It was a quiet autumn day in the town of Redleaf, where a little antique shop known as the Luminous Lion was having a slow day. Lionel, the bespectacled shop owner standing at the front, paged through an old book while waiting for customers. He wondered where Jack was, and decided to pick up the TV remote and turn on a nearby TV set to get the jaguar's attention. "Let's see what's on..."

Jack apears on the the screen humming a little tune to himself. Grabbing everything from the fridge and adding it to a sandwich scooby do would be proud of "hmm? Oh.... hey Lionel.. just on lunch break"

"That better not be the Mystery Inc fridge you're raiding, Jack. I wouldn't be surprised if Fred booby trapped the place since your last visit." Lionel chuckled, walking over to dust off the screen of the TV. "Then again, a bottomless pit like you wouldn't be satiated by just any fridge's contents, huh?"

"Oh its definitely rigged! But watching shaggy break into fridge-knox taught me the secret" he smirks ear to ear. He looked around before carefully closing the door with his foot. Stepping through the screen. The sandwich clips the frame and topples down "aww man!"

"Oh! Right onto my antique carpet! Would you imagine the luck..." Lionel grabbed the broom and dustpan, and got to work on cleaning up the mess. "If you want something else to snack on, check what's on those tapes by the TV. I found some recordings from an arcade that opened up around here somewhere a while ago..."

"Hmm over priced pizza.. I'll pass.." *he waved the idea off. He pulled up a couch and skimmed through the tapes. Putting one in he jumped onto the back of it. Twirling a remote and turning it on. "Hmm. Not seeing anything"

"Who said you had to pay for any of it? It's not like you have to worry about- Oh! This guy! I hate this guy!" On the screen was an interview with a mean looking guy talking about defunding libraries and spending more money on car infrastructure. "I think he ran for mayor a few years ago, and everyone hated him."

"Oh that clown? Did.. didn't he lose to a dog? Not like it was that difficult. Anyone would've been better than him" he went to take a bite of his sandwich forgetting he lost it

"I think so. Mayor Barkman was surprisingly competent, too. Why don't you get that clown out of that seat? I bet you could give a much better interview!"

he smiles widely. Rewinding to the start and jumping off the couch "now thats going to be fun!" he rolls into the screen before quickly hiding in a nearby bush

The potted shrubbery next to the politician's chair provided little cover, but somehow it worked. Nobody seemed to notice, somehow...

he swiftly put the fool into a headlock to choke him out. He struggled to take his suit off. Finally he stepped up to the podium straightening the tie. Leaving the clown in his heart boxers, face in the potted dirt

The camera man and the interviewer looked a bit concerned, but decided to just roll with it. "So, mister, uh... what's your name again?"

"Hmm yes.. im....... Fluffmoo Bobofish. Proud to be your future mayor" he strikes a pose.

"You're quite the confident candidate, Mr. Bobofish! Just some questions from concerned voters, first off, what do you plan to do about the recent decline in tourism?"

"I will.... invest in studies to make pickles the bouncyist in the contry! Redleaf home of spring pickles" he bit his tongue to avoid laughing at his own nonsense. Gesturing and pointing the whole time "people will come far and wide to watch pickles jump over buildings"

"Fascinating! Secondly, do you have a plan regarding the meat shortages?"

"One word! Donkeys! Every one hates them. They stink up the place and waste warm water." he explains before hitting his fist against the stand "thats why I will make it illegal for any Donkey to sleep in your bathtub. Not only giving peach of mind both in shower and in plate"

"Interesting... Last question-" The interviewer was interrupted as the real politician woke up and jumped from the bush to grab Jack by the collar. "What do you think you're doing? This is my interview!" On the list of dumb things this guy has done, shaking a hungry jaguar was probably pretty high on the list.

"I doubt people want a interview with someone in their underwear... besides.. uhh. Is that a alien ufo!" he attempted to distract everyone. He quickly lifted the politician into his mouth and swallowing him whole

Everyone was distracted for just a moment, looking out the window before looking back to the jaguar. "Oh, I guess we missed it!" They never moved the camera, though, and Lionel got a good laugh out of that happening. "Hmm, where did the other guy go? I can't remember his name..." The interviewer looked over to the camera man. "Dunno, I don't think he was important. Weren't we interviewing Mr. Bobofish?"

"Must have been some homeless man... not important now. You were going to ask?" he straightened his suit. And smiled

The guy in the little studio area said something into his mic, and the camera man (with his little earpiece) listened before whispering something to the interviewer. "Ah, I see. Do you typically eat your political opponents? How do you think this will affect your potential votes?"

"Uhhhh I would neve-" he says as he burped up the boxers. Pausing for a moment he awkwardly laughed. He pretended to look at a watch "oh look at the time. I need to pay my horses parking ticket!" he quickly got up and leap through one of the screens

"Wait, we weren't finished with the interview!" Once he hopped out of the TV, the tape stopped. Lionel was on the couch, laughing at what he just watched. "If only we could get rid of the real guy like that! If you want some more snacks like that, I could find some more tapes once you go through all the ones I have there."

"Blehh! I still have a after taste!!" he switched to a commercial and grabbed a drink he quickly downed it. He sat down and looked through the tapes "hmmm.. nope nope.. no... ohh that sounds interesting" * put in a tape for some space cartoon*

"Heh, don't much enjoy the taste of politics? Agreed. Maybe you'll find something better in this one." Once the tape was playing, it didn't take long for the show to get to a fun looking fight in a space casino. The main characters, a scrappy space crew, were beating up a bunch of space mafia guys.

he snuck through the screen. Takeing cover behind the bar. His stomach rumbled. He began to grab a snack. When he was going to take a bite a stray shot disintegrates it

Some goon got picked up by the mechanic girl and thrown over the bar, tumbling to the floor next to Jack.

"ooh what do we have here?" he rubs his hands together. Picking up the drooped gun. Examining it before peaking over the counter. Aiming at whoever shot his steak. He fires and crouches back down

That guy was busy fighting with the captain of the ship, and the shot just barely missed him. Meanwhile the guy next to Jack was starting to get up...

