Act 30: Parties, Drinks, Family, and Madness

--- Joshua ---

“And here… is the Madness we… need.” Avery told him as the boss dream finished sculpting the Malicious Madness into a different resource, one that left him oddly hungering for more the longer he stared into it. “Or rather one of the two we needed.”

“Uh, two?” He blinked as he quit staring into the hungering abyss.

“Yeah, we uh, there were two different Madnesses we could’ve used to restore the dining hall, since those were the resources most spent on this section.” The cabaret manager explained. “If I’d used [Exciting Madness] I could’ve focused on restoring the seating allowing us to handle bigger numbers but because we’re using [Hungering Madness] here I can do something a bit, uh, a bit different.”

“Different how?” He asked, following Avery away from the bar and towards the center of the hall.

“Just, uh, just give me a sec and I’ll uh, show you, boss.” The cabaret manager told him before pushing the floating Madness forward where it began to slowly spin, picking up speed bit by bit until it was eventually a small twister pulling everything in.

“Uh, Avery, is this supposed to be happening?” He frowned, gripping a nearby table to maintain his balance.

“I think so?”

“You think?!”

After another moment the Madness seemed to burst, sending a wave of something rippling through the room as each table it touched seemed to clean itself up, not necessarily looking new or fancy but definitely looking a lot cleaner and stabler.

What really stood out though was when the wave hit the wall between the stage and the bar, causing the wall to shake for a moment before a set of double doors seemed to sprout up from the ground.

Avery seemed to squeal about something before rushing towards the door and shoving them open only to immediately begin slumping. “I thought… maybe… Damn it…”

“What’s up?” He asked, walking up to the depressed dream.

Avery sighed, before pushing the door open so that he could see the dark and clearly abandoned kitchen within. “I thought maybe if we brought the kitchen back one of… one of the old Dreams might…” Avery gave another sigh before letting the doors close on themselves. “Should’ve known she wouldn’t when no one showed up after the Dressing room…”

He couldn’t help but grimace as he realized what Avery had been hoping for, before giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Uh, let me pour you a drink.”

Scene Consequences

-Converted 3 Malicious Madness into [???] Madness.

--[???] Madness revealed to be [Hungering Madness].

-Dining Hall has been (mostly) restored.

--For using [Hungering Madness], Dining hall tables have been fully restored (the chairs less so).

---Comfort of Cabaret guests has increased, increasing customer satisfaction and retention once the Cabaret opens.

---Kitchen has been unlocked for restoration.

Note: This counts as restoring the Dining Hall for quest purposes.

--- Bonus Scene ---

“Boss, don’t take this the wrong way but, uh, this tastes like piss.” Avery told him having taken a sip of the drink in front of him.

“Yeah… I’m going to be honest, I have no idea what any of these are.” He confessed reaching under the counter. “I mean, I know a few drinks from living in a bar, even if Chris wouldn’t let me drink them, but most of these bottles are empty and the few that have something in them have the labels so faded that I have no idea what they are.”

“Hmm, yeah, we do need to restock on top of everything else.” Avery admitted with a tired grin before reaching across the counter and grabbing a few bottles. “Here, if you want a pick-me-up you want to mix a few of these.”

He checked them and could not tell what any of these were. “How can you tell what these are?”

“It’s my job to know the details of everything in the Cabaret.” Avery shrugged, before downing the glass of ‘tastes like piss’ and shaking his head.

“Now then, let’s mix a lot of Hope, a bit of Faith, and just a touch of Desperation.” The dream told him grabbing the unlabeled bottles and pouring a bit of each into the glass and another next to it. “And now you have some Spirit Raising Spirits, or a cheap version of it anyway.”

Avery sipped at his glass before letting out a sigh.

He stared at his own glass for a minute before deciding (fuck it, underage drinking isn’t any worse than what I’ve already done) and sipping at his own glass.

It was an odd thing, definitely different from any other drink he’d ever had, if only because it made him feel something, which he was pretty sure was the opposite of most alcohol.

As the drink hit his tongue he felt this sort of rising sensation in his spine, as if he could face anything that stood against him if he just didn’t give up.

“I guess this really does raise your spirits.” He blinked, staring at the glass.

“Yep, and just imagine what it’d do if we were using the good stuff instead of the bottom of the shelf.” Avery smirked, before sighing again. “Or an actual bartender…”

They were both quiet as Avery slowly finished off his drink, before giving him an apologetic look. “Sorry about drinking on the job boss.”

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“It’s not like we’re really busy just yet.” He shrugged, gesturing to the empty cabaret. “Though I expect you to stay sober once this place really starts rocking.”

“Of course.” Avery nodded.

Scene Consequences

-Grown a bit closer to Avery.

---

After a few more drinks, Avery seemed to lose the usual nervousness that followed him everywhere, if only because he was slightly buzzed by his third glass of Spirit Raising Spirits.

(Liquid courage I guess.) He thought with some amusement as Avery talked fairly clearly.

“You know I’ve got to ask, ever since we set up the projector I’ve been able to get a better idea of what you’ve got going on around you.” Avery told him, swirling his drink around. “But there’s a couple things I was kind of wondering about.”

“Like what?” He asked curiously.

Avery sipped at his drink. “Well for starters, what’s the deal with the shadow girl you spent all that time sparring with?”

“She’s… sort of like a co-worker, I guess.” He shrugged. “I don’t know much about her aside from the fact that she’s working for the same people as me and is better than me in a fight.”

“I see… and who exactly are you working for?”

