01 [Day: Sunday, September 12. Time: ?] 01 [You found Tony! He's in a restaurant much like Pagliai's, flipping pizzas with a man who may or may not be his father. Dear old dad went to answer the phone, leaving Tony free to talk with the lot of you - though mostly Imp.] 01 [The conversation has been going like this:] 01 <@Ardweden> ["Think I'd remember talking to a little fucking demon creature. Where'd you all come from, anyway?" he asks more generally.] 01 * Joan thumbs towards the door. "Zat way." 01 * Kali deadpans, while half still looking at Toci. "Ashgate." 01 * Susano-o crosses his arms. No reason to answer when the others are covering it. 01 <@Ardweden> ["Really?" Tony asks. "Like... Connecticut?"] 01 Really like Connecticut, yeah. 01 * Imp sighs. "Fuck." 01 Yeah. Sure. 01 * Susano-o nods. 01 ["That's fuckin' wild," he says, and he doesn't know the half of it.] 01 [Session Start!] <@Imp> How's your mom, Tony? 01 [He blinks at the conversation switch, then eyes Imp. "What do you care?"] <@Imp> She makes great breakfastes and is pretty cool for a mom and all. 01 ["... Yeah, I guess?" He pulls a pizza from the oven and slides it into a box, slicing it into even pieces.] 06* Susano-o watches Tony's dad, and then looks back at Tony. "So you know Ashgate?" 06* Kali looks over at Imp for a moment, then teleports next to him and bottom lefty flicks him in the back of the head. "Excuse us a moment." 06* @Imp looks at Kali. "What?" 01 [Tony shrugs, then looks at Susano-O. "I heard of it, why?"] 06* Kali drags Imp with two of her hands over to a quieter corner of the kitchen, leaning over and hissing harshly. "You're not Tyler. You're Imp in here. Remember? You're a demon who just told a kid that you've been watching over his mom." So you've never been? 06* @Imp blinks looking confused and then his eyes widen. "Fuck." 01 [Tony furrows his brow a little bit, then blinks and shakes his head. "Dude, must not. I'd know if there were... uh, people like your friends there."] Oh, well, we're really... uh. Really hard to find? 06* Kali sighs and glances over before going back to a whisper. "Look. I know you're trying. And he's your friend and all, whatever that means. But I think we're going to have to be a bit more drastic here rather than chummy chummy. Explain the situation or something. I dunno..." 06* Hien taps her claws together and tries to look nonchalant. <@Imp> Fine. I'll do that. Though think of that "Hi you are in a coma dream of happiness and if you don't leave your paradise and wake up to your sucky real life you'll die. I'm a demon telling you so." 03* Imp sets mode: +o Ardweden I'd be more apt to believe a demon telling me *that* than "Hi, I know your mom." But do you know anyone from there? 01<@Ardweden> ["Yeah?" Tony looks around suddenly. "Hey, where'd the red chick with all the arms go? I've got her pizza."] 06* @Imp sighs and heads back over there slowly. Oh, she'll be back in a minute, I'm sure. 06* Kali , speak of the devil, pops back into existance on the other side of the counter, with an annoyed look on her face. 06* Susano-o nods. "So who do you know?" 01<@Ardweden> [Tony blinks, then hands her a medium cheese pizza.] 06* Kali lets out a deadpan "Thanks" and takes the pizza, then a slice in two hands, handing out a third with her third free hand. 01<@Ardweden> [Tony watches for a bit, then goes about making more dough.] 01<@Ardweden> [Puck clears his throat. "You guys about done?" he asks.] 06* Hien looks at the third slice. "May I?" 06* Susano-o tries again. "So who do you know from Ashgate?" He looks semi- apologetically towards Puck. 01<@Ardweden> [Puck rolls his eyes up towards the ceiling lights.] 01<@Ardweden> ["Oh, just some guys," Tony says, working dough. "I met them while on a ski trip."] 06* Susano-o looks disappointed. "You don't remember them, then?" 06* Kali frowns at Puck for a moment and then leans over to him, whispering as she hands him a slice. "You know as well as I do this isn't real..." 01<@Ardweden> ["Of course I do," Tony says, now getting a touch annoyed. "Why're you so interested, anyway?"] 06* Hien 's ear-fins droop slightly. No pizza for dragons! I just know some people there... it'd be cool, maybe we know the same people. <@Imp> Dude, Hein, just take it. 01<@Ardweden> [Puck takes the slice. "Thanks," he says with a smile, and then drops his voice into a (melo)dramatic whisper: "I'd say it's real enough."] 