to notice that.

Still, this part of the city seemed to have died a horrible, horrible death. The other places? They were completely fine. People were laughing and having a good time with each other as if it was any other typical Friday. It was just as if Dusk Avenue 57 along with the surrounding areas have been removed from their perception. Of course there were stragglers here and there, but all of them turned away in their expedition as soon as they ventured into the abandoned venue of the Mysterious Misery Society.

Save for one person who stood in the exact middle of the void.
​

​

Clad in what appeared to be a medieval knight's armour and holding a rather large sign that read "Mysterious Misery Society", the dark-skinned man appeared to be thoroughly bored. His deep, dark brown eyes were staring off into the distance with a look in them that suggested he awaited some sort of relief or salvation. His features, though they were rather full and pleasant, were indicative that he had not rested for quite some time and that frankly, he was waiting for all of this to be over with.

Hopefully, that would happen soon. Because he really did not know how much longer he could play statue.​

 

[chaosheart13]

Dani was uncomfortable as she drove her way to the site where the Mysterious Misery Society was being held. Why wouldn't she be? Apparently no one had really talked about the place, so she wasn't really sure what to expect. Well she certainly didn't expect the roads to be completely empty, or that there was no one walking the sidewalks. There was also the fact that there was a giant painting of the Taj Mahal right smack where everything was and it immediately caught her off guard. She had to stop the car and stare at it for a few minutes before driving a little bit. The red paint caught her eye and she once more stopped, busting into laughter when she got a good look at it. What was this? Just...what? It seemed so ridiculous, the red paint being there.

Once the laughter ceased, she once more drove her way to 57 Dusk Avenue, to where the Society or group would be held. She squinted as someone started coming into view. She decided to slow down her car a bit to see who that person was. What made her snort was the fact that this person was covered in medieval armor while holding up a sign that said Mysterious Misery Society. That get up was completely ridiculous and- oh, oh now she noticed the sign. "Excuse me, sir?" she said after she rolled down the car window, "Do you know of a place where I can park my car? I'm here for the Mysterious Misery Society."

 

[Kitti]

The weather outside was not especially chilly but the wind that slipped through the streets brought a hint of autumn with it and reminding Thiri that it was stupid of her not to bring a jacket. Never thinking things through, doesn't plan enough for the future, completely short-sighted... her internal cacophony of self-deprecating thoughts echoed clearly through her head with the streets so quiet. She folded her arms over her chest and rubbed her arms with her hands, feeling the chicken skin bumps on her skin. At the very least, she should have picked something with longer sleeves, rather than the red dress with the capped ones. Too late for that now, though.

When she finally reached the street where the address was supposed to be located, the first thing she could see was the enormous Taj Mahal facade. She took a small step backward in surprise at the enormity of the art in question. Her mind raced with possible explanations but she came up entirely blank in the end. After the initial shock, the drew closer to it, her eyes flicking from the red lettering to the supports and the subject again. If someone had painted this, it was exceptionally patient and the skill was good, in her opinion. She support beams, though, those were unpainted. Sloppy work in that regard, it detracted from the whole of... whatever it was the goal of this had been.

It was then that she saw the the shadowy figure further down the street and a car pulled up next to him. The figure was bulky and if her eyes didn't deceive her, looked to be wearing armor? She quirked an eyebrow, hoping that her eyes did deceive her. A man in armor coupled with the Taj Mahal, that might be just a little too weird. She thought she could make out another figured, too dark to see details but possibly a woman, speaking to him from inside the car. Then, at last, Thiri's eyes slid to the sign that the man was holding. This was where she was headed? She stopped dead, wondering if it was too late to turn back.

As though sensing this cowardly though, the man's bored expression turned briefly to where Thiri was and she met his eyes briefly. Perhaps he had noticed that she was staring, with that uneasy feeling one gets when they're being watched? She flushed and approached him.

"H-hello. My name is Thiri and I was told... well, no, actually, there was this letter and, oh, but that's not important. I was told to come here."​

 

[Jihae]

Painting the town red in a black and burgundy Bugatti Veyron shining flawlessly in the non-existent sun, Min drove aimlessly around the perimeter of what seemed to be the location of the Mysterious Misery Society. After a few minutes of driving with the windows rolled down, Min came across this vinyl extravagance of a Taj Mahal billboard with red letterings splattered all across. This made Min furrow his brows in utter dissatisfaction and confusion. What kind of thing was this society running? Out of all the famous buildings in the world, they chose the Taj Mahal? It could have been the Eiffel Tower, or the Roman Colosseum, or the 노래방(Karaoke Room) that sells really nice noodles in downtown Busan on weekends.

