Sunday, April 30, 2017

Early Arrivals

Paradise.

Paradise was a place where you could sink your feet into warm, white sands and soak up the sun’s rays like a sponge. Paradise was a place where there were crystal clear waters to step into and sigh in relief as it washes away sweat and stress.

And, as always when Brandon went to beautiful places like these, there were tourist traps. It came in many forms: gift shops hawking fake as hell leis and colored rocks said to heal disease, people pretending to act like shamans and screaming about the spirit of greed consuming all of mankind, and the most sinful one of all: restaurants. Restaurants like Paradise at Ponderosa’s, where the food was on par with Meh Burger while the prices were comparable to a four star restaurant.

Brandon’s skin crawled as he looked at Paradise at Ponderosa’s. He made that mistake yesterday. He would not make the same mistake today.

Instead of hanging around the Times Square of Kuwahawi, Brandon opted to walk around the outskirts of the city. The Kobber Kabana wasn’t open quite yet, anyway.

“May 1st is the lucky day, you silly!” he recalled a girl saying as she held a wispy gray cat in her arms. “And you can’t get in at 11:59, either! 12 AM on the dot, or I’mma tell Ishnabel and you’re gonna be in TROUUUUBLEEEE!”

As he walked farther and farther away from the more tourist-y part of the city, he encountered a few sidewalk stands. Some were filled with legitimate leis, women weaving flowers together slowly, but surely. Some had art, depicting nature in all its glory with detail Brandon could only dream of achieving. Pottery, magical objects, animal skulls… all of it was here in this part of the city.

He was ogling at a painting of what he could assume were water spirits when the smell of fried chicken filled the air. Brandon made a mental note to come back to this vendor ASAP to snag that painting before following the scent to a cart. The cart had a combination of things he saw from the individual stands, in addition to a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs, and homemade bread. None, however, excited him more than what was happening behind the cart: a man in a bamboo hat stir-frying something in a wok over an open fire, sitting in a chair that was comically small compared to his bulk. In his other hand, he held a wooden staff, the top carved into the shape of a goat’s head.

Brandon stared with a hungry look on his face for a good minute before the man turned to him and grinned as he said, “Another hungry customer, eh?”

“WH-what? Me?!” Brandon sputtered out, taken off guard. “Um, maybe, sort of, kinda? N-not really?”

The man grinned a little more when he heard the grumble of an empty stomach. “I think someone is telling you otherwise, my friend.”

Brandon blushed redder than a tomato as he looked down at the floor and said, “Y-yes. Yes, I am.”

“Well then, you’re in luck! $5 gets you a plate full of stir-fried cockatrice and rice-“

The vendor didn’t even have to finish his sentence before Brandon pulled out a $5 bill and slammed it on the side of the cart. Within a few minutes, he was chowing down with a gusto to match Sarah’s. The vendor chuckled as he stood up with the help of his staff. Brandon would have been slightly scared at the fact that the man was a good foot taller than he was, were he not shoveling down this stir-fry like today was the last day of his life.

“Glad to see you’re enjoying yourself!” he said heartily as he took a seat on a taller stool closer to the cart, setting his staff aside and taking a fan off the cart. “It isn’t too often that we see anyone aside from the locals wander over here!”

Brandon cringed a little as the stench of sweat filled the air, but he refrained from saying anything. “That’s a shame,” he said, shaking his head a tiny bit before taking another bite of cockatrice. “There’s a whole lot of wonderful things here! But I guess the tourist trappers sunk their fangs deep in here, huh?”

The man held his head in his hand, grumpy as one could be as he grumbled, “Of course they did. They heard the siren song of money and gullible tourists on an unknown island and seized that soon as they could find out where we were on the map. They made damn sure to make themselves more visible than everyone else, and louder too, with those pathetic ‘shamans’ on the streets.” He sighed, swinging his right leg to and fro as he continued, “Worst part of it is that none of the money is actually going to the local tribes, so we’re competing against people who aren’t even here to spread awareness about us. Only one person’s trying to give us a hand. One. Not even a whole company, one person.”

Brandon nearly choked on some rice when the man mentioned it, his eyes flying wide open with shock. “That… that’s crazy! One person’s doing the job of an entire company? Isn’t that a little… extreme?”

“Mmmm… maybe I exaggerated juuust a little,” the man said, scratching at his head of long, black hair underneath his hat. “There’s an organization that’s coming to give us a hand, but from what I heard from their representative, they’ve been having issues with their members. So for right now, she’s a one-woman tourism machine.” He frowned a little and sighed again, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a sip. “Gotta admire her determination, but she’s getting run ragged. I just hope they send some backup before too long.”

After a moment of awkward silence, the man grinned again and said, “But enough of that! What brings you to the island?”

There’s not a hint of hesitation as Brandon replied, “Some much needed R&R,” with a dead-eyed look. Not long after the man raises an eyebrow, Brandon added hastily, “Th-that, and Kobbers. I’m kinda, sorta with them. Sorta.”

“Ah, another one waiting for them to show up?” the man smiled and sat up as he fanned himself. “That makes five of us! My apprentice and I are excited- or at least, I am! It isn’t every day you get to meet heroes like those, unless some sort of calamity’s about to befall you. Our little tourism lady can’t stop talking about how much good they’ll do overall and wants to be the first one through the door when the cabana opens.”

