In his head, Panu called it Rent-An-Adult. Probably this was too insulting to say to his Rental Adult, so this is what the job board posting said:

WANTED: Escort/Bodyguard/Responsible Adult

TASK: Simple escort of (non-whiny) child around New York City. Mutant preferred, humans will be considered, Adapteds should Die In Fire. No significant threats expected, but if you ever go anywhere unprepared for Terrible Things to happen then you are too stupid to live and you should please close this posting and go play with puppies and butterflies.

DURATION: Approx. 4 hours

LOCATION: Pick up child at Xavier's Institute for Gifted and Talented Children That Adults Care For So Much They Locked in Boarding School, drop off at same

The pay was listed, too. It was generous, and specified as being in cash. This was because the Feds had found most Ragnarok bank accounts, but any ATM Panu asked politely would gladly spill out all of its money and also show on its video that no one had been there.

And so it was that Panu, after having sorted through the internet's most qualified applicants-who-live-in-New-York-and-look-at-message-boards, was waiting just outside the Mansion gates, swinging his legs from the brick wall. The Finnish boy was dressed in shorts and a blue t-shirt, and had a smart phone hanging from a cord like he was a tourist. Also studio headphones pushed down around his neck, because it was hot out and they had been making his ears sweaty. Classical music played from them, at a polite not-trying-to-blast-the-street volume.

As it turned out, there was a very big loophole in his parole terms that Panu tried to only abuse when being locked in school was Making Him Insane: the judge had said he could not leave the school at all without a responsible adult escort.

Nowhere did it say he could not pay for a Responsible Adult Escort.

Erik was sort of new to the whole 'internet' thing outside of educational purposes. Mostly having been introduced by way of his relatively new smartphone. That didn't stop him from quickly learning to utilize it to stuff his pockets full of more money. It was the perfect job as far as he was concerned. Lots of money to babysit a kid for a few hours and best of all it was in cash. Not that he felt at all qualified as a 'Responsible Adult' being barely into adulthood himself. Oh well he got the job and that was all that mattered. Even if it required him to go stone's throw distance to one of his 'to-be-avoided-at-all-costs' places in New York. His only caveat to taking the job was that it started half hour past noon.

So the 'Super' Responsible Adult Mutant bore up the street riding his motorcycle, of which was quieter than your typical rumbler because he was a professional paranoiac who enjoyed getting around without being heard a mile away. The cotton white t-shirt and blue jeans gave off a subtle inadvertent Marlon Brando feel that went at odds with the barely legal helmet and eye protection that New York required for 'safety'. As he slowed to a stop he looked to the only kid waiting for him "You Pah-nu?" Not even waiting for an answer as he pulled out a youth sized helmet and goggles from a saddlebag and held them out for the kid.

His Responsible Adult was legal to drive, but not legal to drink (but mostly that was because America was stupid). His Responsible Adult was on a motorcycle, and had an accent that fit with his name of 'Erik Volkov' to make him almost-certainly-probably from Russia.

The little Finn grinned, and hopped down off the wall. He was not even going to delete this footage from the school's cameras: this was too funny. Like taking the exact words of his parole terms and rubbing their nose in mud. He could even prove this adult was responsible—see? The teen was giving him a helmet and goggles.

Very responsible.

He switched into Russian, where his accent was probably not very good, but no worse than when he spoke in English. Google translate whispered the words he wanted in his head, and he spoke them:

"Yes, I am Panu. It is good to meet you, Mr. Erik Volkov."

He set the helmet on his head, and felt at the straps until he knew where they were and how to tighten them. Then he fussed a little at making it just right, because his brain was 100% the most important part of him. Probably his quality of life would be much the same if he was just a head in a jar, as long as his brain stayed alive. And had access to a good data plan. The googles he also put on, but these were to humor his Adult. He did not think there was anything that would make him more blind.

"First we will go to the electronic store on Turner and 14th. Then—"

The Finn climbed on the back of the motorcycle, still rattling off today's itinerary. There were seven places he wanted to go, which left exactly a half hour for each place after drive time.

