Act 32: Thoughts, Drugs, and Ink

--- Joshua ---

To put first things first, the moment he was back home and the door to his room was locked, he started flicking through the file the Malice Doc had given him, hoping to figure out something of value from the dossier.

Unfortunately there was very little in the way of actual information about the bank, hospital, or museum beyond a basic floor plan of each, the address and operating hours of said buildings, and a number of photos from the outside of each building. All of which he was fairly sure he could find online with a limited bit of digging.

“Of course these assholes couldn’t make it easy for me.” He groaned, running a hand down his face as he looked over the limited information before searching each address on his phone.

“Alright, they’re all downtown and within a mile of each other… meaning that wherever they’re hitting is probably within that mile as well.” He figured, before frowning as he moved the map app around a bit and found they were all in the southern part of Downtown. “Or this is on the opposite side of downtown from their real target.”

It was hard to place one way or the other, but eventually he simply shook his head. “No, figuring out what they’re after doesn’t net me anything. If anything it might make me a little ‘too smart’ for what they want from me. Which would probably end badly…”

(Though knowing what they’re after might help us figure out how to get out from under their thumb.) A voice in the back of his head countered calmly.

He tapped his fingers on his desk for a moment, before sighing. “No. Until I’ve got more resources of my own, my best play is to wait them out for now and just go along with their plans. Once I can hold my own then I can get a little more risky.”

With that settled he looked at the photos of his targets once more and quickly went over each one in his head.

(Bank is the most classic of the three and the one most likely to have the biggest payout.) Knowing that he wouldn’t steal a million dollars in the age of the credit card, he went ahead and searched how much money banks held in cash before whistling.

“Fifty to two hundred Gs. That’s… still a lot.” He had to admit, and given what he’d gone through for a couple of grand a few weeks prior was definitely worth whatever risk the security would pose for that much.

(Ah, but shouldn’t forget that money isn’t the only payout.) He reminded himself as his eyes drifted to the museum. (Place like that is bound to have something interesting on top of a crowd looking to see something amazing… So why not give them a show?)

While he doubted he’d actually find anything of value at the museum, it would be a decent way to build Madness he supposed. “Which will let me get the Cabaret going all the sooner.”

The last target, the hospital, was the only one he was ready to veto right out the gate.

(Wait, wait, let’s not be hasty.) The devil on his shoulder pleaded.

“What could I possibly get from a hospital that would be worth pissing off everyone in the city.” He had to ask himself before grimacing at one of the photos. “I mean fuck, I think this is a children’s hospital… or it has a children’s wing? Either way kids are involved and that is just asking to be beaten and killed by any Mask in the city.”

(True… but what do kids like?)

He considered it for a moment, wondering why his mind was going in this direction before blinking as he whispered. “Cartoons…”

Giving the hospital a more considering look he actually thought about it now. “It would be risky as fuck, but the PR and Madness might just be worth it if I can pull this off.”

The question was if he could pull it off.

“I might be better off hitting the bank or the museum for now and trying for the kids show once I’m a little more established.” He forced himself to admit, contemplating if he’d be better off tossing the hospital photos in the reserve pile with the pawnshop and jewelry stores.

Scene Consequences

-Joshua has gained a basic layout of all three target location as well as an idea of what he can get from each.

---

With a lot on his mind as he considered how best to handle the situation with his upcoming heist he decided to try and distract himself with something to do. At first he tried playing a few games, but he wasn’t really feeling any of them.

(Doubt the GM gets like this.) He sighed, turning off his system as he gave up on playing a game, before actually considering that thought and pulling out his phone.

You: [You there?]

He waited for a few minutes before eventually a series of ellipses popped on his phone.

GM: [Huh, was scared TPK scared you off with her whole protective big sister act.]

He felt a bit of heat to his face as he remembered just how his interactions with the older girl went, before typing.

You: [What can I say, my act is better than hers.]

GM: [Cocky much.]

You: [It’s not arrogance if you can back it up.]

GM: [Fair.]

GM: [Anyway, what’s up?]

You: [Honestly, just trying to kill a bit of time.]

GM: [You should play some video games.]

He rolled his eyes.

You: [I was expecting that, but I’m not in the mood for a solo act.]

