Setting the stage for TRIPPIN' BALLS, part the first
The assignment was a hard one, there was no mistaking that. "Find a demon"... it was a lot to ask of anyone. It hadn't taken Lucas long to think of something, at least. His first thought had been to find a chimera. Anyone who saw the Ultimate Chimera's gaping maw would agree that it was about as demonic as you could get. But transporting something like that safely was more than Lucas could wrap his head around.
The second idea that came to him seemed much safer. So he'd sent a letter to Nowhere Island, and a few short days later, a package had arrived in reply. It lay open on his bed, with Lucas frowning down at the contents: a pile of strange, purple-capped mushrooms. Rope Snake lay coiled nearby, flicking his tongue at them curiously.
"This is way too many," he sighed. "I only needed one."
"No big deal. Can't you just eat the rest?" Rope Snake hissed. "A jaw like mine could take care of those easily."
"N-no, Rope Snake! You definitely don't want to eat those. They'll make you see bad things." Lucas shook his head. Carefully, he pulled one free of the pile, wrapping it up in a neat little bundle. "I only need one to hand in to Mr. Morty. The rest... I'll need to get rid of them. It'll be big trouble if someone eats them by accident. Come on," he held out an arm, which Rope Snake wrapped himself around. Taking the package in hand, Lucas left the dorm, looking for a safe place to dispose of the dangerous mushrooms.
"I hope it wasn't a mistake writing home for these. The Ocho that sent them... he talked about missing Mixolydia. He must have been the Ocho from the Dragon's Tazmily," Lucas mumbled. "That means my letter went to the reset Tazmily, not the one where Claus is alive. Do you think it's because I never met Ocho in that version, or... does it mean I can't go back to the Tazmily I used to know?"
Rope Snake could only offer a snakelike shrug. That is, the closest thing to a shrug that a snake could make.
"...This time travel stuff is really confusing. Maybe there just aren't any Energizing Mushrooms in the Tazmily I grew up in, so that's why my letter went to the other one. I kind of hope so... I imagined some pretty scary things when we ate them." Lucas came to a halt in front of a trash can, and looked around uneasily. He wasn't sure this was really the safest place he could think of, but... surely normal people didn't dig through trash cans, right? He'd only done that when he'd been hallucinating, thanks to the very same mushrooms he was disposing of. Lucas tipped the lid back and dropped the package of Energizing Mushrooms into the can. With his duty done, Lucas walked off, still chatting away to Rope Snake.
"The Tazmily I knew, the Tazmily I made, and here... maybe I'm just imagining one of them, too."
The second idea that came to him seemed much safer. So he'd sent a letter to Nowhere Island, and a few short days later, a package had arrived in reply. It lay open on his bed, with Lucas frowning down at the contents: a pile of strange, purple-capped mushrooms. Rope Snake lay coiled nearby, flicking his tongue at them curiously.
"This is way too many," he sighed. "I only needed one."
"No big deal. Can't you just eat the rest?" Rope Snake hissed. "A jaw like mine could take care of those easily."
"N-no, Rope Snake! You definitely don't want to eat those. They'll make you see bad things." Lucas shook his head. Carefully, he pulled one free of the pile, wrapping it up in a neat little bundle. "I only need one to hand in to Mr. Morty. The rest... I'll need to get rid of them. It'll be big trouble if someone eats them by accident. Come on," he held out an arm, which Rope Snake wrapped himself around. Taking the package in hand, Lucas left the dorm, looking for a safe place to dispose of the dangerous mushrooms.
"I hope it wasn't a mistake writing home for these. The Ocho that sent them... he talked about missing Mixolydia. He must have been the Ocho from the Dragon's Tazmily," Lucas mumbled. "That means my letter went to the reset Tazmily, not the one where Claus is alive. Do you think it's because I never met Ocho in that version, or... does it mean I can't go back to the Tazmily I used to know?"
Rope Snake could only offer a snakelike shrug. That is, the closest thing to a shrug that a snake could make.
"...This time travel stuff is really confusing. Maybe there just aren't any Energizing Mushrooms in the Tazmily I grew up in, so that's why my letter went to the other one. I kind of hope so... I imagined some pretty scary things when we ate them." Lucas came to a halt in front of a trash can, and looked around uneasily. He wasn't sure this was really the safest place he could think of, but... surely normal people didn't dig through trash cans, right? He'd only done that when he'd been hallucinating, thanks to the very same mushrooms he was disposing of. Lucas tipped the lid back and dropped the package of Energizing Mushrooms into the can. With his duty done, Lucas walked off, still chatting away to Rope Snake.
"The Tazmily I knew, the Tazmily I made, and here... maybe I'm just imagining one of them, too."