They would make it to none of them.

Erik wondered who or what taught the kid Russian and promptly dismissed it as it was refreshing to hear after so long after dealing with only English speakers. Certainly anyone who bothered to try and learn immediately qualified as not whiney.

"Nice meeting you too." Easiest stack of cash he figured he would ever make. 9-5 jobs were for chumps and people who didn't turn into giants. His time spent waiting for Panu to get himself settled onto the back of the bike staring, leering rather at the gates of the Mansion as if daring them to stop him.

As they pulled away he tried and failed to memorize all the places as the kid assaulted his brainspace with the impromptu itinerary and just settled for heading to the first and only destination he had managed to catch amidst it all. They made it over a hill and were on their way back down when Erik eased off the throttle. Much to his surprise the bike not only slowed, but ramped up to full throttle. "The hell!?" In very clear ringing Russian. A fast test of the breaks proved fruitless then tried turning off the whole works together. The machine screamed in protest and started shimmying in a even more worrying manner. "Panu!"

All his options exhausted he reached back one armed and pulled the kid around and hugged him to his chest then simply jumped backwards onto his back. Slamming to the ground and sliding on his soon to be bare back several feet as he growled out "FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUU@#@#$@#$!!!" Simultaneously his bike was reenacting that one horror movie where stuff came alive right before it careend sharply into a curb, flinging it cartwheeling several times through the air where it burst into flames for no apparent reason and without bothering to have the decency to hit the ground first simply exploded.

Once their skidding momentum stopped he finally let go of Panu from his strong impromptu hug. "You alright?" Lifting his head some to look at the waifish creature as he waited momentarily for his back to heal up.

Things had happened so fast he did not even know what happened. So fast that when they came tumbling to a stop, he buried his face into Erik's shirt and squeezed his eyes shut (stupid useless reflex why did it even matter) and replayed the footage in his head. Again. And again.

It made no sense. It was like watching a movie with bad special effects, but so bad that they were good again. Bikes did not catch fire like that, they did not explode like that, they did not randomly crash themselves in the middle of empty suburban streets like that.

>> "You alright?"

Panu was maybe shaking a little, but this was a Completely Normal Reaction and not because he was a scared child. Erik had been scared too. Probably. Very loud swearing usually meant either angry or scared, and the Russian teenager didn't sound angry.

The Finn's hands stayed balled up in Erik's shirt for just a moment longer, and then he let go, and sat up slowly. He rolled his shoulders and his ankles and poked at his ribs.

"Nothing is broken," he declared, because he was not going to complain about the way his elbow felt like a skinned carrot. It had bumped into the street when—

When Erik had hit the ground first, trying to protect him.

The Finn grabbed his phone in hand and used it to look at Erik's head and arms and legs and head and back and head he did not have head wound, right? Panu didn't move his head or eyes like most people would, only the phone.

Erik's back looked very not good, but also… not so bad. Less bad, as his camera watched.

"You are healer?" the boy asked, letting the relief get into his shoulders and slump them down. "I am technopath," he offered, because probably it was obvious by now that he was not normal. Probably it had been obvious since he asked to be picked up at the school.

He was focused so hard on Erik, he did not notice at first that the shadows around them were growing wider, and taller, and longer. All around them the nice suburban houses were rising higher and higher, coming closer together, changing into something else. The black street pavement melted and smoothed to checkered tiles as wide as Erik was tall. The rooftops bridged together over the sky far above, locking them on this side, and the sun far away. Giant fluorescent lights flicked on one by one.

They were in a shopping mall built for giants. There were letters on the signs towering above them, but even though they could be read letter by letter, the words themselves made no sense. Window mannequins leered down at them in winter hats and sweaters with Nordic patterns, giving them an idea of exactly how tall the people of this place would be.

It was a mall built for giants, or one seen from the eyes of a very small child.

Feeling the kid shaking he gave the kid a reassuring pat on the back with a warm hand. Well all of him was warmer then a usual person, but that's besides the point for the current moment. Had Panu been bothered to ask he was only really worried for the kid's safety as he did sign up to be an Escort/Bodyguard/Adult and took his job seriously. He would have also mentioned it felt like someone cutting his back with a dull cheese grater, but traumatizing kids wasn't his past time.

