Candy Land Tower

"No, no, Jasmine! You've got it all wrong! Games can never be bad!" Frambuesa insisted. Who cared if this room was terribly small, lonely, and lacking in frilly things? There was a TV with bunny ears! There was a pretty decent view, too, but no one cares about nature and fresh air and shit like that these days. From what the modern world had taught Frambuesa, the outside world was just a backdrop unless it was being viewed through a screen, in which case it was an exciting world full of adventure!

And death. And the fate of several worlds. But mostly adventure.

"You see, Jasmine, someone's always going to be entertained! Sometimes its fun for the players, but it's usually fun for whoever is watching! So, as long as someone's happy, it doesn't really matter what happens, right?"

The mini-fridge stared back at her, sharing its infinite wisdom through the magic of silence. After about five minutes, Fram frowned. Even though neither of the two had eyes, Jasmine always seemed to beat her in staring contests. This was the third time this...oh, how long had it been since the last contest? Fifteen minutes, maybe? Twenty?

"Of course I'm not just saying that because I'm half-dead! Why, if I die, I'm worthless, too! You're so insensitive! You never think about my feelings!" she sobbed, imaginary tears blurring her vision of her inanimate ex-bff. Jasmine didn't respond, prompting Frambuesa to undo one of her twin tails and throw the undone ribbon at Jasmine.

Silence.

"...C-Can I have that back?"

---

Casque wasn't entirely sure how he felt yet. Androidtopia's fate was on his shoulders, which made him a hero. Well, would make him a hero, and by would I mean probably won't. He got by in life fine...I mean, for a guy with a neon green block for a head, he had a pretty successful life. But most of the time life didn't involve fighting for the salvation of the world and stuff like that. That was video game stuff. Sure, Casque was pretty good at video games, but he also used strategy guides and cheated whenever possible. Cheating usually worked in real life, too, but he was having difficulties finding the A and B buttons on his Deus Ex Machina. Now, was it up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A...or was it up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B?

Maybe it was because he had a big ol' box for a head, but Casque wasn't the brightest box in the...place with boxes...

Shut up. Shut up.

Returning to relevancy, he wasn't the brightest---wait, that box is pretty bright. I don't think even being yellow would make it---oh, damn it, I did it again!

Okay, basically, Casque didn't pay a lot of attention to things unless they were ballin' enough to keep his attention. For example, instead of thinking about his mixed feelings on saving the world (or, more likely, dooming it) or making this post less disjointed, he was busy grimacing at how dirty his shoes were already. Maybe it was a bad idea to wear dress shoes on a quest to save the world...I mean, they were just going to get ruined, and they clashed with his box-head-matching backpack...but he was on TV! Gotta look your best for the---

Wait, why was everyone running? The race hadn't started y---

Oh. Shit.

Upon realizing what was going on, Casque rushed to catch up with everyone else. This was it! This was his time to shine! Surely no one would want to get in his way if he got this first Heart Stone! He'd be unstoppable!

Which was why he almost immediately tripped over Jezebel.

Well, there's always Hevee.

It was an awkward trip, but Frambuesa eventually went back to Jasmine to retrieve her ribbon. The trip back was even worse: she could feel Jasmine's cold stare piercing through her. Feeling guilty for being so rude to her only friend here, Fram twiddled her thumbs and slowly made imaginary eye contact with the mini-fridge.

"Listen, Jasmine...I...I'm really sorry for what I said...I just...I don't really like being alone, and...I mean, I know that Humphrey's here, too, but..."

She glanced at the sink and then edged closer to Jasmine, not wanting Humphrey to hear.

"I think he watches me when I sleep."

After supposedly getting a positive response from Jasmine, Fram bounced back over to her cot and proceeded to multi-task to the extreme: she managed to resume her staring contest with Jasmine, ignore the buzzing in her pocket, and get her hands tangled up in her ribbon all at the same time!

Such talent!

---

Clumsy freak...all your fault...

How terrible! His first day in this wacky competition and people were already being rude to him! It wasn't because he tripped over that girl and ruined her chances at getting that first Heart Stone, that was silly. This cruelty was clearly related to his box-head or something equally heartless! Yes, that had to be it! Any normal person would've used that close opportunity to become his best friend!

