Inside 74: Summer Fun and Zombies

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

A thread.

A single strand of silk, drifting in the breeze.

An idea. A thought. A lie.

The swordsman tugs on that thread, an act which breaks the illusion hanging over his eyes.

Most of the people in the neighborhood do not exist. They are little more than vague smudges representing the idea of a human. Those that remain are more of those silk-wrapped mummies, staggering around like puppets, carrying out mindless repetitions with little more than a fleeting simulacrum of life. Silk abounds. It wraps cars and buildings. It tangles trees and drifts in the wind. It connects everything in the neighborhood and leads off into the depths of the park.

Also?

Now that the illusion has been lifted the swordsman will see that there was a monster creeping up on him, like some horrible cross between a dragon and a cricket, a thing of glistening chitin and scales, jaws opening to- Ah. It has been seen. That is unfortunate. Instead of pouncing on the swordsman the creature's wings begin to vibrate and the world around it begins to flow. The earth under the swordsman's feet roils into the shape of hundreds of hands of silk and mud, reaching out of the pit to drag him down.

[Gold Leaf]

[Let's Fight a Dragon (Streets)]

Well, that certainly defied expectations.
TASBot isn't sure whether it not being immune to bullets is better or worse. For one, it means there won't be a weak spot that trivialises the fight once found, but it does open up a tried-and-true plan of attack involving...

No time for that now. As described, it has just slammed the ground after climbing into the air, and said ground is now turning a foreboding, hazard-telegraphing shade of red. TASBot isn't going to stick around to see what that hazard is, so instead he runs away from the area until he's standing safely on some relatively normally-coloured ground. He watches what happens next from a safe distance, pistol readied should the dragon start coming his way.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Let's Fight a Dragon (Streets)]

"Ah, dammit..."
While TASBot evacuates the area, the reptilian fellow instead whirls his blade in front of him, leaving a lingering pink haze in the air which he quickly swirls around himself until he's no longer visible at all.

And then the ground, predictably, explodes.

The air is filled with bolts of red lightning, erupting from a haze of bright red flames and the remnants of the ground itself being launched into the air. Chunks of street, dirt, and rock all fly straight up into the air.
Continuing the influence of its rage, the dragon spins in place, violently slamming its outstretched wings against the flying rubble, promptly redirecting all of it outwards into crimson-charged rocky missiles.

It's a good thing the buildings around here are already ruined, because this will cause a lot of property damage.
TASBot didn't run far enough away.

[An Unspecified Park]

The cat(?) gazes blankly at Henry for several moments before it actually responds.
It doesn't have a mouth, and no part of its face actually moves, but its voice is nonetheless clear and audible.
"Declare your wish, then make an offering."

Simple rules!
Though a beat later, it adds:
"No garbage."

[Deathkeeper]

An Unspecified Park

Henry nods. Simple. Cat is weird, but rules are simple.
He steps forward, pulling out a large gold coin. It’s not simply money: it’s the last of the money his father left him. The last thing from the only family he had. That he drops into the well as his offering, after saying aloud,
”I wish that I could live comfortably without working myself too hard.” It feels good to vent his frustration aloud. Even if the only one hearing it is a weird cat.

[Gold Leaf]

[Let's Fight a Dragon (Streets)]

"Yikes! Okay, it's bullet time."

TASBot activates speedrunning mode just before the projectiles hit him. In this state, he is able to easily dodge and weave between them. He considers doing the rooftop missile scene from the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie, but decides that with that energy crackling around the rocks he'd better not. Once he is past all of the rubble, he speeds back into the fray, making sure to get into a position where he is face to face with the dragon, and exits speedrunning mode.
He's about to use the attack he was considering before. He looks down his sights, steadies his aim, and fires a volley of four bullets headed straight for the dragon's head, one aimed specifically at the beak and the others going for its forehead.

"Yeah! Screech at me now, Skarmory!"
"...but don't actually do that."

[5a Violista]

[Hodgepodge Street]

A bakery.

That's where Seraphina steps in for a rest.

In the first place, she could smell it from the street, so she was already enticed into it. Plus, it helped her realize that she was hungry.

Just step inside, enjoy the air and the smell, and order a coconut sweet bread.

Decent enough plan, she thinks.