Min frowned in disgust, as the wind coming into the car's window wrinkled up his plain white and velvety smooth blazer. Seeing as it was the first ever meeting of the MMS, Min chose to wear something of wealth, not like it was unusual for him to do so. Min continued to drive in the direction of the billboard, roughly smoothening out the wrinkle from his blazer. He turned his eyes to the rearview mirror in his car, looking to see if any of the bold purple dye from his hair was already fading out. It wasn't. It was as bright and unusual as ever.

Min then feasted his eyes upon a knight in shining armor. Literally. The society could have matched the billboard with the night or vice Versa but this, this was just weird. He drove closer to see "Mysterious Misery Society" sprawled across a poster that the knight was holding, not only that, but a car and a walking woman, probably here to attend the first meeting. Min took a deep breath in and sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day. What are they to do? Share their feelings? How pathetic. Min rolled his eyes at the thought as his car slowly screeched with a stop.

Min rolled down his window even more and leaned out of it, his white blazer with cuffs too big for him dangling out of the car window. He looked at the woman first, not really paying much attention to the vehicle in front, pulling down his circle lensed glasses down just a bit before looking at the strange and utterly bored man in armor. He took out his pocket square, which appeared to be a crimson red flower too fake but real to be in nature. Min lifted the flower to his nose, not really sniffing it, before loudly asking,

"What's going on here? Is this the Mysterious Misery Society?"
​

 

[Villamvihar]

The dark-skinned man seemed to be completely dazed as Dani approached him, his eyes locked onto some far-away point that allowed him to completely ignore the woman who was driving up to him, at least until she asked him a question and he slowly turned his head towards her. The approach of someone interested in the Mysterious Misery Society did not sink into his consciousness until he felt a stare bore into his back, however, and he noticed a woman in a red dress. That got him going. Recognition appeared within his dark eyes before he took a deep breath, then shifted the sign in his hands into a more comfortable position.

"Oh praise the saviour!" exclaimed the man in a relieved tone that seemed to be both incredibly relieved and incredibly fake at the same time. "Yes! Of course this is the Mysterious Misery Society! Oh, how happy, how joyful, how blissful, how filled with endorphins I am! No one has showed up for two weeks and I've been standing in this for all day, every single Friday." The guy certainly knew his theatrics very well. While he had been ranting on and on, he dropped the large sign onto the floor, then he proceeded to loosen his pieces of armour, sometimes bashing the ancient-looking thing head on with his armoured fists in order to help along the process. The plates were then literally thrown off his body to reveal chainmail combined with tough-looking, thick fabric. No wonder he was so eager to get out of it; it must have been boiling under there.

"You have no idea how great this is," said the dark-skinned man as he detached his gauntlets, then threw them in a random direction. As luck would have it, they ended up flying towards a dark, fancy-looking Bugatti Veyron close by. They crashed into the car with the horrific noise of metal screeching on metal, then they peeled off layer after layer of what must have been hideously expensive paint and polish. Needless to say, they had left behind quite a gash. The knight in literal shining armour winced at the ear-grating sound, then he looked over to the incredibly expensive car.

The damage was dismissed with a casual shrug.

"Now as I was saying!" He exclaimed again as he clapped with his hands. "It is great to see you here! The first meeting of the Mysterious Misery Society will begin soon but... Aren't there too few of you? I've been told to expect dozens of people." The dark-skinned man scratched his short, black hair in confusion as he surveyed he square with his eyes. For the number of invitations which have been handed to people, this was an impressively small turnout.

 

[chaosheart13]

Dani could only watch as the man began to peel off his armor bit by bit, an eyebrow raised at his get up. He was really going all out, huh? The gauntlets were thrown off and she had to wince at the sound of metal scraping on metal. Ow. Just ow. "Well, I certainly didn't expect someone like you to be a part of the society," she said, "Do you know of any place I could park? Actually, wait, since the street is empty, I'll just park a little bit on ahead." And if she got a ticket or towed, well, them's the breaks. She did as she promised, parking the car a bit aways from the man, before getting out and hurrying back to where she saw the man and, now that she was paying attention, a woman. She looked very pretty in her humble opinion.

