A Bizarre New World, Chapter One: Cat’s In The Cradle

[The Dog]

As Jinny watched Boris leave the bus stop cafe, she couldn't help but think her thoughts out loud, "He's kidding, right?"

Jamie gave a sigh as she responded "Unfortunately, I don't think so... Though I can understand where he's coming from. It's not easy having people mock you about something innate to yourself."

[MrSandman]

"You're a Joestar, too?" Gula asked, resisting the urge (for now) to resume the line of questioning from earlier. "Wow, that's crazy! I mean, I've heard some rather salacious stories from my aunt, but I didn't pay them any mind even when investigators looking into them all but confirmed they were true. But being in the same room with eleven of your half-siblings and their collective stepmother... well, that's an experience no amount of report readings can really prepare you for."

"..I never said I was...." Lucy frowned. "That was your assumption........I mean I am, but pleas be careful. You wouldn't wish to mistake any common thug as your family."

Boris calms down." Yeah, I don't want to get riled up and start a scene. Guy, should count himself lucky I usually end up killing people who make fun of my size. Mainly because I often go berserk," Boris said.

Boris then grabs his roller suit case and heads towards the door.

"....." Lucy watched the man leave, and given everything he had been saying in the background since he arrived, had to question the current climate of the mafia.

Was a shame too, she hadn't yet delved into munckin jokes.

Finished with her eggs, Vivian burped appreciatively before shambling towards the doors for a post snack cigarette.

She wasn't sure where that reporter had gone, or why there were so many people standing around in the Truck Stop, but that didn't really matter. Surely one of them would know what to do, when the time to ship out for that reading came around.

"... wonder what the man even left me."

"An extended family of eccentrics..." Lucy answered, close enough to catch her statement. It seemed to be an attempt at humor, but the girl quickly passed by as if she hadn't said anything at all.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Weird bunch, Sandra thought as she slipped outside with her bags. She had stuck $40 under her plate to pay for her meal, plus extra for Nancy, as dictated in a hastily scrawled note the money was wrapped in. Far be it for her to skip out of a check after the cook went through the trouble of cooking up every ever made for that pointy hat ****.

She was only paying for her ****, too, which was also mentioned in the note.

She lit up another cigarette and took a deep inhale. All this **** and not an ounce of beer to deal with it. "Verdammt," she grunted before sighing. And from the sounds of that mystery Lockheed - or whatever the **** his name was - was talking about, it didn't sound like she was going to be able to skip town any time soon. "Fucking sheisse."

[Tami]

Jamie gave a sigh as she responded "Unfortunately, I don't think so... Though I can understand where he's coming from. It's not easy having people mock you about something innate to yourself."

She acknowledged the truth behind her words with a silent glance and slightly pursed lips before turning and heading outside, her suitcase's wheels making a quiet noise as it passed over the floor.

Once outside, she looked at the bus, then at the small gathering of others who were also anxious to move on, to find out if this trip was worth the effort or not.

Finding a spot alongside the outside wall, she leaned against it and waited for the others to emerge from within the building.

[grampagen]

It seemed that their newly anointed Stepmum had her hands in a lot of mess at the moment. Yet even though she had come this far for some kind of answer, when Debra showed up, her lips tightened and her throat dried up.

"...sorry for your loss?" Bloody nice thing it is to say to a widow, Susan.

Rather swiftly she'd found herself on the outs as a deluge of questions from the mingling bunch began to pepper in their picks and purposes, receding a few steps to the sidelines as the movement seemed to pick up towards that strange tourbus up front.

Might as well be a man without direction.

"I see..." It was clear that she was relieved not to hear who this man's mother was.

"Your father was a man who respected each one of his lovers. He made no attempt to hide who he was and his past which... made things easier to accept."

Fleetwood Mac, having remained quiet during this, smirked, "Like accepting the fact that you were going to be just another one of those notches?"

Before Debra or the reporter could react, Domo had lunged forth, seizing Fleetwood by the neck and held him aloft.

"No, Domo! He's not worth it!" Debra shouted, prompting her bodyguard to reluctantly drop him on the floor.

When the bodyguard dropped Fleetwood, while his attentions went elsewhere Suzie shuffled over to his side. By the sound of it, he'd been following this scoop about Johannes Joestar for a while and something got under the skin of the Estate there.

