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Today, 03:42 AM
Authors Note:
Strike Out! Chapter 4
[CW: someone being a bit weird about someone being trans, accidental deadnaming, body horror]
Ugh... Waking up was an ordeal. The bed was nice, too nice. Plus I had a headache. I couldn't find it in myself to move for the longest time, but eventually my need to use the bathroom overcame my laziness. Waking up in a cartoon house felt like I was still dreaming, so it was extra disorienting.
Checking the clock revealed it was... 2PM. Fuck. I found a note in the kitchen, the Rabbits(surname, not species) were both at work today. I rummaged around their cupboards and bathroom for some ibuprofen, but found none, just a few nonsense medicines like literal snake oil, and a bottle that just had a skull and crossbones on it. Of course living cartoons wouldn't have painkillers, they can spring back from any injury.
I made myself something to eat and considered my options. I still needed somewhere more permanent to stay, and a source of money without having documentation. So far, no world I've been to could offer that. So far I've been to three worlds and one of them was Silent Hill. I supposed I could find a job, there were probably plenty of jobs that didn't mind paying in cash, especially in the 1940s, but I didn't plan to stick around, so there was no point.
I also racked my brain for ways to leverage the fact that I had a modern day universe and a 1940s universe to make money, but any scheme I could think of was at best medium term. So I settled on checking out new places.
Stepping outside the Rabbit's house there were stars buzzing in the back of my head from all over Toontown. I just plucked the one centered on Roger's house and disappeared in a bolt of lighting, not caring if anyone saw. It was Toontown, who gave a shit?
*BOOM*
The first thing I noticed was that things looked strange, in this world. Colors seemed more vibrant, light danced in weird ways, almost like the world was painted. But I couldn't be sure because of the actual place I found myself in.
At first, I thought it was a forest in autumn, but the trees were coniferous, like pine trees, just with red needles. Then I noticed the alien ambiance, animal cries that were like nothing else I'd heard. And some stuff that sounded disturbingly like screaming.
I could have called the world a bust like Silent Hill, but despite how unnerving it seemed, there was also something... magical about it. This was truly another world, something alien, something exciting. So I pressed on, walking downhill in hopes to find civilization.
My walk led me by humongous bugs, plants with... teeth?, and even something I swear was a fairy in the distance. Eventually the trees parted and I saw something magnificent.
It was a fantasy village, no, a town. Quaint houses shared the space with towering cathedrals and an imposing fort. The town was nestled on the coast in the depression between sets of truly gargantuan bones that curved up into the air like skyscrapers. There was even what I think was an aqueduct running over the town built from giant bones with massive banners hanging from it...
Oh. I know that sigil. A winged sword on a golden triangle. I was in The Boiling Isles. In The Owl House.
I had to take sit down at that. Magic. Real magic, not weird cartoon bullshit. Well ok it was weird cartoon bullshit but not weird Toon bullshit. The point is: I was in a lovingly rendered fantasy world filled with mystery and magic and...
And if those banners were still up, it also meant the plot to kill everyone on the isles by a megalomaniacal immortal witch hunter and the godchild he tricked into helping him hadn't happened yet. Okay. So, some good, some bad. But I still had time. I could fix things again.
I pulled my hood up to cover my ears. Didn't want to stick out amongst the witches(species, not profession(elves, really)) and demons.
The town was enchanting when it wasn't horrifying. Pulsing flesh mounds that patched cobblestone, a store that sold every kind of crystal ball or mirror you could think of, a giant rolling egg that hatched at buss stops to let passengers on and off, Bat winged sneakers worn by teens doing magically animated graffiti on a wizard's tower, a bus sized centipede with a baby's face, A massive cathedral of a library where books flew between shelves, █████ the █████████ destroyer of █████ ████ ███████ and ████ █████ it's visage unknowable, and everything had a face or teeth or horns or eyes for some reason. And I don't mean decorative stuff, this was biological. The eyes followed people and blinked.
I stopped when I found a store that had active crystal balls in its front display window, broadcasting the news like a TV. That should tell me about where I was in canon. I just had to sit through a sports segment about lower than expected fatalities this Volleybomb season. I decided to ignore the implications of that.