 

[Jihae]

Min's mind, unfortunately, dozed off into nothingness as the hand gestures and faux shouts of the dark skinned man spewed out into the air. For Min, it was one ear and out the other. What really concerned him was the screeching of metal on metal against his ear canal as the man's armour left a huge gash upon his expensive car. Min blinked. Twice. He then took a quick look at the damage that has been done. Was the man going to pay for it? He was very much unsure, was he himself going to pay for it?

No. He could always get a new car. He had the money, anyways.

And like that, the holocaust was complete.

Min's mind continued to wonder as he silently drove somewhere far, far, far away to park; away from the red dress, away from the man, and away from the car that got here first. After parking his car, Min opened his door like a celebrity with no security. It's not like his actions made him look like it, but his attire. Fancy, outlandish, and terribly inappropriate for the occasion, Min fixated his glasses upon his face before speed walking to head back to the man and lady, seeing as he as parked quite far from the original location.

Once he arrived, he noticed another woman, probably the one who owned the car that luckily didn't get damaged from all that chainmail, furrowing his brow, he looked to everyone, staying silent until further directions were enforced upon him.​

 

[Kitti]

The scene that was unfolding in front of her caused Thiri to stumbled backward in surprise away from the man and his rapid disrobing. It was with some relief that she realized that he was only removing his armor, though only was a strong word to use when considering the damage he was doing in flinging the pieces haphazardly. She had been so startled, in fact, that she had almost not registered that he was speaking at the same time. She closed her mouth, which she had just realized was open in shock, and focused on his words.

Before she could say anything, she heard footsteps drawing closer to her and spared a glance toward the man who was approaching. He looked well-off and, while not unappealing, he had a careless air, a feeling likely influenced by his wild hair. He had the look of a Korean to him, though it was hard to be sure with so quick a look and she had more pressing matters at hand than ruminating on his possible ethnicity. The girl who had been in the car was almost coming this way, soon making a small group of three. Thiri secretly hoped that there would not be more people - large groups made her nervous.

"Excuse me... but you said you have been here every Friday? Were we to come sooner? I don't understand."​

 

[Arcadia]

His clock had alerted him too late; the dulcet tones of Thunderstruck by ACDC blasting Angus Young's screechy middle-school voice across his somewhat perfectly dilapidated apartment. He sighed grumpily, as he looked at the clock. It was time for the first meeting of the "Mysterious Misery Society". He could almost feel his head doing air-quoting the farcical nature of the title, but he had no time to waste. Throwing on day-old jeans, a two-day old shirt, his trusty bomber jacket and some sneakers, he sped out towards the location that the leaflet had specified.

Arriving ten minutes late, he gasped for air as he approached the alleyway guarded by a vicious looking knight who seemed like he would go on a rampage if he was provoked. "So, uh, is this the Mysterious Misery Society?" Avery exclaimed with as much male bravado as he could muster. He wished he could have brought some deoderant with him in his whirling dervish state of dress. He smelled like ass but wasn't close to feeling like it.

This would be interesting.

 

[Villamvihar]

"Oh yes! Every single Friday, I have been here since the dawn of time! I toiled away and sweated and stood still and waited and I sweated and I held this thing and did I mention that I was always drenched in sweat when I was finished? It was horrible!" The melodramatic show was accompanied by gestures far too wide, far too sweeping to be normal, which was nothing to say about the voiceplay. The words were all overly emphasized in a way that could only be described as obnoxious, not to mention that while he talked, the dark-skinned man managed to literally rip his shirt off... Revealing another shirt underneath. No wonder that he had complained about sweating; on second look, he had layers upon layers of clothes.

"But I can't complain. Pay's decent," finished the man on a surprisingly tame note for his ridiculous show of whatever that was just a few moments before. "And yes, yes, this really is the Mysterious Misery Society. You can park your car anywhere in this square, because we made sure that no one but members can access it. Nothing but the best for our valued customers!" An absolutely winning smile punctuated that sentence, the man's complaints long forgotten. He probably had been only putting on a show anyways, because there was no way that one could be so dramatic in real life and not do it on purpose to amuse others, right?

"By the way, I'm Alfred," he introduced himself cheerfully, then he nodded at the ragtag bunch of misfits in front of him. "And the first one to make a Batman joke will become one of the Joker's victims. Now, please, if you would follow me," he said as he indicated the large billboard of the Taj Mahal, as if it had a door on it or something. "Oh! You guys should also introduce yourselves before we go in. It's going to be a long walk, so feel free to get cozy and comfy with each other."

