[Mafia] Your Final Frontier: Go 4th and perish!

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

Lloyd steps to the Courtyard, to have a cigarette, hoping he can calm the nerves. But feeling it's not enough, he also decides to

> Find some kind of alcohol beverage

[Caret]

"I've been uncomfortable the last couple of nights. Maybe there's some blankets around here that don't feel like trash bags."

> search the warehouses for some actually comfortable blankets

[Kennifer]

"No luck on the alcohol but at least I found some soda..."

Inez opens the PAPZY and takes a drink.

[PointMaid]

...Why not. This day has been draining. A drink in the holographic suite, boss?

She follows the others and > Asks if she can get a drink in the holographic suite, since otherwise she'll probably just be trying to down holographic beer or something, which isn't right.

And yes, she's a dog that drinks alcohol.

[PointMaid]

She gets an alcoholic... something. She sniffs, licks and laps a small amount, then picks it up with her paw and drinks.

...Thanks, boss!

[Caret]

Bow returns with some space blankets.

"Space blankets, for all your heating needs! They're not comfortable. At all. But feel free to take one if you've been cold over the last couple of nights."

[MadameButterflyKnife]

"I'm good." Bit's ears tilt as ice surrounds them. "I prefer the cold."

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

So you got the PAPZY too, huh? Lloyd says to Inez before opening his up and drinking water.

[PopcornPie]

As Bit went for her drink, a slender shadow whisked past her, only to realize it passed something and backtrack. Now that she could see it clearly, it wasn't a shadow at all; Rather, she was now the first to meet a green, lizard-human creature with bright eyes. They gazed at her cordially. "Hello, darling! Apologies for being so late! Has anything happened?"

How they got here

Mermista walked into the meeting room, her face as stiff and grim as stone. A deactivated portal machine was positioned behind her. Once the dark-skinned woman assumed her seat, she slapped her pad onto their table, then lifted her tired brown eyes to the girl sitting across from her. "Glimmer…Hordak is dead."

“What?!”

“He sent a last transmission. He was critically wounded by a small army of lions. He barely lasted the rest of the day, only to find that the person who betrayed his team ordered a nuke to their island. The bomber has arrived, he laid down and said his goodbyes. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it. He's done for.” She caressed her cheek. “Why can't that geeky princess ever walk off into a petting zoo or something?”

Glimmer felt inclined to agree. “Of ALL the dimensions, it had to be one where not even Hordak can survive!?” Her face faded from white to red as it pressed against the table.

“Honestly, I don't believe Entrapta herself is still alive. She was probably gone within the week.”

“No way.” Piped up the dark-skinned archer boy next to Glimmer. “If she can survive Beast Island, she can cheat death wherever she is. I'll find her.” His valiance was rewarded with a heavy gush of water to the face and head. “Hey! Brrrrr!”

“You need to cool your head.” Mermista continued. “If Hordak was betrayed, wounded, and bombed within a week of entering, HORDAK, then not only is Entrapta gone, but you'll be, too.”

“So we should just let her die, alone and afraid?” Bow snapped back. “Mermista, that's wrong! Even if she's dead, she at least deserves to be retrieved and buried! Right, Adora?”

On the cue of Bow's eyes darting to her, the one in the blonde ponytail piped up. “Agreed. I don't doubt that she's trying to assemble a way home on the other side. We have to help her. You may not have been there when she confided to us, but she was always afraid of being left behind!”

“Wait. Hordak was with a team, is that what Mermista said?” Glimmer took the conversation back. “If he can find people to work with, then Entrapta could've run into help of her own. This might not be as urgent as it sounds.”

“Glimmer, this is as urgent as it sounds! All the tech in the world couldn't survive a nuclear blast!” Bow formed a mushroom cloud with his hands.

“But Hordak's experience is a sign that she's not alone out there. Maybe someone is looking after her. She could be safe in a bunker right now, finding a way home with other people. Protected. Instead of frantically looking for one person, we could take our time in the other world, gather our supplies, and spread out to ask the population if they've seen her.”

“Or, you know, we could just wait for Entrapta to reappear on her own.” Catra, reclined at the very end of the room, called over. “This is Entrapta we're talking about. Just when you think she's gone, she's dropping down right behind you again. Bow's right, if she can survive at Beast Island, then she is absolutely not dead.”

“Right. We need communications with the other side before we send anyone else to scout.” Glimmer nodded.

Mermista listened, but her face remained grim. “All this is assuming Entrapta wasn't murdered.”

The four others stared wall-eyed at her. “Murdered!?” They all screamed.

“You thought Hordak only called me that last time? He told me everything each night before. Multiple members of his team were murdered by the infected. Just totally killed. The tiny horse was hung from the ceiling, one girl had her head exploded.” Just saying it brought a green hue to the sea princess's face.

“No way…” Catra soothed her bristling tail.

“What kind of world is that?” Adora swallowed. “What's this infection? C-could Hordak have brought it back here if he lived? Is Entrapta infected with it now?”

“No clue. He only said ‘zombie virus’.”