06* Hien gives Imp a baleful look. "Unlike some people, I ask." <@Imp> And which one of us gets pizza if we want it? I don't want it that badly. 06* @Imp gives Hien a pittying look. 06* Hien snorts a bit of smoke. <@Imp> ((please make that one T, Thank you)) 06* Kali hands Hien her slice, then goes back to still pointedly looking at Puck. "No. No you don't get off with that. Even if this is real enough as a pizzaria, that's not really his dad. It's a fake, and you know it." 01<@Ardweden> [Tony looks Susano-O up and down. "Uh huh," he says a little doubtfully. "Well, they're just a group of guys, about my age. A couple of them are kind of assholes, but hanging out with them was pretty fun anyway."] 06* Hien beams and devours the slice in one bite, pointedly not looking at Imp. 01<@Ardweden> [Puck takes a bite out of his pizza and chews slowly, getting some sauce in his beard, then swallows before responding to Kali: " 01<@Ardweden> ["Sure. I'll give you that he is not the man who helped create Tony in the waking world."] 06* Kali frowns and sits back a bit. She doesn't like where this is going. 06* Susano-o nods, and looks from Tony to the Imp and back. "Sounds like some people I know. Maybe not the same ones, though." 06* Hien looks over at Puck. "So does that mean he helped create something else?" 01<@Ardweden> [Puck beams at Hien. "If Tony's got any brothers or sisters..." He eats more pizza!] But they'd be in the real world, not here, right? 06* Kali whispers quietly, almost inaudibly but making sure it's just loud enough for Hien and Puck to hear it. "You're saying it doesn't matter..." I don't think so? I mean, I don't think that's what I'm saying. 06* Kali shakes her head. "Not you." She points to Puck. "Him." Oh, okay! 06* Tyler2 opens the door to the pizzeria! He's wearing essentially what Tyler wore last Wednesday to school. 06* @Imp blinks and stares at himself. 01<@Ardweden> [Puck rolls his eyes. "Yes, *I'm* the bad guy here." He glares at Kali. "Look, bitch, you're- hey, what's that there?" As he gets distracted by Tyler.] 06* Susano-o is standing there, quiet and still now. 01<@Ardweden> [Tony just pizza tosses, not really noticing Tyler (yet?).] Oh, this could be bad. 06* Tyler2 makes his way towards the counter. Pizza time! 06* @Imp is biting his lip trying VERY hard not to say anything right now. 06* Kali glances over at the other Tyler, not reacting to Puck's name calling, keeping the aura of being calm and collected. 01<@Ardweden> [Puck reaches up to rub his beard, then wipes sauce on his furry leg, getting it there there as well.] 01<@Ardweden> [Toci just stands, silent and still as a statue.] 01<@Ardweden> [Tony looks over to Tyler. "Hey, what can I get-" And then he smiles. "Tyler! Been a while."] 06* Tyler2 nods to him, looking surprised. "Tony? You're running a pizza place now?" 06* @Imp watches, trying hard not to glare around, unsure what the hell is going on. 01<@Ardweden> ["Nah, it's my dad's," he says, leaning against the counter. "I'm just helping out. What can I get you?"] 01<@Ardweden> [Puck looks thoughtful. It's a little strange on him.] Your dad? When'd you get with him again? And you got any menus? 06* Kali keeps an eye on the impending trainwreck with interest now, one of her hands folding under, but the rest of her looking a little incredulous. 01<@Ardweden> ["Uh sure, over there," Tony says, pointing out a stack of laminated menus. "And he's my dad, so uh, I've always been with him."] 06* Kali whispers over to Puck. "Yeah. Seems totally real to him now, doesn't it...?" 06* Hien stares intently at this new Tyler. Tyler? !Tyler? That is the question. 01<@Ardweden> [Puck doesn't seem interested in responding to Kali. Too busy watching.] 06* Tyler2 looks over at the menus. "You do it by the slice here? And I didn't remember that, man. I remember you being with your mom, not your dad." 06* Kali figures that's probably for the best and keeps on watching. 01<@Ardweden> ["Well, you got it wrong. And we got cheese, pepperoni, and sausage if you're going by the slice."] 06* Tyler2 looks slightly disappointed. "That's it? Fine, I'll take the pepperoni. And I definitely remember it being your mom, up in Ashgate. I'd have remembered if you got a pizza place. Hell, I'd have wanted free pizza every day." 01<@Ardweden> [Tony goes to get a slice, then tosses it into the oven briefly to heat it. His burrow frows briefly as he thinks, then he says, "Nope."] Seriously? 