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Drew Nilium gives us 'Just Another Multi-Writer Cascade That Will
Probably Never Have an Ending' chapter 9. Pliable Lad survived the
chaos of the Omaha Project and Retcon Hour (well, okay, he was kind of
retconned in Retcon Hour -- but it all worked out in the end), but can he
make through -- The High Concept Challenge #45 -- An Awkward Situation?!!

And Scott Eiler gives us Chapter 10 of this. Is it time to have the
Birds and Gigantic Bees talk?!!

Find out in...

_
| | Classic
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| |__ | [] | | [] | | | | [] | | _ \

|____| \__] \__ | |_| \__/ |_|\_\
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|_| OF NET.HEROES

ADVENTURES #239

=====================
Just Another Multi-Writer Cascade that will
Probably Never Have an Ending Part Five
=====================

From: Andrew Perron pwerdna at gmail.com
Date: Tue May 13 19:29:24 PDT 2014

JUST ANOTHER MULTI-WRITER CASCADE
THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER HAVE AN ENDING
ISSUE NUMBER NINE
"Merissa Stole the Precious Thing"
by Andrew Perron
(Part of High Concept Challenge #45: "An Awkward Situation"!)
Rated ACRA for strong language and buttonholes
========================================================================
The cover is yet another homage to Days of Future Past. Pliable Lad
crouches in the foreground in the spotlight, and the posters are:
* SIG.LAD - Deceased
* KID CHIVALRY - Presumed Deceased
* OBSCURE TRIVIA LAD - Deceased Twice, Resurrected Twice
* LOST CAUSE BOY - I Think He Was Dead Already
* CAPTAIN CLEANUP - Deceased, Cloned, Retired and Active
* PANTA - Retconned
* CURLY - Forgotten
* REVERB BOY - In Superguy
* SUPERGUY - What's That
* KID ANARKY - Actually Still Around
* and finally, half-covered in shadows, PLIABLE LAD - Happy Ending
========================================================================

Foreshadowing Lad kept his mouth shut.

He and Non-Judgmental Agnostic had shooed off Bad-Timing Boy and were
silently guiding Pliable Lad down the corridor to the medbay in which FL
had spent the last twenty years. He didn't exactly relish the idea, but
they had to get Pli to Dr. Stomper before someone told him something
that would disrupt the timeline and make this cascade even more
confusing than it already was.

Pliable Lad twiddled his fingers, trying not to even look at the names
on the doors. "There are regulations about what to do with time-
travelers, right?"

"Probably!" said Non-Judgmental Agnostic. "But I've never been very good
with telling people what they shouldn't do. We should ask-- oh, here we
are..."

She pushed open the wide swinging doors. The place was pretty sparsely
inhabited; a good chunk of the LNH was off on the space mission against
LAN.os. There was a figure in a labcoat over next to one of the tables,
and Non-Judgmental Agnostic tapped them on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Dr.
Stomper?"

The person in question turned around. It wasn't Doctor Stomper, that was
for sure; it was a youngish... well, person, with smooth, pale-brown
features and a short black buzzcut. Their only makeup was eyeshadow,
purple on one eye and white on the other. Under the labcoat, they wore a
bright pink vest over a white button-up shirt, a purple bowtie, and a
pair of purple knickerbockers with pink boots. "Sorry, he's off in space
at the moment. I'm Mashup Laq, Mad Doctor in Training. What can I do to
help?"

"Sorry, Laq?" said Pliable Lad.

"It's the nonbinary equivalent of Lass or Lad," said Mashup Laq, making
a checkmark on their clipboard.

"Ah." Pli decided not to ask followup questions - he didn't know what
was normal in this brave new world of the twenty-first century. "Well,
basically, I was in another dimension, fighting some psychic energy
creatures, when I was thrown into a reality distortion. I started
drifting from world to world, always intangible, able to see but not
interact. They were mostly worlds with superheroes, but not
exclusively... I felt like I was seeing these things for a reason, like
my journey had a destination... but then, before I met that destination,
I ended up here.*"

[ * A subjective view of the _Omaha Project_ crossover and _Pliable Lad_
Annual #1: "Phantom Traveller". - Footnote Girl ]

Well, at least Footnote Girl was still around, Pli noted.

