Behind The Scenes (Omake Bonus I): It was supposed to be a joke…
--- Joshua Durand ---
It started out innocently enough with Annette asking him about his powers during their lunch break, an expected follow-up of sorts to his reveal about being a Wonderlander.
“So you said you can cause things to follow toon physics, right?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, glad that they were in an empty classroom for this conversation.
“Does that apply to like… your whole body?” She asked, gesturing towards him. “Like how cartoons have that whole… squash and stretch thing?”
He made a so-so gesture. “Sort of? I mean, I can do a bunch of cartoon stuff but a lot of it is sort of situational. Um, the closest I’ve got to that would be if I…” He inflated his toon hands, causing them to increase to cartoonish proportions.
“Oh, that’s so cool.” Annette told him as she reached out and began examining his hand.
“Eh, cool does describe me.” He preened, puffing his chest out with a grin.
“And freaky… I mean look at this you’re like a rubberband!” Annette laughed.
He blinked. “A rubber band?”
That was when he realized that the other teen had not only pulled his arm but continued to do so as she slowly walked backwards.
“I… did not know I could do this.” He admitted, before vaguely remembering something similar from one of his ‘episodes’. “Uh, do you mind?”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” Annette grimaced, dropping his hand. Which fell to the ground.
They both stared at his elongated arm laying floppily across half the classroom.
They both started to panic as his elongated arm laid floppily across half the classroom.
“Why isn’t it retracting?!”
“I don’t know!”
Scene Consequences
-Toon Stretch (I): Toon Hands can now reach up to (Power Level * (I)) meters away.
-Joshua has grown a bit closer to Annette.
---
After that mess and (thankfully) fixing his arm after spending five minutes running around like a chicken with its head cut off. He was a bit surprised to get a text from Zylah of all people asking him for a meet up.
“So uh, everything okay?” He found himself asking as he arrived at the warehouse to an angrily pacing Shadow Dancer.
“No. No it’s not!” Zylah growled, stamping her foot hard enough to crack the pavement. “My parents are… fuck!”
He grimaced. “Is there… Anything I can do to help?”
Parents were not a topic he was equipped to help with on any level, but if it was bad enough that she was calling him of all people to help her.
“Yeah, I need someone who can put up a fight, because I really need to fight something right now.” The Shadow Dancer confessed as an inky blackness began to shift around her.
“Yeah, no. I’m not going to be your punching bag.” He told her with a frown, kind of pissed that she thought he’d just stand here and take that. (I’m better than that.)
“I don’t need a punching bag.” Zylah rolled her eyes, looking like she was holding back from punching him. “I said I need someone who can put up a fight. Punching things isn’t helping, so I need something that can punch me back. Someone that can prove to my parents that- Grah!”
The other teen threw out a kick, a wave of black trailing behind it before leaving a massive groove in the concrete. The fact that this was followed by two more such kicks, did little to reassure him of her mental state.
Still he watched Zylah for a moment, the way she was practically shaking in rage, a rage the sort of unending rage he’d felt before he’d gotten his powers. When he’d just had to roll over and take it from the world before he realized (sometimes you’ve just got to go crazy if you want to stay sane…)
Letting out a sigh, he rolled his shoulders before raising his fists. “Fine… I’ve been meaning to see just how hard I can push myself anyway.”
Scene Consequences
-Push The Limits: (Costs 1 Stamina) On a single Strength based action add D6 to the check/damage.
-Joshua has grown a bit closer to Zylah.
---
While their fight wasn’t exactly a win on his side, he was proud of the fact that he was able to last a lot longer against Zylah than any of their previous spars. The fact that the Shadow Dancer gave him a tired but grateful thanks afterwards, made him feel pretty good about the whole thing. Even if he still wasn’t sure what had upset her so badly.
The fact that he’d gotten a text from Cameron asking to hang out during said spar, just put that extra bit of pep in his step on his way to meet up with a cute girl… Because he’d completely forgotten that the cute girl he was meeting up with was also a battle junkie.
