As the light faded, Trixie became aware of Sam's voice. "And so ends another mind boggling mystery solved by the loping wits and capriciously applied violence of the Freelance Police! Who's up for a Sugar Grenade?"
Trixie was soon able to see her surroundings. She and Sam were standing beside the Desoto outside their apartment. At least, it looked like they were...except for all the sand everywhere. "Trixie is up for answers. What just happened?"
"That's what I want to know!" Max demanded. "I'm still a brain in a jar!"
The jar Max's brain was in was strapped to Sam's back. "Don't be silly Max," Sam commented nervously. "You've always been a brain in a jar."
"No I haven't!" Max complained. "I'm a short, sexy lagomorph with an enormous mouth and dead shark-like eyes!"
"Hold that thought little buddy," Sam interrupted. "We've got some idolizing to do."
"Say what?" Max demanded as Sam - along with many other people nearby - knelt before a massive statue of Max...or at least, as Trixie quickly put together, of Max's body.
"Sammunmak is handsome!" a robotic pharaoh statue reminiscent of a drive thru face proclaimed. "Sammunmak is cute!"
All the people kneeling stood up. "When we think of Sammunmak we give a big salute!" they proclaimed together, saluting.
Trixie blinked. "Did we somehow end up in some alternate reality? Or was Sammunmak serious when he talked about reality kneeling before him?"
"You know, that would actually explain this," Max allowed.
"Attention everyone!" Sammunmak's voice proclaimed from the speaker. "From this point forward, those little things at the end of your shoe laces, ag...lets? Yes! Aglets are hereby decreed to be the most horrible things in all the world!"
"It's a good thing I don't wear shoes," Sam commented.
After a time, Max and Trixie heard a voice from the heavens. "Max, beware!"
"Who said that?" Max asked.
"Who said what?" Sam inquired in confusion.
"That was a psychic voice, Daddy," Trixie pointed out.
"Oh yeah! Forgot that was possible!" Max said.
Oh, the pony can hear me too... the voice said. Well, at least she has hooves and telekinesis. Maybe that will help fix the world...
So The Great and Powerful Trixie and her Daddy are going to undo what Sammun-Mak did with the Toybox? Trixie asked telepathically, emphasizing her name petulantly.
Indeed, the voice replied. You must-
Do nothing until we know who we're talking to, Max countered.
...you may call me Dr. Norrington, the voice replied. Make contact with the rebels. They will give you the-
Wouldn't it be easier for Trixie to just make contact with the Toybox and wrest control of it from Sammun-Mak in a battle of psychic and magical will?
...that would be incredibly reckless, idiotic, and dangerous, and risk the very fabric of creation, Norrington pointed out.
Sounds like a plan! Max said eagerly.
...and make...puppies and kitties rain from the sky? Norrington suggested hesitantly.
Trixie loves kitties and puppies! Trixie proclaimed.
...and go splat on the pavement.
I love it when they do that! Max replied.
...between the two of you, there's no way for me to convince you not to try this, is there? Norrington asked.
Nope! Max and Trixie replied together.
Norrington was silent for a time. May the gods help us all, he said finally before his presence faded from their minds.
So...where do you think the Toybox is? Max asked silently.
Well, if Trixie had done something like this, she'd keep it as close as physically possible without risking a continuous reality rewrite based on stray thoughts, Trixie replied, so...probably in the throne room in the royal presence.
Nice thought, Max agreed. He then switched back to spoken communication. "Hey Sam? How do we get into Sammun-Mak's presence?"
"Only those who've earned the three Accessories of Privilege," Sam explained. "I know Grandpa Stinky has the Medallion of Tithing...but I'm not sure of anyone who has the others: the Pendant of Inquisition and the Ornament of Fealty."
Trixie thought for a time. "...Mommy?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes, Trixie?" Jane replied, though her voice was scratchy.
