Following the reversal of the effects of the Paleo-Minneapolis virus, the once great micronation has essentially been a ghost town devoid of any activity, with even the anarchists who had inhabited it previously not yet having returned to the area. One person who has decided to come here, though, is Cruel Wadley, who has decided to venture into the highly dangerous Minneapolis Institute of Art. As he approaches the door to the institute, Wadley hears the sounds of explosions coming from inside, which just further fuels his curiosity as he grips the big slimy door handle and pulls it open. Wadley enters the darkness beyond the door, barely able to see anything since the electricity to the entirety of Minneapolis is currently out, since nobody fixed it after the virus was undone. All Wadley hears besides the explosions is the occasional low growl of an art beast native to the institute, which he doesn't view as a particularly dangerous threat. However, as Wadley ventures deeper in, his arm suddenly explodes, and he hears someone slinking away out of sight. Wadley quickly brings out his crank flashlight and begins scanning the area, not seeing any signs of life other than more art beasts, one of which tries to pounce on him, only to explode in midair. Wadley continues aiming the flashlight around, until he finally sees someone: Suave Steve, lurking behind a column. The moment Wadley sees Steve, Steve uses his Stand to detonate Wadley's flashlight, plunging the room into darkness once more. Wadley hears Steve scamper away again, and tracks him through the dark institute in search of his hideaway. Wadley bumps into Texas Instruments, who is currently here looking for Dixon, without much success. Texas, realizing he's been found, quickly strikes a pose to pretend to be an art sculpture. Wadley can clearly tell that Texas is faking this, but he already knows Texas has his own motives, so he ignores him and moves on, entering a particularly large open room. As soon as Wadley enters the room, he promptly has to duck to avoid the shrapnel of an exploding sculpture. In the light of the explosion, Wadley sees Steve again, and yells out to him.
"That wasn't cool, Steve! You could've hurt someone!" Wadley states. He had suspected that Suave Steve was still somewhere in Minneapolis, and had come in search of him, feeling a sense of duty to do something about the rogue terrorist.
"How did you even find me?! And why shouldn't I make you go boom right now?!" Steve says in a shaky voice.
"Easy, all the reports and stuff said you were MiA, so I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art." Wadley declares, not answering the second part of Steve's question.
"BOOM BOOM!" Steve shouts, bringing out his Stand again, but before he can attack Wadley, Wadley reveals his own Stand, Snowflakes Are Dancing, and punches Steve in the shoulder with it, sending Steve rocketing away at incredible speeds. Due to his frail nature, Steve is sent flying so far that he disappears into the horizon after breaking through the wall, and Wadley decides he's done enough here, and heads back out of the institute.
Meanwhile, Wash Woo has been taking the most scenic route imaginable on his way to respond to the call he got from the Station, since he really doesn't like those guys. He already took a detour that led him all the way to the best and back, and he's currently planning on making a pit stop in EsMachinaburg to do some window shopping. However, just as Wash Woo is about to exit the city limits of Costa Brava, the sly and strange ticket keeper climbs out of the trunk of Wash Woo's floor waxer, and holds Wash Woo in a headlock from behind.
"Going on a trip to EsMachinaburg, are we? You know, the train is mighty convenient for such a trip. Might I recommend buying a ticket if you wish to leave town?" the ticket keeper holds Wash Woo's head in place, preventing him from turning around.
"Mind your own business, why don't you." Wash Woo scoffs, and uses Crimson King to warp himself out of the ticket keeper's grasp. To Wash Woo's surprise, though, the ticket keeper tracks his movement perfectly, as though he knew where Wash Woo would end up.
"Now, now, you're just getting yourself further from where you want to be. Why don't you just take the train?"
"Look, I don't even actually have any business in EsMachinaburg, I just wanna take in the sights. So leave me alone, I don't got any money for you."
Twenty minutes later, Wash Woo boards the train to EsMachinaburg, cursing quietly as he holds an ice pack over his throbbing black eye.
Rat Satan heads down to the Costa Brava docks, using the sea water to wash off all the rubbing alcohol still on his body. Once this is done with, Rat Satan investigates the boat zone, and finds that, while most of the vehicles in the boat zone are boats, one is in fact a Boate. Intrigued, Rat Satan clambers over to the Boate to get a closer look. By all appearances, it seems like an ordinary boat, but it just gives off an untrustworthy vibe, like something is definitely wrong with it. Figuring that the secrets of this Boate can't remain hidden forever, Rat Satan takes it upon himself to climb into the lower deck of the Boate. The only other person aboard the Boate is Bermuda, who seems to be planning on riding the Boate out of town, though whether he's supposed to be here or not is unclear.
"Lmao you stuck bro?" Rat Satan taunts, and before Bermuda can respond, the Boate driver, Boate Man, descends the stairs and enters the area.
"What business have you aboard my vessele?" Boate Man asks.
"What the fhucl I thought this was a ghost ship." Rat Satan states.
"You may know too much." Boate Man's resolution downgrades by about three stages, and he heads back above deck.
"You just posted crigne! I will have to make sure nobody knew I'm was in here." Rat Satan says in a panicked tone, his words coming out all jumbled as a result.
"Hi was in here, I'm Dad!" says Dad.
Boate Man begins driving the Boate away from Costa Brava, despite the fact that Rat Satan and Bermuda are still on board. Rat Satan approaches Bermuda, who has currently taken interest in a triangular hazard symbol on a box.
"That's a no bueno right there, I wouldn't touch it!" Rat Satan warns Bermuda. Bermuda simply stares at the symbol and chuckles at it incessantly. It seems like every time he's about to stop laughing, he remembers how funny it is and starts over again. This seems to invoke a reaction in Rat Satan, who writhes and wriggles in place in response to Bermuda's laughter. By the time Rat Satan is done convulsing, the Boate has long since left the docks, and is out on the open water. It seems that the instability of the initial fusion with the Rat has worn off, and Rat Satan is now fully stable. Rat Satan heads up to the cabin to see what's going on, and sees that there's no clear destination for the Boate in sight, forcing Rat Satan to wait until a better time to try and escape from the situation, since it would be difficult to do anything at the moment without stranding himself. Boate Man takes four consecutive sharp right turns, sending the contents of the lower deck sliding all over the place and very nearly squashing Bermuda between all the hazardous boxes. Just as Rat Satan is about to ask Boate Man what in the hell he's doing, the Boate very violently runs ashore a small uncharted island, which seems to be raised up around a meteor impact site of sorts, and Rat Satan finds himself flung unceremoniously onto the sand.