Ep. 65: One Neon Night, Part 7

[Intro song plays, “Friends” by Miracle of Sound.]

Kyle (as CK Jarvis)

[Sounds of an excited crowd cheering begins.]

Good evening cowards and kin alike, and welcome to the Speedy Speed Boys Regular Drift Phenomenon! Tonight, we’ve got Viv and Baby Jason in their newly recovered Deckmobile Jetski versus our babyface, Jimmy Win!

[Cheering is overtaken by revving and Eurobeat music.]

And they’re off! Viv and Baby Jason are making a very quick lead, but Jimmy is slowly taking his time. His car hasn’t even started. Oh, the decals have started! The flames on Jimmy’s car have erupted! He’s turned around the corner trying to get right in between the giant monster truck wheels of Viv and Baby Jason, but they’re not gonna be so quickly stopped. Baby Jason has pulled out a technicolor net, and it’s shooting out…

[Little failure sound.]

Oh, bad luck, Baby Jason! It has spat out glue which is now gunked into the back of his engine slowing down his and Viv’s vehicle.

[Cheering returns for a moment before fading out with the Eurobeat music.]

Emily

Elee’s booing.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Emily

I just didn’t want to interrupt your narration.

Hallie

Ness is actually star struck. He’s not making any sounds. He’s so fucking happy right now.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Ari

Misha will say to Elee,

Ari (as Misha)

Are you cheering for Jimmy currently?

Emily (as Elee)

No. There’s this thing, it’s called booing. It’s like the opposite of cheering. It’s when you want them to lose.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh… Oh, that’s interesting. I thought it was the other way. Uh… Okay.

Emily (as Elee)

Oh—

Ari

Misha will look a little bit guilty for a second there and then start booing too.

[Laughter.]

Emily

Elee will look vaguely concerned.

Kyle

Misha puts back the tomato they were gonna throw at Viv and Baby Jason in support.

[Fun, electronic Sims-like music begins.]

Yeah, so you are all on the bleachers. You’re in a racetrack. This one is a more standard racetrack if you can call it standard. It’s a series of loops and turns. There is at least one Sonic the Hedgehog style loop-de-loop. Just like how the racetrack is very haphazard and, shall we say creatively designed, so is the furniture. You are all sitting on bleachers that look like if I, from carpentry, designed it. For reference, when I did carpentry once, I designed something to hold a GameCube and my GameCube games, but I had the pole you hold onto go directly above the slots you put everything in.

Ari

Oh nooo!

Kyle

[Grinning.] So you couldn’t fit anything inside of it.

It is that kind of thoughtful design to these bleachers. All of you are sitting there. Elee, Misha, ness, which one of you is holding the crayola candy? Which is what we call cotton candy in this universe.

[Music fades.]

Hallie

Ness.

Emily

Yeah.

[Quirky accordion music (Ness’ Theme) begins.]

Hallie

[Laughs.] I was gonna say, Ness is like double-fisting snacks somehow while also leaning over the railing.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Hallie

He’s just so into this race. His little lightbulb eyes are even bigger with the sheer force of excitement, and apparently sugar, because you suggested the crayola candy, and I was gonna say he was eating like blizzlers, which is Twizzlers but cold.

Emily

[Laughs.] Is he still wearing his ascot?

Hallie

Oh yeah. It’s tied like a conventional ascot right now.

Emily

Yeah. Elee’s got a hold of the back of his ascot as he leans out really far.

Hallie

Ness does not notice. Ness will quietly be chanting to himself,

Hallie (as Ness)

[Quietly but enthusiastically.] Regionals. Regionals. Regionals.

Hallie

While he’s double-fisting candy, barely managing to hang onto the railing, only because Elee is yanking him back by ascot.

Kyle

And as he does that, Fungi, who is also just there with you, leans over.

[Music ends.]

Kyle (as Fungi)

So, what do you think of our babyface’s racing?

Ari (as Misha)

Well, I think that for someone that likes to point out people doing crimes he is not a very fair race player…

Emily

Ha!

Ari (as Misha)

…because he truly seems to be doing a lot of bad things to the other competitors instead of just driving.

Kyle (as Fungi)

Oh! You must be talking about the mystery boxes. No, they just add a bit of flair to our races.

Ari (as Misha)

But I feel like that’s slightly unfair, and I also didn’t see Baby Jason using them as often as Jimmy Win does, which I think gives him an unfair advantage in this race.

Emily (as Elee)

Tell it like it is, Misha.

Ari (as Misha)

Thank you. I am doing so.

[Laughter.]

Kyle (as CK Jarvis)

And Jimmy has let off another death laser at Viv and Baby Jason!

[Sad failure sound.]

Oof, that’s gotta sting!

[00:05:00]

Ari (as Misha)

This is what I’m talking about!

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Kyle (as Fungi)

Oh, well, you know, sometimes you just get lucky, and Jimmy gets lucky a lot.

Emily

Elee… I’m trying to figure out how to describe the expression on her face, and I feel like it goes through several. One is like contemplation and then glare, and then just skepticism at the idea that it’s luck.

