Issue 18: L'esprit D'escalier

 In this issue, the Worldenders go to the circus! 

Cover art: Adam Rebottaro

Intro music: Mathew Mozzoni

Background music: Ian Fisher

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Face front, true believers, we are back with the reboot. Issue 18.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Oh my god, really?

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Holy shit. Yeah, long.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Good for good for it. Yeah, this is a reboot.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

This is volume four.

SPEAKER_03 0:47

Well, we've really been cruising through this. We really like playing this game, so we're constantly like, let's play some more remote.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

The thing is, this is technically our 19th uh recording session because we had the uh the annual.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Yeah, the bonus episode.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

That was super fun.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Uh so yeah. Um, once again, we can't uh we can't check in with the voice in Rio's head because it's uh gone.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

The uh the recap page is just blank again.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Um, you know, just an eerie uh solid black.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

That's right.

SPEAKER_09 1:27

Uh, but I can tell you the readers are starting to complain because they were like the first time was a funny joke, but now it just seems like you're trying to skimp out on your art budget. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

The the the uh what was it? The the recap page is now just panels from the previous issue.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Uh speaking of the last issue, you all uh boarded the uh living luxury, the ghost train that was taking you uh to Madame Aran's Cirque de Fanton. And uh you were accosted by a ghost pirate.

SPEAKER_09 2:02

And we got ghost crunk and ate ghost chicken nuggets.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah, you successfully uh chased off Captain Ramshackle. Uh quite quite uh efficiently, I might add. That's right, baby. You uh you knocked him out in two rounds, so good for you. Uh unfortunately, the train itself took a little bit of damage in the meantime. So we open this issue with y'all at a train station. Uh you are at the train station kind of resembles more or less the one that you were on when you first boarded it. Uh, but the surrounding area is not just, you know, a big open foggy field. You are uh docked in this truly uh majestic opulent slice of paradise. Uh this multi-tiered uh island in the sky surrounded by clouds, buildings of intricate marble with gold leaf trim all around them, uh tall, imposing figures in uh gleaming white robes, uh, the sun is shining above you. Uh, there's just this air of majesty and elegance and almost Olympian in nature.

SPEAKER_09 3:32

Although Green is not hungover, uh, they are squinting at the sunlight sort of annoying. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Uh and the conductor has told all of the remaining passengers uh not to go anywhere because they'll have it fixed in a couple hours or so.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

Good to know. A couple ghost hours, a couple, however many hours it is in the uh in the afterlife, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Yeah. They uh they have to all they're doing is you know the fixing up some of the walls that the harpoons had embedded themselves in, um repairing some of the things that had had gotten a little bit uh uh damaged or shaken up when uh when the ship uh attacked you guys. But uh y'all are just kind of hanging out for now because at any time you could be called back to get on the train.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Um actually, in fact, uh while you all are just kind of sitting on one of the benches there, you are approached by the conductor.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

Oh, nice. Yeah, I think I think Rio is just kind of chilling out on the uh on the bench, just like catching her breath because my HP, my current HP is right now at a four.

SPEAKER_04 4:46

Um I think Rio is just taking a break and just like, do we have to get back on the train?

SPEAKER_09 4:55

Pluto is sat neck next to her um at a fourteen, but still in the red zone.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

Yeah. Um Wow, you're in the red zone at a 14?

SPEAKER_09 5:04

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

When does the red zone start?

SPEAKER_09 5:07

Uh 14.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_09 5:09

On the verge then. Um uh just sort of like and like it's not like it like tastes or smells or like anything or whatever, but they are like gushing, just like that that weird kind of blue ghostly fog that comes out of them, and the the knights who have been hanging around them seem like they are in much higher definition than you've seen them before. Sure. Really.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Yeah, absolutely. Two of them just looking like shit.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Ollie is sitting at having only taken chip damage one hate HP away from Max health. So Julie feels great. She's just gently patting Ryo on the back, like there they're I know.

SPEAKER_12 5:47

We have to get back on the train.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

You uh you you see some of the uh uh some of the denizens people who are either coming off of a train or or going on to board a train walking by, but you see like these like nine-foot-tall Greek gods uh uh walking past you and just kind of murmuring to themselves, like, oh, I wonder what happened as they as they go to uh their their next destination.

SPEAKER_12 6:13

Not all of us can look so fantastic all the time.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Radiating this heavenly energy with like these like you know gold laurel crowns on their head. Like, oh, look at the mortals. They seem to be so injured. Oh, I wonder what could have happened.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

At the rate I'm going, they will be mortal very soon.

SPEAKER_09 6:31

Oh, they're there, sweet child. You could look like me too if you simply buy the Founder's Access Pass for $100.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

You you you see one in like an all-black robe holding like a uh a crooked scythe with like skulls aligning their belt, and they kind of look at the three of you and they go, they just shake their head, no and quickly scurry off. Like, oh no, not not for you. I'm not here for you.

unknown 6:57

Great.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Um But no, the the conductor approaches you. Uh sort of sort of a uh a pear-shaped man. Uh a kind of kind of uh heavy set guy, looks very you know rosy cheeked, very jolly an individual. Uh the caption on the bottom says his name is Alexander Montgomery. And he approaches you, and uh and he says, uh, you three are the superheroes that uh saved the day, as it were. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Sure is. Yeah.

unknown 7:38

I guess.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Yeah, I see you all appear to be in a spot of bother. You two at least appear to be in a spot of bother. Um I would say uh you we could treat your wounds with a uh medical kit, but we don't have any of those. Oh it's don't really need them here.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

I'll be fine, you don't need to worry about it. We can patch the other one up, just I need a break.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

I'm sure a spot I'm sure a spot of rest will uh will will tend to your to your wounds. Um I was actually uh wondering if if you three could come with me. I've I've uh a few questions to ask of you regarding the incident that happened aboard the aboard the train.

SPEAKER_03 8:20

Are we in trouble?

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Um well maybe. It depends on your answers to these questions.

SPEAKER_09 8:29

Do we have to move the answer, or can we do it here?

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Well, it it involves something that is on the train, and um I can't really move it right now.

SPEAKER_10 8:41

Oh, did you guys finally get that thing open? The thing?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Yes, the the thing that uh some of my uh staff uh broke protocol and allowed you to see.

SPEAKER_10 8:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yeah. Yes, it involves that.

SPEAKER_10 8:56

Oh, well, alright.

SPEAKER_09 8:57

Um Pluto stands up.

SPEAKER_03 8:59

Pluto carry me!

SPEAKER_09 9:02

As you wish. Uh Pluto just does this.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Rio riding on Pluto's back. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Yeah, what is what is the um the completely undignified way that Pluto is carrying Ryo right now?

SPEAKER_09 9:13

Uh I do think because Rio's sitting down, Pluto's instinct is just the uh path of least resistance, uh, Princess Carrie. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Excellent. It was either that or the fireman carry over the shoulder, because again, is it a princess carry or potato sack carry?

SPEAKER_09 9:30

Yeah. Uh I think Princess. I don't think Pluto is going to uh sling, I don't think Pluto is inclined to sling Rio over their shoulders for no reason.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Um okay, yeah, he he leads you uh to the back of the train where the sarcophagus is still hanging in its chains. Um eagle-eyed readers of the comic will note that the sarcophagus has stopped moving. However, in a bit of uh situational irony, the characters don't know the coffin was moving at all.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

I see, I see. This is this is a treat for the reader to pick up on.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

Fair.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Uh so yeah, you three you all don't know that at some point the sarcophagus was moving, but you all can see right now uh that it is uh lined with similar uh cracks filled with gold, similar to the ones that uh uh Ryo bears on her on her person.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

Oh jeez.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

He says Yes, well, I uh when we first uh loaded these this uh this box onto onto the train, it did not have those, and well, I can put two and two together. And he gestures to the box and gestures to Ryo and uh says uh Do you happen to know anything about this?

SPEAKER_03 10:55

Um I mean I didn't do it intentionally, if that's what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Uh she can she can aim what she does mostly well. Sometimes there's a couple a bit of collateral.

SPEAKER_04 11:13

You don't have to put it like that, please!

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Uh he he kind of takes that knowledge in. Um Yes, so um as far as I could tell though, that there was no uh conflict or combat in this part of the train, so I'm wondering if you perhaps did this when you uh got an illicit peek at the uh sarcophagus?

SPEAKER_03 11:40

I mean, you literally had guards. They'll tell you we didn't do anything to it. I didn't even get close to it. I thought it was kind of spooky.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

And uh in all honesty, I was the one who wanted to do the peaking, so I was the one who wanted to open it.

SPEAKER_10 11:55

Though that doesn't look much more open, all things considered.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Yes, the one fortunate thing is that it appears that the uh while the uh container itself is damaged, the whatever cargo is inside appears to still be intact. None of these cracks appear to have penetrated all the way through. Um I suppose we can take that as a small mercy.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

So what's inside?

SPEAKER_01 12:19

I don't know, and I've I've been paid a great deal of fortune to not find out.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

You've been paid to not be curious, that's a bad sign. Yes, yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_09 12:31

I I have to admit that I'm new to most of this, not just this part, but also the rest of it. You have money here?

SPEAKER_03 12:38

In the afterlife? You get like rent and stuff when you're dead.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Well I suppose there's not really any need for it. You can You can imagine it as something more of in the lines of us uh clinging to what we were uh what we were comfortable with in our living days. Uh true, there's no need for money or or goods or food or shelter, but they are nice things to have.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Uh, early desires, I say. Okay. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

And as as as our time continues in in this realm, eventually those wants and desires start to fade away, and we stop caring about them. But in the meantime, they're it's still nice to have things.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Man.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yes, but the nice thing is you have all the time in the world to figure it out.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

Great.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Oh, that does kind of sound nice.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

I think Ryo is like finally letting herself down from being tarted around by Pluto. Uh oh this whole conversation is otherwise, because now she's like circling the sarcophagus to like inspect the cracks, I think. It's just like, oh, these two kinda, yeah, they're definitely mine. But I think it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

I would advise you to not I would advise you not to get too close.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Um, I mean, considering this stuff is kind of of me, I'm already on the sarcophagus. I can't get much closer, truly.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

He he kind of uh he puts a uh uh a finger, like two fingers to his chin to think, uh, or someone four finger, you know, stroking it. He has a very little, very wispy little beard that he's kind of stroking in thought and he goes, uh he says, um, I don't suppose you could try to um remove them.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

I mean, I could try.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

Uh if you want to try, go ahead and give me an overcome roll.

SPEAKER_09 14:44

I was going to position uh somewhere nearby. That's probably for the best, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:49

Um, okay then, let's do this. Let's do this with principle of great power. That seems to make the most amount of sense.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

Um overcome a situation using cosmic and use your max die.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Alrighty.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

So we are gonna use Cosmic, Witch of Eden, and uh status die, which is which is red. Which is red.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

So that's a pretty good uh dice die to roll.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

Yeah, that's a pretty good little uh a little uh pool. Yeah. So uh eight, ten, twelve this time. Eight, ten, twelve. Um, I rolled a six. That's my max die.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Okay. Uh let's see here.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

So everybody take an issue, a hero point.

SPEAKER_09 15:45

Oh, yeah, so don't forget to assign your bonuses from last time. I did.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

So yeah, what did you assign them with?

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Uh I assigned with something called Death Becomes Her. I don't know what that applies to yet, but I can find a way to fudge it whenever I get there.

SPEAKER_09 15:59

I put mine as a plus two uh Affinity for Spirits.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Oh!

SPEAKER_09 16:03

Perfect! Because Pluto's getting was getting very tipsy last time. Oh, that's a sweet idea. It's a pun. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

I'm going to do a two plus ones, one also being uh uh the the spirit affinity thing. Uh the other one is um uh just got a bad feeling.

unknown 16:25

That's good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Um okay, six is success with a minor twist.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_10 16:33

What does great power suggest?

SPEAKER_03 16:35

What uh how do you restrain yourself from using your full power?

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Here? You're at four, right? I'm at four. What's your max for red? What's your limit for red?

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Oh, eleven.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Eleven, okay. Minor twist, we're going to say your method of restraining yourself in this upcoming montage that you're gonna get, instead of recovering to the max of your next tier, you can only recover to the middle point of your next tier.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Oh, that's fun. I'll take that. That's interesting. Okay. Um you have Ryu steps up to the cart sarcophagus and um does another kind of exploratory little circle around it. Uh, and then despite the conductor's warnings, actually reaches out and put a hand puts a hand on it, and um I think like the gold in her arms and legs and the gold on the sarcophagus both kind of pulse, and then like very, very slowly the gold in the sarcophagus kind of creeps back toward Rio, like she's kind of like reabsorbing it, right?

