Act 22: Dreams, Doodles, and Respect

--- Joshua ---

(“You know that’s actually really good advice.”) A voice told him. (“Or the spirit of the statement is good advice.”)

“W-what?” He blinked, before looking around the empty space. “Where am I?”

(“Don’t you remember? Between mind and matter. Dream and reality.”) A man in a black suit told him, before seemingly pausing. (“Ah, right, forgot you forgot.”)

“Forgot I forgot, what?” He frowned in confusion.

(“The thing you’re forgetting. I forgot that I made you forget it.”) The man in the mask explained. (“I mean, technically I didn’t forget. Can’t actually do that. But I fake it, lock it up in a part of my mind I’m not focusing on so the me dealing with things doesn’t know, despite the rest of me knowing still. Makes things more interesting.”)

“I- What?” He asked, his confusion worsening.

(“Oh, the remembering bit. Sometimes another part of me will realize something would go so much smoother if I remember something that I thought was more fun not to remember.”) The man in the mask continued to unhelpfully elaborate.

The man in the mask tilted his head as he stared at Josh for a moment. (“You know this’ll be so much easier if I just…” The man in the mask reached across the table and tapped between Josh’s eyes. (“Boop.”)

“Motherfucker!” He screamed as his mind felt like it was put through a blender before being unblended in the exact same second. “Fucking hell!”

(“You know, Jon takes these things much more civilly than you.”) The man in the mask said. (“I mean, it’s fun that you’re not the exact same as him, but still… Calling me that? I don’t even have a mother! Though technically…”)

“What?!” He spat, not understanding what the entity before him was going on through the pain in his head.

(“Hmm, right.”) The man in the mask coughed into his hand. (“Going off on a tangent. Sorry about that.”)

“Can we… Can we get to the point of this?” He begged, feeling the entity before him eating away at his sanity.

(“Ah, sorry, sometimes I don’t realize I’m doing that.”) The man in the mask apologized, waving away some of the black smoke surrounding them. (“Comes with being a personification of Madness.”)

He did not like the sound of that. (Probably best to just ignore that.)

(“Probably.”) The man in the mask agreed. (“Still you wanted to get down to business, and that’s what I’m here for so let’s get to it.”)

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” He sighed. “So why am I here?”

(“Well, as you now remember I promised to be a silent producer for your little performance so long as you prove to be entertaining.”) The entity reminded him in a less painful manner than before. (“Don’t be a baby. Anyway since you’ve completed your first show I figured we could have a little chat.”)

He swallowed remembering that the entity before him had threatened him should he bore it.

(“Technically, I implied a threat without actually giving one.”) The man in the mask argued. (“And you have nothing to be worried about. I mean stealing a car from that gang, after Robin D. House. Your first show was a hit kid!”)

“Oh…” He felt a weight slide off his shoulders. “That’s good.”

(“Oh, it is!”) The man in the mask agreed standing from the table. (“In fact you did so well that I decided that as your producer I should provide you with a bit of metaphorical funding. Not a lot mind you, but enough to establish the benefits of doing your job well.”)

“Funding, you mean like Madness?” He blinked as the entity walked around the table.

(“Meh, not quite. Giving you Madness would make things a little too easy, especially given how easily you can earn it from your shows now.”) The man in the mask explained placing a hand on his shoulder. (“I have something a bit… harder to come by in mind for funding.”)

“Like what?” He asked curiously as the entity raised a gloved hand in front of his face.

(“Oh, you’ll see.”) The man in the mask assured him. (“Just remember… Whatever you do, don’t blink.”) And with that the entity shoved its hand through his mind.

Scene Consequences

-You have gained 1 Perk point to be spent on any available perk. (Or it can be saved for future perks.)

--Perk Menu can be found here. (Or it will be when I finish it in five minutes. (I can only do so many menus at once.))

---

“Focusing… I am focusing…” He lied to himself.

(Did you actually expect this to work?)

“Kind of did.” He frowned.

(Improving one’s focus isn’t a simple task.) The more mature part of him pointed out. (It’s the kind of thing that takes time and effort to accomplish.)

“Ugh, that’s so boring…” He groaned, falling back on his bed.

(Yep.) That more mature part agreed. (Which is why our best solution is to cheat.)

“Cheat you say?” He liked where his mind was going with this. “Let’s continue this train of thought.”

(I thought you’d like that.) He chuckled to himself. (Now then, I wonder what would happen if we focused a bit of Madness into our own mind?)