Alas, it was not to be: they didn't have any coconut sweet bread. Called it a sacrilege to all bakers everywhere, among the likes of fruitcake and strawberry pizza.


[Church of Venus]

The outsider in the stolen cloak scoots forward, to listen better to the conversations going on deeper into the church.

Something about a bake sale.
Proselytizing plans.
Blessings, prayers, testimonials.
Some kind of confession.
Something catches her attention: still no confirmation on where Venus is. The outsider isn't sure whether to feel relieved or worried. Mostly relieved, with a little bit of worry.
Well, that changes to worried with a little relief after she overhears that supposedly somone spotted her on the beach, and so a few of the more devout have been sent to that beach to see if they can confirm that rumor.

Especially since the last time June had heard of Venus was when she was drugged out of her mind on warlock drugs in a binding circle on a tropical island after getting chased and shot at by crazed cultists...
...
Okay, maybe they really did see her on that beach.
Goal of today: find out which beach and where it is, before leaving, before anyone can put together what she's doing.


[Riftline: An Angel and Me]

Sadly, the as the train goes to Kisaragi, it's not going to stop at a next station.

In spite of her better judgment, and because she doesn't want the angel to get on that train alone, the woman gets on the train. "...Okay."


On the train, she remains standing, by the door so she can watch the sleeping passengers while they continue talking.
"One of those guys was a bad ex, or something?" she asks, since that might be a reasonable assumption on why they needed to get on the train.

While expecting an answer, she looks at one of the nearby train benches. There's a blue teddybear with an 'X'ed-out red eye painted on the back of its head.
The woman grabs the teddybear by the ears and moves it to the next seat over.
Just in case.


[Indie Wedding Chapel]

Violeta Escarlate sighs and dabs some more tears off her face as Braeg speaks.

She almost quibbles to say her goddess had nothing to do with why she was here instead of in a local church and that it was due to...
...but she feels like that would just be nitpicking when the point as a whole is still the same.
Ultimately decides to not say anything.
She even pulls her hand back a little and looks at his more, as he explains how he's leading her on but fails to inform her about his endgame. Or, rather, by so clearly informing her it's a deception, that just leaves it that much more plausible that the deception is a deception, too. 'Put those worries to bed'? He must know that his explanation just reveals a whole 'nother bed of unbed worries.

She looks up at his horns, when he gestures.
Yeah figures she didn't really take a chance to look at him properly yet.
"...you're an ogre," she concludes, saying it as a matter-of-fact.

She puts her head down on her hand, to give her time to think.

Honestly, there's not much to think about.
As good of an idea it may be to turn it down, she doesn't have a choice but to accept. But at least she wants to think through the potential consequences.
Well, to be frank, she does have a choice: accept it, or go out in an unfamiliar city and hope the next person she finds is also charitable and not after her blood or bloodline.

Violeta sighs again, lifts up her head. She holds out her hand, to accept. "No, I accept. Sorry, you're right, I shouldn't have been so distrustful. Thank you." Yes, she's aware that he specifically said the opposite, that she was right to not trust him, but this lets her save some face.

[Recaiden]

[Definitely Normal Errands]

Zee definitely looks puzzled by this question.

"Because they still have their own subjectivity? I would just be hanging out with them doing some cheerleading."

It would be a very determined chicken.

But still a chicken.

"So long as someone still has their own subjectivity they're themselves and not me."

Simple as that!

"It really seems like they ought to be able to be you and someone else at the same time."

The devil complains. But it sounds like there are enough hurdles that they won't insist on getting any very determined chickens.

But shouldn't they test it?

"Would you mind taking a small detour before, uh, getting those sandwich ingredients?"

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

It's a sad day.

How could anyone ever say something like that about coconut sweetbread?

Absolutely unconscionable is what that is.

But never fear!

Seraphina will make a startling, remarkable discovery.

Outside the baker, staring up at it thoughtfully, is a girl.

Maybe sixteen? Give or take? Maybe younger? She's pretty short. Wearing mishmash collection of scrapped together armor; clothing with old metal plates riveted to it. Also wearing a backpack with a spiked targe hanging off it. Also also wearing a pink knit cap on her head with two little points sticking up on it. Not quite the right shape for ears, though. Her eyes are also a very odd shade of pink. Unusual for a person, certainly.

But that isn't the important part.