Ari (as Misha)

I do not think luck is the right word.

Kyle (as Fungi)

Oh, I suppose you could also call it a blessing, a break, a godsend, karma, kismet, prosperity—

Emily (as Elee)

[Interrupting cough.] Cheating.

Kyle (as Fungi)

… Serendipity.

Ari (as Misha)

I think that is the word you were looking for.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Kyle (as Fungi)

Well regardless, the winds of random chance are part of what make being a Speedy Speed Boy so exciting. Oh, I see you wanna participate as well.

Kyle

He points towards your butterfly net, Elee.

Emily

When did I get that again?

Kyle

I don't remember. I think you bought it.

Ari

[Chuckles.]

Emily

No, I don’t think I bought it…

Kyle

Hallie?

Hallie

It was when we went to the store and we all rolled a thing for the random cypher and Elee’s was just a normal butterfly net.

Emily

There we go. Yeah. Maybe normal butterfly net.

Hallie

Maybe normal butterfly net. You made a joke that it was a normal butterfly net, and then I maybe made an Animal Crossing joke which is why I remember it, because if I didn’t speak it I definitely thought it.

Emily

Yeah.

Emily (as Elee)

I just got it at a store, but I don’t remember why I bought it. It might have been free. I don't know.

Kyle (as Fungi)

Oh, see?! Lucky break. We use these nets to trap the Iron Wind and make our mystery boxes. Here, I’ll trade that for one of mine.

Emily (as Elee)

I’m sorry. You do WHAT with the Iron Wind?!

[Quirky rambling music begins.]

Kyle

He picks out a technicolor box which look just like the ones that were shot at you and just like the boxes that were used on the racetrack. They’re netting which are holding technicolor light inside of them.

Emily

Ness gets yanked back a tiny bit because she’s still got his ascot, making sure he doesn’t fall, but she like jolts away from the box a little bit. I know what that stuff could do.

Kyle

Okay. You get a GM Intrusion.

Emily

Oh no.

Kyle

Who do you wanna give the other point to?

[Music ends.]

Emily

I can’t drop Ness, Kyle. I can’t drop Ness. That’s not allowed. That’s not a GM Intrusion that’s allowed. I’ll give my other point to Misha, my partner in throwing shade at Jimmy. [Laughs.]

Ari

Aw… [Laughs.]

Kyle

So, here’s the thing.

[Quirky rambling music returns.]

As you pull Ness back he actually had already pulled out his mystery box to give to you to trade.

Emily

[Exhales.]

Ari

Oh no.

Kyle

And was like extending it out at you, but you didn’t see, so you pull Ness back into the mystery box.

Emily

No!

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Kyle

And you just hear a,

Ari

Aw, what?!

Kyle (as Fungi)

Oops!

Kyle

As it flies into the air, lands into the crowd, and…

[Rolls.] And all of the loose things, so anything not attached to somebody, all of the loose coins…

Ari

Oh no.

Kyle

…wallets, keys, and yes, Ness, all congeal into a ball around where this little thing erupts.

Ari

Oh no.

Kyle

As if there was just a little, tiny, super-powerful magnet there. In fact, even Misha, you get yanked back a little bit…

Ari

Oh no!

Kyle

…as your scarf gets pulled towards it.

Ari

Oh no.

Kyle

It pulls itself off, shakes its head, and wraps itself around Ness to pull him out as well.

Hallie

Ness is confused. He was watching a race and then he wasn’t watching a race. He’s trying to get out of whatever new situation he’s in without dropping his food, so he’s just like kicking his little legs like,

Hallie (as Ness)

[Sounds of flailing.] Oh, what, what, what? Where? No. No!

Hallie

[Laughs.] Because he wants to watch the race.

Kyle

And then Ness, I need you to roll a… Roll me a d6.

Hallie

A d6?

Kyle

Yeah.

Hallie

Okay.

[Rolls.] A 4.

Kyle

Alright. As you get out, Ness, attached to you is just an earbud that whispers encouraging words making one task of your choice one step easier.

Hallie

Alright!

Kyle

It is a cypher that got attached to you.

Hallie

I’ll take it! It’s an earbud? I’m gonna put that on Hop’s character sheet. That’s the only one I have. When he surfaces somehow also holding an earbud in addition to all the things he was holding before, he’s like,

Hallie (as Ness)

Ah, cool!

Hallie

And then he turns around and sees there’s been a conversation happening while he was watching the race and goes,

Hallie (as Ness)

[Flatly.] Oh, hello.

Hallie

And then turns back around and continues watching the race.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Kyle

Meanwhile Misha, you look back as the scarf pulled itself out, and you see this pile there, and inside of it you see – you know the little flags they use for racing, like the checkered flag? Stuff like that?

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

You see a little black disqualification flag.

Ari

Aww.

Hallie

Aw, that’s so cute.

Kyle

And for a second you remember something.

[Ethereal music begins.]

