Moonless, starless night.
Toppled cars. Burning buildings.
Trash blowing unceremoniously across the abandoned roads.
Hot dog carts tipped over. Fallen lamp posts.
The Empire State Building reaching into the blackness of night.
This is the setting Mulan walks into the instant she exits the portal. No crowds, no taxis... Only the unpleasant sound of burning cars and trashed-swept wind. The scenery is easily distinguishable, no doubt being New York City. Post-apocalyptic-wise.
Not a single soul wanders these vacant streets, minus the players themselves. The entire city, emptied. Maybe. It could be that people are hidden away inside these buildings, much like before on level one when they were hiding from the griffin.
For the first time tonight, Mulan is thankful this is a game, because level four is outright horrific. At least... She hopes it's still the game, and they haven't exited the house to find the outside trashed and trampled through–
No. She won't allow herself to think like this. New York was fine when she drove through to arrive at the party, and this is months of destruction. Not hours.
Aladdin whistles, kicking aside a fallen garbage can. "What happened here?"
"Looks like a tornado came through here. And World War III." Kristoff observes, kneeling down to peer underneath a car flipped onto it's side. "But only left destruction on the streets."
He isn't wrong about that. Amiss the chaos, the buildings towering into the sky are left unharmed, minus the fact they are all dark inside; very unlike New York. Thankfully, the lampposts still standing illuminated the streets.
"It kind of looks like Call of Duty: Black Ops!" Hiro geeks, clutching the phone given to him by Hans close to his chest.
"What is Call of Duty?" Ariel asks, receiving yet another unbelieving glance from Hiro.
"I don't understand what we're supposed to do here." Kayley motions for the phone from Hiro. "What's the point of this level?"
Instead of handing the phone over, Hiro boots it back up and swipes his finger across the screen, Kayley coming to peer over his shoulder. Mulan steps away, gliding down the street in search of anything helpful. A scampering noise inside one of the trash cans startles her, but it's only a rat that leaps onto the rim, a large slice of cheese in it's mouth. She forces herself to relax, spotting a building with the yellow of glow of lightbulbs breaking through the window.
As she stands in the road, deciding what to do next, the door of this same building is flung open, and she instantly reaches for the bow on her back. A faint pink light illuminates the street from inside the building, before a familiar face steps out into the lamp light.
"There you all are." Flora struts to the group, Terrence and Periwinkle falling in behind her. Mulan lingers, then follows them both as Flora begins to address the gamers. "I'm glad I caught you before you went inside. Scar's been tampering with the game."
"What does tampering mean?" Mason asks out of annoyance.
"He's changing the rules of the game." The fairy sneers back, her wings flickering behind her. "The goal of this level is to make it through there-" She points back to the only lit building in the city. "-without being caught by the police."
"Too easy!" Aladdin remarks, receiving laughs from Eli and Kiara and a grumble from Ariel.
Hiro huffs, his focus cast down on the phone. He flips the device upside down, squinting into the headphone jack and speakers, then thumps it with his palm. With a frustrated sigh, he resumes messing with the screen.