Brandon wondered, for a split second, if it would be a wise idea to compete for “first in the cabana” with this woman, but judging from what the man said about her so far, he feared she’d wrestle him for the spot.

“And finally, there’s an odd demon who’s been standing on a cliff near the beach for days now. Spoke to him once, and he said something about not missing the Kobbers’s arrival. Last I saw him, he was still standing, taking a nice long snooze.” The man shrugged for a moment before he continued, “Either way, we’re gonna see a lot of each other soon, if we’re in it for the same reason! I’d say I can’t wait, but I’m probably going to be snoozing in my own tent by the time they get here. Not like many of them will be here so early in the morning, anyway.” He paused for a moment, placing a finger on his chin before he grinned and added, “Since we’re gonna be seeing each other a lot, let’s get introductions out of the way! The name’s Wicasa, one of the shamans on this island. And you are?”

“My name’s Brandon! It’s nice to meet you, Wicasa!” Brandon said cheerfully before his phone started to beep. A tad bit embarrassed, he checked it and paled. “Oh, god, I nearly forgot about a commission I was doing! I really, really, REALLY need to get going-”

Cbnedc ypuja, you forgot about something like that?” Wicasa said with a shocked look on his face. “Go like the wind, and get to it! There’ll be plenty of time for us to chat later! Until then, take care of yourself!”

Brandon wished there was more time to take care of himself as he rushed back to the hotel, finishing off the last bits of his stir-fry before expertly tossing the plate in the trash.

On the bright side, at least he didn’t have to deal with the likes of Julia, Justin, and Josh.


…At least, not yet.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

A... Magical Moment?!?

Marie Poppo did not forsee this.

She was always a plan ahead sort of… half-goat, half-munchkin girl. Always making the calls, always making the emails and the screenings way before the deadlines, making sure every t is crossed and every i is dotted. When all your colleagues have the brains of an 8 year old that snorted a bucket full of pixie stix, she simply had to be organized and do everything she could to keep the operations running smoothly.

She was sure her colleagues had already contacted all the candidates for Magical Girl Mayhem, especially the main characters.

So why is this girl here in their HQ, standing in front of her with a cheerful smile on her face, a pile of smaller, conked out Marie Poppos behind her?

“Excuse me, are you the head honcho here?” she asked Marie.

That sentence alone sent shivers down Marie Poppo’s spine. “Yeah, that’s me,” she replied, hiding her fear behind a straight face. “Why do you ask?”

“Why do I ask?” The cheerfullness was replaced with an anger so furious, Marie Poppo wondered if someone opened the gate to hell. “Why do I ask?!?” she repeated with a growl. “Because one of MY friends was invited to play a magical girl, and not ME! ME!!!”


Marie Poppo wondered if her colleague incited the wrath of Parsee’s cousin, but first, she needed to defuse the situation. The girl was certainly not the delicate, holy sister that her clothing implied, and she did not want to join the pity pile of Poppos anytime soon. “Well, honestly, that’s something you have to take up with the Boss, but I’m willing to do you a favor and pull a few strings if you show me WHY you’d make a good candidate for our show.”

Marie was actually rather relieved when the girl clasped her hands and smiled cheerfully again as she replied, “Of course! I have so many good reasons I’d make a great magical girl! I mean, I already have the looks” – she posed and winked at an invisible camera – “I have the experience – I’ve hunted quite a few demons in my lifetime, you know! – I’ve got talent and the will, and most importantly, I’ve been told that I’d fit right in with these Klobberer guys, who happen to be one of your target audiences! I’m the whole package and then some!”

Why am I not surprised? Marie Poppo thought as she smiled and laughed nervously. I don’t think a Kobber would barge right into a workplace asking for an interview, though. Still… Maybe she’ll fit into the main squad?

“That certainly sounds good, but let me ask you… How’d you even find out about this and where we even were?”

A wicked grin unfitting for a Sister spread across the girl’s face. “Oh, you didn’t know? You sent that recruitment letter to the future Queen of Paprica, Princess Éclair! She’s too busy to play magical girl, so she went ahead and found out where you guys were and sent me over! I need the money more she does, anyway!”

“Well, that’s… Wow. I’m gonna need to tell the boss about that…” Marie sighed. It would have been nice to have a Magical Princess, but a priestess wouldn’t be too bad. Besides, she had the distinct feeling that if she didn’t agree to it, this girl would barge her way into every episode anyway. She extended a hand out to her as she said, “Welcome aboard! We already have a shitload of girls and boys, anyway, so what’s one more to the pile? I’m the Director, Marie Poppo. And you are…?”

The girl took out a baton as she smiled and spun it around dramatically before pointing it at Marie.

“I’m Prier, the next in line to become Maiden of Light! This gig might as well be practice to me!”

Marie chuckled for a bit, but on the inside, she wondered if this was really okay…


…Nah, the boss wouldn’t mind that much. Except maybe the salary she was asking for… Oh well, that’s between the Boss and the Big Banks. For now, Marie Poppo got to work on getting Prier a ticket to Kuwahawi, an outfit for the show, and calling a white mage for all those Poppos who suffered through Prier's rampage through HQ.