The bright future of Bliss Town had been murdered. A fast poison that turned the bright colored utopia into a gray and crumbling blight on the nation it resides in. There is no law. There is no order. There is only territory one can defend, and right now, that means Jayson Hopper is watching the succubus in a harlequin-hare body. He is safely hidden in an alley dumpster he dived in a few minutes ago in search of treasure he can either eat or sell. But now that Lexia Hartwick has caught Jayson’s attention, he can’t help but notice her movements are sluggish and her eyes are struggling to focus.
Lexia’s baggy eyes dart around, her nose and ears twitching, and sweat coating her brown and white fur. Jayson aches a brow, and Lexia bolts across the street. Horns honk, cars, swerve, and she jumps, bounces off hoods, and rolls to safety on Jayson’s side. Lexia hops back to her feet and continues running.
Jayson sighs, jumps out of the dumpster and scurries through the slothful crowd of broken pedestrians. When he gets close to Lexia, he takes a flying leap and collides with the side of her body, grappling her and causing her to lose balance. The two hit the neighboring grass and roll over each other. It ends with Jayson putting Lexia in a full nelson hold.
Lexia grunts and squirms, and her larger size leads to Jayson’s feet dangling when she stands up. So, he wraps his legs around hers, tripping her, and leading to both falling on the grass.
“Get off me, Jayson. I’m not in the mood for your shenanigans,” says Lexia.
“You accuse me of shenanigans when you’re trespassing on my side, Lexia,” says Jayson.
Lexia groans irritably and takes a bite out of the grass, speaking as she chews. “Your side has the library and I want to check out a book.”
Jayson pauses, his brows scrunched and his full nelson holds firm, and Lexia turns her head to glare at him while she swallows grass. It is then that Jayson notices that Lexia is not only tired and sweaty, but she’s wearing pajamas underneath her armor, and her breath has an odd smell to it.
“You don’t want to deprive me of reading material, do you?” says Lexia.
“No… Man, Derrick sucks at making maps. Also, are you sick?” says Jayson.
Lexia rolls her eyes. “No. I’m just miserable for the fun of it. Can you let me go now?”
“Only if you promise to, A, make your library trip quick, and B, not blow up anything.”
“Sure.”
Jayson tightens his grip, making Lexia wince.
“Lexia,” says Jayson firmly.
“Fine! I promise I won’t A and B. Or B and A. Whatever, you know what I’m trying to say,” says Lexia.
“No, I don’t,” says Jayson, a teasing smile forming on his face.
Lexia groans, drops her face in the grass, and takes a deep breath. Then she slams her head back, smashing Jayson’s nose. He yelps and falls off Lexia, holding his bleeding nose, and she stands up, brushes herself off, and walks away.
Jayson rolls on his hands and knees, still clutching his nose, and he glares at Lexia. She puts a little sway in her hips, and she looks over her shoulder, smirking as she flips off Jayson. But that smirk quickly vanishes, and Lexia’s eyes bulge, her hand clamps around her mouth, and she bolts inside the library.
Jayson follows her in, still holding his nose, and sees her duck into the ladies room. What happens next is the echoes of her hurling and gagging. Jayson cringes and looks around, thankful that the lobby is empty. Lexia continues making wet, chunky hurls and gags… and then there's silence.
Jayson stares at the door.
The silence remains. The seconds tick by.
Jayson hesitates, and then knocks on the door.
“Lexia?” calls Jayson.
A few more seconds pass and there is some hushed chatter on the other side, followed by water running. The door opens a moment later and Vanessa McNessa steps out.
Jayson's eyes immediately narrow on the slender, white furred and blonde haired lop eared rabbit. The world darkens as Jayson focuses on her, and she returns the look in kind.
“Hello Jay, long time no see,” says Vanessa with a heavy tone.
“Is Lexia okay?” asks Jayson sourly.
“Oh yeah, she's fine. Something about bad mustard. But she'll live. By the way, you smell like shit.”
“Your face is shit.”
Vanessa scoffs and walks away. “Whatever, Hobo.”
After Vanessa exits the lobby, Lexia stumbles out, ears dropped, face wet and green, and body trembling.
