//------------------------------// // This is the Mash // Story: Mother X: Father // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// As the group carefully stepped over the remains of the marionette monsters that Jeff had accidentally destroyed, Ness turned to their new companion. "So, that tent you mentioned?" he asked hopefully. "Lead the way." "Follow me," Jeff agreed, Gaia Beam primed and following the street to the south of town, where a few mobile cages like those used by moving circuses to hold wild animals were just visible through the ever-present gloom. As they moved nearer, something within one of the cages snarled and lunged at the bars, the stench of rot escaping. The group swiftly backed away as a large purple tent became visible. "There it is," Jeff pointed out calmly. "How are you...not scared of any of this?" Moondancer asked curiously. "Because I find it absolutely fascinating!" Jeff responded eagerly as they moved around the tent. "The actual living dead walking...just the idea of a force that could cause this is in violation of most of the known scientific principles of this world...much like this Gaia Beam, since it doesn't have spatial compression tech and yet is able to generate so much energy so many times without straining its structure or overheating. I'm honestly curious about what is making these things go, how its preventing the undead from breaking down, how it's moving the inanimate objects..." "This is just a wild guess," Paula spoke up, "but the undead seem to be the result of whatever infected us, and everything else is probably ghosts." "And what allows the ghosts to maintain cohesion without physical matter?" Jeff inquired excitedly. "What are their limitations? How is it possible to damage a ghost physically? What does a ghost consume to restore its energy reserves-" "By Giygas, do you ever shut up?" the tent demanded angrily, eyes wincing as a large mouth snarled. "And how is a tent capable of speech and self-motion?" Jeff continued excitedly. "How can it have a headache without a head? Where does the pain focus? And how does it eat if it's possible for creatures to go in and out of it without trouble?" "...and that's a no..." the tent grumbled irritably. "Goooargggh!" Energy gathered around the face as it prepared to attack. Moondancer and Paula immediately unleashed PSI Fire, on the assumption that something made of fabric would be vulnerable to fire. Ness struck out with his flame enhanced PSI Bat. Jeff braced himself in a Parry, ready to counterattack. The tent, seeing Jeff not attacking, unleashed a barrage of blows in his direction...only to be reduced to ash as Jeff parried and countered each blow. "...and how am I going to get any of those answers now?" Jeff asked sadly as he stared at the ashes left behind as the zombies that had been within the tent fled, leaving only a single trash can. "Pretty sure most of the answers boil down to 'madness enhanced PSI'," Moondancer pointed out. "Well that's hardly scientific!" Jeff complained as Ness fished around in the can. "What did you find?" Paula asked curiously. "A jar of Fly Honey," Ness responded readily. "Not sure what we should do with it." "Other than hold onto it, I'm not sure either," Buzz Buzz allowed. "It's definitely important if it were secured like this." Jeff sighed. "I guess it looks like..." He reached up to straighten his glasses. "...we've reached a dead end-" "YEEEAAAAHHHH!" Ness let out a scream as he jumped before pulling out the Receiver Phone. "I am never going to get used to that." He flipped the phone open. "Hello?" "Hey Ness, it's Apple Kid!" "Hey Apple Kid!" Ness responded happily. "Any chance you recently invented something to deal with a zombie apocalypse?" Apple Kid chuckled softly. "Well, I dunno about 'apocalypse', but the Zombie Paper I just invented should trap zombies pretty well. Find a big open structure like a circus tent, lay the Zombie Paper down on the floor, and every zombie within a city-sized radius should be drawn into the structure to become stuck on the Paper...which won't actually affect anything but zombies!" "That sounds like exactly what we need!" Ness confirmed happily. "But what do you mean 'should'?" "Well, since there aren't any zombies in Twoson, I haven't been able to test it," Apple Kid explained. "So can you come pick it up?" "I'm afraid not," Ness explained. "We're stuck in Threed due to zombies, possessed human-sized dolls, pumpkin headed monstrosities, and ghosts." "Then delivery by Escargot Express isn't an option..." Apple Kid muttered worriedly. "Maybe the Mach Pizza delivery guy from the Threed outlet?" Paula suggested. "Didn't the drugstore people say none of the monsters bothered him?" "That's an idea," Ness agreed. "Apple Kid, can you order Mach Pizza from Threed for delivery? That delivery guy should be able to get in and out...maybe." "I'll give it a shot," Apple Kid allowed. "I'll tell him to find you at the Threed bus stop, so wait there for him, okay?" "Got it!" Ness agreed. "Hopefully we'll get the Zombie Paper soon. Don't suppose you have anything for treating zombie infection?" "Sorry, my degrees are in engineering, not biology," Apple Kid apologized. "I'll look into it, though." With that, he hung up. Ness sighed as he put the phone away. "Well, time to go wait at the bus stop...and hope for the best..." Passage of Time Infection Worsens Ness - Infection 1 Paula - Infection 1 Ness, Paula, and Jeff sat on the bench next to the bus stop, knowing no bus would come. Moondancer lay on the grass nearby. Buzz Buzz settled on the Bus Stop sign since he'd noticed his constant buzzing disturbed Ness and Paula, who looked the worse for wear and seemed to be getting a little sluggish. Jeff shared a couple picnic lunches he'd picked up while training with his father south of Stonehenge, hoping good food and sweets would help them feel better. While they were cheered by the offer and the food, it did not seem to affect their lethargy. A man in a red and white striped shirt suddenly rushed up. He had a top hat on his head, white pants, black shoes, a bear mask under one arm, a flashlight on strobe in the other hand, and a bag slung over one shoulder. "Are you Ness?" he asked curiously. "Y-yeah, that's me," Ness confirmed. "Apple Kid asked me to bring this to you, since normal delivery services can't get through the Twoson-Threed tunnel," the man explained easily as he switched off his flashlight. "That'll be $476 for two deliveries." Nodding, Ness groggily pulled the money out of his wallet and handed it over. "Pleasure doing business," the delivery man said as he handed over the package. Ness took the package...and stared at it oddly. He started groggily struggling to get it open as the delivery man raced away. Jeff quickly pulled the package out of Ness' grip. "M...maybe I'd better take care of this," he spoke up. "Moondancer, why don't you take Ness and Paula to the Hotel...and tie them to the bed until the Paper's done its thing?" Moondancer's eyes widened. "It's effecting them, too?" "It...smells interesting..." Paula began curiously, leaning towards Jeff. "Right!" Moondancer declared firmly. "Bed for you two! Join us in the hotel once you've placed the Paper, Jeff. A night's sleep should help their minds, if not the infection...and should give time for the Zombie Paper to draw in all the zombies." "See you soon," Jeff agreed, moving carefully to a large circus tent in the center of town. Night's Rest Infection Worsens Ness - Infection 2 Paula - Infection 2