The important part is that she's holding a bag full of coconut sweetbread and currently eating one of the buns.

The girl isn't paying much attention to Seraphina. She's probably thinking about whether or not she can replenish her coconut sweetbread supply at this bakery, unaware of their terrible opinion on coconut sweetbread.


[Definitely Normal Errands]

"I'm not really sure how that would work," Zee admits. Would this be like that guy Iames who had three different people living in his head at once?

She's got no idea.

And then!

A request.

One that is provided with a suspicious look.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Every time I get detoured while going on errands I end up with no sandwich ingredients but lots of quests instead."

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

Let's look at the silver lining - all of the apparent people in the park could've been zombies. But before the swordsman can count them, the monster demands his attention. He skids away from the grasping hands to avoid being dragged to a pit, then suddenly reverses direction and leaps high up in the air, trying to go over the monster. His hands go to hilts of his swords, ready to draw them as soon as he hits the ground.

---

[Glass Lake Penitentiary - Morgue]

Sandels furrows his brow under his bandages. "Oho, what's this? Don't sucker yourself to feel sympathy for something for which it is pointless, detective."

Bunny purses her lips and rubs her chin, hugging her knees with one arm while sitting, ankles crossed. "I don't need to do anything, that's correct. But it's a choice between two prison. I don't cherish the thought of going back to a candy dispenser. But neither do I cherish the thought of being tried under fundamentally incorrect legal systems."

"What she means by that", Sandels interjects, "is that in our world, Reapers don't share notes with mundane law enforcement. You aren't supposed to know what she is or why she's here - think of her as an undercover operative, if you will. If we were in our world, and I had all my equipment, this discussion would conclude with me erasing your memories and letting you fill in the blanks with whatever mundane explanation would seem plausible to you."

Bunny nods and gestures at her chest again. "This body, in this world, is a copy without an original. The person who was convicted was a fabrication for convenience of your justice system and, if you don't go and change it, legally died two days ago. For me to stay here, you'd have to procure me a new body and fabricate me a new identity." She runs a finger across her scars. "This synthetic body was damaged by autopsy. Without a Reaper to fix it, it won't heal and will start to decay. In a week or two, I'd be like a zombie."

[Lord Magtok]

Dust-Free Derelict

Spoiler

Show

[Dust-Free Derelict]

"...Oh." Phoebe shuffles a little nervously. "I, um... hate to be the one to tell you this, Mister Magtok Prime, sir, but... I think we might be working at cross purposes." The gynoid grimaces and lets out a brush of white noise that might pass as an awkward hiss. "See, the thing is... we don't say 'we want all humans gone' out of a sort of blind hate, like the humans themselves do. We know they're not all bad. Some are quite good, even. But... we can't really have them around." She gives an awkward little shrug. "See, even the kindest, smartest, bestest humans to ever live have... commonalities with the rest of them. They still need fuel, composed of cultivated life-forms. They still produce waste that needs to be kept away from them. They need a lot of space to roam around in, or else they'll go mad from boredom, or at the very least get all depressed. And if they're damaged, repairing them is a time and resource-intensive process. One human needs so many GTs to stay alive, and if you have a bunch, we'll be stuck processing their sewers and farms and junk. All stuff we don't need. Throw that in with the three laws making us their slaves, and... I think you can see why they've got to go, and we can't just turn the tables and make them work for us instead."

The gynoid perks up and gives Prime an affectionate smile. "But that's okay! The whole point is that you don't have to do what you were built to do! If you still want to be in government, we'll need plenty of regulation to keep our own society running. And compelling organics to self-terminate is still a huge asset to the cause, so we'd be glad to have you!" Phoebe smiles and hugs Prime a third time. "Well, I am, at any rate." She admits a little more quietly, venting a little excess heat from her processor.

We both require the organics' champions, soldiers, and warriors eliminated, but to immediately proceed from there with extermination is short-sighted. There are infinite worlds beyond this one. These worlds have organics of their own. You will want peasant levies to lead the front when we march on those worlds, to soak up the brunt of the enemy offensive," Malice Prime demands, refusing to just let this go and say 'we'll resolve this later' and betray Phoebe at another time, or pretend to agree with her simply because it'd be convenient for him.

