17354/Mxyzptlk At Joe's

Mxyzptlk At Joe's
Date of Scene:	06 March 2024
Location:	Joe's Restaurant and Cafe
Synopsis:	A fifth dimensional imp comes to Joe's Diner and there is much denunciation of pronunciation. How /do/ you spell or say his name!?
Cast of Characters:	Monet St. Croix, Corben Kelly, Julio Richter, Patty Sloan, Douglas Ramsey

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Monet St. Croix has posed:
It is a diner called Joe's (never mind the fact it's called a Restauraunt and Cafe, we're traditionalists here). Where the food is greasy, the coffee is hot, and it's got an old style atmosphere to it. Red vinyl, neon that's just a little too bright and garish. Yet it has signs of being downright surreal (not cereal, that's when the Trix Rabbit goes on a murder spree). The walls showcase favorite stars of vaudeville productions giving ringing endorsements. On this day, the bell at the entrance ding-a-lings. And ding-a-lings.
    "CURSE YOU CONFOUNDED MACHINERY!" The doors promptly erupt open in the style of a train tunnel.

Corben Kelly has posed:
A young man walks into a diner with a slug in his pocket. Sounds like the start to some sort of sick, dirty joke, doesn't it? In this case, it's actually not. It's a good thing Corben's beat up old black trench coat has some big inside pockets because of those pockets currently houses a foot or so long demonling slug-bat looking creature.

Corben opens the coat a little and hiss whispers, "Stay in there and be quiet."

Why is he walking into this diner at this time without pause, especially when things seems so bloody strange? Because why not? Because, for some reason, fate's brought him here. In his case that's a tad more literal than it is with other people.

"Sometimes it helps if you kick it," he suggests helpfully. Of course that's probably already happened, the kicking of it.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter might have invited Patty Sloan out to get a proper Sloppy Joe sandwhich here at the cafe, but his demeanor had the usual slouch as if he was almost hiding behind her at times. Staring at people suspiciously over his collar, delicately snarled expression to anyone who got close or dared to make eye contact. It was the darndest thing, its like no one told him you could get food delivered in this country. You can stay home kid, they will bring it to you. "Patty." he said, "Patty this the place." he grasped the door and cracked it only enough for her to slip through, like he was trying to keep the heat in. He looked over his shoulders for assassains, as one does, and then followed the girl in.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty was doing schoolwork when she got asked to go along with Julio. And so the quest for a sloppy joe to sate Julio was started. She may not know what she wants to study yet but she is serious about studying it! Still the idea of going to a diner with a friend sounded good. So she grabbed her bag, belted her wings and out she went. Hopping an Uber with Julio she rides along to the Greasy spoon of a diner. Why was she willing to go there? Because everyone knows that a Greasy Spoon diner has the best food! And she totally could go for a good cheese burger.

As the door is opened, Patty steps inside the diner. She looks around the place with a smile. "Lets sit over in that booth there, Julio." She points out. She didn't pay any mind to the strange person coming barreling in. Or the other person for that matter. She doesn't know anyone but Julio here so why would she pay much mind to them?

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug is... already here. He likes the sloppy joes, except he orders them on mashed potatoes; it's a Westchester County delicacy! Maybe.

Anyway, he'd polished those off and was helping himself to a slice of pie, when the doors open up and - his trouble senses are brewing. He looks up, one cheek bulged out with a bite of banana cream pie, and then slowly sets down his fork.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
As attention goes over to the hole in the wall (which normally is referred to as 'the entrance' or more commonly 'the front door'), there's a grand presentation of.. No one!? There's just the large hole, and then..
    "DOWN HERE YOU IDIOTS!" THe perspective shifts to showcase a very small bald man with a bowler hat.
    A very, very, very short man.
    "And good idea!" Over to Corben as the very, very, very short man goes to kick the wall as reality flashes, and then the room is transformed over to a wild'ish seeming flamenco gallery, but with bright neon lights. "No, too discoteca." Another kick is given to the wall, and things shift over to a Salvador Dali'esque portrait of existence, but with a can of soup a la Andy Warhol veneer. "No, too Van Gogh." Another kick given, and things reset back to the way they were.

Corben Kelly has posed:
"Corbs, Corbs, Corbs, Corbs," repeats a little excited voice from his pocket. "What Kibs?" Corben whispers in reply, one of those out of the corner of his mouth whispers. "... I smell BACON!" That little excited voice turns into a downright screech of a sound with the word bacon.