GM: [Yeah, well as much as I’d like to, I can’t really game with you right now.]

GM: [Stuck playing management sim with the rest of the guild after the Haunt.]

He remembered Chris saying something about the Haunt and why he should stay in on Halloween, but he couldn’t really recall his brother telling him what the Haunt was actually about. And while he was tempted to find out more, he felt like the fact that the Haunt was over until next year made it kind of pointless to ask, especially when he hadn’t run into anything other than the Malice ODing Burning Man.

You: [That mean you don’t have time to text, or that you're stuck bored at a desk somewhere?]

It took the GM a minute to respond before eventually texting him.

GM: [More the second than the first.]

GM: [Why? You got something on your mind?]

He considered the question before asking the first one that popped in his mind.

You: [Is there anything about being a Wonderlander you wish you knew sooner?]

He felt like that was a good question. One that would tell him more about the GM while also giving him a little more info about what to do as a month and a half old Wonderlander.

GM: [I don’t know I mean I’ve been a Wonderlander since I was like seven or eight.]

“That is… young.” He realized, not sure if that meant the GM was still young or if she had been a Deviant for a long time.

A quick search about the Gamer’s Guild had him leaning (thankfully) towards the second, seeing as the guild had been big enough for notoriety for about six years now and it would’ve taken them a few years to get to that point. (Meaning at the youngest she’s probably around my age.) (Good was starting to feel awkward about the flirting.)

Going back to his messages he found that the GM had sent a follow up text while he was distracted.

GM: [I guess I wish I knew I could play my games with other people sooner.]

You: [What do you mean?]

GM: [Well I didn’t actually realize I could give other people my power ups until my brother and I got in a tight spot. Once I gave him it I realized I didn’t have to play my games with just me and my Dreams. And then I realized I could invite other people to the game and we just sort of grew into the guild we’ve got today.]

GM: [If I’d known I could play with them sooner, maybe we could’ve been a family sooner.]

This wasn’t the first time the GM had brought up her guild and how much she cared about her whole gang, but it was the first time she called them her family and that… that made something in his chest ache a bit.

(A true crew is family… I miss that…)

Scene Consequences

-Grown a bit closer to the GM.

---

Sitting in the school library, trying to kill time during his lunch break he found himself idly doodling. Admittedly, without using his ink to bring it to life as he usually did with Doodle. After all, he didn't want to bring any more drawings to life.

(Huh, there's a thought…)

With everything the GM kept telling him about her dreams and guild, as well as Avery’s clear loneliness he’d been wanting to make another Dream or two to fill out the Cabaret a bit. The thing was he had no idea how to actually create a Dream beyond accidentally doing so as he did with Doodle. Which made him wonder if, (drawing cartoon characters might be the key to making new Dreams for the Cartoon Cabaret.)

As a new determination filled him, he put his pencil to the page he started drawing out a character in hopes of designing a new cartoon character to add to his Wonderland. And within five minutes he had drawn absolute garbage.

“What the fuck?” He frowned looking at the figure with completely flawed proportions. “Okay, I know for a fact I can draw better than this.”

Putting the pen to paper again, this time he focused on drawing the Cartoon Cabaret as he had before and found that he’d created a near perfect replica of his Wonderland. “Okay… Now how do I go from photo-like to… second grade finger painting?”

(Wonder about Avery?)

Considering the idea for a moment, he eventually started drawing the Boss Dream, and just like the Cabaret he managed, Joshua was able to draw Avery in perfect detail.

He stared at his three drawings for a few seconds before something clicked inside of his head. “I can only draw things already in the cabaret… things the old boss made, not me.”

(This is going to be a problem.)

(No. This just means we’ve got to rehearse before we attempt the actual act.) Some part of him argued. A part he was inclined to agree with after a moment of thought.

“Right… just got to keep at it until I can do it right.” He told himself as he once more put pen to paper.

Scene Consequences

-New Skill: Drawn To Life Lv. 1 (0/4)

--Grant a bonus to all Art skill checks and increase the power of any Wonderland Construct Joshua creates by a small amount each Rank.

---

Once out of school for the day, he considered continuing to chip away at his drawing but dismissed the idea, figuring that he’d seen enough of his abysmal drawing skills for the time being. Which is why he instead found his way to a nice isolated alleyway in the middle of the city where he’d be alone to mess about with a few of his powers.

