We jumped to our feet (Patreon)

and quickly dashed inside the nearest building, The Museum of Hallways. I dimly remembered this place as one of Albric Tor's weirder tourist attractions, which sounded vaguely interesting but I had never had time to visit. Right now was probably not the best sightseeing conditions, but at least I could mark this place off of my to-do list. The corridor branched just inside the entrance, so Rebecca, Maeve, and I ran in different directions as the dullahan thundered in after us - and of course decided to pursue me. The place must have been built with some powerful but pointless magicks, because I ran straight ahead for a long time without deviating or turning, but I passed the exact same paintings, lamps, and furniture several times. Eventually I reached what must have been the central passageway which was crossed by all of the other halls. I darted out of one doorway and into another with the dullahan bellowing not far behind, only to see Rebecca dashing by in the opposite direction, and Maeve running past farther down the passageway. The chase continued as Johnny Six-Gills gurgled another verse over the speaker system:

"A ghastly glow reflects off broken glass

Your trembling voice fights fear, you won’t let it pass

We’ll race the phantom down the spiral stone

Two hearts on fire, we’re never running alone"

My flight from the pursuing dullahan lost all coherence as I dashed randomly from one hallway to the next. Somehow everyone else wound up in the Museum too. I noticed Burnside and other members of the Folly gang running past every time I crossed the main passageway.

Soon everyone was mounted on various small vehicles: I was inexplicably wearing roller skates which I did not recall ever putting on. When would I have even had a chance to stop?? Slovenly and Folly-La pedaled madly by on a tandem bicycle, while the dullahan bounced past on a diabolical mount that seemed to be a stick horse attached to a large spring. Ralph and Phoebe scraped across the floor in a canoe, Maeve rolled past inside an enormous transparent ball, and Rebeccca and Burnside sped by on a railroad handcar, pumping wildly.

“This is insane!" I panted, too frightened to stop. "Where did all this stuff come from?? When I rebuild the city, I’m having this building demolished!!”

Then suddenly everyone’s path (including the dullahan's) converged in a loud crash. We wasted no time scrambling up and running for the door before the dullahan could struggle to its feet.

Johnny Six-Gills kept singing through it all, accompanied by fife, tambourine, and the Riverside Chompers' signature instrument, the infamous Water Baglute.

"Shadows loom in every corridor

But we’ve gotta make it out the other door

Just run into my arms and our love will see us through

Just run into my arms and our love will see us through

doo doo doo doo"

>Meanwhile in the Underworks:

Thompson lifted her ear and looked around curiously. “This has never happened before. Where’s that music coming from?”

“I don’t know, but I like it,” Meadow replied while snapping her fingers and bobbing her head.

...

After everyone scattered from the Museum of Hallways, I found myself fleeing alongside Ralph and Phoebe. We ran into a building directly across the plaza from the Museum, and begin barricading the door. Ralph and Phoebe slid a desk in front of the door. I quickly topped the desk with a large filing cabinet. Ralph and Phoebe rapidly piled chairs onto the barricade. Someone handed me a small corner table, and I added it to the pile. In a matter of minutes the door was no longer visible beneath a mound of piled-up furniture.

When we stepped back to admire our handiwork, we realized that the dullahan was standing behind us. He had been the one handing us furniture the whole time! I was almost too annoyed by the idiocy of the situation to be frightened. Why did such absurd things happen when these lowfolk youths were around? These antics were every bit as stupid as they had been the time I met them before! Then the dullahan growled and we flung ourselves onto the barricade, frantically ripping everything away from the door and flinging it at the headless monster. In a trice we had the door open, and bolted back out into the streets.

Johnny Six-Gills continued blithely with his drowned-man vocal stylings, oblivious as only a recording could be to the chaos unfolding in the city.

"I feel its breath closing in to steal the night

But nothing beats the spark we share when we unite

Grab hold of me and run like hell—no ghost can break the bond we feel

With every step we take, our love’s the only thing they cannot steal"

Running in a blind panic, I once again became separated from my companions and found myself darting into a warehouse just behind Burnside. We scurried past dozens of open crates filled with half-assembled props and piles of rubber made to look like decaying flesh. The dullahan rampaged after us, swinging its mace and severed head around wildly. I pulled down a shelf piled with fake bones (at least I think they were fake) as I passed, blocking the dullahan's path. It paused in momentary confusion as Burnside and I veered down a side corridor. At the end of this short passage was a descending flight of stairs. Burnside jumped on the handrail and rode it down like a slide to expedite her escape, and I did the same.

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