"oh need a drink?" he grabbed the shelf. and pulled it down. making all the bottles hit him repeatedly. readying a shot if he dared get up

That knocked the guy out good. The mechanic girl noticed what was going on, before smiling and picking up another one of the goons to throw to the jaguar. "Catch!" She recognized him from an older episode, and figured he'd enjoy some snacks.

he jumped slightly being caught off guard. he holds out his arms to tray and catch them bridal style?? but instead they land right into his mouth. The goon made Jack stretch like a rubber band. he licked his lips "a little rubbery.. but better then that last guy"

The others seemed to catch on to the idea, and another of the crew members pushed a goon to the mechanic for her to throw at Jack.

he jumped up on the counter and tried to catch each of them. he managed to catch three of them in his arms. Jack winched slightly as the forth soars a little too high and falls onto the unconscious goon. "ahh almost had it" he slides the three down his arm into his mouth

The last two - the ones currently climbing out of the wrecked alcohol shelves - were picked up by their collars by the captain (one in each hand). The captain knocked their heads together, sliding one of them across the top of the bar towards Jack, before interrogating the other one in some alien language.

he kicks them up in the air catching them in his mouth. eating five goons caused a immediate pot belly. he patted his chest and it made a drum sound "ohh.. a little too much goon for one sitting" (edited)

The mechanic girl chuckled at Jack's choice of words. "Heh, phrasing." Meanwhile, once the captain and the gunner took had taken turns interrogating the guy, the gunner (a short, chaotic looking girl) grabbed the last goon and marched towards Jack with him. "Open wide!"

"oh hush.. " he groaned feeling 'full' for once. but he reluctantly opened his mouth wide. The gunner dropped them into his mouth and he slowly swallowed. he grumbled before burping loudly. his belly deflated

The ship crew applauded, rewarding Jack's helpfulness with a cut of the bounties on each of the troublemakers (paid in some fancy artifacts they'd taken from the suitcases left behind by the goons) as well as a round of drinks. Meanwhile, Lionel was lounging on the couch watching, waiting for Jack to get back.

After a while of cerebrating he got up and grabbed the suitcase "well I'm glad to be the hero but I gotta bounce. ill be seeing you on the flipside!" As he was saying his goodbyes he put a flatscreen on the ground. he salutes before falling backwards into it.

Just at that moment, someone in an apartment in Redleaf turned on their new flat screen TV, and flipped it over to try and plug in a new sound system. Suddenly, Jack fell through and onto the stranger's carpet. "Woah, where did you come from, man?"

He managed to land on his feet. he pumped his fist and immediately had a cocky smirk "ooh!! that was sick! did you see that Lion--" *he froze when he heard a unknown voice. realizing real quick what happened. * "huh... nice place you got here..."

"That was pretty sick. Got any more cool tricks?"

"I Mean I'd say interacting with tv characters and eating people whole are neat tricks.... wait no.. now that sounds weird" he put a hand on his chin thinking for a moment

"Whole? Entirely? Nah, I don't believe you." The white lion crossed his arms and gave a smug look.

he grabbed the remote and searched for a news station he knew was prerecorded (avoiding consequences) "here check this out!" as the news anchor covered the story he pounced into the screen appearing through the one behind him in a swift motion he ate the reporter. arms crossed he tilted his head smugly

5:54 PM

"Huh, I guess you look like you can do both of those things. But I bet you couldn't eat me! You're probably using some kind of... trickery here. Sleight of hand! Smoke and mirrors! Paid actors!"

"I mean I probably could, but that rases moral concerns...." he trailed off when he remembered he was carrying around a suitcase of expensive trinkets. He also realized the film crew was currently freaking out. Now hurried he stepped halfway through the background screen. "uhh.. you should check out the the Luminous Lion! many cool antiques from your favorite shows!" double checking that he was in the right place in the right time he sighed. He handed Lionel the suitcase before plopping onto the back of the couch

Lionel took the suitcase, opening it up to look inside. "Nice! This should do very well. I'll contact Tyler and see what he can learn about these, since there's some in here I don't recognize."

"i mean they must be pretty valuable if space gangsters were after it" he shrugged. Starring up at the celling. He pulled out a hacky sack from between the cushions and started to repeatedly catch it

"Of course, but some things we find may be more useful to us as tools than being sold." Someone walked in, a quiet tan housecat guy with a box of old books.

"well I know that one is a cool lazar gun" he gestured lazily with his foot. His ear flicks at the bell "oh looks like you got a customer"

"Alright, I'll go handle that. But I had the 'out to lunch' sign up on the door, so it's his funeral." The lion chuckled, walking up to the front desk. "I see you didn't read the sign, but tell me, what do ya need?"

"but your door was unlocked. kind of assumed you forgot to take it down. any who I was cleaning out my grandmas basement. found some books she didn't mind donating.." he set the box down and pushed it towards him slightly

"We keep our door unlocked when people are in the building, because doing otherwise would be a violation of fire safety code. And I cannot have the fire marshal breathing down my neck again. But since you decided to interrupt me riiiiight as I was about to have my lunch, I'll have to ask you for a little help with something, if you've got the time." Lionel started looking through the books, stacking them neatly to see how much each would be worth.

he raised a eyebrow. twiddling with one of his hoodie strings. he glances at jack "C...c cant you have them do it? they surly work here, right?" Jax scoffs. Not even looking up from the beanbag "nah I'm on break too."

Lionel looked back at the customer, thinking for a moment. "I was eating some chicken earlier, and I felt something poke my throat. Can you check and see if I might have damaged something in there?" The lion opened his maw wide - very wide. He was holding a big bundle of cash he'd taken from the register, likely to pay the guy for helping him out.

His ears fold back gulping audibly, getting a chill. he leaned forward slightly "oooh... uhh.. im.....i.. im not seeing anything.."

Lionel snapped his teeth shut to scare the guy, making sure not to actually bite him. Just wanted a reaction!

He jumped with a squeak. He grabbed at his chest sighing "Ahh right.. getting into the seasonal mood... i..i see. So h... how much for the books?"

"Here's $100, now you best leave before I decide to really have you for lunch." The lion chuckled, handing over money for the box of books with a big grin.

"r..r....re... really? 100.. I... I broght a good number of books. th... there has to be one worth a lot". he looked through the stack then back up at Lionel nervously

"Heh, sorry, but these really aren't much. They're old, but that doesn't immediately make them rare."

"Just take it dude.. if ya ask the library they are going to give the same price.. People don't read Granny books" Jack mumbled half paying attention "ahhh d... d.... dang... I really was hopeing for more.. but I Guess" he nervously reached for the $100. still failing to get the image of those teeth out of his head.

"Here's what... I'll pay you another $200 if you'll let Jack here take a picture of me with your head in my mouth. How does that sound?"

"uhhh.. 300? that.... that dose sound like a deal... D...d... do i have to have to be i... in your mouth?? what about pretending to bi... bite??" he shifted nervously.

"Don't worry, I won't actually bite you! These teeth aren't even that sharp anymore, really. Promise!"

he went quiet for a moment. trying to take a few deep breaths. mumbling to himself "come on.. tim.. o.. one photo with the not scarry lion..."

The lion opened his mouth again, motioning for Jack to get ready to take a photo. He genuinely didn't plan on doing anything evil this time.

