//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 : Mission Slightly Impossible 
// Story: Shout At The Devil: Road Trip 
// by Bucket of Skies 
//------------------------------//

On our way to Canterlot, we managed to stop for some small sightseeing in Mareland. To be completely honest, there wasn’t a lot to see other than a few things here and there involving the Great Falls that were a staple there.
A flowing waterway is a staple? Sweet Lucy, that says just about everything about Mareland. Boring as shit.
That was until we reached the town of Ox Hill.
Oh fuck yes! This is my favorite part of this story!
Can you relax and let me tell the story?
Yeah sorry, I’m just fangirling over an incident that happens. Whoops, I mean spoiler alert!
Just shut up and let me tell the story.
Right.
When we had made it to Ox Hill, we passed in front of various shops to gaze out at the display window to see what interesting stuff they had. Yeah, that’s how uninteresting Mareland is that we were finding more entertainment from a display window from a random store.
But I digress, we were stopped at a red light. So far I had the best interesting item being a solid gold fishing pole with the name “Old Reliable” etched on the side of it. The closest thing to that was found by Sunset, with hers being a statue of some guy that rumored to be a homeless person due to him wearing a bucket on his head. And then Brim was in last place with a sign that had a fish smoking a cigarette, which he claimed to be the best thing he found on this trip.
It’s an artistic masterpiece. You’d be too stupid to understand the deep meaning behind a fish smoking a cigarette.
Anyways, I was in the lead, and was looking like a victory for me, but Brim simply wouldn’t give up on finding a new item. So much so that he began to look at random things on the sidewalk at the red light we were at to try and beat me.
“Forget it Brim. Just accept that I won this game with good ‘Old Reliable’”, I told him.
“Never. We still haven’t stopped somewhere. I still have time.”, Brim said defiantly.
“You really don’t know when to quit do you?”, Sunset said cocking an eyebrow at Brim.
“No I don’t. How do you think I got so addicted to cigarettes. Now shut up and let me focu-Aha! I got it!”, Brim exclaimed pointing out the window.
“Okay, what garbage did you find this time?”, I said looking to where he was pointing.
“There. In that pawn shop window. There is a bass guitar that looks like a close replica to Giddy Lee’s bass.”, He said pointing out the bass.
“Who?”, I asked not knowing who that was.
“Giddy Lee? The bass player for the band Crush? The best bassist in the world? You mean to tell me you never heard of him?”, Brim asked me.
I shook my head no.
“Sunset? You have to have heard of him right? You are the closest to a musical talent in this car right now.”, Brim asked her.
“Can’t say that I have Brim.”, she answered.
“You kids have no clue what good music is anymore. I may not have been alive when this band hit the scene, but they were the best prog band in the late 70s and 80s. So many great songs released during that period. But anyways, I consider myself the winner because that is a very good replica of his bass. Like all those details on it make it look like it was actually Giddy’s”, Brim said pointing out the sweat marks and the sticker on the front.
“Whatever Brim. You call that your win.”, I said just letting him have the victory out of pity.
“Oh no.”, Sunset said.
“What is it Sunset?”, I asked her.
“We’re low on gas. I thought we would’ve lasted a little longer.”, she explained.
“We’re just now running out of gas? Good grief, the Speedwagon must have some long ass gas mileage.”, I said pointing out how far we had been traveling without stopping once for gas.
“It doesn’t. This car has terrible mileage, but I put a spell on it to make it last a little bit longer than it usually does. And by a little, I mean a lot.”, Brim explained.
“Well thankfully there’s a gas station up the road that we can stop at. Also a time for me to go to the bathroom. Do you mind pumping the gas while I go do that Rocky?”, Sunset asked me.
“Sure, no problem.”, I answered.
We pulled up to a gas station near an overpass that seemed to look clean. There were plenty of those types of gas stations that you would want to steer away from due to the fear of being mugged while pumping up gas. This one looked the part of a decent gas station, but for me I’ve always been careful to not be fooled by what meets the eye.
And look where that got you; to be best friends with a demon who used to work in Hell.
We pulled over to the first pump to the right and all got out of the car.
“I’ll be just a minute. You know how to pump right?”, Sunset asked.
“Yeah, I think so. If not Brim can help out.”, I answered.
“Great. I’ll be right back.”, She said before walking into the gas station.
Although I didn’t have a lot of experience with pumping cars with gas, I managed to figure it pretty well. I felt a bit ridiculous pumping gas into a car that most likely would have died in the early 90s, but I managed to do it well. Might even say I could have a good job at doing something like this.