“This entire situation just gets worse and worse…” Glimmer whimpered.

Even Bow was losing hope by this point. “So now we know we can't send multiple people, we'd just wind up killing each other…”

“Yeeeeah, so…” Mermista muttered. “No dice. This has officially become a suicide mission. We're better off just staying away from this world and hoping for the best.”

There was silence, just a little sobbing from Bow, and disbelieving breaths from Glimmer and Catra.

“Well…We need to inform Etheria of these events.” Glimmer finally pushed herself free of her seat. “If anyone is planning to see this world for themselves, we must shut those operations down. It's for everyones’ own good. We can't-we can't sleep at night knowing anyone else is throwing themselves to such a fate.”

“Right…” The five exited, one after the other, their heads low.

Where five left, one entered, deliberately late and having shifted themselves into a literal fly on the wall. A tiny black speck exploded into a towering, lean lizard-like shape. Their glowing reptilian eyes were fixed on the portal. It was all in place: After all seemed lost with the dear departure of the former Lord Hordak, the one and only Double Trouble would return with the lost princess secure in their arms! They made themselves drool by guessing what the reward for their heroics would be.

It took them mere minutes to remember the combination for activating the machine, and they entered as quiet as a breeze. Going, going, gone to this dangerous world.

…Unfortunately, Double Trouble instantly realized that they didn't even know where to start in this world. Didn't even feel all that familiar. Was this even where Entrapta and Hordak landed? While not doubting that Entrapta was going to be able to bring them both home, this was going to be a long journey. Probbaly one where they'd be hurt if they didn't find a safe haven.

Weaseling their way into the big city, Double Trouble got their claws on a call to volunteer at some kind of…space prison reality show? You could leave it to them to get sidetracked by dollar signs, even weird alien ones.

...And now, well, there they were, smiling at Bit like someone wasn't just brutally executed.

[Kennifer]

"All I could find. It's not bad, just sort of a general cola sort of taste. Would be better with some rum, but I couldn't find alcohol."

[Florien]

Hey guesss what! IT WAS ALL A LIE AGAIN!

Doctor Clef, Lucinda, the whole time it was a lieeee! You have been deceived! That iss a plot twisst right there!

The real replacement has been HERE ALL ALONG! Wow cool right? Totally real yeah definitely not a ruse or trick or anything probably!

Yeah ssay hi to double trouble, another member of the tall thin green people who don't conform to your limited notionss of gender gang or whatever. floran likess them.

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Bit looks at the new person, and smiles back. "That depends. You think brutal execution is something noteworthy?"

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

Lloyd has some PAPZY himself.

I hear you there. But I need to calm my nerves. Hell, maybe I'll do some chain-smoking later on, see if that does anything. If you all want a smoke, I can fix you up.

[Despair's Archon of Memes]

Bright gets out his can of PAPZY from his first day... still unopened...

To answer your question from earlier, Lloyd... Yes. I do in fact know Dr. Kondraki. He's a coworker of mine. ... How interesting how we keep getting sucked into these things...

[Cutegirl920fire]

Anastasia was hiding the whole time, too scared to look at the execution. When she emerged, she noticed the new person.
"H-Hello, I'm Anastasia Nikolaevna," She introduced herself. "And someone just got executed... I don't even know if they were the one who killed Hat Kid back in Night 1."

[PointMaid]

...Unfortunately, no, apparently we didn't get a killer.

Karma. And yes, I'm a... what you think I am. Dunno why it's a slur to humans.

[PopcornPie]

Double's ears fell. "Awwwww, I went and missed drama. How disappointing." Their arm pressed to their forehead is an expression of repentance. "The killer still among you? Oh, dear! That poor child has gone unavenged..."

[Cutegirl920fire]

Anastasia then remembers the paper flower she was holding onto.
"Dang-it! I forgot to give this to Hat Kid. Argh, her corpse is long gone now..." She tightened her grip on the flower.

[Despair's Archon of Memes]

It's a relic from a time where being called a dog was a pejorative used to describe... improper behavior. I think it originated in Ancient Greece, but truly evolved into its modern expletive meaning around the 1920s.

[PointMaid]

...Ah, right. Thanks for the history lesson.

[Kennifer]

"I've never been a smoker, not so good for the voice, but I appreciate the offer."

[Caret]

Bow (no, not She-Ra Bow) waves at Double Trouble. She introduces herself with an exasperated voice.

"Hello, the name's Yvonne, Bow for short, yadda yadda yadda. It's so fun to introduce yourself over and over and over again, huh? HUH?"

[PopcornPie]

"I don't smoke, there's enough toxic fumes back home."

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

To Dr. Bright: Heh, this truly is a small universe, isn't it?

To Inez: Good point, I suppose it wouldn't do any good to burn up the old pipes, huh?

To Anastasia: Obviously not, Nikku isn't even one of the killers. It was all guesswork and it happened to be the wrong call.

[Kennifer]

"My name's Inez Cortana. I... have said that a lot while I've been here, it comes of meeting a lot of people."