Chapter 54 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

Chapter 54 — Grigori the Placid; Zhang's only way

Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible One · Previous: Chapter 53 — The key to One Fine Pig's garage · Next: Chapter 55 — The cleaner bot plan · Floor: Floor 10 — Don't Come in Last · Series: the series

Opening

We stopped at the DJ stand and made our way to the back corner where the team was sitting.

Summary

The Lollipop. Grigori the Placid, human, level 93 Fleshmancer, Meadow Lark's hired mercenary, worshipper of Gula (a new one), sits ramrod between crumb-spraying Louis and Linus, whose shirt now shows Elle's screaming face mid-Ice Bolt: 'Right in the keister!' Elle says he has a stick up his ass but knows his craft. Donut: he cannot possibly sing; Carl: she needs to get in and charm Porky out. She presses for the plan — Elle thinks the two people Carl means to bring to the eleventh are Prime Minister Victory and a showrunner like Cascadia, and Donut will not have Victory hurt: 'SHE’S ALSO MY FRIEND.' 'I will explain it all after it’s too late for them to take the prize away […] The pig, this quest, and the war mage plan — all three will help us survive. All of us.' Dekoki the kappa of Team Yokai sings 'Cruel Summer', the Minister dancing with his skeletons; Carl remembers Finley — 'They are all the main characters in their own story.' Tran and Zhang at the table's end, Zhang's eyes red: Rezan, Sammi Harrison, Ming Lui, Soo-bin who kissed his cheek and said she trusted him, all dead; Tran: they attacked Na, the dreads did the rest, no player-killer skulls. Zhang's plan: Na rides lead saddle next heat; he will kill Torpedo, the octopus, so the system kills them both. It no longer works — only containment is lost, and Na can finish on foot where he cannot. He throws his target cape on the table: 'I wish I had died before. In the temple. I was scared, but I wasn’t ashamed. Now I am ashamed […] I promised him I’d watch over her.' She tore Jun's eye from his face and her own to install it; she never joked but smiled at her brother and sometimes at him; he thought they might marry. Tran: 'She’s not bad […] She’s just sort of lost her humanity.' Carl remembers the mantaur on the fourth floor — she was always a sociopath, and 'We need people like her.' Donut: 'She’s not a weapon, Carl. She’s a person.' The debt: Zhang's cape from Club Vanquisher, Li Jun dead protecting Donut in the tower. Three hours to the heat. Then, of course: Li Na cannot worship a god as a Changbi. 'Bodi, did you commit to a race yet for this next heat? Zhang is going to need a jockey. Li Na is leaving the dungeon.'

Characters

• Carl — 'I will explain it all after it’s too late for them to take the prize away'; 'Li Na is leaving the dungeon.'
• Princess Donut — 'SHE’S ALSO MY FRIEND'; 'She’s not a weapon, Carl. She’s a person.'
• Grigori the Placid — Level 93 Fleshmancer, worshipper of Gula, ramrod between crumbs and a fan shirt.
• Louis and Firas — Devours a cookie.
• Linus and Minus — His new shirt shows Elle mid-spell, captioned 'Right in the keister!'
• Elle McGibbons — Thinks the prize means Victory and a showrunner.
• Imani — 'We’ve been workshopping ways to fix this.'
• Tran — 'She’s just sort of lost her humanity.'
• Li Jun and Zhang — Zhang throws his cape on the table; would kill Torpedo so the system kills them both.
• Li Na — Tore Jun's eye out for her own; the debt owed.
• Bodi — Asked to jockey.
• Team Yokai (Dekoki and Yuto) — Dekoki sings 'Cruel Summer'.
• The Minister of Blood-Letting — Dances with his skeletons.

Locations

• The Lollipop — The table's end.
• The Stage Performance Guild — Donut must get in to charm Porky out.

Motifs

• The Pineapple Cabaret — A Changbi cannot worship a god.
• Staying human — 'They are all the main characters in their own story.'
• Player-killer skulls — Na got none; the dreads did it.
• Waking the NPCs — Finley remembered.