Guess the slug's out of the pocket everyone had to have heard that, so Corben opens his coat, sticks a hand in that pocket and lets the little demonling crawl up his arm. Chubby slug body, tiny little bat wings, one big red eye and a mouth like a lamprey's. Isn't it just /adorable/.

"It's bacon, I know it's bacon, where's the BACON?!"

Looks like no bacon as the diner shifts to... woah man. "I think I spent too much time suckin' on the hookah today," Corben mumbles to himself before he requests, "Hey! Can you make it a disco?"

"Do discos have bacon, Corbs?" asks the little sprog in a defeated voice.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter looks to Patty and asks in a sober moment, "Did you slip me something?

Patty Sloan has posed:
"Ooookay..." The young blonde looks at the little guy in the bowler hat and then at Julio. "I think our dinner just got more interesting. Unless this is one of those diners with dinner and a show..." Patty comments with a snicker. She has no idea who the little man is and no clue what he is on about. All she knows is that she is starting to feel a bit unsafe with the psychotic little guy kicking walls and changing the scenery.

The guy with a demon on his shoulder does get a glance. She doesn't really know what to make of them. She doesn't know what to make of anyone here aside from her friend at this point. But hey, she ain't judging anyone either. She looks to Julio and shakes her head. "Nope, I was starting to wonder if you did that to me. I thought things got crazy at the Mansion, what in the world is going on here!" She says in a hushed tone.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug sits back, and then laces his fingers together. He flashes back over a brief but very eventful life; and something tells him that this Imp is as dangerous as anyone he's ever met. It's the confidence. "No." He says, "What you have here is a Fifth-Dimensional being, one with powers *almost* on par with a Beyonder."

Doug tries to affect a blase attitude. How to deal with this without being sent to the cornfield? Or turned into... well, something ridiculous.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
THere's an annoyed grunt from the midget imp, "Fine, /you're/ a bacon." Then there's a snap and a voice a-la classic Jon DeLancie as suddenly the slug Kibs finds itself a bacon! ... With an animated mouth of still, of course. And eyes. But ever so freshly crunchy and tasty and fresh and hot right off the oven!
    "I am the supreme schemer of the Fifth Dimension, the all powerful Imp Mister Mxyzptlk." Cue the sound of the scenewritter quickly going to google.
    "And I have come, oh poor beings limited to a three dimensional world, to grace you with my presence." Someone in the corner goes to raise a hand up.
    "Is it CHristmas? I want a pony and a giraffe and a sports car!" His companion socks him on the back of the head. "He said PRESENCE. Not PRESENTS." "But they sound the same!" "English is a funny language."
    And as Doug goes to elaborate over on things, Mxyzptlk goes to speak to the side, "Is that canon?"

Corben Kelly has posed:
"Well, Kibs, maybe you'll learn to be careful what you ask for? Just don't go trying to eat yourself, buddy." Corben offers up to the... foot long strip of bacon now sitting on his shoulder. Him? He's not trying, he's just oddly blase about the entire situation. Maybe he still thinks he's high and hallucinating?

"What was your name again?" he asks of Mxyzptlk. "Missed it when you sneezed."

He watches the interaction while barely managing to contain a fit of laughter. "No, but it's almost Easter, kind of, sort of, sometime soon?"

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter stares on, like a deer in headlights. His eyes follow the speakers but his body stays still. He looks confused. He looks to Patty for some inkling of what to do, the to Doug whom he recognizes, then back to Patty. Then to Corben. His nose quivers a little.

Patty Sloan has posed:
"Looks, Mr... errr... M. We just wanted to come here and eat dinner. We didn't come here to tangle with a... What did you say he was?" She asks of Doug. "A Fifth Dimensional Being?" Patty states trying to show some courage. "We just wanna enjoy our dinner. If you'd like I can buy you something?" She smiles to Mr. Mxyzptlk. Quietly she hopes that just maybe, some kindness might save the day here.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug takes a bite of his pie, and then he clears his throat. Think, Doug, think. Thinkthinkthink. He must want something - but what? Gotta figure that out.

He clears his throat. "Excuse me." He says, before he adds, "You're the Impossible Man, right? Is that right? I think I saw you on the news at Wimbledon, once."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
There's a harrumph from Mister Mxyzptlk, "No, you're not high at all!" The ground around Corben's feet opens up as he sinks into it, Bacon-Kibs in tow. "You're rather low as a matter of fact." About even with Mxy's head. This isn't quite high brow humor.

