WEEK 5 CYOA: ICHIRO, ICHINOSE, MABEL, MANDRICARDO

[dormheads]

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[dormheads]

[ It's loud noise, that might be people talking, but it's far enough that it's difficult to tell for sure. It's also far enough that that they'd be walking for probably at least ten minutes before they actually reach it, if they're moving quickly.

Miku wags his? her? gender tail at the stick, barking happily. They can hear some cooing sounds from blankets nearby.

The voice replies. ]

Oh, I think an accident. Don't worry about it.

[foreversweaterweather]

[ The cooing sets her on edge. Are people going to try yanking Miku away from them again? Everything about this feels wrong. But she throws the stick just a few feet away--within easy view of the blanket and within easy running distance for Mabel.

Can I safely assume that Miku excitedly runs after the stick and immediately bounds back to Mabel with it. ]

Good Miku! [ pet pet pet! ] You're having fun, right?

[steelo]

An accident?

[ what. also i cant remember what we gendered miku but miku should be a boy since hector is a girl for gender equality.

ichiro pushes himself up to a fully standing position, now, reaching into his pocket to click the safety back onto the gun so he doesn't kill himself (wouldn't that be funny) and watching the distant scene warily, turning his head every couple of moments to check on mabel and miku. ] And, what, you want us just to pretend nothing's happening? Is that what I'm getting here?

[ not in MY protagonist house ]

[dormheads]

[ Miku does play with Mabel! He barks happily, wagging his tail. There's some more cooing sounds, and the shutter of a camera going off.

The voice hums. ]

It's better if you don't go. You should be playing.

[foreversweaterweather]

Hey! Playing's fun and all, but you're not the boss of us! You can't tell us what to do!

[ But that said...Mabel doesn't know what to do, not yet, so she'll just. keep playing with Miku, throwing the stick another few feet for him again, still within easy reach and in Ichiro's line of sight. I originally gendered Miku as a girl but that's okay, gender is a construct and Miku is a he now. Miku says trans rights. ]

[steelo]

[ oh he fucking hates this voice so much. SO much. ]

You really think I should just ignore it when somebody's in trouble? What kind of a sociopath are you? [ TANAKA-SAN!!! he's judging this disembodied voice.

to mabel, as he stands up fully. ] ...Go ahead and toss it that direction. [ a little quieter, but giving her a careful look, too. ] We'll take our time. C'mon, Miku, you wanna stretch your legs?

annie isnt here suddenly

[dormheads]

I'm not a sociopath, I'm a pet store employee.

[ Obviously? But the voice quiets down after that.

Miku barks happily, spinning in a circle for a few seconds and then looks expectantly at them.

In the distance, they can hear a loud banging sound in the direction they were looking at. It doesn't sound like a gunshot, but it's something just as loud. ]

[foreversweaterweather]

[ she looks Ichiro up and down, eyes focusing particularly on his bandaged wound. ] Are you sure you can walk, Ichiro...?

[ ...she decides to trust him, though, and gets ready to throw the stick again. Then there's that BANG, so loud and sudden that Mabel startles with a yelp and throws the stick further than she intended. Miku, I'm sure, will race off for it, but Mabel suddenly looks around for the source. ]

Wh-what was that?!

[steelo]

[ pretty sure those two things aren't mutually exclusive?! ]

I've had way worse, don't worry about me.

[ with a reassuring smile. he just got clipped!! thankfully. not like brutalized. i rolled not totally horrible.

but with that, he nods - and the banging noise makes him jump half a foot too, almost immediately turning around like he can shield mabel from whatever the fuck it was. our dog better not be shot. ]

Shit. [ dIDN'T SOUND GOOD whatever it was. he's not immediately going for his new gun but he's moving briskly after miku to make sure she doesn't run directly into danger!! did it sound like a car crash noise or something. ] C'mon.

[dormheads]

[ Miku did run off, but Ichiro can catch their puppy at least.

It's not quite a car crash, but it could be something similar. They won't know for sure until they get there. The people in the picnic area yell out complaints at them leaving with the cute dog. How rude of them?

But it's time to walk towards those woods then. Like stated before, it'll take about ten minutes unless they go very fast, which will shorten the time a bit. ]

[foreversweaterweather]

[ to the picnic area complainers: ]

EAT IT, you heartless monsters!