“You know, when you asked to hang out this is not what I thought you meant.” He told the other teen as he took several blows to his forearms. Each with a level of force that he was slowly growing used to in spite of the pain. (And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing…)
“What did you think we were going to do together?” Cameron asked, hopping back but not lowering her fists.
“I don’t know? Hang out?” He figured.
“What do you call this?” The other teen frowned, before rushing in for another flurry of blows he had to block rather than Ink Dashing away from due to not being allowed to use any of his powers for this spar.
“I’m thinking of calling this abuse.” He admitted, having to rub at a bruise forming on his arm.
Cameron rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be a baby. If you want to make it through the club’s ranks you need to learn to grit your teeth and fight.” The other teen unleashed another flurry of blows at the air. “I mean, you’re getting your ass kicked by a girl. Isn’t that supposed to annoy you boys or something?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Given how many girls have kicked my ass this month I’m kind of getting used to it.” He grimaced, feeling several phantom aches across his body.
Cameron paused, her eyes narrowing. “Girls?”
(Uh-oh.)
He wasn’t sure why, but he thought he may have screwed up there.
(You did.)
Scene Consequences
-Grit Your Teeth - (Costs 1 Stamina) Reduce the damage of any incoming attack by your current Brawling level.
-Joshua has grown a bit closer to Cameron.
---
With more than one bruise forming he decided to take a scenic route via the rooftops, his ink flow, and just a touch of acrobatics. Not something that helped said bruises but the freedom of moving through the air, still soothed something inside of him enough to keep going.
(The only greater feeling is the spotlight of the stage, and the applause of the audience.)
It was a feeling he savored… at least until he got another text… and then another… and another…
Feeling just a touch of trepidation he opened his messages to find a string of messages from the GM.
GM: Hey, me and my guild are running a game downtown and I just saw this guy who kind of looks like you jumping around with my GM exclusive god view.
GM: If it is you, you want to play with us?
GM: I mean you don’t have to but maybe you’d like it?
GM: Again you don’t have to if you don’t want to!
He considered that for a moment, because while it was getting a bit late it wasn’t like he had a curfew or something. (Eh, I could do with hanging out with someone who isn’t completely insane.)
(Ha!)
With that decision made he texted his fellow Wonderlander back: ‘Sure, where do I meet up with you guys?’
GM: Wherever. We’re using the whole area for our game, I’ll go ahead and send some of my dreams your way and they can lead you over.
You: See you then.
He couldn’t help but smile as he put his phone away, glad that at least one girl he knew wasn’t going to draw him into a fight. (Now I’ve just got to find that Dream of hers. Wonder if it’ll be anything like Dulcinea or maybe it’ll be more like Fishy Friend and Doodle?)
A faint warmth washed over him from behind.
Ever so slowly he turned around, before finding a massive dragon-like creature clinging to the edge of the building looking down on him.
“Oh no…” He whimpered as the beast began to inhale.
The moment he saw a light in the back of the dragon’s throat he took off in a sprint because (fire bad. Fire very bad!)
He was in such a state that when he fumbled his leap between buildings, he quickly kicked off the air and told reality to go fuck itself as he course corrected his escape.
Scene Consequences
-Double Jump (Costs 1 Stamina) Re-Roll any failed Acrobatics check. (Including air dodges.)
-Joshua has grown a bit closer to the GM.
---
While running from the fire breathing dragon’s (very bad, very bad) fire trying to roast him alive, he eventually found himself crashing into a group of teens in hoodies covered in neon paint. As well as a more familiar one in a red jacket that saw him and promptly leapt over his head.
He stumbled, his eyes tracking the red missile before watching as it removed the dragon’s head in a spinning slash that trailed through the air.
TPK landed before turning to him with a grin as she hefted an axe he was scarily familiar with onto her shoulder. “Hey, if it isn’t the silver tongued devil.” The red haired woman licked her lips. “I was wondering what had lil’ sis so excited.”
His danger sense pinged, and he dropped to his knees.
A smaller drake flew over his head, before TPK’s hand shot out and she crushed its skull without much effort, dissolving the reptile into a small swarm of blue pixels.
