RES University

"So, I say we go quietly first." Lawrence said. "And if someone messes up, I'll get the attention of the Masked."

"As long as we get there and don't die, I really don't care." Amethyst spoke up. "Whatever works, quite frankly."

"Whatever." Hoxton muttered. "Let's just get to it."

"There's a set of outdoor stairs on the side of this building, and it leads into an alley." Lance noticed. "And I can't see any Masked... from here, at least."

"Yeah, alright," Aria said. "Let's get going."

"Okay. Quiet approach." Amethyst muttered, opening the gate to the stairs. It creaked, loudly, but nothing below moved. "And if any Masked notice us, we kill them. I like this plan."

Lawrence followed, hovering. 

"Reminds me of- ah, I won't say." Hoxton whispered, keeping low and following them.

"Hm, yeah. Sounds cool to me," Aria remarked, driving a clean cluster of shards through a Masked.

Hoxton didn't speak a word.

"Ah, geez. Where did these things even come from?"

"Really, if we knew where they came from, that'd help a lot." Amethyst muttered. 

Lawrence was hovering through walls and such quite casually, looking around. "I don't see any Masked taking notice of us..."

"If you'd shut up, we have even less chance of being seen." Hoxton whispered aggressively.

Aria nodded, slashing a Masked to shreds with another crystalline attack. 

"Oh, c'mon, what are the chances of a lot of Masked actually noticing u-" And in that moment, Lawrence glitched into existence, crashing into a balcony. It came loose and fell to the ground, clattering loudly. 

The Masked froze.

"You F***ING TWAT!" Hoxton shouted, instantly angry.

Aria remained silent, quickly leaping onto  building. 

Lawrence stumbled back in midair, cursing under his breath. "Damn... that wasn't the intention..."

The Masked began slowly trudging towards the source of the noise.

"Which direction is the f***ing fountain?!" Hoxton shouted, getting his guns out.

"Uh, uh, u-u-uh, that way!" Lance shouted, vanishing into the crowd of Masked, hoping not to get infected or turned. Lawrence and Amethyst desperately followed, trying to keep up.

Aria attacked from up above, eliminiating the ones that had somehow gotten onto the roof. She then proceeded to fire away at the ones below, trying her best to not hit her acquaintences. 

Lawrence could already see the faded sign that read "TRAL MALL". Half of the thing had been destroyed by who knew what. "Guys! Over here!"

Amethyst caught up easily, having made an opening in the mob by burning the strange, zombie-like creatures to death.