SPEAKER_07 18:00

Right.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

Um and creeps back toward Rio. Uh, but I think to justify the weird healing rule um it in the process makes the cracks on her body a lot bigger, right? Like they haven't been completely reincorporated yet, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Yeah, okay. Yeah, so you're instead of instead of absorbing it, you're kind of just adding the cracks, you're transplanting the cracks from the thing and to yourself.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Right, transplanting the damage from one to the other.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Okay, okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Yeah, so yeah, you you do that. Um the interesting thing that happens though, as you look at the sarcophagus, you see that the gold has has gone back in. There are still cracks in the sarcophagus, but they repair themselves as the gold is leaving.

SPEAKER_11 18:53

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

With a it kind of looks like it's it's being repaired with a different material, almost like the sarcophagus itself is being scarred. Like it's it's it's it's stone scar tissue.

SPEAKER_03 19:08

Oh, okay. That's fun.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Um but the cracks close back up, everything looks looks solid. It just kind of looks like it has a unique texture to it now. Um and uh uh conductor Montgomery uh claps his hands a little bit, he gives you a polite clap. Uh and he goes, Oh, that worked out better than I expected it to.

SPEAKER_03 19:32

See, I'm mostly a professional, Ollie.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Uh I didn't say you weren't.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

I was just impressed that you managed to do it. I didn't think you could.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

He uh he very uh uh joyously says, Now I won't have to throw you off the train.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Oh, good. No, I didn't realize that was the uh that was the stakes. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Well, depending on how how things went, I would have to make a decision for the safety of uh the rest of the train goers.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Understandable. That's fair.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Um but it seems that everything worked out, and uh he uh pulls out a pocket watch from his uh coat pocket and he opens it and he says, uh, well, the repairs should be wrapping up any moment now. So uh going to uh make some announcements, but Joe, more than welcome to stay aboard the train and get yourselves comfortable.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

Uh yeah. Ryo kind of nods politely at the conductor and then whips her head back around to look at the other two. It's like, comes close!

SPEAKER_09 20:32

Pluto's just like, well, if they I guess if they kicked us off, they could always just find one of Coach's ancestors around somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

The graveyard of abandoned cars.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

It's just the junkyard from the brave little toaster.

SPEAKER_09 20:47

No I have seen you taking care of my grandchild.

SPEAKER_08 20:52

Come drive me.

SPEAKER_04 20:55

I will escort you to Valhalla.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Uh to Vanhalla.

SPEAKER_04 21:03

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

To Impala. Um Yeah, so uh again, I'm imagining the comic is just these these opulent wide shots of of what appears to just be Mount Olympus. Sure. And you guys and like the little tiny frame stuck in the train station.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Yeah, we don't even get to go explore. Not even really. The layover is too short.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Yeah. Um, you know, just you know, just next time you're in town, maybe you can check it out. But uh you're on a you're on a time uh time uh restriction right now.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

So it's just like, but I wanted to go look. What if they had falafel?

SPEAKER_09 21:48

Like uh I'm sorry, Rio. I took a look. It's just something called pomegranates. It's just all pomegranates.

SPEAKER_04 21:55

That's great! It's like the train pulls away. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 22:00

I asked if I could have a pomegranate and they said, Well, you have silver scales and not gold ones, so unfortunately, you're not of a high enough class of of of esteem to partake in our Olympian pomegranates, and I said, Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

It's like uh, you know, it's just the equivalent of having a layover in a different country, but you're only there for like three hours.

SPEAKER_09 22:17

Yeah. Yeah. I'm remembering the time I flew to Seattle from where I live, and I had a layover in uh in Chicago, O'Hare that was approximately 45 minutes, uh, which means I was in Chicago, O'Hare, uh, but not long enough to entertain even remotely the idea of like looking around at anything. Even I was just sort of in Chicago and then I wasn't.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

I had that problem when I was in um South Korea. We landed in Seoul, and they it was an it was a two-hour and 15-minute layover, which is not enough time to go outside and look at anything and go back in.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Not at all.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

It's long enough to be bored as hell in an airport, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

We had a we had a five-hour layover in our trip, but it was at like five in the morning. Um so there was no way we could go out and do anything. Uh you guys do have enough time if you want to go get like a euro and some fries.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

I could fuck up a euro.

unknown 23:17

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

There's like a little there's like a little like food cart off in the corner of the train. But my coosecoos. Uh yeah, you get you get back on board the train, um, and as it pulls out, we'll do a little brief montage to get y'all back up to speed if you want. Uh, what do y'all are doing on the train?

SPEAKER_00 23:38

I'm healing that bitch up.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

I need to heal.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

My bones are all broken.

SPEAKER_09 23:44

I'm debating if I heal or if I think it's funnier for Pluto to just stay in the red zone again.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

It's true. I mean, you can't.

SPEAKER_09 23:53

I think Pluto might stay in the red zone just because I personally think it's funny, and I still even though you gave it to me like two volumes ago, I still haven't activated that one move even once. Oh, true. So I'm gonna stay in red zone, I think. Uh because it's fun.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

That's fair.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Uh so what, you're taking a boost instead then?

SPEAKER_09 24:12

Yeah. Okay. What does that look like? I think it's Pluto's going to spend some time watching the coffin.

SPEAKER_07 24:21

Ooh, okay.

SPEAKER_09 24:23

Like, just to keep an eye on it, because like it being the one thing that was so affected was weird. Uh, and I'm gonna call this uh what would be what would be good. What's the what's that what's that one I think you should leave fit? Am I gonna call it Coffin Popper?

SPEAKER_04 24:46

It's pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

For a second I thought I was just imagining the idea of re-opening before she before she fixes a coffin, the sarcophagus standing in front of it and being like, we're all trying to find out who did this.

unknown 25:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 25:01

Look, I only I only shoot shows where the mysterious thing in the coffin pops out.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Yeah, exactly. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_09 25:10

So Puna's just gonna be watching it. They don't know.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

Uh what does uh recovery look like for Rio?

SPEAKER_03 25:23

When your when your injuries are kind of self-inflicted in nature, right? I think if we were back in the world of the living, it would just be a matter of hanging out in the sunshine. I think in this case it kind of takes the form of just trying to find like a quiet place to rest and like reconstitute herself.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Can I make a suggestion? If she can't find the sun, uh it's just the bartender giving her a lot of orange juice.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

I know Ollie also is probably going to do the. Can we assist with a heel? Yeah, you can you can assist with a heal. I I feel like that that would be kind of an appropriate thing, because uh Ollie at this point is kind of like uh starting to turn into the weird healer. So she just sits with her and then uses her. I think flavor-wise it works. Um it works by just like she's using telepathy, but she's also just kind of humming like a little lullaby to kind of help her self-focus and to give something for the recipient to focus on.

SPEAKER_03 26:47

That's cute. It's like uh it's kind of like healing via sound waves almost. Right? That's cute.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

It's like uh it's like she needs a mnemonic to kind of help her get into the zone. So it's all it's all being done psychically, but like it it helps if there's a focus and she just uses she just uses that because it's very soothing.

SPEAKER_03 27:08

Yeah, that makes sense. So, okay. So I healed and Oates healed me. So that would bring me back into the green, but only halfway into the green, not the middle green.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Midway to green, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:20

So my green range is 32 to 25. That would be math. Hang on.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

27, I think. 29.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Uh put yourself to 20. We'll round up, 28. Or 29.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

Okay, I'll take that. Cool. Alright, we're back.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Okay. Cool, cool, cool. Uh yeah, you guys are just kind of chilling as the train uh you know glides through the uh the ra the tracks between. Uh you're back in that in that dark void under, you know, with above the water uh as you leave Olympus and head towards the final stop of this train.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

I I just realized even in the middle of green, that's still higher than Ollie's max health.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Great.

SPEAKER_09 28:13

Oh, you said 29's in the middle of green for you?

SPEAKER_03 28:16

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_09 28:16

That's the top of my yellow.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

We really have the perfect spread of HP, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:23

I love HP discrepancy and roleplay and DTRPGs. It's great. It's always like you always get one player who's like, oh yeah, that that hit me, I'm down to 70, and then you have another player that's like, yeah, I'm at three.

SPEAKER_03 28:35

I'm dead. Yeah. That hit me once, I'm gone.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Uh yeah, this is pretty uneventful the rest of the way. Um, it's quiet. Uh you do not get accosted by any more pirates. Uh there's a bit of gossip that like an attack like that. No one has seen that happen.

SPEAKER_11 28:58

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 28:59

Like, you don't really like the the tracks between that place is like designed to kind of be like a a um like a purgatory, like a completely neutral territory between realms. Like people are sure that like, you know, people are like, oh well it's it's probably happened at some point, but not in our time, that's for sure. Sure. Or I've never seen that happen. Like, no one is saying like definitively that it has never happened ever.

SPEAKER_03 29:24

But like But nobody on this train has ever seen it happen, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

It's yeah, if it happens at all, it's not a common experience.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_09 29:34

Um Captain Ramshackle's just that much of a hater.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, I mean, like, because generational. Because again, you there's there's no wants or needs, you know, here. Like, there's nothing that you need, there's no reason to attack someone else.

SPEAKER_03 29:47

He's plundering for the love of the game. I respect it.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Um, you do hear a little bit of uh of back and forth though, uh, of one of the passengers who uh the um when the wall was ripped away, uh was worried about falling in, uh falling overboard because they're like someone you hear them saying, like, well, yeah, I mean, what would happen if you actually fell over? Like, there's there's nothing, there's no landmarks or anything. You just you just sink. Or you'd float there forever.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

You just wander forever.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Nothingness. There's no way to track, there's no way to go find any rescue anyone. It would be horrible. You'd just be stuck there forever.

SPEAKER_09 30:28

And some other guy nearby is like, well, what if it's just like video games and like you fall in and then like you kind of fade the black and then suddenly you're on the train again?

SPEAKER_03 30:36

He just reloads you at the nearest station.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Or you just get a message that just says, Now you can play as Luigi.

SPEAKER_09 30:44

It's gonna be really fucked up in like volume six when we're just invaded by an army of Luigi's.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Yeah, Luigi's from hell. Weird.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Like really awkward, going like, ooh, ooh. That must have been our fault.

SPEAKER_04 30:57

I think we did that. Yeah, shit.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Um But you, you, you, everyone, no, everyone on the train was was was fine. You you managed to save the day, and no one get no one got hurt. Um you uh pull through the void again, and uh you are instead greeted to an island, like this giant island in the middle of a uh uh not quite roaring, but very uh uneven and choppy ocean. Uh the immaculate mirror-like smooth water has been replaced with this uh choppy, roiling, like uh dark blue and green sea foam ocean uh as you approach this island. Um and as you get closer, you can see that it is, in fact, uh you can start to hear the carnival music playing, and you can see uh the dim yellow lights of uh of spotlights, of uh twinkling, you know, hanging lights.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

Um we have to use unlicensed music, which by the way, can we turn that down?

unknown 32:14

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 32:15

I know we have to use unlicensed, like, carnival music. But I'm devastated we can't use the carnival theme from near automata. That's right. I was literally just thinking the exact same thing.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

Yeah. Just imagine that is playing. I tried to find one.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

I was I was thinking just March of the Gladiators and and Ollie just turned around going, hey everybody, hug your nose.

SPEAKER_03 32:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I just this whole time I've been expecting uh the the theme park music from Neuron Tomana, because it's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Um Just pretend, just close your eyes and for a moment there's a lot of it.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

Go look that go look that track up real fast, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Um But it is it it as the as the train pulls in and you get a better look at it, like um that's that is kind of the vibe here. It is it looks rather like a little run down, a little tattered, kind of grimy. Uh there's this low, kind of like damp fog over everything. Uh you can see some of the circus folk uh wandering around the station to greet people or or you know or whatever they're doing. And it's clowns in pointy hats, you see strong men, performers, everyone kind of wearing like these tetter, like slightly tettered outfits, very thick uh clown makeup, that kind of thing. It is what you would expect kind of like a haunted 1800s French carnival to look like.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

Um jaunty. Yeah, it's a little it's a little louder than I expected. But uh, but yeah, so you are you you know the train pulls in, um, people are getting off and and uh getting their stuff together, uh uh the mu like the just the chatter is kind of more uh not oppressive, but like, you know, just a little bit more overbearing than uh Olympus was. You know? Um but I as you get off and you see a lot of the a lot of the crowds, like they look like they're having a great time.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Uh this is the atmosphere. It's not nefarious at all, it's just what it looks like.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

Right, yeah, it's the afterlife. It's a carnival in the afterlife. Things are gonna look a little weird, but it's not like overtly threatening, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Yeah, the the the people are coming here to go to a creepy carnival.