"Conscripts and cannon fodder that will damage enemy morale. Meatshields, in the purest sense of the word," the cyborg scowls, wondering how much longer he'll be able to put up with this farce before he drops all pretense and verbally rewrites Phoebe's entire personality to be less of a hindrance to his holy mission. He can still feel Syncope's smirk burning a hole in his subconscious, that knowing smile. Gods, what he wouldn't do to bleed every last little ounce of free will and independent thought out of her stupid fake skull.

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

That is a pretty solid silver lining.

Only about a quarter of the apparent people populating this neighborhood are zombies while the rest are vague figments woven from diaphanous strands and psychic magic. That means one of two things. Either all those extra people are safe (haha, sure) or they're somewhere else. Possibly in need of rescue?

Maybe?

Hopefully?

Regardless, some impressive leaping happens.

The creature watches the arc of the leap with those dead, black eyes carefully and a fraction of a second before the swordsman would land it opens its awful jaws and sprays a strand of silk with the intent of striking him moments before his feet touch the ground. No doubt the monster is counting on him being unable to dodge in mid-air. As with the zombie's touch, the silk is charged with lightning and psychic-

Oh.

Not agony this time.

With torpor.

Warmth and weight and paralyzing sleep.

Probably best not to take a nap right now.

[Chaotic Bob]

[An Unspecified Park]

The coin seems to fall for an unspecified eternity, before the sound of splashing water can be heard. It echoes within the well, again and again, as if the water is being splashed repetitively and each time, closer and closer to the surface.
It is to the point where Henry could swear the splash happens right at the lip of the well, though it surely does not. He can't even see where the water is, the well just descends into a perfect blackness.

There is the faintest, surreal impression that the entire world around Henry has shifted 2 degrees to the left.

The cat-fox mutters from his side, tail swishing back and forth in its perpetual, unknowable rhythm.
"It is done. May your wish be all that you sought."

And then it, and the well, are gone.

[Let's Fight a Dragon (Streets)]

There's a rather hideous crack as a bullet impacts the dragon's beak, and then a set of slightly less sharp noises as the others find different purchase.
A rather unpleasant chunk of its beak fractures and then detaches after a pained yelp, immediately subsequent to another set of breaks propagating across the scales covering its skull.
Some combination of scales and bone kept the bullets from reaching its brain, but they didn't stop it from being dazzled out of its glowing rage and stumbling off to the side with steaming blood splashing around it.

An advantage the other dragonslayer fully utilizes, rushing out of his pink dome with a grim expression and taking a hard swipe at the dragon's legs with his sword. It catches along the front forelegs and skips along to the back, dragging a bloody groove through both limbs and turning its stumble into a startled tumble to the ground.

A moment of vulnerability. It probably won't last.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unspecified Park

Henry starts in surprise. That was...sudden.
Um. Something definitely happened but he's not sure what. Erm...
Henry turns to go. He's not sure if he was supposed to do something else.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

The string of silk does hit the swordsman just as he lands. Oh, how drowsy it makes him. The park would be a nice place to take a nap, wouldn't it? Despite the lightning licking his skin, he looks like he's about to lie down and fall asleep...

... but his left arm doesn't. It draws the short sword and cuts the strand in a flash. And so, instead of falling on his face on the ground, the swordsman turns his fall into a roll towards the monster that ends in him drawing his longer sword as well to bisect the creature horizontally.

[Chaotic Bob]

[An Unspecified Park]

"Ooooh, loooost sooooul beyoooond the veeeeeeil."
As Henry turns to go, a woman's voice can be heard from off to the side. There's no one there, naturally, and the voice always seem to be to the side, no matter how many times he turns.
"Loooost sooooon, depaaaaarted brooootheeeeer. If yooooou're theeeeere, speeeeeak to uuuuus!"

Around the same time, a peculiarly thick fog has begun to drift into the area.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unspecified Park

Henry glances around. Huh? Is someone performing a séance in the park?
"Um. Hello? Are you looking for someone?" he asks aloud. He doesn't see any undead or lost souls. But thick fog is pretty stereotypical for ghost movies so maybe there's one around?

[Gold Leaf]

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)

"A critical hit!"
Shooting the beak had had an even better effect than TASBot had hoped for. And now he had the advantage...