Over ina nother booth, someone calls out at Corben, "Ehhh, not quite close to Easter yet."

As the rather communicable issues with remembering how to spell his name comes up, the small Imp glowers. "I should have expected this. I'm Mister Mxyzptlk!" Only now it's flashing bright neon, almost seared to the retina. Of everyone but Corben, that is.

"And thank you very much!" The small imp goes to float over to land on the counter by Patty.

Alas, any attempt at peace by Patty is interfered with by Doug. "Hey!" There's a flash of light, and Doug is suddenly right next over to Patty, Julio, and Mxyzptlk.

"He's a ripoff! An imposter! A charlatan! An imitator! And he nowhere has near my flair! If it -had- been me, then Wimbleton would have been whacked back and forth over by a huge tennis racket the size of Tuscaloosa!" Doug is, at least, not transformed into a Baconator.

Corben Kelly has posed:
It takes Kibs a moment or two before realization sets in. "Oh nooooo!" Little slice of bacon sounds a whole lot like Mr. Bill. It's a little harder to inch its way back toward the safety of Corben's pocket considering the crunch factor over the slime factor. "Don't let them eat me, Corbs, please don't let them eat me!" But then the little demonling is eyeballing its own tail end with malicious intent, it looks soooo good.

"I swear, I keep missing your name, would you stop sneezing?!" Corben says, again, to Mxyzptlk. He doesn't even really seem phased by sinking into the ground other than a little jerk of surprise when it started. Nor does he really believe he's high. Maybe he even knows the danger he's dealing with and just doesn't care?

Seriously, the Fates have thrown some nasty, horrid, nightmarish crap in Corben's direction. He's actually enjoying this a little, so if he dies, he'll die laughing anyway.

"Kibs, I think I've been grounded for my insubordination or something... and don't eat your ass!"

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter loses himself in the moment and admits, "That's a big racket." but then quiets again, staring at the Imp as he talks. He suddenly no longer looks rebelliously out of place. Thats the nice thing about Mxyzptlk. He gave all social awkward weirdos a way to feel normal. They didnt have to try and be the most misanthropic thing in the room: the job was taken. Liberating. "Mr. Mxyzptlk, whats it like in the fifth dimension?"

Patty Sloan has posed:
"Mr. Mxyzptlk," Patty does her best to pronounce the name only getting it a little bit wrong. "Sorry I am not familiar with how your name is pronounced. What would you like to eat and drink? I hear the sloppy joe here is good. I am getting a cheeseburger because I enjoy them." She smiles trying her best to be as polite as possible.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Mix-yez-spit-lick." Doug enunciates, before he tilts his head, and he drawls, "I mean, there was a Kaiju fight, I don't really see how batting Wimbledon around between two giant tennis rackets beats that;" He clears his throat, and then rubs the back of his neck. "So why are you here? I imagine that the Sloppy Joes are better in the Fifth Dimension..." He seems to grow lost in thought for a moment. "...Are they?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
There's something extremely theatrical about the atmosphere. There's anxiety, but not threat. There's not quite a sense of hysteria, though some in the audience may be miming at historionics!
    "And I'm not sneezing! You're the one that's sneezing!" Now Kibs does not have to worry over about bacon anymore.
    That's as Kibs is now a giant nostril complete with Groucho Marx glasses, a mustache, and may or may not have a cigar dangling from a functioning yet visually nonexistant mouth.
    "Well, it's got one more dimension than the fourth! I mean, you just have your normal box.." And for Julio, everything seems kind of cardboardy. "You have your three main dimensions. Height, width, length.." That's only three.
    Someone in the crowd calls out. "What are the other two?" The box that is Julio is popped open. "The inside, duh." That still leaves one more dimension, but it's probably best not to ask. The box is set aside over on a nearby chair.
    Behind the counter, the waiter drawls out. "If you're looking for something sloppy, come no further than Joes. We have the cleanest bathrooms this side of the interstate."
    Another of the patrons goes, "That doesn't seem like a high bar to advertise on."

And at the continued inquiries as to the sloppy state/non-state of the Fifth Dimension, the Imp harrumphs. It's a good default, not used often adjective! "It's as sloppy or not as sloppy as we want it to be! It's a state of mind. OVer matter. And I'm here to have you experience me."
    Three of the patrons in the back get up and move to start to sing, "Hello my honey/hello my darling.."
    And are hit with peanuts. "I said EXPERIENCE, not SERENADE!"

