INSERT 25¢ TO CONTINUE : Into the AudoScape

Level 8: Caught in the Wave

"B-B-B-Boy- if I were to know that C-C-Captain Galaxy over there was emotionally unstable I swear I would have never tinkered with the t-t-thing-thing- ((well maybe I would, you should have seen your sniveling, pathetic little faces-HA-haw!~))"

The television turned itself back on. The screen previewed no other than the nifty CGI-rendered digital host himself; Max Headroom. "AHA!" Allope shouted as she smacked her big brother's arm, "I CALLED IT HE'S EVIL!" Freddie just rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Oh-look-fans! I-I must have a star on my door. O-Or better still-"

He bent down slightly to examine his audience. Allope pretended to be brave like some sort of big-shot, and pointed her laser gun at one of the screens.

"Little Allope!- M-m-Mind if I call you A-A-A-A-Al? ah-It's so nice to finally formally meet you! You sure do have an early reputation for making a mess of things wherever you go-go-go, don't you? You know; I was just going to make these kids waste all their money and move on to be terrified for the rest of their lives to ever THINK of coming back to this terrible joint. How-how-however..."

He shifted his jaw and dropped his act. He sighed and attempted to chuckle it off. The tension of what he could do or say next frightened Allope; she clicked the trigger and beamed her laser-gun at the screen.

"AUGH!? Watch it! Y-y-you'll shoot an eye out with that stupid thing. That's useless to th-the world now-so put it down! Do you really think I'd be terrified out of my mind of a bunch of tots who got dressed by their 'mommy' this morning?"

Allope took a step back, but Dewly took a step forward; lightsaber in hand,"You think we're going to be insulted by a guy who wears outdated sunglasses like that, especially in the night?! Talk about useless to the world, buddy!"

"Hm-I have a perfectly good reason to- it's so I can-I c-c-can- Well...[pah] Okay, maybe I don't have a reason why but- H-hEY-THAT'S NOT THE POINT!

Don't think I don't know any better than a-a-a-a-anyone else, Al. I may not know specifically why you have them; but those awful little devices set up on your arms and legs a-a-are just another harmful mechanism to k-k-keep you meddling kids away from my sh-shows, ISN'T IT?! The ar-ar-ar-arcade was worse enough; giving you all a WHOLE BUILDING of it [hngg] BUT now you can take that same experience around in your grimey little pockets?! [AUghHHH]"

Allope fought past her fear and confronted it, "And what'r you gonna do about it? I haven't even watched your stupid shows and I hate em' even more now!" She made a raspberry and shot the screen again. Freddie yanked the laser gun out of her hands, hoping to prevent her from poking the bear. Allope picked up her headset as her second choice of a weapon; not fully realizing it was speaking again.

"[Minnie?]"

"What?" Allope wasn't paying attention to what he just muttered.

" Nothing. I-I just said 'What?'"

"Oh!" Allope politely answered, "I just said 'what're you going to do about it?', sorry-"

"Oh-yes! I'm so very-very-very-glad you asked, Al. "

He froze for a moment, but it almost looked like he was moving in slow motion. Little by little his movements clipped and glitched into one-another until he was no longer visible on the screen. All they could be heard was an arisal of high-pitched laughter clipping over itself and increasing in volume like Cliff queued on before. Lights dimmed and flickered. The screeching of the metal door could be heard for just a moment. It was slower from what the gang could hear. They dashed as quickly as they could towards the long-stretch towards the exit. The volume over the speakers became humanly impossible to bear, causing the small group of kids to bend over in pain and cuff their ears immediately. Allope's first instinct was to take out her earpiece, and then to push Jack and Dewly towards the exit. Freddie intended to follow closely behind Allope, but lost sight when he noticed other small confused children crouching in pain at the main play-area. Despite the feeling of his brain and eardrums being raked against a cheesegrater, he pulled each kid up off the floor and guided them further to come home safe. Delwy and Allope pushed a fading Jack out as quickly as they could; piling empty boxes and trash cans under the closing door. All items broke under the pressure fairly quickly. Dewly yanked on the bottom of the door to stop it, and Allope uselessly followed along by holding the other side. Holding the sliding metal door, Allope was able to feel all the crushing weight of a thought she couldn't quite find words to explain before. For no other reason than existing, she knew it was coming as if it was deserved. She's seen it pictured multiple times within the last few weeks, feeling it come in touch with reality, but not knowing how close it really was; her world was being taken away.