What happened next for Onslow, Rose, Hyacinth and Emmet after they got absorbed by the electric wave had to be seen to be believed. Right away everything around them vanished and the four found themselves in what could best be described as a tunnel of color with said colors moving by them at the speed of light. The car they were in was also moving fast, fast enough to nearly make its inhabitants nearly pass out. Emmet tried to do his best to stay calm as Onslow and Rose screamed in terror, only for him to also lose his composure when Hyacinth managed to lean forward to him declaring, "I may be the last person you see before our untimely demise!"
Then, just as the wild ride had begun it managed to immediately stop. Onslow`s car ended up landing on solid ground and the second he realized it, Onslow hit the breaks again with all his might. For ten seconds the car ended up making a sharp swerve and brought up a lot of dust in the process. The car then managed to stop and nobody ended up giving a reaction until the tail pipe let out a big bang noise followed by a puff of smoke.
Right after that Emmet got out of the car and fell on his knees to the ground exclaiming, "We survived! We survived…", in disbelief. As Onslow, Rose and Hyacinth also got out of the car shaken and slightly traumatized Onslow took a good look at the area around him and exclaimed, "Where the bloody hell are we?"
The area the four were at didn`t look like anyplace they were familiar with. All around as far as the eye could see was a desert with reddish sand and wind that gave a gentle breeze. The sky above was a medium-dark color as if a thunderstorm were to come, though it didn`t make the area look dimmer.
After several moments of more stunned silence, Hyacinth was the first to let out a distressed cry. "Our home! It`s gone! Destroyed in a callous act of violence! My poor Sheridan, dying alone without the comfort of his mother to be there for him! Richard…Daddy and Daisy...Violet and Bruce and their Mercedes, sauna and all that room for a pony!"
Hyacinths sorrow made the other three realize the exact impact of what they lost too. "Liz…", Emmet could only say in terror as he stood up, trying to recall what had happened before she vanished. Rose leaned against the car, her legs buckling from terror, and exclaimed in disbelief, "It can`t be possible! This is a nightmare! Everyone and everything we worked for, gone!", "All the beer in the world and the telly! How will I be able to survive?", Onslow exclaimed as he also tried not to think of the odds of whether Daisy lived or not.
"Oh bug off Onslow! If only my Michael were here…", Rose began on the verge of tears as she started to think of the last moments she had with him. At that moment, she suddenly looked up at her remaining sister and something aggressive clicked in her mind. "Oh-no. Wonder where this will go", Onslow could comment as he watched Rose move towards Hyacinth angrily.
As Emmet was freaking out over his sister's fate and Hyacinth was trying to sympathize with him by saying, "I know Emmet. I`m upset that Elizabeth is gone too. Even though she frequently spilled tea and coffee on my expensive and well cleaned floors and also broke my valuable china on numerous occasions I feel the world has become emptier with her gone. If it had been me who disappeared instead of her, I wouldn`t have minded that scenario", "Why? Why couldn`t it have been you?", Emmet bemoaned as he realized he was virtually alone in a world with Hyacinth.
Before Hyacinth could reply to the statement, Rose reached her and gave her a huge slap in the face, nearly knocking her down. Emmet and Onslow took a step back in shock as Hyacinth recovered and faced her sister in equal disbelief. "Rose!", she exclaimed rubbing the area that was slapped.
"Hyacinth Bucket!", Rose angrily shouted in rage. "It`s pronounced Bouquet", "You filthy swine! It`s all your fault I lost the true love of my life during the attacks. You scared the postman I was seeing and made him run into one of those monstrous iceboxes. You basically erased him from existence!", Rose continued to rant, not hearing her sister. "Makes me wonder if he was the luckier one or not", Emmet told himself.
Rose overheard the comment however and faced him next. "Oh bug off Ons…I mean Emmet. I`m so upset I may never see another wonderful man again, and now I`m too upset to even consider you".
As Onslow took two steps forward pondering what to do, Hyacinth approached Rose and said, "Now Rose, calm down. I`m sure if you take a few deep breathes we can all…". Rose replied by shoving Hyacinth back and grabbing a fist full of dust. She then attempted to throw it at her sister but Hyacinth ducked out of the way in time and Emmet got the face full of dirt instead. Before a shocked Rose could apologize to Emmet, he wiped off the dirt around his eyes and walked over to her. With all his might he managed to shove Rose back and into Onslow, knocking the air out of Onslow`s lungs momentarily.
"Oy! What`s the big idea?", Onslow declared as he started to feel aggressive about being indirectly attacked. Feeling his own moment of rage quickly dwindle, Emmet took a step back and began to say, "Sorry Onslow, she…", before Hyacinth cut him off to answer to Onslow instead. "Now Onslow, there`s no reason to talk to Emmet like that in front of me when you consider our neighborly relationship".
