Seaside 5: Kinda like One Piece without the anime

[Hattish Thing]

[Beach Party - Sun-A-Way Stand]

After several moments, the pair arrive at a beachside street-corner. Palm trees cast eerie shadows over a rusty white van parked at one side of the road. With a frustrated expression upon his face, Dr. Valiance struggles on towards the back of the van, his arms still burdened with the heavy box of sunscreen. This heat was unbearable, as was manual labor. It was so much easier back at his old job; always a nameless goon around with nothing to do but haul whatever weird thing needed hauling right that moment. What happened to goons? Were they out of fashion? He needed goons.

With a grunt, Dr. Valiance sets the box upon the ground before unlocking the back of the van and pressing a button. The van doors open of their own accord with a soft, pneumatic hiss. The inside of the van is not much more appealing than the outside, complete with outdated furnishings and a strange smell. After a second, Dr. Valiance tosses the box in the back before marching on to the front. "I keep the corticosteroid cream in the front, its heat-sensitive. I guess it's more of a gel than a cream, though. It probably doesn't make a difference." Now he'd be thinking about the differences between a gel and a cream all day. He'd have to search up the definition at some point, it'd just bother him otherwise!

After several seconds spent rummaging through the front and tossing empty fast food containers out onto the roadside, Dr. Valiance pops on out with a small refrigerated container. It looks more like a lunchbox than anything. He'll pass it along to Marin and shrug awkwardly before continuing. "Okay, it's the blue tube in there. Should have the consistency of toothpaste! You're just gonna wanna rub it into the afflicted areas. I suggest you do that, like, as soon as possible. Don't wander too far, either?"

"Stuff is really expensive. Or so I hear."

--

The corticosteroid cream, if applied vigorously, does soothe the pain and prevent further damage. However, this is not corticosteroid cream. The unlabeled tube within the refrigerated lunchbox is, in fact, knock-out gel. Unfortunately, Dr. Valiance grabbed the wrong unlabelled tube prior to heading out to the beachside, meaning that Marin will likely fall unconscious into a state of cosmetic near-death about thirty seconds after applying the gel.