-dying, but the part that's dying is behind me and not getting closer.
Leap! There, a hole in a trunk, aim for-. It's getting bigger but okay, through the hole and-.
...There's just one
annoying thing about these sequences, and I'm sure you can see why it's
relevant, because...
And an ocean on a buoy and leap, land on a small speedboat and leap, use the time in the air to glance back-
There's a pink fog bank rolling in, but it's continuing to fall back. It's directed movement and commitment to the idea of movement, not just moving. I know that I'm about twenty seconds from being erased from existence, but this is actually kind of fun!
...The games tend to have a tendency to
kill you if you do anything
but run.
Leap, and I fly through the air, legs flailing in a running motion as I go and here comes the cruise liner! Land on the deck, stagger a few steps, and-.
"Paul, what's going on?"
"Alan?"
Sadly, I doubt Alan is
any kind of gamer, in the
modern sense. So a sequence like this would be very new to him. And very confusing.
Alan drops down from the upper deck and he's not running!
"Any idea-?"
Standing still very bad. Very very bad idea! [/JackieChan]
I dart towards him, wrap my right arm around his back as pink mist flows down after him and drag him into motion!
"Keep running, keep running!"
And now he's probably having a classic Doctor Who moment. At least the corridors
here aren't made of wobbly cardboard and foam.
He gets the idea, but I don't think he's committing.
"Where are we running too? I can't even see-."
That's not your job, Alan. Sandy's the one handling where you're going. All you need to do is keep up.
"We're not running 'too', we're running. This is a dream and not an obstacle course, we're existing in a small bubble made by Sanderson and The Demon. Stop thinking and hurl yourself forwards!"
"Okay, I-"
And while Alan is more of a Man of Action than OL is, even
he can't keep up this level of blind sprinting, I bet.
The ship tips, the world turning around us as it goes over the rimfall, stars above and beneath us as everything starts falling!
Alan tries to grab onto a railing.
Boy, whoever's dreaming
this bit must be a One Piece fan, if the ocean is this changeable. Because
Grand Line conditions.
"NO! Run run run!"
I'm running down the near-vertical deck, and-. And he's still not there and there's a railing and I run along that and look up and he's not running! Rope rope life ring the mist is right behind him throw!
See what I meant about running sequences killing you if you didn't
run?
Come on, protagonist protection! No loading a save here!
The mist surges down, and-. And it hits the railing first as my ring-on-a-rope falls back towards me, and Alan falls-
"-an, intent! Faster!"
And if there's one thing a former Green lantern understands, it's
intent.
He falls clumsily for a second, then manages to kick off the deck far enough that he's actually falling-. Falling past me because I stopped-! Move! Over the railing, throw the ring, leap to the ring and kick off towards… Whatever's that way! Rock, rock sticking out of the rim. Land running around it and kick off-.
And check what Alan's managing to-.
Boy, it really feels like the map is building itself moments before you reach it, doesn't it?
"This is crazy!"
He's got hold of a lifeboat and is paddling it downwards, good!
That's the spirit! Row,
row like your life depends on it! Because it
does.
"Keep doing-"
I push off directly downwards, leaping onto a falling rock.
"-that!"
Now, to worry about yourself, OL. Not out of the pond yet.
"I think I got it!"
Okay, Alan knows what to do, Sanderson and The Demon must or we wouldn't still be here, and Dr. Balewa can look after-
On the upside, once you are in the swing of things, it's fairly easy to keep that way... Until something distracts you and your next step ends up missing the ground...
Another leap, and I'm standing on a tiny planet in orbit around a tiny sun.
-himself.
...That's one
hell of a first step.
No sign of Alan, but that appears to be how things are working. Have to meet up later.
I leap over the sun, towards a slightly larger rocky world on the far side.
And a giant leap, too!
I just wish I knew if we were anywhere near the end. It's like-
Another jump and I'm standing on the solid core of a gas giant.
-a boss without a health bar. I've got no real idea whether I'm actually making progress or not.
God, I know, right? Like in Terraria. Before the Journey's End update, and unmodded, the only way to know how much
health a boss had left was to put the mouse over it. That's why one of the first Quality of Life mods anyone downloads tends to be a Boss Health Bar mod... And a lot of major content mods included their own health Bar systems...
...Digression over...
A leap and a tiny exoplanet and then a flying leap into the void and the pink mist eats the system. Stars fly past, my feet darting out to touch them one after another to maintain my momentum.
"Anybody here?!"
Ooh, walking on
sunshine stars? Talk about a hot-foot.
The blackness becomes a wall, stars vanishing and only rock remaining! I twist and land on my feet, changing my orientation and running up/along the surface.
"Anybody at all?!"
Good reaction time. Some would probably half landed face-down and lay there stunned. Which would end
poorly for them.
The rock cracks and I grab the closest lump and push! They're moving in a chaotic pattern, and I'm forced to switch between shoving with arms and leg and-
Ugh!
And now you're climbing through the playfield of '
Asteroids'... What a
trip.
-just take the hit to my chest before inelegantly scrambling around in order to keep going. The pink mist is still there, but it's well behind me.
Okay, I'm keeping my position, but am I still doing something wrong? I'm following the path Sanderson-.
Maybe he's having his own performance issues. I mean, he's never done this before either.
What's he seeing?
The floating rocks around me dissolve into sand, forming a black desert under a black sky. The only illumination comes from a great glowing ring in the sky.
Ooh,
ominous. Hopefully just a really moody dream and not something more symbolic.
Towards Sanderson and The Demon-.
Something erupts from the sand like a flying fish leaping from the water!
Oh, crap! Where's that
Dune quote? "Stilgar, do we have Wormsign?"
"Orange Lantern!"
Sanderson's upper torso forms the leading part, while the trunk and tail are made of the black sand that surrounds us. The Demon Constantine is stuck in the torso, his head lolling as he maintains our dream bubble.
"Usul, we have Wormsign the likes of which even
God has never seen!" On the upside, this is a lot nicer-looking than a Shai-Hulud.
"Sandman! Which way?"
"I can't tell! Whenever I slow down to try and work it out, the mist catches up with us? I haven't even see Blue Lantern and Mist!"
Learn to multi-task, man!
"I have! They were fine!"
"Oh, good! But I still don't know where we're going!"
...Wait, who's
driving this crazy thing? Morpheus, take the wheel!
"If I carry you, will you have enough time to have a vision?"
"Maybe. But we can't leave Constantine!"
Gee, the Demon proving to be dead weight, huh? Who'd have thought it?
"Of course not! Shift back to human form, then put him on my back. I'll bridal carry you."
"Can you do that and outrun the mist?"
Man, Jade is going to bust a
gut when she hears this story.
"I'll have to! We need an exit!"
"Okay. Three. Two. One!"
...And they're going to be picking sand out of
everywhere for days after this, I bet.