Relaxing noticeably as the kid checked himself off the potentially dead or dying list. Helping Panuto to his feet and off him as he sat up and watched the curious one check him over with his phone without moving his eyes once. Bit creepily if he was honest with himself. His back almost entirely healing up as the kid watched and simply shrugged at the question. "Suppose you could call it that. Just myself though and alot more boring than yours sounds." Forcing a small smile out despite the situation. Dusting himself off as best as he could before looking around with quickly furrowing brows.

"So all this isn't you then?" gesturing to the changed environment around them as he stood and pulled of his helmet and goggles, tossing them aside. An eerie echo reverberating at first until the music in Panu's headphones cut out to be replaced by unintelligible mall muzak that in fitting with the scene sounded as if it was being played underwater. Noticing the nordic patterns he looked to Panu "This look familiar to you?" Then as if his words set into motion this macabre stage. Giant vaguely human silhouettes appeared around them and started moving. Their colors ruddy and mingling yet still giving off the impression of clothing. Faceless actors in whatever was about to play out. At the edges of his vision Erik could swear he saw more of SOMETHING, but everytime he looked there was nothing but the all too perfect shopfronts towering over them.

"I like this not at all." Quickly moving Panu out of the way before one of the THINGS could run into them or squish them. "Stay close.." They needed to find a way out of.. whatever this was. Unable to read any of the signs he just picked a direction and started walking, increasingly on edge and wary of further trouble.

There was nothing here to like. Panu's hands went to his headphones. He frowned, and tried to change the track. Couldn't. No, could, but… the music didn't change. His phone said that his playlist was fine, but his ears said that this was very not fine.

"Not me," the boy said, raising his camera to look all around. But his camera was wrong about the music, so he did not know if he could trust what he saw. "…Not familiar."

(yes it was)

The figures strode past them. Panu could see the tiles through their plodding feet, could see the stores through their swinging arms. Almost he could hear voices, like a crowd was talking and laughing and happy just behind his head, but when he turned the sound was never closer. A silhouette strode past with a littler shape next to it, a child as tall as Erik. They held hands, and were their shadowy fingers overlapped there was the solid sure black of real contact, not the see-through fakeness.

Panu reached for Erik's hand, and wrapped his fingers around it lightly. The Russian teen was very warm and very real.

"If you let go of hand, then they can take you away." He did not know how he knew—

(yes he did)

--but it was a Certain Fact. He did not know who could take them—

(it didn't help to remember, once they had you you were too small and too weak to fight)

--but he knew it was Bad. He held Erik's had very tight, and stood up very straight, because he was not little and useless anymore.

(file is corrupted. file is locked. file is No Good, Doesn't Help, Stay Away. Do you wish to open file? Y/N)

There were more and more figures around them now, they did not care that he and Erik were there, it was very busy--

(Christmas in one week, everything bad always happened at Christmas)

--and the giants pushed and shoved at them, making it harder and harder to stay together, not because they were mean but because they were too busy to care. Panu had been—Panu was a super villain, but even he knew that was Worst Evil In World. Not caring, not seeing, living happy life while somewhere

(No no no do not open file--)

someone's child was being abducted, and no one even noticed, because they were too busy buying presents for their own.

The roof of the mall split open. A shadowy hand as big as the moon tore it off, and reached its other hand inside. Its fingers sagged like tar towards the floor as the reached towards them.

(This was not how it happened. The man had been nice, he had said come with me, we will find your mom, and Panu had gone and it was his own fault he was stupid stupid)

Panu held onto Erik's hand with both of his, but he knew it would not work would not help, because he knew

(he had always been afraid)

that even if he had been with an adult it would not have helped at all. Just because adults were big did not mean they were strong, and they would only get hurt trying to protect him. And maybe it was better

(safer for everyone)

if he just… let go of Erik's hand.

The Russian teen had been hurt for him once already, Panu did not want to see him hurt again.