You remember being in this vehicle, this large frog-like vehicle, and skidding to a stop,

[00:10:00]

and immediately this young astronaut starts yelling at somebody.

Kyle (as Ein)

What was that all about, Mr. Win? That was clearly not a disqualification. Misha was driving perfectly fine.

Kyle

And this man responds,

Kyle (as Mr. Win)

I understand that, Ein, and Misha definitely put their best effort into that. We sometimes got to slow down a bit. Do you understand?

Kyle (as Ein)

Well that’s not what Mr. Collodi said!

[Static interference begins.]

Kyle (as Mr. Win)

Then maybe we need to talk to Signus.

[The music and static both fade out.]

Kyle

Misha, you flash back for a second from that memory, and you see the scarf is just sitting there holding one of the flags and is just happily waving it in front of you. [Laughs.]

Ari

So, am I back? When you say flash back do you mean flash forward?

Kyle

Yeah. Sorry, flash forward, back to the forward. You saw the black flag, had a memory, and now your scarf is just happily waving it.

Ari

So, if there was another flag at seeing that Misha’s gonna do that… or even if there is not a flag, but is gonna do that anime thing of clenching their fist.

[Laughter.]

And then they are going to look at Elee and say,

Ari (as Misha)

Well, I think I will ensure to go really fast tomorrow.

Ari

[Quietly.] Because then maybe I’ll get disqualified.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Kyle

[Laughing.] Oh no!

[Marching band music begins.]

Kyle

Alright. We’re gonna flash forward a bit into the future. You’re now in between the racetrack and where the workshop is, the Speedy Speed Boy workshop, it’s right next door. You’re standing in a crowd of people, just a crowd of coveralls, people who are really excited to see and congratulate the racers. You hear some random people talking about how excited they are.

“Oh man, Jimmy drives alone without a navigator! How cool is that?”

“Oh yeah, he could totally do anything by himself. That’s our babyface.”

We see our little pocket of family almost like, you know, people waiting at the side of a parade. We’ve got Ness I’m just guessing on Elee’s shoulders?

Hallie

Ness has clambered himself up so that he can see.

Emily

[Laughing.] Elee is not the person to climb up on if you want to see things.

Hallie

That’s true, however she was easily accessible for Ness at first. He’s gonna jump from Elee to Misha, because Misha’s taller.

Kyle

Misha’s scarf has now picked up a second flag, so just along to the chanting we have this little scarf that’s just waving two flags in beat with everybody.

Hallie

And Ness doesn’t know what else to yell, so he’s just going,

Hallie (as Ness)

REGIONALS!

[Laughter.]

Hallie

From on top of Misha, joining in with the cacophony of other cheers.

[Music fades.]

Kyle

[Smiling.] So, there’s so much cheering going on.

You know that thing when you’re going down, like, you have a picture on Splash Mountain and everyone’s super excited and there’s that one person who’s just there with their arms crossed?

Ari

Yeah!

Emily

[Laughs.]

Hallie

[Smiling.] Yeah.

Ari

[Laughing.] That’s basically how Misha is.

They are glad that their scarf is happy, but they also are a bit confused that even their scarf is like “woo” while Misha is just like “eh.”

Emily

I feel like Elee and Misha have exchanged some looks.

Ari

Definitely.

Emily

Just like, [Exasperated sigh.]

Ari

Definitely.

Kyle

Exchanged looks but not thoughts, because Misha, you’re still thinking back to that memory when you saw the flag. Let’s talk a little bit about what’s going on in Misha’s head.

[Ethereal music begins.]

Ari

Yeah. I feel like Misha… They are already in this whole situation where they have to deal with all of these things and they don’t necessarily want to discuss it with people as much, and like since they’ve been getting more memories they kind of have, like… I feel like it’s not as out of nowhere now, because they have just been recovering things anyway, so they’re definitely very distressed about it and it’s part of why they kind of have been salty and just not really happy to where they are, because they feel like in addition to the Prodigious they think that this place is kind of a little bit the thing that’s accelerating the memories coming back.

Kyle

Absolutely. They’re definitely happening faster. Sure, sometimes things trigger it like the flag, but sometimes they just are there. These memories are almost like destination markers as you’re getting closer to a location or billboards on the side of a highway, because every time you get a new memory you feel like you as a person are being driven somewhere… and you don't know where that is.

[Music fades.]

And you wouldn’t be able to share your thoughts with anybody even if you wanted to, because nothing can be heard over this giant yell of “JIMMY!”

[Wrestler music begins.]

As just, vroom, you just hear Jimmy’s car drive in—

[Laughs.] I was gonna say drive into the crowd. Drive in, in front of the crowd, as Jimmy gets up and is like,

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Shouting.] Speedy Speed Boys~!

Kyle

And they’re like “yeah~” and they’re like “say it, say it!” And he’s like,

[00:15:00]

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Alright. I need the other contestant to get up here.

Kyle

Baby Jason who’s just real nervous and star struck gets up, and they both make an L.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Alone we’re losers, but together we’re winners!

Kyle

They’re doing that thing that—You know how everyone at little league you all have to shake everyone else’s hand?