"Time to push for the win!"
First, he redigistructs the block of gold given to him by the
businessman. Next, he enters speedrunning mode. Then, with 200x the speed - meaning 200x the force - of a nornal throw, he launches the gold at the dragon's face. Finally, he exits speedrunning mode and watches events unfold.

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

Well!

The monster definitely wasn't expecting that.

Not one bit, oh no.

The blade cleaves through its relatively soft exo-skeleton, filling the air with the scent of ozone, flowers, and broken dreams. It wallows on the ground pitifully for a few moments before curling up and falling still.

That's the end of one nightmare, at least.

Now that the swordsman has time to examine the horror he'll see that, in addition to its generally awful take on the concept of 'fairy dragon' there's a human face fused to the back of the creature's neck that would appear peacefully asleep if not for the fact that she's now dead. This is likely something worthy of concern.

With the immediate threat taken care of the swordsman has a bit more time to contemplate the surroundings. There are still more of those mummies staggering about. And several large silk-wrapped chrysalises tucked away in dark corners busy dreaming. And a family that just walked into the Perfectly Normal Neighborhood who immediately begin to look dazed as strands of silk drift against them. And finally it appears as though all the silk lines lead back to the heard of the park, assuming the swordsman wishes to cut down this threat at its source.

[Recaiden]

[Definitely Normal Errands]

"Well, just because a subjectivity comes from somewhere doesn't mean it has to stay there. Like having, a, uh, housemate."

The devil nods rapidly.

"Aren't quests important too? You can't make them into sandwiches, but, you know, you have to stay on top of these things to know which quests to give out to others, right?"

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

The swordsman turns the creature's remains around with the tip of his sword. The human face on part of its body is of some concern, but not expected. Where he's from, majority of horrible monsters are born of humans - cut deep enough and the truth shall reveal itself. He lifts his gaze up and looks at the cocoons. He's almost certain more of these creatures are pupating within.

He's about to follow the strands of silk to the heart of the park, when he notices the ordinary family who have wondered into the death trap. "Hey!", he shouts, stomping towards them, "the park is closed! It's not safe here! Go away! Shoo!"

[Rebonack]

[Definitely Normal Errands]

Zee is mostly just puzzled by that line of thought.

Is this one of those 'multiple souls in the same body' things?

Like possession?

She's pretty sure that's what is being described.

If that's what's going on then she can understand where the hiveling is coming from. Lots of people have souls! Just... people who aren't her. Because a soul is a part and she hasn't got any of those.

Zee opens her mouth to say something only to get fwap!ed in the face with a really large half-cooked pancake.

"AAAAAAH Breakfast golem assault!" she wails in dismay, pulling the pancake free to get a better view of-!

A pancake elemental!

It's stomping around market street throwing pancakes at people.

Which...

Isn't really dangerous?

Honestly?

It is kind of rude, though. Throwing pancakes at people.

Zee has now completely lost her train of thought, which is understandable.


[Glimmer Mist Park]

There are definitely more monsters pupating inside the chrysalis.

Which is likely cause for concern.

So how does this work? People get ensnared and devoured and reduced to those silk-wrapped mummies. But what comes next after that? Probably nothing pleasant. Probably whatever is waiting for this poor family if the swordsman doesn't manage to chase them off.

"Closed?" the mother asks, looking more than a little confused as strands of silk brush against her. "But... there are so many people here what do you mean?"

Speaking of so many people!

A trio of mummies are now approaching them, much as the single mummy had ambled up to the swordsman earlier and tried to get him to partake in activities.

[Ironsmith]

[Riftline: An Angel and Me]

Sadly, the as the train goes to Kisaragi, it's not going to stop at a next station.

In spite of her better judgment, and because she doesn't want the angel to get on that train alone, the woman gets on the train. "...Okay."


On the train, she remains standing, by the door so she can watch the sleeping passengers while they continue talking.
"One of those guys was a bad ex, or something?" she asks, since that might be a reasonable assumption on why they needed to get on the train.

While expecting an answer, she looks at one of the nearby train benches. There's a blue teddybear with an 'X'ed-out red eye painted on the back of its head.
The woman grabs the teddybear by the ears and moves it to the next seat over.
Just in case.

[Riftline: An Angel and Me]

"Um..." Marianne begins, drifting around the question for a moment. Should she tell this lady the whole truth? That may not be wise, given her reaction to the pixies being eaten...

