GREYBURN - INTO THE LABYRINTH

[DKender]

Babette-
"Heheh. You want a song? Don't mind if I do. Quinn is going mad, but I can sing a-capella."

The little babies were actually pretty cute once the teeny leetle knives came out.




Babette-
"Hm ... how does that Bopper favorite go? I have whisky in my heart. Wine in my mind. Doo doo. Oh, oh, what next? Quinn, you need to help me. You know Bopper so well."

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

The Piano Man-
"Yahhhhh! No! I can't! I mustn't! I shan't! I-I--"



BopperBug(s)-
"♪♫ Ooh ooh 'yanatha rockin' eve' alo-o-one! ♪♫"

The Piano Man-
"No."


BopperBug(s)-
"♪♫ Ye dana call me anna tellyfo-o-one! ♪♫"

   
The Piano Man-
"This ends now!"

[DKender]

Babette-
"My starry pantaloos. Um. Quiiiin. Put it down. No need for, er, violence."

Babette reached behind her and grabbed a hand full of viscera. In the worst case scenario, she wasn't afraid to throw guts.




Babette-
"What did your buddy Bopper say? We can all get along with a little lovin rockinroll."

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

BopperBug(s)-
"♪♫ Ooh ooh yaye onleh wanna be with yoo-oo-oo ♪♫"




BopperBug(s)-
"♪♫Me rockin' babby boo-oo-oo! ♪♫"

   
The Piano Man-
"Enough of these abominations against PROPER MUSICAL STYLINGS!
YOU AREN'T EVEN IN TUNE!!!"

WHANG WHANG WHANG!

The Piano Man slammed the axe into the viscera, spraying goo and piano parts everywhere. The Bopper Bugs discorporated into cheery vapor, and the piano listed to one leg.

The waters lapped the stage faster now, perhaps incensed by the attack against its hearth spirits, or perhaps enlivened by the energetic bopping. A wave formed in the distance, gaining speed as it came closer.

[DKender]

Babette-
"Fixed your piano problems ..."

Babette dropped the glob of guts she'd been holding, her eyes widening as the wave approached. At least it would wash away the spray of piano slaughter.

But no wave could remove the memories of all the scary junk she just witnessed. Alarmingly, Quinn was not unattractive when he was destroying a piano. All that rage against a classical instrument. How punk.


Babette-
"It's a blessing we don't need to breathe. Will you kiss me goodbye? Eh, eh? This is me being fresh, by the way."

She kept an eye on the ax, in case he tried to lob off her head instead. Unlike the fuzzybabies, she wasn't an illusion.

Or ... or was she?!

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

The Piano Man dropped the axe with a clatter.

The Piano Man-
"Oh no, dearie-- ah- oh-- it's too much!"

The wave drew closer, taller and wider and more powerful!

The Piano Man-
"I may, I may-- lose control! Go wild!"

Tall as a car, a truck, a humble one story brownstone for poor people!

The Piano Man-
"Perhaps--- I may-- ah--"

He reached out to touch Babette's hand ---!!

[DKender]

(( I imagine him giving her a little poke like BOOP))


Babette-
"Oh my. You're a beast."

In a bout of unbridled passion, SHE GAVE HIS HAND A KISS.


Babette-
"Au revoir."

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

(( Ahahaha! ))

The Piano Man-
"I-- I am--"

WHUSHHHHHHHH!

The great tidal wave over took them as though a metaphor for their unbridled sexual tension! Babette spun in circles under the water, sheets of literature flapping in her face like a ticker tape parade. She found a cord-- a lifeline-- well, it was a string of intestines from the piano, and pulled herself aboard the ruined thing, that now floated along like a gory life raft. The Piano Man was nowhere to be seen, perhaps sunken to the bottom of the sea to atone for his great carnal sin. The world beyond the waves was dark, though if she strained her eyes, Babette could see a shore in the distance and silhouetted pines.

[DKender]

Babette-
"I'm ... I'M COMING, ANSELM! Can you hear me?!"

She leaned over the edge of the gore piano and tried to paddle closer to shore with her bare hands. Had the water washed her outside the abbey? No, no, she must still be in the labyrinth! It was all make-believe!

That didn't alleviate her fears. O! What monsters lurked in the ink black water (besides Quinn)? What slender men with murderous intentions waited in the pines (besides Greyburn)?

It was still more fun than sword practice with Ellen.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Babette paddled as fast as she could, the dark forest drawing closer at sluggish pace despite her best efforts. The piano sagged in the water as the shore approached, and just as she leapt from it to the land, it sank with a sludgy blop. The shore was stony and ringed with cattails, a rickety dock led into the shadowy forest. Pine trees stretched up to the flat black sky, unseen birds whipped and whooped. Babette thought she could see something pale and yellow slipping between the branches...

[DKender]

Babette wrapped her arms around herself, mimicking a cold human. Carefully, she stepped from rock to rock. Her movements took her closer to the forest, though she stopped well outside the treeline.

Babette-
"Is that you, Ellen?"

She squinted, concentrating on the trees, afraid to go closer.

Babette-
"Clovis? Chloë? Won't you come out?"

She scooped a rock from the ground and chucked it at a tree.


Babette-
"If it's Billy, I'm still angry at you!"

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Whip whip whip! A strange bird chirruped in the trees. As Babette drew closer, she could see that the pines were formed by destroyed books, the trees made of painted papier-mache, the needles of shredded pages. The ferns and grass that swayed along the roots were likewise torn and ruined papers.

She saw it again-- that shape, darting between the trees. A tiny creature peered from behind a trunk.

The Bunman-
"Pft, who the fuck is in my forest?"

[DKender]

Babette-
"Heh. Heheheh. Didn't you used to be taller, Darling? What's with the cold greeting?"

Right. She still looked like Anselm. ALAS. Babette had grown weary of explaining her predicament.


Babette-
"My name is Anselm. I'm from the land beyond your storybook forest. Have you seen a sexy woman named Babette? Perhaps you remember her from the movie Lychgate? She was kidnapped by Lord Greyburn, and I'm really quite concerned! You'll help me find her, right?"

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

The Bunman-
"Shit! You tryin' to step into my territory, bruh?"

The bunnyman pulled a knife out from behind one of his floppy ears.

   
The Bunman-
"This is bunboy turf, dogg. Best recognize.
Fuck! It's for real."

[DKender]

Babette-
"What? Do I need to pay a toll? A toll to the Bunboy to cross his fairybook forest? You're out of luck. I lost all my spare change during the flood. Let me pass. Don't test me! I'll kick your fluffy tail."

She put her hands on her hips. Bunboy didn't scare her! It was technically very difficult to be afraid of bunnies, even Jason-ish ones.