Waterworks

>Jose: Ignore meaningful speech out of deafness and ask "So did we get anything?"
>Flush: Applaud Tubs out of admiration for his honesty and ideals

EDIT: I request some help with the tropes page now that the webcomic is back in action. I can't be the only one tinkering with it.

That was awesome.

>Time to egress, I guess?

It's nice to finally see some expansion on Tubs' ideals and motives, even if at the end of the day all it does is confirm what we already suspected: He wants to live forever, by any means necessary. Neat goals for such an already strong character.

> Sandbox Elevator: Ominously raise for your own reasons with no forewarning.

> Glowing Eyes: "Pardon me, gentlemen."

(THE GLOWING EYES ARE PRIVATE NANO-CHAMBERS)

>Tubs: I hope you auto looted that thing in the case too, even if it isn't what you wanted, it could come in handy at some point.

>Time to egress, I guess?

Yep. Let's scram.




The journey back to the surface is rather quiet. It gives you time to reflect on the day's work.

Tubs is relatively unscathed. José's easily received the worst treatment, but there shouldn't be any permanent damage. You've all been through worse.

The three of you can definitely agree that, given the circumstances, this was one of your weirder jobs.

RESULTS
LOOT:
4x MIL-STD RADIOS
4x BEEHIVES
2x LASER POINTERS
2x ARMS
1x GOLD BULLION
1x DODECAHEDRON
1x LAWN DART
1x MINIATURE SKATEBOARD
1x RIFLE TOWER
1x BROKEN TOMMY GUN
1x UNBROKEN SNIPER RIFLE
1x GOUDA
1x JULIET
1x GREY GOO SAMPLE
1x GLIDER GUN
1x METAL LUNCHBOX
1x TABLE
- AS WELL AS VARIOUS MINOR DOCUMENTS, TRINKETS, AND KNICK-KNACKS

NEW SKILLS:
METEO GAMBIT - ZOOT BRUTE (used)

OBITUARIES:
WOLF - Arms severed, neck snapped
JOHNNY - Popped
FOXTROT - Head exploded
GRAHAM - Stabbed in the face
BEAN - Decapitated
RITZ - Decapitated
CHARLIE - Shot to the head
DIRAC - Shot to the head
LITTLE ENDIAN - Shot to the head
CHAMBERS - Frozen solid, shattered, and then somehow struck by magical lightning
CADDIE - Fell from a great height
BIG ENDIAN - Vaporized
MIKE - Presumably crushed by a weaponized Eiffel Tower

HIGH SCORE:
TUBS - 6
JOSÉ - 5
EIFFEL TOWER - 2
FLUSH - 0

All in all, pretty solid results.




You're happy about the lack of an immediate police response. There was a giant explosion near an old elementary school. An elementary school, which happened to house a secret underground research facility. Maybe this wasn't something that was supposed to get out.

Maybe people are more concerned by the Eiffel Tower just winking out of existence. You'd find out later.




Scuffles with the authorities are almost always inevitable, but two of you have killed your fair share of cops - Tubs' name has grown big enough to generally make the fuzz think twice before engaging with him.





Anyway, that was definitely one of the highlights of your career. The years that followed were rather bland in comparison. Until Tubs found a classified ad posted by a certain Slick...

Christ. A lot had changed since then, but it doesn't compare to all the shit that happened after our little spiel at the Waterworks... The whole world ain't what it used to be.

Still, that was a doozy of a story. What'd you think of it, Connie?







god damn it

> BUT WHAT WAS IN THE BRIEFCASE

> BUT WHAT WAS IN THE BRIEFCASE

>Connie: Ask this in a drunken stupor as Jose is leaving.

>José: How rude. Stick Connie's hand in a glass of warm water before leaving. Serves her right.

>José: Connie is probably bored to sleep. Mumble how you guess she doesn't want to hear what's in the briefcase, among other possibly-exciting facts you could say to wake her up.

>Jose: Welp, since she's passed out, it's the perfect time to tell some self-aggrandizing lies about you're the real hero of this story. Yep. Why you single-handedly averted that... crisis. With all your cunning, bravery, and chutzpah.

>She had enough call a Taxi for her

>José: How rude. Stick Connie's hand in a glass of warm water before leaving. Serves her right.

Normally, that'd sound like a hilarious idea, but you're a little concerned for Connie's health. She drank a lot.




You'd say she's got some problems! But you've always known that...





You, uh, decide that you should probably check her pulse.



...






Oh good, there it is.

You'd love to stick around, but you get the feeling this night isn't really going anywhere. You thought that maybe the two of you could've taken the time to catch up on things that have happened over the last couple of years, but Connie seems to have a lot on her plate at the moment.




Speaking of going places, there actually is somewhere you should be.

Bartender looks friendly enough. He can take it from here.



Should we follow José out or wait for CC to wake up?

Show Content

SpoilerI should probably elaborate on the last line in this update - You have an opportunity for a little bit of exposition with either José or CC for the next few updates. Once this is done, the intermission will be 100% over, but there's going to be a hiatus as I'll need to work on the next animation.

I still need to talk about the results of the poll - I'll make a post on tumblr when it's ready...

So, nothing came of Nano-Chambers? Maaaaan. Dissappointed, but I can understand wanting to finally wrap up this intermission to the intermission at long last. I'll still hope for a Chekhov's Chambers situation down the line though

> Let's follow José. The focus can switch back to Connie once she's awoken from her stupor. He can just text her what was in the briefcase if she cares to know, probably wasn't even that interesting since he didn't tell her in the first place.

>Let's follow José for a little bit longer. Connie will probably wake up when he's through.

>Voting for Connie.

Though I don't really mind either way.

>Connie: Wake up right as Jose leaves in a display of unfortunate timing.

>Connie. It's been too long since the main character was a feature on screen.

>Connie, yes

Jose's a bro but gotta go >Connie

Right then...

Guess I'll see you later, Connie. Hopefully.

>Connie: Wake up right as Jose leaves in a display of unfortunate timing.

wait what

Looks like you dozed off again.

Sorry José, you're not exactly accustomed to having company...







Oh god damn it. You screwed up again.

Here you were, thinking that you could've taken this night as an opportunity to do something different, but you just sat down, remained quiet and stuck to your old habits.

You're not an alcoholic. This is just all you DO now. Your whole adventure at the Waterworks was supposed to be life-changing, it was supposed to get you back on your feet. But you managed to waste even that.

Well, at least you've always had the bartender to keep you company. You being a regular here is probably the only reason the Alpha Hall hasn't shut down yet. You guess that in a way, you've done your bit to help.

With that said, you don't want to spend any more time here tonight. You should probably go home. Or at least outside.

Show Content

SpoilerResults for the poll, if you're interested.

>Sit on a bench outside to gather your thoughts and review the state of the world and your life so far after the Waterworks.

>Take a bottle of rum to keep you company.

> It's probably time to leave the bar. It's closing time.

>Get a Taxi for home, probably for the best.

>You need no taxi, march home under your own power.