Bluff City 30: Extracurricular: Out Of Time Pt. 4

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Overview

Episode (must be logged into Patreon to view)

Episode Description

TEN HEADLINES FROM THE CITY SILHOUETTE

WEDNESDAY EDITION, PAGES ONE, TWO, THREE

The Different Salts That The Water Brings

Glass Breaks

Radios Across The City Tune To Singing, High Clear Voice

When Will The Weather Clear. Wake In The Night Drenched In Sweat

Boardwalk Resurfacing Efforts Halted By Direct Order From Mayor

Burn All The Wood In The Woodshed! High Summer!

Di Traglia Martini! The Ocean In A Glass, At The Catafalque Memorial!

Archaeologists Puzzled As No Bodies Found In Lanternfish Square

Grass Grows In Office Of City Museum Curator In Chief

In Future May The Touch Of Our Friends Bring Comfort Again

Opening Narration

There is no opening narration to this episode. Instead it is a recap of the previous episode.

Music

Extracurricular: Out of Time by Jack de Quidt.

Cast

Plot

The group discuss what they should do next, and float the idea of attaching the Myst to Alexandra, who laughs and doesn’t believe it would end well for them (“if you’re going to do it, drop me off at the hotel first”). Chanti says they should coax Hollis to come out, and then cause a diversion for the police, and Caitlin agrees that it’s a good idea.

Alexandra says that she believes that the Tunnel would help Chanti and Elana to get home. Chanti says they could solve this mystery and then return, but Elana worries that it won’t exist because of how weird Blough City is. Alexandra says there are other ways (“by land and by sea”) but that they are much more difficult to travel by, which is why when she visits the City she stays for long enough for it to be worth it (a season). As they drive, Caitlin asks why Alexandra travels to Blough so much since it’s difficult, and Alexandra says that she enjoys her time here (“I find it fascinating”).

The group arrives back at the Grand Canary, and recover from their earlier fight, prepare for their fight against the Myst, and discuss how they’re going to lure out the police. Chanti seeks out a zoo to ask birds for aid, finding The Park Zoo. The supernatural entity, the Gloam, is affecting the birds there and they no longer want to leave the zoo. Chanti escapes, but is affected by The Gloam.

Back at the Grand Canary, the vibe is a little more laid back. Elana hangs out in the speakeasy and listens to the lounge singer, while Caitlin tends the bar. When Chanti returns, the others notice that Chanti’s outfit has changed, although they’re unsure if she has just changed clothes or if something is actually different.

After the speakeasy closes, the elevator unexpectedly chimes, signally that someone is headed down. Sensing danger, Caitlin readies her gun and Elana moves to the elevator doors. The elevator doors open, revealing that the elevator attendant has been knocked out. Three cops emerge from the elevator, the same three that had been chasing the group at Gale Green’s party - Herbert Rock, Porter, and Ale.

Elana hits Herbert, and he stumbles back into Porter and Ale. As Herbert moves backwards, his skin begins to harden into cement, hitting the ground to keep his footing and yells that he is here to serve a warrant for Harry Houdini. The cops begin to draw their weapons, laying down covering fire across the speakeasy.

Herbert shoots liquid, quick-dry cement at Elana, hitting the table in front of her and forming a wall between them. In response, Caitlin sets up a forcefield to protect the piano player and lounge singer. Elana hits him again, cracking part of Herbert’s cement chest off.

The elevator ascends, and the camera shows the eighth floor of the Hotel, where Rupert waits for the elevator.

One of the cops tries to crawl under the force field while the other aims his gun at Chanti, demanding their surrender. Chanti, who can sense Rupert approaching them, decides to go along with it, getting on the ground.

Herbert shoots the quick-dry cement at Caitlin, hitting the wall behind her and breaking the bottle along the back of the bar. Caitlin uses her portal ability to redirect the cement, but also misses Herbert (“Trickey, trickey!”). Elana hits him on the chin, chipping away more of him, but it doesn’t knock him down.

