Inside 73: Holiday Rush

[Deathkeeper]

[Skyway Zoo]

"Or you can stick to a particular area and do super hero stuff there," Khannie adds. "Bad guys have turf a lot of the time so if you're in a spot then you'll be pretty sure which bad guys you might run into."

Especially the super powered gangs.

They're really bad, but usually small fries compared to the SUPER villains.

"You should definitely join Paragon! It was set up by a tinkerer super hero to make it so no one can figure out your secret identity if you've got a normal account and your super hero account, too. It's really safe! But I guess maybe that might not be as important for you since there probably aren't that many supers who are giant cow people."

That does make it harder to protect her identity.

It's true that there are other bovine folks around the Nexus but how many of them are super heroes?

One that Khannie's aware of.

Skyway Zoo

Mina looks distinctly embarrassed at that one. She idly rubs one of her well-polished horns.
"Yeah I uh...I don't know of any other minotaur heroes at the moment. I think it's going to be pretty rough to hide my identity. Especially when people already know my face pretty well. I kinda got an interview a while back that went around a lot." she admits. It was a fifteen minutes of fame thing really, but it did get her some perks.

[5a Violista]

[Silent Night]

It's okay, June also forgives Yuvan for smirking at her involuntary hand movements.

"The adventuring scene is pretty wild," she confirms, having been on an involuntary adventure, herself. She would recommend going with people who are on level with you, though, if you'd rather not get overshadowed in every way.

She considers the name Gilded Lily. "That name makes me think of a dance club. Or maybe a restaurant that has a stage." And (probably) not just because he's playing music.

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street]

"Okay but seriously that isn't a great idea," Regiji warns as Vikk decides to be insistent about bottling the shoggoth.

How that turns out could go several ways.

If Vikk is holding onto the bottle and brandishing it at the shoggoth it'll largely ignore the bottle and lunge at her arm, roaches or no.

Mostly because the arm contains more meat than the roaches.

This may not be a sapient shoggoth but even the dumb ones are at the very least clever.

If Vikk is smarter about it and nudges the bottle toward the creature then that's less of a hazard.

So!

What, exactly, is she doing?


[Skyway Zoo]

"Yeah, storm and punching powers are pretty notable," Khannie reasons. "That's why it's a good idea to only start heroing after you've got a GREAT costume!"

A beat.

"I thought Minotaur was that one queen's son? Or is it like how people call all winged horses Pegasus?"

That seems kind of weird to Khannie.

Frankly, everyone calling her Kangaskhan when she was little felt kind of strange, too. She was the only Kangaskhan in town but what if she WASN'T? It would be like all humans calling each other Human. That's just weird.

"I guess you could find a supreme sorcerer who can make everyone forget your secret identity? Just don't start yelling out lots of other instructions while he's casting or you might break the multiverse."

Khannie should know, there's a movie about that.

[bc56]

Arkham Street
Vikk isn't *that* dumb. She knows how animals work. She sets the bottle down with the dead roaches in it a short distance from the blob and then retreats to watch.
It's still probably a bad idea, especially because she doesn't have anything to seal the bottle with.

Fox Pox Outbreak
Jade, for what it's worth, loves the attention. Once she's no longer dripping, she just has to wait to dry out completely before she can start using magic again.
Meanwhile, the fox hairs put in the water dissolve, first into wisps of blue fire, then completely into nothing.

[Ironsmith]

[Silent Night]

It's okay, June also forgives Yuvan for smirking at her involuntary hand movements.

"The adventuring scene is pretty wild," she confirms, having been on an involuntary adventure, herself. She would recommend going with people who are on level with you, though, if you'd rather not get overshadowed in every way.

She considers the name Gilded Lily. "That name makes me think of a dance club. Or maybe a restaurant that has a stage." And (probably) not just because he's playing music.

[Silent Night]

Yuvan nods morosely. "I was worried it might sound too much like a bar or an inn." He confesses. Not quite the same, but close enough conceptually that she seems to have validated his concerns. His hands continue to move up and down the guitar as he plucks out a series of warm chords; not quite a song, exactly, but definitely mood music.

Maybe it was time to change that.

Yuvan changes the positions of his hands and starts in on a more concrete tune with which he's familiar. He refrains from singing the lyrics, however; he no longer believes in their veracity.