“Have you ever wondered if the grapefruit technique was discovered by accident? Like one day they were messing around with a grapefruit and began using it for that.”, Brim asked me puffing a cigarette.
“What are you even talking about?”, I asked him.
“I don’t even know. Just a thought that popped up in my head.” Brim explained.
As we were talking, a black bus pulled up to the side of the gas station. It looked really hefty for a bus. Almost to the point it looked like a train that flew off the tracks. It was massive.
“Huh, must be a king in that bus.”, Brim observed.
“What makes you say that?”, I asked him.
“It hasn’t got shit all over it? How do you not tell from how big the bus is that it is someone important?”, Brim answered putting the cigarette back in his mouth.
The door on the side of the bus opened up with a squeak. Then came out a group of people followed by one slightly taller and older individual with long black hair and a pair of brown shades. He also had some weird beair around the area between his lip and chin.
I didn’t think much of him when he came out. However, Brim saw this individual and his eyes widened.
“Holy shit it’s him! It’s actually him!!!”, he shouted out while spitting out his cigarette.
“Whoa calm down Brim! Who is ‘him’?”, I asked him.
“That’s Giddy fucking Lee! Right there in the flesh.”, He said pointing at him.
“That bassist you were talking about earlier?”, I asked him.
“Not ‘that bassist’, the bassist. The best bassist in the world. What’s he doing here in Mareland? You have to go talk to him.”, Brim demanded.
“What. Why me?”, I asked.
“Because he can’t see me stupid. I have to meet him.”, Brim said desperately.
“Well that still doesn’t argue that I should be the one to meet him. I haven’t even heard of him. Plus he is a bassist, how good can he-OW!”, I exclaimed from Brim smacking me across the face.
“Don’t you dare question how good Giddy Lee is. Now go over there and meet him!”, he said with a disgusted face.
“No, not after that shit!”, I said arguing with him.
“Rocky, don’t make me force you into it.”, Brim demanded.
“What are you going to do?”, I asked him.
“I’m warning you, don’t make me use it on you.”, Brim warned me.
“Use what on me?”, I asked again.
“That’s it! I’m using it.”, Brim said fed up.
“Wait Brim, what are you-”, I said before Brim shrunk down and inserted himself inside of my mouth. 
I closed my eyes for a second before my eyes shot open. This was weird because I didn’t do that. It was almost like I didn’t do it. On top of that, I felt like I couldn’t move. With all the urge I could, I couldn’t move at all.
“What the hell?”, I asked, before realizing that my mouth didn’t open when I said that.
What the actual hell did he do to me.
“Ugh, how can you live being this short?”, I heard Brim’s disembodied voice say while my lips moved.
“Brim, what did you do to me?”, I asked him literally confused about what was going on.
“Don’t be naive Rocky, you’re being possessed. Now, lets see if I can use your short legs and meet Giddy.”, Brim said suddenly moving my legs to move forward.
If I could describe this feeling of being possessed, I would simply say it is the scariest feeling in the world to not be able to try and fight it. Think of it like a rape, but minus the sex stuff.
That's…...actually not a bad way to describe what being possessed is like. Good analogy Rocky.
As my shell of a body began to move closer to Giddy, I began to try and fight out of this possession.
“It’s no use fighting it Rocky. Just chill out for a minute while I meet my hero.”, Brim said.
Finally he had made it next to Giddy. He was talking to someone before he must’ve sensed that he and I were near. He turned around and I was able to gaze at his height. However, I was still trying my best to fight out of this possession.
“Giddy Lee. Hi, I am a massive fan. I never would have thought that Giddy Lee  would be here in Mareland. Can I please get an autograph or a picture?”, Brim asked  frantically, still using my body.
“Why of course you can.”, Giddy answered with a slightly higher pitched voice.
“Oh my god I am having a conversation with Giddy Lee.”, Brim excitedly said.
“You’re a bit young for a fan of mine. You sure you aren’t getting me confused for some other guy?”, Giddy asked.
“NO! I mean, no, I am a huge fan. I grew up listening to your music. The way you play your bass is magical.”, Brim said frantically.
“Oh. Well sadly the good old ‘72 bass is missing. So sadly I am not so magical.”, he said shrugging.
“The black one? The one with all those sweat marks and that sticker on the front?”, Brim asked.
At this point, I started to find something to try and break out. It was with my leg, I was able to jig it like a tapping motion. Brim must’ve taken notice with it, as he stomped on my foot to stop it.
“Yeah. We were stopping at the hotel and someone broke into the bus and stole it. I have to try and order another one in time for the show tonight.”, Giddy explained.
“Oh Crap Balls! I saw it at a pawn store on the way here. I thought it was some replica.”, Brim exclaimed to the realization.