 

[chaosheart13]

Dani didn't know what to make of the man. The more he talked, the more ridiculous he seemed. She had to look at him skeptically when he ripped off his shirt to reveal another shirt underneath. Well no duh he was sweating bullets, not with those layers. "Customers? I thought this was supposed to be free," she pointed out, a heavy frown on her face. That's what it said, right? So why did he call them customers when they weren't exactly paying for anything? Who knew but the man who designed this support group in the first place. At least, she thought it was a support group. "Dani, Dani Demelza," she introduced herself, looking around at the others. So it was just her and three other people. Well then, she didn't expect a high turnout anyway. "You guys are...?"

 

[Jihae]

Furrowing his brows greatly, Min watched the dark-skinned man put on another spectacularly cheesy and completely unnecessary show. Why this facade? Because the members here are in misery? Because we're depressed? Min shook his mind free of the thought before giving a judgemental look at the man, who took off his shirt, only to reveal... another shirt. Well, no wonder why the guy was in pools of salty, renal dysfunction inducing, sweat. How many layers was he actually wearing? Could there be more layers? The world may never know.

Min was about to comment about the man referring to them as customers before the lady got to him first, taking away the words straight from his mouth, leaving him in, once again, silence. The man, who was know referred to as Alfred, led him and the rest of the group to the billboard, and another confusing thought took place. The hell? Isn't that just a mere billboard? Judging by Alfred's show throughout the arrival of the new members, not only did the guy himself need some extra money from Min to keep doing his job real soon, but Alfred's show and the fake as all hell Taj Mahal billboard made Min come to an interesting notion, one that would have never come across his mind up until his arrival upon the Mysterious Misery Society.

Anything is possible.

Seeing as it was a long walk, and everyone was asked to introduce themselves, Min decided to speak for the second time since he parked his car.
"Min Song Jin, or Song Jin Min. Hi." His voice was low, rough, and deep, and definitely not something you would expect from a guy who looked like he belonged in America's top 3 percent with a flawless, baby-like, face. The way he spoke his name was clearly from an Asian accent, but as soon as he said the two letter word, his accent immediately went away to an assimilated American. "It's a complicated name, and the accent will make anyone who doesn't speak Korean look and sound stupid, so, it's just Min." This time, he spoke flatly, almost unamused, but unfortunately, he was just focused on nothing, already beginning to doze off.​

 

[Kitti]

The previously armored man's answers to the questions placed before him were even more bombastic than Thiri had been expecting and she had already been expecting quite a lot when judged by the manner in which he had greeted them. When he began to rip away his shirt, Thiri's mouth had opened again in surprise and she covered her eyes with her hands. He had continued as though nothing were out of the ordinary, though, and Thiri peeked out from between her fingers as he continued with his introduction. He had been wearing a shirt underneath. She moved her hands away from her face, a dull pink flush of embarrassment spreading over her cheeks and she hoped that no one had noticed. They were standing, more or less, behind her, after all.

The first thought that had popped into Thiri's head was of Batman. After all, Alfred was the butler... but she wouldn't have dared say anything, even without his warning. That would have been embarrassing. The man directed them toward the billboard then and Thiri slid her eyes over the image of the Taj Mahal with renewed interest. When she had looked at it on arrival, she had not noticed any manner of door but then again, she had not been looking for one. Perhaps the billboard was a facade, then, concealing the true building behind it? What an awful lot of work to go through for people that had not even paid a cent. At least, Thiri hadn't. And when the other girl spoke, it seemed pretty evident that the rest had probably not paid either. Curious and curiouser.

It was introduction time now. Thiri swallowed a lump in her throat and opened her mouth, trying to think of the right words to say. The others spoke first, leaving her looking like a little gulping fish. The pink in her cheeks spread to her ears and she once again, as usual, hoped that no one had been paying attention to her. The girl, Dani, had a last name that Thiri wished she could say aloud a time or two without seeming weird. It was unusual to her ears and she wanted to say it with her mouth, to feel it. But that would be weird. The boy was next, Korean like Thiri had thought. Cognizant of how others would say his name. She felt a pang of empathy but realized that she should speak next.

"Um, hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Thiri Hla Thura. But it's long and too much trouble to say, so you can just call me Thiri." She looked from one to the other nervously. In looking between them, however, she thought she saw another figure emerge into the alleyway. Was it another person? Or was this some kind of setup and he was with Alfred...​

 

[Arcadia]

"Oh yes! Every single Friday, I have been here since the dawn of time! I toiled away and sweated and stood still and waited and I sweated and I held this thing and did I mention that I was always drenched in sweat when I was finished? It was horrible!" The melodramatic show was accompanied by gestures far too wide, far too sweeping to be normal, which was nothing to say about the voiceplay. The words were all overly emphasized in a way that could only be described as obnoxious, not to mention that while he talked, the dark-skinned man managed to literally rip his shirt off... Revealing another shirt underneath. No wonder that he had complained about sweating; on second look, he had layers upon layers of clothes.