'cause I'd remember. Your mom does good food, like, friggin' delicious, but if there was a pizza place in here... I don't think this is right like you said, Tony. 01<@Ardweden> [Tony looks at Tyler for a long moment, then pulls the slice from the oven, slides it on a plate, and hands it to Tyler. "She's all right, I guess... didn't know you had such a huge thing for my mom. It's fuckin' creepy, dude." At that, Puck literally bites his hand to keep from bursting into laughter.] 06* @Imp pops over next to fake Tyler. "How the FUCK dare you? Is this what you think of me Tony? FUCKing shi..." 06* Kali 's eyes narrow for a second as she watches Imp and all of the sudden she's there, grabbing Imp and picking him up with her lower arm pair, her upper arms clamping over his mouth. 06* Tyler2 starts to reply, and then looks really surprised, looking at the Imp and Kali. "What the hell?" 06* Kali gives a half smile to Tony and Tyler for a moment. "Aheh. Sorry. He's got a tendency to get out of hand every once and a while." 01<@Ardweden> [Tony is also staring at them. "Uh, I think you guys should go now," he says, as the scene spreads a murmur among the others in the restaurant.] 01<@Ardweden> [Meanwhile, Puck pops up next to Susano-O and puts an arm around his shoulders, chewing on the last of the pizza slice. "It was pretty clever and all," he tells him, "but when you start hitting on his mom it's time to cut and run."] 06* Kali frowns heavily, then drops Imp, looking at Tony with a cold expression. "Okay. We tried the nice approach." 06* Hien looks at Puck and Susano-O. "Oh. Oh! I think I get it now!" 06* Kali clears her throat. "None of this is real." 06* @Imp glares at Kali and back at Tony. "Fuck no. I came here to save your damn ass and this idiot me shows up." He motions to the fake Tyler. "Dude you're about to go into a comma. This isn't real. Your parent's are divorced and you're with your mom in ashgate. It's not great, but it's better then staying passed out and slowly dying as a vegitable retard. Can't let my friends hurt themselves, 06* @Imp besides Steve. You saw what he ate monday?" 06* Susano-o starts and opens his eyes, looking at Puck. "What?" 06* Tyler2 disappears! 01<@Ardweden> ["There you go," Puck says, patting Susano-O on the shoulder.] 06* Susano-o looks pretty disappointed. "I was getting somewhere. I think." 01<@Ardweden> ["Uh, yeah... I don't think so," Tony says. "You got your pizza anyway - you should probably go now."] 06* Kali eyes Tony. "You said it yourself. You hesitated when we asked you if you've been with your dad this whole time. Part of you knows this isn't real..." 06* Kali frowns. "Wanting something to be true doesn't make it so. Believe me." 06* @Imp looks at Tony. "Look, you never talk about yourself. I don't know anything about how happy or unhappy you were. I know you take the button mashing cheap champ in every fighting game. I know you like doritos. I know you want to stay inside at some ones place. You're one of my friends, what can I do to convince you? Can't let you rot away." 01<@Ardweden> [Tony's eyes widen at what Imp and Kali say... and then Tony's father walks back from the phone. "Sorry about that," he says. "Did you handle everything fine over here, Tony?" At that, Tony snaps out of it and he grins at his dad. "Nah, it wasn't too bad, but these guys keep talking about *really* weird stuff."] 01<@Ardweden> [Tony's dad makes a little huh sound, and he looks at Imp and Kali. "Can I help you with something?"] 06* Susano-o snaps his gaze back to the father. 06* Kali looks at Tony's dad for a moment, then at Tony, ignoring his dad's statement but keeping a close eye on him. "You were fighting it earlier. You know it. This still doesn't feel quite right." 06* @Imp just looks at Tony's Dad, at a loses, but he's going to do something even more stupid. 01<@Ardweden> [Tony shakes his head, a little too fast. "Nah. No way. Besides, Dad's here. You can talk to him, all right?" He backs up, putting his father visually in the lead.] <@Imp> So why did you divorce your wife? I'm not talking to him. I'm talking to you. Even now, you're not sure if you believe it. 06* Kali takes a step forward. Just a step. 01<@Ardweden> [In fact, Tony seems quite interested in leaving period, heading for the more dedicated kitchen, when Imp says what he does and he freezes. Tony's father, however, just frowns. