• Peter went for the door, but then apparently thought better of it. "We probably shouldn't pass Michael, or he'll ask questions. I just don't want him to know about this just yet, I'm not sure why."

    "So how do we get out of here?" Celica asked as Peter began to walk over to the window.

    "Well I know how you will get out of here." He said, smiling a little bit. "My way is a bit trickier." He raised his arms, fingers stretched outwards, hands parallel to the floor of the room. The shards of glass that carpeted the wood floor began to slide and roll towards a spot on the floor in front of Peter's feet.

    They began to melt together and soon there was a silvery, liquid blob, rippling and pulsating. He maneuvered his fingers skillfully, and the blob shaped itself into a flat, thick platform. He stood on it, and it rose up off of the ground and carried him out the window, waving cheerfully at Celica as he glided.

    "Wait, Peter!" Celica said, having been given no warning of his imminent actions. "Where are you going?" She leaned over the frame of the broken window, and saw Peter lowering himself carefully down onto the dead leaves below him. He hopped off of the platform, landed gracefully on the ground, and melted down the glass again.

    Celica was always amazed when Peter did things like this. She wasn't sure if she would ever get used to it. She had just begun to focus her mind on jumping when the door to the room burst open, and a man clothed entirely in black strode in, holding a large weapon that somewhat resembled a bazooka. "Don't even think about it, young lady." He spoke through a full face-mask as several similar figures followed in after her.

    She tried to Jump, but she was too surprised and panicked to focus on anything. "Put your hands up, and we'll take you and your friend down there." He pointed the tip of his gun at the shattered window.

    "Young lady, I said put your hands-" Suddenly, a silvery, shapeless blur rushed through the window, and struck the man on the side of the head. He fell silent and keeled over, his weapon clattering to the floor with a loud bang. Celica guessed that the thing must have weighed nearly 50 pounds, judging by how the floor shook when it landed.

    The other three armed intruders raised their weapons and began firing aimlessly, releasing dozens of projectiles each second, causing sparks to bounce off of every surface they touched. Ricochet bullets whistled around Celica's head and she fell to the floor, covering her head with a book that was laying nearby.

    Shouts and more gunshots caused even further chaos in the room, and she realized that Peter must be using the glass to fight the men. She concentrated hard on getting away from that room, and she found herself suddenly standing next to Peter, still holding the book over her head. She was screaming, and she hadn't even noticed. Her voice died away as Peter started and turned to face her, lost his concentration and dropped all the glass onto the ground, which shattered.

    "Let's go!" He said as the intruders jumped out of the window and landed on the soil, unfazed by the 30 foot drop.

    "What are they?" Celica asked, panting, as they sprinted from the scene, dodging trees and jumping over roots.

    "No time to explain." Peter replied as he jumped a particularly high rock. "But they're faster than us. You need to Jump with both of us." Peter knew she was going to ask, so he added, "Grab onto my arm and do whatever you do normally."

    "But where do I go?" Still in full forward motion, Celica heard the heavy footsteps catching up behind them.

    "It doesn't matter, just not here!" Peter yelled, exasperated, as bullets struck the branches around their heads as they plunged deeper into the forest.

    Celica had next to no knowledge of what this world was like. She only had two specific places in memory, and both of those were off-limits. "Okay," She yelled back uneasily. She grabbed Peter's arm and thought hard about a quiet place where they wouldn't get hurt.

    She felt the same silent, unfeeling sensation that she had experienced when she had first Jumped. She was subconsciously aware that she was in the void between worlds, and that she and Peter were probably drifting into her world again. What seemed like a long time passed, and nothing happened. It had taken much less time than this the first time.

    She suddenly felt drops of water flecking her hair and shoulders, and a chill wind was whistling around them. They were in an alleyway of a cobblestone street, tall black buildings on either side of them.

    "Good job," Peter said blankly, a bit winded. "Are we on Earth?"

    "I honestly don't know. None of this looks familiar." Celica replied, a bit scared.

    "Well, there's only one way to find out." Peter said confidently, and began striding towards the street where the rainfall was much heavier, unbroken by rooftops or clotheslines which hung above Celica.

    "Why is there always only one way?" Celica asked impatiently as she scurried after him, pulling her jacket a little closer to her body.