[Plot] Hello, We Must Be Going

[Leo Eskandari]

"How, exactly, are we gettin in? I don't see a hatch or anythin," Leo asked.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"I could unearth a portion and we can bust through a wall, but if we are looking for something more covert, meeting with Victor may be the best method. "

[Samantha McManus]

"We managed to get an incomplete layout from the one who tried to escape. It might be a bit unreliable, but it's more than we had. Only one problem. She'd never seen an entrance or an exit, it seems."

[Victor Freud]

And there was an expert-in-training standing out in the field, waving around a glowstick to signal where the vent was. As far as other entrances were concerned, he hadn't a clue.

[Chase Delacroix]

"Since we've already tipped our hand, I'd say we hit fast and hard. It goes against my instincts but time might not be on our side."

[Samantha McManus]

"They've got a gun to the head of every inmate, Chase."

[Chase Delacroix]

Chase cursed. "Shit. Looks like Robin will have to hold out a little longer for us to find the security room and disable the devices. Vic, dhow many people can you take?"

[Victor Freud]

Victor looked at the group and started counting them out. "I... should be able to take all of you. But I guess it depends if we're holdin' hands or you're riding in my pocket. One's a lot harder than the other. And..." He looked up at Leo. "... some need a little more effort than others.

"... but I can do it."

[Will Stanton]

"How can we make this as easy as possible for you?" Will asked. "What do you need?"

[Victor Freud]

"Remaining calm and maintaining physical contact are the two big ones. Seriously, if you let go or something... thoomp, you're stuck in a pipe now." Well, that was encouraging. "But in your case specifically, if you can make yourself as small and dense as possible, that'd save me a lot of work. The rest of you, just... yeah, the first two parts. It might help if you keep your eyes closed, the shift in perspective can make some people pretty nauseous."

[Will Stanton]

"Small, dense, and somewhere you can shove me out of the way to keep your hands free for climbing. Can do," Will nodded, limbering up.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Sorry Vic, I didn't think we'd be crawlin through the vents when I volunteered," Leo apologized.

[Victor Freud]

Victor gave Leo a reassuring smile. "Don't worry big guy, I've been practicing."

[Chase Delacroix]

"Then let's not waste any more time," Chase said, nodding to Vic.

[Victor Freud]

"Right. Let's get over to the vent first though. The less time I have to spend focusing on this, the better."

[Narrator]

The vent hadn't changed in any way such as closing itself off otherwise barring Victor from doing exactly as he intended. Likewise, no one seemed to be coming out to 'greet' them, the meadow staying just as still as it always was.

The lack of activity might seem a bit unnerving to some of the veterans.

[Victor Freud]

Victor opened up the top of the vent before he unbuttoned the front flap of his jacket. He then turned to face the others and held out his hand, palm up.

"Alright, who's first?"

[Leo Eskandari]

"Since I'm the most effort, I'll go last."

[Chase Delacroix]

"Just pick whoever," Chase said anxiously.

[Will Stanton]

Victor opened up the top of the vent before he unbuttoned the front flap of his jacket. He then turned to face the others and held out his hand, palm up.

"Alright, who's first?"

Will had shrunken down decently well, and walked over towards Vic to be shrunken even more, the better to fit through the pipes.

"Let's get it going," he nodded.

[Samantha McManus]

Sam hasn't been seen for a few moments, but shortly a raven swoops down to perch on Vic's shoulder.

[Victor Freud]

With a raven perched on his shoulder Victor squatted down to take Will into his hands, one on top of his head and the other under his feet. And then, like he was crushing an empty beer can, he pushed his hands together suddenly - except he didn't clap his hands together, he stopped when they were still about 3-4 inches apart. Will, being used to shifting and such, probably wouldn't find the change in perspective too disorienting - after all they didn't exactly have an inner ear to get motion sick. But the feeling of intense pressure squeezing their entire body would be different.

The job done, he took the now pocket-sized green-haired young-man and put him in, appropriately, a large pocket that had been revealed when he opened up his coat. Convenient, it's almost like he'd factored that into his costume's design or something. And then he looked to Chase.

"Right, your turn."

[Will Stanton]

"Oofda. Bottle that and sell it," Will said, a little disoriented, before Vic shoved him in his pocket.

