Act 23: A Worldly Perspective And A Quicker One

--- Joshua ---

Looking at Avery one day, he couldn’t help but wonder if the Dream shared any of the toon-like features he developed in his disguise.

(I always knew Avery was kind of pale but now that I’m looking for it, he and his clothes are actually kind of monochrome.) He realized after a more focused inspection. (And his eyelids are a little more prominent than a normal person’s, but they aren’t quite at my ‘guy-liner’ yet… Or is that just the lighting?) He frowned, realizing he didn’t actually know all that much about how makeup worked. (Might want to look into that a bit.)

“Um, something on your, uh, mind boss?” The cabaret manager asked after a moment.

“Hmm, you know what? Yeah, actually.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “You mind holding still for a moment?”

“Uh, sure?” Avery nodded a little unsurely.

Taking a photo of his dream, he found that not only had Avery’s image become a 2D image but so had the bits of the cabaret in the shot with him. “Huh, that’s…”

He spun around on his bar seat and took a few more photos of the cabaret, each turning into a black and white cartoon. (I wonder what it looks like on film?)

Switching to record, he had his camera film the entire cabaret and its manager before turning it on himself as well.

“Uh, what have you got there, boss?” Avery asked, walking around the bar counter.

“I’m using my phone to record everything because the camera is making everything come out kind of weird.” He explained, playing back the recording only to find everything looking like a cartoon. (Huh, it’s even got that old film grain to it.)

“That thing’s a phone?!” Avery blinked, staring at the little black box in fascination, before catching sight of the screen. “A-and it’s a camera too?!”

He stared at the cabaret manager for a moment before realizing, (Right, the cabaret has been around since prohibition, and cellphones have only been around a couple of decades, let alone smartphones.)

“Yeah, it’s a, uh, phone and camera.” He nodded, before giving Avery a better look at the screen. “Only everything I record is coming out kind of weird.”

The cabaret manager looked at the screen before frowning. “Uh, I don’t know what you mean boss. Everything looks alright to me.”

He gave Avery a look, before wondering just how far the cabaret’s cartoon effect really went. “Hey, Avery, do we have a mirror somewhere?”

“Uh, yeah? In the, um, dressing room?” Avery answered in a seemingly confused manner.

“Right.”

Getting up he made his way to the dressing room before finding what had to be a large mirror with a cover on it. And after removing the cover he found that even with the mirror cracked and covered in dust the image on it was clearly that of a cartoon world.

He glanced at Avery as the cabaret manager stepped behind him. “This is how you see the whole world, right?”

“I guess?” The cartoon dream nodded looking at him oddly.

Not that he really cared as he stared at his cartoon reflection in fascination as he realized that he was probably the one seeing the world of the cabaret as something other than a cartoon. A revelation that reminded him of this old philosophy thing he’d read in one of his webcomics.

(I guess reality really is a matter of perspective.)

Scene Consequences

(“That it is.”)

---

“Surprised you’re asking for a driving lesson.” Maddie admitted as they stepped out into the alley behind the crossing.

“It just seems like one of those things I should learn, considering.” He shrugged, hoping the fact that his lack of powers was an awkward point with his brother would carry over here too.

“Yeah, well there’s plenty of things us normies can do that Chris can’t.” The closest thing he had to a sister assured him, not realizing that she was the only non-Deviant left in their family.

(And now I feel like shit…) He frowned, before wiping it off of his face as Maddie checked her pockets.

“Ah, shit, forgot my keys. Just give me a second.” Maddie told him before running back inside.

Standing alone in the alley, a thought occurred to him and he decided to try something a little different from normal.

Up until this point he’d been consuming Malice just to work on developing his powers, but he’d yet to consider the possibility of using it to enhance his learning speed for other skills. And while he wasn’t necessarily sure how well this would work, (it’s at least worth a try.)

Which is why he quickly downed a vial of Malice before tossing the empty container into a nearby bin, feeling a notable warmness in his veins that hadn’t been there before.

“Alright, you ready to do this?” Maddie asked, shaking the keys in the air.

---

“You sure this is your first time driving?” Maddie asked him fifteen minutes later as he slowed to a stop at a red light. “Because you’re doing a lot better than I was expecting.”

“Maybe I’ve got beginner's luck.” He smirked, figuring that given what his actual first time driving entailed that that was more than likely true.

“Well, if you do you’ve got a hell of a lot of it.” His sister in all but blood laughed, as the light turned green.

He was half way through the intersection when he noticed a truck to his right not stopping, something that wouldn’t have been a problem to avoid by braking if the car behind him wasn’t riding his tail lights.

Realizing that Maddie was about to be hit by a truck twice the size of their car his heart stopped before suddenly speeding up as the world around him seemed to come to a crawl and a sweet symphony sung in his ears.

Not taking a moment to think about it, his body moved quickly despite the world seemingly slowing around him, his foot quickly pressing down on the gas pedal as his hands quickly turned the wheel, all while his madness flexed on the world around him.

A series of actions that allowed him to send the car into a drifting turn that had them spin around the speeding car at an angle that left them untouched even as the two cars passed. Leaving him panting heavily as their car faced the direction they’d come from just a hair breadth away from the stopping line for that (thankfully) empty lane on the opposite lane of the road.

“I… I think… I think I’m done driving for the day.” He told an equally shaken Maddie.

---

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Chris asked him once more as he made his way through the apartment.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m shaken but I’m still standing.” He sighed, unable to hide the slight shake to his hands that still hadn’t left him.

His brother gave him a concerned look and he shook his head, cutting off whatever the older Durand wanted to tell him. “Look I’m alive, but honestly all I want to do right now is go to my room and crash.”

Chris gave him another look before finally relenting. “Fine, just… Just let me know if you need anything, alright?”

“I will.” He promised with a tired grin before making his way to his room.

With the door shut behind him, his grin became notably more manic as he quit fighting to suppress his excitement before biting down on his fingers to keep from laughing like a maniac as he reached into his pocket to grab a quarter.

While the near car accident had been a terrifying experience given how close he’d come to losing Maddie, that terror was completely overlapped by the fact that his quick reflexes had saved her.

He tossed the coin into the air and flexed his Madness as he focused on it.

That he had saved her using-

The coin’s fall slowed, not by the defiance of gravity but by the acceleration of his perception.

-his new power.

He swiped the coin out of the air, and smiled just a little too widely as he forced down a giggle.

(Now we’ve got all the stage time we could ever need.)

Scene Consequences

-Unlocked New Power: Toon Time at Lv. 1 (0/4)

--Toon Time: (Costs 1 Focus) Through a mix of Focus and Madness dilate your perception of reality for a short time. (Add Toon Time’s Lv. to any skill or power check using a Reflex stat. (Dexterity, Agility, and Perception.))

-Due to steering through a car accident gained 5XP to Driving.

–*Skill Level Up* Lv. 3 (3/8)

-Gained 2 points of progress towards Mental Conditioning (II)

--Current Progress: (3/4)

-Grown a bit closer to Maddie.