The lack of knowledge about their situation caused Erik to grumble. Not to mention the disorienting effect of having the voices say everything and nothing all at the same time. Everytime he looked in a direction they stilled only to come echoing back at him. His chocolate orbs narrowing as he spotted a much smaller silhouette. Did it mean something? Were there others? What made these two so special? The small hand grabbing his almost caused him to jump before taking it into his. Then Panu spoke, he hear the words perfectly and made everything even more confusing. Even more so was the question, What did Panu know that he didn't? "How do you know that?" 

Fingers clenched tighter around his connection to reality as he tried to force them through the growing press of figures, desperate to escape. 

"Freak" 

The whispered word froze him in his place and sent a chill down his spine. Eyes snapping towards the passing silhouette that had uttered it.

"Loner"

This time behind. 

"Criminal"

Mocking him, always behind him or just out of sight where he couldn't face them. 

"Monster"

A too familiar voice uttered. This time not daring to face it. Screeching metal and the groan of the building being ripped away a welcome distraction to the mocking. A problem he could face head on. An impossibly huge hand, inkey black and so dark, "Like your soul." His palms were sweaty, he could feel it. Nothing could make him turn back towards the voices. "You can't save him." They way behind him blocked in his mind. Fingers slipping, falling away. "No!" Loosening fingers grasped more tightly. "Don't let go remember?" Aware on some level what was happen even as his own battle raged. Hardly believing his own words as he said them. The hand grasped ever closer. 

"You would rather die then face me?"

"YES!" The painful admission sending scared tears down his face as he swung with all his might towards the hand that threatened to crush them both. The world shattered and began to reform, a deep booming laughter echoing as the view changed "I win again, as always."  

  

Panu tried to pull away--

(he didn't want to pull away but he had to, the hand was only after him)

--but Erik held on to him tight. Even when he leaned all his weight back and dug his heels into the ground there was no way to get his fingers out--

(Erik wasn't just going to leave him)

--and the hand was coming down, its blackness dripping and spreading, coving them over, until black was all that could be seen.

There was a sudden stillness all around them. No one was pushing against them. No voices were laughing behind them. There was nothing at all except the feeling of Erik's hand still holding his. Panu realized he was on the ground. He sat up, and scoot-scooted closer until his legs were touching the Russian's.

No pressure pinning him down anymore. No sound. No light.

Phone, turn flashlight on.

Flashlight said it was on, but still no light.

Panu took in very deep breaths and tried to make his heart stop bruising itself on his ribs. "Something is very very wrong." That was stupid, of course it was wrong, why did he even say that. Waste of words. "I do not think this is real. What… what did you see?"

The Finnish boy swallowed. If he was asking, then probably he should also tell.

(no one cares, stop being whiny child, he doesn't want to know)

But it was mission-critical. Because they were trapped in whatever this was, so Get Out was Mission. Panu took another breath and sat straight and talked Without Emotion. Just facts. "I saw shopping mall in Finland, but everything was very big like I was still a child. Probably it was where I was kidnapped. Sorry for taking your hand, I think maybe there was fear effect. It felt like if I let go then I would be taken again."

And it had felt like if he didn't let go, he would only drag Erik into his own problem. But this he did not say, because Adults (even very-barely-legal Adults) usually did not like it when children tried to protect them. It was an insult.

"Also towards end, I started to hear... voices? Things about soul and save and win. I don't know what they meant. Did you hear too?"

Panu was still holding the teen's hand. He could let go now. Maybe. But his fingers did not want to.

All around them was dark, so dark that his camera could see nothing, so dark that organic eyes like Erik's would never adjust.

"…Probably we should hold hands here, too. If that is okay. Getting separated would be not helpful."


It was practical suggestion. That was all.

It was a welcome relief to just be present in what felt like absolute nothingness. A stillness that was so contrary to their former position his initial reaction was pure relief. Other then the heat of the small hand in his that was and his own ragged breathing. This was most definitely not the sort of excitement he expected when he took this job. Why were his legs suddenly warmer? Taking a deep breath as he sat up? His muscle contracted and he felt like gravity changed how his torso felt, but was it really? As he was just on the verge of questioning all existence in the universe Panu illustrated his abilities to point out the obvious. Not that he disagreed in the slightest.