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

This is what they do at the end of races. They do the “alone we’re losers, together we’re winners” thing with whoever they raced against. I’m actually gonna say, because Viv is there too, he does it cross-armed.

Hallie

Aw.

[Music fades.]

Kyle

So he does one with Viv and one with Baby Jason.

Ari

Ah, cute.

Hallie

That’s really heartwarming.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

That’s right, Speedy Speed Boys! Who enjoyed today’s race?!

Hallie (as Ness)

Meee!

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Ari

Oh no.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

And what’s your name, little bud?

Hallie (as Ness)

I’m Ness!

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Ness! Get on up here!

Hallie (as Ness)

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Hallie

[Laughing.] And then he clambers his way.

Ari

Misha will try to stop Ness, but it’s too late.

Hallie

[Smiling.] You can’t. You absolutely cannot. Then he’s like moving his way through the crowd, so the camera doesn’t show him. You just hear a lot of like,

Hallie (as Ness)

Excuse me. Yeah, move. Move. I’m trying to go fast. You are hindering my ability to go fast.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Hallie

Some people are like, ow, because he’s just stepping over people’s feet.

Kyle

The crowd kind of parts to make way for this little robot walking towards. You can see Jimmy standing on top of his decked out Guy Fieri racecar.

Hallie

[Quietly.] Yes.

Kyle

As you make your way there and you get your way to his feet, because you can’t really see that high, right?

Hallie

Right.

Kyle

You make your way to Jimmy’s feet… and they’re motionless, and it’s only then, Ness, that you notice the crowd has gotten silent, because as the crowd parted Jimmy was able to see clearly a line between himself and…

Ari

[Quietly, as a scoff.] God…

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Well there, Misha Jarvis.

Ari

God damn it.

Hallie

Sorry Misha.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

What did you think of today’s race?

Ari (as Misha)

Well, apparently what I think doesn’t matter to you anyways, so why do you ask me?

Emily

[Squeaks restraining laughter.]

Kyle (as Jimmy)

You’re right, I suppose the words of a MURDERER don’t really matter, now do they?

Kyle

And Ness—How is Ness responding? I know Elee’s probably upset, but I want to know specifically how Ness is responding. [Laughs.]

Hallie

Here’s the thing. Ness is just really excited and really likes racing. Like, he was present for the whole “Misha, you’re a murderer, I’m gonna race you,” and he’s not oblivious to the situation, and he does care, so he, out of respect for Misha, is actually just looking at Jimmy’s car and not at Jimmy himself.

Ari

Aww.

Emily

Aww.

Hallie

He went up to the car and he’s admiring it, because it’s got flames and it’s cool and he loves it. In addition, he would like to find any random scrap of paper that he can, and he does want to get Jimmy’s signature, but he’s gonna get it after everything.

Kyle

Okay. Hallie, I’m gonna send you a suggestion.

Ari

Oh boy.

Kyle

I’m gonna put it in our personal chat.

Hallie

Okay.

Ari

Hoo-boy.

Kyle

[Types.] Okay, I made a suggestion to Hallie which we have agreed will happen. So, Jimmy however does not seem like he’s in the mood for any signatures.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Except for the signature of guilt that we will get, and by signature I mean… like failure, of the race—

Emily (as Elee)

Alright!

Kyle

Upon hearing your voice Jimmy’s like,

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Angrily.] And who said—?

[Quirky music begins.]

[Pleasantly.] Oh, hello ma’am.

[Laughter.]

Emily

Elee is going to stride up as fast as she can on her little legs.

Kyle

Jimmy backs up.

Emily

Elee is gonna grab ahold of one of his ears…

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Ow, ow, ow, ow!

Emily

…and stomp off to somewhere, if she can see an empty area where there’s not a lot of people, stomp off pulling along Jimmy.

Kyle

[Laughs.] And the crowd will just part as Elee leaves.

[Music ends.]

Ari

Misha will actually follow trying to stop Elee. [Laughs.]

Kyle

You want to follow Elee and Jimmy?

Ari

Yeah.

[Creepy ethereal music begins.]

Kyle

There is a wide, empty circle around you…

Ari

Aww.

Kyle

…where all the Speedy Speed Boys have stepped to the side…

[Echoing clip: “No! Dangerous! Monster! Murderer!”.]

Ari

Aww.

Kyle

…repelled by you as you try to make your way through.

[Clip repeats, accompanied by static interference.]

You feel so many eyes on you.

Emily

Aww… I’m sorry I left you, Misha.

Kyle

And yet you’ve never been more alone.

[Repeating clip, music, and static fade.]

Alright Elee, what are your plans with Jimmy? You know how people always hang out under the bleachers at high school football games? You’re underneath the bleachers yelling at Jimmy. [Laughs.]

So, you got Jimmy underneath the bleachers at the racetrack.

Emily

She’s gonna let go of Jimmy’s ear, take a step back and cross her arms.

Emily (as Elee)

We’re gonna have a little talk about your behavior.