The sounds of fighting alerted him to the fact that these were not the only dragons in the area, dozens of them flying around as the guys wearing neon hoodies fought them off with all sorts of bladed weaponry.
“Hey, you’ve got a pretty good healing factor, right?” TPK checked as she made her way over. “I mean, that’s how you kept up with me before and everything.”
“Uh, yeah…” He nodded, getting a bad feeling.
“Then you mind running tank for the party?” She asked him, before glaring at everyone else. “For some reason everyone decided to run DPS like idiots! And we need someone to tank some damage for us if our team is going to beat Decker’s crew today.”
“I’m allowed to dodge, right?” He grimaced upon seeing all of the fire out there, before trying to save face by explaining that, “I’ve got this teleport thing I’ve been trying to power level.”
“A dodge tank is still a tank.” TPK shrugged before stepping into his space and running a finger down his chest. “Though the next time we play you better come at me from both sides~”
(You really are in over your head with this one.)
Before he could muster up a response the redhead slapped his ass and told him. “Now, if you want the princess get to work meat shield.”
(Meep.)
Scene Consequences
-Increased Healing Capacity (I): Raises HP per power level to (+6PHP).
-Joshua has grown a bit closer to TPK.
---
As the last of the dragons dissolved into a swarm of pixels, he found himself panting as he’d been reminded multiple times just how flammable he was. Which is why he was somewhat slow to react when someone shouted, “Shit, it’s the fun police!”
Unlike him however, everyone else was very quick on the uptake as every member of the Gamer’s Guild scattered. Each going in a different direction through a variety of different mobilities, as if they’d all rehearsed escaped strategies many many times.
(Which they probably have…) He realized as he thought about just how many ‘games’ the Gamer’s Guild ran across the city. (Given the size of their shows they’ve got to have an exit strategy pre-setup.)
An exit strategy he was not at all privy to as he was left standing by himself in the middle of the street.
“Oh… it’s you.”
He blinked before turning and finding both Terraform and Power Flight watching him, the latter with a smirk and the former with a glare.
“So you run with the guild, huh?” Terra scowled as the wind began to flow around her. “Fits you’d be one of those show boats.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not saying a word.
Something that seemed to unnerve the nicer of the heroines. “Uh, are you okay?”
“Fine…” He thought about his arm being stretched out, his beating from Zylah and Cameron, being chased by a dragon, and used as a very flammable meat shield. “Just… fine…”
“Are you sure?” Power Flight frowned as she looked him over. “You’re looking a little… crispy…”
“Yep.” He nodded, before slapping the brick wall next to him and walking inside the black hole that formed without another word, deciding that (I’m done for the day.)
(Should always know when to end the show.)
Scene Consequences
-Lasting Hole (I) Increases the formula for Hole In The Wall's Duration, allowing you to either dig further or let the hole last longer.
-Joshua has worried Power Flight and annoyed Terraform. (Again)
---
Back at the crossing he sat down with his head against one of the tables as he waited for whatever bar food his brother was making for him while dealing with all the other customers.
“So, uh, rough day?” Maddie asked, taking a seat across from him as she brought him his plate.
“Rough day.” He agreed.
“Wanna talk about it?” She offered.
He thought about how much he could say without outing himself, before telling her that, “I was hanging out with these girls today…”
“Oh?” His sister in all but blood asked with no small amount of interest. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“They’re all as crazy as you.” He popped that bubble without hesitation.
“Oof…” Maddie winced, less in offense and more in sympathy given how the powerless girl who used to bash criminals skulls in with a baseball bat knew exactly how crazy she was.
“Yeah…” He nodded, having long since given up hope on any of the women in his life being (madness forbid) sane.
“Well, uh… props for hanging out with a bunch of girls?” Maddie offered, with a there-there pat to his shoulder before more seriously adding, “Just remember not to stick it in crazy. Otherwise you’ll be really fucked then. More than one of my exes made that mistake…”
Scene Consequences
-Joshua has grown a bit closer to Maddie.