More specifically the ones involving his Ink.

After his fight with the Burning Man and realizing that he couldn’t use his Ink Flow due to a lack of Ink in his system, he decided that that was a problem he’d have to do something to fix before his next outing in black.

Unfortunately, he found that just producing Ink constantly was somewhat boring. Something his very short attention span took exception with.

“This so dull…” He whined. “There’s got to be a way to make this more interesting…”

As the black ink dripped between his fingers -A sensation he was sure would drive him mad if not for his Madness giving it a certain rightness.- he couldn’t help but notice that all of the ink he’d ever produced was black.

“There’s an idea.” He thought, sitting up and wiping his ink off of his hands. “Let’s see if we can’t make some color.”

He stared at his hands for a moment.

“Okay, I have no idea how the fuck I’m supposed to do this.”

With that acknowledged he reached into his backpack and pulled out a vial of Malice. “But I know something that might.”

He downed the vial and tasted the sweet copper and strawberries on his tongue as the symphony of swing began to play in the back of his head.

“Alright, let’s see if I can’t figure this out.” He grinned, staring down at his hand as he began to twist and pull at the parts of his power that let him produce ink.

The Malice in his veins heightened his instinctive connection to his power as he began to twist and pull his ink powers in ways he’d never considered before, ways that allowed him to produce far more ink than any of his previous attempts.

Ink that was still black by the time the Malice’s influence began to pull away from him.

“Shit…” He cursed, having really been hoping that would work.

He frowned as he stared at his hand before remembering something important and moving back towards his backpack. Shifting within he pulled out his Malice case before withdrawing a vial, more accurately a blue vial.

“The Doc said you’re supposed to enhance my connection to my affinity.” He told the little vial. “Let’s see if you can’t help with my little Ink problem, huh?”

Unlike the vial of Red Malice, Blue had what he thought was an almost tangy (Blue Raspberry) taste, even though he couldn’t actually remember what blueberries tasted like outside of this instance. What’s more, rather than his usual sweet symphony of swing, he heard something a little more of a… mechanical beat to it. (It’s almost like a… heartbeat… or something…)

With this new beat to his Madness he once more reached out to his Ink and found even greater control over it than before as significantly more ink than his previous attempts began to pour out of his hands. “But still no color…”

He frowned, still refusing to give up as he grabbed his power and twisted something. Something that he almost wanted to call a valve when he finished turning it.

His entire body spasmed at the beat became louder and his heart began to pound inside his chest as if it were trying to escape his ribcage. A sensation he thought he’d gotten used to from all of his previous times consuming Malice, only this time it felt like rather than a rapid fire beating it was a slow and powerful beat, his heart taking a sledgehammer to his ribs rather than attempting to break them down.

From his hands the ink poured out, gallons upon gallons, more than enough to form a sizable puddle at his feet as he struggled to adapt to this new sensation.

(Right, okay, need to slow production down.)

He instinctively latched onto the valve once more and began desperately twisting it in the opposite direction as he fell to his knees, the taste of Ink beginning to fill his mouth. As started coughing up ink he finally managed to get the valve to give some, and slowly forced it back to much more manageable level.

Even still it took him several minutes to finally quit hacking up ink, at which point he wiped the side of his mouth, and in between gasping breaths told himself, “Don’t turn that valve… more than you can handle…”

Scene Consequences

-Gained (1+2D6=13!) XP to Ink Production from all sources.

--*Power Level Up* Ink Production Lv. 5 (7/10)

--For rolling two Malice Crits gained 2 Malicious Malice.

--For maintaining the Malice Chain gained 1 additional Malicious Malice.

--For rolling a double Crit on the first use of Blue Malice, gained the power upgrade: Deeper Well (II) without any training.

---Each level of Ink Production now increases max Ink by 2.

For Consuming 2 Different types of Malice, Unique Malice Effects Revealed

-Red Malice

--Heal an additional Health State.

--Fully restore Stamina.

--Malice Stat Bonus doubled for Strength and Endurance.

-Blue Malice

--Restore additional Ink.

--Fully restore Focus.

--Malice Stat bonus doubled for Wits and Dexterity.