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says, mildly, to Imp.] 06* Kali closes her eyes and mentally tries to will Tyler away. Doubtful she'll succeed but here's hoping! 01<@Ardweden> [Imp is so totally still there!] 01<@Ardweden> ["Leave me alone, okay?" Tony says to Kali, as he heads towards the doors to the back.] <@Imp> Course you do. Divorced. She moved to Ashgate, took tony with her. He has a whole new life without you. Misses you I bet, but That lady? She wouldn't have dumped your worthless ass if you weren't a pathetic loser or a homo. 06* Kali calls out to Tony, in an even tone. "Why so scared? I haven't tried to hurt you. Just tried to talk. Are you afraid that I'm right?" If I'm wrong, then there's no harm, is there? 06* Kali takes another step, hissing in a low voice so Tony can't hear. "Can it, Imp." 06* Susano-o flicks his gaze back and forth between Tony and his dad. He moves away from Puck, and takes a couple of steps to the side to keep a line on Tony. 01<@Ardweden> [Tony ignores Kali. He whirls on Imp, and he yells, "My dad is NOT WORTHLESS!" He looks about ready to actually attack him, and the entire place takes on a sudden red tinge. Tony looks ready to say more before his father puts a hand on his shoulder and he visibly calms down.] 01<@Ardweden> [The dad tells Imp, "Don't insult me in my own restaurant. You should go now."] 06* Kali frowns as she looks at Tony. "You really miss him, don't you?" 06* Susano-o nods to Kali's statement. "It can be like that. I've heard. Right?" 06* Hien looks at everyone in the room in turn, not sure who she should be following. 01<@Ardweden> ["Miss him?" At that, Tony picks up his anger right where he left off, the world tinging red again even as his dad's grip on his shoulder tightens. "He's right here! And you should listen to him and GO THE FUCK AWAY with that little DEMONIC ASSHOLE you came in with!"] 06* @Imp straightens up. "No. I'll call him worthless. He's turned you into a fucktard that wants to hide in a fantasy and die instead of live. You don't run away like a worthless loser. You fight. You might do it cheaply, you might even cheat, but you fucking stay and fight. You were going to run into the kitchen away from this instead of fight because of this worthless fucking delusion your mother rightly kicked to the damn curb. You're going to give up her amazing breakfast for pizza every day. Shit man you'll be like Steve, only a loser. Gobbling down pizza pie after pizza pie. You'll get a girl and she'll divorce your ass just like your mom did to the fat old geezer you're stuck in a fantasy for." 06* Kali growls and shouts, a little too loud. "Someone shut that asshole up before he ruins *everything*." 01<@Ardweden> ["Wow," Puck says from behind Imp. "You make me look like Mother fuckin' Teresa."] 06* Susano-o looks to Hien. You do it? 06* @Imp spins around glaring down at Puck. "Don't you DARE start on me you mythological beast fuck. You're trying to take my friend away and let him slowly die. I am not letting some pathetic excuse for a nativity scene sheep hurt one of my buds." 01<@Ardweden> [Puck shrugs. "At least I'm someone who actually pays attention to my friends."] 01<@Ardweden> ["Will you all just *leave*?" Tony's dad asks, now getting exasperated himself.] 06* Kali turns to Tony's dad for a moment, ignoring the argument. "What do you people want with us, anyway? Why Tony?" 06* Hien walks up to Imp and grabs him with one hand, covering his mouth with the other. "That's enough!" 06* @Imp glares daggers at Hien. If Hien wasn't a big dragon Imp would be biting and clawing his way free. 01<@Ardweden> ["He's my son," Tony's dad says, "And I run a pizza place - it's true - and I want what's best for him. So if you can all PLEASE LEAVE so we can get back to business and stop scaring customers, I'd really appreciate that."] No. You want us to leave because Tony's on the brink of figuring things out. 06* @Imp tries to struggle out of Hien's grasp. 06* Susano-o looks past at Tony, trying to gauge his reaction. 06* Hien holds on tightly. 01<@Ardweden> ["There's nothing to figure out. Now go before I call security."] 06* @Imp struggles harder. He's not going. That's up to Tony to decide, not you. Imp's the only one who insulted you directly. He doesn't look like he buys it. 06* Kali points to Tony. 01<@Ardweden> [To be continued!]