SPEAKER_03 34:48

Sure, that's the vibe.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:50

It's like going to a haunted house on Halloween, yeah. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Um. So you you get off and you you walk underneath this gigantic banner with these uh flashing light, you know, old-time light bulbs that say, Madame Ran, circ de fantôme. And you are the the three the five of you actually, because uh Arthur and and Patron are there too, uh you are just accosted with advertisements and barkers and all kinds of of events happening around you. Sure. Um. And you are free to do whatever you want in here.

SPEAKER_03 35:34

Okay. Um It's a little overwhelming. There's two spoiled for choice, as they say, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 35:42

Um is just kind of looking around like a tourist, and it seems like they've lost one of their ghost knights, but you have the camera pans out a little bit, or the panel does, and you see they are over at a stand buying a thing of circus peanuts.

SPEAKER_01 35:54

Yeah, for sure. Um circus peanuts here, by the way, taste exactly as they do in the in the uh living world.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Yes, because they're always stale.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

There's no flavor, there's no flavor difference, there's no texture difference at all. Those things those things come out the factory expired.

SPEAKER_09 36:07

Yeah, they give one to Pluto and Pluto takes and Pluto like eats it and just sort of has this look of like Malcolm. Oh, you know what? Uh it they have the uh it's one of our Discord emotes, the uh uh what is it?

SPEAKER_03 36:19

Excalibur.

SPEAKER_09 36:19

No, not Excalibur face, slightly more neutral. It's not loving this. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:29

Um I think Rio. Oh, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

I was gonna say, there you see signs for um eating contests, you see signs for an unhaunted house. Uh there's shooting galleries, there's you know other games, there's a Ferris wheel, there's a fortune teller.

SPEAKER_09 36:50

I think we could make big money as the as the star attractions of the unhaunted house. Or the most unhaunted thing here.

SPEAKER_03 36:57

It's true. We're like the least haunted things here.

SPEAKER_09 37:00

And now Pluto looks at and looks over at one of the nights and actually like. Well, I guess maybe not me.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

Okay. I mean, you're a little haunted, but it's not like the worst thing in the world. Uh, I think Shrio looks over at Arthur and Page Turner. Um, and just asks, like, so what are you two going to do?

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Uh, you see, Paige Turner, who is radiating.

unknown 37:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Like eyes sparkling, a wider grin than you've ever seen because she doesn't like you guys, so you've never seen her smile this hard.

SPEAKER_03 37:33

Yeah, no, the thing is, I think Rio looks a little smug at Paige Turner right now, because Paige Turner does not like us. So I think she does look a little smug because she didn't want to come here, and now she sure seems happy as hell to be here. And I think Rio's just kind of like, are you having fun, Paige Turner?

SPEAKER_01 37:50

Uh, she says she says, I could be enough of an adult to say I was wrong. I'm gonna I'm gonna go do everything. And Arthur says, and I'm going to keep an eye on her.

SPEAKER_03 38:06

Uh, well, um God, what do we do? Meet back here in a few hours if anybody sees Picante Slim or hears anything about Picante Slim, okay?

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Agreed. We'll we'll come track you down if uh that ever happens. It shouldn't be that difficult to find you. We do kind of stand out a little bit, even amongst he kind of gestures, all of this.

SPEAKER_09 38:32

Yeah, Pluto's also like, and I'll just let you know, uh, if you hear any loud crashing or screaming, it probably won't be my fault.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

To kind of put it in perspective, like, uh you the you guys are all, like, the five of you um are definitely using a different digital color palette than the rest of the comic is.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 38:58

The dismal, like, really emphasized like dark navies and like greens and grays. Uh, you living stand out. Like, not only are you alive, but you're all superheroes. Like, you definitely are more colorful than everything else here.

SPEAKER_10 39:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 39:15

It's like this is a haunted circus, right? Yeah. I'm kind of imagining it's the difference between original spec lucky charms or original spec uh tricks, and like when people were were getting really up and atom about artificial food colorings, the uh the the natural coloring tricks. It's just like all autumn colors.

SPEAKER_01 39:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 39:40

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Um yeah, so so Paige Turner and and and Arthur are going to uh dash off and and do their own thing. Um and they'll come contact you if they run into any pr any trouble.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

Um I mean, we kind of are here on business, but I do kind of want to be nosy.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

Um they finally turn around to see what Ollie, um, how what Ollie thinks. Um, Karen is out and running around and looking at everything. Oh, sure. And uh as a result, Ollie's just like, uh, I guess I'll see you guys later. He should describe Karen for us.

SPEAKER_09 40:26

I think this is the first time we've seen a standalone Karen in this entire thing.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

So that's that's Karen listeners, by the way. See not with a K, like of the Greek style.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Yeah. Um how to describe it. Um if there's basically two modes you ever you will ever see. It is either uh an odd kind of like spooling um of um that weird uh like spiraling sort of liquid that uh Pluto wants to use to constantly morph into and out of. Um but like kind of tightly wound, so it sort of looks like a like a little carrot just kind of jumping around doing stuff. Or it is what is currently happening, which is uh body armor covering Ollie and uh guiding her this way and that.

SPEAKER_03 41:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

Um like a chitinous body armor kind of?

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Yeah, sort of like uh uh how to describe it. It looks sort of sort of plasticine. Um like uh like the modeling clay they use for Wallace and Gromet. Okay. Um is just constantly all like as it covers uh Ollie's body, it it always looks like there's kinda like like like her limbs are twisted into corkscrews.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

Mmm, okay.

unknown 41:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

But currently Ollie is uh not quite uh uh able to keep uh Karen uh preoccupied at all. Uh that uh it is just enjoying the sights and sounds and running around and and looking at stuff. Uh and Ollie's just like, well, um uh you guys can keep up or uh uh we'll see you later.

SPEAKER_03 42:26

Uh I think Ryo looks over at Pluto and just kind of shrugs to follow after Ollie and Karen. Um but I do want to see what an unhaunted house looks like if we walk past it, Ollie. No promises.

SPEAKER_01 42:42

If you can try to if you can try to pull on Karen's leash to that direction.

SPEAKER_03 42:47

Wrangle the child. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

Um if you want to, go ahead and give me an overcome roll to see if you can actually do that.

SPEAKER_00 42:54

Actually, that's actually that is a very funny idea.

SPEAKER_01 42:57

Um otherwise I will t I will decide what where where Karen drags you.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

Yes, yes. Actually, that's also kind of funny.

SPEAKER_00 43:05

Um yeah, uh let's just say if there is a it uh if I roll bad enough, the the answer is uh Ollie fails. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 43:15

Yeah. I think I think Pluto is pouting his following.

SPEAKER_10 43:19

It's like, but I we could win prizes.

SPEAKER_09 43:22

But also Pluto doesn't want to go off on their own, so uh they they remain.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

I'm gonna do so. I'm going to use um I'm gonna use bits that uh I don't use too often because it makes it funnier. Uh we're gonna use momentum, uh acrobatics, and the status die. Yeah, it makes sense. Uh so that's a six, eight, and an eight. Let's see. I rolled a one, a five, and an eight. So.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

So five. That is a success. You uh I'm not gonna give you a minor twist. For that, this is a pass fail. Um you do successfully uh manage to assert your dominance over your alien pet. Uh and drag yourselves towards the unhaunted house.

SPEAKER_03 44:17

Ooh. Uh we can still win prizes here, Pluto. Maybe they'll give us a prize for being the least haunted.

SPEAKER_10 44:24

I don't think I'm gonna win any prizes like that.

SPEAKER_03 44:27

Well, if I win something, I'll share.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Yeah. And you aren't limited to one thing. You can do other things once you're finished here.

SPEAKER_09 44:35

One of the ghost knights that's all that's hanging around Pluto just kind of like like like claps him on the shoulder like apologetically.

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Uh you get in line for that, and as you uh as you as the line decreases and as you you know worm your way around the uh uh guiding ropes, uh the house you're entering looks like an idyllic 1950s suburban home. Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

And uh as you as you get in, you finally get to the entrance here, uh uh a guide of sorts kind of like gestures towards you is Welcome to the unhaunted house! Not terrors and not frights await you here Enter if you dare and all the all the all the uh other residents, the spirits and specters and whatnot, all have that like like nervous giddiness about them. Like, ooh, what's it gonna be? Uh and as you as you walk through, uh you walk through an ordinary looking kitchen.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

An ordinary pre-reboot kitchen?

SPEAKER_01 45:52

A clean kitchen with some countertops and a window that's open, uh letting in a nice gentle spring breeze. You see uh a 50s housewife chopping vegetables, uh, and all the- Now, is this a ghost actor or is it an animatronic? It is a ghost actor who has applied makeup to themselves to look like there's still life in their cheeks. And everyone is like, oh my god! You see like a you see like a ghost girl like tuck into her boyfriend's arm.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 46:31

Like, ah um uh you you continue walking by and you see you go onto the living room where you see like a little a little boy like sitting on the floor and he's got like little toy army men and he's making them do a little battle, and there's a dad with a pipe, and he's watching TV on an old like cathode ray TV, and it's showing black and white, and there's everyone is just like reacting like it's the most terrifying, shocking thing they've ever seen.

SPEAKER_03 47:03

Sure, totally. There's just this moment where like everybody else is terrified, but it's Ollie and Ryo just like tilting their head like, oh, remember TV.

SPEAKER_00 47:16

Oh man, I wish we could I wish we could show uh Pluto like anime. I think that would fix them.

SPEAKER_03 47:24

I think I I don't know. It might give them ideas. It might give you ideas, it's for the best.

SPEAKER_09 47:30

Pluto's just sort of staring vacantly into space, is sort of like I mean I guess it's a house, right?

SPEAKER_03 47:38

Yeah, it's just a house. It's just like a normal pre-reboot house.

SPEAKER_09 47:43

I just kinda thought it would be like whatever the opposite of a ghost is.

SPEAKER_03 47:48

I mean, but isn't that kind of what the opposite of a ghost is?

SPEAKER_09 47:52

No, I thought it would be like an anti-ghost. Something that that did battle with the ghost.

SPEAKER_00 47:57

Uh it's more like it's more like the absence of a haunting, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

I see. Sorry. Um, at uh going back at the mention of showing Pluto anime, I want to imagine there's like a brief flashback to some point within the two years where you showed uh you managed to show Pluto uh manga.

SPEAKER_12 48:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 48:18

The thing is, like, there there's a bit where where like Ryo finds one on a bookshelf and she's looking through it, and she sees a picture of like Soshomaru and a copy of Inuyasha. She's like, I can't give I can't give them any ideas.

unknown 48:30

No.

SPEAKER_09 48:31

Like she's and she looks over at Pluto, who is like just standing kind of like broodingly the exact same way. She's like, I have to put this away.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

Yeah. No, I can't give them any ideas. It'll be a huge problem.

SPEAKER_01 48:43

Ryo choosing between like showing them Inuyasha and like Yu-Gi-Oh! And she's like, Oh, it's gotta be Yu-Gi-Oh! That's the better of these two.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

Unfortunately.

SPEAKER_09 48:58

Uh so this so this Rumiko Takahashi made lots of stories about beautiful long white-haired boys uh who were engaged in romantic situations with a girl of with mysterious powers. Yeah, that's right. Ryo's just like, well, you don't have to put it like that.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

Jeez!

SPEAKER_09 49:17

I don't understand why that's flustering you so. I did a apropos of nothing, I did see a Pluto Rio thing on online, so I am posting it in the group chat.

SPEAKER_04 49:27

Oh, please do.

SPEAKER_01 49:28

Uh, while we all look at that. Yeah. Um in the unhaunted house, uh, it the the dad uh stands up from the couch and he approaches like the crowd as you know as they're moving through. And he uh he as he gets closer, he says, Hey kids, wanna go throw the old pig skin around? And everyone around you screams.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

Ollie's just like, oh miss dad. He's around here somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

He could be. It's a big afterlife. He's probably not here, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 50:05

Yeah, no, he her uh her thoughts are just like, nah, he wouldn't want he wouldn't think. I'd feel like it's recent enough, he probably would still think this is banal.

