WEEK 5 CYOA: ICHIRO, ICHINOSE, MABEL, MANDRICARDO

[dormheads]

Comments

[dormheads]

[ It's a bar! There's the sound of chatter, and people drinking. Again, they can't actually see anyone besides the woman who's walking over to where the invisible bartender is. It's all normal.

Except for a very large cage in the back of the room. ]

[duranduel]

[Wow, a bar full of people! Mandricardo would prefer being run over with a car.]

[Nervous, he looks over the seemingly empty room, uncomfortable just based on the sounds he hears of people around him. And then....]

[He gestures, alarmed.]

What...what is that?

[txt]

[... Well.

Is there an abandoned glass or bottle she can nab off one of the tables? Because she will absolutely grab one first.]

I'm going to go check it out.

[A bitch is curious.

What's up with the cage is she carefully moves a little closer to it?]

[dormheads]

[ She may grab one.

But as she goes to check it out, she'll notice that it looks more like the type of cage where fights happen in. There's even old blood on the ground, and if she looks carefully, some random teeth that were knocked out. If they listen carefully, they can hear people talking about placing bets on the next match. ]

[duranduel]

[He's just going to approach from carefully behind her, peering over her shoulder.]

That looks...nasty.

[txt]

[Oh... Yikes?

She nods, frowning, and lowers her voice as to only be heard by Mandricardo.]

Mmhm... Let's avoid a fight if we can.

[She will not put it past this world to try and make them fight in a cage match. Anyway, is the lady that let them inside still here? Ichinose will look for her if she is, using the sound of the invisible crowd to try and navigate her way over.]

[dormheads]

[ She's there! She's drinking vodka. When she sees Ichinose approach, she looks over at her... she is obviously looking to see where Hector is. ]

Yes?

[duranduel]

If they make us fight to keep this bat, I'm leaving.

[He says to Ichinose before following her back.]

[He'll even protectively hold the cage. Here's another dried mango slice, Hector. Good girl.]

[txt]

[Point blank:]

Hey, why do you keep looking at her?

[dormheads]

[ Hector eats the mango. Yum.

The lady coughs as she chokes on her drink. ]

I'm not looking at her. [ She was. ] I just think... wouldn't it be better if you just got rid of it?

[duranduel]

Rid of it?

[Looking down at sweet, sweet, baby Hector. Look at those big eyes!]

Why should we?

[txt]

You're totally looking at her.

[But she will be polite enough to grab a napkin and slide it over to her. This is a bar, let there be napkins.]

Unusually interested in other people's business, huh? Why?

[dormheads]

[ She takes the napkin to wipe at her mouth. ]

Have people been bothering you? It's because you have the bat. I'll happily get rid of it for you.

[ She looks over at the cage. ]

[duranduel]

[Mandricardo frowns at that.]

But you haven't said why. Does she have disease? Is she like, a bad omen? What's bad about this particular bat?

[txt]

Pass. She's ours to keep or dispose of however we want. [THEIR BAT, THEIR CHOICE...] Who are you, anyway?

[dormheads]

She's cursed, isn't she? It's easier to just cut the disease at the source.

[ Suddenly, loud cheering erupts in the bar, coming from where the cage is. The door to it is opened now. ]

I think that's for you.

[duranduel]

C...Cursed?

[HELLO??? It's a cute bat???? ARE YOU BLIND??]

[And this is exactly what he feared. Mandricardo turns, and shakes his head at Ichinose.]

Hell no.

[He's going to try to leave, thank you! NO CAGE FIGHTS FOR HIM.]

[txt]

... Seriously...

[No, thanks! She's just going to try to leave as well, flanking their cute little baby bat in case anyone gets grabby. She is armed with a glass bottle and she is not afraid to bash someone in the face with it.]

Is the exit locked?

[Said in the tone of someone who does not expect a smooth getaway. Whew!]

[dormheads]

[ Wow. The exit's locked.

Hector makes another agitated sound.

The woman just watches them move around, but doesn't do anything to stop them. The crowd near the cage seem to only get more excited as the seconds pass by. And then their favorite disembodied voice returns. ]

I told you to go to your apartment. You have to do a cage match now. You could have been watching N*tflix.

[duranduel]

Oh, FUCK YOU, Tanaka!

[And yeah. Of course it would be. Of course it would. Mandricardo grits his teeth. Is there no way out? Of course they'd be forced into this...]

[Shit. Shit. Shit.]

[He turns to Ichinose, handing her Hector.]

Keep her safe. T-Try to find a way out of here, okay? I'll distract them.

[And then he's running to the cage.]

[Better him, and not her.]

[txt]

Tanaka-san, you know as well as I do that something else would have happened on our way home.

[But, also??? She has a cage and a baby in her hands now??? She stares at it like, uh. Oh, no.]

A-Ah, stop, stop! What are you going to do?!

[She cannot stop him with her hands full of baby, alas. But she still has two eyes? Unfortunately. And she's going to use them to look around for any other possible exits. Is the door they came in through the only one, or are there others?]

[dormheads]

[ There is another door on the complete other end of the bar, but whether or not it's openable remains to be seen without an investigation.

As soon as Mandi gets into the cage, it shuts closed behind him. And once that happens, another person blinks into existence in it. Like the other people who were actually visible, they can't seem to look at the actual face, but they can tell it's a man.

Tanaka speaks. ]

Well! Have fun. Don't die, Hector needs her parents.

[duranduel]

[Well! This is happening! Mandricardo has not quite reached the stage of "I hate everything I literally just did" yet, and is currently just operating on the stage "I'm very angry at everything and I'm tired and I'm a bat dad now, bitch".]

Hm. [And he's putting up his dukes, shaking his head as he warily shifts back into a fighting position.] Maybe I'll die just to spite ya...but not today, bastard.

[txt]

[Well.

Mandricardo is still extra crispy. Ichinose is not going to wait for him to start getting punchy before she makes her way over to that other door. Is it openable?]

[dormheads]

[ Ichinose can open it... sort of. It seems like there's something heavy on the other side of it that's blocking the way, so she can only open it a few inches.

The man copies the stance, staring(?) at Mandi. And then a bell rings from somewhere, and he immediately lunges forward to try to punch him in the face.

Hector has calmed down somewhat now. ]