Act 25: A Stunning Hat, Grappling Ink, and A Hole In The Wall

--- Joshua ---

“Uh, you sure this is the best use of resources, boss?”

“Maybe not, but I’m hoping I can get something out of this that’ll make my future shows easier.” He told Avery, before explaining that, “If I can put on a better show, then I can gather more Madness faster. It’s all an investment game.”

The cabaret manager gave him a mixed expression, “If you’re, uh, sure boss…”

With that settled the Boss Dream manipulated the Stunning Madness in front of them and began funneling it through the Cartoon Cabaret’s Dressing Room as the two spheres began to circle around each other. After a few moments of this the spheres collided, unleashing a flash of light as they combined, launching his newly formed hat into the air.

Reacting more on instinct than actual intent, his hand snatched the hat out of the air and spun it around before placing it on his head as he faced the dressing room mirror to see how it looked.

“Hmm, a fedora… Not bad.” He admitted, looking at his reflection and making his best guess at how it’d look in 3D. “Goes with the jacket and vest at least.”

“Yeah it looks alright, but I’m not really sure it was worth it with everything else we need to take care of.” Avery confessed with a nervous look.

“Well, that all depends on what kind of special tricks it has.” He reminded the cabaret manager before frowning. “Uh, I don’t suppose you know how to figure that out?”

“Um…” Avery frowned in thought. “Try… Try pushing some Madness into it.”

Pulling on his connection to his powers, he rooted around for what felt like the thread between him and the fedora before pushing some of his power along the line.

There was a sudden drain that felt more intense as if the Fedora wanted more power than he could give at the moment. Something in the air shifted, and instead of taking from him the fedora seemed to take from the air itself until finally- Out of nowhere instinct took over and he placed a hand on his hat before striking a pose as a the song in his head grew louder and a wave of blinding light burst from his body.

“Okay… that was something.” He blinked as he regained control of his limbs.

Rather than commenting, Avery just stood there staring at him with a blank look.

“Avery?” He frowned, before waving his hand in front of the cabaret manager’s face. “You still there Jones?”

The Boss Dream slowly blinked before shaking his head and looking around. “Uh, what’s uh, what’s going on boss?”

“I think I just figured out what the Fedora can do.” He answered, turning back to his reflection with a smile. (Though I might want to be careful of whatever that drain was.)

Scene Consequences

-Gained: Stunning Fedora

--While equipped, can spend 1 Madness of any kind to Stun all nearby units.

---

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Standing on the edge of a rooftop he rubbed his hands together as he got ready to test, what was absolutely a stroke of genius on his part.

That genius being that he could use his Equip Ink to form an Ink Whip, and then he could use the Ink Whip to pull things towards him. So why couldn’t he use the Ink Whip as a grappling hook to swing around the city like Vigilance and all of the copycats he’d inspired?

(Only since he’s a hero and I’m a villain, I’m not copycating him.) He reassured himself. (I'm flat out stealing his schtick and pulling it off with more swag.)

(Meh, good artists borrow, great artists steal.)

With all of this in mind he formed his ink whip on his hand before throwing it out at a nearby ledge, a bit of intent making the whip stick to the ledge without coming back.

“Okay, good start.” He nodded, grabbing the whip with both hands before pulling on it in the same way he would his actual Ink Pull. And while normally this would pull his target towards him, the fact that the building was so much larger than him meant that he was the one pulled towards it. (Exactly as planned.)

What was much less planned was the fact that the ink whip snapped half way to the building, leaving him floating a good five stories in the air. (Uh, oh.)

Against his better judgment he slowly glanced down and saw the pavement below. Pavement that was now quickly growing closer. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit!”

A painful impact rattled his bones and left him with what he just knew was going to be a full body bruise, though luckily his healing factor was more than enough to let him walk off the fall that had managed to crack the pavement.

Feeling a deep ache throughout his body and knowing that it was only going to grow worse as the day went on, he pulled out a vial of Malice and downed it. As the super serum hit his veins and his song began to play, he felt his healing factor going into overdrive to undo the damage of his fall and ready itself to undo the damage of any other falls.

Standing up straight, he cracked his neck to either side before looking at the ledge above him. “Alright, let’s try this again.”

Scene Consequences

-Training Synergy: Gained 2XP to Mobility and Equip Ink.

--Thanks to Malice Vial gained (D6=2/2=1) bonus XP to each skill.

--Currently: Mobility Lv. 3 (5/8) and Equip Ink Lv. 3 (7/8)

-Potential Power Upgrade Discovered: Grappling Ink (Requires Lv. 5 Mobility and Equip Ink)

---

Figuring that after a couple of hours his ass had taken enough of a kicking, he decided to try changing tracks and put some effort into a different power for the time being, and started working to form a more viable hole in the wall with his ink.

Unfortunately, like with his previous attempt most of these new holes had a sort of rubbery texture and a bit of give that the wall beneath the ink most certainly did not.

(I’ve still got something here, but I’m not quite making a breakthrough…) He paused at that thought. (Literally or figuratively.)

Remembering how his powers had developed a little easier after consuming a vial of Malice, he went ahead and downed another one in the hopes of making something resembling actual progress with this power.

And so with strawberries on his tongue and a sweet symphony playing in his head he began drawing another hole on the wall. Though this time he was unable to keep himself from giving it a little flourish as he did so, despite the fact that it didn’t actually seem to do anything.

That said… (There’s a method to this madness, just doing the same thing over and over gets dull and boring. You quit putting in your all, and your work suffers. You need to have fun with it if you want to go all out.)

With his Malice boosted hole drawn, he put his hand against it and pressed just like he had with all of his previous attempts. Only this time rather than giving a few inches to his fingers the hole gave enough that he could push his whole arm into the wall.

Thinking he’d finally done it, he grabbed the edge of the circle with his other hand and started to step through the hole. At which point he was promptly shot out of the hole and into the brickwall on the other side of the alley, where he hung for a painful moment before slowly sliding down to the ground.

(Almost… but not quite.)

Scene Consequences

-Thanks to Malice Vial made 2 progress towards [Hole in the Wall] power.

--Current Progress: (3/4)