Chapter 13: Club Titiboo
Lucas and Boney exited the cave mountain, and, much to their relief, they found the Train Station at the very end. Telling them that they had reached the factory.
("Good job Master Lucas.") Boney barked, wagging his tail. ("We're almost there.")
Lucas nodded his head, before patting his dog on the head. They walked down the train, avoiding a weird cattlesnake looking creature, and a bird head on top of a pole spinning around. The bird head started squawking alerts. Quickly thinking Lucas smacked the pole across with his stick. He launched the robotic head of the bird off, leaving just the pole spinning around.
Thankfully, the cattlesnake seemed to just ignore both of them as it trudged around, eating at some grass.
Lucas was eager to test out his brand new PSI powers. However, Ionia did tell him that, if he wasn't careful, he could tire himself out too quickly. It would probably be best to save them for mild healing for him and Boney, considering their money was limited at the moment.
The boy and his furry companion approached the large factory where everyone now worked. It didn't take long for Lucas to notice the claymen figures that were used to enforce rules in Tazmily walking around as well.
He took a deep breath, keeping calm as he and Boney walked by, they needed to get through the factory to get to Club Titiboo. So they shouldn't draw attention to themselves with the claymen.
Once inside, both him and Boney let out a gag, the place reeked of smoke and charcoal, and not the good kind you'd get for campfires.
A blue Pigmask spotted them coming in and walked over to them.
("Be prepared for a fight, Lucas.") Boney growled.
"Be good," Lucas whispered back.
The pigmask snorted as he...or she, looked at Lucas behind their eye holes. "I assume you want to get to club Titiboo?" it snorted.
"Um...yes…" Lucas said. "I wanted to go...see the band."
"That's a special place for workers here to go and relieve their daily exhaustion." the Pigmask snorted. "It's for people who work here. Not some lowly scum such as yourself."
"It's...really important. I know one of the band members…" Lucas said quickly, he felt sweat starting to develop on his forehead.
The pigmask sighed. "Well...if you absolutely HAVE to go there, then it's simple. I'll just need you to do a little bit of part-time work here, just so I can give you a ticket, and some extra side cash. All ya gotta do is go into our mines, look for some Claymen running out of charge, and bring em up here. Bring up three, and I'll let you go."
"Oh...Okay…" Lucas rubbed the back of his head. "I...I guess I can do that."
"Good good," The pigmask handed him a piece of paper. "Just sign here stating that we aren't liable for any injuries you may have, and send your dog to our animal treadmills in the back for energy generation, and we're all good to go."
Lucas, though reluctantly, signed his name at the bottom of the paper and took Boney to the treadmills, then, he went to the ladder leading to the mines, and, after holding his breath, climbed down.
Lucas collapsed outside of the west exit to the factory a full two hours later. No one told him he'd have to PUSH the claymen, just guide them. Then the elevator got jammed once or twice, and he had to wait in line, everything sucked.
Boney sniffed the back of his head. ("You don't smell very good master Lucas.") the dog whimpered. ("Perhaps a rest is what you need.")
Thankfully, he DID get the ticket he was so desperately promised by the Pigmask. Only to find that it was only good for tonight's show. Fantastic.
Grunting, he pushed himself up, concentrating his thoughts on Lifeup α." He felt back at home in a hot spring, albeit with no water making him wet, and he let out a sigh of relief as his soreness faded away. No wonder all the adults back at Tazamily who worked here were tired and grouchy, this place was awful!
He tossed Boney a doggie treat and ate a bread roll himself as they walked up to a small hill, finding a woman standing by a large cable car as she looked at them.
"Welcome, Welcome. Are you here for your car trip up to Club Titiboo?" she asked in a singsong voice. "If so, let me see your ticket!"
Lucas took the ticket he was given and handed it to the women. She took the ticket from him and examined it closely using some sort of weird glass circle.
"Everything checks out." She finished. "Hop in and I'll send you up."
As Lucas sat down, and Boney hopped up on the seats next to him, he looked out below the car. He could see another big building with a weird looking funnel on the top. Down below, he could just barely spot a few Pigmasks with a girl in a pink dress. He couldn't see their expressions, being so high up, but...was the girl a...commander like Fassad was? Only time would tell.
After what felt like an hour...The cable car eventually creaked to a stop, and opened, letting the two out on the top of a mountain, looking around, Lucas could still spot the weird building, though, no sign of the girl. He could also see the factory.
