ᴠᴀɢᴀʙᴏɴᴅ.

"Another me... Siobhan was right, I really should have watched what mushrooms I was eating."

He was going to need to commit this one to memory.

Now normally such every day items wouldn't be of any interest to him. But the problem was. They were gigantic.

The fence towered from this perspective like a monolith, alongside the trash bin. And the trash beside it made uneasy steps to climb thst precarious mountain.

The streets for now were empty, but he was sure they'd get filled in time, so he had a moment to think.

Joseph was sure he was just having a very, very bad day. He was at an utter loss for words.

It was made only worse by the fact that a cat sprang up to the fence, looking down at Joseph with what was clearly a cat's pride and what he or she thought was benevolence.

Joseph's good eye twitched. It was a very minute movement, but if anyone was close enough to see, it said all it needed to say.

The cat saw prey, and Joseph got an unnecessary fight on his hands. The cat lept over, ready to smash its claws down with speed and momentum to snap its prey's neck.

Only to get surprised as a mace smacked it in the jowls in mid leap, causing it to pivot and stumble on shaky legs, and get another smack on its back legs, the pain finally registering and causing the cat to yowl with pain as something cracked and it limped off, its leg covered in pins and needles as it felt the buzz of electricity on its hind leg.

Having beaten his foe, Joseph exhaled a held breath. He wasn't dreaming.

To anyone else, he'd look like a fox with nine black tails with odd blue rings on the tails and on his ears and forehead. He was by all accounts, a stranger in a stranger land of the smallfolk.

And hed just beaten up a poor cat. Sure it had meant to kill him, but to it, he probably looked like an odd mouse. Or a rat.

Again, he found himself in a strange scenario, he was honestly at a loss.

--

❝ Yeah, you better run you overfed fuzz-ball! ❞ Came the voice of a very angry brown mouse from behind Joseph, who'd apparently witnessed the entire interaction between Joseph and Tiger go down and was not very happy about it.

Verm quickly came to Joseph's side. ❝ Sorry I didn't get here sooner. ❞ That damn felidae had absolutely no scruples. ❝ That was weird... Tiger usually waxes poetically about the Old Way before just lunging for a rodent's throat like that. ❞ Though, now that Verm gets a closer look at Joseph, he wasn't much of a rodent at all, —for starters he had 9 tails, and a canine-like muzzle.

" Gasp! A mouse in our diner!? "

Ketut exclaims to no one in particular just barely above a whisper, likely not wanting to alert anyone else. Despite being a young kitten, she doesn't appear driven to hunt the rodent at all, but was clearly worried about what that could mean for the diner if someone else found out.

❝ Fredbear? ❞ There was a bear here?

Still, Verm supposed he was happy the kitten didn't want to kill him. Verm was able to make peace with these god beasts if they seeked it.

"Not too shabbyyy!"

"Your scream was scarier."

"I don't think this is... good for my mental health..."

"___, do you understand this painting?"

"Oh dear, I have awful bags under my eyes..."

"These stairs are killer... there's still more?"

"___, did you remember everything?"

"I'll show you a secret spot."

"...This is your first time in an art gallery, right, ___?"

"Oh, thank heavens! There's someone here besides me!"

"You know you can't run away... but nothing goes well either... wonder why?"

"Why do you talk like a lady?"

"Let's hold hands, ___!"

"Where else have we not checked?"

"......I don't want to lie to you... but I... don't want to tell you the truth either..."

"It is better to be gentle than harsh, don't you agree?"

"...No matter how I look at it, this is NOT "cute"."

"Ahh, that was brutal... Such cruelty on my exhausted legs..."

"I've had enough scares... My heart can't take it."

"Keep it safe in your pocket, okay? Don't lose it!"

"Maybe I should go have a smoke..."

"I'd probably wet myself, not gonna lie."

"I think I'll go mad if I stay in this dreadful place for too long..."

"...How long are you going to follow me?"

"Liar!"

"Wow, you're a meanie..."

"I think I... swallowed something hard!"

"......Ugh... it... hurts..."

"Why are you ignoring me? Do you hate me?"

"Wh... what is it THIS time!? I've nothing left for you to take!"

"I see... then you wouldn't know a thing about the how or the why of all this either, huh."

"Shall we look for a way out?"

"If need be, I can at least try to carry you on my shoulder."

"I... I was just a little startled! R-really, nothing more than that!"

"Well done, finding this little passage...!"

"Why, I feel like I could fall asleep right here..."

"Come on, cheer up! It's a disservice to your adorable little face to look so dour."

"Perhaps it's just my imagination, but does this room smell like fish to you?"

"Are you alright?! That was impossible to dodge...!"

"Don't you find that your ears kind of hurt when it's too quiet?"

"That was one nasty surprise!"

"I don't like the dark! It's scary not being able to see..."

"Huh? That sound's... getting closer..."

"Be careful...! Something just moved..."

"I get it, alright?! Don't kick me! I'm sorry!!"

"...What is this? Some little... piece of trash?"

"For such a big guy, you sure are cheeky."

"That doesn't look very comfortable to sit on..."

"Gyaaaah! What is THAT?! Gross!"

"Maybe that key... opens that door there?"

"I wish things wouldn't suddenly fall like that... It's bad for my poor heart."

"Well, chow time!"

"I'm sure I saw this painting's eyes glow..."

"You look pale... are you okay?"

@learnedrage​ sent a soft and sweet starter:

❝ Wait, you think I’m cute? ❞ (—for Mae )

That’s a hot take he can get behind, but... —from a cat? A beast presumably under ownership of the gods? Felt strange.

"Oh, look what we've got here! Looks like we got ourselves a new recruit for the Kremling Krew, whether you meant to actually come here or not!" King K. Rool snickered.

❝ ...... ❞    That’s it.

Verm was about to give these reptiles a piece of his mind.

❝ As if I’d work for you fatso! ❞ Verm shouted up to the Kremling. ❝ You can’t make me! ❞

❝ Eww... these are kinda gross. ❞ —Said Verm, taking a bite of some of Cinnamon's pumpkin seeds.