You see it in movies.

They just casually rip clothing, so the heroine can make bandages for the wounded rainbow ice-cream unicorn... or whatever.

Lies. It's all horrible, horrible lies.

The cold, harsh reality of life is that clothes don't conveniently rip like wet paper when you want them to.

A fact I recently discovered for myself as I sat on the floor tearing savagely at the seam of my gown like my life depended on it.

Or you know, a very desperate miniature girl running for her life and getting sick of tripping over a freaking ball gown of all things.

... To the point that she would waste precious time fixing up her outfit rather than escaping.

Everybody else is crazy around here, so if you can't beat them, join them.

"First it's King of the hill," I said bitterly to myself as I strained against the expensive material. "And now she wants to play tag? It's all just fun and games with this lady."

How can I sound so calm when all I really want to do is throw up? Throw up and crawl into a corner and cry.

"Traditionally, though, the person who is IT is supposed to be the one doing the chasing," I said.

Cause complaining somehow makes it seem like I have some control in my life.

"... And yea, the game doesn't normally involve death penalties for being caught, so how's that for unconventional?"

All in all, ranting in the middle of a giant hallway still wasn't the brightest of ideas.

But if I didn't let my mouth race, I'm pretty my heart would take its place.

"The Game is simple Maddison, yet I will take the time to explain it, as you are very stupid." I mocked in a whispery voice. "You run. In five minutes, I will send Jack to catch you. Alexander or Jack, whoever catches you first is the winner!"

And the prize. Is your life.

Tears of relief sprung to my eyes as the dress surrendered to my overwhelming power and the sound of tearing fabric graced my ears.

Good thing too. I didn't have time left to spare, especially not on looking fabulous.

Success only made me stronger, as I made quick work with the rest of the dress.

When it was done, I stood, with my hands in the air in the V of victory, with the breeze of freedom on my legs.

It almost made me want to see Dr Floid, one last time, just to witness the expression on her face when she saw what I had done to defeat her ultimate evil plan to trap me.

In a dress.

Though... The adjustments may have gone accidentally higher than I intended.... but at least I would be able to actually run now.

Speaking of which...

With the jump boots to aid me, I took off at full speed.

Nothing like a game of death tag in the buried ruins of a huge freaking laboratory... What was left of it after Alan's and Alex's little rebellion anyway.

"Next time... You blow something up... Do it thoroughly... " I gritted out as I ran, hoping that Peri would be kind enough to pass the message along.

That's right. Not only was there a giant room with supercomputer down here, but a (lab)yrinth fit for any horror scene.

The dark hallways were barely lit, only the odd fluorescent light in the maze of unending corners.

And Cassandra's room was hidden somewhere in the middle of it all.

No wonder Alex hasn't found me yet.

Going by his memory and Peri's account of my abduction, I wouldn't be surprised if the idiot is lost as well.

Pretty sure the only reason Jack made it look so easy was because he could fly and he...

"YOUR FIVE MINUTES ARE UP. "

.... knows this place like the back of his hand.

Wing. Whatever.

The sound of Cassandra' s voice over the speakers was enough to make me stumble, then run even faster as the implications of what she said took the chance to catch up with my brain.

Of course, I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid Jack in the long run.

The idea of Alex actually finding me first and Jack deciding to retire to Fiji where he would be crushed by a random falling coconut oil delivery truck, never so much as crossed my mind.

So prepared for the worst to inevitably happen, I rounded the corner with no other goal in mind but to buy Alex time.

And came face to face, with a staircase.

A giant staircase, where every individual stair was easily twice my height.

For a moment, I stood there staring silently at THE FREAKING MOUNTAIN FATE HAD DECIDED TO PUT IN MY PATH.

Calmly, I walked up to the foot of the stairs to analyse the problem from an even more daunting angle.

Upon closer inspection, I concluded that, yes, climbing these stairs was going to be Hell. And no, punching the stairs didn't do anything but give me a sore hand.

Clutching my throbbing fist, I finally let myself articulate my frustrated thoughts through verbal means.

I doubted that Alex would need Peri's help for much longer.

All he would have to do is follow the screams of vile language down the halls.

Amongst all this screaming, not once did it really occur to me that Jack also has ears.

No, it was only much later, after declaring the staircase to be my new arch-nemesis, that I really recalled the reason why I was here in the first place.

It took more will power than I like to admit, to actually stop yelling after that.

The urge to berate myself had me screwing my eyes shut and clamping down on screams of pure self-loathing.

Come on Maddison, you have the jump boots. You can either backtrack or start climbing. If you don't choose something now, you're going to die.

Worse, You will die, in the middle of an argument with Vain.

The urge to scream hit the wall and I straightened up grimly.

There was no way I was going to die on bad terms with Vain. He would haunt me in the afterlife.

I have to survive this. So that I can see him again, and watch him beg for my forgiveness.

"If there is one thing I know about being underground, it's that Up means out." I murmured, staring up at the daunting task before me.

Well, technically there is a chance that I am wrong here, so maybe I should...

"Staircase it is then." I squashed down the second thoughts and stepped forward.

Glaring at my foe the entire time, I went up to the first step and jumped.

Every journey begins with a single step. In my case, that step... And every step that follows after... just happens to be a twelve-foot wall of solid concrete.

Jump boots or not, I wasn't a freaking flea, so I didn't fly up in into the air and land on the step with ease.

I made it high enough to grab the edge of the step, pulling myself up and over with scrambling panic.

I didn't waste time celebrating... Or catching my breath... I moved onto the next step.

This time when I jumped and caught the edge, my hands couldn't get enough purchase to hold on.

Falling back on my ass, all I could do for a long moment was glare sourly at the step in front of me in, trying to force away the panic bubbling up in my chest. Hands clenched into fists, I ignored the growing burn of torn skin.

A lack of grip gloves was going to make this whole thing a nightmare...but I knew that before I started climbing.

Still, at this rate, my hands will... I threw myself to my feet, not letting myself think about it.

"Okay step," I whispered, aware that I had to be quiet if I didn't want Jack to find and, you know, kill me.

"Time for round two."