Jack rolled off the couch. reaching into the screen pulling out a polaroid camera. the small cat slowly inched closer. shutting his eyes tight

Lionel stuffed the man's whole head in his mouth to let Jack take the photo, careful not to bite.

Jack had just enough time to snap a picture before the house cat bolted out of the door yelping. forgetting to grab the cash. "huh... I guess he chickened out. still got the photo though!" he held out the polaroid to Lionel

"Well, he didn't take his money! Can you chase him down and give it to him while I get lunch?"

he tilted his head "I thought you were going to just keep it since you're fine with stilling antiques from other worlds." he shrugged and grabbed the 300. he began walking out of the door

That white lion could be seen walking towards the store, not seeming to notice the jaguar he met earlier chasing after a cat guy. Meanwhile, a tiger guy wearing some kind of sun mask bumped into Jack while turning a corner. "Excuse me, sorry... wait, don't you work at the Luminous Lion?"

he was a little disoriented as he tried to keep track of where the cat went "uhh.. yah.. yah. Lionel is on break right now... you might have to come back later" he said runing around the corner only to find he lost them.

The tiger followed Jack, catching up to him. "I'm actually a friend of Lionel's. I go by Tyler, and I'm a bit of an artificer. I can't help but notice you running around, looking for something?"

"Oh! Tyler. I didn't recognize you with..... that" he gestures vaguely at the mask. "someone ran out forgetting to take there money." he shrugged. Loseing most interest in going after them

"Here, I can take it and get it to them. It was that domesticus in the hoodie, correct?" Tyler held out his hand to take the money, using the other hand to hold up the mask and reveal his smiling face. That was definitely Tyler.

"The one mid panic attack? Yah, thats the one" he laughed. "Now that i think about it... could've dropped it off through his tv.... asumeing he has one.. and i knew which one it was" *he thought for a moment before waving the idea off

"Don't worry, I can catch up to him. Just hand over the money and I'll get it to him."

"Alright alright. You know we're to find us" he handed Tyler the money before heading back to the shop.

Meanwhile, Tyler parkoured his way up the side of the buildings nearby, so he could follow the cat from the rooftops. Putting the mask back on, he followed the feline until he managed to drop down in front of him and hold out the money. "You forgot this, sir."

the house cat fell back covering his face with his arms. Pale and trembling "pl... please don't hurt me!!!!!" after a minute he peeked a eye open. He slowly got up at took the money "oh... right for the books..... th.. thanks" Jack pushed the front door open makeing the bell ring. Shaking his head when he said something under his breath "this town is full of weird characters.."

"Like you're any less weird than the rest of them!" Lionel chuckled, before picking up the old phone on his desk to make a call. "Hello? Yes, I would like to order one large meat lovers pizza! Stuffed crust, of course! And a large iced tea! And send your most delicious delivery guy, hehehe." He hung up, before looking back to Jack. "I guess that cat was a bit weird. Most people aren't that skittish about... ah! I bet he was an outsider! That makes sense."

"Heh.. you got that right!." he laughed. Playfully punching him in the shoulder as he passed. "should've doubled the order for me"

"Didn't you just eat a bunch of... ah, don't worry, I'll order you something as well, what would you like?"

"You said it yourself I'm a bottomless pit. Its fine... I can always look for something" he shrugged before takeing his favorite spot the on couche's backrest. He flips through channels in search for something appetizing

Lionel felt a little bad, but he let Jack do his thing. That arcade tape was still sitting out - maybe they had some good food there? There was also a cooking show where they were making shepherd's pie, a travel show that was showing a foreign food market, and a commercial for an all-you-can-eat buffet.

he eventually pulled out a Meatball sub whit all kinds of dressings. Flipping through a few more channels before giving up and looking through the tapes. putting in the arcade tape

This arcade definitely looked worth visiting, considering their food and games both seemed to be unusually cheap. These were also good quality arcade games, if maybe a bit retro. Plus, there were plenty of fun looking people coming in and playing.

he didn't seem all that impressed. he rolled his head back to look at Lionel "why did you pick this one up? looks to me like another arcade. sure it looks fun but so does any other arcade"

"Because having a tape means you don't have to walk all the way to the one nearby! Thought you would appreciate that for breaktime."

he smiles warmly. it was not his normal cocky smug look. "ohh.... that's really thoughtful, Lionel... thanks!!" he rewinds it to the start and ejects it. putting it somewhere separate from the box of other tapes

"I may have a habit of messing with people, but I try to be nice when it really matters. Better get your fill soon if you're still hungry, because I'm opening back up for the evening here in a minute.

he shoved the rest of the sub into his mouth. Giveing him a thumbs up. he went back to flipping through channels to see if theirs anything worth taking

Lionel heard the pizza guy arrive, and waved for him to come in. "Finally, some food! And pizza too, hehehe..."

"did you order one large Stuffed crust meat lovers pizza And a large iced tea??" the large panther grumbled checking he got the right address. his amber eyes conect with lionels's

Lionel licked his lips, before actually looking up at the guy and realizing he towered over him. And realized he'd asked for their most delicious delivery guy. "Eh, hehe, yep! This is the place, let me just get the money..." Lionel was really hoping this guy didn't know about that, while he started digging through his wallet.

he raised an eyebrow before stepping closer. he even leaned forward and licked his lips "Did you say something"

"Nothing, just getting the money..." Oh god, the wallet was empty! He had to open the cash register now, and was fiddling with the lock nervously. "Hehehe, just a moment..."

"you alight there Lionel? you sound nervous..." jack rolled his head to look at them. His eyes widen as he noticed the delivery guy "oh damm hes jacked!! I thought you asked for their most delicious delivery guy" The panther leaned closer his warm breath tickeld his neck "is that true?"

"Ah, uh, I mean, well..." He was fumbling even harder with the key, dropping it. "Heh... I guess that'd be a compliment, right?"

"im not paid by the hour get a move on" he glared daggers into him. taping his foot slightly

"Rightrightright!" He reached for the key, only to accidentally make it tumble in between the floorboards and into the basement. Ooops... "Do, uh... do you take IOUs?" He was sweating bullets now.

"here! here I got you Lionel" Jack stood up and reached into the tv to grab his wallet from home. he walked over to pay for the pizza. He even left a tip the panther counted the money before setting the pizza and tea on the desk. he began to laugh "man the look look on your face!!! so glad I took that offer!"

"Ah, what a relief then, I was really worried I was about to be lunch for that, ha! I'll pay you back, Jack, no worries." (edited)

Jack tilted his head at the mention of a deal "deal? what deal are you talking about?" "oh dude I was picking up my pizza when they said it would be free if I delivered yours and acted all tough.."