Kyle

[Grinning.] Jimmy is not giving—You know when a kid gets in trouble and they don’t give eye contact? Yeah, he’s not giving eye contact.

Emily

… I didn’t think this far ahead. [Laughs.]

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Emily

Elee doesn’t say that. Elee knows what she’s doing.

Emily (as Elee)

What’s your problem? You think Misha’s a murderer, yes?

Kyle

Like a little kid who’s been in trouble but doesn’t think he’s done any wrong, Jimmy just ekes out,

[00:20:00]

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Quiet and grumpy.] More like know they’re a murderer.

Emily (as Elee)

You know they’re a murderer? Okay. So, did you witness this?

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Whimpering.] No, I wasn’t born yet.

Emily (as Elee)

Okay. Who told you Misha did a murder?

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Everyone…

Emily (as Elee)

Everyone?

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Returning to his usual shouting.] Everyone! I said everyone knows that Misha’s a murderer. They ruined the reputation of my poor grandpa.

[Mysterious electronic music begins.]

Everybody saw it that day, the day that car crashed.

Emily (as Elee)

A car crashed, but Misha’s… Wait. Did Misha kill someone or did someone crash a car?

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Chuckles.] You got all the evidence right there. We in the Speedy Speed Boys are used to crashes. It takes a particularly high amount of effort to do the kind that would kill somebody, yet they did it. Misha Jarvis crashed that car and yet they didn’t get a scratch, and the other person… well, that poor fella passed away in seconds.

Emily (as Elee)

Jimmy, that sounds like an accident. That sounds like Misha walked away from something and someone else didn’t. You’re not gonna listen to logic, I can see it in your eyes as you try to avoid looking at me, but you need to do some introspection and you need to think about whether the way you’re acting and the way you are treating Misha Jarvis is doing anything for you, or your grandpa, or your reputation.

Kyle

For a second he’s like motioning and getting real upset, and then he just gets still and sullen when you talk about his grandpa’s reputation.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Gently.] Introspection, huh…?

[Shouting.] I don’t even know what that word means!

Kyle

And he storms off.

[Laughter.]

Emily (as Elee)

I thought Jimmy Win respected his elders!

Hallie

Grandpa…

Kyle

[Chuckles.] yeah, he is off, but just as he does, Misha, that’s when you actually catch up with Elee.

Ari (as Misha)

Ah. Elee B, please stop. You don’t have to do this.

Emily (as Elee)

Oh, don’t worry, I didn’t beat him up or anything. I’m really sorry I left you in the crowd, though. I just kind of… I lost my temper, and I’ve been trying not to do that, but sometimes it just happens, but I think this was really a success because no one got punched or murdered.

Ari (as Misha)

Heh… that’s a word.

Emily (as Elee)

Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t think. I’m—

Ari (as Misha)

No, no, it’s okay. My apologies. I didn’t mean it to come that way.

Emily (as Elee)

No, I really should have thought about my word usage. Um… Look, let’s figure out what we’re gonna do about this mess. Also, speaking of mess… where’s Ness?

Ari (as Misha)

Oh, uh…

Emily (as Elee)

We lost Ness!

[Ness’ theme begins and carries to the announcements.]

Kyle

Hello, and welcome to the announcement break for Quest Friends, Episode 65: One Neon Night, Part 7. I’m Kyle, your GM, and our intro and outro song as always are Friends and Hitoshio, both by Miracle of Sound.

Quest Friends is now three years old! A week and a half ago on Friday, September 25, we rung in our third anniversary with a Q&A livestream at twitch.tv/QuestFriends. Thank you so much for everyone who came out for the stream, submitted questions, and also thank you to our friends at Pontifacts, Catching Up David, and The Cookie Crew for joining us for some Among Us action after the Q&A was done. If you missed that Q&A you can find a podcast version of it in your feed, or if you go onto our YouTube channel, which you can find a link below, you can also watch an actual visual version of the stream, which… there’s some good faces in there. I would recommend watching it.

During that stream we announced our Patreon perk for this year. Last year in order to celebrate our anniversary and really remind people that we have a Patreon we had these Xoc and Misha stickers that we were giving out to every single Patreon subscriber. We’re doing the same thing this year but with Hopper Scotch’s new hat in enamel pin form.

[00:25:00]

These are really cool pins—I love mine—and if you’re curious to see what that pin looks like and see kind of the things you can get if you join our Patreon, you can find a link to our Patreon below which has an image to that pin as well as a link to as many samples of our Patreon posts as each level as we could provide. So not only do you get to see this cool new pin but you get some free extra content on top of it.

That hat giveaway is happening through the end of October 31, so anyone who is subscribed to us on October 31, 2020 on our Patron will get one of those Hopper Scotch enamel pins, and these pins won’t be available for a long, long time. They’ll probably only be available at cons, and who knows when we’re gonna be able to go to one of those again. So, if you’re interested at all, I would check that Patreon link below.

