Amii gave Pensée a disdainful glance, her voice dripping with condescension as she uttered, "Ugh... just observe all the peculiar individuals in this place... like, seriously. It's unfathomable that we're surrounded by such utter miscreants." With an air of haughtiness, she delicately pressed the starfish keyring toy. Initially, the plastic emitted an awkward, stiff sucking sound, as if the toy were meant to make noise but failed miserably. She repeated the action, and it produced a flawless, ear-piercing squeak. In an instant, she disdainfully tucked her keychain into her pocket.
The innocuous squeak echoed through the air, igniting a frenzy of chaos as all the doggos erupted into a whirlwind of activity, darting in frenetic circles. They barked and yapped at each other, as though engaged in a life-or-death competition to uncover the source of the elusive squeak.
Amidst this commotion, a woman wearing a fox-themed towel called out to one of the doggos, "Psst-Psst! Boo Boo, come back here, boy!" As she navigated around all the tables, moving under and over them like she was some sort of ninja, I couldn't stop looking at the towel. No matter what she did, the towel stayed tightly wrapped and didn't slip at all, even when she crawled under tables to chase her precious doggo.
"Boo-boo?" Pensée asked. "Isn't that a pet name? And a ridiculous one it is. Path-walkers are servants and nothing more. The silly woman."
"People with too much time on their hands tend to get attached to trivial creatures. It seems they have nothing better to do," Amii remarked.
"Very true, but aren't we supposed to be trying to lure the doggos towards the table to knock the drink over? Cuss, it doesn't seem to be working."
Abruptly, a woman wearing a towel with a fox-girl design jumped in front of the table. She was an unassuming, average-looking young adult who seemed undeniably addicted to trends and trivial content on social media platforms such as eBunnee, all while exhibiting a notable lack of self-awareness and self-identity.
Whoa! Where did she come from? She reached our table so swiftly! It was like a jump scare—a towel-clad woman leaping into our view, causing both of our hearts to skip a beat.
Amii hoped she wasn't suspicious of the girls causing all the commotion and chaos. The woman placed both hands on the table, her face expressing frustration and exhaustion.
As she readied herself to speak, both of them went on the defensive.
"Let me catch my breath before I give you both a piece of my mind," the woman, wrapped in a towel, said.
"A piece of your mind? Are you sure you can spare it?" Amii fired back, quick and defensive.
"I saw you girls giving everybody the stink eye, and now it stinks here!"
"Of course... blame us for the smell! Go back to chasing your doggo, will you? They're clearly running away from you for a reason," Amii retorted.
The woman, draped in a towel, angrily kicked the table, causing it to shake slightly. Sarcastically, she quipped, "Oops... my bad."
Amii and Pensée were both annoyed that she was kicking their table, but then they realised they didn't care about the table or the drink. Still, they decided to pretend they did, hoping she would kick it again.
Amii, driven by a desire to provoke her further, sneered, "Can you, like..." Her sentence was left hanging as the towel-clad woman bitterly interjected, "Look at the state of you two! Absolutely no fashion sense whatsoever! Trying so hard to mimic that double-bun indie singer look, like every trashy indie singer out there desperately clinging to relevance! And you!" She jabbed her finger accusingly at Pensée. "It's painfully obvious you're attempting to imitate Kassy's famous pink bangs, but you fail miserably. You only make Kassy look like a disaster. Just no. You girls possess zero fashion sense, and you most certainly can't fight! Quit copying Kassy. You two are truly vexing."
"We have no fashion sense!" Amii thought to herself, literally at a loss for words.
Pensée stepped up to the challenge. "Look at yourself! You're sitting here in nothing but a tacky towel! This isn't a fashion item; it's a cry for help! And that fox-girl character hasn't been relevant in forever. And what's this? You spilt all your drink down the front of the towel. Can't you even drink properly? Do you need a bib, my dear peasant? It's just disgusting! Get away from us!"
The woman wasn't even aware she'd spilt her drink down the front of her towel; she was too busy judging others.
"I call this 'doing something with my life!' But you girls wouldn't understand that!" She stood up and did a twirl. "This is the latest fashion trend set by Ashlyn Starr! I've been a loyal Starrling for over two years now."
So you'd wear anything she promotes, even a bin liner?" Amii asked.