SPEAKER_03 50:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:16

Uh but you go through the rest of the haunted house and it's it's it's just more of that. Like you you you go to you go to a backyard where there's like a golden retriever on like a stake, like with a really long uh lead attached to it. Sure. And everyone's acting like it's a feral beast, like a feral wolf, like pouncing at them.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

Yeah. Like big dumb expression, like golden retrievers have, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:41

Everything is completely lit up. There is not a shadow to be seen anywhere. But like everyone in the crowd is like you can kind of see like if they had like wounds or illness, you can still see it on their faces.

unknown 50:53

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 50:54

Like their bodies are are are slightly mangled up from whatever injury killed them. Um you come out, there's a small little gift shop at the end while all the ghosts are trying to catch their breath.

SPEAKER_00 51:09

I couldn't. Ollie immediately finding the one that says I went through the unhaunted hotel, and all I got was this t-shirt.

SPEAKER_01 51:16

Yeah. You can uh there's there's pictures of of the crowds, you know, of their everyone's reactions. You do see one of the three of you completely either stone faced or like pleasantly smiling.

SPEAKER_00 51:30

Just amused, yeah. I am already trying to draw this the image of them pleasantly smiling, I hope you know.

SPEAKER_01 51:36

Just surrounded by like these most like the most terrified ghosts you could imagine.

SPEAKER_03 51:40

100%, yeah. Uh well, you know, I don't know what I was expecting, honestly. I was expecting more. Um. But I guess this is fine.

SPEAKER_10 51:55

Uh there wasn't any prizes, which does just which does make me feel despondent.

SPEAKER_00 52:01

Well, do you want my t-shirt?

SPEAKER_01 52:03

That's not a prize, you bought that.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

We should go and try and win you a prize, Flutter.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

There are fits of uh of of skill and strength happening. Fits of skill and strength? Yeah. Tell me more! Uh there's you you as you walk out and you you kind of scan the scan the horizon, you know, for see what else are there's there's uh barkers and posters for eating contests, for strongmen competitions, um, you know, uh uh shooting gallery, ring toss, you know, there's like there's like an like a an alleyway of sort of carnival games. But then there's also like stages being set up like for people to do like do like lifting, you know, strongmen competitions, uh uh pie eating contests, all that kind of thing. Sure.

SPEAKER_09 52:54

Strong the the the knights are pointing at the strongman competition, like hype men, and Pluto's like, I know, I see it.

SPEAKER_03 53:01

Well, Pluto, I'd be rooting for you.

SPEAKER_09 53:06

That's all the encouragement I need.

SPEAKER_03 53:09

Go win as a teddy bear.

SPEAKER_01 53:11

I'll I'll do my best. Uh you see there you you come across like a crowd uh uh gathering around um It's the uh the the uh bell ringing tower, you know, smack the lever with the or the thing with the mallet, ring the bell. The classic. But it's like it's like two stories tall. Okay. Like this this is this is the afterlife, it's also a world of post-superhero boom. Yeah. So they they they have kind of had to up their game.

SPEAKER_03 53:46

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 53:47

Um there's there's there is a crowd gathering around that to kind of like cheer on people. You you see you see like like people who have tried or in the middle of try a process of trying, like, there's like an old-timey strongman in like the the the one one piece outfit, uh big bald head, curly mustache, like immaculately waxed mustache.

SPEAKER_09 54:08

The classic.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

Yeah. Uh top looks like he's voiced by Patrick Warburton kind of character. Step right up to the strongman contest. He, you know, you see him swinging down the mallet, it gets about a third of the way up before it drops down. Um. Uh the prize, the uh the uh challenge is yours for the taking. Pluto's gonna do it. Alright. Yeah. Give me an overcome for that.

SPEAKER_09 54:34

I have a very funny overcome. I have an extremely funny overcome I can use here only because I am in the red zone still. Uh so Pluto, and I'm gonna just describe this normally. Pluto is going to take that that hammer, square up their shot, and swing it as hard as they can. Just classic brute strength approach to overcoming the strongman challenge.

unknown 55:02

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_09 55:02

I am going to use uh the overcome action, which I call Knight in Shining Armor. A paragon, which is a paragon feat in the red zone.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_09 55:14

Overcome using strength in a situation that requires you to be more than humanly capable, like an extreme feat of strength or speed, such as winning the strongman competition. Great! The the the stakes have never been higher. So, uh, I'm going to use strength. Would you say close combat is appropriate for here, or should I be using my like normal like quality? My destroyer princex quality. Let me look at your sheet here. Please do. Cause this could be a very funny roll for something with zero sticks.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

You're swinging a giant, a giant war hammer at this thing. I'll say that's close combat.

SPEAKER_09 55:57

Great!

SPEAKER_01 55:58

I don't think destroy-cause you're not trying to destroy anything. You are trying to prove your might. That's right.

SPEAKER_09 56:04

Um, so I'm going to roll three D12s. Let's see what you get.

unknown 56:11

Great.

SPEAKER_09 56:12

Wow, uh, rolls aren't great, but that's okay. I rolled a six, a three, and a three. Um, for the overcome, use your max plus min and then do stall nearby allies if you're mid if it's combat, but it's not. Uh so I rolled a nine, technically.

SPEAKER_01 56:26

Okay. That would have been very funny if it was just the six.

SPEAKER_02 56:30

It would build up for like a normal roll. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:36

Yeah. Um nine is a complete success. You you wind up, uh describe exactly how you swing that mallet down.

SPEAKER_09 56:46

Uh, I think Pluto kind of like whirl, like, with like both their hands, they kind of like not twirl it, but like you know the move you do with like a with like a mace, right? Where you kind of like rotate the the stick so that it swings the head around, right? Or a morning star, I should say. They kind of do that and then let the momentum like carry the swing and then like drop on a knee as it comes down to like maximize the downward force, right?

SPEAKER_01 57:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 57:18

They just become like they become a human trebuchet, basically, but but downward facing.

SPEAKER_01 57:25

You hit that thing so hard that the uh the concrete below it cracks, that thing smacks down the uh the weight shoots up, and for the first time all day today, that bell rings out across uh across the circus.

SPEAKER_09 57:53

Pluto's attendant hype man knights are like silently cheering and jumping.

SPEAKER_01 57:58

Uh no need to be silent because even if you they could be heard, they wouldn't of how hard the crowd around you is cheering.

SPEAKER_03 58:04

Oh yeah, no. Uh Ryo also explodes into cheering, of course.

SPEAKER_00 58:10

Ali is just like like clapping, not very politely, it's just very loud. Like it's like the the the hardest her hands can smack each other. Sure, sure, sure.

SPEAKER_09 58:20

Pluto just kind of has that like thing that you do when you're an anime character who's proud of themselves where you have your hands on both your hips and you're sort of like grinning smugly.

SPEAKER_02 58:28

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 58:29

You uh you look out in the crowd, by the way, and um much like a an emotionally suppressed father would, uh you see Arthur with his arms crossed and his head kinda down. Yeah! Uh-huh. Um nodding at this. That's right. Uh, much much in the way that Hank Hill would express pride in Bobby. Right. That's the kind of pride that he's getting because he's also remembering the last time you did uh a huge feat of strength uh to a crowd.

unknown 59:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:06

Which is when uh the two of you became uh completely intertwined forever.

SPEAKER_02 59:10

Oh, true.

SPEAKER_01 59:11

When we became Star-Crossed rivals. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:13

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 59:14

Uh when you almost pulled out Excalibur.

SPEAKER_09 59:17

There is so much Yowie fan art of these two, even though they are neither's canon romantic.

SPEAKER_03 59:23

It's correct.

SPEAKER_01 59:24

Oh, has that stopped anyone ever before?

SPEAKER_03 59:26

It's not stopped anybody ever, and it never should.

SPEAKER_01 59:29

No. Um. Congratulations. What prize does Pluto pick?

unknown 59:34

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_09 59:34

Uh well, Juno said, or I did it again. I'm sorry. I in my defense, uh, I've had a canned espresso martini, which is very good.

SPEAKER_11 59:43

Oh, that's so good.

SPEAKER_09 59:45

Ryo said giant teddy bear. So Pluto is getting the biggest, the giantest teddy bear that is permitted to them.

SPEAKER_01 59:52

Awesome. Yeah. Uh it's the size of Ollie. Great.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:01

Great, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:02

Makes Ollie carry it.

SPEAKER_09 1:00:03

No, Pluto will continue to carry it.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:06

I don't know how, you know, I'm holding this thing, I'm looking at this thing. I love it. Pluto. Oh. Are we gonna be able to take it back with us?

SPEAKER_09 1:00:16

Pluto's just looking at it like, I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:20

Well, actually.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:21

I guess we'll find out. You know?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:23

We'll cross that bridge when we die on it.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:26

Don't say that.

SPEAKER_12 1:00:28

Jeez!

SPEAKER_00 1:00:31

Look, we're we're in Rome trying to do as the Romans do.

SPEAKER_09 1:00:35

Pluto's like, Pluto's look looking at it because it is also cumbersomely large, and Pluto's like, I know. And then uh cut to the next panel, and Pluto's knights are each carrying it like over one shoulder like it's drunk at a party in the radio.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:48

Its head just kind of bobbling along while they walk, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:52

Carry they all have it, they all have it on their on their shoulder, each at their shoulder like they're carrying a coffin.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:01

Um, okay. What else do you want to do? There's um, you know, there's there's uh other things to see. There's, you know, other sort of carnival games. There's a fair- oh, like I said, a Ferris wheel, uh Fortune Teller.

SPEAKER_09 1:01:17

Um I think I think Pluto is like I I think Pluto I the I Hmm Finding my words. I think it's funnier if Pluto suggests this uh completely innocently, which is Pluto going, you know, we should see if we can find Picante here. We need like a a vantage point. Do you think they'd let us in that thing? Uh Pluto says, pointing at the Ferris wheel.

SPEAKER_12 1:01:48

Oh! Um Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_12 1:01:56

Great.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:57

Ollie just locking eyes with Rio and nodding very slowly.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:09

Are you gonna leave me to do this by myself?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:12

Well, shoot, I guess we can't fit myself and the teddy bear in two in the same parties, too.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:20

I was going to say that the uh the way the uh Ferris wheel uh carriages uh set themselves up is that it is in fact Pluto and Rio in one and Ollie and the teddy bear in another.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:36

That's correct.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:37

Ollie and the teddy bear and also uh Rio also Pluto's ghost knights have gotten the thing with crammed in like a like a clown car.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:47

They they float, right, Saturn? No, they're like walking around. Oh, okay. So yeah, so they don't even get to like they don't even form like a ring around the the uh the car or I don't what do we what do you call those a Ferris wheel thing? Um carriages. Carriage?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:01

Capsule? Carriage? Gondola, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:05

It depends on the s what kind, I guess. Because like they can be any of those three. They are it shape.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:11

They are like enclosed, like individual little Sure.

SPEAKER_09 1:03:15

Let's see, they are they are commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules, or pods.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:22

We'll say, we'll say uh uh yeah, gondola. So yeah, you so but it's like an enclos like an enclosure, like a privacy one.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:30

Sure, sure, sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:31

Um so the ghosts, yeah, the ghosts are just crammed in there.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:34

With Ollie and the teddy bear.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:36

While Pluto and Rio get their own. Ollie goes.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

Ollie obviously goes first and it's just like giving the peace sign and then making the teddy bear wave its arm.

SPEAKER_09 1:03:44

I will say it's awkward, Ollie, because you are in in the in the Ferris wheel with the giant teddy bear and the and two and like the knights. I feel like there's like two main ones who are around, and they are like holding hands and staring at each other longingly like the entire time.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:59

Just you just hear like the metal clinking of their gauntlets, like their fingers interlocking.

SPEAKER_09 1:04:06

And they're clearly talking to each they're clearly talking to each other, but I feel like in in the spirit of like the gag nature of their being there, like they're not full ghosts. You can't actually hear what they're saying.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:17

Well, I I'm imagining it's like if you they're talking like if you took the audio out of an episode of Red vs. Blue. So it's just their heads bobbing up and dialing.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:27

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I uh Oll Again, Ollie is Ollie is enveloped in Karen as like a body armor right now. Right. And uh at some point, uh you see one arm just awkwardly trying to hold the other arm before uh uh Ollie going, What are you doing? And then letting go.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:55

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:58

Uh just watching Ollie and the ghosts and the teddy bear get into one gondola and then just looking slowly over at Pluto, like, I guess it's our turn.