"Oh! Well, I guess then I don't have to worry about getting eaten, huh? Thank you, then, and have a good day!" He still looked like he was trying to calm down after that little panic attack. It was just then that Tyler was walking in. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I'm here to help with the new finds. Mind showing me, Jack?" (edited)

"ah, right they are in this suitcase" He got up and grabbed the suitcase. clicking it open before handing it to Tyler "got these ones from space gangsters"

"Alright, this is a lot to go through." The tiger picked up the suitcase and sat down on the couch, going through some of them. "I've seen this before, this amulet. It's from an ancient civilization in that sci fi cartoon... you should be able to use it to treat mirrors the same as you do TVs, moving through them into alternate worlds to get from place to place. So there's that..." He continued searching through them, setting a pile of artifacts aside for selling. He also made sure to hand the mirror amulet to Jack.

"man... that's lame. They need this to imitate a fraction of my coolness?!" He scoffed. grabbing the amulet and studies it closely "i mean it dose look pretty cool" He opened the clasp and put it around his neck (edited)

"Hmm... we should try that out. Try walking through that big antique mirror over there." Tyler pointed to the big mirror next to the door to the back area.

"I swear if you are pulling my leg and i just bump into the mirror" *He stretched firmly before walking up to the mirror. He put his hand against the glass feeling his hand fazes through. he steps through only to come right out of it a second later? "I don't think that worked Tyler"

".sdrawkcab lla gniklat er'uoY ?taht ekil gniklat uoy era woH" Oh, that didn't sound good. "Right, I think you still need to have another mirror in mind, then you'll end up at it. Know of any other mirrors around here?

"I'm sure we have more in the back" He walked over to the shelfs. He ended up walking into a wall. he rubbed his head "ouch! wait... did we renovate?"

"I think you might have gotten yourself turned around. I think you should go back through the mirror before doing anything else..."

"no no.. im fine.. wait.... Tyler.. what's up with the mask?" He tilts his head. looking around noticing everything was off. Jack also seemed off. He sounded more collected. he stood up straighter

"Jack, you're all turned around." Tyler got up, wondering how to fix the issue. "Do you need to take that necklace off or something?"

"I dont know what your on about? Im fine" he raised his arms in surrender. Their was a tapping from the mirror. He turned around and walked over to the mirror in confusion. hands like his own pulled him into the mirror. The true Jack tumbles out shortly after. "that, I hated that!" (edited)

"Yeah, let's not do that again, then. There's... not much else here that looks too particularly useful. Mostly just good money!" (edited)

"Agreed! That was so wrong. everything was backwards and all opposite! Lionel was acting kinda like me and Tyler didn't cover his face." he sighed. taking off the amulet. he stumbled a little before collapsing onto the couch (edited)

"Need me to leave you be for a bit? You look dizzy." Tyler moved to the end of the couch to give Jack plenty of room, before realizing Jack was laying on the top of the couch, so he didn't need to move. (edited)

"no... you dont gotta move... what was going on over here? Their better not have been a fake me runing about. god my heads spinning" he groaned as he sprawled out limply in the top of the back rest

"Well, all is well now, at least. Think you need to rest for a bit?"

"mm maybe.. Lionel do you need any thing from me?? if not i think a power nap is in action" he yawned a little as he looked over at him. before he got a answer he passed out. And longer than expected. All the lights were off and the door locked since he could've left through the tv A pair of burglars were steaking out the place thinking everyone was gone One of them was a Maine Coon. She extended her claws and begin to try and pick the lock "im telling you. this place has some valuable finds"

The other guy, a Siamese cat, was acting as the lookout for the lockpicking. "That I don't doubt. It's the risk I'm more worried about, considering I've seen people come in here and never come back out during out stakeouts."

"Thats because you fell asleep by the time we switched out." she rolled her eyes. Not buying his concern one bit. Focusing more on picking the lock

The lock finally gave way, and the two could get inside now. "Just be quiet. I don't know what kind of security they have here beyond locks..."

"Just stick to the plan. Take what you can" she whispered while pulling a hood over her face. She immediately goes for the register, attempting to get it open Jack was still sleeping soundly. Despite being prone to rolling in his sleep he hadn't fallen off the back rest (edited)

"Let me see if I can find the spare key. I've seen them hide these things under furniture." The Siamese cat looked around under the couch, before taking a seat to try and check the cushions.

she looked through the drawers looking for anything that could've helped open the register or had value to it Jack rolled over onto the intruder. His arms wrapped around him. He grumbled softly "mhhh nice teddy..."

"Eep!" The cat was frightened, trying to pull himself away from the jaguar. It was probably a bad day to have picked the watermelon scented shampoo. "He's got me!"

her ear twitched and she instantly looked over at him in annoyance"You idiot. shut upp.. do you want to wake the neighborhood?" she said in a whispered shout. she snuck over to check what he was yelling about. her eyes widened slightly at the predicament he got himself into Their struggle didn't wake him completely but made him grumble and pull them closer. getting a whiff of that watermelon shampoo made him blep. He started licking them slowly. They had to be careful for another loud sound would likely wake the jaguar

The cat started quietly prying himself away from the jaguar, only to freeze in terror as he felt his pocket vibrate...

"FUCK YOU, BALTIMORE! If you're dumb enough to buy a new car this weekend, you're a big enough schmuck to come to Big Bill Hell's Cars!"

It was at full volume. It was the whole thing. The Siamese cat rushed to turn off his phone, only to see the woken-up jaguar in the reflection of his now turned-off phone. "...shit."

His eyes were still fluttering open. He grabbed the remote to turn the tv off when it was already off. the screen flashed to life with a commercial for some freaky hotline. making the room of noise louder

"call the phone freaks on the freak phone for freaky frightening fun call us now at 1900 490 F re a k and you'll get Full Tilt madcap wacky warp Madness"

he was now wide awake and verry confused on what was happening. *The main coon noticed the jaguar was about to bite her accomplice. She quickly pulled him off giving just enough time to get out from under him

The Siamese cat rushed to the door once he was freed, trying to open it - and for some reason, it wouldn't budge! He probably couldn't see the other side, where a late night customer had dropped off a big antique bookshelf to be donated.

"now isn't the time for games!! open the door!" she shouted as she ran to the door. Pushing against it but it wouldn't budge she went pale. "sh.. shit!" jack got up and stretched his stiff legs. "look, you can make this easier on yourself and put everything back where it was.. or i introduce you to a little friend"

The cat decided he would pick self defense, brandishing a small knife from his pocket. "You better stay the hell away, buddy!"

the main coon unsheathed her claws. lowering into a defensive stance "Two against one.. either your cocky or dumb to think that's going to end well" she threatened, trying to make herself seam bigger he raised his hands in surrender and acted a little threatened. "woah ok.. I hoped you were going to pick the former..." without raising too much suspicion he got up and switched the tape. He rolled into the screen. only to come back out and spit up another jack

"SHIT!" The Siamese cat backed up, looking around the room. This was about to get ugly. Without wasting too much time thinking, he dashed towards the bookshelf area - while it was a dead end, he could see there was enough room above the shelves to jump over when he needed to. Jaguars were pretty fast, but Domestics were the kings of parkour.

