One Cupcake

[stubbornskeptic]

[Jane tiptoes around the gate, eyeing it like it’s about to jump out and attack her. With all her ties to her various allies (and potential murderers) cut, she’s feeling a little off-kilter. Whether this is the thing that brought her here or the thing that will get her out, she doesn’t feel like jumping into it will have any bearing on her tight-assery. After all, it’d be just ludicrous to jump headfirst into it when she doesn't know what it does.

Unless her dad’s in there.

Oh shit, what if her dad’s in there?!

Jane grips her cheeks (the ones on her face, geez!), groaning a little. Whatever is she meant to do now?]

Comments

[stubbornskeptic]

[Jane's attention was so locked on the gate that she didn't even hear anyone come in-- and then they were hugging her and she was half convinced this was a monster attack and oh, oh, no, it's Jake.]

J-Jake! I guess you got in too? That's fast! Hoo hoo!

[hoperaider]

Yes sirree! Dirk's here, too, along with a younger version of his brother and a younger version of Roxy's mom! Ah, your Poppop used to be here, too, but we can't find him anywhere. None of us are sure where he skedaddled off to.

[Which sucks because he was so looking forward to those two reuniting and stuff.]

Ohhh, right, this isn't Sburb, by the way. It's something called "The World," but it still has game-like elements to it. We've got a new class, for one!

[stubbornskeptic]

I, um, what? Why aren't we in Sburb? Did something go wrong?

[Jane blushes, breaking out of Jake's hug to get a look at him.]

Golly if it isn't good to see you, though!

[hoperaider]

Er, well...it's sort of hard to believe, but we've apparently been taken from wherever we were and plopped right into here. People from other universes have even been dragged into playing this game! The others I've talked to can't fathom why it would do that, so I can't really answer the "why" of it.

[He shrugs and grins.]

I second that! We were worried you'd be in trouble without us, honestly. Dirk and I have been here for a little over a month by now. The only one missing from our number is Roxy.

[stubbornskeptic]

So we went from one game to another? How strange!

Wait-- is RoLal stuck with all those meteors coming at her house and nobody to save her? We can't let that happen! Oh, Jake, we've got to do something!

[hoperaider]

Basically, yeah! It doesn't seem to matter when or where you are, either. I was in a Dream Bubble or whatever before I got here, and Dirk was facing off against those dratted drones.

I agree, but there's nothing we can do from where we are. The only thing we can do is hope that she gets here before her home gets struck.

[stubbornskeptic]

Bubble? Drones?

[Jane shakes her head. That's not really important just yet. She's got plenty of time to catch up on things back home later, after all.]

So what's the point of this game, then? It seems it took everything out of my sylladex, so I'm feeling a mite helpless at the moment!

[hoperaider]

[Yeah, he'll kind of. Get back to her on that.]

Again, I'm not 100% positive, but so far it hasn't been anything monumental. Really, we've just sort of been milling about all will-he-nil-he. You should have a Relic on your person.

[Jake takes his Relic out to show her.]

Oh, while we're at it, let's register each other on its little friends list! It's really simple. We just hold them out, facing like so, and wait a few seconds. [He demonstrates it and shit.]

[stubbornskeptic]

[Jane starts rummaging in her pockets, eventually pulling out the device and staring at it awkwardly as she holds it up to Jake's.]

What is this for? Chatting? I feel like we won't need that now that we're all here together...

[hoperaider]

[Ding! Friend registered. Oh, and she's a Harvest Cleric, too! Perfect!]

No, it's not for chatting, although I think you could send a short mail? At any rate, we use it as a sort of all-purpose device as a map, a way to form up a party, checking up on your stats, and to see what's in your inventory. Looks like you're the healing class, which is fantastic since Dave is rather disgruntled about it!

[stubbornskeptic]

I have a new class? [She glances at her own screen, noting that Jake is something called a "Steam Gunner".] I guess this really is a whole new game...

What does this mean? Do I have to learn how to heal people?

[hoperaider]

Pretty much, but I think you start off with one healing skill. And then you get better ones the more you level. At least, that's what I assume.

[stubbornskeptic]

Oh. So it's not as easy as the Life stuff was. I didn't even have to be conscious for that to kick in!

I suppose this Dave person can show me the ropes, then?

[hoperaider]

From what I've heard, we can regain what powers we lost the higher in level we get.

Perhaps! He doesn't seem very comfortable with his...ah...get-up.

[stubbornskeptic]

Don't tell me they made the poor fellow wear a dress.

[hoperaider]

They did indeed! You know the magical girl genre of anime Dirk likes to go on about for "the irony?" That's essentially what poor Dave is right now.

[stubbornskeptic]

Hoo hoo! The poor thing! That's a regular Bugs Bunny level drag joke, right there!

[hoperaider]

I know, right? It's brilliant! Poor chap.

[stubbornskeptic]

Does he have to wear it, though? Perhaps we could rustle up something more manly for him.

[hoperaider]

I've seen some stores that sell different clothing for people to wear, so maybe?

[stubbornskeptic]

I imagine he wouldn't want to match me, hoo hoo.

[hoperaider]

I don't see why he wouldn't want to match the likeness of an excellent gumshoe such as yourself.

[stubbornskeptic]

[She blushes a little.]

Maybe if I was in a fashionable trenchcoat. Less so if I'm going to be wearing a magical-girl-type skirt, don't you think?

[hoperaider]

Maybe, but from what I've seen, it hasn't bothered him unless someone points it out to him. Doing so may equate to not getting healed, though, so I tend to avoid saying anything about it.

[stubbornskeptic]

Well, now you can just let me take care of it! All the mocking you want, for free, hoo hoo.