"So." He prompts with a little smile. "It sounds as though you have some stories to tell. Perhaps you would be kind enough to share one?"

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"The fox hair from one of the infected disappeared when put in water," Dorota says. Jade can't answer, but she can still understand her. "I'll ask one of them to take a shower, see if it causes the transformation to disappear. This would be an amusingly mundane solution."

She goes to do just that. Presumably the place has a shower for employees.

[Shadowcaller]

Midnight Park

As usual getting Artie through a door takes a while as she has to get all of her through before one can close it.
"There are nearly no Orobou in the Nexus. The only ones with jurisdiction here are my administrator and myself. As such, while some members of the Court are very unhappy with you slipping your bonds, there's nothing they can do unless they come out here themselves. Which they won't do. Thus your case is left entirely in my hands." Artie explains once she's in.
"Unfortunately, while that is the case for you, your actions have those fey panicking and they have taken another into custody in response. Um, I was not told your exact relationship but I was told that you two became fey together?"
Given that Artie has been figuring they were partners, friends, siblings, a couple, something like that. At least someone she'd remember.

Midnight Park

Jaahlyn gives Artie a cold stare as she presents this information. "Oh, so that's it? They're just letting me go? How generous of them. Really shows you how important those bindings must have been. How dangerous they thought I was." She spits on the floor.

"But I'm not surprised they're keeping my brother. It's exactly what those monsters would do." Her eyes narrows as they meet Artie's gaze. "If you have any morality left in that new body of yours you should leave before they get their hooks into you. They care nothing for mortals and after a while, neither will you."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak

Jade listens, and shakes her head. Apparently she doesn't think that will work... She knows that she can take a shower without reverting.

But, once Dorota convinces one of the infected to take a shower, they'll emerge fox-free. It'll take a little while to get through everyone though, and that's plenty of time for a wrench to be thrown into the works.

That wrench takes the form of the hostess, an apparently early college-age girl, and one of the first who was infected. "Umm, excuse me, ma'am?" She nervously runs a hand along one of her nine tails. "I've been thinking, and I... Well, could I..." It takes her a minute to collect what she actually wants to say. "Do I have to change back? I mean I umm... Kinda like this." She's embarrassed to say it.
Of course, even if she isn't cured, there are still problems. She might be contagious, and given that the effects seem to simply wash away with water, it might be difficult to keep it stable... And Jade still isn't dry enough to help, but she's getting close.

[Deathkeeper]

Midnight Park

"Let me be clear: they are not letting you go. I am letting you go, because I am here in the Nexus and they cannot stop me without incarnating themselves here. They would consider me a heretic because of my predecessor, just as they consider you and your brother walking apocalypses because of yours. They are not the majority anymore, or else I would be in chains as well. But that doesn't help your brother."
Artie is sympathetic, but her response is slightly cold. She can't let Jaahlyn's justified rage make things worse.
"My administrator put this in my hands because he agrees that what was done to you two was wrong. You have every reason to hate them but if you work with me a little we might at least show that you didn't throw off your chains to start plans for world domination and we might get your brother released. Ethic concerns aside, I am more useful to you as a Court member than a rogue fey. "

Skyway Zoo

"I think it's a translation thing, really. I know who you're talking about and that's named after the place, but Sai's homeworld is a completely different aesthetic so it shouldn't have the same etymological links. So I'm calling cheating, mostly." Mina explains. Or rather, mostly doesn't explain.
"I've had my fill of all powerful magic beings myself, thanks." Technically the one who 'helped' her was the being who caused the situation which prompted Fortuna to accidentally make Khannie...

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

Dorota breathes out through her nose. She shouldn't be surprised by this, really.

"I'm afraid I'm not certain if this transformation can be spread by the infected. And you're going to have to take a shower sooner or later, which will undo the transformation," she says. "Maybe we can ask Jade once she's dry enough to change back into a human."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
And so a short period of nervous waiting ensues.

Jade, for her part, hates being trapped in fox shape. As soon as she can, she's reverted to humanoid. She looks at Dorota and the hostess. "You want to be a fox too? As a Kumiho, I had an instinct for how to convert someone, but I'm not a Kumiho anymore. I don't... Damnit! I hate magic." She cups her hand and creates a small ball of blue foxfire in it, then holds it out to the hostess. "Here. Swallow this." "Really? Would that work?" The question seems aimed at Dorota.