"She's already promoted that... come up with something original and fresh... okay?" The towel-clad woman then held up a phone. On it was a picture of herself wearing a bin liner. She then showed them a picture of Lillian outside her house. Lillian was wrapped in the same towel that Ashlyn and Eliza had used to photograph her. It was the very towel that the woman before them was currently wearing.
Amii exclaimed, "That's Lillian! We share a couple of classes together. She has absolutely no fashion sense whatsoever, and she's the model for Ashlyn Starr! You people are terribly, terribly lost. I mean, seriously, profoundly lost."
"And that bin liner... did you steal it from the women's bathroom or fish it out of a restaurant's trash bin covered in food waste? Given your appearance, it's hard to tell which. You inconspicuous pebble," Pensée said with a condescending air.
"Pensée, look! That girl has only 500 followers on eBunnee! I just saw her stats!"
"Really?! I didn't see that! She really only has 500?! What a tragedy."
"Five hundred people is a lot," the towel-clad woman said proudly.
"Please, you poor girl, we both have over 400k followers each on our pages!" they chimed in, simultaneously thrusting their phones towards her and showcasing their impressive statistics.
The girl, dressed in a towel, was frustrated. She launched a powerful kick at the table leg, aiming to topple their large glass filled with a mysterious white substance. To her dismay, the glass remained unscathed, and her kick took an unintended toll as she let out a scream of pain, clutching her toes. "My toes!!!" She then stormed off in agony, leaving the two alone.
The two watched as the woman limped away, calling for her doggo again. "Here, boo boo, psst-psst!"
"Did she forget she didn't have shoes on and still tried to kick our table?" Amii asked.
"Seems so. And 'Boo-boo?' Kind of apropos. She has the boo-boo right now and a broken toenail."
"Hahaa!! Too right there... princess... even her doggo's Path-walker didn't want to follow her! It was walking on a path as far away from her as it could! If the dog had an eBunnee page, it would be mega-popular. Doggos and animals always bring in the views and attention."
"Very true, girl... anyway, there was one solitary thing she said that irked me somewhat."
"Just one?"
"Yeah, after she said I made Kassy look like a disaster, she said that we couldn't fight. We really needed to prove to her... well, I don't care about her opinion, but imagine if we beat Xinx! We would be absolute legends!"
"Wow, we, like, definitely would be!"
Unexpectedly, the cup of goo developed big, swamp-like air bubbles, and one of them burst open, creating a loud, sucking sound reminiscent of someone trying to swallow a whole lemon.
Amii stared at the drink. "What... what is happening with that drink?"
"It was just disgusting, nothing more. It has been angrily bubbling for a while now."
"Not just that. The bubbling was becoming more intense, and look!"
The two of them gazed at the glass containing the goo and noticed it was starting to warp and bend, like a crooked building on a hill.
"Whoa, Amii! The glass! The glass is actually, like, melting and stuff!"
"Amii, I, like, totally didn't even notice that, girl! This is, like, seriously crazy, right? I mean, doesn't glass need to be, like, super hot, like, 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit or something to melt?"
Princess Pensée's sudden realisation of danger prompted her to act swiftly and assertively, pulling Amii back to ensure their safety.
It took a moment for Amii to process why she was yanked back so forcefully, adjusting her dishevelled clothing to its original state. "Oh my goodness, this is absolutely insane, girl. I never even considered this possibility... and it's melting without any apparent heat source!" Amii shook her head disapprovingly before continuing. "And all the people here have been drinking this... this goo?!"
"Yes... even the dogs have been lapping it up, and these bizarre hybrid zombie-like folks, clad in towels, were sipping it too! I didn't even notice until now. In fact, nearly half the people here are wrapped in towels." Pensée counted up to 15 before she lost count.
"Doesn't it, like, ummm, burn all their internal organs or something? And that eccentric woman wearing the fox-girl towel... won't it damage the fabric or something? Pensée, dear, these people are truly something else."
"Amii, was that actually her drink? That white goo all over the front of her towel could literally be anything."
"Very true."
"Hmmm... we should ask Jason," Pensée suggested.
Without expressing agreement or disagreement, they both shifted their gaze towards Jason and observed him taking a substantial sip of his drink, leaving most of the glass nearly empty.
"I'm not asking him anything... he's an absolute, blithering fool!"