"But I can't complain. Pay's decent," finished the man on a surprisingly tame note for his ridiculous show of whatever that was just a few moments before. "And yes, yes, this really is the Mysterious Misery Society. You can park your car anywhere in this square, because we made sure that no one but members can access it. Nothing but the best for our valued customers!" An absolutely winning smile punctuated that sentence, the man's complaints long forgotten. He probably had been only putting on a show anyways, because there was no way that one could be so dramatic in real life and not do it on purpose to amuse others, right?

"By the way, I'm Alfred," he introduced himself cheerfully, then he nodded at the ragtag bunch of misfits in front of him. "And the first one to make a Batman joke will become one of the Joker's victims. Now, please, if you would follow me," he said as he indicated the large billboard of the Taj Mahal, as if it had a door on it or something. "Oh! You guys should also introduce yourselves before we go in. It's going to be a long walk, so feel free to get cozy and comfy with each other."

"So Alfred, where's Master Bru-" Avery teased as he heard the threat and held back a chuckle. He walked with the rest of the group and analysed their faces with a calm smile. They seemed like a nice bunch. "I'm Avery. If you're a fan of music, I'm a fan of you." He exclaimed with a wry smile. "It's nice to meet you all." He exclaimed as he gazed across the group. Two women, and another man like himself. All equal. An OCD sufferer's dream. Avery just didn't suffer from OCD.

He was excited, somehow, to receive some form of counselling for his issues, and make friends in the process. Hopefully.

 

[Villamvihar]

It did not seem like Alfred was paying too much attention to whatever the other members of the Mysterious Misery Society were doing and he was focused on getting rid of his many layers of clothes. The first article of clothing that was to go was his left shoe, which sailed by Thiri's head. Had the dark-skinned man aimed a few millimitres to the right, it would have smashed the poor woman square in the face with the force of a brick. Naturally, there was a shoe worn underneath it. The second piece of cloth that Alfred lost were his gloves: first the right, then the left, both of which ended up on Dani's head with a loud 'flap' before they were followed by another shoe. Fortunately, this one flew far away from anyone and landed in one of the square's corners.

"Anyways," said Alfred as he pulled yet another shirt off his frame, thus revealing yet another layer of his clothes, "Now that you guys are here, we best get inside." With that, Alfred stood in front of a seemingly random spot of the Taj Mahal's billboard, then he knocked. One second passed, then, two, then three, then four and five and... The knight in shining armour frowned at the lack of response, so he knocked again, a little bit more forcefully this time. Of course, only silence answered him, which made him stare in confusion at the piece of wood in front of him, as if that would offer any answers. He tried a third time too, but the billboard of the Taj Mahal just stared back at him in complete silence.

"What are they doing..." muttered the dark-skinned man, then he raised his voice and gave the billboard a particularly powerful thump. "Hey! Does anyone hear me?"

This turned out to be a horrible idea.

Suddenly, one of the supports which kept the billboard upright shattered into countless pieces and the huge structure creaked in protest. And it was not just any creak. It was an ominous, high-pitched creak that came from wood that was overstressed far beyond its loading capacity. Those with good eyes would no doubt note that the absolutely enormous billboard's top was oh-so-slowly tilting towards the ground and Alfred paled as he realised this a few seconds too late.
"Oh crap. Everyone, run!" To his credit, Alfed shouted before he bolted from his place, but he did not look back to see if others were following his lead to escape their predicament.

 

[chaosheart13]

Dani was listening to the others introducing themselves when she felt something smack onto her forehead. She picked the offending object to notice that it was a glove. Another smack on the head and she frowned as she took the other glove and stared at them. Well, this was...interesting. Why all the layers? She could only stare at Alfred as he knocked on the billboard. Was this man crazy? He seemed like it. Maybe going here wasn't such a good idea...Which was only reinforced when the billboard started creaking and tottering. Eyes wide with fright, she immediately skedaddled out of the area away from the Taj Mahal billboard. Nope, nope, not today, nope!

