Chapter 64 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles
Chapter 64 — The hole; the dolls; Corky aboard
Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible One · Previous: Chapter 63 — Receiving; the jump; Toddler Cocaine · Next: Chapter 65 — Upside down: Corcunda · Floor: Floor 10 — Don't Come in Last · Series: the series
Opening
The truck bumped as we accidentally rolled over a group of passed-out knockers.
Summary
Over passed-out knockers into the cloud; Prepotente: Bianca is 'strung out' on the toddler drugs and he pulls off to save her — Corky not grabbed. Doll packing: a too-bright room of crates and a narrow path; Carl senses a trap and the Bubble Buddy carries them over a massive hole. 'They fell in! I saw them!' Reverse, flush against a smoking crate labelled 'My First Sicarios boy action figures, case of 500. Assorted.' Grigori cannot drive, dry-heaving; Dong, weak, takes the seat. Ten metres down the GTO lies on its side, shield gone, hobble-missiled, front smashed, a gold wheel and half an axle off — done. Rapture and Genesis alive, groaning, Strung Out; Corky belted in the back, unconscious and strung out; the containment may be off. Crunch: big-headed Barbie- and Bratz-dolls and G.I. Joe figures the size of Eris's Uzi Jesus swarm the car — Toot-Toot doll, Level 12 Grape-flavored Cocaine Elemental; the knockers' elemental magic leaked into the doll frames, the room was sealed, the seal is broken; infused elementals have 'the pass-through ability'. The crate shakes. 'You’re not a kangaroo anymore. I got this' — Donut Puddle Jumps (level 17) onto the GTO and back with Corky beside the truck; the heat outside staggers Carl and smokes her fur; Corky was cooking in his suit. Carl does not stop to think about the womantaurs burning as the figures tear at them. Corky onto the makeshift table; a hitchhiking Toot-Toot melted to the suit ('Do you want to know how to get some cash out of your teacher? False accusations are a great way to'…) is thrown out, ripping a patch of suit — guts pop like biscuit dough, a health bar appears. Soldiers patter over the truck through the working shield (pass-through). Grigori and Porky clear both debuffs; Corky wakes to Porky's voice, identical to his own: 'I’m here. It’s time to get back together.' 'Corky! Corky!' El Asesino de la Melaza, upside down in the door — 'Snitches get their throats slit' — is halved by the closing doors and stomped. Race ends in 20 minutes. Dong cannot find the ceiling controls; Carl climbs over the mantaurs, the table snaps, everyone falls into the chairs, Corky's suit tears further. 'Dong, out of the seat! […] Let me drive! Help your friend!'
Characters
- Carl — Reverses to the hole; throws the doll out and tears the suit; 'Dong, out of the seat! […] Let me drive!'
- Princess Donut — 'You’re not a kangaroo anymore. I got this' — Puddle Jumper to the GTO and back with Corky.
- Corcunda (Corky and Porky) — Corky cooking in his suit; wakes to Porky's identical voice.
- Dong Quixote — Takes the wheel, weak; 'Corky! Corky!'
- Grigori the Placid — Cannot drive, dry-heaving; clears the debuffs.
- Genesis and Rapture (the Lady Dominators) — Left burning in the crashed car as dolls tear at them.
- Prepotente — Bianca strung out.
- Bianca — Prepotente, in chat: 'rendered “strung out” by these unlawful toddler drugs'.
Locations
- The Gasworks Screw Factory, Steel Mill, and Doll Workshop — Doll packing: a too-bright room of crates and a ten-metre hole.
Motifs
- I have dreamed thee too long / Half a prayer, half a song — Corky aboard, on a makeshift table.
- The tenth floor — Infused elementals pass through the shield.
- The AI's confessions — 'So, the dolls were a mistake.'