"Mate, you alright?" She asked as she knelt down.

A mite crude, but I can't say unwarranted, necessarily.

"I take it you lot been at odds for some time?"

Toby tipped his hat in greeting "Yes ma'am. You another one of his runts?"

Moreover, Toby Keith's casual embrace of the bunch dropped right into his hands, besides his willingness to drive without an address, was to her sensibilities offputting in spite of the minger's smile and folksy demeanour.

So they knew, Debra n' them. They knew we'd be here, and not just that, they knew we were out here.

Either there was a play for...Father's Estate, or they'd been giving rather exacting, coordinated instructions to a tee.

...could it be this is why the transit's stopped? They could get at us alone? But if they wanted us gone, that Domo bloke would've done us...?

"Oh-ho... well I wasn't talkin' to you but you're definitely the runtiest of the runts."

"Enough!" Debra snapped, "Look... let's just... get on the bus so we can get where we're going and get this over with..." By the time she was finished with her sentence, Debra's weariness was palpable. Almost on cue, the last two passengers had exited the bathroom; one was a punkish looking man with a mohawk while the other was messy-looking youth wearing a much too baggy hoodie.

"Well, it's about time ya two. Thought the lot lizards might have gotten to ya, hah!" Laughing to himself, Toby dismissed his previous goal of aggravating Boris and stepped outside to his bus.

...and what about the others that were on the way toward-

Suzie's thoughts were plucked out of her head as a bit of a row began to start up at Toby's remark, and in the space betweenher dark lips, white teeth clenched nervously.

"...Mac," she hastily asked the reporter, "You gonna tail along?"

On paper, they may have been family, but they weren't much more that strangers, and on this side of the pond, she was utterly alone. If there could be one link to the outside of the Joestar clique, she might take a gamble with this man.

[Noldere]

"..I never said I was...." Lucy frowned. "That was your assumption........I mean I am, but pleas be careful. You wouldn't wish to mistake any common thug as your family."

...

"Are you sure you don't want anything else to eat while we're still here?" Gula asked after a couple of moments of something at least resembling comtemplation. "The cook's probably out for the rest of the day, but the other stuff's not bad either. At the very least, putting something else in your stomach may very well help solve the trouble you're having remembering your own words."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

She acknowledged the truth behind her words with a silent glance and slightly pursed lips before turning and heading outside, her suitcase's wheels making a quiet noise as it passed over the floor.

Once outside, she looked at the bus, then at the small gathering of others who were also anxious to move on, to find out if this trip was worth the effort or not.

Finding a spot alongside the outside wall, she leaned against it and waited for the others to emerge from within the building.

Outside the building, Boris looks at the bus and then looks over to Jinny. " I've been mocked and bullied all my life because of my size. When you're bullied and mocked constantly for something innate to you, you develop anger issues because of it," Boris said.

[Tami]

Outside the building, Boris looks at the bus and then looks over to Jinny. " I've been mocked and bullied all my life because of my size. When you're bullied and mocked constantly for something innate to you, you develop anger issues because of it," Boris said.

She wasn't quick to respond, even hesitant to do so. Then the words came to her, seemingly of their own volition, "I'm not a student of psychology. I can only say what comes from experience."

"It has always seemed to me that, when a person gets angry at others, it is usually because they are angry at themselves, for various reasons. Feeling helpless, for example." she was going to say more on this but held back, "There is too much beauty in the world to only see the dark side." as she spoke, she looked ahead, past the bus, and out onto the vast expanse of land and sky beyond the road, "Consider, when you feel angry, is it worth it? Sometimes it is, and other times the object of your anger might not be."

"Everyone gets angry, what you do with that anger is more important."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

She wasn't quick to respond, even hesitant to do so. Then the words came to her, seemingly of their own volition, "I'm not a student of psychology. I can only say what comes from experience."

"It has always seemed to me that, when a person gets angry at others, it is usually because they are angry at themselves, for various reasons. Feeling helpless, for example." she was going to say more on this but held back, "There is too much beauty in the world to only see the dark side." as she spoke, she looked ahead, past the bus, and out onto the vast expanse of land and sky beyond the road, "Consider, when you feel angry, is it worth it? Sometimes it is, and other times the object of your anger might not be."