"I would agree." Certainly nothing was real. Unless they were dead. Not that he figured dead people felt hunger unless they were in hell.. a far more probable locale given the disturbing things they had endured thus far. A memory? The hell theory was slightly more plausible. Which was funny seeing as how he wasn't religious. So.. somewhere. "I saw much the same things though I did not understand it." Understatement of the century there.

At the mention of the voices he went stiff and he clenched around the smaller boy's hand somewhat. The boy had shared.. he should share too, but how? "I recognized those voices. They were people from my past." 'And present' The deep grumbling voice rumbled in his head.  "Awful people." Couldn't agree more. SHUTUP! Finally his mind stilled and he heard Panu once again. 

"It is a very good idea. I do not relish the thought of being stuck here alone. Your presence is reassuring." Figuring being brutally honest with Panu wouldn't hurt his chances of survival any. Honesty was a good trait. Everything good about you is a lie. Erik shuddered a bit as his spine tingled. His free hand reached up to touch his eyes and felt he still hand them and were in fact open. 

"My eyes are open and yet I see nothing. Not exactly an improvement over our previous situation." Humour however dry was a good coping mechanism as any. "You feel anything?" Reaching forth into the abyss with his own hand and pat patting around him. "I cannot tell if the 'ground' is natural or unnatural. Barren if it is natural." Determined to categorize anything he could to stave off more unsettling, unpleasantness. Ears straining to listen for birds, cars, anything besides the scrabbling sounds and the sounds of their breathing.

They had seen the same thing, heard the same things, but part had been his and part had been Erik's. Erik also did not over-explain his; just awful people. Panu nodded because people were awful, this was a fact.

Also a fact: Erik could not see him nodding.

…He stopped, and was glad that Erik also could not see his face turn red.

>> "… Your presence is reassuring."

Redder and redder, but it was okay because Erik was just as blind as he was—

--Oh. This was very obvious fear, and one of his.

"I can also see nothing. I think… this is my fear?" He could hear Erik patting around on the floor. He did too, and agreed with the teen's assessment—it was a strange texture, flat but gritty, like hard-packed earth or a very dirt floor. He also reached out his hand (the one that was not being reassuring, it was okay to keep holding hands if it was reassuring), and moved it in a slow arc, trying to feel anything around them or any change in air currents. "I do not understand, though. Blind is not scary. I have been organic-eye blind many years, this is why I use camera. Blind is only scary because of what causes it, like EMP or Adapted or—"

His outstretched fingers brushed something. It felt… it felt wrong, there was no other word for it, it felt like something that was both fur and skin, and it jerked back at the same time he did. He fell back against Erik's side and the teen was much bigger and more solid than he was ('reassuring' was correct word). The smallest of breezes brushed against his face as the thing ran, but he did not hear any noise of it leaving.

He had maybe shouted a little when he touched it, but he had not heard that either. He tried to blast music through his headphones, even the horrible stupid muzak from the mall, but he didn't hear that, too. He opened his mouth and he talked and talked and--

"—tyhmä pimeys et ole pelottavaa—Oh." He stopped insulting the darkness in Finnish as his hearing tuned back in, like an old radio where you have to turn the knob and it is very finicky. "I just touched something. I do not know what it was, but then I stopped being able to hear for awhile." He swallowed, and squeezed Erik's hand just to make sure his grip was secure, no other reason. "If this is not your fear, then we need to be very careful what we touch. I think… probably things here will make other senses go away."

Which was stupid, because how could they get out of here if all their senses were gone? But the world did not care if they could get out. That was Mistake to think, the world did not care about fair or unfair, good or bad, it did not care about anything. And if you were a stupid little mutant boy who deleted his own sight, then the world did not care about that either, did not have 'reset' button to press, did not have 'undo'.

Panu had learned very early that you didn't have to see a thing to change it, and could not always change things back.