He couldn’t help but grimace at that before sighing. “I’m not really sure, all I know about them is that they can make me disappear if they feel like it and they’re supplying me and probably Zylah, with Malice.”

“Malice…” Avery frowned. “That’s the uh, drug I’ve seen you taking a couple times right?”

“Right, it’s also what gives us that Malicious Madness to work with.” He nodded.

“Ugh, hate that stuff.” The Dream grimaced before finishing off his glass.

“I get you but we don’t have many options right now if we want to get the Cabaret up and running quick.” He pointed out. “It’s not the best option but the stuff also enhances my powers a bit, so I’m getting my feet under me faster.”

“And I’m guessing you’ve got to do these Malice Dealers favors to keep them supplying you?” Avery figured as he grabbed the bottles again.

“Yeah, they have me putting on shows as distractions to their real crimes.” He admitted. “At the very least they’re giving me a direction to run until I can figure this all out.”

“But you don’t intend to work for them forever do you?” Avery asked as he refilled his glass.

He couldn’t help but snort. “Fuck no. Moment I’ve got enough power to take them on they can go fuck themselves, and take their Malice with them.”

“Good,” Avery nodded with a smile. “The boss of the Cartoon Cabaret shouldn’t be working for anyone but him and his.”

“I’ll toast to that.” He agreed as they tapped their glasses together.

Scene Consequences

-Grown a bit closer to Avery.

---

“Isn’t it a bit late for Decorations?” He asked, “I mean, Halloween is tomorrow.”

“Which is why it’ll be twice as special if we set up decorations today!” Maddie told him as she hung up a string of decorative lights. “No one is going to be expecting them!”

“Given how you guys have done a Halloween party for like the last five years, I’m pretty sure everyone is expecting one this year.” He felt the need to remind her.

“True, but at the very least the kids will like it.” Chris pointed out as he set down a box of games and decorations. “Hopefully we’ve got enough games and stuff to keep all of them busy through the night.”

“Eh, the younger ones are usually solid until they crash but the teenagers are usually a problem.” He shrugged as he began to shift through the box.

“Yeah, teenage years are when you start to really notice the Halloween curfew.” His brother nodded. “Though I can’t really disapprove of it since it’s there to keep people safe.”

“Not that that stopped us from breaking it every year.” Maddie snorted.

“True, but that was before we realized how bad the Halloween Haunts can get.” Chris sighed. “At the very least the worst of that mess isn’t anywhere near this neighborhood so we should be pretty solid over here.”

“Halloween Haunt?” He frowned. “Do we get ghosts here or something?” Because he remembered his brother doing something on Halloween during his hero days, but he’d always thought it was the standard halloween patrol or teenager stuff.

“Eh, or something.” Chris grimaced. “This is one of the busier times of the year for the city’s Hunters, and not just because of the false positives or Arcane accidentally summoning something they shouldn’t.”

“So… going to tell me what goes bump in the night?” He asked, just a little curious.

“A few things, but nothing you need to worry about.” Chris told him, setting up a cardboard cutout of some kind. “As long as you stay home after curfew anyway.”

(Don’t know what I was expecting there.) He sighed to himself.

Even if he couldn’t keep the big secret to save his life, his brother had no problem dancing around the actual details of his mask days.

“Well, speaking of curfew, I was supposed to meet up with someone at the park.” He half-lied. “So if I want to get home before said curfew I’ve got to get going.”

“Stay safe, and be back before dark.”

“Will do.” He agreed, knowing there wasn’t much that could legitimately threaten him now that he had his powers.

Scene Consequences

-Grown a bit closer to Maddie and Chris.

---

“Hey, you’re the Wonderlander kid, right?” A red headed woman in a leather jacket asked, walking up to him as he stood in line for the Gamer Guild’s dungeon.

“Uh, what?” He blinked, glancing at the people just a couple of steps away from him and clearly watching him curiously. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Mm-hmm.” The woman pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

After a moment his own phone began to ring.

“Yep, you’re the Wonderlander kid.” The woman nodded, before grabbing him by his shoulder and dragging him with her. “Come on.”

“Hey, what’s the big idea?!” He cried, trying to pull his arm away only to find he couldn’t break her iron grip on him, even with his enhanced strength. (The fuck?)

“Well, you see my younger sister spent all night texting this boy. Something she hasn’t ever done.” The woman began, not slowing her pace as she dragged him away from the Gamer Guild’s area. “And wouldn’t you know it, but said boy decided to get close enough to the entrance of her Wonderland that she actually recognized him waiting in line.”

“And I’m guessing I’m this boy and the GM is your sister.” He sighed, realizing that he was stuck just going with whatever this was.

“Yep.” The woman told him before snapping her fingers.

There was a blinding flash of light, and suddenly he felt the woman throwing him across the park, only when he hit the ground instead of rolling across grass he found himself bouncing off of a rock like surface. “Fuck!‘

“Anyway being the wonderful big sister that I am, I decided to have a little chat with this boy.” The woman continued, as he staggered onto his feet to find that he was now in some sort of gladiatorial arena, surrounded by seats on all sides and burning torches above the walls of the pit.

“I see, well uh, it’s nice to meet you… I’m uh, Joshua.” He introduced himself, trying to get his bearings after whatever just happened.

“Tristana Penelope Kowalski.” The woman greeted back as she stuck her hand into a seeming hole in the air. “Though most people just call me TPK.”

“Ah.” He nodded before TPK slammed an oversized blade into the ground. “Ah shit.”