Caboose and Doppel sat across from each other at a small table, staring at teach other. It was supposed to be their date, but they hadn't actually gone anywhere. They were still in the planning stages...and lacked a plan.

"Don't you have any ideas?" Doppel pressed firmly.

"But it's your date," Caboose pointed out. "That's why it's your choice. What do you want to do?"

Doppel let out an irritated 'tsk'. "I had one thing I wanted to do, but Agent Smith and the other MON girls already made it clear what will happen if I rope you into that."

"Oh?" Caboose asked curiously. "What?"

"I wanted to take you pranking," Doppel responded glumly. "But if I 'stain your inno-'"

"I love pranks!" Caboose declared happily. "What are we gonna do? Whipped cream? Trumpets? TP?"

Doppel stared at him flat eyed. "Caboose, I can take any shape I want. My pranks are a little more...intense than that."

"Any shape?" Caboose asked curiously. "Like a pentagon? Geometry must be really easy for you!"

The swirling silver hair around Doppel twisted and knotted...but she clutched the sweater she still wore and took a deep breath, the twists unknotting. "Caboose, you saw me change into Tio. You know what-"

"But you didn't change into Tio," Caboose corrected. "You got really big, grew a horn, and made it look like you were wearing Tio's armor, but you were still you."

Doppel stared at him in surprise, remembering that he'd known who she was even when in a different shape then, too. "You see me...no matter what shape I take?" she asked in surprise.

"Why wouldn't I see you?" Caboose asked in confusion. "You are you, not anybody else."

On an impulse, Doppel transformed herself into a slavering wolf-like monster, opening wide a jaw large enough to eat Caboose whole.

"My, Doppel, what big teeth you have!" Caboose responded excitedly. "Are we doing improv now?"

Doppel resumed her usual form, a curious glint in her eyes. "Caboose...how'd you like to put yourself, and me, to a real test in a fun game?"

"I love games!" Caboose declared excitedly.

Grinning, Doppel pulled out a 'Call of Cthulhu' set. "In that case, we'll see how you do in this game...but when you roll sanity, I'll take on the described form and how you react will give you a modifier."

"I think I start with a pretty big penalty," Caboose pointed out. "At least, that's what Carolina says."

Doppel chuckled as she set things up.


Partway through the game, as she gave the description, Doppel took on the form of a slavering Shoggoth reaching for Caboose. She was ready to shift back if he-

"What a cute puppy!" Caboose declared excitedly, reaching out to pet her altered form.

-did something logical for once. Resuming her own form, she glanced at the papers. "You...pet the man eating Shoggoth?"

"Yup!" Caboose declared excitedly. "And I ask him who's a good puppy, scratch his belly like parts, and throw a bone for him to chase."

"Uh...roll dice?" Doppel offered uncertainly.

The dice rolled. Doppel looked at the results. "...how?" she whimpered in surprise.

"What happened?" Caboose asked curiously.

"You...tamed the Shoggoth," Doppel explained worriedly. "It's...wagging its hind portion as it clambers over you and slathers its unholy slime on you in...sloppy puppy kisses..."

"Yay! New puppy!" Caboose declared happily, throwing his arms into the air.


"You do what when the image of Nyarlathotep manifests?" Doppel demanded in shock as she reverted.

"I tell her what a pretty lady she is, and ask her if I can get tickets to one of her shows," Caboose repeated.

"...shows?"

"If she's got 1000 faces, she must be a great actor!"


"...he did what?" Agent Smith asked as Doppel spoke to her.

"He won the game," Doppel repeated, "by...romancing all the Elder Gods into becoming his harem."

"How is that-"

"I let him play as himself, because he said he didn't know how to be anyone else," Doppel explained.

Agent Smith rubbed her forehead. "Is...is it wrong that I don't find that an unbelievable result in that case?"

"It gets worse," Doppel pointed out.

"How?" Smith pressed nervously.

"He's got his Freckle working on combining the Call of Cthulhu game with anime roleplay settings to make a sequel campaign based on the anime 'Haiyore! Nyaruko-san'," Doppel explained ruefully. "And he wants us all to play for a game night."

Agent Smith stared at her for a time, then sighed. "I could use a night off," she responded ruefully.