"Mommy?" Sam asked in confusion.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I don't exist in this altered world," Jane replied. "However, your magical aura prevented the alterations from erasing your goggles, so I can still communicate with you - and the local information networks - through them. Though just barely..."
Trixie thought quickly. "Can you get an image of the three Accesories we need to get into Sammun-Mak's presence?"
Jane was quiet for a time. "...I have one...it's a snapshot of someone who bears all three...but what will you do with it?"
Trixie raced over to the Desoto, where the C.O.P.S. were still there. "Can any of you print stuff?" she asked.
The scanner beeped quietly.
"...I see what you're doing..." Jane began.
After a time, the image printed.
"I've reached...the limit...of my influence... ... ..." Jane's voice trailed off into static.
"...thanks Mom." Focusing her magic, Trixie fired up her spell to detect extra dimensional energy. Finding a source, she closed her eyes tight and concentrated, trying to grab hold of the source. Trixie hopes this works... she thought silently.
With a pop, the rhinoplasty appeared in front of her as her magic sputtered. "That was...hard," she breathed, applying the rhinoplasty to the image of the three accesories.
"You okay there, Trixie?" Max asked. "It sounds like you're overdoing it again."
"Like that's anything new," Trixie mumbled as she dropped the rhinoplasty into the jar. "Now turn into the medals."
Max quickly used the rhinoplasty to do so. "Now what-"
"Now you be quiet," Trixie hissed, sticking the Max-medals to Sam's tie.
"Wow!" Sam proclaimed excitedly. "I didn't know I'd acquired the medals of honor! I can't wait to go meet with the great Sammun-Mak. We should head there immediately!"
Thank you for being so gullible, Uncle, Trixie thought silently as they hopped into the Desoto.
At the museum - which had been converted into a royal palace - Papierwaite stopped them as they tried to approach the throne. "Stop! Who dares trespass into the inner circle of Lord High Sammun-Mak?"
"I dare, Grand Vizier Pepperpot!" Sam proclaimed.
"And we've got the Accessories to prove it!" Trixie proclaimed.
The once museum curator frowned. "Those accessories allow only one to enter! The filly must remain here!"
"But I'm responsible for her!" Sam pointed out. "I can't leave her to wander around willy-nilly!"
'Pepperpot' grunted. "We shall consult his Holiness, then," he replied. He turned and led them towards the throne.
Sammun-Mak - in Max's body - sat upon a golden throne with the Toybox right next to him, close enough that he could touch it easily. "Who dares approach us during our entertainment?" he demanded.
"Forgive us, oh Holy One," 'Pepperpot' replied. "Sam here has obtained the three Accessories of Privelege and desires to bask in your presence, but is unwilling to leave the filly unattended."
Sammun-Mak turned to observe them for a time, then grinned. "A simple solution presents itself!" Using his telekinetic powers, he jerked Trixie into his lap. "The filly may remain! Sam must now seek out his own new Accessories to be in our presence. He will remove himself immediately until he does so."
"B-but..." Sam began.
"Uncle Sam!" Trixie whimpered, shuddering. She did not like Sammun-Mak petting her.
Something inside Sam snapped. With a growl, he lunged forward. "Get your hands off my niece you son of a bitch!" he snarled. His fist pulled back and lunged around faster than anyone could react, punching Sammun-Mak right off his throne.
Everyone present stared. "You dare strike our divine person?" Sammun-mak demanded angrily.
"I'll do more than that, you-" Sam began angrily.
As Sammun-mak seized Sam in his psychic powers to protect himself, Trixie seized her opportunity. She leapt onto the Toybox. Runic symbols flared the same blue of Trixie's magical aura across its sides, expanding outward.
"Get off my Toybox!" Sammun-mak demanded, tossing Sam aside. "Only I may touch it!"
"You're forgetting your royal plural!" Max called as he turned back into a brain.