The newscaster started talking about The Day of Unity preparations. Oh. Oh, that was bad, the day of unity was the season two finale and lead up to the three special episodes that comprised the entire rest of the series because of its cancellation. More directly, it was the day when the evil emperor Belos aka witch-hunter what's his face(I haven't seen the show in a while ok?) would use a massive spell to kill everyone unless he was stopped. And something worse ended up happening when he was stopped in canon. The Day of Unity would nearly doom them all.
"And just Sixteen days until the day that saves us all! Back to you, Breant-" the tinny sound of crystal ball informed me before I started walking away.
I think that's all I'd get from the news. I needed better intel, I needed a wiki trawl. Ugh that means going back to Boyfriendverse. I did pick up a connection to an unknown world at the library, so I could just forge ahead. I had sixteen days to do something about this one, right?
But what if what happened when I showed up in Roger Rabbit happened again? I was two for two on entering worlds mid-plot. That didn't feel like a coincidence. I bet dollars to donuts that something was going down in Silent hill too, I just didn't stick around.
With that decided I blasted back to the Boyfriendverse(I really needed a better name for that place), and took the bus back to the Library. I was about to do the whole song and dance I did last time to get internet access without a library card when-
"█████? Is that you?" my blood froze when I heard my deadname and realized the librarian I was walking up to was none other than...
"Devon?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't seen him since grade school. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I wasn't this world's Aster, I had to keep that in mind. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect you here."
"Me either, Man, I can't believe I haven't seen you since Mother of Mercy." Devon said, shaking his head. "How are you doing?"
"Ok, I got by Aster now, by the way. My pronouns they/them." I said, hoping he wouldn't make a big deal out of it.
"Oh wooooooow-" oh god he was making a big deal out of it, "-That makes so much sense in retrospect, with how you never really fit in and all the teachers gave you special attention."
"Devon, that's because I was autistic, not because I was trans" I said, having pinched the bridge of my nose and knocked my glasses down a bit. I sighed and pushed them back up.
"Right right, I just meant like, I dunno... It chafed? For you there. You were always reading or drawing or something, and you didn't have many friends."
"It would have helped if the friends I actually had wouldn't lie to avoid hanging out." I said without thinking. Shit.
"Woah, calm down." Devon said, putting his hands up, "My parents never wanted you over, ok? Not exactly thrilled they screened who I could be friends with either."
"Sorry, I'm not here to dig at old wounds, or however you say that. Can you just get me an access code so I can use the internet? I lost my wallet and my phone's fried, so I don't have my library card or my password manager, so I can't really identify myself for you."
"I can print you a new card, since I know who you are. Not 'supposed' to do it, but whatever, you're you. Is your account under the name Aster Moore or did you change the last name too?"
On the one hand, I'd be basically stealing someone else's identity. On another, if I ever manage to get in contact with my other me, I'll get them a real master sword or something as a gift. I accepted the new card and not only do a wiki dive, but also check out a box set of The Owl House on Blu-ray. I put it in a free library tote bag and went outside and out of sight to Lightning Strike the hell out of there.
"What the fuck?" Aster said, squinting at their phone.
Daniel paused his Zelda game on the big screen to look over at his partner. He sat there for a second before raising an eyebrow and gesturing for them to go on.
"It's an email from the library back in Cincy. They said they printed me a new library card? Am I getting my identity stolen?"
"Something like that has happened to me before, hun. Just call and set things straight, if it gets any more complicated I can help, I know you've got a low tolerance for Bureaucracy."
"-and math!" Aster joked.
Then their phone buzzed in their hand, a new email popping up.
"Shit, my evil twin is checking out a box set of The Owl House."
"Oh, we should watch that together at some point, Hun. I never actually finished it after the news of its cancellation came out. Got too mad about it."
"Sure, but I better call the library right now to get this sorted." Aster sighed, sliding down in their chair.
"And I'll add the show to our home media server while you're at it." Daniel said, pulling his laptop off the coffee table.
"If I didn't know I'm gonna need a relaxing cartoon after this phone call I'd call your priorities wack, Bunny. Instead, I'll just say awww and prepare myself for phone hell."