“You did? Oh that’s wonderful. If you can show me where then we-”, Giddy said before he was interrupted by his bus honking the horn at him before saying,”Damn. I have to go. If you can somehow get the bass back, I can repay you with a few tickets to the show tonight in Ox Hill. Meet me at the stadium with the bass and it can work”.
I managed to use my strength to stomp back at my own foot against Brim. He however was quick to recover and continued like nothing was happening, despite Giddy noticing that something was off.
“You have my word Giddy!”, Brim said realizing that I managed to take back control.
Giddy had gotten on the bus he came from and motioned for the driver to drive off. As the bus drove off, this was my chance to fight off Brim taking over. Managing to get control of my arm, I punched myself in the stomach. It was enough force to push Brim out of my mouth and out of my Body, finally getting my body back. Brim was on the ground covered in saliva from my mouth after being forced out by me. Meanwhile, I was gasping for air after getting my body back.
“That was the best interaction with a human ever.”, Brim said with the happiest smile on his face
“Never again are you going to possess me like that.”, I said with the little air I had.
“Rocky! What are you doing over here? Why is Brim soaking wet?”, Sunset asked walking behind us both.
“No time to explain now, get in the car. We can explain on the way.”, Brim said getting up.
“Now wait just a minute! I didn’t agree to this.”, I told Brim.
“Yeah, but now we have to fulfil a promise to a rockstar, and you don’t break a rockstar’s promise.”, he said to me.
“Argh, Fine, lets go get the damn bass.”, I said frustrated while walking to the car.
“Wait what?”, Sunset asked confused.
“Just start the car and drive to the place. I can explain all the way.”, Brim said snapping inside the car.
Brim had practically explained all that had happened while Sunset was inside with me getting possessed to promising a bassist to get back his stolen bass.
THE BASSIST. GET THE TERM RIGHT!
Anyways, Brim was able to essentially explain that the bass he saw in that pawnshop was actually Giddy Lee’s very own ‘72 Bass and that we had to try and get it back in time for the Crush show later that day. Sunset’s reaction to all of this? Well…
“I thought I told you no more shenanigans Brim!”, She angrily told him.
“Yes I know, but this time I swear this is the last time. After this, I’ll be done. Please Sunset, it’s a rockstar promise.”, he begged her.
She looked over at me to see my opinion on the situation. I was a bit fed up with it, but I figured I might as well do it for Brim since he was able to meet his hero. Even if it meant I had to pay a lot of money for it.
“He is partially right Sunset. Plus, we could get tickets tonight if we do. It’ll give us something to do in Mareland.”, I said trying to defend Brim.
She gave a small sigh before looking back at Brim.
“Alright, but this is the last time. Understand?”, she warned him.
“Yep, now let’s go in and get it. I have a plan. So Sunset, you stick behind while me and Rocky go see if we can buy it.”, Brim explained.
Me and Brim got out of the car and went over to the Pawn Shop where the bass sat in the display window. Walking in, I was met with the signature pawn shop smell of old antiques. Not a pleasant smell, but not a bad one either.
Not losing focus on what we wanted, Brim and I headed over to the counter where some sketchy looking guy was sitting there doing a crossword puzzle. When I say sketchy, I mean that he looked like he had gone to jail numerous times. What gave it away was the scars I saw on his face. Looked like he went to war and the war never left him.
I was trying my hardest not to give him scars for stealing Giddy Lee’s bass.
“What do you want?”, the guy said.
I gave a small gulp of nervousness before talking to him.
“I-I uh, was looking to see how much the bass in the window was.”, I nervously said.
“20 thoasand dollars, no less.”, he said looking back down at his crossword.
“That’s a bit steep for me.”, I told him.
“I told you, no less than 20 thousand dollars. Now do you have a problem with that?”, he asked me with an attitude.
“Fuck, I can’t possess him. He seems to lack any soul whatsoever. You’re gonna have to try and reason with him.”, Brim said explaining his problem.
I realized then that I would have to tell this guy that the bass was stolen. I dreaded that thought because I didn’t have any proof other than the words of someone else who wasn’t there to confirm. Especially the fact that it came from the famous bassist from Crush.
“Look, I don’t know who came in with the bass, but that bass was stolen from Giddy Lee’s bus. They are playing a show tonight. If you could be so kind to maybe-”, I said before being interrupted by the owner.
“Yes I know it was stolen.”, he said looking unphased.
“Oh, then you probably can give the bass back right no-”, I tried saying before being interrupted again.
“It’s because I stole it.”, he said with a straight face.
“That Motherfucker!”, Brim exclaimed in anger.
