If this was any other situation, it would have been almost comedic.
I was just one of many fans who had arrived at the panel, hoping to see my favorite producers and reviewers up close. I had seen online how panels were usually supposed to go.
I was pretty sure it wasn't like this.
At first, everyone thought it was a joke, a skit for the website. How could it not? Everyone was praising Dr. Insano as a sort of God, including Linkara.
Of course it was fake. Just like the skits or their movies. It was all for a laugh, and then the skit would end and panel would actually begin.
It didn't end.
By this point the joke was getting old, but it wasn't stopping. The crowd was getting bored and confused. And then a terrible thing occurred to me.
What if this wasn't a joke?
And then Dr. Insano stepped out. I practically heard a pin drop when that happened.
My blood froze. Insano was real? He wasn't just a character for a comedic review series? What about Mechakara? Vyce? Ask That Guy? Malachite?
Oh god, is the Entity real?
After my inner freakout had reached it's peak, I forced myself to calm down. I began looking for a way out. I tried to ignore how Insano was practically petting the producers on stage. All the while I had the terrible feeling that this was tame compared to how he normally acts.
I saw a door, probably left open by mistake. Turning around to my best friend, I saw that their eyes had dulled. They were praising Insano, hailing them as their new god.
They were falling under his control.
I couldn't watch, so I bolted to the door. I didn't care who saw. Of course, I probably should have been more discreet. Unfortunately, I was never a fast runner, so I was pretty quickly tackled by those around me. All eyes were on me, and for all of my efforts, I could not escape.
I was pushed into Insano's grasp. It seemed, for this moment, all he could focus on was me. He began stroking my arms and my hair. He was pushing me to the wall. All the while I could feel my senses begin to slip.
Insano was whispering in my ears about how I was "strong", but that I would be easily broken.
No.
I was not going to let him take control of me. It took nearly all of my willpower, all of my focus, but I resisted.
I kicked him where the sun never shines.
Insano let go of me and fell back with a gasp, and everyone else was stunned. Using the situation to my advantage, I bolted to the nearest door. I had never run so fast in your life. I didn't stop until I was at least ten minutes away from the building.
If this was any other situation, it would have been almost comedic. I had seen situations similar to this before, but I thought it was fake. A funny skit for the internet. It was all planned.
But it was real, it wasn't funny, and now there were innocent people under the control of a mad scientist. I nearly fell under Dr. Insano's control.
I knew that my world had changed forever, and not for the better.