Mall

Am I done for the day?

Karl

You make your way to the mall, ignoring the fog. When you get here, it's kinda weird. The doors are locked, but you manage to get inside because

Inside, it's really foggy, which is weird, and you find a bunch of people you don't recognize. They're all plastic-y and mannequin-ny. Their sense of style's a bit way too fancy for your tastes, anyway. And they don't seem to like your outfit much, either. Even without eyes it kinda seems like they're glaring at you.

Karl

Instead of leaving immediately, you stop to set up a recording device. While you're working on it, some of the freakin' hippies start to close in on you. When you finally get it working just like Lisa taught you in robotics club you think probably you were mostly paying attention sorta anyway it looks like it's on. Wait, what was that about the hippies? Oh, right. You're surrounded by a bunch of weird plastic-looking fashion models with no sense of taste.

"Hey, who's in here?" a lady's voice calls out. "The mall is supposed to be closed!"

Wait, you know that voice. Kinda. It makes you angry. Something about police or something. When they hassled you about that pepper spray and hospital incident or whatever.

Karl

"No it isn't!" the lady calls back. "Now get out of here, before-"

One of the hippies charges you, clearly trying to steal your poptarts like the filthy hippie it is.

You hear the sound of gunfire before the hippie's head explodes. Another one falls over. "Out, while you have an opening."

Karl

"You're damn right I can tell you to leave, and if you don't comply I can haul you in for trespassing!"

You move away from some of the hippies trying to steal your poptarts, but one of them still reaches you. Fortunately, you manage to shield your poptarts from its scratchy claws with your shoulder. Which is now bleeding.

A policemanofficerwoman seems to appear out of the fog, firing more shots from a revolver, exploding another one of the hippies as shrapnel from its corpse shreds across some of the others.

Karl

Karl uses his key, a Karl mask appearing over his face. The shoulder still seems to be bleeding a little, but not as bad and stopping a lot faster. It doesn't hurt as bad, either.

"A soul key?" the officer gasps, putting another round into a mannequin sneaking up behind you. She was probably aiming for you, maybe, and you definitely dodged the bullet. You start moving away from the mannequins, breaking out of their circle through the gap from all the shooting. A mannequin swipes at you as you go, leaving another dull slashing pain in your side. You manage to get a bit of distance and some breathing room.

Karl

You make your way through the mall, new and unfamiliar monsters popping out. Somehow, the mall doesn't seem quite the same as you remember. Actually, it seems very different. Taller. More floors. More turns and dead ends. You head back the way you came, finding the mannequins in pieces and the cop missing. Either way, the exit's open.