Corben Kelly has posed:
"Miss-yes-split-dick? Sounds like Russian Fetish porn to me." Seriously, the guy /is/ deaf and cochlear implants can impede the ability to suss out sounds and specific voices. We'll blame it on that even though it's probably not that.

His demon slug-bat is now a giant nose - with wings. No longer afraid of being eaten, it flitters on out of Corben's pocket. What do demon slug-bats and noses have in common? Well sometimes it's lots and lots of slime. When Kibs sneezes, a copious amount of the stuff sprays all over anyone in the front row and, of course, Corben's shoulder and cheek.

Now /that/ brings about a long line of swearing that only someone with 'French had a bastard child with English and a smattering of Dutch' in their skill set.

Whatever happened to the disco he requested in the beginning anyway.

Corben attempts to wipe his face on his shoulder, but only ends up getting nose to nose with Kibs.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter rests where he was sat. Two large eyes open on the side of the box and look plaintively at Patty as if to say 'Deliver me...from this fate'.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty frowns as she looks at her friend who is now cardboard. She shakes her head, "Mr. Mxyzptlk!" She gets it right this time. "Would you mind turning my friend here back to their human form? It can't be fun for him to be a cardboard box. I am sure he understands the four dimensions you described now." She states as she tries to sound serious. She isn't being threatening or anything. The air isn't even moving, showing that she is being quite controlled.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug looks at Julio. My boy, my boy's a box - he glances back at the Fifth Dimensional Imp, and then he rolls his neck, and stretches, and then he lazily pops his knuckles.

And then he takes out a napkin and a pen. "Pictionary?" He asks the Imp. He gives a bright grin. "I've heard you're the absolute best at games."

He begins to rapid-fire sketch things, to see if he can lure Mxyzptlk into playing - seeing if he can get him responding in a rapid-fire fashion.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter offers Patty a chocolate in payment for services rendered, the opens one up himself and munches on it. His feelings on the subject of being a box, even for a short time, seem well contained.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
As Corben goes on about the tonal inconsistencies of languages impeded further by hearing aids, denial, and general interruptions of comprehensibility, there's a sound that is familiar. Someone that's understood and that he can get with complete sincerity despite the incontrovertible gibberishness of it to everyone else.
    "Fwoof de bwoober froozer strudel berkon der borcon!" It's a psuedo-scandinavian adjacent cuisiner with an extremely oversized toque on his head and frizzly apron. And it ends.. In a bork. Upside is that now Kibs can see if he goes well with bits?
    Mxy would just -sigh- over at Patty, "Since you asked." A snap of his fingers has Julio back to normal, but with an adornment of what was within the interior of the box - another, smaller box, but full of chocolates. A strange metaphor. "And life isn't always about fun. It's about growth. Exploration. Introspection. Contemplation. Pronounciation. Enunciation. Emphasis." A glare is -not- given to Corben.
    And as DOuglas goes over to start to work over on a rapid sketch artist, the small bald'ish Imp excuses himself, "Sorry, I gotta do a sight gag." He's now wearing a hula skirt and posing like a flamenco dancer, but that's par for the course. "Turban! No, lower portion of anatomy. Kilt!" Then he considers. "Hula.. Hula girl!" Even as he turns into one, albeit with a bigger head.
    "GIR! I KNEW IT WAS YOUR FAULT!" Apparently the wrong Invader had been imagined in this entourage.

Patty Sloan has posed:
"I know its not always about fun. You don't have to tell people like me just how unfun life can be. As for the other things. They are why I am taking college courses. I want to experience growth, exploration, introspection and so on." Patty explains. "There is so much I have to learn about and even more I need to experience that its impossible for me to put into words with my limited vocabulary. All I know is that I am talking to a being that knows a whole lot more than me and can do a whole lot of crazy stuff."

Corben Kelly has posed:
"Gunter glieben glauchen globen," Corben singsongs. But then he actually grows a tad serious for just a split second. "But you know what? When life throws a person too much growth, exploration, introspection, contemplation, pronounciation, enunciation and emphasis? Sometimes you gotta switch it up and excitement, indecency, comedy, playfulness, energy and ... I have no idea where I was going with that."

This time it's Kibs turn to mutter, "Corbs, be /quiet/."

"Seriously though, Miss-ex-spit-lick. Where the fuck is my discotech?"