"what the hell?!" she froze in disgust and confusion before shaking her head and putting her guard back up. Her voice had the slightest tremble "neat little party trick. but it isnt going to stop up" the jacks smirked at each other before the copy leapt over the couch towards the Siamese. the original jack went to deal with the Maine coon

The Siamese cat rushed around one of the bookshelves, hoping to jump over the shelf. However, the exact shelf he expected to jump over was occupied by the jaguar leaping over it, right over him. "OH SHIT!"

the coppy landed on the siamese with his mouth open. Swallowing him whole. He began to move twards the original "man.. that was far too easy" the original had rammed into the main coon. Pushing her against the wall

The Maine Coon grumbled, looking over at the situation with her partner with wide eyes. "Shit! This is what I'm up against?!" She placed both feet against Jack's chest and kicked as hard as she possibly could to shove him away, and then darted for the back door.

he fell back dazed. The coppy winched as he watched essentially himself tumble to the ground. "shhit.. you good?" the original gave a thumbs up and slowly got up. They both ran after her

She made a mad dash for the back door, attempting to evade both jaguars to get there.

Jack got a better idea and went through the tv and exited from one in the back room. He got ready to ambush here once the door opens. The coppy kept chasing after her more as a distraction

The Maine Coon opened the door to the back area, rushing in to find any sort of back door. She wasn't having any luck, backing up into the big rear-projection TV near the back, which was on sale for $95.

Jack managed to pick her up and just barely toss her to the other jaguar. Huffing slightly as she wasn't exactly the lightest "man they make that look a lot easier" *he mumbled as he climbed out from the screen to lye behind the coppy who had the thief over his shoulders

The girl tried to fight back, even attempting to bite the jaguar, but she was just in too awkward of a position to actually do anything effectively. "Let go of me you CREEP!"

they both scoffed. "oh wahh wahh. Play the victim card..." the coppy said before falling backwards, preforming a Samoan drop into Jack's wide open mouth. Now that they were taken care of he got up and turned to the other jack. Giving him a higfive "so what should we do with them now??" Jack asked himself as they went back and forth with ideas. Settling on spitting them out in a folder on the computer

2:23 PM

The Siamese cat laid on the floor of the folder, grumbling. "That was absolutely horrible, man... I gotta learn how to do that myself, actually."

"Uggh!! That was a absolute clown show!!" she groaned while standing up. She brushed herself off before lifting him up by his collar "And its all your fault! Maybe if you payed more attention whe would've known not to fuck with a jaguar that can do..... whatever the hell that was!" she was about slash him when she heard a voice a glitchy brown wolf (not antro)stepped into the file. They had a popup over their right eye displaying a shocked aski emoji. They ran over to them and even toppled over the siamese. Their voice was glitch and almost childish "oh... o.....o. m geeeeee! Hiii aRe you new fre¡nds? Im ƏrrØR.exe but yoüs can call...c...c..call me eRror..... why ar you dre§sed li... l... like that? OOHH!! ar... u niNjAs???" their taill moved impossibly fast Jack smirked. He yawned loudly "that should be a fair punishment.. say. Thanks for the help me" they highfived and hugged each other before returning to their respective places. The coppy went back to the recoding while Jack dived through the screen to land on his soft bet back at home. He immediately fell asleep (edited)

The very next morning, Lionel and Tyler got to the store before hours and brought the bookshelf inside, moving it to the back room. Lionel took a seat at the front desk, opening up the laptop that was connected to the main computer to see if the store got any emails. But it looked like there was a new folder on his desktop, labeled "Thieves". Curious, he opened the folder. "What in the world?..."

in the folder was three little Shimejis. it had a main coon, Siamese, and a brown wolf? The wolf seamed to notice Lionel and waved excitedly. a notepad window apeared the same time that he spoke "oh h..He.. heLlo useR. I found.. So.. somE freinds" (edited)

"Interesting... here, I'll get a treat for you!" Lionel opened up a browser and downloaded a PNG of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and hash browns, before putting that PNG in the folder with Error. "Here you go! And as for you two..." Lionel talked with Tyler for a moment, before dialing Jack on the desk phone. Meanwhile, Tyler turned on the TV and set it to static for the time being.

error bleps happily. tapping his little paws "ooOoo Food!! YayyY ThAnkS user!!" they began to eat eat the images. Their taill wags fast just as it was about to go to voice mail he answered. His voice was a little groggy "Hello? Lionel?? its kind of early.. what do you need?"

"A new Oriental buffet just opened up downtown, and I have a tape with a full tour of the restaurant. It's yours if you can come over soon and help get me into this computer."

silence falls over the other end. he was sold at the mention of a buffet. there was some rustling "I will be there in five" After a while he hobbled out of the tv with a breakfast burrito in his mouth.. "allright what did you need?"

"I just need you to get me into the folder where you tossed those thieves, and I'll deal with them myself. Tyler will help open the store while I'm busy."

"mmh right right. I don't have a better way to do this soooo..." he awkwardly set his burrito aside and opened his mouth and ate Lionel. he crawled through the screen and climbed up the side of the folder. when he got inside he spat him out "i probably shoud head back and help open the store.. just holler when you want out" * he said before extiting the computer error was overjoyed he began to glitch more(not going to do the glitchy speak for convinence. they still doing it tho) "oooh more friends!! its like a party in here! Wait parties need music" they forced open a music player

The song that immediately played was the "Ready To Die x Party Party Party" mashup from Team Four Star's Hellsing Abridged. Grinning ear to ear, Lionel moved the music browser's window in the way of the folder, so nobody could see the supposed carnage as the sound of combat and yelling could be heard through the speakers over the music.

error tillts their head looking at the player "huh?? I didn't play that one??" they yelped loudly. the popup displayed a crying face "ha... hay!! stop noo!! Your hurting the friends!" jack sat at the desk. his eyes widening at the sound of the chaos "d.. damm.. not how i was expecting to start my day" he looked over at Tyler and let out a nervous laugh

Tyler just stared at the screen, probably smiling under his mask. After the song ended, and the fighting sounds stopped, the window was lowered to reveal both of the thieves tied up with Ethernet and USB cables. "Job's done. Come get us and I'll get these guys turned in. Sorry about that, Error."

he went back into the computer and efficiently ate all three. he turned to error and gave them a few scratches "sorry you had to see that buddy.." he left the computer. it still didn't get any easier the third time. He spat them out. picking back up the burrito and took a big bite out of it. "mhh that food better be wort it. I remember now why I usaly stick with tvs" (edited)

Lionel did the best to shake the saliva out of his fur, picking up the Siamese cat while Tyler picked up the Maine Coon. "We'll be back after we get these guys dealt with. The tape to the buffet is over there on top of the TV."

