Generica (Team Potato Tree, Thread III)

[Gengy]

Hicchup looks at Danny for a moment, then over at Jack and Jimito.

"Right. Well, it seems we'll be splitting up again, but I am suggesting we rendezvous back here in two hours or so. Might I suggest that if you are not coming with us, you do some looking into a man named Kuro who is most likely dead. And if he's not, then he's very very dangerous, because he's managed to train the Team Ornate Lobster, AND trick a Book of Ultimate Knowledge, which was crafted by a greater demoness. So discretion is key. And for Jack's sake, that means you ask about it very quietly." Hicchup sniffs and turns once more to the door. "Lead on, Danny. A follower of Senna such as yourself knows better than I were to go."

[Yuki Akuma]

Danny nods to Hicchup, grinning. "Sure. I was just telling Jenny about the place, really..." As he walks through the kitchen to the door, he glances at the fireplace. "Hey, Nix. As you're not very discrete, want to come with us?"

((I have a feeling I spelled that entirely wrong.))

[Don Beegles]

Jimito salutes sharply and waits until Hicchup and Danny have gone. Then he turns to Jack. "Alright. Now, this guy seems to be your kind of fellow, so you're in charge of finding him. I'll come with you, but I value my life, so I'm not going to talk to anyone who might have some reason to be offended by inappropriate quesations until I get a chance to spend this here gem. Does that work for you?"

[LazyJoe]

'Sure, whatever. But we ain't going anywhere without some munch.'

Jack leads his badgerwhale to Danny's kitchen and proceeds to raid the cupboards for food, and, after eating said food, goes back to Jimito.

'To the Cringing Eunach! I know the barman there and he knows stuff, so I'll just challenge him to a game of Sorcery: The Gathering, win, and he'll tell us what we need to know. This plan's good because it's simple and relies on my intelligence.'

[TamerBill]

((OOC: It's Hicchup, Don, not Gengy.))

Nixon, forced to decide between going with Danny and poking Genghis, stands still for several minutes in thought, before chasing after the clothes shoppers at speed.

Meanwhile, Jack and Jimito head to the Cringing Eunuch Inn (formerly the Cringing Eunuch Singles Bar, formerly formerly the Cringing Eunuch Strip Joint, formerly formerly formely John Hull's garden shed), with badgerwhale in tow.

[Gengy]

(...fine. I'll do something)

"So, Danny, where are we headed?" Hicchup asks, and as an after thought, "And do we have a method of paying this person to tailor our new wearings? Because, as we have not visited his highness, I am broke."

[LazyJoe]

(Oops, forgot we were still playing this...)

Jack strutted up to the bar and ordered a double whiskey and a barley water disguised as beer, tethering Genghis to the bar rail. After he received his order, making sure Jimito got his banana dacquiri, Jack flicked a peanut at the back of the bartender's head.

'Salutations, ignorant peasant. I was wondering if you could supply my friend and I here with information, as is wont of bartenders across all of Generica and the surrounding areas.'

[TamerBill]

"And what would I get in return for said information, 'sir'? I'm afraid we stopped accepting dead rats as tips a couple of weeks ago."

[LazyJoe]

'Oh,' said Jack, half pulling a dead rodent out of his jacket pocket. Instead of putting it on the bar, he threw it to Genghis.

'Well, in that case, how about I play you for the info?' Jack waved his Sorcery: The Gathering deck in the bartender's face. 'C'mon, it's not like you have anything better to do.'

[TamerBill]

"I'll have you know that I am an extremely busy man, but I'm also a compulsive gambler so what the hell."

The bartender leads Jack to the obligatory back room of the inn, and sits down on one side of the solitary table.

[LazyJoe]

Even though Jack has never won a game of Sorcery: The Gathering and despite the fact that he has more chance of gettin' his 'thang' on with Danny's sister, Jack excitedly led Jimito and Genghis through to the back room.

'Hey monkey-boy,' he said, addressing Jimito, 'you want a piece of the game? I'm sure Mr McBartender over here can get someone to make up another player so it's two-on-two.'

[Don Beegles]

Jimito accepts the banana drink graciously and starts sipping it slowly so it lasts. He's been trying to go teetotal in the last couple of days, and he figures as long as a cocktail lasts longer than it takes to says its name, it isn't counted as having been drunk. Right?

jack's question startles him out of his reverie about the intricacies of dietary loopholes and he spills some drink on his robe. Good, more he hasn't quite drunk. At this rate he can probably not drink two or three today. "I don't know, Jack. I can't say as I've ever played before, and when I last watched you sort of got beat up pretty badly. Of course, if that's at all likely to happen again, I'm in." He stands and rubs his hands expectantly, carefully putting down his drink first. 'So where do I get my dice, or spinner, or whatever the goat we're playing with?"

[TamerBill]

The bartender calls his mate Burly George in from his cups, and sits him down at the gaming table. He gestures to Jack. "Dealer goes first."

[LazyJoe]

Jack sums up all his inner strength, producing a small amount of blood from his ears as a byproduct, and draws the first card.

[TamerBill]

Looking at the card drawn, Jack has just enough time to note the picture of a tiny little box before being compressed into a small cube and trapped inside a jewellery box. This is extremely painful, and also dampens his chances of victory.

[Gengy]

(OOC: Can't... resist.)

"We'd best hurry, Danny. Payment or not..." Hicchup says, a worried look on his face. ...I'm afriad Jack will do something stupid. Like reveal what we're doing by blatantly stating he wants information, or take Jimito into a bar and start a two person game of Sorcery, or somehow get himself trapped in a jewlery box, or something else equally idiotic."