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

Dorota shrugs.

"I don't know how it works. I'm here to prevent the spread of unwanted, uncontrolled transformation. If you consent to being turned into a... kumiho and doing it won't harm you, there's really not much for me to say. But you should probably undo the uncontrolled transformation before that happens. And now we need to check if Jade will still spread the transformation."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
"Not a Kumiho. Not anymore." Jade protests. "That sounds wise though. Here, you can take some more hairs for that test of yours." She fans her tails towards Dorota. "You take a show r, and if you still want this afterwards, then we can talk."

The hostess rushes off to the shower line and Jade turns to Dorota. "I'm not sure this is a good idea. I don't know what I am, so I also don't know if it's a good idea to spread it."

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"If you don't know if it's a good idea to turn her, then it probably isn't," Dorota agrees. "Transformations aren't something to be trifled with. I'm going to need another blood sample, too. See if the cold virus is still charged with magic."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
"Right." Jade rolls up her sleeve for the blood drawing. "On one hand, she wants it, if I'm anything to judge by, it won't hurt her or anyone else, but there could be unexpected consequences." Like a magical cold that turns people into foxes. "I offered it to her, it feels weird to take it back. I almost feel like I'm supposed to give it to her, but that might be the magic talking. Ugh." Jade really does not like magic. Especially when it messes with her head.

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"In my estimation, feeling like you need to pass on a magical transformation could be a bad sign." Dorota draws Jade's blood. "So I'd err on the side of caution." She runs her test on the blood again, to see if the result is different than the last time.

[5a Violista]

[Silent Night]

"Definitely doesn't sound like an inn, don't worry," June says, reassuring Yuvan. "And inn would be called something like Acqua or Pretty Beach or Ritzy Somethingsquare or Sun and Sea or something like that."
Obviously.
...
June can't comment on it sounding like a bar, though.

She listens for a bit, and tries to decide on a good enough story. "Well, I could tell you about that time I tripped on a snake," she says. What other stories would be good? she wonders. Most of her stories are, admittedly, pretty boring. But! mentioning them helps bring to mind the slightly-more-exciting story. "Or...there's that one at the beach."
One of the pixies flies up to June's ear and whispers something.
"Oh, right! And there's that one time I fought and rode a dragon. Different dragons, not the same dragon. And then I helped the first dragon wrestle a water zombie after that." A little more pixie-whispering, but instead of June saying something! a pixie says something instead: "I once wrestled a face-stealing ghost. It's a much better story than anything that fat oaf could tell you." (To which the pixie sticks her tongue out at June, and June returns the favor with her own tongue, and then some of the pixies giggle at the exchange.)

With that distraction dealt with, June adds, "Which story sounds the most interesting?" Clearly you can only listen to one.

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street]

The ooze rolls over the top of the roaches and pauses when it reaches the jar, feeling it with limbs.

It just watched the jar get set down.

And the jar definitely doesn't feel like the surrounding terrain.

Now that the thing has had something to eat it begins slithering away toward a nearby storm drain.

"Right," Regiji interjects. "So the safe place is this way. I think we should probably get moving before-"

There's a louder burble. Followed by a splat as another shoggoth flaps against the pavement.

Should either of our heroes look up they'll spy a MUCH LARGER shoggoth clinging to the roof of the building above them with all of its horrid tentacles. It is definitely big enough to eat them whole.

Then again, quite a few things are big enough to eat kobolds whole.

"Okay, yeah, it's definitely time to go," Regiji insists.


[Skyway Zoo]

"That's probably a good idea," Khannie reasons. "Not asking for wishes and things. I did that twice, once when I was really little and once a couple months ago. My wish was really dumb when I was little. But the last one I was really careful with on the wording and stuff."

She frowns slightly.

"I guess the second wish worked out okay? Mostly okay. Still, I think I've learned my lesson about making wishes."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
"If she really wants it... There are many ways to become a fox here. I'm worried she might find a more malignant option. Giving it to her here and now would keep her from being tricked into a much worse deal... Ultimately, though, it might be a risk no matter what happens." Jade's making an oblique reference to what happened to her, where she was made into a Kumiho. Considering that that particular breed of nine-tailed foxes eat people's hearts in order to survive, Jade wants to avoid having anyone else go through that. She was fixed, but most aren't.