"Oh, so even after the end of the world you`d rather side with your neighbor than your own flesh and blood?", Onslow replied to Hyacinth as he patted Rose once on the shoulder. "Hey, I didn`t say I was taking Hyacinths side in anything. The very idea of me doing that…", Emmet tried to speak again as he noticed things were one step away from a real brawl.
Emmet`s words ended up going over everyone`s head however as Hyacinth stated to Onslow, "All I`m trying to do is provide the world a bit of class and clarity. Given the circumstances, some of us here could very well use it". This made Rose and Onslow stare at Hyacinth in hatred and disbelief. For Rose, this was the straw that finally broke the camels back as she raised her fists. "Oh, class and clarity? I`ll show you and your more important neighbor some of that in my own way", she threatened.
"Hey, don`t do anything stupid you`ll all regret", Emmet said bitterly over the stress the conflict was making him feel. This ended up being the wrong thing to say as Onslow sternly gazed at him and Hyacinth before saying, "I think a good wallop will give you two some humility if that`s what it`ll take".
Hyacinth put up her own fists to mirror Rose in an awkward way and declared, "Well, I`m sure me and Emmet can handle you two together", "G`ah!", was all Emmet could stutter as he realized he was on Hyacinths side with no way to turn back at this point. As he got his insecurity in check, Emmet and Hyacinth then charged at Rose and Onslow and the fight quickly began.
Fight 1-4:
Fighters to select:
-Hyacinth
-Emmet
(side A)
-Onslow
-Rose
(side B)
(Authors note: There are some fights in the story where the player can pick which group they want to see win. This in turn affects what happens next in the plot, though the scale of consequence can vary).
After the fight:
If Hyacinth and Emmet (side A) won the fight:
As Hyacinth looked at her unconscious relatives on the ground, a sense of dread suddenly overcame her. "Oh my…what have we done Emmet?", she could only say. "Please don`t tell me we...killed them", Emmet could only state in panic, realizing that if Onslow and Rose were dead then it would mean that it would definitely be just him and Hyacinth alone; his worst nightmare would have finally come true.
To his relief, Onslow and Rose started to suddenly stir and groan as they tried to sit up all of a sudden; their consciousness coming back to them. "Oy, you two really know how to scuffle, I`ll give you that", Onslow stated rubbing his head while Rose managed to stand up with her legs wobbling for a moment. Leaning over, Hyacinth and Emmet both helped Onslow up off the ground and then backed away; the two groups starring at each other as if anything good or bad could happened next.
If Onslow and Rose (side B) won the fight:
"Whew. That was intense and strange", Rose stated as she starred at Hyacinth and Emmet laying on the ground unconscious. "I can`t believe what I just did", Onslow could only say with regret as he knelt down and gently nudged Hyacinth, hoping that he didn`t hit her too hard earlier.
Rose`s own feeling of victory suddenly faded as she watched Onslow and suddenly exclaimed in regret, "Oh-no! What have we done!? I`ve let the love of my life get the better of me!", "Honestly, it sounds like a usual Friday night for you…wait, wait. Here they go", Onslow replied before seeing Hyacinth and Emmet stir and slowly lean up. With both his hands, Onslow managed to raise the duo up and then took a few steps back towards Rose. After Hyacinth and Emmet fully recovered the two groups then looked awkwardly at each other as if they didn`t know how to react in any way.
(The next part of the story continues the same regardless as to who won the fight): Finally, Rose broke the silence by replying, "I`m so sorry Hyacinth. I just let everything get to me. I thought your mailman was the one for me when the world ended", "It`s okay Rose. Besides, you may have dodged a bullet. The mailman on my street seemed to be scared of women on his route in the neighborhood", Hyacinth replied sincerely, making Emmet roll his eyes in frustration over the irony that Hyacinth wasn`t aware of. It was her who made the mailman apprehensive with her snobby demands to him. Her!
Noting Emmet`s reaction and feeling it was best to change the topic before something else stupid was said or done, Onslow cleared his throat and stated, "All right then, I say the best thing we do now is to get our bearings and find some shelter. It may be calm here now but in a few hours, who knows?", "I agree. Perhaps we should scout this…wasteland. Maybe someone besides the four of us survived the blast somehow", Emmet began before he realized something. "Wait a minute. We were hit by the same source that Liz was. Maybe she`s alive and out here somewhere!", he exclaimed optimistically. "Daddy, Daisy and Violet could be here with us and also another man!", Rose excitedly declared picking up Emmet`s feelings of hope. "I do hope Richard is alright. He could overexcite himself traveling to another world without me by his side for guidance", Hyacinth added boastfully.
Happy to see that the hostility within the group was mostly resolved, Onslow returned to his car and signaled everybody to get in. As he slid into the driver's seat with Rose taking the passenger seat and Emmet and Hyacinth resumed their places in the back Rose asked, "Where to now Onslow?", "I`ll just go in a random direction and hope we find something before the fuel tank empties out", he replied as he noted his car only had a quarter of gas left in the tank. This response made Hyacinth frown and ask, "Is that really the best idea you`re going with?", "Hey, it`s the smartest one I can think of so I say we go for it", Onslow replied before driving off into the unknown world.