“Why? Why would you do that?”, I asked.
“Because the world is a gross and fucked up place. We steal from each other, and it is regular business for us. So therefore, it don’t make a difference if I steal a bass from someone who steals from others as well.”, the owner said.
“You’re delusional, and I’m calling the police.”, I threatened the guy.
“And what you gonna use as proof that I stole the bass? Nothing. Just speculation for a really expensive ‘replica’. Now, get the fuck out of my store.”, he said looking back down at his crossword.
Brim had motioned me to leave the store with him without question. With all the energy I could to try not to call the cops on him, I walked out with Brim in tow. I was a little surprised he hadn’t used his magic on him to try and distort his face severely. But whatever he wanted to do with me leaving, I needed to know.
“What are we doing? We have to get the bass.”, I told Brim.
“Yes, I know that. I got a plan.”, Brim said eyeing a woman who was in a school girl uniform.
I had a bad feeling about what he planned on doing. Especially with what he did to me earlier in the day. Sure enough, I witnessed Brim possessing a poor woman. It looked relatively easy since she didn’t even know what was coming. Not long after, Brim had full control of the woman. 
“Alright, so here is the plan.”, Brim said with that woman’s voice.
“I already don’t like where this is going.”, I said voicing my discomfort with Brim’s idea despite not hearing it.
“Ah don’t be a pussy. I swear, I can imagine a small tampon string come out of you every time you say something negative about my plans. Anyways, the plan is that I go in. Manage to seduce the cunt. Then you go in while he is distracted and take the bass and run like hell back to the car. I can teleport back to you later. I have to do some things to this cunt before I meet you.”, Brim explained while adjusting the woman’s shirt.
“What if it doesn’t go to plan and he sees me? I could get arrested if he catches me.”, I warned Brim.
“And tell the police what? ‘Hey, this guy stole a bass that I stole from a guy on tour right now.’, the cops won’t be on his side. It’s a simple job. Not Mission Slightly Impossible”,  Brim said.
“And you think that he is gonna buy some random girl trying to seduce him?”, I asked him.
“I am a demon who majors in possessing people to sexual things. I can make him want a piece of this fine ass. Which I hope is legal, because then it will make it so much worse if I find out it isn’t when I am busy with him”, Brim said.
“What are you gonna do, kill him?”, I asked him.
“What kind of sick animal do you think I am possessing a woman? No I’m not gonna kill him. I’m gonna torture the fucker for stealing from a bass god and potentially preying on a minor.”, Brim said cocking an eyebrow at me.
“That doesn’t sound any better than the first option.”, I voiced my opinion.
“Well I didn’t ask if you thought it was better or not. Now get into position. Time for good old Brimjob to strut his stuff.”, he said fixing his not real hair.
I stood back behind the door and watched Brim walk in with control of the mysterious woman’s body. Despite what you may think about the morals of Brim doing this, he definitely had a point in trying to steal it back. Although, I didn’t agree with him straight up possessing a stranger by doing so.
Ah, the ends justify the means. Are people on this site any better than me? The possible child molesters making stories about admitting you are a pedo are better than me? I thought not.
From the window of the door, I saw Brim miraculously work his magic into getting the guy to take Brim back to his office. Now was my chance. Not wasting a second more, I quickly walked in as quiet as I could and made my way to the window where the bass was. Reaching for it, I nearly fell over to take it off the mount it was on. I really didn’t want to fall and possibly knock something over in fear of making noise and ruining Brim’s plan. Trying again, I carefully grabbed the bass by the neck and began to lift it off the mount.  What I didn’t realize about Giddy’s bass was that it was the heaviest instrument I had ever carried. It wasn’t easy considering I was trying to keep my balance to not fall over while reaching for the bass possibly breaking it or making noise.
I had managed to make it down from the window with the bass intact. This was it, I had it. As I confidently walked away from the window, I accidentally knocked over a metal tray on a shelf.
“Shit!”, I exclaimed to myself trying to catch the tray.
As I expected, the door behind the counter opened up with the guy who stole the bass coming out of it. He locked eyes with me before getting a full look of who I was.
“You son of a bitch! I'm gonna kill you motherfucker!”, He said pulling out a tire iron from behind the counter.
I felt a fear that I had never felt before. It was a fear that got a rise out of me to make me alert, but at the same time a fear that froze me in place. I was expecting to get my shit pushed in with a tire iron from a guy who was probably dangerous. 
Right before he managed to get out from behind the counter, I heard a loud crashing noise as the owner’s face went from angry to blank. He then dropped his tire iron and collapsed face first, showing Brim in the woman’s body clenching a bottle of perfume, while another bottle smashed and onto the floor where the guy laid. Another thing that I noticed about brim was that underneath the skirt was a black garter and panty set. Very revealing stuff.