[CW: someone being a bit weird about someone being trans, accidental deadnaming, body horror]
Ugh... Waking up was an ordeal. The bed was nice, too nice. Plus I had a headache. I couldn't find it in myself to move for the longest time, but eventually my need to use the bathroom overcame my laziness. Waking up in a cartoon house felt like I was still dreaming, so it was extra disorienting.
Checking the clock revealed it was... 2PM. Fuck. I found a note in the kitchen, the Rabbits(surname, not species) were both at work today. I rummaged around their cupboards and bathroom for some ibuprofen, but found none, just a few nonsense medicines like literal snake oil, and a bottle that just had a skull and crossbones on it. Of course living cartoons wouldn't have painkillers, they can spring back from any injury.
I made myself something to eat and considered my options. I still needed somewhere more permanent to stay, and a source of money without having documentation. So far, no world I've been to could offer that. So far I've been to three worlds and one of them was Silent Hill. I supposed I could find a job, there were probably plenty of jobs that didn't mind paying in cash, especially in the 1940s, but I didn't plan to stick around, so there was no point.
I also racked my brain for ways to leverage the fact that I had a modern day universe and a 1940s universe to make money, but any scheme I could think of was at best medium term. So I settled on checking out new places.
Stepping outside the Rabbit's house there were stars buzzing in the back of my head from all over Toontown. I just plucked the one centered on Roger's house and disappeared in a bolt of lighting, not caring if anyone saw. It was Toontown, who gave a shit?
*BOOM*
The first thing I noticed was that things looked strange, in this world. Colors seemed more vibrant, light danced in weird ways, almost like the world was painted. But I couldn't be sure because of the actual place I found myself in.
At first, I thought it was a forest in autumn, but the trees were coniferous, like pine trees, just with red needles. Then I noticed the alien ambiance, animal cries that were like nothing else I'd heard. And some stuff that sounded disturbingly like screaming.
I could have called the world a bust like Silent Hill, but despite how unnerving it seemed, there was also something... magical about it. This was truly another world, something alien, something exciting. So I pressed on, walking downhill in hopes to find civilization.
My walk led me by humongous bugs, plants with... teeth?, and even something I swear was a fairy in the distance. Eventually the trees parted and I saw something magnificent.
It was a fantasy village, no, a town. Quaint houses shared the space with towering cathedrals and an imposing fort. The town was nestled on the coast in the depression between sets of truly gargantuan bones that curved up into the air like skyscrapers. There was even what I think was an aqueduct running over the town built from giant bones with massive banners hanging from it...
Oh. I know that sigil. A winged sword on a golden triangle. I was in The Boiling Isles. In The Owl House.
I had to take sit down at that. Magic. Real magic, not weird cartoon bullshit. Well ok it was weird cartoon bullshit but not weird Toon bullshit. The point is: I was in a lovingly rendered fantasy world filled with mystery and magic and...
And if those banners were still up, it also meant the plot to kill everyone on the isles by a megalomaniacal immortal witch hunter and the godchild he tricked into helping him hadn't happened yet. Okay. So, some good, some bad. But I still had time. I could fix things again.
I pulled my hood up to cover my ears. Didn't want to stick out amongst the witches(species, not profession(elves, really)) and demons.
The town was enchanting when it wasn't horrifying. Pulsing flesh mounds that patched cobblestone, a store that sold every kind of crystal ball or mirror you could think of, a giant rolling egg that hatched at buss stops to let passengers on and off, Bat winged sneakers worn by teens doing magically animated graffiti on a wizard's tower, a bus sized centipede with a baby's face, A massive cathedral of a library where books flew between shelves, █████ the █████████ destroyer of █████ ████ ███████ and ████ █████ it's visage unknowable, and everything had a face or teeth or horns or eyes for some reason. And I don't mean decorative stuff, this was biological. The eyes followed people and blinked.
I stopped when I found a store that had active crystal balls in its front display window, broadcasting the news like a TV. That should tell me about where I was in canon. I just had to sit through a sports segment about lower than expected fatalities this Volleybomb season. I decided to ignore the implications of that.