His sight had been so easy to lose. One minute there, then gone. It would be just as easy to lose taste and smell, sound and touch, until he could not tell the world was there at all because the only thing he could sense was nothing.

The perfect darkness stretched out around them on all sides. Little breezes stirred its air.

Yes. Yes, he was afraid now.

Fear. That certainly made sense. His Uncle told him what fear meant. F#$% Everything And Run. He doubted that sentiment would sit well with the younger Panu and it was a cold comfort to his own predicament as well. Still he forced himself to listen to Panu to focus on anything besides his own inner turmoil and realization that things were bad and were only getting worse by his horribly underqualified guess. Then the smaller one jumped into him and born out of natural instinct tried to look over not that it did him any good. Even the lack of apparent motion was getting to him.

"Panu." The preteen seemed to be freaking out to him. Talking in tongues or more likely his native language. "Panu!" The kid didn't seem to hear him. Now they were losing their hearing? One sense he could maybe get by without. Two? 'Stay Calm Stay Calm Stay Calm' He needed some sort of plan desperate or otherwise. When he started hearing English again it took him a moment to realise it wasn't him thinking to himself. Returning the squeeze with one of his own. At least he wouldn't die alone. "Organic eye blind?" If he was going to die he may as well satisfy his curiosity of that one phrase. "No I have no fear such as this. Mine tend to be-" Something tugged at his pants leg and he swiftly pulled it back and kicked out with the other one.Hitting nothing but air and scooting into Panu some. There was a soft mechanical click sound, barely heard yet so impossibly loud amidst the blackness, amidst the wrongness. A short lived relief that something else was out there changing to horror that anything else most likely wasn't good. 

He threw himself sideways and pushed Panu out of the way as pain bit into his arm. A quick check told him he was unable to move it, checking his suspicions would require letting go of Panu's hand and he wasn't sure he could do that to himself or the younger one just yet. "My fear of being hunted I believe." Not all of it. "We have to move somehow without hurting ourselves or each other. That breeze could mean a way out." Grasping at whatever straws and hope he could for both their sakes. He stood and pulled Panu to standing. "I will place my hand on your shoulder and you go first arms sweeping in front of you. That way if you trip or there is a cliff or hole I can stop you." Explaining himself as fully as he could under the immense strain he was suddenly feeling.

He fought his fear of losing the kid to his stupid and only plan. Was he to lead and fall to his doom and leave the kid alone?

>> "Organic eye blind?"

Panu put on his If You Pity Me I Will Change All Your Phone Setting to Chinese face, but it was wasted in the darkness. Maybe his words were just a little extra bristly to compensate. "Blind in eyes. The things you have two of, on front of face? Mine do not work. People say that this is 'blind' but I am not blind, I can see better and farther than they can, every camera is my eye, it is much more useful."

He was maybe a little stiff against Erik's side, but that was only because everything was stupid and even if he was blind-blind right now so was Erik so it wasn't like organic eyes were any good. Definitely not better than his camera eyes. He didn't need stupid organic eyes anyway.

>> "No I have no fear such as this. Mine tend to be-"

Erik cut of his words. Panu could feel him moving, the shift of his weight, could hear something that sounded electric but couldn’t be because Panu would know it was there.

"One that just attacked you was not real. Anything electric is mine, but I could not feel it at all."

He couldn't feel anything. Normally on a suburban street there were smart TVs and tablets and programmable thermostats and garage door openers. But the only thing he could sense was his own phone and the headphones around his neck. Which meant that his power was being blocked somehow.

So. Electric things might be real. But probably that was not reassuring to say, and he didn't think any of this was real (but could it still hurt them?), so he did not correct himself.

He listened to Erik's plan. Part of him did not like the idea of going first, part of him said shouldn't adult go first?, but that was the stupid part that the school had been trying to teach him, that adults would protect him (hahahano). Erik's plan was much more practical for the real world. Back or side or front, no direction was any safer here.

Also, while Panu was not blind, he was probably Resident Not Blind Expert. He was used to his eyes not seeing anything. Used to listening and feeling, used to finding the edges of objects and building pictures in his mind. Erik was not, so Panu would have to help him.