"I seeeeee. Okay, sit on the bed with all the intimidating scientific
equipment clustered around it, please..." Mashup Laq started fiddling
with a tablet that held various technical readouts.

Pliable Lad laid down gingerly under what looked like a giant satellite
dish. Things bleeped and blipped. Foreshadowing Lad and Non-Judgmental
Agnostic stood around nervously as Mashup Laq poked and prodded at the
results.

"Hmmm, I see, I see..." They looked up from the tablet. "Well, looks
like we don't need to worry about changing history."

Pli felt a pang of fear. "You mean I can never return to my own time!?"

ML blinked. "Er, no, it's just that anything that happens to you here
will be out of synch with what happens to you there."

"Out of synch...?" Pli tilted his head, trying to get a grip on the
concept.

"Well, it's like... Have you ever seen the Doctor Who episode 'The Three
Doctors'?"

"Doctor Who? That's one of those old British shows on PBS, right? The
guy with the scarf?"

"...yes." Mashup Laq pinched the bridge of their nose. "Basically,
whatever sent you here did so by pushing you out of a pre-existing
story. You're out of synch with the continuity, and so, the
Ottobindervitch Conservation Limit states that once you return to your
proper point in the timeline, you won't remember any of this until you
'catch up' with it."

"Well, that's reassuring, I suppose," said Pliable Lad, sitting up
carefully.

"Indeed - especially as it implies you weren't pulled away from some
kind of death scene."

Non-Judgmental Agnostic raised her hand. "I'm a time traveler too," said
she.

"Yes, but this doesn't apply to you. For one, you're coming from the
future, not the past. For another..." Mashup Laq waved a blinking light
at her. "I can tell that this is the 'present' of your story - that is,
what's happening now is further ahead in your personal timeline than
anything else that's been written about you."

"So you don't know what's going to happen to you," offered up
Foreshadowing Lad.

N-JA grinned. "So why should today be any different?"

Suddenly, the medbay doors slammed open. A man wearing a ninja outfit
covered in faintly-glowing white dots like a starfield ran in, holding a
limp form wearing a bright white spandex suit with a red "power" symbol
on the chest. We know them as Penultimate Savior and Killswitch, but
remember, readers, that everyone else in the room is foolishly ignorant!
FOOLS!

"Are you sure the narrator is oka--" Pliable Lad was interrupted by that
thing that just happened.

"What happened?" said Mashup Laq as Penultimate Savior laid Killswitch
down on a bed. Four others followed them in, including Masterplan Lad,
bringing up the rear.

"He came through a rift in time and space from another universe, he's
probably all right and just needs a rest, happens to be holding an
object of cosmic power in his left hand, if you could take care of him
while we have a chat that would be swell." MPL hooked his arm in
Penultimate Savior's and marched him over to a corner of the room.

Mashup Laq blinked, holding her hands out towards Killswitch as if
warming them over a fire. "He's giving off intense levels of crossover
energy." She looked up at Continuity's Champion, Kid Remender, and
Occultism Lord. "Do you know him?"

"We are new to this place," Occultism Lord demurred. "Of us, it seems
that friend Penultimate Savior is the only one who's made his
acquaintance."

Over in the corner, friend Penultimate Savior was being grilled. "So,"
said Masterplan Lad, metaphorically gripping PS's nonexistent
buttonhole--

Wow, that sounds filthy in a modern context. To clarify, to "buttonhole"
someone is to accost and detain someone in conversation - getting their
attention, keeping it, and not letting go.

"Anyway," said Masterplan Lad, "hello there. I hear you're planning to
save the universe by destroying the world, et cetera."