Right next to our YouTube page and that Patreon link you can also find our Tumblr where we are answering any of the Q&A questions we weren’t able to answer during the stream, and there’s a lot of really cool and in-depth stuff there, so our Tumblr, our Patreon, our YouTube page, there’s a whole bunch of stuff you can check out and I’d encourage you to check out at least one of them.

Finally, just a reminder that last week we started putting links to important NPC docs below, so if you need help remembering who any of the NPCs, locations, important nouns are, we have a link to a document below which you can check out.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for you today. Our next episode, One Neon Night, Part 8, will be releasing on Monday, October 19, but if you’d like additional content before then you can find additional stories, artwork, and behind the scenes insights at Patreon.com/QuestFriends. I’ll see you there.

[Mysterious electronic music carries out of the announcements.]

Kyle

[Laughing.] So Ness… where are you?

Hallie

In the trunk of Jimmy’s car is where Ness is.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Hallie

He’s stowed away there.

Kyle

And Jimmy’s car is currently not in the crowd.

Hallie

No, it’s moving, and that kind of surprised Ness. He didn’t expect it to move so fast. He was partly looking for a scrap of paper that would suit his needs – it has to be legal size, because of reasons – and he also just wanted to see the inside of the car, and the trunk was open. Who leaves their trunk open? If you don’t want small robots climbing into your trunk you don’t leave your trunk open. That’s… Thems the rules, and Jimmy broke it, so now Ness is in that trunk. He did kind of intend to see where Jimmy was going. He didn’t think this one through entirely.

[Chuckling.]

Kyle

Yeah. You hear nothing over the VROOM, VROOM of the engine, but eventually they putter to a stop and you hear a [tap, tap} click as the engine finally stops.

Hallie

I assume that I can open the trunk from the inside.

Kyle

You know what… Yeah, Jimmy doesn’t lock his shit. You can open it up.

[Laughter.]

Hallie

I was gonna say. I was about to argue too, like just so we’re clear, Ness also wouldn’t have closed it all the way, so he would have left it a little bit so his little eyes were looking out at the road while he was driving.

Emily

[Giggles.]

Hallie

He was enjoying the scenery, enjoying GOING FAST. He’s gonna pop out of the trunk as Jimmy’s going in.

Kyle

Well, Jimmy’s not going anywhere.

Hallie

Oh…

Kyle

As you open up, you can hear a few things.

[Bubbling and creature calls begin.]

You can hear the sound effects of the bog, of the Ba-Adenu Forest, just the bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop. In the distance you can hear a ‘fwack’ of a shovel.

Hallie

[Breathy laugh.]

Kyle

But you also hear some quiet sobbing.

Emily

[As a whine.] Oh, I made him cry!

Kyle

You just hear some quiet, like,

Kyle (as Jimmy)

[Sobs.] Papa…

Ari

[A little startled but amused.] Ohh.

Hallie

This wasn’t expected, so he, somewhat more cautiously than he would have, peeks around the corner to confirm that this is Jimmy Win crying softly to himself.

Kyle

Jimmy Win is sitting on the hood of his car. You can see him illuminated by the headlights, and he’s just kind of sitting there. He’s staring out at the bog and just crying to himself.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Papa, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to think anymore.

[Bubbling and creature calls end.]

Is this introspection?!

Hallie

[Laughs.] To which Ness will actually respond with,

Hallie (as Ness)

Yeah, I think that’s what this is.

Emily

[Giggles.]

Kyle

Jimmy jumps with a start, then he eventually sees you.

Ari

[Laughs.]

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Oh hey there, little buddy.

Hallie (as Ness)

Hey. Big fan. My name’s Ness. We were kind of about to meet, but then we didn’t because you got all weird about my friend Misha.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Oh, I’m… Jimmy’s real… Why don’t you take a seat here with Jimmy? [Sniffs.]

Hallie

Ness clambers up and sits down next to Jimmy on the hood of the car with his little legs splayed out.

Kyle

[Chuckles.]

Emily

[Smiling.] This is adorable.

[00:30:00]

Hallie

And he’s got his little paper and he’s like,

Hallie (as Ness)

Uh, I was gonna have you sign this, because I think you’re really neat, and I really like cars, and I really like things that go fast, and I don't know if you’re aware but I’m actually a Speedy Speed Boy as of… yesterday.

Kyle

By yesterday he means like two hours ago.

Hallie

I was trying to do the math and then decided it was yesterday.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Kyle

It’s called One Neon Night, Hallie. That’s the name of the arc.

Hallie

Fuck, you’re right! That’s written on my heist board! How many times have I written that down when I put “one, question mark.”

Emily

[Laughs.]

Ari

[Grinning.] “One?”

Hallie

[Recovering.] Okay, so Ness is like,

Hallie (as Ness)

I’m a Speedy Speed Boy now, been one for a long time.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Hallie (as Ness)

And I think it’d be really cool to have your autograph, because this whole larger than life, I win all the time thing? Love it. Really impressed by it. Sounds like you’ve impressed a lot of folks with it, too. But uh, as far as my friends go, I think I’m in the minority here.