"Okay," he agreed, making sure his voice was Loud and Strong and Not-Scared-Mouse. He could do this.

It was weird to have the teen's hands on his shoulders. He was not used to people touching him at all, and Erik was quickly approaching Universal Record for touch. But this was For Mission, so maybe it was okay. Panu started walking.

There was a way to walk when you could not see. It did not have to be fearful or slow, only careful and smart. Feet low to ground and do not move them with so much force that it will hurt if you kick something. Keep most of weight on back leg until you were sure ground was were you thought ground was. Normally there were sounds or smells or technology like stars in his mind that he could use to know that he was going straight, but there were none of those here so he just did his best. He did not hold out his arms out way far in front like sighted-person-pretending-to-be-blind (or a zombie), almost always feet or knees would hit things before arms would, anyway. But he felt the way the air moved over his skin, and he listened.

Whirr, click said something to their right and behind them, then little tap-tap-taps of metal legs, too many legs, started to pace them. One thing with so-many-legs, or many things traveling together? But it was behind them and Erik would protect him (maybe, hopefully, Panu would have to trust him which was something that always made his stomach feel sick).

His foot hit against something hard. He curled his fingers into his palms, remembering the last time he had touched something in here. But Erik's hands were warm on his shoulders, and his hearing had only gone away for a little while, and this place was stupid and fake and it wanted him scared, so that was Number One Reason not to be. He reached out, and ran his fingers along it. It felt like wood without bark--like the ground, he could not tell if it was natural or man-made.

And then he could not feel at all. The wood, the ground, Erik's hands on his shoulders. He reached up to try and touch them but he could not feel his own shoulders, much less if there were hands on them.

Click, whirr, the things in the darkness said, much much closer.

"Erik? Are you still there? There is something in front of us, but if you touch it then... touch goes away."

He could not feel his own heart beating, but probably it was hummingbird fast.

Erik had been about to point out to the Finnish pre-teen that the snark was unproductive before passing it off as just the strain of the situation they were in. If the kid needed to chew his head off then so be it. Not that he could or would want to return the gesture. Even if his own psychological steadiness was on the shaky side. So not electric but electric sounding? What could that be? With the seemingly infinite press of darkness his imagination conjured all sorts of horrible things. 

"That is assuming this place follows any sort of logical rules. Could be steampunk spiders or those creepy bio metal spiders from that Lost in Space show." Why the hell did he have to think of spiders? Normal spiders weren't particular worrying, but something with metal pincers or spitting acid or or or or" His brain went on a horror reel for a few moments before he caught himself. "Can you sense either of my phones?" Explaining why he carried more than one would have to wait for a far more appropriate time and if anyone's power was going to get them out of this pickle it would most likely be a technowatzit then some living crash test dummy. 

So they went with his horrible put the kid first plan that in any other situation would slap him with a child endangerment charge by the sorts of people that never had to survive anything besides spilled coffee on their pants or a jury summons. Panu didn't seem too afraid to be helpful as he spoke and gave him a reassuring squeeze of his shoulders with his hands, as much for his own benefit as Panu's. Then they started walking.

Was it hours? Was it days? Erik had never been so paranoid in his life and for a professional paranoiac that spoke volumes. His ears strained in the darkness every little sound feeling like his ears twitch. The hairs on his arms felt like tentacles grasping at the breeze. Would they wander the darkness for eternity? He didn't dare speak to attract even more attention from the hunter(s?) that he imagined right on his heels waiting for them to stumble or slip up. So he left Panu guiding and walking for him as his thoughts spiraled ever more inward until he focused only on keeping from stumbling and bringing the kid down in a heap and to their probable demise.

How far did they go before they stopped? Had they just moved in a big circle? No comforting thoughts came to him and it began to make him as angry as he was scared. He had almost jumped out his skin when he felt the small hands groping around on his. Click click click the beings behind them rang out. To his ears it might as well have been DOOM DOOM DOOM. Now the kid didn't know what to do and it was on him. DOOM DOOM DOOM. Were they even closer? What to do?! He couldn't move forward and fight backward at the same time.    