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter remained stone quiet through all this, munching on his chocolate and eyeing the speakers. He just couldn't tear himself away from the intense unreality of the moment. He'd forgotten the hell hounds on his trail, the intense self loathing, the loss and rejection. He was just Julio in the moment, everything was so absurd that he could just be a blank slate.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
    Doug holds up a finger - an index finger, he's not going to provoke a 5th dimensional being who could Poit him into an animate pencil or a penguin with zero effort, and continues to sketch the image. It's Zim the alien in a tartan kilt, with a bottle of whiskey in one hand, with a dizzy swirly above his head.
    Or one might say, a Kilted Tipsy Zim. Or if you say it *really* fast...

Monet St. Croix has posed:
At the demand for Discoteca, Corben and Kibs flash! Then they're both arrayed over in Tron style suits, with flashing neon and flickering lights and strobing sounds all about them to a peppy, upbeat and catchy music. Somehow not interfering or disrupting the rest of the scene or spectacle! But also thanks to the flashing strobe light above them, they have their disco - and it's techy too!
    "All right, I can do this!" There's a series of pantomimes, twirls, shapeshifting, and spiraling over then as he goes to flash. "Hah, I got it! Kltpzyxm! A winner is me!" Then, realization sinks in as he glares over at Douglas.
    "Ain't you a stinker."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
    Doug just grins, and raises his eyebrows. "...Bye." Then he sits back heavily in his seat, and sets his pen down, before he wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. "...Whew!" He says, before he shakes his head. "I'm really glad that worked, because I did NOT have a Plan B."

Corben Kelly has posed:
And you can be damned certain that Corben knows every single step to the dance that goes along with Stayin' Alive. Kibs is doing a pretty damned fine job of mimicking too, at least as fine a job as he can without arms and legs.

But all fun things must come to an end. Corben actually seems disappointed when the end comes to this one.

"Well, Kibs..." He doesn't even get to finish, the little demonling finishes for him, "...it's time for BACON!"

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty looks at Mxyzptlk curiously. "Errr What just happened?" She asks curiously as she watches. She looks at Doug curiously. "So what, you made him say his name backwards and he has to leave?" She asks curiously.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter mentions blithely, "Box backwards is Xob." Julio needs might need a factory reset, he hasn't moved an inch since he became human again, and he's on his third chocolate.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
There's a pop-FIZZLE as the man with the unpronouncible name that sounds like a sneeze goes to vanish into midair! But then he's back in a flash. "Gotta do one final thing." Doug is given a casual glare. "I make hte rules, I can change 'em!" Then he goes to take in a big breath, puts his hand over into his mouth to seal it up and then goes to INFLATE himself enormously like a balloon! Then, his entire head blowing up, it goes to flash 'EAT AT JOE'S' upon it in bright, glaring neon before detonating over, and he is once more gone.

A polite round of applause carries through the diner patrons. Among them an anthropormorphized lagomorph and his antidae companion.
    Some sort of highly unnecessary cameo, no doubt.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter is one of the people dumbly clapping, he has fully entered the herd from disorientation.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"And it prevents him from coming back for 90 days." Doug says, "Illyana explained it to me, once. The Fifth Dimension is Possibility - so he can do anything. In theory. But when he takes on a Three-Dimensional form, he needs to anchor himself with a Rule. If he breaks the rule... he's banished. So his rule is that he can't say his name backward."

"There's a theory that Rumplestiltskin was actually an Imp from the Fifth Dimension."

Patty Sloan has posed:
"Okay... Julio, lets get you some Sloppy Joe so we can take you back to the school." Patty states. She waves down the Waitress, "Can we get a sloppy joe, and a cheeseburger. oh and a Soder Zero please." She asks before turning her attention to Doug. "Okay. Thank you. That knowledge may come in handy. I hope it doesn't but if he comes back and decides to turn Julio here into a box again, we can be ready for him right?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"I don't know..." Doug says, "He fancies himself an artist, and artists hate repeating themselves."

"I've heard there's another one who's absolutely *obsessed* with Batman." He rubs the back of his neck. "That DEEPLY unsettles me."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Corben and Kibs are heading out to bring home the bacon. And, meanwhile, separately, a rotund looking source of bacon wearing a bow tie and an open shirt goes, "Bddieee-bddiiieeee Thatt'ss all folks!" Going to wave his hand/paw.

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio Richter snaps back to reality, oh there goes patty, tryna get joe sloppily. He briefly chokes on his chocolate and then clears his throat. "Yah, lets get it to go." he agrees, "Doug, what the fuck woulda happened if you werent here man?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Well, you would've been able to take your food home to go." Doug replies, before he winks at Julio.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty snickers "And you would have been the to-go box."