On 4/3/22 5:19 PM, Arthur Spitzer wrote:
<snip>
> Pliable Lad survived the
> chaos of the Omaha Project and Retcon Hour (well, okay, he was kind of
> retconned in Retcon Hour -- but it all worked out in the end),

It did. X3

> but can he
> make through -- The High Concept Challenge #45 -- An Awkward Situation?!!

DUN DUN DUNNNNN!

> ========================================================================
> The cover is yet another homage to Days of Future Past. Pliable Lad
> crouches in the foreground in the spotlight, and the posters are:
> * SIG.LAD - Deceased
> * KID CHIVALRY - Presumed Deceased
> * OBSCURE TRIVIA LAD - Deceased Twice, Resurrected Twice
> * LOST CAUSE BOY - I Think He Was Dead Already
> * CAPTAIN CLEANUP - Deceased, Cloned, Retired and Active
> * PANTA - Retconned
> * CURLY - Forgotten
> * REVERB BOY - In Superguy
> * SUPERGUY - What's That
> * KID ANARKY - Actually Still Around
> * and finally, half-covered in shadows, PLIABLE LAD - Happy Ending
> ========================================================================

I'm so proud of this, not gonna lie. |>

> The person in question turned around. It wasn't Doctor Stomper, that was
> for sure; it was a youngish... well, person, with smooth, pale-brown
> features and a short black buzzcut. Their only makeup was eyeshadow,
> purple on one eye and white on the other. Under the labcoat, they wore a
> bright pink vest over a white button-up shirt, a purple bowtie, and a
> pair of purple knickerbockers with pink boots. "Sorry, he's off in space
> at the moment. I'm Mashup Laq, Mad Doctor in Training. What can I do to
> help?"

:D And here's another new character.

> "It's the nonbinary equivalent of Lass or Lad," said Mashup Laq, making
> a checkmark on their clipboard.

I don't think I've used it again, I need to. X>

> [ * A subjective view of the _Omaha Project_ crossover and _Pliable Lad_
> Annual #1: "Phantom Traveller". - Footnote Girl ]
>
> Well, at least Footnote Girl was still around, Pli noted.

Heeheehee. :>

> "Well, it's like... Have you ever seen the Doctor Who episode 'The Three
> Doctors'?"
>
> "Doctor Who? That's one of those old British shows on PBS, right? The
> guy with the scarf?"

Ah, I had fun with this |>

> "Basically,
> whatever sent you here did so by pushing you out of a pre-existing
> story. You're out of synch with the continuity, and so, the
> Ottobindervitch Conservation Limit states that once you return to your
> proper point in the timeline, you won't remember any of this until you
> 'catch up' with it."

This concept is useful but I wish I'd given it a better name. X3

> "So you don't know what's going to happen to you," offered up
> Foreshadowing Lad.
>
> N-JA grinned. "So why should today be any different?"

Ahhhhh, I like Non-Judgmental Agnostic a lot. |>

> Suddenly, the medbay doors slammed open. A man wearing a ninja outfit
> covered in faintly-glowing white dots like a starfield ran in, holding a
> limp form wearing a bright white spandex suit with a red "power" symbol
> on the chest. We know them as Penultimate Savior and Killswitch, but
> remember, readers, that everyone else in the room is foolishly ignorant!
> FOOLS!
>
> "Are you sure the narrator is oka--" Pliable Lad was interrupted by that
> thing that just happened.

heeheeheeheehee

> Mashup Laq blinked, holding her hands out towards Killswitch as if
> warming them over a fire. "He's giving off intense levels of crossover
> energy."

I assume they can sense this because of how their powers work, being based in
"crossing over" different things.

> Over in the corner, friend Penultimate Savior was being grilled. "So,"
> said Masterplan Lad, metaphorically gripping PS's nonexistent
> buttonhole--
>
> Wow, that sounds filthy in a modern context. To clarify, to "buttonhole"
> someone is to accost and detain someone in conversation - getting their
> attention, keeping it, and not letting go.
>
> "Anyway," said Masterplan Lad,

heeheeheeheee

> "Yes, yes, necessity of the multiverse-level greater good, a fairly
> standard cosmic-level conflict. However, I believe you're making the
> rookie mistake of assuming that alternative perspectives won't be useful
> in introducing third- and fourth-level choices into a binary decision,
> c.f. 'The Beast Below', Pond et al.