Arkham Street
Vikk doesn't need to be told twice. She'll run as fast as her little legs will carry her.
With all his enhancements, Regiji is almost definitely faster.

Hopefully this spooky street doesn't have more surprises.

[Ironsmith]

[Silent Night]

"Definitely doesn't sound like an inn, don't worry," June says, reassuring Yuvan. "And inn would be called something like Acqua or Pretty Beach or Ritzy Somethingsquare or Sun and Sea or something like that."
Obviously.
...
June can't comment on it sounding like a bar, though.

She listens for a bit, and tries to decide on a good enough story. "Well, I could tell you about that time I tripped on a snake," she says. What other stories would be good? she wonders. Most of her stories are, admittedly, pretty boring. But! mentioning them helps bring to mind the slightly-more-exciting story. "Or...there's that one at the beach."
One of the pixies flies up to June's ear and whispers something.
"Oh, right! And there's that one time I fought and rode a dragon. Different dragons, not the same dragon. And then I helped the first dragon wrestle a water zombie after that." A little more pixie-whispering, but instead of June saying something! a pixie says something instead: "I once wrestled a face-stealing ghost. It's a much better story than anything that fat oaf could tell you." (To which the pixie sticks her tongue out at June, and June returns the favor with her own tongue, and then some of the pixies giggle at the exchange.)

With that distraction dealt with, June adds, "Which story sounds the most interesting?" Clearly you can only listen to one.

[Silent Night]

Yuvan smiles and taps a finger to his chin. "Well, I must admit, I am partial to a good dragon-slaying." They're always so amusing; sometimes someone gets lucky and brings down one of the great lizards in a bizarre way. And he's met a few other dragonborn this way; if June turned out to be one of them, there'd be a certain delightful irony in that, as well. Alternatively, she said she wrestled a dragon... not that she managed to kill it, or even that she won.

One way or another, that would be an interesting story.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyway Zoo

Khannie your wish made you literally a ticking undead killer magic ghost-witch timebomb. That is not mostly fine.
It's not that I don't trust magic. Just don't need to throw anything else top of everything now, you know? I think that being a giant vanilla-ice-cream colored cow is enough, you know?" To be fair both Krayger and Sai's cultures consider blonde a very nice color!
"So uh, is the dragon your friend or do you have some witchy stuff going on?"
Everyone knows shoulder-mounted funny critters is a very solid indicator of witchiness.

[Rebonack]

[Arkham Street]

Run away!

Run awaaaaaay!

Thankfully the shoggoth doesn't give chase to our tiny heroes so getting away isn't too terribly difficult. Before long they'll approach an empty lot that's next to a rather spooky looking library.

Regiji looks puzzled.

"Wow, the neighborhood really went downhill while I was gone," he mutters as he approaches the vacant lot. "Could have sworn the library looked different before."

Is it even the same library?

There's was that guy inside who really didn't like foxes because... well, Regiji really doesn't remember the reason. Something about the smell and leaving dead mice everywhere? Eh. Anyway, he can still tell that the depot is here (maybe) exactly where he left it.

"Alright, safe place."

He reaches out toward thin air and touches the face of the sky. A white rectangle tall enough for a human to comfortably pass through traces itself shortly before sliding aside, a door hung on nothing.


[Skyway Zoo]

It's fiiiiine.

Also Mina's comment there earns a puzzled look from Khannie.

"...did you get your color changed or something when you got your super powers?" she asks. And she's only asking because Mina brought it up. Or... did she get turned into a minotaur? Because if she did and her name just happened to be Mina before hand that's kind of a weird coincidence.

Then questions about witchy things!

"Oh, I'm a sorceress. Maridia is my familiar. I did a ritual to call her then made her a peanut butter and honey sandwich."

Khannie does not bring up that she's a Magical Girl because secret identities are important.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyway Zoo

Mina was named after a Dragonlance character! Don’t tell her that though.
”Like I said, magic was involved so I look just like my last self. Mom’s not a blonde.”
She’s also not a minotaur. Which she’s kind of put out about. Her daughter and her daughter’s funny talking weapon got made them and she doesn’t get anything? How sad; it sounds exciting.
”Okay. Well it’s nice to meet you both.” Mina doesn’t question that series of events. Feeding your fairy seems like a pretty normal thing once you call them over.
”How’d you start doing the magic thing so young?”

