Bluff City 14: When Justice is Done Pt. 2

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When Justice Is Done Pt. 2 is the second episode of the When Justice Is Done Arc.

Episode description[edit | edit source]

TOP FIVE BLUFF CITY BOARDWALK ROLLER CART DESTINATIONS (NO CASINOS!)

~ BY RITA O. ~

~ PLEASE SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!~


1. mike and angela’s boardwalk crab shop

2. roll: neon, the bluff city roller rink

3. the scuba shop

4. flatfish coffee and donuts

5. polefish pete’s shooting gallery and surf store

6. the authentic english creamery and fudge shop

7. beachside dog park

8. palmistry and tarot AND phrenology

9. the ORIGINAL sunglasses zone

10. saltwater pier arcade

11. teeth, tongue and froze: an ice cream shop

12. falling leaves kite rental

13. tidal vinyl and cassette store

14. bluff city skate park

15. sand dollar slots

16. the aquarium

17. king croc’s jazz bar

18. what’s that over there binoculars

19. official sand sculpture area

20. “don’t get cold, stay warm!” wetsuit rental

21. green leaves / blue sky LEGAL beach dispensary

22. rod’s rods and lines: fishing gear rental

23. tidal swim pools

24. sea view sushi

25. pizza! pizza! pizza!

26. the dusty cartridge: used video game store

27. fountain plaza (disused)

28. lifeguard station alpha

29. beach volleyball courts

30. tourist information station (free guidebooks)

31. round like a bowling ball, big as the moon pizza co

32. black reach lighthouse

33. soar over the waves jet ski and windsurfing rental

34. bluff city boardwalk first aid and paramedic station

35. WE SELL BUCKETS AND SPADES

36. check in with the clouds weather station

37. duane’s souvenir and t shirt emporium

38. lifeguard station delta

39. new bluff city unofficial boardwalk aquarium

40. sunglasses zone 2

41. susan’s shell garden (admission free OR $5)

42. craft ale on the boardwalk

43. boardwalk museum of flotsam and jetsam

44. chowder! liquid fish!

45. bluff city rustic seaside diner


SITE VISITED BY 0014 PEOPLE

Contents[edit | edit source]

Opening[edit | edit source]

I find myself thinking a lot about masks these days. Bluff City. And the people- the people who wear them. Maybe it’s all these masquerades I’ve been seein’ pop up around the shore recently. Have you been to any of those? Those fancy galas? The ballroom soirées? No? What? They don’t send out those uh, fancy calligraphy invitations to folks workin’ the late night shift like you and me. [light laugh] Heh. No. No. Of course they don’t. Folks like us. We don’t need masks, do we? We don’t need masks. We… One second. I got a call comin’ in, and it looks like, it is from one of my very favorite people.

Hector. Hector, this is Florence. Hector, are you ok?

Florence. It is so good to hear from you. It has been too long. What’s on your mind tonight?

– Hector Hu

Hector, can you hear me? We’re coming for you, Hector. I promise.

– Florence Slowly

Now Florence, you know I have a lot of complicated feelings about art. I mean it connects to what I was just talking about. The mask. Did you know that when Portugese sailors first sailed down towards Africa, and they started seeing tribal cultures with uh, jewelry and small statues and masks, they looked at those, and they said, ‘Now that. That right there. That is uh- That is fetishism.’ Not in the way that you and I might mean that word today. A different way. They were saying that these people that they were putting uh, a fantastical- a mystical- a false presence into the things that they made. Now I’m not sayin’ that each of those sailors was a skeptic, of course. Some of them believed in the power of faith regardless of which god you’re praying to, but by and large, they looked at those tribesmen, and they said, ‘You fools. God is not in a mask. God is not in a necklace. You are inserting the holy where there is nought.’

– Hector Hu

[almost inaudible in the background] Hector, are you ok?

– Florence Slowly

And yet, what would these self-same sailors do when they went back to their quarters that night? Take out the rosary.

– Hector Hu

[quietly in the background] Can you hear me?

– Florence Slowly

Say one Hail Mary for this bead. And Our Father for that one.

– Hector Hu

[quietly] This is Florence. Hector, are you ok?