Doctor Who references! \o/ I was really into it at the time.

> Irony Monger had assumed stealth mode, Dramatic Irony Field letting only
> the audience know he was there.

Quite a good power, I think. |>

> There was a tap on his shoulder. He pondered that information for a
> fraction of a second, then spun around.

heeheehee

> A pale, dark-haired woman was standing there, looking straight at him
> despite the Irony Field. For a few moments, she seemed to be a normal
> human, and then he sensed a constant stream of irony emanating from the
> fact that she was anything but normal. She looked mildly embarassed.
>
> "Sorry," said Lydia Devin, "but I one of my contacts fell out and I
> think it's sticking to your boot."

X3 I love it.

> The demonically-possessed cyborg duck known as Psychovant floomped into
> existence holding one of the cosmic artifacts known as Kubrik's Kubes.
> Now that he'd taken care of the important business of hedonism and
> sarcasm, he could finally get down to...
>
> Whatever it was the Council wanted him to do. Eh, he'd remember
> eventually.

Scott later clarified that he was less an active agent of the Council and more a
tool they pointed in the right direction and let go, but that mistake fits even
better with the later point about not being written by one's original author.

> You wanted to see the three ancient
> statues that sustain our world - The Rabbit, the Sentinel, and the
> Barbarian. And you... and you..." He held a hand over his face, holding
> back tears. "You... drew MOUSTACHES on them!"

The Rabbit is Bugs Bunny of course, the Barbarian is Cerebus the aardvark, but I
can't for the life of me remember who the Sentinel was supposed to be. X3; Also,
this is based on the plot of Final Fantasy VI.

> "The fundamental force of Comedy overran the world, changing and
> disrupting life as we knew it! Life was turned into a series of wacky
> shenanigans! It was... the Gagpocalypse."

heeheeheehee

> Something was *off*. All at once, the cyborg duck realized - he wasn't
> being written by his creator!
>
> He had to be careful - he knew how much over-the-top ridiculous
> characters like Ambush Bug and Lobo got twisted around by being part of
> a larger universe. Soon he'd be introspecting, and then angsting, and at
> that point it would be all over except for the part where he got
> rebooted with a committee-approved generically threatening design.

Notably, Lobo had, not that long before this, been subject to just such a reboot.

> Well, he wasn't going to end up like Ultimate Deadpool!

God, Ultimate Deadpool makes me so mad. X3

> "The force that created our civilization, that raised us up from mere
> animals - how appropriate to use it to stop the one who betrayed us!"

I figured we should actually have an example of being enlightened by a Kube~

> Punctual Death Lad sighed. It was a heavy sigh, a sigh that indicated a
> quite distressing burden on the sigher's part, a regrettable sigh that
> could simply not be held back any longer.
>
> A sigh that was met with a glare from his four teammates, sitting around
> on the magnificent legendary ship known as the Argo as it was pulled
> through space, destination unknown, by flying saucers shaped like
> fedoras.
>
> "Well, I'm just saying," said PDL, adjusting his bowtie.

heeheeheehee

> "Ay," cried Anti-Christ Lad, "but what good does it do a man to save the
> universe - when he lose his heart!?"
>
> The LNH3k looked at each other and sighed.
>
> "You ever get the feeling you're stuck in the B-plot?" said Kid
> Enthusiastic Double-Junior.

Love this. |>

> She immediately disappeared in a flash of swirling dark energy. Her
> followers cried out, Agent Susannah started shouting, and confusion
> reigned.
>
> "You know, she's right - there *is* a lot of stuff going on in this
> cascade," said Cameo Gonzaga of the Legion of Young.Heroes, all of whom
> had stayed in the background, watching, waiting for the right moment to
> join in. "I mean, we didn't even get to do anything."
>
> "Maybe next issue," the Green Knight sighed.