"Did it feel like a way out?" He asked with a brief surge of optimism. "When you get your feeling back before those things catch up we will take three big steps sideways then try again. Then again. Over or through after that. We will call it Erik's StupidPlan Mk 2. If I have to let go before then I will let you know and you stick to the plan." Click Click Whirr. He started to sweat as he tried to wait out the eternity for the kid to get his sense back ignoring the very real possibility that this place might just throw them a curveball and remove it from him entirely. It was too crippling to dwell on. The noises felt like they were about to crawl up his spine. "Anything?" he asked urgently. Was that something tugging at his leg?! "ACK!" he kicked back with a foot and thought he felt something connect. Something tugged harder and he went down on the floor hard and letting go of the kid so he wouldn't get dragged down with him. "Panu i let go!" 

He felt himself being dragged and kicked at whatever it was and flailed to pulled himself to his feet. His hand touching something wrong, slimy and dry all at the same time before being yanked down again. He yelled defiantly at whatever it was and started kicking and swinging only to realize he didn't hear anything at all. The next few moments for him were a blur of reactions, pains stabbing into him and him trying to swing or kick futility back and he rolled and scuffled about. "I can't hear!" Quickly losing all sense of direction and he rolled and swung and kick and moved about trying to keep the thing away from him. 

>> "Can you sense either of my phones?"

"No. I could when first you picked me up, but not now. If it is okay, could I hold them? Is for experiment."

He heard the rustle of fabric as Erik took them out, but did not feel them until they were in his hands. And then, suddenly, he felt them. It was not sight/sound/touch/taste/smell, it was nothing he could explain, it was rightness and his and suddenly there were new windows in his mind that he could peek out of to look at contacts and texts and camera (if it wasn't stupid dark still). Erik's phones were One Nice And Normal, and One That Cops Won't Ever Find. Panu did not comment on this as he handed them back.

The moment they left his hands, those new windows in his mind slammed shut like the phones had never been there at all. His range was being jammed. So probably there were more tech things around, but whatever was blocking his powers wasn't letting him see them, not until he touched them.

A very little bit of hot-hate-rage made his chest feel warm. Touching his powers was Not Allowed. The hate felt much better than being scared, so Panu tried to hold onto it as he walked.

>> "We will call it Erik's StupidPlan Mk 2. If I have to let go before then I will let you know and you stick to the plan."

Panu agreed with the name of the plan, but not the plan, not that last part. If they were separated, how could they find each other again? They had to stay together, it was Most Important Thing—

>> "Panu I let go!"

No no no no no! But it was too late. He couldn't feel the teen's hands leave his shoulders, but he could hear him fighting.

Panu needed to—

He could—

He could do nothing, he was real-blind and touch-blind and Erik was larger and stronger than him, if the Russian was having trouble fighting than Panu would just be in the way. He had to, he—

The wood-thing was still in front of him. His sense of touch was not back yet, but he was technopath, many times every day he found things he didn't understand, but he was smarter than all of them. If he could not touch or see, then he would just use a different tool, that was what he was good at.

The little Finn leaned forward, forward, until he felt like maybe he would fall but he didn't. He could not feel anything, but he didn't fall, so that must be where the wood thing was. He pressed his arm flat against the thing as high up as he could reach (as flat as he could without knowing where the thing or his arm were), and then he jerked his whole arm [/i]down[/i].

Oww oww oww.

He did not have touch, but he had pain.

That felt—no, that pained like something small and round and hard. Like maybe-hopefully-please a doorknob. It had hit that part of his arm, and that was maybe five inches from his hand, so he hooked his hand and pulled it back and hoped that now the maybe-knob was between his fingers. He made a turning motion that he couldn't feel and pushed (but nothing happened) wait no pulled—

And light poured into the darkness, the three-sided rectangle of a door opening.

HA! He was smartest person ever.

"Erik! Come!"

Oh wait, the Russian couldn't hear. But hopefully he could see.