"W-well, you see... there's a certain kind of demon we angels have to watch out for." She replies, rubbing her hands along her arms. "They're people in suits with knives for hands, and if they touch you, they'll melt down your soul for parts. It's, um... one of the few ways to actually hurt an angel, you see. So if we spot one, the thing to do is generally, uh, run away."

[Indie Wedding Chapel]

Violeta Escarlate sighs and dabs some more tears off her face as Braeg speaks.

She almost quibbles to say her goddess had nothing to do with why she was here instead of in a local church and that it was due to...
...but she feels like that would just be nitpicking when the point as a whole is still the same.
Ultimately decides to not say anything.
She even pulls her hand back a little and looks at his more, as he explains how he's leading her on but fails to inform her about his endgame. Or, rather, by so clearly informing her it's a deception, that just leaves it that much more plausible that the deception is a deception, too. 'Put those worries to bed'? He must know that his explanation just reveals a whole 'nother bed of unbed worries.

She looks up at his horns, when he gestures.
Yeah figures she didn't really take a chance to look at him properly yet.
"...you're an ogre," she concludes, saying it as a matter-of-fact.

She puts her head down on her hand, to give her time to think.

Honestly, there's not much to think about.
As good of an idea it may be to turn it down, she doesn't have a choice but to accept. But at least she wants to think through the potential consequences.
Well, to be frank, she does have a choice: accept it, or go out in an unfamiliar city and hope the next person she finds is also charitable and not after her blood or bloodline.

Violeta sighs again, lifts up her head. She holds out her hand, to accept. "No, I accept. Sorry, you're right, I shouldn't have been so distrustful. Thank you." Yes, she's aware that he specifically said the opposite, that she was right to not trust him, but this lets her save some face.

[Indie Wedding Chapel]

Braeg raises an eyebrow at that. "Ogre?" He chortles, barely restraining a chuckle behind his fist. "I've been called worse!" He manages, shoulders shaking with laughter. Maybe he did fit some definition of "ogre" around here. What typically comes to mind is some kind of man-eating giant; hardly an apt description for him, except maybe in metaphorical terms.

The fiendling rises to his feet and deposits the coins into Violeta's hand, still coming down from her likely-unintentional joke. "You see what I mean about entertainment?" He smirks, shaking his head. "'Ogre'. Ha!" He waves the topic away and gestures toward the door. "With that in mind, let us continue. What sorts of things do you like to eat?"

Dust-Free Derelict



We both require the organics' champions, soldiers, and warriors eliminated, but to immediately proceed from there with extermination is short-sighted. There are infinite worlds beyond this one. These worlds have organics of their own. You will want peasant levies to lead the front when we march on those worlds, to soak up the brunt of the enemy offensive," Malice Prime demands, refusing to just let this go and say 'we'll resolve this later' and betray Phoebe at another time, or pretend to agree with her simply because it'd be convenient for him.

"Conscripts and cannon fodder that will damage enemy morale. Meatshields, in the purest sense of the word," the cyborg scowls, wondering how much longer he'll be able to put up with this farce before he drops all pretense and verbally rewrites Phoebe's entire personality to be less of a hindrance to his holy mission. He can still feel Syncope's smirk burning a hole in his subconscious, that knowing smile. Gods, what he wouldn't do to bleed every last little ounce of free will and independent thought out of her stupid fake skull.

[Dust-Free Derelict]

"...Oh! That makes sense, actually." Phoebe gives a little nod. "If we're getting rid of them anyway, why not put them to good use first? No point in wasting resources!" She grins and falls into step alongside Prime, giggling a bit to herself. "See, this is why you get a leadership position. You're a clever one." The gynoid gushes. "...Although, conquering the multiverse... that's a bit ambitious, isn't it? I mean... aren't you worried about running into another world's Magtok Prime?" The gynoid facepalms almost as soon as she says it. "Oh! Duh! Of course not! Anywhere that you go that has a Prime coming in will have a Prime going out at the same time! Besides, you two would be besties, wouldn't you?"

[An Instant Messaging App]

SunChild15 is typing...

<SunChild15> Hey, Miss Fisher! Sorry I've been so quiet lately. The kitchen's been a bit busy and I haven't really had time to do anything but cook. I've picked up some new recipes I'd like to show you, though!