Pensée's mind buzzed with so many ideas about what they should do right now, like, totally! eBunnee fame and views were, like, seriously always their top priority in whatever they did, you know? And then, like, this super-brilliant idea just totally popped into her mind. She's all, "Amii, you know what we should totally do? We should, like, totally do what we came here to do!"
"We came here for content?"
"Exactly! I always knew you were super-duper smart, and that's why you're my bestie." She continued with excitement. "We should definitely livestream this bizarre goo, showcasing it on our page. I mean, just take a look at it. It's melting the glass, and now it's dripping over the table, burning off the varnish as it goes."
Amii jumped into action, holding up her phone and writing a title and description for the stream as fast as lightning, as if everything was done instinctively and automatically due to having done it so many times before.
Amii's stream title read as follows: "This mysterious white goo claims to be your bones!?"
The chat messages were already flooding in at a swift pace:
lifendeadowo: wut is this?! did u just threw ovr the table and recrd it? why iz it so white?
sportsppprinker: are u blind! it's clearly drippin out the side of that glass!
lifendeadowo: wtf?! why's it meltin! that cant be glass.. must be cheap plastik
xxfunkpunkxx: the goo claims it? huh? can the goo talk or somethin?
toxicaspr: no i think is is glass melting! girl! do not touch the glass! the plastik will stick to ur fingers and stick!
spielreel: y u put hot drink in plastik cup?! silly girl!
emzluvsbob: still girl put hot drink in plastik... smh
Amii addressed the stream, her tone eager to clarify things. "Alright, folks, I want to make it crystal clear. This isn't plastic; it is, quite literally, glass." She proceeded to prove this to their viewers.
Amii handed the camera phone to Pensée, who took over filming duties. With a firm grip on the glass, Amii tapped the top rim with a key, creating a melodious clang that resonated through the air. She then applied gentle pressure, causing the glass to warp and bend dramatically, resulting in a mesmerising cascade of goo pouring out and spilling all over the floor.
The hunched, ghoul-like figure re-emerged, silently advancing towards their wooden table. With an eerie presence, he began to speak as Pensée continued to hold the camera and panned it towards him: "Oh, dear, my dear customers. Do you not see? The glass, it's melting away, right under your nose! You really should have consumed it with more haste, before this fine glass turned to liquid itself! Did you not even bother to peruse the synopsis of this extraordinary event before venturing inside? The faster you and the dear doggos eat it, the more you can save. But, alas, time is slipping away, and I can't help but shake my head at this missed opportunity! Guzzle, guzzle, for what could have been a remarkable experience slowly trickled through your grasp."
One of the doggo Path-walkers must have caught a whiff of the goo in the air and dashed towards it, enthusiastically licking the goo off the floor with all their might. The ghoul-man's expression transformed into that of a contented individual.
Simultaneously, we both gasped! Could this potentially harm the doggos in any way? The doggo appeared remarkably content, slurping up all the goo from the floor without the slightest concern. The ghoul-man was on the verge of responding, but then, Ava and her mother, seated across from us, abruptly diverted our attention.
"Ava, sit down this instant!"
"I drank it, okay? I followed your dumb instructions and drank it, just like you said! And guess what? Now I feel like I've got superpowers!"
The girl began to pace around the room, playfully mimicking the act of shooting fireballs from her hands while repeatedly making a sizzling "whoosh" sound as she extended her palms forward.
Pensée was panning the camera around, capturing all this footage of the Path-walker doggos and various scenes. She turned the camera towards Jason, catching him finishing off his drink and letting out a massive burp.
Pensée deftly manoeuvred the camera, skillfully capturing a wide array of footage, showcasing the Path-walker doggos and various scenes. As she turned the camera towards Jason, she perfectly encapsulated the moment when he finished his drink, punctuated by a thunderous burp. Glancing at her chat, she observed a flurry of messages urging her to pan the camera back around. Assuming that her viewers wished to see the hyperactive kid once more, she readily complied, redirecting the camera's focus back to Ava.
"Mother! I got so many superpowers!!"
"Ava, you're embarrassing me! You just had too much sugar. You don't have superpowers, dear."
The ghoul-man was now by the side of the woman, as if he had teleported. Something seemed very off about him.
"Ah, my fine customers, the glass before you... devoid of any sweeteners! It's all-natural, I assure you, and all for your own good! Yes, yes! I personally had my hand in conjuring the magic for this drink, every step of the way."