Scene Consequences

-Made 1 Progress towards new Power: (1/4)

-Made 1 Progress towards new Perk: (1/4)

-A/N: There was a slight misconception that I didn’t correct in time, so I’m giving progress to both a new power and taking a rank in Mental Conditioning here. (Progress carries if we take a rank through a skill, though the level requirement increases too.) That said, this new power is focus based, but will not raise max focus with its levels.

---

(Ugh, I can’t believe I have to put up with this.) He sighed to himself, as his bullies managed to once again corner him.

From there things went the way they usually did with him taking a beating as they tried to get money that he wasn’t stupid enough to carry with him, all while being belittled for the ‘weirdness’ he couldn’t quite help.

Luckily, after years of their words, his healing factor, and the pain tolerance he’d built through Zylah and the GM’s dungeon, it was all more of an annoyance than something to be feared. Just a chore he had to put up with because- (Actually, why am I taking this shit?)

He blinked to himself before frowning as one of his bullies threw him against a locker.

(Because if I use my powers I’ll out myself as a Deviant.) He reminded himself. (And if I out myself kicking the shit out of these guys I’ll get Sanctuary and the Guild after me too.)

(Well, technically we don’t have to hurt them.) The devil on his shoulder whispered. (All we have to do is scare them into leaving us alone.)

(But what if they tell someone?) It wasn’t worth risking it.

The sound of glass on tile snapped him out of his thoughts as he saw a vial of Malice hit the ground as his bullies emptied his backpack on the ground.

(Oh, that’s not good.)

His eyes darted between his bullies, who thankfully hadn’t noticed the vial rolling towards him as they kicked through his stuff, more to make it a pain to clean up than to actually find anything worth stealing.

Knowing that he didn’t have much time if he didn’t want to get caught with a (definitely illegal) drug, he slowly shifted down the locker as if he’d given up the fight before snatching the vial off the ground after nudging it a bit closer with his foot.

As he moved to stash the vial in his pocket he had a stray thought of, (they haven’t searched my pockets yet.) Something they frequently did after beating him just in case he was stupid enough to bring money to school that day. (If I stash it in my pockets they’ll find the vial.)

Briefly, the image of his bullies drinking the vial flashed through his mind. (Do we really want to risk that?)

Deciding that (no, I don’t,) he popped the vial open before swiftly downing it.

“Hey, what’s he got there?” One of the (bastards) who regularly made his life hell asked, as that sweet sadistic symphony began to play in the background.

“You holding out on us durand? I thought you knew not to do that by now.” Another said as they stepped on him.

(...)

He looked his bully in the eye…

(...)

and had one thought.

(Fuck this.)

Following the instincts the Malice gave him, he flooded his hands with Ink and pressed them into the ground as he twisted upon his Madness in a way he couldn’t quite follow without the instincts guiding him.

(I just remembered this important lesson I picked up back in the day…)

He felt the Ink creep and crawl further than any distance he’d managed thus far as each hand’s pool split off to do its own thing.

(You want to be respected, the best way being to be admired, and surrounded by those who love you…)

Batch from his right hand bled into the lockers behind the bullies, while the Ink from his left began to form and reshape itself into Doodle.

(But if people still hate you, you can still make them respect you if you remember one thing…)

Doodle saw the image of his Wonderlander on the ground being stepped on by a bunch of worthless scum and grew furious as more power than the little dream had ever felt flooded it.

(Respect is just as much fear as it is admiration.)

Practically leaping off the wall Doodle screamed from behind hid bullies while throwing open all of the toonified lockers as a wave of terror swept through the hall.

“What the fuck is that thing?!” One of his bullies yelled.

No one answered him as the rest of his friends had already turned tail and ran, something the bully quickly proceeded to copy as he found himself alone with a very angry Doodle on the wall.

“Thanks for that Doodle.” He told his dream, as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. “Couldn’t quite deal with those nerdowells myself without drawing too much heat.”

Doodle gave him an understanding nod before sending another glare down the way his bullies had fled.

“Don’t worry,” He smiled, running a hand through his hair. “No one is stepping on this star ever again.”

Scene Consequences

-Gained (1 + D6 = 3) XP to Ink Doodles and Scare Tactics due to scene synergy.

--Power Level Up: Ink Doodles Lv. 2 (1/6)

--Currently: Scare Tactics Lv. 1 (3/4)