surrealist drabble

The hallway seemed to stretch into forever, completely bare of doors. Jill blinked, turning around to find no door behind her either. Like she was in a closed tunnel, the villain had changed the scenery around her.

Or had he...?

Jill continued down the hall, trying to rely on her other senses. However, as she blinked, she could not ignore how the walls seemed to crack more and more, the sound like a thousand tiny shiftings- Not like paint, not like bricks.

Like bones under skin.

A chill went up her spine, and she whirled around, her sword passing through a curtain of leather that warped around her blade as easiy as cellophane. Behind it, a young man smiled.

"So, our little Lavender Leyline," He mused, a dark smirk playing on his features. "At last, we meet."

One of his face was covered by a golden eye decoration, that moved in time to his real eye, that continuously dripped flecks of molten metal to the floor.

Jill stood her ground, pointing her blade at the villain's decorated chest. She said nothing. He closed his eye and smiled, tilting his head.

"You're a strange one, I kind of love it," He hummed, his bracelets clacking together with a sound like hollow pottery. "I've been waiting to use your mind as a canvas for such a long time."

"This is just a fabrication." Jill stated, glancing around and seeing the walls around her cracking apart, honey filled with flies sticking and oozing from the separations.

"I -am- The Surrealist," He chuckled, suddenly gone as a coat rack adorned with withered grass taking his place. Jill whirled around, seeing him standing at the end of the hallway. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of me! I'm -aaall- over the news. Unlike you, wallflower, I don't shy from the spotlight!"

Blended into the wall, Jill ran and leapt across the divided sections of wall, slamming against the edge to shove herself out. A door had finally been found, but as she put her hand to it, it dissolved into moths, showing her standing above what was seemingly an endless drop, like the stairwell that should be here was carelessly ripped out.

A single arm raised up out of this darkness, the Surrealist lounging casually on it.

"So subdued, far too subdued," He clicked his tongue against his teeth. "I do so hate having to ask this directly- What do you think of my talent? Are you speechless?"

"You're putting an awful lot of effort into this." Jill observed. "I suppose you're seeking attention. Would a hug make you feel better?"

"How dare you! You little-" The Surrealist scowled at her from his perch, and the hand crushed him with a bright squelch, shifting into him, towering over her, gold spilling from his decorative eye in ribbons.

"You little PHILISTINE!" He boomed, his bronze-skinned hands closing in on either side of her. "I am capable of UNPARRALLED SKILL! And it seems I should not have been so lenient. I had intended for this to be a mere introduction, but it looks like I'll have to show you what I'm /really/ capable of!"

He moved his hand to grab her from the sides, and she leapt up, dodging his grasp and landing with her back to the wall. She lifted her sword, but it wasn't a sword at the moment, it was the leg of an insect, waving wildly in the air. She frowned, closing her eyes and trying to focus on what /should/ be around her.

Ignore The Surrealist, remember the layout of this building. Ignore the arm trying to force it's way out of her mouth, remember which floor she was on. Feel the wall behind her, ingoring that it feels like the thousand hot scales of a dragon. Figure out where the door was, and not about how every step she took as she inched along the wall felt like the was falling.

At last, even though it felt like she was back to back with solid glass, she stepped backwards.

And then she was somewhere else.

The Surrealist stopped smirking, dropping down to his normal size and steeping through the doorway. He stared forward, trying to locate Jill's mind. It wasn't here. Not close enough for him to pry, at least. He scowled, returning the building to normal in the minds of everyone with a huff as he spun on his heels.

So -that's- how she made so many clever escapes.