Ava vaulted off one of the tables, soaring to her highest point before descending with a resounding crash. The ghoul-man swiftly evaded her, moving with a pace quicker than a heartbeat. His speed appeared unnatural, activated at will. Yet, when he tended to customers, he hunched over and ambled as sluggishly as a snail. He displayed no anger or frustration, radiating pride as he observed.
"Mother, I can fly too! I can do anything!"
Her mother, head bowed in shame, attempted to apologise to the man. "Mister, um, s-servant, drink guy, I... I'm so, so sorry about my daughter."
"No need! She drank with great speed, so I must expect nothing but the most favourable of reviews from you, yes?!"
"Yes! P-perfect reviews from both of us," she stammered nervously. She was clearly spooked by the ghoul-man and didn't want trouble.
Ava was still making a scene out of herself; the fox-girl-towel-clad girl who had confronted Amii and Pensée previously now confronted Ava and said, "Stop staring at me! I can feel your stink eye from all the way back here!"
"I possess so many superpowers! I keep discovering new ones! This drink is A M A Z I N G sauce!" She continued to make "whoosh" sounds while extending her palms forward, pretending to fire balls at the woman.
"Are you even listening to me, you silly girl?"
"I've also gained X-ray vision! I can see through things!"
"Ava, please sit down and pay attention to what the wonderful woman has to say."
The woman with the towel found the front of her towel disintegrating due to the drink she spilled on it. Ava blurted out, "I can see her entire world!"
"My world?! What in heaven's name are you talking about?"
The towel-clad girl's eyes fell to her towel, her heart sinking as she noticed that the spilt drink had left patches of her fox-themed towel scorched and missing. She blushed with embarrassment and departed slowly, her head bowed in shame.
Amii gasped and said to Pensée, who was recording all this for the stream, "Are you not looking at the chat? It's going crazy right now... there are thousands of people chatting:
billike: i realy wants some of that stuff! it can melt literally anythink
nycmissing: imagine robbin a bank with it!
sportsppprinker: you need car for that, nycmissing
nycmissingg: okay, sorry, mister expert on the subject!
soccerowl663: what you mean rob a bank? Huh
abak44xx: it look dangerus
gababixzXz: this streem crayzee dude
nycxmissingg: like to melt the bars! what do you think?!
soccerowl: melting bars at a bank? huh x2
nycmissing: nooo.... melting the vault door
2catgambit92: she is panning the camera at the girl again!
paragonxanx: GIRL!! COVER UP!!
epicha: this stream defo NSFW!
catgambit: i am lucky i am not at work.
epicha.. good 4 you ... sigh
2cuteally: the fox-girl of the towel! cosmic lunar vixen has angry, perky, red demonic eyes! oh no!!
DipperGipper: doggos drank fast so i guess it will get good reviewz. that's all these people care bout! if the product is comsumed fast.
Kinsher1110: exacttly why he have so many bad products on the market right now.
FREEWARKl : JESS WILL KICK XinxS ASS TOMMORRWWW1!!
paragonxanx: not this mask talk AGAIN..
FREEWARKl: shut up hater!
Pensée aimed the camera at Amii, who gave a friendly wave to the viewers before signalling for Pensée to end the live stream. Then, she dropped a bombshell: "Pensée and I... will be taking part in tomorrow's The Mask That Always Smiles event." She blew a kiss, and Pensée concluded the stream. This unexpected announcement would undoubtedly make them the hottest topics in the world of eBunnee. Neither of them intended to provide more details or explanations—they wanted their audience to indulge in wild speculation.
Pensée turned her gaze towards Amii and declared, "I suppose we're doing it then, huh?"
Before Amii could respond, a ghoul suddenly leaped in front of the two girls, exclaiming, "Ah, my dear ladies, you've ventured into the depths of the Nether-Regions and savoured their exotic mucilage. But now, brace yourselves, for the enchanting darkness of magic mushrooms from the shadowy realm of Ignorthus is about to engulf your senses."
"Oh, joy!" they both exclaimed with a shrug and walked away.
The ghoul, vexed by their neglect of his mushroom, hissed ominous words from beneath the shrouded cloak as they departed: "If you pen a bad review, heed my warning. Misfortune will come upon you like a silent spectre. But a glowing review, and the gods themselves shall bestow their blessings upon you."
The girls completely disregarded him, not even registering his words.