"Everyone gets angry, what you do with that anger is more important."

" I don't know when I feel angry if it's worth it or not." All I know is whenever someone makes fun of my size. I feel rage," Boris said.

" As a kid, I was pushed into lockers. I was picked last on games because I wasn't as tall as the other kids. As a kid, I felt like my peers looked down on me," Boris said.

[Yun Lao]

When the bodyguard dropped Fleetwood, while his attentions went elsewhere Suzie shuffled over to his side. By the sound of it, he'd been following this scoop about Johannes Joestar for a while and something got under the skin of the Estate there.

"Mate, you alright?" She asked as she knelt down.

A mite crude, but I can't say unwarranted, necessarily.

"I take it you lot been at odds for some time?"



...and what about the others that were on the way toward-

Suzie's thoughts were plucked out of her head as a bit of a row began to start up at Toby's remark, and in the space betweenher dark lips, white teeth clenched nervously.

"...Mac," she hastily asked the reporter, "You gonna tail along?"

On paper, they may have been family, but they weren't much more that strangers, and on this side of the pond, she was utterly alone. If there could be one link to the outside of the Joestar clique, she might take a gamble with this man.

"I'm fine," Fleetwood said, brushing himself off. He looked like he wanted to say more, but the previous altercation with Domo seemed to have stayed his tongue.

Instead, the reporter made his farewells, "I think I've got enough material for the time being..." Leaning in towards Suzie, he whispered something to the girl before backing away and walking to a nearby car. "I'll be seeing you around, Joe-kids."

[Yun Lao]

"'Bout time," Toby Keith said as the last of them stepped onto his bus, closing the door behind them. To those stepping it, they would find that the interior was a stark contrast to the vehicle exterior. Whereas the touring bus displayed scratches, dents, and faded paint, the insides were luxurious, with leather seating, a small bar, and various other amenities to comfort one on a long ride. An additional click behind the last of them would bring notice to the privacy door that Toby had closed, separating the driver from the passengers. As the others found their seats, they found that the two anti-social men from before had taken up the very last row, even bumping through the others just to reach it, but aside from the unnecessary rudeness, there appeared to be nothing else amidst.

"All righty folks, get comfy and ol' Toby will get ya where ya need to be in a jiffy!" Came Toby's voice over an intercom.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

OT: Nice to see that you're well, Yun.

[Tami]

"'Bout time," Toby Keith said as the last of them stepped onto his bus, closing the door behind them. To those stepping it, they would find that the interior was a stark contrast to the vehicle exterior. Whereas the touring bus displayed scratches, dents, and faded paint, the insides were luxurious, with leather seating, a small bar, and various other amenities to comfort one on a long ride. An additional click behind the last of them would bring notice to the privacy door that Toby had closed, separating the driver from the passengers. As the others found their seats, they found that the two anti-social men from before had taken up the very last row, even bumping through the others just to reach it, but aside from the unnecessary rudeness, there appeared to be nothing else amidst.

"All righty folks, get comfy and ol' Toby will get ya where ya need to be in a jiffy!" Came Toby's voice over an intercom.

Taking a seat, Jinny looked around and took in what she saw. One time, long ago when she was still a kid, her mother took her to a concert. Afterwards they were invited inside the band's tour bus. It was similar, yet not nearly as luxurious as this one was.

"Any idea how long this ride will take?"

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"'Bout time," Toby Keith said as the last of them stepped onto his bus, closing the door behind them. To those stepping it, they would find that the interior was a stark contrast to the vehicle exterior. Whereas the touring bus displayed scratches, dents, and faded paint, the insides were luxurious, with leather seating, a small bar, and various other amenities to comfort one on a long ride. An additional click behind the last of them would bring notice to the privacy door that Toby had closed, separating the driver from the passengers. As the others found their seats, they found that the two anti-social men from before had taken up the very last row, even bumping through the others just to reach it, but aside from the unnecessary rudeness, there appeared to be nothing else amidst.

"All righty folks, get comfy and ol' Toby will get ya where ya need to be in a jiffy!" Came Toby's voice over an intercom.

Boris takes a seat on the bus.

[Jcogginsa]

John took his seat without comment. By happenstance, he was sitting next to Boris. He hadn't paid the man much mind when they were waiting, so he didn't know much about him.