A man staggered out of the restroom into the mostly-abandoned diner. Bits of white fire extinguisher foam dripped from his long black hair, and his shirt was adorned with pink splotches. His eyes were open as wide as possible, his jaw dropped nearly to his chest. He removed his fancy electronic glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"The big bad tiger roared the wall down and escaped. No sign of the girl or that manager lady. Don't worry about shutting the door, let's just go", he said to the guy they'd left outside on door duty.

The sound of the sirens brought him much relief as he dragged his feet towards the exit. The lady they'd just rescued was huddled up in the diner having a panic attack or something. Stupid lady. She should get out of this damn cursed diner and [i]then[/i] have her panic attack, like he planned on doing. Couldn't she see the weird vines and roots swallowing this place whole? The wall had even just collapsed. Whatever, he didn't care anymore. He grabbed a plate of half-eaten strawberry banana crepes off a table and gobbled it down on his way out.

He'd so much rather be at the office working awkwardly side-by-side with his ex-fiance than out here getting killed by tigers and whatever. The shocking realization stopped him mid-step. "That's it, I quit." He mumbled to himself. "OK Glass, make a call to the mayor. I'm going to cancel this meeting and just take the next flight back. Town's beyond saving anyway."

Nothing happened. Call could not be made. What the devil was going on now?! ... oh shit! He'd left his phone with that crazy cosplayer girl with the fake gun that was actually a real gun! This was bad. Very bad. What if those cops confiscated it as evidence? He let out a yell and kicked the wastebasket below the corkboard all the way to the other end of the diner, and then grabbed a plate and slammed it onto the floor. "I hate this! I hate this! I hate this!"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. Moment of truth. What should he do? Eyes opened, decision made. He turned around and sprinted back towards the restrooms and out the crumbling wall, into the decayed and twisted streets. He was going to get that phone back even if it killed him.

"Hey girl! Where did you go?!"