[Yuki Akuma]

Danny waves a hand. "Oh, I'm sure he wo-" He pauses. "Wait. This is Jack we're talking about. Yeah, jewelry box seems about right." He grins. "Oh, and my mother has a tab with the tailor, so we won't need money. We'll just have to pay back mum somehow.."

[Gengy]

"Wonderful. Then lead on." Hicchup steps outside, quickly placing on the Wall-ter illusion, and follows Danny to the tailor.

[Don Beegles]

Jimito watches as Jack is squeezed into the tiny box and raises his eyebrows. "That's interesting, though I think that the box is a bit too fancy for its contents." He certainly doesn't take another sip of his daquiri as he eyes the deck suspiciously. "So what happens next? Do you draw, or do I?"

[TamerBill]

"I'll draw" says the bartender, and presently does so. As he draws the card a bright light shines down on him, and a winged figure clothed in white decends from the heavens. A dull thud is heard as he encounters the roof, but he soon gets round it and comes in through the door instead. The angel blesses the bartender with prosperity and health for the rest of his days, before heading back to the bar for a packet of peanuts.

"...huh. Well, your turn, Jack's friend."

[LazyJoe]

If anyone could see Jack at this precise moment, not only would they see a man contorted in such a way that his bones appear to be in alphabetical order, but they'd also be seeing some serious sulking.

[TamerBill]

"So, who's going to be the first person to make a 'jack-in-the-box' joke? Come on, you know you want to."

[Don Beegles]

Jimito finishes off the last of his daquiri and shrugs. "Meh. I'll give it a shot. How about this one; What's better than a Jack-in-the-Box?" He pauses for the obligatory I-dunno and continues. "Knowing that if that box gets any smaller, pop goes the weasel. So, what did you think? Nopt very good, but the best I could think of on short notice. Give me your best one." He draws a card as he waits for th ebartender's response.

[TamerBill]

Jimito doesn't get to hear the bartender's joke, as he finds himself drawing Jack's favourite card in the whole world: The Throne. The king-making magic contained within adds a crown and a velvet cloak to his apparel, and his huge purple gem becomes his royal sceptre. Meanwhile, the Cringing Eunuch slowly transforms itself into the Eunician Embassy, the representative of the country Jimito suddenly finds himself in control of. Meanwhile, Jack's in a box.

[Yuki Akuma]

Danny grins and starts leading Hicchup towards the tailor's... He suddenly goes rigid, face pale from shock. "...Oh Senna please don't let Jimito get challanged to a game of Sorcery and draw the King card.. I don't think I could handle that..."

What is this boy, psychic?

[Gengy]

"No, no, I think we'd be all right with Jimito as a monarch. There'd be some monkey business to deal with, mind you, but all politics have that. It's Jack I'd be worried about, should he ever draw the king" Hicchup says, as he and Danny continue walking.

[Don Beegles]

Jimito experiences the magical transformation and nods. I love this game more and more all the time. Now, I believe you are in my Embassy, which follows all rules of my new country. The first rule of Eunicia is that what the King says goes. As such, I demand that we dispense with this foolish game and you give me the information that we came for. Understood?" It's good to be the king.

[TamerBill]

The bartender shakes his head. "No can do, your highness. The players are magically binded to finish the game. It's one of those, what do you call 'em... geese? Something like that. Anyway, your go George."

Burly George draws a card from the top of the deck, as a random passer-by takes up the role of commentating on the game.

"Well, looks like Burly George has just drawn The God, quite possibly the best card in the whole deck. This card hasn't been drawn in an official match for two years, but it's a welcome return to form here. For those not in the know, The God allows the drawer to make a single wish, which will be granted by the gods themselves. As you can see, George is deep in thought here as to what wish he is going to make, this could be a very important turning point in his life and obviously he will want to think this through carefully. Oh, wait, there he goes. Yes, he's wished himself to a bar on the other side of town, a masterful choice there, swiftly negating the anti-bar effects of Jimito's embassy. Now it's down to one player on each side and the first round of drawings is over, with Team Cringing Eunuch in the lead with two points to Team Potato Tree's one. The bartender now just has to insult successfully Jimito's mother to claim victory. You could cut the atmosphere here with a knife, and indeed someone just did but he missed and hit a passer-by instead, that's a great shame there."

"Ahem. Your mother was so ugly that Jack was out of her league!"

"And a great cheer goes up through the crowd as the bartender successfully scores with a great insult there, involving Jimito's team-mate for just the right amount of familiarity. And with that Team Cringing Eunuch clinch a victory, although it's noyt without its cost, as he will need to find another bar."

((OOC: It's the Throne card, not the King card [/pedant]))

[Don Beegles]

Jimito snaps his fingers and curses. "Beards!! Now where's my whipping boy? You know I like to smack him one when I lose at Sorcery." he brandishes his scepter at the ersatz bartender and scowls. "I'm not happy with you for defeating the royal personage in a game of random chance, but I'll let you off easy if you give me the information that I want. In fact, there is probably an empty position for Royal Drink Mixer back home at the palace, assuming I actually have a palace, and if you can make a banana martini, the spot is wide open for you, Jimmy my boy."

[TamerBill]

The barman considers Jimito's offer. On the one hand he had won the game, so really he shouldn't have to tell them anything, but on the other hand he was in need of a job now that his bar was goverment property....

"Alright" he says "What do you want to know?"