SPEAKER_09 1:05:10

Yeah. Uh Pluto just like completely unaware of of the situation they have put Ryo in, just like getting in the getting in the thing. Uh just like patting at the seat next to them, like yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:28

Rio looks around, looks up at Ollie for like silent help because she doesn't know what to do. Not that she doesn't want to, but because she doesn't know what to do. Um and then like just like okay, and then gets in with uh Pluto and uh they take off, I assume.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:47

Ollie just you can't uh too far away for you to be able to do anything other than just look helplessly, and Ollie just waggles their eyebrows.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:01

Yeah. Well, then what do we see while we're up here? Uh as you go up about the about the vista, the beautiful vista.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:12

As you go up, you kind of get like a better look at the the island in general here. Um it's a pretty decently sized carnival. Um the carnival kind of takes up the front half of the island. The back half kind of has this very sharp incline. Um, and then it's mostly like deep forest near the back. The the the the island itself is uh kind of shaped like a cornucopia. Like if you cut the top half of a cornucopia off, so there's like it's it's not like, you know, there's like inclining walls going up towards the back to kind of envelop it in. Envelop it. But like the the front is is mostly flat, like slightly above sea level.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:02

Like an amphitheater, kind of.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, like an amphitheater. Um so the the front half is where the carnival is, but the back half is like this deep wooded area. Um, you know, thick, thick trees that block out all attempts to see anything beyond that. Sure. Um And then there's there's even further back there, there's like there's like a back wall of like rock um that you can see beyond that. Um But the carnival itself, you know, it takes up a pretty good amount of space. I'd say like it's about the size of um like honestly, it's about it's about like the size of say like your average um like strip mall type area. Like with the parking lot included, like it's it's a big carnival. Like there's a lot going on here. Um and this this Ferris wheel takes you up high enough that the people uh below are are very small. Like you are, it's it's a big ass wheel. Like it no one has any fear of falling, so why would you why would you care about how high it is?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:05

Yeah, I guess gravity isn't really that big of a big deal. I mean it works, but it also isn't like a big deal, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_09 1:08:11

Uh I just found out the world's tallest uh Ferris wheel is 820 feet tall.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:17

Oh god, no. No.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:20

Um Yeah, well, you know, Pluto obviously isn't afraid of heights and Ryo can fly, so no big deal. Um but you you two are uh kind of alone up here.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:33

Yeah. Rio's very aware of that. Uh I think there's she oh oh go ahead.

SPEAKER_09 1:08:40

I'd say the the the first words out of Pluto's mouth are wow, this is kind of a terrible vantage point, but it is a really pretty island.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:50

Yeah, I uh I actually can't see a single thing from up here. No, not at all. I don't I wouldn't know Picante Slim from any other ghost down there.

SPEAKER_10 1:09:01

I guess that's true. I didn't even think about that either.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:04

But I mean, you know, it's not it's not too bad. I always uh I've never been to one of these things before. You know? Like when I was a kid, it was one of those things my mom wouldn't let us do. You know, mom was like, I mean, you know, she is it was always too dangerous or too gross or dirty or all that stuff, and so we never really got to go, and I always wanted to. And then you know, after everything happened, we definitely didn't get to go anywhere. So yeah, I actually get to be here and and see it. It's a little bit kind of weird weird circumstances.

SPEAKER_10 1:09:50

I wasn't really sure what to expect from it.

SPEAKER_09 1:09:52

I don't know what this thing is, but I remember it from before when I was learning. They gesture kind of nebulously uh recalling a conversation about how it is that these creatures learn about the the places they come to.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:12

Oh right.

SPEAKER_09 1:10:14

Only I really remember of it is that you come with someone who you and then these kind of they they just kind of like furrow their eyebrows, not sure what the word for is. Well, you come with someone.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:29

Yeah, you come with someone. I mean, you know, it could be friends or it could be someone else. Um but it's nice. It's not what I was expecting at all, um in terms of context, and I would like to leave here with a funnel cake at some point.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:50

A funnel cake.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:51

A funnel cake.

SPEAKER_09 1:10:52

It's like you just you see Pluto like kind of like close their eyes as they commit the idea of a funnel cake to memory. Like you you just like you can practically hear the the HUD noise as it's added to their quest log.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:04

Side quest log, yeah. Yeah. Acquire funnel cake for Rio. Yeah. Um.

SPEAKER_12 1:11:12

But this is nice.

SPEAKER_09 1:11:14

It's not what I expected either, but I'm glad to have seen it with you. A very sweet smile.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:21

Of course.

SPEAKER_09 1:11:22

That could mean nothing.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:22

That could mean nothing. It could mean nothing. Don't worry about it. I think Rio just kind of stammers a little uh incoherently, and then just like nods and smiles, and then looks back out at the island. Um because she's still bad at this.

SPEAKER_09 1:11:43

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:45

Um.

SPEAKER_09 1:11:47

I think there is a bit where she's like, okay, I survived that interaction, and Pluto sitting next to her very clearly cranes over to try and look at at whatever she is looking at, and there is a result of Pluto now being extremely closer than she thought they were going to be.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:02

Extremely inside of her, like, bubble?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:05

Yeah. Hello, welcome to my personal space. How can I help you?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:10

She's just kind of.

SPEAKER_09 1:12:11

After a moment, after a moment, Pluto's just like, are do you have are is are is the heights bothering you or something like that?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:17

No, definitely not the heights. Mm-mm. No.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:20

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:21

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:22

Ryo. Give me a social overcome. Let's see. Let's see.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:33

How appropriate!

SPEAKER_01 1:12:34

Let's see if this interaction goes the way a good portion of the fan base wants this to go.

SPEAKER_09 1:12:41

I have to play up the fact that, and I've never really played this up uh from like character creation. Uh, Pluto's mechanical personality type is alluring. So I am trying to play them up as like cluelessly doing being extraordinarily romantic.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:56

Very beautiful, very romantic, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:59

Well, you're making this role, Sarah, by the way. I want to point out that like, I'm imagining, like, you know how nowadays we get previews for issues, like, for comics, and they're just the ta the the images without the text?

SPEAKER_10 1:13:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:10

Uh-huh. Like, the this this was the preview for this issue was Rio and Pluto in the Ferris Wheel with no dialogue.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:21

In the Ferris Wheel, little to no personal space between them, um, and absolutely no dialogue. And Rio is currently about as beat red as one human being can be. Um, anyways, I don't have any social skills, so I have to roll this bitch as a uh let's say untrained, well read because Rio has read romance novels, because I think that's funny. And then my status die. So this will be a four, six, and an eight.

SPEAKER_09 1:13:53

Uh fingers crossed. Rio, just like I didn't have anything else to do, so I read the entirety of fan-translated copies of Apothecary Diaries.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:01

That's right! Uh, I rolled a six somehow. I rolled two sixes and a two, which is incredible. Wait, no, that's not possible. Oh, that's right. Here.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:13

No, because it's a four, six, and an eight, right? Yeah. You can get two sixes.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:16

Oh, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:17

Yeah, that's fine. Okay. Um that's a success with a minor twist.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:23

What is that success with? What's the minor twist here?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:27

I that you you decide. How does Rio successfully navigate this uh situation?

SPEAKER_09 1:14:34

I guess it depends whether your idea of Rio succeeding is Rio managing to stay calm or Rio acting really suave beyond her wildest dreams.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:43

I don't think it's possible for Rio to be suave in this situation. She's currently being presented with a very beautiful alien in her physical space. Um, so I think it's that she manages to not have a complete meltdown and shove Pluto away, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:04

We'll yeah, we'll we'll say in this case, the the success of the minor twist is that Ryo uh does not advance the situation, but also does not sabotage it.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:15

I think she stays cool, she keeps a level head, and in fact, manages to take a breath and just kind of let herself be in Pluto's physical space and turn to see where they're looking. Like, oh, that's nice.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:30

Yeah. She she allows herself to just exist very close to a hot alien.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:36

That's correct.

SPEAKER_09 1:15:38

She pretends not to notice when their horn mandible like brushes against her cheeks.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:42

She stays she keeps it cool, folks. She keeps it buckled down. What is this minor twist, Ben?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:48

Minor twist is that you do not advance the social relationship.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:53

I was going to say, if anybody didn't have an idea, was uh uh they could hear Ollie screaming because some somehow she broke the mood.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:04

No, that's actually way funnier.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:06

No, I think we cut back to Ollie and there's just a loud clank as night helmets are banging against each other.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:12

Yeah. Two of the knights are now like making out.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:16

Somehow um Karen is like canoodling with the giant teddy bear.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:22

And and Ryo and Pluto can hear all of this, and that's the thing that breaks the that breaks the moment between the two characters is Ryo looking up at the other gondola. Like, do you think she's okay up there?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:32

You see it kind of like wobbling a little bit because the knights are all crammed in there and like making out awkwardly.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:42

Um, you okay, so anything else you want to do before the ride ends?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:49

No. I mean, unless Ollie does. I think I think Ryo is managing.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:54

I'm a little busy.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:55

I'm a little busy right now.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:56

Pluto is not conscious enough of either their position or their desires to actually try and advance the situation, I don't think.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:04

Which is the funniest possible option, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:06

Oh, don't don't worry. This this these panels are gonna be screencapped all over Tumblr.

SPEAKER_09 1:17:10

Yeah, I was I there was a moment where I was debating if I wanted to roll to see if Pluto becomes aware of the situation they're in, but I'm also not sure how that would work with the fact that Ryo already rolled something.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:21

Right. Uh I mean you can, but if you feel it's more narratively appropriate to not right now, then we can just move on.

SPEAKER_09 1:17:28

It's been two years.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:30

Mm-hmm. It's been two years.

SPEAKER_09 1:17:32

I feel like Pluto might have an inkling, but I'm the question is I'm debating what the overcome here is.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:37

We will say that the overcome is Pluto. The the the synapses in Pluto's mind connecting uh what a human romantic relationship looks like and to what's going on between them and Rio. The similarities of this present incident and seeing the parallel and seeing how they overlap.

unknown 1:18:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:06

I don't have a power relevant to this. Of course.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:10

I'm not surprised by that one bit.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:12

I feel like this could either be alertness or destroyer princess, either because A, it's their like literal alertness of the situation, or B, it's their understanding of who they are in the scenario.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:26

Sure. I would lean more towards alertness in this case.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:30

Okay. And they are in red status dice, so that's helpful. Oh, so that's gonna be a four, a six, and a twelve, I'm going to roll. This is just a normal overcome, so we'll say. That's a one, a four, and a seven. Uh, you know what? I'm going to use my plus two boost from earlier Affinity of Spirits to boost that mid-dice to a six.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:53

You don't need to do that because a four is still a success with a minor twist.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:56

Oh right, I don't need to do that. Never mind, I'll save it.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:59

Yep, so seeds with a minor twist. No difference between a four and a six in this case. Um. What does success look like in this case?

SPEAKER_09 1:19:10

I think for Pluto, it's realizing something. Maybe not the full shape of what that is, but realizing that they invited Rio up here for a reason and that maybe they need to investigate what that is. Question mark. I don't think it results in action so much as like. I guess you can't use this verbiage for it anymore, but more like an egg cracking, right?

unknown 1:19:34

Right.

SPEAKER_09 1:19:35

There's a light bulb that goes off for a moment as they are in Rio's proximity, looking out over this beautiful scenery.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:41

There's just there's just an interior of Pluto's mind as the hamster wheel starts turning.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:50

And they realize, like, oh, I wanted to come here specifically alone with Rio in this Ferris wheel gondola. I see.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:59

Spending time with Rio alone.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:03

Pluto is remembering now that the that the thing they remember about the Ferris wheels is that usually when people are thinking of them or dreaming of them is if they're kissing at them.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:11

Right.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:12

And Pluto's like, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:13

Hang on.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:14

Hold on. And you like, I think there's a panel of Pluto getting this, like, looking once at Ryo, who in this one instant is just not looking at them, and just like having this momentary thought, like, huh.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:32

And that's it.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:32

And that's it.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:33

Yeah, that's it. Totally. And the minor twist is yet again that that the that the social link does not quite progress.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:40

Yeah. God, God, you're telling me this is alternate universe Juno Pimpa crazy?

