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[She stumbled once, if only because of the unevenness of the ground beneath them, but caught herself and kept running. The echoing sounds of additional footsteps told her Ema was close; a single glance through her peripheral vision confirmed it.]

[If her veins hadn't been flooded with adrenaline right then, she might have felt a stronger sense of relief.]

Is it chasing us? [She looked back.] ...it's chasing us.

[Though they had a decent start; beyond the time it took to turn around, its speed was too slow to catch up. Unless one of them slowed down or fell.]

[Ema's feet slow just a little bit...and she pulls out another vial, lobbing it at the things legs.]

And that'll keep it busy regenerating!

[She didn't slow down, but she did turn just long enough to shoot Ema a curious look.]

How many of those things do you have?

One more! So let's hope we don't need it!

[Huff, huff! Ruuunnnnn!]

[...okay, she supposed that made more sense. For a time, she had started to wonder if the girl possessed some sort of infinite supply. The way she always seemed to have one to pull out in moments like these.]

The slope's getting steeper. But...I think I see a turn just up ahead!

[Hardly! Just what she can make in her spare time...]

Good! We're going to make it just fine then!

[So close! They were all of a few steps away--]

[When the ground shook, knocking Iris off balance. She tripped. Fell. Only to glance behind her as the ground shook again. What she saw was the...creature. Still slow as before, but taking wider steps now. Heavier.]

It's catching up!

Get up get up get up!

[Ema grabbed Iris's hand and started hauling her, trying hard to pull her along. she's got noodle arms...but Iris isn't particularly heavy!]

[No. She's not. Though the subsequent stumbling probably didn't help either their cases...she did manage to eventually scramble to her feet and break into an even faster run.]

Hurry!

We need to...to hide somewhere!

[At this rate, they weren't going to make it before the creature caught up, but...if there was any nook at all that might shield them from its sight...]

[They book it, and this time Ema takes out her last vial, lobbing it up and at an angle. And into some stonework. It explodes, and rocks fall down behind them, onto the creature's path...causing it to stumble.]

Go! Gooooo!

[SHE WAS GOING! SHE WAS GOING!]

[Still desperate to look for a place to hide, but at the same time...that light was so close...just a little further....]

[Ema puts on a burst of speed, and slides forward, through a small archway and into a space between two buildings, where the monster can't seem to reach.]

In here!

[Ema was just enough ahead that Iris was able to see what she was doing and how.]

[Her brows furrowed together in concentration and, in a split second, she too slid down and through that same archway. With several seconds to spare.]

[The machine stops when it realizes it can't reach them, ~~or it's pathing bugs leash it back to it's spawn point~~]

Good...job...! We made...it!

[Iris pressed her back into the wall as much as was physically possible, pausing to catch her breath.]

Is it...still there? Can you...see it?

[Ema doubles forward a little, panting and shaking her head.]

I think...we're safe.

Thank the stars...

[She took another few breaths, making certain to keep her voice low. Just in case.]

How are you doing? Are you alright?

I'm fine. Are...you fine?

[She seems it, anyway.]

My heart is racing, and I'm...still a little out of breath. Otherwise, I'm fine.

[Shifting her weight a little, she looked over at the younger girl.]

Where did that...creature come from?

I have no idea where it came from.

[That's the truth.]

It probably came from...nature rebelling against technology or something. If Viridi is telling the truth. She probably isn't...but eh.

[Viridi was weird.]

Anyway, we...probably should try and rest a minute, then find the others.

Viridi...

[The name was familiar, though even as she silently echoed it twice more, she couldn't quite place where she'd heard that from.]

Was that...the person who was in the city's central...um...office?

[The details were still a bit fuzzy; her main exposure outside the Temple had been a university campus, and university campuses had central offices, where all the most important people worked.]

Ah...no. She's just some kid that keeps saying she's a nature goddess. But she can talk in my head with magic, so that's something.

[Viridi is weird...]

She's...a nature goddess...who talks inside your head?

[Umm...]

It's...complicated. Anyway...

[She grabs Iris by the hand.]</small. C'mon, let's go find Mister Wright and Mister Edgeworth. They'll know a good place to keep avoiding those things!

...they're both down here too?

[NOT SURE HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THAT. On the one hand, it would offer great comfort to see them. The two men she trusted more than most. Whom she knew would help her when she needed it. On the other, it meant subjecting them to...this place.]

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