[Chase Delacroix]

Chase double-checked that his collapsible bo-staff was secure before nodding his consent.

[Victor Freud]

Victor did the same thing with Chase, though it took a little longer since he had to "push him down" enough to handle him with two hands. How easy of a time Chase had with it depended largely on how prone he was to vertigo and motion sickness, and whether or not he kept his eyes open. When the pressure felt like it was going to crush him it stopped increasing, and digits as big as tree trunks plucked him by the waist and had him join Will in that pocket.

"Two down, two to go."

[Will Stanton]

"So. Come here often?"

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Chisaki didn't have much she could do to make herself smaller. Maybe not being a very big girl in the first place was helpful?

She stepped up and held out her hand for Victor.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo went ahead and got in line for his turn, ready to put a hand out. And definitely close his eyes when the time came.

[Victor Freud]

Victor had to be a little careful in how he handled Chisaki for... reasons. The experience for her was much the same as it had been for the others; the sense of "falling" like riding in an elevator coupled with the pressure bearing down on her from all directions. The sensation of having a massive hand scoop her up by the tush and legs and then the rapid ascent to be gently dropped into the pocket with Chase and Will.

And then it was Leo's turn. Which... took longer. A lot longer. Whether it was because he was so big, or if Victor was already starting to strain from the effort, but it definitely felt like it was taking a lot longer. Of course, maybe that was just Leo's nerves, who could say.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Weird shit rarely phased Chisaki. But maybe that's because she classified as 'weird shit' by most people's terms.

"Let us go." Chisaki stated, looking up at Victor from his pocket and clutching at the end of it.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo had been through a painful full body metamorphosis, so getting shrunk was far from the strangest or most unpleasant experience of his life. Still, it was for the best that he had closed his eyes as he did feel some nausea.

The others in the pocket had to be careful of his horns but at least his mane was nice and soft.

"Yeah, let's get this over with. I don't like small spaces."

[Will Stanton]

"And I don't Vic was planning on cramming more than one, maybe two people in here. Watch your elbow, please; I don't like them in my spleen when I bother to have a spleen."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I'm already makin myself as compact as I can," he groused.

[Victor Freud]

"Yeah, well get ready to go beyond, plus ultra." Victor cryptically warned his passengers, raven included. With the top of the vent already lopped off (he had to do something while he was waiting for others to arrive) he leapt up over it, and rapidly condensed to fall down the pipe and into the ventilation system. The slow pressure sensation hit the riders like a stomach punch, and the sensation of falling just didn't stop because they were literally falling.

[Will Stanton]

Will had ridden the first shrinking just fine -- and, honestly, could have gone a little smaller, but there's a degree of decorum when it came to shifters that one does not breach.

But with Vic shrinking even more, things were different. If he strained, he could probably get as small as Vic did going down the ventilation shaft, though he'd need a good massage afterwards. But to be pocket-sized to someone of that height? Oh no no no -- less than a centimeter tall from tip to toe was well out of his range, and his cells complained angrily as he was condensed far further than he could on his own merits. His eyes widened, and he held on to whoever was next to him for a bit of stability, as the new sensations overcame him.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

With Will clinging to her momentarily, Chisaki laid her hand over one of his to comfort him.

"It will be alright Stanton-San. We will not be like this for very long. Victor-senpai can spring us from the airducts at the very first vent."

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, sure," he said, his voice strained. "I'm sure it will be a short time..."

[Victor Freud]

The fall might've been a little fear-enducing, to plummet into darkness, but soon there was the sound of friction as leather rubbed against metal, and the descent slowed at a more reasonable pace than if they'd just went straight to the bottom. The incredible pressure had relaxed just a bit on Vic's passengers as he had made himself ever so slightly (pun fully intended) larger so that took up more room in the pipe. Rapid "flexes" of size let him control the descent until they'd hear the sound of boots hitting aluminum.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Not sure how much more this I can take," Leo said, getting very anxious from the discomfort and mild claustrophobia.

[Victor Freud]

It probably didn't help that Victor's body was getting noticeably hotter, his breathing heavier, and his heart beat was getting faster and heavier. It definitely added a sour note to the otherwise pleasant stroll through a dark, dusty vent deep underground.