Regardless, he turned to the big fancy silver and gold building with giant elephant statues shooting water out of their trunks like a fountain. There was a red carpet lined all the way to the cable car station at it's entrance, where two bouncers stood.
Lucas gulped nervously as he took sight of these two. They looked like people he'd see in the Tazamily jail from time to time since the Pigmasks started arresting people. They had large bulging muscles and weird mohawks of Purple and Green. They also had black sunglasses over their eyes.
Both of them looked at Lucas, then at Boney. Then, they moved to side, sporting a giant red sign that made Lucas' heart sink
NO DOGS ALLOWED
He sighed and pushed Boney in a direction to get out of sight of the two bouncers.
("What are we going to do about that?") Boney asked curiously. ("You could always leave me outside if we really have to.")
"I might run into trouble otherwise." Lucas said nervously. "Duster has amnesia, so I could get myself in a lot more trouble if I don't have a guard."
He spotted a conveniently placed Green shirt and red-white propeller hat on the ground.
"Boney, remember when I taught you to walk on your hind legs?" Lucas asked.
Boney whimpered at the thought. ("No!") He barked.
"Please...I'll give you another treat." Lucas gave him his own puppy dog sad eyes.
Boney growled at the sight of him. ("Alright...fine…") The dog muttered.
The two bouncers looked at Lucas suspiciously as he and Boney walked up to the entrance to the door. There was a large sign that Lucas could now read that said
DCMC SHOWTIME TONIGHT
"Hey kid." The bald bouncer said. "Where'd dat dog of yers go? 'E was with ya a Minute ago!"
"Uh, I think there's some mistake." Lucas said, "Can we go in now?"
The other bouncer stepped up to them, putting him face to face with Boney.
"There's somethin' fishy 'bout this." he growled. "Where'd this dog-like dude come from?"
"He's my...hairy friend. He refuses to cut his hair...and...he doesn't speak." Lucas replied, quickly tyring to hide his embarrassment.
"Hold up...You sound underage!" The bald bouncer snarled at Lucas. "An Underage kid AND a dog trying to get into an adult club? That's sus. No suspicious people allowed!"
"Alright, we're gonna have to pulverize ya now. No suspicious people allowed."
Lucas silently readied a Pk Love, he could feel some energy sparking off his fingertips.
Suddenly, the door to the club swung open, and a woman stepped out. She had red hair tied up in a bun-ponytail. She had a white slander outfit that Lucas suspected she really didn't want to be in as it showed way, WAY too much skin, and a white short skirt that revealed way too much of her legs.
"Oh my, if it isn't the underage looking Poo! And the Dog Smell Wuuf!" she said. Her voice made Lucas instantly recognize that it was Kumatora. "Aye, bitches." she snapped at the two bouncers. "Quit foolin around, I told ya about these two earlier!"
Both bouncers gaped at her, before quickly doing some bows. "A...Appo...Apologies...Miss Violet." one said. "Come on in, Mister Poo and Mister Wuuf."
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief as he and Boney walked through, when they were in between, Violet leaned in towards them.
"I know this outfit makes me look like a bitch." Kumatora hissed at Lucas. "You ain't gonna tell nobody about this. Sit down, enjoy the show, and come find me near the bathrooms after. Got it?" Lucas nodded and she gave him a smile. "Great!"
I think Kumatora will be very fun to write, as she is one of the only characters who has a distinguished personality that isn't described by the game. Plus, it would feel unnatural to have Lucas swear, when I'm used to having protags who at least say Hell, Damn, and Shit. I know that there isn't much for character development, but I am doing my best to make sure that this story will be interesting and fun for all readers.
I might as well confirm it, but yes, I do plan to incorporate Ness and his friends into the game's story. While they haven't had any interactions with Lucas yet. They will have them eventually. Either way, I do love Mother 3 and it's story. However, my heart still resonates more with EarthBound than Mother 3. However, Mother 3 is still my second favorite game of all time.
That's it for this month's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. I know that monthly waits for these short chapters must be annoying, but I really don't want to flesh out the characters more than they are already used to. I'll still do my best to do character interactions and world building, plus development and growth. I find these shorter chapter formats help me focus a lot more, since I take the time to develop them more.
If you enjoyed this chapter, you can let me know. I always appreciate anything readers have to say.
See you all, next time!