TEST DRIVE

[calloperators]

> Hello, you have reached the 1-800-HOTLINE Test Drive. We are currently unable to take your call. Whilst we put you on hold, feel free to play around for a while...

***

Waking up
Where the hell were you last night? Maybe waking up in an unfamiliar bed with a blacked-out memory isn't so unusual for you, but that buzzing in your head is. The phone beside you rings with a 7:00 AM wake-up call, and a message left behind:

Go downstairs, to the lobby. Meet the others. Don't get attached, and don't mention this call.

The AC is busted and in this hot summer, you probably won't want to stay in your room forever.

What's new, Pussycat?
Of course, there's much more around here than just the motel. Stepping out and hitting the town will give you plenty to do. There's stores aplenty, but that's nothing to say of the good residents of the stores; your friendly neighborhood bodega cats. They're content to laze around the aisles, though the more playful sorts may swat at your wayward accessories as you pass by.

Don't mind that they seem to disappear - and reappear - with a blink. That's just something cats can do.

Hungry?
Of course you are! There's plenty of places to eat here, but why go to some no-name joint when you can go to McDonalds? They've got burgers, they've got fries, they've got McPizza, and they even have a playplace! ...Though you're probably too old for the ball pit.

Regardless of what you order, if you even order, the cashier presses a small toy into the palm of your hand. Don't you feel a pair of tiny eyes on you?

McMurder
For fuck's sake, someone only went and killed a guy in the McDonald's parking lot. Maybe his head is smashed in under that chicken mask, or maybe you'll want to check? You could do the right thing and work out who did this, or you could make off with his baseball bat. The choice is yours.


Night life
What good's a city that goes to sleep? When the sun goes down, the lights go up. The city becomes aglow with every colour of the neon rainbow, with bowling alleys, nightclubs, karaoke bars, arcades and soon-to-be-extinct roller discos competing for your attention until the sun comes up. You're here, there's no curfew, it's time to make the most of it.

Wildcard
Have something else in mind? Go wild, and party like it's 1989.

Comments

[ichimacchan]

[ ...well 'kay then guess he's gonna have to look over the body after all

Well, technically Ichi's seen dead people before. He's even died a few times himself. But something about this... doesn't sit well with him. ]

...Uh.

[ the shock's worn off a little bit, but there's still a sense of unease.

what is he supposed to do? ]

[fuckingdelicious]

[Seems like the kid has no sense of initiative, so Val will saunter over to the body himself.]

I'll take that as a 'no'.

[He kicks up the baseball bat with his foot just enough to pick it up without having to reach very far. It's heavy in his hands. Analogue. Not as flash as a raygun, but at least bludgeoning required far less aiming.

He rests it across his shoulders, hands resting casually over each end, and nudges at the corpse's mask with his foot.]

Wanna take a look?

cw: heavily-implied gore

[ichimacchan]

[ he's not a kid he's a man-child NEET (so a kid basically?)

Ichi just stares as the guy casually picks up the murder weapon. Uh... okay???

And judging by all the red all over the chicken-mask... and on the ground... and the bits of pink--

Yeah, okay, Ichimatsu doesn't want to look at what's under the mask. He's already seen enough. ]

No.

[ ... ]

Should we. Burn the body. Or...?

[ Because that's what you do in these kinds of situations, right? ]

[fuckingdelicious]

[Val makes a small tch of disappointment, but leaves it be. They'll find out which poor bastard it was soon enough, anyway. He drums his fingers idly over the wood before swinging the bat round to rest on just the one shoulder.]

Why? Guy's already dead enough, by the looks of it.

[He gives a nudge with his foot just to make sure.

Yep, pretty fuckin' dead.]

[ichimacchan]

[ ...Ichimatsu shoots Val a look, because it's better than looking at the corpse. ]

You're... just. Gonna leave him here...?

[ In a McDonald's parking lot? ]

cw: gore

[fuckingdelicious]

[Val seems to ponder it for a second, and with a smirk, lifts the bat.]

Nah.

[And then he brings it back down on the corpse's head, whatever red-and-pink mush once contained within the rubber mask bursting out of it. Turns out this thing was pretty powerful. Stay out of the splash zone, Ichi.]

...Thought I saw him twitch.

[ichimacchan]

[ Ichimatsu barely has any time to react when Val suddenly brings that bat down on the corpse's head and--

Ichimatsu doesn't quite scream. Not quite. Maybe. But he makes one hell of a noise as he falls onto his ass in shock. He's got specks of red on him. So not fully out of the splash zone but not fully in it either.

Not that it matters. ]

WHY?!

[fuckingdelicious]

[Ugh, he got some splatter on his jacket. This is why he preferred guns; you never killed anyone close enough to get them on you.

Still, it does match his hair. The red of blood and the red of Val Velocity, maybe it's not so bad for them to be one in the same.

He lowers the bat, but not enough to suggest he's completely done here.]

Didn't I say?