network } audio; un: panoptes

[sisterswitch]

Hey, everyone - Jack here. Or, I guess some of you might know me as “that evil lying bitch from Dualis who only cares about herself.”

[ahem, that’d be jane. not that jack’s still holding a grudge or anything.]

Anyway, the important thing here is that Navi asked me to pass on a message to the group, which is that they’ve picked up on a passenger who is in a great deal of distress but too far away to get a clear link of communication. In other words, one of our merry little band is missing and having an aggressively bad time way out in the woods.

So, consider this a roll call. Time is meaningless out here in the void, so nobody knows if it’s 10 o’clock, but do you know where your partner is? Who’s missing, and who wants to go rescue them from the big bad scary possibly haunted forest?

Comments

[adaptiveimmunities]

[He rolls his eyes obnoxiously.]

You sound like my parents. Not everything has to be caught on film! You can just have fun sometimes!

[betterhavemammoney]

It does if ya want money! No one's gonna pay us for saying we saw a monster. Who cares about that?

[adaptiveimmunities]

I care about that! Don't you want to see what they're all talking about?

[The creepy vibe is getting stronger, and Shaun is starting to get goosebumps.]

[betterhavemammoney]

Nah, not really! Who cares about monsters? They're nothing new! [The Devildom houses a variety of monsters as well as demons, and Mammon knows tangling with them is less than ideal. He is Great and Impressive but even he knows to get far out of Cerberus' way, for instance.] I only wanted to come with 'cause money was on the line!

[He huffs angrily, hands on his hips again as is his habit. The annoyance is helping him ignore the tingling in his spine.]

[adaptiveimmunities]

I care about monsters! [He puts his hands on his hips and huffs out a breath.] The closest thing I've seen to a monster is a zombie and they don't even count! They're just walking dead people!

[betterhavemammoney]

'Kay, you're right, zombies don't really count if there's just one. But still! Monsters are just bad news, why're ya looking for 'em if you aren't getting paid?

[adaptiveimmunities]

Because it's cool? Again--duh.

[betterhavemammoney]

That's not cool, it's dumb. I would never do that! Not unless I was gettin' paid to give Cerberus a haircut!

[adaptiveimmunities]

[He frowns.] That's... Hades' three-headed dog, right? [Way above the threshold for amplification. He makes a face.] That thing is real? Do you think that's what we're after?

[betterhavemammoney]

Nah, it's Lucifer's three-headed dog an' he's my older brother so trust me, I KNOW what I'm talking about!

And I don't think so, no. [He scoffs.] I think we're heading out looking for some weird thing we aren't gettin' paid for, so what's the point?

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Shaun shrugs. He believes him. It's not like he doesn't know basically everything George has too.

He gives Mammon a cheerful grin.]

Well, it's okay if you want to go to the village, if you're too scared to keep looking. I don't mind.

[betterhavemammoney]

Hey! What're ya talking about? I'm not chicken! [How dare you even suggest that, Shaun. He is a big scary demon!] I'm WAY tougher than anything you'll meet out here!

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Shaun gives him a guileless look.]

Well, it just seemed like you were looking for excuses not to come, so...

[betterhavemammoney]

I'm TOTALLY comin' and don't you say for a second that I'm not! D'you even know who I am? I ain't chicken at all!

[Narrator: He was definitely chicken.]

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Nailed it. He smirks to himself and leads the way deeper into the woods. It's not long, though, before the creepy feeling intensifies, and Shaun starts to slow down.

He's totally not scared.]

...Did you see something?

[betterhavemammoney]

Where?

[He whirls around, scanning the treeline, backing up closer to Shaun.]

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Shaun backs toward Mammon, pushing down his usual discomfort at being close to people. He's starting to get creeped out and he points into the dimness where he'd seen a too-tall shadow moving.]

That way.

[betterhavemammoney]

What was it?

[He turns in the direction Shaun's pointing in, instinctively grabbing at his shoulder to pull him closer. It's a gesture he'll vehemently deny if asked about later.]

[adaptiveimmunities]

Too tall.

[He shivers.]

Dark and too tall.

[betterhavemammoney]

[He pulls Shaun close to him protectively, crouching over him and peering into the woods.]

What was too tall?

D'you wanna leave?

[adaptiveimmunities]

The shadow.

[Shaun does not want to admit that he's scared. At all. But he super is.]

...We can go if you want.

[betterhavemammoney]

Which shadow? Where?

[Mammon doesn't know what they're up against, and while he may be great and powerful he doesn't really want to tangle with anything else that could be -- that's not being scared, right? It's not fear that's making him hold onto Shaun, it's just being sensible, right?

Right?]

D'you wanna go?

[adaptiveimmunities]

[He does want to go. He doesn't mind zombies, but this isn't zombies. It's the wrong kind of scary. He moves back toward Mammon.]

...Yeah. Let's go.