“Are you okay?” asks Jayson.
“I'm fine. I just want a book,” says Lexia.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it was just bad mustard. I’ll be fine.”
“Alright… Can I have five bucks?”
“Why?”
Jayson jabs his thumb at a P-Cola vending machine. “I want a soda.”
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Lexia rolls her eyes, pulls out a wallet with small rubies and rockets decorating it. It is chained to her belt and she pulls out a five buck bill. Jayson thanks her, snatches the money, and goes to the vending machine while Lexia enters the main area through fogged doors.
After Jayson gets his grape soda, and stuffs his nose with paper towels from a cleaning cart, he hurries inside and looks around for a few seconds before he freezes in place. In the romance section is Lexia, but on the other side of the shelves, labeled as “Erotic Romance” is Claribel, also wearing pajamas underneath her 1920s attire, her orange and brown scales have a green tint, and her eyes are baggy from lack of sleep.
Claribel's focus is on a thick book, but after her tongue flicks out she scrunches her brow. Jayson quietly runs to Lexia, narrowly avoiding Claribel’s gaze.
Lexia is also looking through a book, and flinches when Jayson grabs her arm and tugs her with him.
“What are you doing?” asks Lexia, stumbling after him.
“I saw something you might like. It's got guns and stuff,” says Jayson quickly.
Before Lexia can say anything, Jayson moves her away from the aisle, and he looks over his shoulder and cringes when Claribel peeks around the corner.
The snake's eyes snap wide and she slides out of view before Lexia can fully turn around. The harlequin-hare looked down the aisle and then at Jayson with a suspicious squint.
“You're acting funny,” says Lexia.
Jayson tugs Lexia with him and she holds her book tight. He looks over his shoulder again, but doesn't see Claribel, and he leads Lexia to the comics section. Seeing this, Lexia frowns, and behind her Claribel walks out from behind a shelf, but quickly pivots and walks away as soon as she and Jayson see each other. Fortunately for both, Lexia remains focused on Jayson the entire time.
“I don't do comics,” says Lexia.
“Why not?” says Jayson.
“Because they're for nerds.”
“You sit through Block World streams.”
“Because Block World is awesome.”
Jayson snatches a random comic and gives it to her. Its cover is a buff male seagull with slick black hair, dark sunglasses, and dark clothes fighting mutated vampire bats.
“Well, here's what I wanted to show you. This is Steven C. Gull, and his comics are based on true stories,” says Jayson.
“Isn't he an actor?” asks Lexia.
“He is.” Jayson sharply turns Lexia and pushes her towards the checkout counter. “Now you need to check out the book and get out.”
“Screw you! I paid for this with my tax dollars! I’ll stay as long as I want!”
However, Lexia does not resist Jayson’s pushes. When she is near the counter, Jayson looks over his shoulder just in time to see Claribel pull her tail out of view of the comics section. And at the counter is Mariana Cross, looking bored of life as always, and wearing a stuffy shirt and vest. When Mariana sees Lexia, she frowns, swiftly types on a computer and prints out a bill.
Lexia is too sick to care about Mariana’s stare and puts her book on the counter while offering a weak smile.
“Hi there. I'd like to check out this book,” says Lexia.
“No,” says Mariana.
“No?” Lexia scrunches her brows. “Wait a minute… Don't you work at the Not The Crystal Plate?”
“I do,” says Mariana. She grabs the book from Lexia and drags it behind the counter. “And you’re not getting any more books until you return your copy of ‘The Tale of Two Cities in War and Peace’ and pay the late fee.”
“Fine, how much do I owe?” asks Lexia.
Mariana gives Lexia the bill, and when the harlequin-hare looks at it, her ears droop and she seethes while Jayson leans over to have a look at the numbers.
“Twenty bucks and counting,” says Mariana.
“How the heck did you get twenty bucks of late fees?” says Jayson.
“I keep forgetting to return the book. It’s no big deal,” says Lexia.
“It’s ten cents a day.”
“It's just a few days.”
“No book. No payment. No new books,” says Mariana.
“Give me a break. I paid for this place with my tax money! I have every right to read any book here!”