Kyle

So, Jimmy will say his next line between sobs, and having taken your piece of paper, taken a fluff of crayola candy that was on your cheek and is using that to sign his signature as he says the next part.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Hey, little bud, you ever feel like your life was a disappointment to someone important to you?

Hallie

Ness thinks about that.

Hallie (as Ness)

The only person I was really around to disappoint was myself, and honestly I’m pretty rad, like I’m very cool. There’s no way that’s gonna happen.

Kyle

[Chuckles.]

Hallie (as Ness)

But you know, recently, like uh…

Hallie

Then he’ll stand up.

Hallie (as Ness)

You’re so cool, so I can’t imagine that you’re disappointing anybody, you know, but I kinda get that when you’re around people who seem to like you fine and for some reason spend time with you the fear of disappointing them becomes a lot. So, for instance, this one time I went away alone and it wasn’t a good choice. I make those very rarely. Bad choices I mean. Like, this was a rare time where I didn’t make a good choice. But you know, I kinda just did that again, and I’m gonna have to apologize to everybody later, because I just really wanted to meet you. And uh… what I’m saying is I think so.

Kyle

[Chuckles.] Jimmy nods. It’s unclear if he actually understood any of that, but he’s nodding like he did.

Hallie

I lost—Ness doesn’t know what he meant by that, so that’s perfectly fine.

Kyle

[Laughs.] Oh, if Ness doesn’t know then Jimmy absolutely knows.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

I guess you got a point there, little bud.

Kyle

He lifts up his L for the alone we’re losers, and he just looks at it.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

You know, after all, alone we’re losers, but…

Kyle

And he drifts off as he looks at the L on his hand.

Ari

Oh…

Kyle

And his hand just drops.

Emily

Aww…

Hallie (as Ness)

How come you drive alone?

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Well, heh, you know, gotta give myself some sort of challenge.

Hallie (as Ness)

So you win like all the time, and that’s great because winning is the most important thing in the universe, but couldn’t L stand for lonely?

[Ness and Xoc’s theme begins.]

Hallie

And then Ness does the little L sign for him and then says,

Hallie (as Ness)

You know, I think that maybe…

Hallie

And then he does the cross and goes,

Hallie (as Ness)

…we could figure it out together.

Emily

[Gasps.]

Ari

Aww.

Emily

[Tearfully.] Just made a new friend!

Kyle (as Jimmy)

Well, thanks there little bud, but…

Kyle

And he looks out.

Kyle (as Jimmy)

You know, I think this is something Jimmy needs to figure out for himself.

[Music plays out for a few more seconds and ends.]

Emily (as Elee)

Ness!

Ari (as Misha)

Ness?

Emily (as Elee)

Ness!

Ari (as Misha)

Ness!

Emily (as Elee)

[Frustrated groan.]

Ari (as Misha)

Where did you go?

Emily (as Elee)

Ness, come back here! I’m really stressed!

Kyle

So Elee and Misha, you are walking through the woods, somewhere. You lost trail of Jimmy’s car, like, a long time ago. [Laughs.]

But, you’re walking through the woods, desperately trying to find Ness. It is so dark you can’t see in front of your own faces unless you have some sort of illuminating source, and even then you can maybe see the other person’s light, maybe.

Emily

Well, she has three candles, so—

Ari

Oh, did you give one to Misha too?

Kyle

Yeah.

Emily

Because she doesn’t want to light it herself.

Kyle

Perfect. Are you two walking together or like a few feet apart?

Ari

I feel like for efficiency they might be walking slightly apart, like not completely, but just one looking on one side and one on the other.

Emily

Yeah.

Kyle

Yeah, it’s like ten feet apart. You’re together but also alone. Misha, your scarf has grabbed the candle and is holding it up.

Ari

Aw, yeah, it’s just waving it.

Hallie

That’s so cute~

Kyle

And it’s been five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen. It’s been a while. It’s been about the length of… let’s say about two episodes. If we had Xoc and Hop going through two episodes we’ll say maybe it’s two out of three episodes worth of time, theoretically.

[Laughter.]

Ari

Roughly.

Hallie

Just wandering through the woods, like who knew that Elee and Misha had the true dungeon delve.

Kyle

So yeah, how are we feeling after a few hours out here?

[00:35:00]

Emily

Elee is still just a ball of stress. None of her stress has faded. She’s just been hunching and turtling more and more.

Ari

Yeah…

Emily

Elee might’ve actually asked Misha to tell her insect facts and just random things because she’s really stressed and she’s trying not to think about what if Ness is lost forever because she lost her temper and dragged away Jimmy.

Ari

Aww.

Emily

And Misha doesn’t have to tell her insect facts, Misha doesn’t have to say anything, but she’s probably mentioned that.

Ari

[Smiling.] The thing is, I feel like Misha would start doing that, telling about different insect facts, but then as they excitedly talk about different insects they’re gonna talk about beetle facts and then they’re just going to go quiet about it.

Hallie

Ohh!

Emily

[Laughing but emotional.] Oh nooo! Oh nooo. I’m so sorry!