 

[Kitti]

Where did the man even manage to fit all of those layers? The image of Mary Poppins and her bag flashed across Thiri's thoughts, except the man had some kind of never-ending magical font of... clothing? It must have weighed a ton and the fact that he had not overheated to death was something that seemed like a matter of time if he had not started removing the clothing. The strength required to carry all that extra weight around... well, no wonder he hit the billboard hard enough for it to start toppling over.

That was when it dawned on Thiri. The billboard, it was falling over. She realized all at once that Alfred was yelling "Run!" at the newly introduced members of this little society. By the looks of things, there might not be a society for much longer after this, though, if Alfred had managed to bring it down over their heads.

On this rare occasion, Thiri chose to oblige the order not out of compliance but because she did not want to end up a paste beneath an artistic recreation of the Taj Mahal. She grabbed the hem of her skirt with her hands, to hold it up and out of the way and sprinted as fast as she could in the direction that she had come, rather than straight back, hoping that she had estimated correctly and that this would be the shorter distance to run.​

 

[Villamvihar]

The soon-to-be-members of the Mysterious Misery Society quickly realised that large, slowly falling billboards were not as easy to escape as they looked, particularly when their supports kept breaking one by one. Now that the majority of the thing's weight was placed on the wooden legs on the front, they broke apart with surprising ease despite their sturdy looks, which just added to the danger of the situation; if the billboard could do that to a thick piece of wood, then what could it do to the human body? Alfred did not want to find out, so he ran for his life along with the rest of the members, barely escaping the wrath of the Taj Mahal that came down behind them with a huge, resounding crash that shook the entire square.

Of course, the billboard was not designed to withstand such forces, so it broke into dozens of pieces with a loud crack. The piece of art had been obliterated in just a few moments, but luckily no one was hurt save for Alfred's ego, who looked to be quite embarrassed by the ordeal. This was not how it was supposed to go down in the script at all! He was to open the hidden door on the billboard, let these people into the building behind it, then go home with the satisfaction of a job well done for today! Or take up the signs he had been given again for an hour or two until the rest of the Mysterious Misery Society arrived, but either way, he did not plan to destroy that thing. Which would undoubtedly come out of his pay. Which would mean that he would have to continue to work here.

"Is... is everyone all right?" asked Alfred after he shook that thought out of his head. No, even if he had to pay that damn thing off, he could always ask for increased safety pay on the account of falling billboards. It did not matter that it was technically his fault. So taken he was by this process of thought that the man failed to realise that the huge painting had not shattered quite normally, not to mention that the building everyone was supposed to be visiting was nowhere to be seen.

 

[chaosheart13]

Dani was running as fast as she could, fearing for her life. It would've been ironic if she was calm, having had some thoughts of just dying without anyone caring before. But not now, not when she was about to be squished by a giant billboard of the Taj Mahal. That was definitely not what she had in mind for her death. There was a loud crash and she tripped, falling face first onto the hard ground. She groaned as she checked for any damage while standing up. Mmm, yep, a couple of scrapes, with some of them bleeding. Just as expected from a fall like that.

Letting out a huff, she glanced back at where the billboard used to be, seeing absolutely nothing behind it. Yep, nothing. Nothing at all. She blinked and shook her head to see if this was a trick of the mind. Nope, there was literally nothing. "Great, now what?" she said, throwing her hands up, "There's nothing here!" Yeah, she was not being a happy camper at the moment.

 

[Kitti]

Dazed from the unexpected ordeal and trying to process everything that had happened since she arrived, Thiri could not at first answer Alfred's question, instead staring almost unseeingly at the shattered billboard a stone's throw from where she had sprinted. The pieces had come apart in strange ways and her gaze lingered on them idly for a moment, wondering if they could put it back together again like Humpty Dumpty. She imagined the group of them with a little glue stick smushing all the pieces into place. Before she could expand any more on this thought, though, Dani's voice brought her back to reality and she realized that she wasn't even sure everyone had made it all right.

"I'm here in one piece, Alfred" she volunteered weakly, trying to force a smile. She glanced back toward Dani, whose less than pleased yelling had startled her out of her reverie. Thiri did not have any comforting words for her and absolutely no idea what to do. Thiri caught Dani's eye and gave a helpless shrug before looking around to see if she could spot where the others had gotten to when the billboard fell. When she did not immediately see them near her, Thiri bit her lip. They could have ended up a bit away from the rest of the group, right? But still fine? They had only given their names but it would still be upsetting if something bad had befallen them.

"Avery? Min? Are you guys all right?"​