The newscaster started talking about The Day of Unity preparations. Oh. Oh, that was bad, the day of unity was the season two finale and lead up to the three special episodes that comprised the entire rest of the series because of its cancellation. More directly, it was the day when the evil emperor Belos aka witch-hunter what's his face(I haven't seen the show in a while ok?) would use a massive spell to kill everyone unless he was stopped. And something worse ended up happening when he was stopped in canon. The Day of Unity would nearly doom them all.
"And just Sixteen days until the day that saves us all! Back to you, Breant-" the tinny sound of crystal ball informed me before I started walking away.
I think that's all I'd get from the news. I needed better intel, I needed a wiki trawl. Ugh that means going back to Boyfriendverse. I did pick up a connection to an unknown world at the library, so I could just forge ahead. I had sixteen days to do something about this one, right?
But what if what happened when I showed up in Roger Rabbit happened again? I was two for two on entering worlds mid-plot. That didn't feel like a coincidence. I bet dollars to donuts that something was going down in Silent hill too, I just didn't stick around.
With that decided I blasted back to the Boyfriendverse(I really needed a better name for that place), and took the bus back to the Library. I was about to do the whole song and dance I did last time to get internet access without a library card when-
"█████? Is that you?" my blood froze when I heard my deadname and realized the librarian I was walking up to was none other than...
"Devon?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't seen him since grade school. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I wasn't this world's Aster, I had to keep that in mind. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect you here."
"Me either, Man, I can't believe I haven't seen you since Mother of Mercy." Devon said, shaking his head. "How are you doing?"
"Ok, I got by Aster now, by the way. My pronouns they/them." I said, hoping he wouldn't make a big deal out of it.
"Oh wooooooow-" oh god he was making a big deal out of it, "-That makes so much sense in retrospect, with how you never really fit in and all the teachers gave you special attention."
"Devon, that's because I was autistic, not because I was trans" I said, having pinched the bridge of my nose and knocked my glasses down a bit. I sighed and pushed them back up.
"Right right, I just meant like, I dunno... It chafed? For you there. You were always reading or drawing or something, and you didn't have many friends."
"It would have helped if the friends I actually had wouldn't lie to avoid hanging out." I said without thinking. Shit.
"Woah, calm down." Devon said, putting his hands up, "My parents never wanted you over, ok? Not exactly thrilled they screened who I could be friends with either."
"Sorry, I'm not here to dig at old wounds, or however you say that. Can you just get me an access code so I can use the internet? I lost my wallet and my phone's fried, so I don't have my library card or my password manager, so I can't really identify myself for you."
"I can print you a new card, since I know who you are. Not 'supposed' to do it, but whatever, you're you. Is your account under the name Aster Moore or did you change the last name too?"
On the one hand, I'd be basically stealing someone else's identity. On another, if I ever manage to get in contact with my other me, I'll get them a real master sword or something as a gift. I accepted the new card and not only do a wiki dive, but also check out a box set of The Owl House on Blu-ray. I put it in a free library tote bag and went outside and out of sight to Lightning Strike the hell out of there.
"What the fuck?" Aster said, squinting at their phone.
Daniel paused his Zelda game on the big screen to look over at his partner. He sat there for a second before raising an eyebrow and gesturing for them to go on.
"It's an email from the library back in Cincy. They said they printed me a new library card? Am I getting my identity stolen?"
"Something like that has happened to me before, hun. Just call and set things straight, if it gets any more complicated I can help, I know you've got a low tolerance for Bureaucracy."
"-and math!" Aster joked.
Then their phone buzzed in their hand, a new email popping up.
"Shit, my evil twin is checking out a box set of The Owl House."
"Oh, we should watch that together at some point, Hun. I never actually finished it after the news of its cancellation came out. Got too mad about it."
"Sure, but I better call the library right now to get this sorted." Aster sighed, sliding down in their chair.
"And I'll add the show to our home media server while you're at it." Daniel said, pulling his laptop off the coffee table.
"If I didn't know I'm gonna need a relaxing cartoon after this phone call I'd call your priorities wack, Bunny. Instead, I'll just say awww and prepare myself for phone hell."