Kyle

And then, as happens when those facts inevitably come up again, you start walking in silence.

Emily

At some point Elee can’t turtle anymore. It is physically impossible for her to turtle anymore. She’s got, like, all her muscles are tense.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Emily

She’s all kinda scrunched up.

Ari

Aw.

Emily

She’s like picking at her fingernails. The bug facts were not a good idea. [Laughs.]

That’s on her. It’s fine. She’s gonna finally start, like, just as quietly as possible humming to herself without even really processing that she’s doing it.

Emily (as Elee)

[Hums Karl’s Song.]

Ari (as Misha)

[Joins Elee in humming.]

Ari

[Drops something on the floor.] Misha also without realizing will follow the same humming song.

Emily

Elee will… She’ll keep doing it for a little bit, and it won’t really register, and then she’ll just stop and look over to the little tiny flicker that she can see…

Kyle

[Giggles.]

Emily

…of the candle flame that Misha’s scarf is holding.

Ari (as Misha)

[Continues humming.]

Emily (as Elee)

Um… Um, Misha? Heh. Did  ever hum that to you? Did I ever…?

Ari (as Misha)

[Stops humming, sounding sad and distracted.] Sorry… Were you speaking to me, Elee B?

Emily (as Elee)

Yeah. I was just wondering if I taught you that song.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. Oh, it was a… No, I apologize. You didn’t. Do you hear that song too?

[Ethereal version of Karl’s Song begins.]

Emily (as Elee)

Heh. I heard it a long time ago. Karl wrote it for me.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. Karl is the one that…?

Ari

And Misha will look at the candle that the scarf is holding and then back at Elee.

Emily (as Elee)

Yeah… Yeah. He’s—

Ari (as Misha)

Oh, I apologize. I didn’t mean to—I, I have heard the song for a while now. It just… It’s just always in my mind, sort of. I don't know where it came from. I don't know exactly where it is coming from, really. It’s always there. I think it’s a really nice melody, but I do not understand why I know it. It’s very pretty.

[Music ends.]

Emily (as Elee)

Yeah, I think so too. I was just surprised.

Ari (as Misha)

Yeah. I cannot say that I am not surprised either about this.

Emily (as Elee)

I guess you wouldn’t remember if you met him. He was—to people who haven’t lost their memories, he was someone you wouldn’t forget.

Ari (as Misha)

I will say that I do not remember clearly if I do, but if you like you could tell me about him so that I begin remembering him now, through you.

Emily (as Elee)

[Sniffs.]

Ari (as Misha)

I believe that somebody who would know and teach a song this pretty must have been a really good man himself.

[Karl’s Theme begins.]

Emily (as Elee)

[Smiling.] Heh… He was. Every single thing he touched danced, and he could play any instrument. Not all of them he was good at, but he could just like pick something up and play it immediately. It’s kind of like your kazoo, you know?

Ari (as Misha)

I really hope I did meet him even though I can’t remember him, because he sounds like a really good influence and a really good person. That would have been somebody that I would wish to have in my past.

Emily (as Elee)

[Tearful.] I think you actually would have really liked each other.

[Music ends.]

Kyle

And you didn’t even notice as you were talking, but you walked yourselves into a clearing.

[00:40:00]

[Outro song begins, “Hitoshio” by Miracle of Sound.]

You see lights in front of you.

Emily (as Elee)

[Menacingly, but also silly.] Jimmy.

[Laughter.]

Emily

Is Ness on the car?

Kyle

And you say that, and Jimmy turns, and his soft face turns into a scowl as he sees you… but next to him Ness turns and he sees you as well, and Ness just says,

Hallie (as Ness)

[Chipper.] Oh hey!

[Outro music swells and carries out to the bloopers.]

Hallie

Ness is gonna like apologize to Elee and Misha. That doesn’t need to be a scene, I just want to specify that it happens in case… It fell into the hangout category. He’s gonna be like, sorry, scuff his little foot.

Emily

[Emotional.] And then Elee, just like without saying anything, picks him up and hugs him.

Kyle

Aww.

Emily

She’s so relieved.

Hallie

[Emotional.] Oh my god…

Ari

Misha will join the hug.

Emily

Aw.

Hallie

Ness doesn’t react at first, but then he will hug back, and he’ll lean into it.

Emily

Aww.

Hallie

He likes it.

Emily

Aw, he likes hugs.

Kyle

Jimmy will also be there.

Ari

If Jimmy tries to approach Misha will glare at him.

Kyle

Also, I’m not going to include this in, but because Jimmy is still a good boy he does in fact offer you a ride back.

Hallie

Ness will vouch for him.

Emily

Elee has a wonderful life now with lots of children and a steady girlfriend and she’s murdered a lot of people. Your life can still get better after you find out you’re a murderer.

Kyle

[Laughs.] You just had a car crash.

Hallie

It’s true.

Emily

Yeah, like she flat-out straight up stabbed people.

Kyle

It’s true.

Emily

[Laughs.]

[Episode ends - 00:41:54.]