[bc56]

Arkham Street

"Whooooooh. Regiji can magic!?" Vikk seems, as usual, very excited to learn this. "Ooh, ooh, can Regiji teach Vikk?" Magic is very neat and very rare and Vikk would really like to know magic a lot please.

[5a Violista]

[Silent Night]

June imagines he'll probably want to hear the story in as interesting of a way as possible, but figures she's also out of practice telling stories, so.

"So basically what happened first is that I woke up in this cart in a snowy mountain, with some du- some awful soldiers taking me somewhere. A dragon – smaller than you'd expect, but don't worry he could turn into a bigger dragon – and his friend who could control plants rescued me from the dumb soldiers," she says.

Deep breath, and she continues the story. "We went somewhere but that's not part of the story. Anyway, after that, we went back to the cart and it was in a little town, and then a dragon showed up. I was mostly bait because the dragon really wanted to kill me," she says, "and while the magic tree lady and the little dragon tied down the bigger dragon, I..." She makes a flicking motion, "got its wings and then when it tried to eat me, I cut off its head."
To demonstrate how, June holds a hand out and a sword-shaped beam of light comes out (and then disappears just as quickly). "The dragon then burnt itself up and became a skeleton."

Okay, time for the rest of the story. "All the townpeople started to be weird, so the other dragon let me ride him out of there, to some mountain. There were some bandits hanging out in some ruins there, so we scared them away by making them think the place was haunted, and what I did was climb the ruins and fire a ballista at their supply tent."

Almost at the good part:
"So we entered the ruins, and there were possessed robots everywhere. After climbing down the elevator, the walls started yelling at me, warning about the zombie who was coming. When everyone else arrived, the mist zombie came out of its grave and started attacking us. But! It was immune to literally everything except sunlight, but we were in a cave so there was no sunlight, right? Right. And so the only way we could stop it was for the dragon and me to wrestle it back into its grave."

June pauses for effect.
"Pretty great story, right?" she says.
The pixies start booing, saying how it was such a boring story and that nobody would find it interesting and that she probably bored her audience to death.

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"If you'll pardon me for being honest, you don't seem to know a great deal about your powers and nature," Dorota says. "And since you don't know precisely what will happen if you transform her, it might be best not to do it." She taps the test tube. "The good news is that you don't appear to be contagious anymore. I never would have expected it to be solved by water, but I won't complain."

[Ironsmith]

[Silent Night]

"Well, that... that was interesting." Yuvan admits, in a tone that implies what he means to say is "what the hell did I just sit through?". He's vaguely reminded of the stories his daughters would sometimes tell him when he managed to get home; rambling monologues (sometimes dialogues) about what the two sisters had been up to in the months he had been gone.

Further reminding him are the pixies, with their booing and jeering. "Well, then." He begins a playful challenge. "I would like to see any of you do better."

Though as he watches for their response, his attention goes back to June. Her story implied that she was, herself, dragonborn... the detail of a dragon dissolving to a skeleton in front of her was suspiciously familiar. He'll mutter something only she can hear, in Dovahzul, to test his theory. "[Unending sorrow. Your friends are a childish brood, aren't they?]"

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
"You're right. We can't do this now, not without really figuring out what I am. I can at least send them to Inari's temple, they might be able to help her," Jade concedes. She's got a working relationship with the Temple and is occasionally a student there.

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

Dorota smiles.

"I'm familiar with the temple of Inari. I got married there. If someone wants to become part fox, that probably is the best place to send them."

[Shadowcaller]

Midnight Park

"Let me be clear: they are not letting you go. I am letting you go, because I am here in the Nexus and they cannot stop me without incarnating themselves here. They would consider me a heretic because of my predecessor, just as they consider you and your brother walking apocalypses because of yours. They are not the majority anymore, or else I would be in chains as well. But that doesn't help your brother."
Artie is sympathetic, but her response is slightly cold. She can't let Jaahlyn's justified rage make things worse.
"My administrator put this in my hands because he agrees that what was done to you two was wrong. You have every reason to hate them but if you work with me a little we might at least show that you didn't throw off your chains to start plans for world domination and we might get your brother released. Ethic concerns aside, I am more useful to you as a Court member than a rogue fey. "

Midnight Park

Jaahlyn falls silent after that clarification.

Then after almost a minute she poses a question. "Did your... mind-buddy tell you what they did? What the demons are?" She poses.