"alight take care, ill hold down the fort" he laughed. fliped the sign over to say they were closed. He put the buffet tape in and plopped onto his favorite spot on the couch (edited)

The others had headed out, leaving just Jack in the building. Probably time to check out that buffet!

"alight lets see what we have here!!" he rubbed his hands together and hit play. Watching it for a bit almost began to drool. Without thinking he walked through and instantly started filling his plate.

While getting food, there seemed to only be one egg roll left, with no telling how long it'd be until someone brought out more. Just at the same time as Jack grabbed the egg roll with tongs, someone else grabbed the other end of it from the other side of the buffet bar. The red fox outsider seemed hellbent on getting that egg roll, and tried pulling on it while tightly holding the tongs. (edited)

he didn't let go but didn't pull against them so it wouldn't tear in half. "excuse me.. I got to it first.."

"Nnnnno, I don't think you did, hun." She let go for just a second, long enough to snap at her opponent's fingers with the tongs to make him drop the egg roll! (edited)

"mhh hmm.. I'm not your hun" He yelped a little. he instinctively pulled away which launched the egg roll into the air. he tried to rip her tongs out of her hand with his tongs before jumping up to try to cath the airborn egg

With her tongs knocked away, the woman had to jump for the egg roll and reach with her hand, leaping into the air above Jack to do so.

he managed to swat her hand away which only sent the egg roll higher into the air. he lost his balance and fell backwards "n.. noo! its mine!"

She'd caught the egg roll with her other hand, but now was in mid air just above Jack! She'd land on him if he didn't do something about it... (edited)

he quickly rolled out of the way and got up. He grabbed at her wrist and pulled her hand towards his mouth

She froze up immediately, realizing the mistake she made. She sheepishly offered the egg role with her free hand.

he paused for a moment. expecting more of a fight but he happily accepted the egg roll "hey thanks... uhh have a good day" He walked off and sat down. he began to scarf down the mountain of a little bit of everything

After a big meal, it was probably about time to wind down for a bit before work. Through the TV screen, Jack could see Tyler come in and set some neat looking game console on the couch. (edited)

he got up and stretched. He grabbed a few thing to go before steping through the tv (edited)

The console was just sitting there, and it looked like nothing Jack had seen before. It looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, and it even came with a couple of controllers and a weird looking clamshell handheld.

"Oooh? What's this??" he crouched down and observed the console. Thinking for a minute he smirked "hmm.. I'm sure they won't mind if I do some quality control...." he decided to try and set it up. Humming a tune to himself as he did it

Looked like the blaster was here too, that little laser gun. It was probably pretty dangerous, maybe it had some safer settings?

"huh? I don't remember leaving this out." * he carefully picked up the blaster. noticing their was a dial on the side. he decides to turn it*

Looks like it had different settings! There was "Vaporize", "Freeze", "Shrink", "Grow", and "DO NOT USE".

"yah that is totally safe" he laughed awkwardly when he saw the 'DO NOT USE'. he sets it to shrink for now. He kept messing with the console till he got it to turn on

The console and its host both powered on just fine, coming to life on the TV with a flash of red text on a black background: Project Zenith. Something spun up inside the host device, perhaps a disk left behind by the original user, and it loaded a game to be played. Looked like the main menu screen had the interior of a nice personal starship in the background - meaning Jack could skip the load times and hop right in.

he slipped through the screen and started to explore the interior. When he stood by the pilot seat he stared at all the switches and controls scratching his head "hmmm. Probably should've done a tutorial..... uhhhhhhh. Ooh, Auto pilot!" he flips open the protective cover and turned the key to engage the autopilot, setting it to some interesting looking planet. He went back to exploring the interior (edited)

The interior of the ship was really small, actually. It was more of a vehicle than a home, that was for sure. After a bit of exploring, there was a notification from the ship comms. It seemed someone was trying to talk to Jack...

he looked around for a second before finding the button to accept the transmission or whatever was trying to talk with him "you have... made contact with... errr.. voyager jack" he said with a hint of uncertainly. trying to play the part wasnt easy when he didn't know what any of it does

"'Voyager' Jack? Is this some new nickname? Inquisitor Hawk isn't going to be happy if you keep playing games like this, Jackdaw. Where have you been, anyways?" Someone else came up on the comms. "This is Inquisitor Crow. Cut Jackdaw some slack, Finch. If I recall correctly, he just got his Zenith serviced. Which would also explain why your comms suddenly sound so crisp and high quality!"

he thought for a moment. trying to put himself in the shoes of this Jackdaw character. "ha! you got me. Just keeping the squad on their toes. Ya never know when something might try and imitate one of us" *he let go of the talk bouton and quicky searched through the storage for some uniform or anything to look the part

"Hah, as if." Crow seemed amused at the thought. "This game is uncrackable in LUME space, and it's designed to stop functioning entirely when it enters Grimalkin space. Not only that, but that password entry screen after the main menu is a lot more than a simple password. It silently activates the aura scanner on the Zenith, so... yeah, there's no getting past that." "Yeah. Inquisitor Raven developed parts of the system. Speaking of, we need to update you on some stuff." Finch switched to the tone of voice that sounded like he was reading something off. "Let's see here... looks like the Institute has some big intel that has them in a panic, and we want to find out what it is. That's not the kind of information they're going to leave out in the open, either, but it sounds massively important. Can you believe Hawk wants us to handle it?" "I almost can't believe it myself. She really trusts us. And since Jackdaw is the best cyberspace hacker we've got, we're in a much better position with him around. Jackdaw, I'm uploading coordinates to your ship for a server that'll act as a good access point. Any questions?"

his breath hitched at the mention of being 'the best cyberspace hacker they got'. That wasn't something you could pretend to be. he watches the autopilot reroute to the sent coordinates. already regretting this, and yet he knew he cant just give himself away. "What should we expect? h...h how well guarded is it? Do we know the type of system they are using?"