About forty minutes of driving later, the positive vibe that the group managed to get had steadily shifted towards dread. They didn`t find anyone or anything aside from sandy dunes and tall, ominous hills. Hyacinth was attempting to keep everyone entertained by trying to recall the photos she had of Sheridan and describing them in great detail. "…and I`m sure you remember the ones I showed you on August 18th. It was the one where Sheridan was trying to dance for his mommy in the backyard. Oh, how his choreography was amazing even at a ripe young age", Hyacinth exclaimed. "Yes, I remember you showing me that one once or forty times", Emmet replied with frustration while Onslow yawned.
As Onslow then looked out the window expecting to see more wasteland, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. It looked vague from a distance, but he could`ve sworn he was looking at a building! At this point, Hyacinth was describing the next photo of Sheridan she once had when a sharp turn caught her and everyone off guard. "Onslow. There`s no reason to drive reckless in a place like this!", she exclaimed as she quickly recovered. "We just got ourselves a lucky break!", Onslow replied pointing excitedly at the building, causing everyone to fall silent with anticipation.
To the groups relief and further excitement, when they ended up reaching the building they found that it was actually real and not a hallucination. As Onslow parked close by, he also pointed out that the place didn`t seem to look abandoned which may be a good sign. Hyacinth was the first to get out of the car and realize something else about the place. "I know this building. It`s Richard`s old place of occupation. The Commissions Office. He worked here before his early retirement", she told her group as they also got out. "Well, what`s it doing out here then?", Emmet asked in disbelief. "Maybe there`s someone inside. Hello! Anyone home!?", Rose called out while Onslow moved straight ahead for the front door.
By the time Onslow had reached the entrance, nobody had replied and the rest of the party followed him up the steps. As Onslow grabbed the doorknob and turned it Hyacinth muttered to Rose, "The place had better not have turned into a pigsty with my husband's absence", "The place had better have more than one room to sleep in. Lord knows what I`d do if I have to share a place to sleep with the Bucket woman", Emmet told himself.
After a moment, Onslow managed to open the stubborn door and the four peered inside. There wasn`t anyone around but for some odd reason the place had electricity with the indoor area as brightly lit as any other building, even though a power line wasn`t in sight anywhere else. The layout for the whole building also didn`t seem to be like any usual commissions office as the only layout was a hallway and three rooms, all of which were apparently closed behind sturdy doors.
Stepping in first, Onslow approached the first door and prepared to open it when Hyacinth suddenly ran up and declared that she would do the honors. After taking her time a bit by adjusting her gloves and polishing the doorknob with her breathe and wrist, she opened the door and stepped in. To her and everyone else`s surprise, the only thing that was in the room was a huge table that looked like it would belong in any business building.
"Well, that was a bust", Emmet could only say before he left the room to try and open the other two doors. As he found out the other two rooms were completely shut and impossible to even pry open, Rose suddenly noticed something odd about the table and gestured her sister and in-law over to see. On the table surface were seven odd shapes that were carved in and they all appeared to be faintly glowing upon squinting. Below the seven shapes were also some writing which was alien to the trio. "This is weirder than anything I`ve seen on the telly", Onslow could only say as the seven shapes suddenly glowed a bit brighter, now visible to the naked eye. "Onslow, your whole life is mostly centered on television and bed", Rose replied.
Before Hyacinth could make a statement about either Rose`s comment or the mystery table, she and her two family members heard Emmet let out a startled yelp outside and ran into the hallway. There, Emmet was standing near the end of the wall looking at a strange neon sign one would see at a bar. "Emmet, what`s wrong?", Rose asked. "That sign. It just appeared out of nowhere when I gave up trying to open the other two doors", Emmet replied pointing at it as if it were a ghost. Onslow brushed past him and walked right up to the sign to read it. "Huh. The Crab Shack. Any of you heard of a place like this?", he asked. After he got three head shaking no`s, he shrugged and said, "I don`t know about all of you but I`m going to find answers to our situation one way or another and I think that table is our best bet".
Onslow headed back to the table room while Emmet gave Rose and Hyacinth a confused look. As they reassured Emmet he would soon understand, the trio in the hallway got another surprise when they noticed that the Crab Shack neon sign was gone, vanishing as randomly as it had appeared. Creeped out, Hyacinth, Emmet and Rose all ran straight to Onslow without looking back immediately. If they had stuck around, a few faint sounds of a banjo and electric guitar would have been heard momentarily.
End of Keeping Up Appearances (Story Arc 1)
Everyone`s status`:
-Onslow, Rose, Hyacinth, Emmet (in mystery world and in unknown building)
-Daisy, Richard, Liz (unknown after orb erased their dimension from existence)
-Daddy (alone and riding his bike in an unknown place and time)