– Florence Slowly

And the necklace wasn’t nothing.

– Hector Hu

[quietly] We’re coming for you.

– Florence Slowly

It was the channeling device. It was-

– Hector Hu

[quietly] Hector, can you hear me?

– Florence Slowly

-something in the mind to connect you closer to God.

– Hector Hu

[quietly] This is Florence.

– Florence Slowly

And this hypocrisy has continued to today.

– Hector Hu

[quietly] Are you okay? Hector, are you okay?

– Florence Slowly

Those same folks would go out to those masquerade balls, and morning’s light-

– Hector Hu

[quietly] We’re coming.

– Florence Slowly

-will tell you that you are the deceiver.

– Hector Hu

[growing louder in the background] We’re coming for you. I promise.

– Florence Slowly

That you are the one who is hiding things from them-

– Hector Hu

[growing louder in the background] We’re on our way.

– Florence Slowly

-because of the way you dress-

– Hector Hu

[growing louder] Hector, this is Florence.

– Florence Slowly

[growing quieter] -or the way you use language differently. But we all adorn ourselves-

– Hector Hu

Hector, are you there?

– Florence Slowly

[quieter] -with ourselves.

– Hector Hu

We’re coming for you. I promise.

– Florence Slowly

[quieter] There is paint in front of us all. This sculpture. Architecture. All the different… [becomes inaudible]

– Hector Hu

Hector… Hector… Hector, this is Florence. Hector, are you okay? Hector, we’re coming for you… Hector, can you hear me? This is Florence. Hector, are you okay? … We’re coming for you… Hector, can you hear me? This is Florence. Hector, this is Florence. Hector, this is Florence. Hector, this is Florence. Hector, this is Florence. Hector, this is Florence. Hector, this is Florence. Hector, are you there? … We’re coming for you. I promise. Hector.

– Florence Slowly

Plot[edit | edit source]

The next day, the team regroups at their base, ready to get ready to go out for a night of crime-fighting. Mr Good is playing Drink Up The Oceans; Paternoster is playing golf game on a handheld game (like two Vitas connected by a hinge) and holding a can of soda to her forehead to try and keep cool; The Champ is lying on a table throwing a ball in the air and catching it; Grouse is doing some advanced placement coursework. Mr Good loses the arcade game and, noticing that none of them are doing anything, prompts the others into action (“come on, what are we doing here if we’re not doing anything”).

Paternoster suggests they investigate the coupon Mr Good found, and says they should phone Royce’s Roll Carts ahead of time. The others tells her that doing that makes them seem like tourists, but that Paternoster does sound like a tourist and that this could work to their advantage.

The team go to the Royce’s Roll Carts dispatch centre. Mr Good asks the others how exactly this is a clue, and Paternoster says that she believes that handing in the coupon will work as a kind of signal to the person pushing the cart to give them information. Grouse says that she believes this to be unlikely (“do you carry a coupon that, if I punched you, it would lead me to someone who knows you and would tell me about you?”).

A man behind the dispatch desk, Rayburn Royce, asks if he can help them, and Paternoster tells him that they have a coupon. Royce says that they didn’t need to bring it in to redeem it, and asks if they are doing a prank of some kind. Mr Good says that they’re not, and that they’re all tourists. The man doesn’t believe they are, and Paternoster insists that they are and that Mr Good has sunstroke.

Royce calls over Tyler, one of the cart pushers. Grouse asks if he has a planned route, and Tyler says that he can take them wherever they want to go along the boardwalk. As not all of them can fit in the cart at once, Grouse says that Paternoster and Franklin should go for the cart ride, while she and Champ stay behind to talk to Royce to him about a summer job, and he gives Elana and Chanti application forms.

Paternoster asks to be taken to the old Scuba Shop. Tyler pushes Hilda and Franklin from the dispatch centre to the boardwalk.

Chanti asks if there’s someone they can talk to about what the current workplace culture is like. Royce calls Alvarez to tell them, and she takes them to the employee break room. Elana and Chanti ask a few questions, trying to figure out if anyone working there could be involved with Thresher, and Elana tells her that they need the extra money as they “all have sick family members”. Alvarez tells them that she knows of something available that she heard about from a friend, and promises to text Elana about it. As she walks them out, they can see a bag of the shark masks in her locker and realise that she is Thresher.