"Right, that would be important intel." Finch chuckled, looking it over. "It's an unmanned asteroid server with minimal security, they make these temporary little things for remote storage. You're gonna love this part - you're not even doing the heavy lifting. You see, there's a high security data storage center on Ganrin, and Inquisitor Bluejay is going to redirect its outgoing network connection to the server I'm sending you to. By the time the Institute figures out what's going on, you'll be long gone." Crow's mic was hot but silent for a moment, before he finally spoke. "Wait, why are we sending our best hacker to this middle-of-nowhere asteroid, while Bluejay has to do all the heavy lifting on Ganrin?" An exasperated sigh came from Finch's comms. "You're really hopeless with computers, aren't you, Crow? There's two very good reasons. One, Jackdaw can't do physical stealth for shit, while Bluejay could steal the whiskers off a Redliner. Two, and most importantly, the traffic coming to this asteroid is still going to be heavily encrypted. The Institute is going to be so busy chasing Bluejay that Jackdaw will have plenty of time to decrypt all the incoming traffic."

oddly he felt offended at the stealth remark but all the while relieved it wasn't some Mission Impossible shit. "Ouch! my stealth isn't that bad! Y... y your never going to let me live that down are you?" *He shook his head. He realized he still had to hack something, which he knew nothing abbout

The ship was beginning to approach the asteroid, now. Jack had no idea the lucky break he was about to get from Finch. "Man, can you imagine how easy it'd be to hack this shit if you could just bring in the little Zenith handheld? You could probably just plug it right into the servers and type run downcapture -stream on that little keyboard. No need for manual decryption, no password cracking, just a direct download." "Do you hear yourself? You sound like a real nerd, Finch." Sounds like Crow wasn't impressed. It was just now that the ship was landing on the asteroid, right next to the bunker entrance for the server room.

His eyes winded as he franticly looked for a screen of some kind. Anything he could use to quickly grab the hand held from the store. just as he was giving up hope he felt something in his side pocket. He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He had brought it without thinking about it "Hypothetically that could work. but in practice it wouldn't be feasible" He eventually found some space suit and began to put it on before stepping out

It was pretty quiet out here. Thankfully, the comms still came through in the suit. Inquisitor Crow came through just as Jack got to the door. "Better hurry, Jackdaw, Inquisitor Bluejay is almost in position." "This is Inquisitor Raven. We just got word from the Children of the Sun that they may have a traitor among their ranks. Be prepared to stop and search any Children of the Sun vehicles you pass by... and keep your comms clean! I'll monitor the connections for now, but I'll have to leave soon to pick up Bluejay. So when I leave, Crow is on opsec watch. Is this understood?" A defeated sigh could be heard from Inquisitor Crow. "Fine, I'll keep an eye on our connections. Who do you think it is, boys?" "My money is on the one with all the masks. He's sketch as fuck, man." Finch kept looking over at his comms, before sending Jack the door code for the bunker. "What about you, Crow?" "Personally? I think it's bad intel. Sounds like the Foundation is trying to fuck with us again - makes sense if you think about it. Redleaf is crawling with Sunsetters, and the Children have at least one operative there. That's my guess."

he entered in the code and began to sneak around carefully. Following any hint of where the server room was. his hand brushed against the blaster occasionally ready to fire it if needed. his interest piqued at the mention of Redleaf and masks. He assumed they were talking about Tyler "What's the deal with the children of the sun anyways? i...I...I've seen them about but never understood their ideals"

Finch was the first reply. "Man, Jackdaw, you're breaking up BAD. Sounds like that server room is rife with interference. You said something about what's up with the Children of the Sun?" His voice seemed to be cutting out pretty bad, but most of it was still picking up. Raven responded. "If you mean what their problem is lately, it's probably the fact that the Foundation and the Institute are both trying to kick their asses. Institute doesn't like their precious churches getting messed with, and the Foundation is convinced that the Inheritors - which includes the Children and us Inquisitors - are going to bring about doomsday." Crow spoke right after, not giving Jack a moment to speak. "They're not churches, Raven. They're called Steldoma, and they're the key to reliable cross-realm travel. Every planet in Grimalkin space has one, and with the Realmic Eclipse happening, they're the best way to move between Grimalkin and LUME. The Children of the Sun are the ones helping to turn these old places of worship into... how did you say it the other day, Nerd Supreme?" "Fast travel waypoints." The tired tone in Finch's voice was clear as day. "Yeah, that. And they're trying to build one in LUME, specifically in Redleaf. That opens the way for the Shining Inquisition to put the Foundation in a chokehold before they can stomp us out." Jack finally got to the server room, and there was a stray cable that looked like it plugged right in to the little port on the handheld!

he crouched down and plugged in the device and pulled down the keyboard typing in to run downcapture -stream. He watched as the screen started to scroll with lots of symbols and text that was just jargon to him. He kept looking behind his back making sure no one was there (edited)

There didn't seem to be anyone around. Inquisitor Raven came up on comms. "Bluejay is in position, Jackdaw is in position, everyone quiet!" Just now, the servers came to life with blinking lights as a massive download started. After a few moments of silence, something came up on the screen... dct

Raven stammered as the text came up on her screen. "I'm scanning this as it's getting decrypted... this is... unbelievable. This is not good at all. It's worse than I could have imagined." "What's going on?" Finch was starting to panic. "I can't read any of this shit, what is this?" Raven sighed. "The Interloper is back... no, it's... a new Interloper. Two of them, actually." "SHIT!" Crow could be heard slamming the panel of his ship's cockpit. "That's why the Foundation is all over the damn place! If we don't drive the Interlopers out before the Agents of Grimalkin find them..." "Agents of Grimalkin? The fuck is that?" Finch was even more panicked. Raven responded before Crow could. "The Steldomic Institute is split into two parts. The guys we're always fighting are the Redliners, but the other section is the Agents of Grimalkin. They were tasked with carrying out the will of the Interlopers and... him, before he vanished. If the Agents get their hands on the Interlopers, they might be able to bring him back... and he won't be too happy about us trying to take his old spot. We'll be wiped off the map at best." "And at worst?" Finch was audibly shaking. "Put that thought on hold. Inquisitor Bluejay chickened out of the planned chase. Turns out Evercog is more heavily armed than even Foxtrot Harbor. He's safe with me and we're making our way back to the rendezvous. Jackdaw, you need to get the FUCK out of there."

Once it was fully downloaded he unplugged it and made a run for it. his thoughts moved as fast as his legs. so many questions and yet no time for answers. the urgency in Raven's voice and all the new information shoved jack into the passenger. Adrenalin had taken the wheel.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, before Finch finally said something. "Could this shit get any worse?" "This is Inquisitor Jackdaw. I'm putting out an APB for my ship and my Zenith system. Had it stolen during repair work, turns out the repair guys were with the Institute and not Pulsar, soooo... yeah, anyone using my tech is a huge problem." The comms erupted into chaos. Time to GTFO!

he started to run faster he accidently hot miced. his frantic breaths and thoughts on full display

"f...f.ff.. Fu. fuck fuck fuck!!!! Im in too deep!! ITS NOT A GAME!! IT ITSNT A GAME.. I SHOULDNT BE HERE!!!"

