05 - Spirit of the Season

[imjustpicky]

[Action A - Before December 23rd - Around Town]

[So what if he had been vanished? So what if he was supposed to be gone? He wasn't. He was still here, and Christmas was still coming, and he had still been saving the (rather generous) allowance that Key-Fu had been giving him. He'd get everyone presents, just as planned

Comments

B

[labarbebleue]

[From the roof of a nearby building, what appears to be an amorphous creature whose entire body was made out of tentacles, eyes, and fangs leaped down in front of Picky. It gave a piercing screech as it started dragging its body towards the boy, baring its shark-like maw. What would attack Picky wasn't any of Mayfield's townspeople, but a monster that a fellow replacement had summoned.]

[imjustpicky]

[Picky had been expecting snipers, and crazy people with knives, and assassins, and ninjas, and generally people coming to kill him. He hadn't expected squishy sea-things. He didn't even know that Mayfield HAD squishy sea-things. There are several long moments while he stares with a petrified sort of incomprehension.

Then he clues in that it's coming at him.]

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

[He turns and runs in the opposite direction, spattering slush with every panicked step.]

[labarbebleue]

[The creature gains speed as it continues dragging itself towards Picky. He would find that more creatures are starting to crawl towards him from corners. Caster has allowed some of his forces to roam free and feed as they like if to add a little more terror and spontaneity in his rampage. As Picky runs towards the direction of the next tree, another tentacled beast drops down and lunges at him.]

[imjustpicky]

[It's getting hard to run so much. Picky's starting to lose speed, but he knows that he can't stop. There isn't just one of these things behind him, there's bunches and they're all over... he can recognize that much, even as focused as he is on running.]

H...help...!

[His cry for help escalates into another shout, and he narrowly avoids getting gobbled up by merit of slipping and falling on the snowy ground. He scrabbles to get away and back to his feet, still clutching that package close.]

B - After Caster and Pokey

[monk_of_keyfu]

[Key-Fu appears to be searching for Picky; on the way to Brooks Lane, Picky will be able to spot him on top of someone's fence, scanning the street for any sign of his not-so-nonexistent housemate!]

[imjustpicky]

[Key-Fu has likely never seen Picky quite this out of breath and upset. And that's saying something, seeing that Picky is often prone to screaming and shouting and making a big fuss.

Picky slows to a stop in front of that fence, and is doubled over, trying to catch his breath. But his head is turned upwards, to look at him.]

K... Key-Fu.

Y... you've gotta go home. We've... you... there's... there's monsters...

[monk_of_keyfu]

[Like a hawk, Key-Fu's head snaps over to Picky's direction.]

I am most fortunate that my search for the shoddy simulacrum has concluded so close to home!

[Monsters, "Picky" says? Oh yeah. Key-Fu's seen them.]

Indeed, truly a flood of unpleasantness flows over the field of flour!

[Key-Fu leaps off of the fence, then points heroically in the direction of their house.]

Come! Let us return to the safety of the sanctuary!

[imjustpicky]

[Picky would like to protest that he's not shoddy, but... breath. Tired. Oh man. He staggers over towards where Key-Fu landed, shaking his head. Then nodding. Then shaking his head some more.]

Yeah. Home. I wanna go home.

[Just another reason to appreciate Key-Fu. He's a good guy, and good guys would never kill a fake kid, ever.]

A

[imoutosnake]

[ Even though there were supposedly fakes around.. Nadeko didn't want to sit inside all day, especially not when someone in her household was one of them as well. So she just hoped as much as she could that she wouldn't run into one of them, they sounded pretty scary after all, even scarier than normal strangers, so..

But when she gets around to the shops, she spots Picky. And that's why she freezes up, immediately trying to hide behind a rack of clothes, although she's hiding in a way that actually makes her presence even more obvious (plus it's not really hiding, considering she's easily visible). ]

A

[imjustpicky]

[Picky was having a tough time figuring out what he should get Key-Fu. He didn't seem like the tie-wearing sort. Maybe a hat? He was looking at a shelf full of hats, trying to decide if any of them were sufficiently heroic for the guy....

Wait, was someone looking at him? He stopped, looked all around him... and caught a glimpse of a familiar-looking head behind a rack.]

...Nadeko?

[imoutosnake]

[ At being spotted she makes a high shrieking sound, before attempting to hide more - after a moment or two she realises that won't work though. So instead she moves to the side, peeking her head out from beside the clothes. ]

... H.. hi.. [ There's something about her that seems more scared than usual, even if the nervousness is normal. ]

[imjustpicky]

[Well... this was weird. Was there something scary behind him? He looked around... no. No, nothing scary. And he certainly wasn't scary. So he trotted over to where Nadeko.]

Are you okay, Nadeko? Is something wrong?