The world briefly flickers around Jayson, leaving him queasy, and Mariana holds up Lexia's library card and puts it in between the gleaming blades of a freshly sharpened pair of scissors. Lexia stares in disbelief with perked ears, and she frantically pats her pouches and rummages through her wallet, all coming up empty of her library card.
“How'd you do that?” says Lexia.
Lexia grabs Jayson's shoulders tightly and shakes him while he stares dumbfounded at Mariana.
“How'd she do that!?” yells Lexia.
“Quiet. This is a library,” says Mariana, the scissor blades pressing against the card.
Lexia clamps her mouth shut and her ears droop.
“If the money and ‘The Tale of Two Cities in War and Peace’ isn’t delivered by the end of the day, your library card gets cut,” says Mariana.
“No!” cries Lexia, her hands extended to the card, but Mariana steps back, just out of her reach.
“The library closes at eight pm. Be here with the book and the money or else.”
Soon after, Lexia and Jayson find themselves standing outside the library. Lexia’s face is twisted with rage and sickness, and Jayson sips his grape soda, keeping one of his hands in his pocket to hide the trembles while his brain tries to analyze what happened back there.
“Well, that sucks for you,” says Jayson.
Lexia glares at him, and he sips his drink again.
“I’m going to snag a trash burrito. Have fun with your late book,” says Jayson.
Jayson attempts to walk away, but Lexia grabs his wrist and squeezes, bringing him to wince.
“You owe me twenty bucks,” says Lexia through her gritted teeth.
“What?” says Jayson.
“You owe me twenty bucks!”
“For what? The soda? That was only five bucks.”
“I’m charging interest.”
Jayson frowns, and rams the hilt of his cosmic wood sword into Lexia’s gut. Her eyes and cheeks bulge, and she holds her hand over her mouth as she falls to her knees, and Jayson walks away.
“I’m getting a trash burrito,” says Jayson.
As Jayson walks away, leaving Lexia to lay on her hands and knees on the grass, Claribel slips out of the library with her thick book in hand. She hurries down an alley and passes a faded wall art of a winged DNA strand spreading a green cloud over dissolving people. She goes behind a dumpster and takes off her long coat, revealing her rifle’s dismantled pieces clipped and magnetized to her back using a specialized plate strapped to her shoulder.
Claribel takes off the metal plate and quickly assembles her rifle, and when she’s done, she slips a magazine in and pulls out her radio.
“Mortimer, do you copy?” says Claribel.
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Back at the safehouse, Mortimer is resting his head on his toilet lid, ears limp, eyes droopy and bloodshot, and his sweaty body trembling in his pajamas. His hand trembles as he plucks the radio off the floor and brings it to his sickly face.
“I hear you, Clair… Over,” says Mortimer.
“I just ran into the Hobo Warrior and Bazooka Bunnies,” says Claribel.
Mortimer’s ear twitches. “Oh? Where are they?”
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Claribel goes to the edge of the alley and peeks out to see Lexia walking across the street. When Lexia passes over, Claribel sucks in some dirty Bliss Town air, and runs across the street, sliding to cover behind a parked car before Lexia has a chance to see her. Claribel adjusts her Stetson hat before peeking out for the briefest of moments to see Lexia going to an ATM. While the harlequin-hare operates the ATM. Clribel speaks into her radio again.
“They were at the library. I’m pursuing Bazooka Bunny right now, and the Hobo went to get a trash burrito,” says Claribel.
She clips her radio back to her belt and takes aim while Lexia bangs on the ATM.
“Dang it!” curses Lexia.
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Mortimer hiccups and runs his fingers through his sweaty, dark hair. “Alright. I’ll take care of him when I find him.”
Mortimer sets his radio back on the floor, and he opens the toilet lid while his throat bobs with a sickly gurgle rolling in his gut and mouth.
“Freaking mustard,” groans Mortimer.
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Lexia sighs heavily, pulls her card out of the ATM and pauses. Her eyes squint at the reflection in the mirror hanging above the ATM, and she sees Claribel aiming her rifle at her.
“Oh, that bitch,” says Lexia.
Claribel fires.