"You aren't the first to tear Daddy's body apart for his own ends," Trixie growled as the energies of the Toybox flooded her frame, surrounding her with a pure white aura that flared off of her, shining from her eyes and Cutie Mark, also telling her, Sam, and Max the proper name for the mark on her rear somehow. "And I'm going to tell you the same thing I did him..."
The energies of the Toybox erupted, and the very fabric of reality tore asunder.
"Give me back my Daddy!" she screamed in a voice that was both hers and not hers at the same time. Reality vanished in a blazing white.
When the light faded, Max was back in his body, Sam was shaking his head in confusion, nearly everyone else was unconscious, and Trixie was slumped over the Toybox, barely breathing.
"Trixie!" Sam and Max said worriedly, rushing up to her.
"Is she going to be okay?" Max asked as Sam picked her up.
Sam carefully examined her. "She doesn't look injured..." he said quietly. "But she's cold..."
"Magical exhaustion," Jane said from Trixie's VR goggles. "She pushed herself several standard deviations beyond her limits...again..."
"She'll be okay?" Max asked again.
"She just needs rest," Jane said. "That's all."
"And a safe place to rest in," Max pointed out. Seeing several dozen Sams wearing only boxers marching towards them from inside the museum, he exclaimed, "Which isn't here!"
Thinking quickly, Sam slipped Trixie into a pocket of his coat, placing her into his inventory. "Safe enough?"
"Sure! Let's get out of here!" Max proclaimed as they both made a run for it.
Not bad
A very enjoyable chapter. Well done.
what is this a crossover of?
Ah, The Inventory. The safest place (for anything not money) known to gamers.
6052812
Sam and Max: Freelance police
6052812 Sam and Max: freelance police. More specifically the telltale games.
6052859 6052871 Alright thanks
Great update and nice of Trixie to save the day again. I cannot wait to see how the heroes deal with the final two chapters of this season. So please do keep up the good work.
Yay for Trixie!
I just realized what I said.
Oh well!
Trixie woke up inside the inventory then teleported out, finding Sam and Max near the Desoto "So... uh... what did I miss? I feel like I sleep over a whole case!"
"The Samulacra case!" Max said While Sam opened his mouth then closed it, as if he had wanted to say something then decided to give up.
"Oh, so Uncle Sam was cloned? Why him and not me?" Trixie was so used to Max antics that he got that was a word his daddy would use for an horde of Sam's clones.
"Oh, they made a clone of you, but they were unable to control it, and we won her over by making her your official double and giving her free dental care." Sam said, then another Trixie appeared behind him.
"The great and powerful Tooie is honored to meet her original."
"Tooie?" Trixie asked confused
"It means two." Janet said using Trixie's goggles
"So, why aren't you trying to kill the original Trixie like that fish did?"
"Well, because that would upset daddy, besides I got a few of Sam's clones as servants, and Max promised to visit between cases. Also I have seen what happens to evil doubles, so I decided it works better to not do that."
I have to say, as usual, excellent job on this latest chapter. The exchanges, humor, action, emotional content and future adventure set-up are ALL quite well done. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how you handle "Beyond the Alley of the Dolls" and "The City That Dares Not Sleep" (as well as, potentially, at least a few chapters of future material following the season three wrap-up but before Trixie returns to Equestria with Sam and Max [though I'll freely admit the latter is just a guess). :-D
It seems Sammunmak recognizes the true purpose of the aglet...
Also, this chapter made me think of that episode of Jackie Chan Adventures where the dragons ruled the earth.
Yep, Trixie is now our official pocket pony. None shall have her.
Well, that was intense. You know what else is intense?
But, only the part of the clip that it starts at.
Not that the rest isn't, but it doesn't make sense with the quote from the chapter...
Equestria won't know what him 'em when this girl comes back. Though I hope she'll continue work as Freelance Police. Given how much crazy goes down on a weekly basis with only the Mane Six to fix things (when they don't start it by accident, as well), and given how useless regular police are (the Royal Guard makes the ADPolice look competent!), Equestria could use somepony with a keen intellect, puzzle-solving skills, and a big gun. (Also a ton of cool magic powers.)