SPEAKER_01 1:20:44

Fucked off, I know. What I'm picturing is that Pluto, Pluto, like in their mind is like connecting these these disparate bits of information they know from like from culture and from their own quote unquote research into humanity, uh, the simulators of the situation. Their mind forms an image of original FF-14 gondola, but it's Cloud and Barret. And then Pluto is like, that's not quite right.

SPEAKER_09 1:21:13

No, I think what you get is Pluto's brain making a bad MS paint drawing of Pluto and Ryo kissing, and it's the and then you're like, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:21

Hang on. That can't possibly be right.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:25

But I but hmm This requires further investigation. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:31

You you have you've unlocked uh uh uh um Discolysium aspect.

SPEAKER_09 1:21:39

The the Disco Elysium thought cabinet kissing girl question mark? Rio just notice Rio just like everything seems normal, you're like, wow, I'm so cool because this thing proximity is a hot alien and did their breath just catch in their throat for a second for a second? I'm sure it's nothing.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:56

Don't worry about it, it's fine. I simply choose not to think about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:59

It's the idea of like this entire time Pluto is basically like leaning over Rio to look at at the landscape, and then just kind of having this moment, eyes widening, and then sitting back in a normal neutral position, then just kind of like scratching their chin thoughtfully.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:17

Just like kind of exhaling sharply, like Huh.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:23

Thought g thought unlocked.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:24

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:26

Oh god.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:27

Um well that was an event.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:30

That yeah, it's an important event, okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:22:33

I think I think everyone learned a little bit about themselves.

SPEAKER_09 1:22:37

I I feel like we get the panel of like Ollie and and Caron and the the two ghost knights all and the big teddy bear all getting off the the their gondola. And then and then there comes the next one, and then Pluto and Rio get off. And Pluto just like looking over at Rio and going, we should do that again sometime. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:58

It's the it's it's the Not the Ghost Carnival. It's the the perfect framing of the a panel focusing on the two knights now holding hands. Yeah. Uh-huh. And then right behind them is Pluto and Rio not holding hands.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:15

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_09 1:23:16

We both very clearly look a little flushed, like something happened, but obviously nothing happened, but Pluto's still just like, we should do that again sometime.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:26

Absolutely. Of course, I'm thinking of the the West Wing, um, the the Butterball incident where he just goes, ah, that was excellent. We should play that once a week. Yeah!

SPEAKER_01 1:23:36

Yeah!

unknown 1:23:38

Oh god.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:39

Um, okay. Is there anything else you want to participate in?

SPEAKER_09 1:23:45

No, only in Pluto's dreams.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:47

Only in Pluto's.

SPEAKER_09 1:23:48

Ollie also wants funnel cake.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:51

Rio wants funnel cake, and Rio, because it seems appropriate, wants to I think it's it's a joke. It starts as a joke, right? Ollie walking away from the the Ferris wheel. Rio just kind of jokes and says, Do you think the fortune teller can tell us where Picante Slim is?

SPEAKER_09 1:24:14

Poe Plu's like, you have someone who can just tell you the future? Yeah, we should do that.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:19

I mean, it usually doesn't work, but this is like the afterlife and stuff, right? So maybe. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_09 1:24:28

But I'm the fortune teller. Well, you haven't told us where Pacante Slim is yet, why didn't I think of that?

SPEAKER_03 1:24:38

Besides, the fortune teller is kind of like, ooh, it's well, I mean it's not spooky. This isn't really like a spooky carnival, because I don't do spooky the way we do spooky. But you know, it might be kind of fun. And if nothing else, she may have seen him.

SPEAKER_09 1:24:52

Pluto's like, you you two get funnel cake. I need to I'll find the fortune teller. I have to. And it's like kind of like deep in thought.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:04

Um Pluto, Pluto says that and then wanders off. There's a panel of them wandering off. In the right in front of them, you can see a sign that says fortune teller with an arrow pointing to the right as Pluto goes to the left.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:19

And then the next panel is Pluto coming back to go the correct direction.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:23

Yeah. Uh, okay, well, we'll get funnel cake. Have fun.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:31

And then you guys go and get some funnel cake. Um. A lot like the circus peanuts. Tastes fine. It's it's a bunch of fried dough and powdered sugar. It doesn't really go bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:44

You can't fuck it up, is the thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:47

It just gets it just gets drier and drier like a cracker.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:50

Yeah, it kinda it kinda tastes like really oily. Like it's saturated in the deep fryer oil, but like it's still pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:59

Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:02

Um, yeah, you go do that. Are the ghosts with Ollie still, or do they go back to Pluto?

SPEAKER_09 1:26:07

They're with Pluto. They're they're they're holding hands and both carrying the uh the big teddy bear.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:13

They both they both kind of like silently gesture towards funnel cake, but then like put their hands down without saying anything. Like, oh I oh never mind.

SPEAKER_09 1:26:25

And then one of the knights offers the other one the box of circus peanuts they still have. And they just like kind of like, you know, they they they chipperly take part, even though it's fucking circus peanuts.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:35

They're they're both like like hesitantly, like, do you want me to feed it to you? Like, do we Oh?

SPEAKER_09 1:26:43

Oh, there's a panel of one shoving a circus peanut through the grate of the helmet.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:49

Uh young love between uh spectral night ghosts that are.

SPEAKER_09 1:26:54

I can never decide whether it's just their faces are obscured or they have full face obscuring helmets, but I do think full-face obscuring helmets might be funnier.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:01

I imagine like they're like anytime one of them lifts up the the grate, it's their back is to the camera. So you can't tell anyway.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:11

That's funny.

SPEAKER_09 1:27:12

I feel like there's exactly one who because and like not like thinking about it too hard. There's one that you've seen the face of in a panel at one point, and it's very clearly modeled off of Gareth from FGO.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:26

Yeah, absolutely. Um, okay, yeah, you guys go get the funnel cakes. Uh Pluto, you have no trouble finding the uh Fortune Teller. Uh the Fortune Teller's tent, uh it's it's you know, it's blocked off, it's you know, it's a small groups only kind of thing. Uh but it's decorated not so much in like tarot or supernatural elements. It's decorated in casino uh theming.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:56

Like that kind of place. Like poker chips, uh Uh, you know, uh norm like regular uh playing card motif, red and white and black colors. Um and uh the the rest the two of you come back with uh arms full of funnel cake. Uh uh ready to go in if you want.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:23

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:24

Hell yeah. Okay. Uh you go in, and there is a uh instead of like a a wisened old fortune teller with like a turban or like a cloak of some kind, it's like a showgirl.

SPEAKER_11 1:28:37

Oh, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:38

Like she's got like a top hat, she's wearing like fishnets, you know. Uh, and she tells you to take a seat. Uh, and you take a seat at a poker table.

SPEAKER_09 1:28:47

There's a panel that goes uncommented on, uh, because neither of the other characters notice that you can see Pluto's eyeline looking at the girl in like this fucking Zatana outfit, and then just the next panel looking at Ryo as though deep in thought. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:03

Just consider transposing these outfits, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Considering alternatives. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:11

And uh, like as they sit at the poker table, there's another like little background panel of Rio being like, look, look, funnel cake, try some.

SPEAKER_09 1:29:19

But Pluto has like the smallest little bit of funnel cake, and there's what the hell?

SPEAKER_03 1:29:24

It's good. It's just fried dough and powdered sugar.

SPEAKER_09 1:29:28

I didn't know that. Huh.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:31

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_09 1:29:32

I thought like I thought I thought that good food was supposed to be complicated or something. No.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:38

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_09 1:29:40

Just wait. Sugar and fat, and you cook it, and there's pr Huh.

SPEAKER_11 1:29:46

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:47

Just wait until you show until you show uh Pluto a corndog.

SPEAKER_11 1:29:52

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:55

The perfect food.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:57

Nutritionally complete.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:00

Uh she and uh the the fortune teller um kind of gives you good three of you like a little bit of a grimace as you get powdered sugar all over her table, but uh it's fine. It's fine.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:13

It's a carnival. What are you expecting? To be clean? Come on.

SPEAKER_09 1:30:17

She uh she one of Pluto's ghost knights uh but produces a handkerchief and uh begins wiping it off the table.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:23

Uh thank you. Uh she she says, Well, this is a bit different from uh your regular fortune teller. I'm going to deal you one hand and we'll tell you uh what that says about you.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:36

Oh, that makes sense. I read in a book once that old playing cards are based off the tarot.

SPEAKER_10 1:30:42

Yeah, so she uh taro, is that like that that root?

SPEAKER_03 1:30:46

No, tarot, like the cards. I'll show her.

SPEAKER_09 1:30:51

Pluto's just kind of make Pluto kind of like looking at her quizzically and just accepting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:58

Uh she deals the three of you a hand. Um and as you flip it over, let me just make 12.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:16

12. Oh, okay. I wish Ben I wish Ben instead of rolling dice, you actually played uh tarot deck at 10.

SPEAKER_09 1:31:24

Oh no, you just want me to get my tarot my tarot deck out?

SPEAKER_01 1:31:27

No, no, no, that's okay. I have I have a guideline of what each of your fortunes are going to be.

SPEAKER_12 1:31:32

Oh god.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:33

Okay, that's smart.

SPEAKER_09 1:31:34

If you ever need me to bust out my tarot deck, I can just say the word.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:38

Oh, that's okay. I have I have um the Homestuck themed tarot deck from Kickstarter in 2020. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 1:31:45

So, you know. I have uh hold on, I'll find up. Is it a I'll show you the one, I'll show you the one that I have.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:52

Uh while I do that, I'll give you uh Ryo. She looks to you first. You have a two-pair. You have threes and fives.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:03

Um she looks down at that, she puts her hands on the deck on the table, and she looks up at you and she says, You will face a decision that will test the limits of your will. There are more options than you may think. Oh, um, uh, Ollie, you flip over your cards. You have a four of a kind, queens. Um and she looks up at you again, she's she looks deep into your eyes and says, When you are betrayed, the ones who turn on you will not be your equals. And then she uh she ignores that and goes over to Pluto. Pluto, you flip over your hand, you have a straight flush. Ace 2345 and hearts. And she looks up at you and she says, What do you seek is within reach? It may seem too good to be true, but it is not.

SPEAKER_09 1:33:13

Pluto's just like staring down at the cards uh silently.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:23

You know, I was expecting something a little bit older.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:28

Well, these things have different kinds of interpretations, but you'll know when it happens.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:39

Um I think it's just kind of like that weird awkwardness of feeling like you just got read maybe a little too hard by somebody. Um and Ryo just kind of like gets up and nods, and uh kind of being like, okay, I think we should probably clear out of here. Oh, um, can I ask you a question though?

SPEAKER_01 1:34:05

Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:07

We're looking for someone.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:10

We're all looking for someone, aren't we?

SPEAKER_03 1:34:13

Yeah, but we're looking for somebody like specific. He's another living guy like us. At least I hope he's another living guy like us.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:21

Yes, um. Can you tell me about him?

SPEAKER_10 1:34:26

Um I mean, I have no idea what he looks like, but his name is Picante Slim, and he's the hobo prince.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:35

Her eyes widen a little bit, uh, and she uh kind of idly starts shuffling the cards. Um she does like a uh couple one-handed shuffles while she thinks.

SPEAKER_09 1:34:49

Plug is like, he once saved us from the largest ball of twine in Minnesota, and Ollie's like, that's still up for debate. That's a sort of that's reader speculation.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:58

When you when you say that, she kind of stops mid-shuffle and like really considers that.

SPEAKER_11 1:35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:08

Yes, yes, yes. Hmm. She draws one card, she doesn't show it to you, but she looks at that uh and puts it back in the middle of the deck and says, um, you might be running into one of your kind sooner than you think.

SPEAKER_09 1:35:30

Makes Pluto's neck uh the hairs on their neck stand on end.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:34

And then she uh um she kind of sits up in her in her uh chair a little bit um and kind of glances uh past the three of you uh to the the closed uh uh tent door. She says, In fact, things might be changing for you right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 1:35:58

I guess who doesn't have hairs on their neck, do they? They have like tiny spines. They got like scales, I don't know, chitin. Yeah. The chitin bristles.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:12

And as the three of you leave the tent, uh you are immediately confronted by uh thugs.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:26

Thugs?