“So turns out she was a prostitute. Which explains what she was wearing underneath and the numerous bottles of perfume in her purse.”, Brim said shrugging.
“Oh good grief! I nearly shat myself as soon as he came out. I’m so sorry for messing up the plan.”, I apologized to Brim.
“Knowing you this long, I would’ve expected it. Now get out of here. I got to do some really fucked up shit to an extremely disrespectful man. Go meet Giddy for real this time.”, Brim said grabbing the tire iron the guy dropped.
Not wanting to stick around to find out what he was going to do to the guy who stole the bass, I rushed out of the pawn shop and ran to the car where Sunset had been patiently waiting. I hadn’t realized how long I had been there. It looked to be around five o’ clock in the evening when I got out.
“Where have you been? I was worried something went wrong.”, Sunset told me as I got in the car.
“It’s alright. Just a little bit of convincing I needed to do to the owner to get the bass back.”, I said halfway truthfully.
“Well that’s a lot for trying to be convincing. Where is Brim?”, she asked.
“He’s gonna join us later. He’s taking a minute with smoking. Let’s just go to meet Giddy.”, I said trying to change the subject.
Without question, Sunset and I took off to go to the stadium to go meet Giddy and the rest of the band before the show started. It wasn’t a far drive from the pawn shop, but it was trying to find the place to meet Giddy. He didn’t exactly say a specified place, so we instead had to go look for his black bus around the back. Thankfully his bus was easily distinguished, but managing to convince the guards that we were meeting him wasn’t so easy.
With enough convincing of the fact I was returning the bass to Giddy, security allowed me and Sunset into the area to try and find Giddy. Right along the back of the stage, we managed to meet him along with the rest of the band before they were going on. We made right in the knick of time.
“Well I’ll be damned! You managed to get it back.”, Giddy exclaimed noticing the two of us walking up.
“Yep. Here you go. I can tell you’re happy to see it again.”, I assumed handing the bass back to him.
“Happy? I’m ecstatic! I was so worried that I would never see this old girl again.”, he said cradling the bass.
“Well, we’re so glad to help you out. You can now play your show properly.”, Sunset told Giddy.
“Say, what are you two doing out here besides the concert? I don’t mean to disrespect the town or nothing, but it’s kind of boring here.”,  Giddy asked us.
“Well, we were passing through here on our way to my girlfriend’s old hometown of Canterlot. We were gonna ask around to see what other places we could visit on the way.”, I explained to him.
“Huh, we had passed through there on the way here. If I were to make a suggestion, head to Hoovesiana. It’s a very fast way to get to Canterlot and you have plenty of things to do there. Plus they have the best baked goods out of any place I have been to.”, Giddy suggested to us.
“Huh, I never would’ve thought about that place Rocky. What do you say? Want that to be our next stop?”, Sunset asked me.
“Why not? This road trip has been crazy already the fact we are with the bassist for Crush. I could go for a more crazier place.”, I agreed with Sunset.
“Then it’s settled.”, Sunset responded.
“That’s super awesome. I wish I could stick around, but our show is going to start in a few minutes. Please stick around. You deserve a free backstage  for the great public service you did. Thanks you two.”, Giddy said putting on his bass and walking with the rest of the band.
“Not the way I imagined this evening to turn out.”, I said to Sunset.
“That's Road trips for you.”, Sunset concurred.
Suddenly, I felt a poof of flames appeared next to me as Brim appeared with his regular body this time. He looked very satisfied with whatever he did.
“Sorry I’m late. I’m not late am I? Did we make it?”, he asked me.
“Yeah we did. Just in time too. They are about to perform.”, I explained to Brim.
“Yus! I was starting to worry that CBT was taking too long on the owner.”, Brim said taking out a cigarette.
“Wait what?!”, Sunset asked him.
“Nothing, let's go listen to this concert now! I’ve been dreaming of this moment my whole life.”, Brim said with an excited tone.
The rest of the night was the biggest blast I had had in forever. I may not have known the band Crush all that well, but their concert was the most fun I’ve had. Sunset seemed to really enjoy it as well, but the one who loved it the most was Brim. I think at one point I saw him crying tears of joy.
NO! I don’t cry. I never did. Not that you saw, dammit! I miss that moment so much. I want to travel back in time  again just to relive that moment.
It’s okay Brim. It’s alright to feel sad about happy moments.
Can we end the chapter now? I need to calm down before I continue to give my take on the rest of the trip.
Sure we can Brim. Sure we can.