A little shame the movie-reel chapter was skipped, though. Besides losing the next villain's foreshadowing, it meant that Trixie never got the most incredible power in the whole Toybox: Psychic Ventriloquism.
Later, in Equestria, at the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle:
Princess Celestia: Say something, Princess.
Twilight Sparkle: Oh. Um... [clears throat, addresses the crowd] A little while ago, my teacher and mentor Princess Celestia sent me to live in Ponyville. She sent me to study friendship, which is something I didn't really care much about. But now, on a day like today, I can honestly say I have a huge, stupid butt. What? I didn't say that! I can't wait to spend all your tax money on hayburgers. No no no, that's not right! I make out with a picture of Celestia every night! Noooo!
[Trixie sniggers from the audience]
6054395
She can still copy it later, right?
6053149 As good as that would be, i think the machine could only clone one person en mass with switching out the sample for another set of clones
6057176
WRONG, they later used it to clone a body for Bosco's mother. So yes, the machine can create a single clone, in fact it seems to have better results the less clones you make with the same genetic sample, hence why the Samulacra was so stupid. Plus it makes sense they first tried to make a single clone to see if it worked, that one turned to be Trixie, who was too smart, so they later mass produced stupid clones, maybe using clone Trixie to boss them around.
6057205 They had to switch out the samples...
6057213
So? I said they made a clone of Trixie, but they could not control it so they later made the Samulacra, anything wrong with that?
6057334 oh yeah... nevermind, i lose the argument
6057205
Actually, I think the reason the Samulacra were so stupid is because they couldn't clone Sam's lifetime of experience, or his soul. That's why, when they cloned Mama Bosco, her ghost form vanished since she became one with the cloned body.
6057441
They still had some memories and could talk, something they would be unable to do if they were truly brainless, so I think the problem was that they were mass produced. Also...
Had Sam got a clean DNA sample of Max, they could have cloned him, so yeah, the Samulacra were just mass produced generics. Or they could have used Frankie's/Lincoln brain in the Trixie's clone hence why she is smart.
6057477
I never said they were brainless. I said they didn't have Sam's brain. They were basically puppies in adult bodies.
Also, they thought it would work, but there was no guarantee it would. Besides, it was the pure scientists saying it would work, during the game that was heaviest into the mystical. Even if they were able to clone Max, there's no guarantee it would have acted like him. And even if it did, Max was dead at that point, so logic says his ghost - and thus, his mind and soul - would have been available to possess the clone if they'd succeeded.
6057493
Hence Why I had the idea that Trixie's clone actually has another brain... they basically made a Trixie's clone, then put another brain on it. My idea is that it might be Frankie/Lincoln Brain, maybe one of the agents, or maybe a moleman/molewoman. The original plan was to replace Trixie's with the clone and and use the clone to get the toolbox, but it did not work cause the real Trixie was inside the real Sam inventory. But Max liked the clone and they convinced it to join their side, something easy as the clone was not happy with her employers. And they did switch Old Stinky's brain with that of a space ape in the game so they do have the tech. And even if they did it in a more crude way, fur makes it easier to cover stitches.
6057572
Your points are all valid, and I accept them as possibilities. Ones I won't be using, but possibilities.
6052818
Depending on the game... In the first Sam & Max game, Sam & Max Hit the Road (before the Telltale games), there is one point where you are required to lose your entire inventory in order to proceed. You can immediately get it back via the Lost & Found, which you have to do, but you don't even know it's all gone until you look.
Considering that she was basically rewriting all of known and various parts of unknown reality there, I'm surprised that her bio-dad didn't come back from the dead. Awkward? Sure. But seeing as we are two games away from Max dying and a Replacement Goldfish Max from another timeline with no emotional connection to Trixie taking his place, I'm pretty sure all bets are off at this point.
6071972 You mean the game by LucasArts? The same folks who made the great "Grim Fandango?"