SPEAKER_01 1:36:26

Like the only way to describe them is Looney Tunes Lummock style thugs with like the watching a lot of Batman.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:35

I know what a good thug looks like, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:38

The hat, the really tight-fitting suit.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:41

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:42

Uh Glass Lantern jumbo with like an underbite pirate scar.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:46

One of them has like, you know, uh black and white horizontal striped shirt. Uh that one's got a newsy cap on, too. Exactly. Yeah. Newsy cap. Uh there's one in the middle who is smaller than the others, but clearly the one who's in charge.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:04

He he's wearing a pair of overalls that is only attached on one shoulder.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:09

Yep, exactly. Uh, you know, like white tank top thing. Or white white shirt with the cigarette pack in like a rolled up sleeve. Yeah. Yep. And he says, the boss wants to speak, which is I is this happening?

SPEAKER_00 1:37:28

Wow, I guess they really did all die out. I thought they had an FC these in my life.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:34

Sorry, quick question, who's the boss?

SPEAKER_01 1:37:37

Uh the one of the big ones in the back looks like, she doesn't know who the boss is.

SPEAKER_09 1:37:42

Shout out Rocky. Yeah, I mean, I mean, we we are uh new here.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:48

The boss, Madame Miranda Self.

SPEAKER_09 1:37:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:54

Oh.

SPEAKER_09 1:37:55

You guys kind of seem off archetype for this.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:58

Yeah, I wasn't expecting like clowns.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:00

Listen, she hires a lot of people to do a lot of things, okay? Not all of us is gonna be circus folk.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:08

I mean, that's fair.

SPEAKER_09 1:38:10

I guess that's nice she's giving back to the community.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:12

No, no, that's also fair. You do need goons and thugs in order to set up the circus tents, you know?

SPEAKER_01 1:38:18

Yeah, that's right. Usually I'm in charge of making sure that all the stuff is set up properly and don't fall over none.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:25

I mean, if it fell over, it wouldn't kill you know what? Never mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:28

Yeah, but even if it didn't kill you, that'd mean we'd have to shut down and rebuild the whole dang thing, and that's just the whole process none of us wants to go through.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:35

You're right, you're right. I'm sorry for calling.

SPEAKER_08 1:38:37

You have no many times, however many times I've seen a tent fall on a guy, and he's like, and he's so scared that he looks like he's seen a ghost. And everybody says the same damn joke over and over.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:49

Look, even if it even if it won't kill you, no one likes falling out of a really big thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:55

You know, fair way then.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:58

Alright, use three comes with me. And he need the the the goons kind of flank you a lot like the knights naturally flank Pluto.

SPEAKER_09 1:39:09

Yeah, as they walk away, the knights just kind of like like point at themselves and Pluto's like, yes, you too. Come on. Yeah, bring your little tin cans with ya.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:19

Ollie just Ollie just bemoaning like, I wish they had said walk this way, and I would have done a funny walk right along with them.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:26

Sorry, Ollie. Next time for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:28

Uh they're too dumb for even a loony team's joke.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:31

Uh they all kind of they all kind of like move as one person.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:37

Like all their actions are just kind of like in perfect sync with each other.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:41

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:42

Uh as he leads you uh through um through some of the more intricate uh pathways of the circus. Eventually leading you to the exterior. You you saw this when you were on the Ferris wheel. Over on uh kind of like the west equivalent of the of the island, there is a path leading up to a a manor on a hill that overlooks the the entire circus. Broken Jima.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:09

Um you didn't get a good look at it while you were while you were up there because it was it was too far away to see clearly, but like it's it's this this manor, like this, you know, on top of a hill, it's uh uh just as kind of like run down and grimy as the rest of the the carnival is. Um and uh you can see that it's in it's like a perfect vantage point to just see everything that's going on. Um they they lead you up there, but it's also like isolated from from everyone else. Like it gets completely like quiet as you get up there, like you can't hear any of the commotion going on.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:45

Um they lead you up, they they push open the doors. The interior is immaculate. Like it it kind of it looks like you you kind of like have to step back because like it's so shocking how clean the interior is. You know, reflective marble flooring, clean white walls, um just like in perfect condition. Uh and one of them says, come on, it's this way. And they uh they they kind of nudge you to go up this uh this beautiful marble and gold staircase up to uh uh the second floor, and they they guide you down a hallway that's uh lined with gold, you know, the gold trimmed these beautiful paintings on the walls. Um they lead you to uh a uh closed door and they knock on it and they say, Hey boss, we got them mortals here just like you asked. And you hear a number of locks unlocking as the door swings open by your by itself and beckons you inside.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:01

Okay. Yeah, there's a kind of a mo like I think there's a little moment of trepidation as like Ryo, you know, kind of steps inside. Uh uh, I assume flanked by the others.

SPEAKER_09 1:42:15

Sounds about right to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:18

The uh door closes behind you uh with a loud thud. Um and you see that it is a an office, and unlike the rest of the manor which you've seen, which was just immaculate, like completely untouched, this place looks well used. Not quite the kind of rundown dismal of the carnival, but like it's a place that has been uh occupied for some time. Uh the walls are lined with uh bookshelves, and all the books are well-worn, um, you know, yellowed pages. Uh the bookshelves itself all have nicks and scratches on the corners. Uh, the desk is this beautiful old wooden desk that's also been similarly like nicked up and scratched along the edges, uh, the carpet's uh worn down where people have been walking on it over and over again, but it looks well lived and loved rather than like run down.

SPEAKER_02 1:43:18

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:19

And there is a woman standing there behind the desk looking out of a window in the back that oversees perfectly the entire carnival. Uh she is tall, very, very, very tall. The best way to describe her is that she is Lady Dimitresque's Waluigi.

SPEAKER_04 1:43:41

I was waiting for her.

SPEAKER_09 1:43:42

Where could she possibly be taller and skinnier than Lady Dimitresque?

SPEAKER_01 1:43:46

Is she like 12 tall? Whereas Dimitresque is tall and curves and roundness, she is rail thin, skeletal thin.

SPEAKER_03 1:43:57

Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:57

She's very without. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:01

She's she's slender woe, ma'am. Yes. Um, black wearing a black morning gown, big wide-brimmed hat with a uh with a fishnet veil over the front. Sure. She's holding a long, long, long cigarette holder with a lit cigarette at the end between uh two fingers and just these long black gloves that go up to her elbows.

SPEAKER_09 1:44:22

Um and it's a thing you only notice in the animated adaptation that it has Gamaguri rules where it is exactly as long as it needs to be to be uncomfortably close to whatever given wall it's pointed towards.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:36

It's whatever length it needs to just be long. And she says, without turning around to face you, she says, Have you been enjoying Zuserkos?

SPEAKER_00 1:44:45

Oh yes, very much so. Especially now that I'm here.

SPEAKER_12 1:44:49

Ollie's licking her hair, licking her, licking her house the whole. How are you?

SPEAKER_09 1:44:57

Pluto eyes closed, full of some sort of uh unplaceable determination. I really like the Ferris wheel and the fortune teller.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:09

Uh she she turns around slowly, and you can see that she, you know, her face is is like Blade Roska, it's it's thick makeup, you know, black lipstick, uh heavy eyeliner, uh foundation, all that. Like it's it's there's you can see the cracks in the and how thick the foundation is.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:26

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:26

Um and she turns around, she kind of she has this very dismissive French sneer on her face. Uh and she says, I am glad it was a legitimate question. I am first and foremost the owner of the circus. If it does not meet guest meet guest expectations, I would like to know.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:46

Uh and then she uh wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:48

Good, I am I am glad to hear that. You three uh still have blood in your veins and your heart beat, yes?

SPEAKER_03 1:45:58

Last we checked.

SPEAKER_09 1:45:59

I mean, I don't know if Pluto's like, I don't I Pluto's like, I don't know if I've ever had either of those things, but close enough to what you mean.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:08

She kind of gives Pluto a a little look and she says, uh Yes, you are a strange one. Have you considered joining the circus?

SPEAKER_10 1:46:18

Not yet.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:21

In time perhaps, in time perhaps. When you when you ride the train for the last time, perhaps you will join me. Uh the cigarette has not gone down at all. It's just burning perfectly.

SPEAKER_02 1:46:34

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:35

Um, this music turned off. There we go.

SPEAKER_09 1:46:37

I do kind of like the idea that in ghost uh fashion it's very clearly a crumpled cigarette that someone has deposited an ashtray long ago that's just sort of smoking flamelessly.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:47

Yes, it it's it's just like the like the last embers going, but it's just eternal smoke coming off of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:46:52

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:54

Um Jesus, it is strange to get so many living guests. Uh I do not want to make assumptions as to why you are here, but I have a feeling I know the reason. But if you could inform me yourselves, I could uh compare my research with yours.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:14

Um, well, we're looking for someone. Uh another yeah, another living guy like us. At least, like I told the fortune teller, I sure hope he's living. Um somebody by the name of Picante Slim?

SPEAKER_01 1:47:29

And she immediately nods at that name. He says, Yes, my assumption was correct. You are here seeking the adventurer and his companion, yes. Um are you associated with this man? Is he a friend, a lover, a rival?

SPEAKER_00 1:47:48

Oh no. His his father um is a close friend of ours, and he hadn't heard from him in a while, and our journey led us to trying to find him here.

SPEAKER_09 1:48:02

Pluto once again insistently about to go, and he saved us from the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota, and Ollie just putting a hand over her mouth.

unknown 1:48:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:10

Yes, there was something about a ball of twine going on. That's right. Uh, Pluto nods. She says, uh she um she gestures for the three of you to take a seat. You know, there's these comfy armchairs in front of the desk for for when she interviews people or you know, whatever business they have to conduct. Um she takes a seat and waits for you to do so before she sits herself.

SPEAKER_03 1:48:35

Oh, sure. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:38

Um so as you get as you the three as the four of you get comfortable, she says, uh she takes a drag on the cigarette. Um blows.

SPEAKER_09 1:48:45

When Pluto takes a seat, uh their knight accompaniments uh pr produce from nothing uh ghost seats and sit next to Pluto.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:52

She she looks over at the ghosts and uh and says they are with you?

SPEAKER_09 1:48:59

Uh Pluto nods. They they are.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:02

Uh are they listening in? Are they your advisors? Your what what is this?

SPEAKER_09 1:49:10

Pluto looks at them, and then they look back at Pluto, and then they look at at the Madame and they just both like shrug. Uh Pluto's like, uh well, they come from here, Pluto says, pointing at the fog-gushing wound from the middle of their chest. Uh so, you know, they're around.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:30

Indeed, you are an interesting bunch. More more eccentric than Picante Slim and his associate. I will say that much.

SPEAKER_10 1:49:41

I do not get too much.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:45

Yes, another man by the name of um she kind of struggles to recall it. Uh Hugo Dangle was his name. Um they they were adventurers of some sort, as a goal. On a quest. I do not know many of the details. I do not get as much information on the living world as I would like. I have I do not have any kind of oracular powers. I cannot see what is happening up there. I can only go on what the souls of the departed have told me.

SPEAKER_00 1:50:24

Well, lots changed in the last uh seven years. Yeah. So, you know, I'm sure you've gotten little bits and pieces here and there, but uh news news is traveling slow for us these days, too, let's just say that.

SPEAKER_01 1:50:41

Yeah, she she nods and understanding. Yes, yes, uh costumed heroes, superheroes, uh comic books come to life, that sort of thing. Yes, yes. No electricity, uh, she gestures around, is not a problem for us uh down here. Uh there's you know lamps embedded in the walls that are lit up.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:03

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:04

Um it sounds like a fascinating place up there.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:10

So about Picante Slim, do you know where he is? Do you know where he went?

SPEAKER_01 1:51:18

Yes, yes, yes, he is here. He has uh he came to speak with me. He is uh going on a trial, as it were. Uh one that I have sent him on.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:32

For what?

SPEAKER_01 1:51:34

He seeks uh she kind of sighs dismissively, uh the one true sword of the Hobo King. Pluto just goes, wait, that's here? Well yes, of course it is here, that is why you are here, no?

SPEAKER_09 1:51:51

Uh I just came for Picante, I was supposed to find that for his dad. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:57

Yes, uh the uh the court of the Hobo King is of course here in uh being protected by the circ the Circtifanton. Uh the Hobo Nation and the Carnaval are well intertwined. She uh she kind of chuckles a little bit and she says, Of course they are. I mean, what is it that the children say when they run away from home? I am running away to join the circus. Uh and she kind of laughs to herself a little bit. Uh like she's she always thinks that's funny to point out to people.

SPEAKER_02 1:52:46

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:52:48

It is Pluto's like Pluto just like turns to Ollie.

SPEAKER_09 1:52:51

Isn't that why you said the chicken crossed the road?

SPEAKER_10 1:52:55

Or am I misremembering that one?

