NOVEL NEXT Act 45: Chats And Preparation
Act 45: Chats And Preparation
--- Joshua Durand ---
"You know it would not be a crime if we were to hang out without fighting." He noted dryly, as he blocked a couple more punches from Cameron. Each blow probably leaving a bruise if not for his healing factor.
"What else would we do?" The other teen asked as she hopped in place, fists raised.
"Catch a movie?" He suggested. "Maybe an arcade?"
"Eh, I get enough of the game stuff with the gamer's guild." Cameron dismissed. "I mean it's cool at first -well the monster fighting is always cool- but the game aesthetic… They really love their theme."
"Oh, right." He briefly glanced towards the teen's graffiti covered hoodie sitting on the sidelines. "I keep forgetting that you're part of the Guild."
"Yeah, they helped with some of my… power problems but I've still got a number of issues I'm working on." The other Deviant confessed, before unleashing another combo on him. "My teammates are cool enough about it but I'm technically running a different system than them due to power interactions."
"Something similar happened to me when I entered the dungeon the other month." He nodded, just trying to tank is way through. "GM had to make me a whole custom class due to my powers and hers messing with each other."
"Messing with each other, how?" Cameron asked, eyes narrowed a bit as she shifted her stance.
"Just some general weirdness." He shrugged, because while he liked the girl and didn't mind sharing some of his powers he'd still like to keep a few cards close to his chest. "Even figured out a couple new ones with her help."
"I see…" Cameron nodded slowly before gaining a smirk that set off his danger sense. "Well if the GM has been helping you out personally we can take off the training wheels."
"Training wheels?" He blinked, just before a fist the size of a car slammed into his face.
Spoiler
Scene Consequences
-Thanks to sparring with Cameron gained 1XP to Brawling and Healing Factor.
-Currently: Brawling Lv. 5 (4/12) and Healing Factor Lv. 5 (1/12)
---
Sitting on a bus to the library, due to the fact that in spite of his healing factor everything still hurt after 'hanging out' with Cameron the previous day, he found himself once more texting the GM on his way to his destination. (After all, little better than texting a cute girl.)
(You assume she's cute without actually seeing her.) The devil on his shoulder noted.
To which he argued. (I've seen her sister.)
(Touché.)
You: [Hey I've got a weird Wonderlander problem.]
GM: [Weird means cool. Hit me.]
You: [So I just made a new Boss Dream, right?]
GM: [Okay? What makes them cool?]
You: [Aside from the cookie army? She only speaks Spanish. Like more Spanish than I understand.]
GM: [Oof.]
You: [This ever happen to you before?]
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He figured is anyone knew it would be his fellow Wonder-
GM: [No.]
He narrowed his eyes, something about the speed that he got that response raising a red flag for him.
You: [Really?]
GM: [Yes.]
You: [So you have no idea how this could happen?]
GM: [Madness gets weird. And I don't mean cool weird but weird-weird. Probably picked up something subconscious and made it part of the core.]
You: [So you've got no idea how to fix it?]
GM: [You try subbing her yet?]
He frowned at that.
You: [Like with anime?]
GM: [Or anything in another language.]
You: [Such as video games?]
GM: [Not like video games.]
He narrowed his eyes at the phone, wondering if he dared before sending another text.
You: [So if I were to ask your sister about your embarrassing secret level…]
Given how much loving siblings enjoyed embarrassing their younger siblings, he was fairly certain TPK would tell him if asked.
(Bravely foolish of you kid.)
The GM was silent for a moment. One long enough that he almost wondered if he'd driven her off.
A tapping drew his attention to the side where he found some kind of monster staring at him. The monster pointed two claws at its eyes and then at him before slowly dissolving into a cloud of pixels, its glare never leaving his eyes.
You: [Understood.]
(Really need to remember that personal army thing kid.)
Spoiler
Scene Consequences
-Grown a bit closer to the GM.
-Gained an idea on how to partially fix Dulcinea's problem.
---
At the library he wandered around a bit searching for a number of art books that weren't typically available at his less than well funded public school. Including several on animation and drawing techniques, his hope being that if he managed to improve his actual skill with drawing he might be able to improve his powers related to drawing.
Which given how half of his powers now included creating cartoon characters and bringing them to life…
(Hopefully this will also make making Dreams easier as well.)
Even if their process of creation was a lot more complicated than simply drawing an image, the fact that they were cartoons and drawing was part of the process of making a cartoon, logically it should help him at least a little. (I hope…)
Spoiler
Scene Consequences
-Gained a couple library books on drawing.
-Book Bonus Active: +1XP to Drawing skills until Lv. 5.
---
Toonification was a bit of an odd part of his kit.
It was useful for turning seemingly small objects into powerful tools and devices, if for a limited time. Essentially slowly turning the world around him into a cartoon beyond simple bending madness to twist physics for a few seconds.
Of course while a few minutes of toon time was significantly better than a few seconds, that didn't change the fact that based on his last two performances his shows definitely lasted a bit longer than his current time restraints. Which with the help of a little timer on his phone he found out currently sat around ten minutes. (Or just a couple minutes short of an episode of a two part block.)
(Which is still a fair bit longer than the toons of my time.)
His hope was that with a bit of practice he could push that time, drag it out long enough to let him run a full half hour show. (Or maybe a full hour show.) (No, full length film!)
The possibilities were tantalizing, even if they were still a fair bit off as he discovered after spending an entire afternoon trying to get his power to last longer via a variety of methods. Be it Toonifying a large number of objects, applying more ink, or just focusing on a single object for as long as possible.
None of which produced acceptable results. The little he'd gotten merely a few seconds. (Which is way too slow with another show around the corner…)
With a sigh he retrieved one of his Malice vials before downing old reliable and letting the taste of strawberries and copper fill his mouth to that sweet sinful swing.
"Alright, let's try this again. For the camera." He told the world, before once more repeating all of his previous experiments. This time to notably better results. (Almost up to twelve whole minutes.)
That was enough for a two episode block but he still had a fair bit to go before he hit his actual goal line.
Spoiler
Scene Consequences
-Thanks to Malice Vial gained additional perk progress, and retained training XP.
--Current Progress: That's Not All Folks (II) (2/4), Toonification Lv. 5 (5/12)
--For maintaining Malice Chain, gained 1 Malicious Madness.