Meanwhile, Hilda and Franklin reach the Scuba Shop and realise that they haven’t learnt anything. Tyler asks for payment, and Franklin attempts to bribe him for information. It becomes clear that Tyler doesn’t know anything about “villain shit”. As Franklin continues to attempt to bribe Tyler, Hilda paces around the cart, unwilling to take part but equally unwilling to leave Franklin alone. Franklin then claims that he is asking about criminal activities because he himself is a villain (a “money criminal”).

Tyler recognises Hilda as Paternoster, and says she’s looking for clues. Tyler is more willing to help her now that he’s recognised her, and tells her to stay away from the coastguards. Hilda and Franklin pay him (Tyler gives them another $2 off coupon), and leaves to look at scuba masks.

Chanti and Elana wait for them on the boardwalk, and text Franklin and Hilda to find out where they are in their group chat. Hilda replies to say they haven’t gotten anything (“nice man, useless information”). Chanti tells them that they have something but are waiting on more information.

While the team waits to hear back from Alvarez, the team hangs out at Donovan’s Dippers and talks about their potential futures. Alvarez texts Elana an address (11/23 Ocean Drive, Dune City). The team discusses whether they should go. Hilda says she’s too recognisable to take part (and doesn’t want to take the chance that she could be associated with a crime) but she could come and act as a lookout. Franklin says that it “sounds like being a celebrity  makes it harder to be a hero” and Hilda agrees.

The team heads to the address, splitting up once they reach the building. Franklin and Hilda camp out behind a billboard for a television show (a woman with a finger to her lips). From their position, they can see people moving around in the under-construction section of the building. A large surface-style tablet is lowered down by a crane and the people on that level gather around it.

Chanti and Elana enter the building, and they can see a figure in the hallway as they approach. Elana calls out to the figure, and they turn around, revealing that they are wearing a shark face mask. They ask who Elana and Chanti are and Elana says that they’re new, showing him the text she received from Alvarez as proof. They accept this and tell Chanti and Elana to head upstairs to the fourth floor.

Thresher is there with twelve lackeys, standing around the large tablet. Thresher gives them shark masks and gives them the code names of Blue Fin (Chanti) and Tuna (Elana). She then explains her plan - Heritage Hall is being used for an auction for local art run by the Veranda family, and a painting will be going up for auction by an unknown artist that had been stolen by the Veranda family. Thresher has a buyer for that painting, and they will get enough money to sort out all their money problems. She expects there to be minimal security, although she also believes that they will be unwilling to escalate any kind of violence due to the clientele of the auction (celebrities and other connected people).

Thresher takes Chanti and Elana over to the tablet and shows them the floorplan of the event. She tells them that their role will be to cause a loud distraction to draw the guards away from the painting.

Hilda offers to pick up Franklin and fly him to the auction, but he refuses as he doesn’t believe that she can get there any faster than he can. Hilda laughs and takes off, and the two race towards Heritage House (Franklin gets there first, although Hilda isn’t really trying to beat him).

Hilda lands by the front door, attempting to talk her way in. She tells the person at the door that “her publicist should have been in touch” to put her name on the door list. They tell her to wait while they make a call, stepping into an alcove. Hilda smiles to the people behind her in line and walks into the building.

Franklin climbs up onto the roof. He can see through the skylight into the party. Below him, he can see Hilda being given a green and gold masquerade mask to match the others at the auction.

Chanti sets up her plan to Hilda - she and Elana will pull the fire alarm before they’re supposed to, causing Thresher to panic and rush in. In the chaos, Chanti will then call forward a flock of albatrosses to steal the paintings before Thresher can get to them, and then they can capture Thresher. Hilda agrees that it’s a great plan.

Although there is a live band, Hilda can hear snatches of conversations that people are having (horse trading “both figurative and literal”). Above her, Franklin opens a few of the skylights in order to let the albatrosses in.

In the van, Thresher tells Chanti and Elana to get ready to go.

Cast[edit | edit source]

Other Characters[edit | edit source]