119. [FOURTH WALL! ACTION FOR ERRYBODY]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's begun.]

[THAT TIME OF YEAR.]

[No, not the time of year when the Christmas decorations start going up in stores-- let's be real, guys, that happened like two months ago.]

[No.]

[It's that time of year when the boundaries between worlds grow thin and all kinds of wild and wonderful things come pouring out of thin air onto the streets for all to watch and enjoy.]

[... And then on the other end of the spectrum, there's...]</sub>


WHOA! HEY, EVERYBODY, LOOK! MORE NEW POKEMON!!!

_{[The shout of an excited Ace Trainer dudebro who never quite got off the September Swarm hype train rings out over the chaos as a small army of... uh... things come bumbling down the sidewalk, ineffectively squawking and bumping into peoples' legs.]}

OH! Oh, they're ADORABLE! LOOK! I'm keeping one RIGHT NOW!

<sub>[A Poke-Fan sweeps one off of its tiny nub feet and cradles it like an infant while it flops and kicks.]

[A crowd soon forms.]

[No one pays any attention to the trainer hopping up and down at the edge, waving her arms.]</sub>



Guys-- GUYS!! STOP!

THOSE AREN'T-- THOSE AREN'T POKEMON, YOU GUYS.

DON'T TRY TO CA-- unbelievable.

Comments

[foolishwren]

You totally do not wanna know.

_{[NO REALLY. 8(]}

[stitchedupbodyguard]

I want to know.

[Said more affirming than before. She was curious now.]

Tell me, please.

[foolishwren]

_{[... OKAY, FINE. FINE.]}

They represent my fear of stillborn or deformed babies.

And pregnancies gone wrong.

And they can get as big as ostriches.

There.

Happy?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[....Welp, there's the regret.]

Uhh...

[Shrinking a little. wow. why didn't anyone warn her about this.]

T-they're... your fear? That's... terrible. I-I'm sorry I asked.

[foolishwren]

_{[She DID warn you!]}

See?

Told you.

You don't wanna know.

_{[Around this point in time, one of the numbodies bumps against Veronica's leg. <3!]}

[stitchedupbodyguard]

W-well, it's not like I expected anything like...

[Oh, oh dear there's one of them now.

Well, there's not really any time to think about this. Veronica just pulls a sword out of her cloak and rams it into the creature.]

[foolishwren]

_{[... WELL, at least she knows what to DO with them.]}

On these weekends?

Expect the unexpected.

_{[A pause.]}

... Nice sword.

[stitchedupbodyguard]

I'm starting to realize that. And apparently this happens twice a year.

[huuuuff, just what she needs.]

Uhh, thanks. [She yanks it out of the numbody and checks to see if it's dead/deader.] I just got it back today. It's useful in situations like this

[foolishwren]

Twice a year. On the dot.

You never really do get used to it, but the worst of the shock wears off after awhile.

_{[... And pardon her, but she's just going to stare a bit jealously at the blade. 8( Why couldn't her katana have shown up?]}

[stitchedupbodyguard]

...I hope so. Seems like quite the situation you have here already.

[Monsters and all that. Pheh, she'd have to deal with them if someone else didn't.]

....You like it? My sword.

[foolishwren]

Yeah.

Wish I had mine.

This place has a thing about weapons.

_{[And as much as she's gotten used to the whole 'Pokemon are supposed to be your weapons' aspect of the place, she still misses the solid, reassuring weight of a shotgun in her hands.]}

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Welp, that sucked. It would seem that Veronica had lucked out on her part.

...Hmm. She seemed to consider something briefly.]

...I can give you one, if you want.

[foolishwren]

--Really?

... Just for like... a bit?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Yeah. I mean....

[...What did she mean? She shrugged.]

You probably want to get rid of these things.

[foolishwren]

_{[At that, her eyes narrow.]}

Damn right I do.

_{[She holds out her hand to accept whatever Veronica is willing to give her.]}