The elevator opens and Rupert walks out, very casually, and immediately attacks Herbert from behind. Herbert spins around, startled at the sight of the enormous bird. The cop who had been aiming at Chanti switches to aim at Rupert, shooting him. Rupert lets out a loud squawk, the sound and the act of shooting Rupert unsettling the cop who shot him.

The cop who had crawled under the force field stands to aim a gun at Caitlin. Caitlin uses a portal to shift herself behind the cop who shot Rupert to attack him in retribution. He drops the gun he’s holding and falls to the ground, killing him.

Herbert forms concrete gloves around his hands (“I guess the gloves are off”) and hits Elana.

Caitlin opens another portal, and Chanti sends the small bird on her hat through to attack Herbert’s eyes. Herbert screams, filling in his now-missing eye with a concrete version.

The fight starts to feel strange to Chanti, Elana, and Caitlin. For Chanti and Elana, the fight feels too violent and not like the fights they’re used to. For Caitlin, the fight has a choreographed feel to it.

Herbert slams himself into Caitlin, making her stumble back into her own forcefield against the bar. Caitlin wraps the force field around herself, trying to goad Herbert into taking a swing at her.

Elana knocks out the cop who had crawled under the force field.

Chanti manages to grab one of the cop’s guns. Herbert calls out a threat to her (“I’ll deal with you in a minute… Miss Bird”), attempting to hit Caitlin. The hits bounce off of her forcefield, cracking his fists and sending a shower of dust into the air. Herbert turns to take a hit at her, lifting his broken fist, and Chanti fires the gun at him. Herbert falls to the ground, dead.

Chanti checks on Rupert, who is hurt but will be fine.

Lieutenant Merisi comes out of the other bathroom, smoking a long cigarette holder as she calmly surveys the scene (“what a waste”), and tells them to hand over Horseface so they can end this. Elana immediately refuses, and Chanti backs her up. They protest his innocence, to which Merisi says she knows he’s innocent, but wants him to flip on Hollis Whitaker.

Merisi says that she worked for the Whitakers under the provision that she would get to leave (“I want to go to a place that feels like tomorrow”), but found it demeaning and wants to cause problems for them. Chanti asks why she doesn’t just go through the Tunnel, and Merisi says that “there are people who would be upset and the punishments would be severe”.

They discuss Merisi’s plan, Caitlin and Chanti arguing that it will become more complicated than she plans, and Elana siding with Merisi. Merisi says it’s worth it to cause damage to the Whitakers. Caitlin refuses to let Merisi see Horseface (“get out of my bar”). Chanti says that they could help Merisi fake her death, meaning that she could go through the Tunnel without endangering herself or others, and Merisi eventually agrees.

Merisi says she will call in that she’s heading to the Whitaker’s place, and will leave the bodies of the other cops there and fake her death in that location, implicating the Whitakers in her death. Caitlin agrees to help her get out, but says that she wants to stay to protect the people that come to her for her.

Hollis Whitaker spots them as they’re setting up the bodies, an almost-impressed expression on his face. He doesn’t make a play, playing up the part of the criminal son, planning his future revenge. Hollis Whitaker gets arrested. The Whitaker family is dragged, rightfully, through the mud, causing them to lose quite a few of their government contacts and political clout.

Chanti takes Rupert and heads into the Tunnel. As she moves through the Tunnel, the power of the Gloam causing her to bring some of Blough City into Bluff City. She emerges into Bluff City, feeling as though the City is a little more grey than how she left it.

Elana and Merisi take the long way by land, a literal walk across the desert with Alexandra. When she returns, it feels as though she has been gone for longer than she thought (much longer than the weeks she experienced in Blough City), and Bluff City has moved on without her. Elana and Merisi decide to become PIs (“Guns and Smoke”).

Weeks later, the arrest of Hollis has given hope to the downtrodden of Blough City to feel the confidence to come together and help one another again, the way they did shortly after the parade. Caitlin, with the guidance of Alexandra, helps to begin to secret people out of Blough City.