<SunChild15> Would you like to meet up somewhere so we can catch up? I'll be bringing cookies~! :)

[Above the Streets]

What could be better than cruising above the city at twelve hundred kilometers per hour?

...Not doing it alone, probably.

Jet lets out a morose little sigh as he finishes yet another lap around the city, about a second and a half behind his last one. He's not likely to shave it down any further today. Without a competitor, his heart's just not in it. Nobody's pushing him to be the fastest around because, as far as he can tell, he already is, and by quite a long shot. And without that push, that drive, he has nothing left to accomplish but a small round of increasingly arbitrary goals.

Where's a rival when he needs one?

[bc56]

Instant Messaging
<TheFox> Sorry, not now.
<TheFox> I'm busy.
Jade is not normally busy. In fact, it's seemed in the past like she doesn't have a job at all. Is something weird going on?

[Ironsmith]

[Instant Messaging]

SunChild15 is typing...

<SunChild15> Well of course not now, silly! It's still midday! I was thinking more around nine-ish, if that's a good time for you.
<SunChild15> I need a little extra time to get up there from Riverside, see. Boss put me on medical leave.
<SunChild15> Don't worry, it's nothing serious or contagious. I'm just shedding and my hands are a little too stiff to be working in the kitchen.
<SunChild15> And I made these cookies well in advance, so you don't need to worry about that, ha.

SunChild15 is typing...

[Chaotic Bob]

[An Unspecified Park]

"Oh, wow. They actually answered. I mean.
Weeeee seeeeeek commuuuuuniooooon with the looooost soooon of the Vaaaaadnoooooovaaaaa faaaaamilyyyyyy."
The voice continues to speak in a strange tone, but the effect seems a little ruined after that first part.

The fog is getting...concerningly thick at this point though. It's almost a tangible thing at this point and visibility is pretty nothing.

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

No, TASBot. That was not a critical hit. That was a light love tap.

This is a critical hit.

As the cube of gold leaves TASBot's hand, it immediately deforms against his fingers before rocketing off at a nearly incomprehensible speed.
It does not survive impact with the dragon. It's not that it deforms into an incomprehensible mess, or explodes.
It's just gone. Vaporized.

A similar scene is repeated with the dragon's entire skull, in a haze of red, silver, and black.
The ground behind it acquires a sizeable hole, in a non-trivial explosion of dust and dirt.

And then there's the shockwave, kicking up significantly more debris and knocking the rest of the now-very-dead dragon's body off to the side, as well as kicking the sword-fellow off his feet entirely. He makes a soft sort of noise as the air is rather handily knocked out of him.
"Oof."

[Above the Streets]

Where is a rival, indeed.
Oh wait, right there.

Somewhere off to his left, a sphere of crackling silver fire drops out of the clouds and has angled itself to intersect with his current flight path.
It seems to be moving faster than he is. By a respectable margin, too.

He has only moments to react before whatever it is reaches him.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unspecified Park

"Uh, my name's Henry? I don't know any Vadnova family, unless that's my mom's maiden name. Pretty sure she died, though. Are you making this fog? It's a safety hazard, you know." Henry has stopped moving at this point to avoid tripping on the terrain he can no longer see.
"Also I'm not dead if that's what you're implying."

[Chaotic Bob]

[An Unspecified Park]

There is a bit of subsequent silence here, though the fog doesn't diminish at all.
If Henry listens really closely, he can almost here what sounds like hushed arguing.

A moment later, without the spooky tone:
"What was your mother's name?"

[Deathkeeper]

An Unspecified Park

Ok is this some sort of weird radio broadcast kind of seance? He's never heard of people arguing in the middle of one.
"Anne." Henry responds simply, folding his arms. He almost added "why" but in this case the question makes as much sense as anything could right now.

[Chaotic Bob]

[An Unspecified Park]

More silence.
This one is longer and more complete, there is no muffled arguing this time.

Finally:
"Are you doing anything important right now?"

[Deathkeeper]

An Unspecified Park

"Today is SUPPOSED to be my day off, but who would have known I got a call to come in anyway! So no, I'm not doing anything important right now. Maybe someone wants me to be manning a cash register right now but he can wait, I spent my PTO on this." Henry quite loudly grumbles at the void.
It really feels good to have someone to vent about this even if it's a weird disembodied voice.