[ then she starts running off towards the sound before remembering Ichiro probably can't run very well right now, and pausing to turn back and check on him. ]

[steelo]

[ nah he's terminatoring through it i dont know what you expect!! getting a physical injury is way less painful than having your brains scrambled by a hypnosis mic.

he catches up to miku and tosses the stick for her again, so they're still "playing fetch", but makes sure it's not too far away or too close to the crashing noise. ]

Take a picture of her being athletic, then! [ yelling back, but also he definitely gives mabel a thumbs up at her insult. ] Nice.

[ ten minute jog-run time! once they get closer he will pull miku's leash in so she's close by. ]

[dormheads]

[ Well. They'll notice a crowd of people close to the woods. They'll also notice what looks like a giant bell that's not on the ground, with blood seeping out from under it.

The voice returns. ]

Wow! Seems like a bullet came out of nowhere and hit the bell, making it crash down onto someone. Funny.

[ How far did this bullet travel? Oh well. ]

[foreversweaterweather]

[ stares down at this bell and the blood pooling around it. ]

What the...

[ she looks upwards, towards the sky, in confusion, searching for anywhere this bell could have been HANGING FROM??? HOW DOES THIS EVEN HAPPEN

to the crowd, who she's hoping won't be nasty for once-- ] Hey, do you know who that person was?

[steelo]

[ you know

actually he was gonna feel crazy guilty about this (and absolutely still does) but also

to the voice, muttering: ] I'm pretty sure that's not - Is this a cartoon or something? If I'm in another Mickey Mouse thing, I'm gonna lose my shit.

[ why did this person get looney tunes'd. he scoots over to the crowd - are they invisible/ not invisible or what. he'll also scoop up miku and go take a look at the bell, feeling a twist of nausea in his stomach but going over, anyway. ]

...Shit. Did anyone call an ambulance, or anything? [ maybe there are ambulances in this weird city ]

[dormheads]

[ They're invisible! Except for the body. The body is actually visible, or what they can see of it from what's sticking out from under the bell. ]

Ambulance? Why would we do that?

[ This crowd sucks.

But even though they said that, a police officer walks in... and they can tell it's a cop, because this person is actually visible. Just like with the teen, they can't focus on the person's face. He asks if anyone knows what happened... but he's looking at Ichiro and Mabel. ]

[foreversweaterweather]

But--they need help! Look! [ are the visible parts of the body twitching or anything. either way, Mabel will point to them with concern. that's a human person!

She doesn't like the look on the officer's not-quite-visible-face, though--the way he's looking at them. It feels...it feels like he thinks they know.

her voice low, to Ichiro: ]

...do you think we might have to run?

[steelo]

[ he just kind of glances at mabel for a second, exchanging a look with her, and then back at the police officer. he does in fact have the gun in his breast pocket.

hmmm.

ichiro hates lying arguably more than anything in the known universe, except bullies and samatoki, but he also doesn't want mabel to get in trouble or punished somehow, considering his time on his last little "field trip". if anything happens, he'll just take the blame, since... apparently... the laws of physics don't apply here.... ]

We just heard the noise and came over. [ which is very true we'll go with that.

hey disembodied voice what the fuck. ]

[dormheads]

[ Tanaka stays silent and does not help.

The police officer looks them over, and then looks at the bell. The person underneath does not move at all. When he speaks again, it's with a huff of annoyance. ]

In my thirty years on the job, I have never seen anything like this. And I believe I know the culprit... [ He points at them. ] The dog.

[foreversweaterweather]

What?! [ Mabel huddles closer to the aforementioned dog protectively. ] Our little Miku would never! We've been with them all day and we've just been playing fetch and walking through the park!

[steelo]

[ what the fuck ]

Dude, what? We were on the other side of the park.

[ i'm from hypmic and THIS is weird ]

[dormheads]

[ The police officer shakes his head. ]

I'm going to need for you to hand the dog over, or else you'll be getting in the way of an arrest.

[ Miku makes a whining sound. The officer ignores that. ]

Just comply with the law.

[foreversweaterweather]

What?! No, never! [ fully picking Miku up and shielding her in her arms now ] You'll have to pry Miku from my cold, dead hands if you want her!

[steelo]

[ please do not say that

ichiro puts himself in front of mabel and miku too, like a shield. yet again. ] Your law's shit, man. You got any solid reasoning for your theory at all? Cause otherwise, it's not happening.

[dormheads]

Because that thing's cursed.

[ He spits. They can only tell that he did because they can see it hit the ground next to them.

Miku growls at him, but he continues. ]

Can't you tell? So just hand it over.