He hopped into the star ship and pushed every button, every switch, every dial to try and get the thing off the surface and away from everything (edited)

A few button presses caused the screen on the ship to change. It was now showing the way out back through the TV! If Jack could squeeze through the screen, he was home free.

his eyes lit up at the familiar sight. he climbed onto the control panel to try and reach the screen. Still hot micing like a total fool

"y...y..Yes!! Luminous Lion! let me out... .LET ME OUUUT"

He eventually climbed through. Collapsing on the old rug. He let out the largest sigh of relief. He embraced and kissed the floor before realizing. he shot up spitting trying to get all the hairs out of his mouth

Well, looks like he was safe now. It was probably a good idea to get rid of the console now. But how? Where? It looked like Lionel wasn't at his desk either, maybe he was in the back. Or maybe upstairs.

he lyed there for a good few minutes trying to come down from that rush. Once he had some composure he tried to look for Lionel or Tyler. first checking the backroom then up stairs "Lionel?? Tyler?? ya there?"

As Jack walked into the back room and circled the middle shelves in search of Lionel, he would eventually find him in the middle of the center shelves. Lionel was stripped of his shirt and glasses, bound and gagged with his own torn clothes. Just as Jack stopped, he would feel the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head. "If you want to live, don't turn around." The voice wasn't anyone that Jack knew, at least. "You're going to answer some questions for me. Am I clear?"

he sharply exhaled. he slowly raised his hands in surrender. he glanced at Lionel then to the shelf In front of him the one they usually kept the old mirrors noticing they were missing. "a...a.al....alight I understand" He tried to speak calmy but his voice cracks a little (edited)

The man slowly walked around Jack, to face him. The gold-furred cat's yellow eyes seemed somewhat calm for someone holding a gun to someone's skull. The briefcase bore a symbol of a sunset, and below it was the text "The Sunset Foundation". "I'm going to need you to answer some questions. You're going to want to make this easy for me. After that, we're going to walk upstairs, and I'll have you perform a couple of... tests. I need to find out if you are who I think you are. Can you handle this?"

He glanced over at Lionel again feeling a pang of guilt. as if he somehow roped him into this. His eyes dart up to meet with the cat's. he swallowed hard. "y..y. YesS sir. j...j..JU....just don't harm Lionel"

"First question. Do you know what an Interloper is?" The stranger stood pretty much perfectly still, but his ears twitched as if he was listening for something quiet.

He thought for a moment before deciding to say it as it was "i...I.. i believe so?? s..s... something that d...doesn't belong somewhere? am...a.. Am I right?"

"Either you're a terrible liar, or I really do have the wrong guy. Or maybe, just maybe, I found you a little too early. Question two: Do you have any unique abilities?"

"Y...Y... yes... I... I can mo....m.. move through screens... A..A...a.. and I can interact and t...t...t .take things f..f....fr..from recordings.....d...d..do you w...w..want me to show you?" He started to turn to the back projection tv before stopping himself. Realizing that would've been a horrible idea.

"No thanks. I already unplugged that for my safety. Third and final-" His ears twitched again, this time blatantly, and he sighed. "Great, looks like we have to postpone this meeting. You will see me again." The front door could be heard opening. and the stranger started stepping away from Jack while keeping the gun pointed at him. "And don't try anything. It's about to get ugly out here." The stranger started to step into the front, when a big boot stepped out from the stairs and slammed the guy into the opposing wall. "STAY DOWN, KITTY CAT!" Heavily armored in rusted, junky gear, the guy (er, girl) that kicked the stranger down was quick to enter the front. She raised a weird looking firearm at the front door, waiting for someone to come inside. "STACK UP AND TRY, INHERI-DORKS!" Meanwhile, the guy coming down behind her rushed into the back room to help untie Lionel. "We're getting you guys out of here. I'm Kilo, and the crazy bitch with a nailgun and heavy boots is Uniform."

as he watched the situation escalate he let out a loud sigh that turned into a slight weep. He ran his hands through his fur "g.. god! Cant it be just another slow day at work!." after a moment he came to his senses and went to plug back in the tv "I... I could take us through the tv.. but id have to...... momentarily eat you..."

Kilo was helping Lionel get up. "Hey, everything will be back to normal tomorrow, unless you like wild adventures. And don't worry, we can get out the front after Uniform deals with those Inheritors." "DIE YOU A-O-G WANNABES!" -# A-O-G=Agent of Grimalkin "Oh yeah, she's having fun out there. Look, here's what you need to know. There's an old god that vanished long ago, and he had an outsider that worked with him called The Interloper. The Interloper vanished, but now it's back, and there's two of them. And there's a good chance you're one of them." (edited)

"m.. m.. me, Your yanking my leg!! Theirs no way I'm a Interloper..." his eyes widened. turning to look at Kilo with confusion. He tries to make sense of it all

"That's the thing, you aren't... awakened to it yet. Until you're awakened, you're just a regular Joe born under the right stars. But once you make that connection, you're the one, and nothing in this world can kill you. So, I'll play the part of Morpheus here. You just wanna wake up from this bad dream? Or do you want to stay in Wonderland and hop down the rabbit hole?" This is an important decision. There is no undo button here.

He thought for a moment. Feeling himself crack under the pressure. He slid down against the tv. holding his head in his arms. his vision blurred and his voice fractured between sharp sobs "Maaaan! I just want to be in control again! Im sorry Lionel... If its really me that they want im sorry for putting you in danger! I got too curious and played the game! I wasn't suppose to be there.. # God!! why dose it feel like my fault!"

Lionel didn't know what to say, staying silent. Kilo sighed, looing back out the door for a moment. "Hey, hey, things are going to be fine no matter what you pick. But if you want to be in control... well, you'll be one of the three most in-control people in existence. So if you say yes, then I've got a tape here for ya." Kilo pulled a tape out from his jacket handing it to Jack. "Since you can jump through TVs and shit. Take Lionel with you, of course. You'll get some peace and quiet where this leads." The VHS tape was, rather than black, entirely green. It was kind of odd, but it looked pretty cool. The label read "Grimalkin Manor".

he shakily took the tape and stared at it. IT had those weird glyphs from before yet he could understand them. He got up and walked over to Lionel. He gave him a firm hug for a frew minutes before shoving him into his mouth. he put the tape into the vcr and stepped through

On the other side of the tape was a hallway, one with dark wood floors, a plain white ceiling, and beautiful green wallpaper and elaborate wood wainscoting. The hallway looked quite... Victorian? It was quiet here, and there was an air of peace. Once on the other side, the way back was gone, replaced with a black VHS tape labeled "The Way Back." Well, that was handy. Lionel, meanwhile, was making sure not to move around too much. "Don't let me out just yet, I need to relax for a minute. Hope you don't mind. That was... a lot."

1:38 AM

Moved to #grimalkin-manor

1:38 AM