SPEAKER_00 1:52:57

There's a it's a mini-layered joke.

SPEAKER_01 1:53:01

They are enacting a trial. Uh most do not partake in this trial because there is no reason for them to claim this sword down here, but uh a living who comes down to claim it. That is someone who is worth attempting this challenge.

SPEAKER_09 1:53:20

So, and then Pluto's eyes sparkle a little bit. What exactly is the challenge?

SPEAKER_01 1:53:25

Um, and she says, I cannot tell you until you take the challenge yourself. I assume you are going to want to.

SPEAKER_03 1:53:33

I mean, if it gets us our man, how long has he been down there?

SPEAKER_01 1:53:39

Uh she she glances up uh behind you on the wall. Uh there is an old uh an old clock uh that has been ticking for decades and centuries and on and on. Uh and she says, It has been some time, but time is different down here. I have no reason to believe he is failing the challenge. Uh in fact, if I am remembering my schedule correctly, I would say that you have brought him one of the portions of this challenge.

SPEAKER_10 1:54:23

Is that that thing that was in the the train that they didn't want us to open, even though it looks so openable?

SPEAKER_01 1:54:29

That's right, the sarcophagus is part of the challenge that I was waiting uh to have shipped to me. And now it is here he can complete his trials. And then she kind of looks directly at you, Ryo, and says, But you are already aware of this, no? Um You have uh she takes another drag of the cigarette and and puffs out. You have already interfered?

SPEAKER_03 1:54:59

Not intentionally. It it was kind of an accident.

SPEAKER_09 1:55:05

An accident The train got attacked by by some fuckhead named Captain Ramshackle while we were on the way here and in the process of dispatching them. Yes, things may have gotten jostled.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:19

Yes, Captain Ramshackle. Another thing I will have to deal with at a later time. But you say it was an accident.

SPEAKER_03 1:55:31

I would never mess with it intentionally.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:34

And she she kind of she kind of taps uh the ash on her cigarette and it reforms immediately. Uh she says You have had more than one accident, haven't you?

SPEAKER_03 1:55:53

Um I mean yeah, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:57

What is what is this I hear about you and Yellowstone National Park?

SPEAKER_10 1:56:08

Why does everybody want to ask us about some stupid fucking park? Grumble grumble.

SPEAKER_03 1:56:14

Is it really important?

SPEAKER_01 1:56:18

I do not care necessarily about the park itself. What I care about is who was there on that day. I would like to tell I would like you to tell me what you know about and then she like the lighting changes in the next panel. And she says, I would like to know everything you know about the man who was not there. And that text is in bold. Yeah. The man who was not there.

SPEAKER_03 1:56:50

I think, yeah, I think uh Rhea's face kind of drops instantly. Like this is a thing she definitely does not want to talk about, but is being put on the spot. Um I understand. He was, um. I don't know. The details are kind of weird now. After a year, it everything was kind of chaotic, and I. Well, you know, maybe you don't know, but we all kind of came out of it a little different. But I just remember that he was wearing a mask, a helmet, and I couldn't see his face at all. And it just seemed like there was nothing inside. Like there was no identity at all. It was just an emptiness that swallowed up everything around us.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:00

Her expression has stayed the same. She looks over to Ollie and she says, And what did you see?

SPEAKER_00 1:58:12

Uh much the same. Unlike uh unlike Ryo, I was with uh I was with King Arthur um actually uh fighting him. Um a lot of the details are blurry, mostly because uh well, this little guy and points at like the armor that she's wearing. Uh well it it was kind of born uh during that fight, and um uh let's say having a a uh a burgeoning psychic link between yourself and a thing that isn't quite alive is a little distracting. Um I remember I remember asking uh Arthur if this guy was uh the leveler. Um because I know there's a super villain who was in the area who um was, you know, it looked like he wore like a suit of armor that was like gas powered. Um Arthur didn't answer, but the guy just said uh not anymore, and I don't know if that meant it was the same guy and he goes by a different name or if he killed that guy. Um it's not like I could really ask him. Um might I can read mines a little bit, but I couldn't read that guy's mind. That's all I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:59:49

She again stone faced, she looks over at Pluto. And can you corroborate?

SPEAKER_09 1:59:56

Pluto's in seems to be deep in thought for a moment before uh they uh offer. When I first came here, maybe two years ago, to Earth, I mean. I was something that was sent here to to destroy it, or at least the people on it, but something about the planet kept me human-ish, less the person and more prison in the shape of it. And I don't remember him very well, because there was something he did, a word he spoke, I can't even remember it, but he somehow unleashed me.

SPEAKER_10 2:00:37

And I didn't even think that was possible on this planet, with the things being the way they are.

SPEAKER_09 2:00:45

I'm only this way now because Ryo and Arthur sealed me like this so that he couldn't do it to me again. All I really remember is that he he kinda. he kind of looked like, and then Pluto furrows their brow a bit, and you see behind them, in like the fog that's emitting from them, a a figure begin to take shape, uh, and in spite of the seriousness of the moment, uh, you can see Pluto's imagination failing them as the thing that takes shape in the in the uh the fog kind of looks like a legally distinct Star Man from Off.

SPEAKER_02 2:01:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 2:01:25

Like that.

SPEAKER_01 2:01:27

You know? Even the vague shape that like your mind is trying to recall what what what this man looked like. Even that vague shape as it starts to take form behind you, you can see Madame Aran tense up. Like that's all that's all we know. Like her hands grip like her hand grips the desk and her eyes go wide a little bit, as like the threat of even this thing's visage approaching is enough to strike fear in her. Uh but as it as the the f the smoke dissipates behind you, uh she regains her composure again. And uh she takes a very long drag on the cigarette to calm down. Um. And she says, Yes. Yes, all of that seems reasonable considering the circumstances. I do not know what this man is, or where he came from, or what he wants, but the stories I have heard from the recently deceased, from uh those who have either claimed to have seen him or have seen someone who's seen him indicates that his his abilities are ones that could affect both the living and the dead. I have a duty to protect the people here and this carnival. He is a grave omen of something more dangerous to come. If you I know that your time here is limited, but if in the course of your trials or in the course of your time spent here you recall anything else, please let me know. Any solid detail I can have on this man will allow me to rest more easily. She uh go ahead, Ollie.

SPEAKER_00 2:03:39

Ollie just nods, like, yeah, can't do, ma'am.

SPEAKER_01 2:03:44

But she takes a deep breath. You are here for more uh urgent purposes. Yes, you are here to rescue a friend, uh to assist a friend, and um more specifically, you are here to because you are now tied to the event, and you must cooperate whether you wanted to or not.

SPEAKER_10 2:04:06

Yeah, I mean we came here to get Picante Slim, but if he's here to do something, then I feel like we should probably just see if we could maybe help him get the Hobo sword.

SPEAKER_12 2:04:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 2:04:18

I was going to give it to his dad, but I feel like his dad would be just as happy with whatever Picante Slim decided to do with it. So.

SPEAKER_00 2:04:28

Oh, buddy. You're growing up.

SPEAKER_01 2:04:32

No, it's like you're friends now or something.

SPEAKER_09 2:04:35

Um I don't gotta I don't got a lot of those in this world. But I know to I know Tobacco Slim is definitely one of them.

SPEAKER_03 2:04:43

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 2:04:46

Uh she she kind of perks up at hearing the name Tobacco Slim. Uh and she goes, Yes, they would be related, wouldn't they?

SPEAKER_07 2:04:59

She's like I remember tobacco slim that night so long ago.

SPEAKER_11 2:05:03

Oh the man in the streets of Paris.

SPEAKER_07 2:05:08

It was Denver in January cold and rainy, and he said my boxcar is also fun. We were in Paris, Texas. Paris, Texas.

SPEAKER_06 2:05:18

Yes. Yes. He said, I cannot wait to eat the soup I have back in my boxcar. And foolishly I went, soup sounds pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 2:05:30

It worked. It worked every time. Uh she um but but she um she looks at the three of you uh and she says, You have tied yourself to this trial regardless. I would not let you leave without participating anyway. Um there appears to be a seam amongst you three of you. Your intentions going in or going up against the results of your actions. Uh if I may give you some advice, I would recommend that you I would recommend caution lest you wind up attending my circus before you are ready.

SPEAKER_03 2:06:10

That sounds fair, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:06:12

And she says, uh I have uh I I have I know your names, I know the names of many of these uh superheroes as they roam around the world of the living. Your exploits have not gone unspoken of. Uh right now you are trying and you are doing more good than harm. That is good. That is good. Uh but you appear to be rather reckless with the powers you throw around. You may be thinking, Oh, if my powers go wrong, then I am the only one getting hurt. Um but that is not true. You are part of the world, and when the when you are hurt, the world is hurt. Um and she says, uh Your names are coming up more and more frequently amongst uh the recently departed. And they speak of you in a variety of tones, many good, some bad, some cautious. There is a story being told. And whether you wish for it or not, you are changing the course of this story, and the story already has an ending written for you. And that ending may not be as good as you would like, and if you are not careful, it will the story will assert that ending, whether you want it or not.

SPEAKER_03 2:07:38

And Grio just kind of looks a little uncomfortable, like I think two years ago she probably would have like laughed it off and been like, no, it's fine. Um but now I think she's extremely aware of that fact and just mostly looks uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_01 2:07:56

Uh once she's given you enough time to digest that, uh, she claps her hands and says, Now, the formalities are out of the way, uh, you have gotten uh most of the carnival out of your system?

SPEAKER_00 2:08:11

Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_09 2:08:13

Okay. Pluto's just kind of like kind of like mumbles, I kinda want one of Ferris Wheel, kind of sort of like rubs their temples like like, yeah, I think I'm good.

SPEAKER_00 2:08:25

We can go on it. Hey, we can go on it later, don't worry.

SPEAKER_01 2:08:28

Good. Uh then let us uh begin your trial. And that's where we'll end the issue.

SPEAKER_03 2:08:37

Okay. Oh, exciting. Okay. I want more. I want more. I hate having it here. It's only been two hours.

SPEAKER_10 2:08:51

We'll have to do it again sometime. I know, we'll have to do it again. We'll have to do it again sometime soon.

SPEAKER_09 2:08:55

Well, the nice part is on when we do of the devil on Friday, God willing, that'll be the last of the of the devil dreams for a while. Because we're gonna start a little early and push a little late and try and finish it. Yeah. And I believe in us.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:11

I believe in the weakness. I also believe in us.

SPEAKER_09 2:09:13

I thought about it a little more. I think it's going to be about as long as the first court segment, but I think we can do that in a long, in a long stream if we don't link it to a contract.

SPEAKER_03 2:09:24

I think so. I think we'll be fine.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:26

Well, we had uh we had some good some good character development going on here.

SPEAKER_12 2:09:31

I know, this is a good one. I love it. I love my little goobers.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:36

We've had some fun times here. Uh next time, uh, I kind of gave you guys a little bit of a rest here in terms of combat, but uh that's gonna change next time, I can tell you that much.

SPEAKER_02 2:09:46

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:47

That's gonna be uh a lot of a lot of situations. Yay!

SPEAKER_12 2:09:53

Yay!

SPEAKER_01 2:09:54

Um but if you're listening to this early, that means you're a patron, and thank you for your money.

SPEAKER_03 2:10:00

Yes, we appreciate everybody who uh gives us money on patreon.com slash thegorge in order to hear this a week early. If you are listening to this uh when it came out on the Buzz Sprout uh and you enjoy it, consider patreon.com slash the Gorge, where for just three dollars a month you gain access to not just early episodes of the reboot, to all kinds of other content.

SPEAKER_01 2:10:27

Um, imagine you get to this up to this one on your regular uh podcast app of choice, and you're like, God, I want to listen to more now. You probably have like two, three issues that you can listen to on the Patreon.

SPEAKER_12 2:10:39

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 2:10:40

You can get caught up to speed.

SPEAKER_00 2:10:43

I wish I could just jump onto the Patreon and see into the future. I wish I were two or three issues ahead.

SPEAKER_03 2:10:52

Uh but yeah, we appreciate literally everybody who gives us money. It doesn't matter what amount. Um, it just makes us happy that people pay money to hear our silly little TTRPG that we love so very, very much.

SPEAKER_01 2:11:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:11:05

Yeah. Um and hopefully we'll be back soonish. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 2:11:11

All right. Uh good night, everyone.

SPEAKER_03 2:11:13

Good night.

SPEAKER_01 2:11:14

Good night.