Or...or something like that. Either way, this was quite the improper start. Wasn't this being broadcasted live or something? Casque cringed at the thought...now he was sandy and embarrassed! In front of millions! Figuring that contemplating all of this while lying around in the sand wasn't helping, he finally stood up and brushed himself off.

"That was completely intentional! All part of my master plan!" he announced, not making it entirely clear if he was trying to regain whatever pathetic image he had or if he was trying to delude himself into confidence. Moving a bit quicker now, Casque whipped out his Deus ex Machina. Someone already got the first Heart Stone, and, from the looks of it, everyone was rushing towards the oasis. Although he wanted to tell himself otherwise, Casque knew that he wouldn't last very long in a mess like that.

That left the stone by the tower, which was a good three miles away. It would suck trying to run over there all by himself, and he'd have to use up all three of his Heart Stones (assuming he even got to that last one in time) if he wanted to get in...but if he managed to get to Celeste alone, then maybe he'd have a shot at killing her and getting his Heart Stones back! And if he did that, then maybe everyone would think he was competent and they'd join up with him, allowing him to form a contract with a shield and become competent for real! Or maybe he'd pass out midway through, someone else would get the Heart Stone, and he'd die alone in this unforgiving wasteland.

Deciding that he didn't want to risk being insulted by more girls there was only one way to find out, Casque ran off towards his target at the speed of light!

Casque liked to pretend that light moved at the speed of a relatively fit young adult.

It took an ungodly long time, but Frambuesa eventually lost her staring contest with Jasmine. "How do you lose a staring contest when neither of the contestants have eyes?", you ask? Well, that's a dumb question. Why the hell are you questioning Fram's logic? I mean, really? Really? It's a hopeless road for you logical types. Just...just leave now.

"Looks like you won, Jasmine! Again..." Fram congratulated, secretly bored with Jasmine. She didn't talk much, and she always won staring contests...games weren't fun when the same person won over and over! Stagnation was boring.

Fram went through her pockets (after untangling herself and putting her ribbon back on) and pulled out her phone, remembering that it vibrated while she was in the middle of her staring contest. There was an invitation to the waiting room, and all she had to do was hit yes! But, if she left, then Jasmine (and Humphrey, but Fram didn't really like Humphrey) might be offended. What if she asked some kind of emotional question after Fram explained where she was going? What if Jasmine felt abandoned and unloved and cried herself to death and never talked to her again? What if...?!

Panicking, Fram released her inhibitions and hit 'yes', sending her to the Waiting Room. Upon arrival, she almost nervously looked aro---

...

...

...

How does she see without eyes, anyways?

---

It was definitely a pain in the ass, but Casque had managed to keep running without stopping to take a break. It was all about moderation - he made sure not to go too fast or slow, and kept his breathing at a fairly constant rate. The fact that he was focusing on the sand in his shoes than exhaustion helped, too. All in all, things were going well; he had to be around halfway there, and no one was around. There was no stopping him now!

...Or, so he thought. I mean, with a line like that, you know something bad has to happen.

Guns are pretty loud, so Casque happened to hear Jerome's gunshots in the near distance (which totally makes sense). He glanced back, looking at the blurry figures a while behind him for only a second before swiftly returning his eyes to the tower. Well, not literally. One, he didn't really have eyes (it just occurred to me that neither of my characters in this RP have eyes...), and two, he'd never borrow eyes from someone...especially not a tower! But I digress.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT PEOPLE ARE FOLLOWING ME OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE I HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR THERE'S SO MANY THINGS I HAVEN'T DONE ASDFGFKJGSHGDKH" was the best response to this situation he could think of, although he scrapped the initially planned exclamation point as to not look like a pussy in front of his pursuers. That likely wouldn't last for long.

Slowing his pace slightly - just enough to remove his backpack without tripping or something lame like that - he reached inside of his backpack, pulled out his handy-dandy microphone, and put his backpack back on.

"Note to self: if this ever happens again, at least bring a couple butterknives..."

Praying that his microphone and quite solid head would prove useful enough (he certainly wasn't looking to kill anyone, but he also wasn't looking to die), Casque stopped jogging.

He ran like a little bitch.