i was walking in the forest of truffula trees when i saw a thneed boy wearing tiGHT pants

[fraternal]

[ WHO ]: Garry and Once-ler
[ WHERE ]: at the maaaaaaaaaaall
[ WHEN ]: Daylight hours
[ OPEN/CLOSED? ]: Closed until further notice
[ RATING ]: PG maybe worse later
[ WARNINGS ]: sexy gasmasks

So Garry had taken that tv program seriously, and had went out and got himself a gas mask - Once-ler was being nice enough to indulge his worries by getting one for himself, too.

"Are you sure you can put it on without it hurting? Want me to help?"

Comments

[triggeringbiggering]

He shakes his head. "You can read them better than me. I've swung an axe before." He narrows his eyes at the now dim lighting, the buzzing already beginning to get into his head. Annoying... just what this place wanted. Ah, damn, he's shaking, too. His heart's going a mile a minute.

... But he stands up, brandishing the axe.

"So you'll be the fellas looking for the two for one deal, huh?" He grins, kind of sickly, behind his mask. He sort of wants to throw up. "Sorry, but we just stopped that one! And you'll have to work extra hard to get the first one!"

And he jumps over the counter and darts down the aisle.

[jigoku_onryo]

The two models chase after him, one clanking and rattling step after the next.

[fraternal]

"Once'-!"

He has to be fast, now. Has to hurry so he can fight by his side - he's so sick... of not being able to help. He should be the one charging in, protecting him, now.

He fumbles with the lock for one of the shelves, and takes a calming breath, before trying again, opening every one he can. No time for reading, now.

[triggeringbiggering]

The thing about being the Once-ler is that he's a problem solver. It might be ironic that he is, but inventors have to be. So while Garry was certainly more physically capable of dealing with these things, he's not exactly in dire straights.

The skeleton will be easier to cut through. The anatomical model, though - that might be the best bet.

He skids around a 'junction' at the aisles and then pivots on his heel, holding the axe up. He can hear the damn things rattling towards him.

When the anatomical model rounds the corner, he slams the haft of his axe into its cavity.

[jigoku_onryo]

The organs fall to the ground with wet squelches. They're entirely real, as he might be able to see. Blood fountains out of the model's now empty cavity and it slips and slides as it's shoved back, bumping into an aisle of shampoo and conditioner.

[fraternal]

He can hear every crack, every splatter - and when he doesn't hear Once-ler cry out, he knows everything is okay for now. He hears blood, and it makes him wince - he has to keep going though.

When he's opened every remaining shelf, he'll start grabbing what he can, shoving it into the bag then shoving that into his backpack. He makes a hasty look around to grab a few other wayward medicines sitting around, shoving them into his pocket and checking his rose before he runs off to find Once'- hopping over the counter before he spots another over the counter wrack of drugs.

He closes his eyes, steeling his nerves. He should take them, he needs to. So he does.

[triggeringbiggering]

He makes a disgusted noise. His stomach lurches unpleasantly and he skids as he tries to get out of the bloody mess. But he grabs an aisle end and begins kicking the organs every which way. He tries not to think about how soft and wet they feel as he boots them away. Vomit rises in his throat but he swallows it back down.

"Eurgh..."

But that'll keep the model out of things for a while, he hopes. The skeleton remains, and he'll need to think of the best way to handle that. The wires holding it together won't be hard for an axe to snap...

He presses himself flat against the aisle and waits for it to rattle closer.

[fraternal]

Headaches, nausea, indigestion. He thinks he just grabbed something for the removal of warts but he doesn't care. He clears shelves of anything he can grab. He even ends up swiping some condom boxes before he realizes what they are - then he spots them just as he tosses a box back onto the floor. First aid kits - a whole two rows of them. Garry gets down on his knees as he hears Once-ler groaning nearby.

"Got the first aid kits!"

He throws his bag down, shoving in four of the first aid boxes - two left, he'll grab them by hand, shoving one in the cloth shopping bag, and carrying the other by its handle.

"You okay?!"

[jigoku_onryo]

The skeleton reaches out to grab Garry by the back of his coat.

[triggeringbiggering]

Too late, Once-ler sees where it is. His eyes widen and he takes some fumbling steps forward, nearly slipping on the still blood-slicked floor.

"Garry!"

[fraternal]

A shrill shriek as he turns just in time to smack the thing across the skull with the first aid kit. He drops the backpack as it stumbles back, dropping the kit too to focus on gripping his poker in his hands.

A quick glance behind him and he'll step back, staring the skeleton down, shoulders heaving with how freaked out he is right now. He's not sure- what to do, where to hit, so he just swings at it, aiming to pierce the skull with the hook.

[jigoku_onryo]

Crunch.

It goes right through.

The anatomical model continues to slip and slide frantically looking for its parts.

[triggeringbiggering]

"Nice hit!"

[fraternal]

"I've got everything I can carry! Let's just get out of here!"

He reaches out, wanting Once-ler to follow.

[triggeringbiggering]

He doesn't need to be told twice. He high-tails it out of there with Garry, then pauses as he's about to leave, with the doors still open. He's tall, the axe has a lot of reach... he jumps up to smash the sensor so that the models can't follow them through.

The doors slam shut behind them. He pauses, panting, in the body of the mall.

Then he wipes his brow.

"Rucksacks. For definite."

[fraternal]

He sags down to fall on his butt, sighing as he clutches his raggedy backpack close, opening it to make sure everything is there.

"Six first aid kits..." He glances at the bag of drugs he'd hitched over his shoulder. "...those-" And the poor lonely box of condoms.

...he leaves those by the door.

[triggeringbiggering]

The Once-ler picks them back up and tosses them in. He gives Garry a wink. "Never know when the kids might get frisky. Last thing we want are teen pregnancies here, of all places."

... He grips Garry's shoulder. "We did good in there. But I get a feeling that was a warm up. We're probably gonna have to be more careful in the next shops." He doesn't apologize for being the one to run off, and instead adds, "Camping, probably. This is a mountain town, right? They've got to have a camping store."

[fraternal]

That gets him to crack a smile at least, and he brushes his hair from his eyes, before he looks at Once-ler's hand on his shoulder. He nods his head, agreeing, he was probably exactly right.

"A store with a buggy- that'd come in handy too. Something like a Toys'R'Us or Walmart..." He trails off, and motions Once-ler down.

[triggeringbiggering]

"Camping store first," He insists. They can get the rest of the stuff in a bigger department store pretty easily, he's sure. But then he frowns and hunkers down beside him.

"Yeah?"

[fraternal]

He'll pull his neck into a one-armed hug.

"You alright? You scared me." He doesn't care about the blood at all.

[triggeringbiggering]

He startles and pushes back a bit before stopping and letting Garry hug him. His gloves and shirtsleeves are all bloody and he's not sure where to put his hands, so he doesn't hug him back.

"I - uh... haha! Sorry for worrying you."

[fraternal]

"No running off next time - we'll fight together, alright?"

He'll pull away, sighing - he looks tired. you'll give him wrinkles, Once-ler. He'll get to his feet, clothes a little stained with blood - he doesn't even bother noticing them.

[triggeringbiggering]

"... Yeah. Yeah, I shouldn't have done that." He huffs a little sigh, then gets to his feet. The abruptness of the way he says, "Okay!" with the cheery tone of voice might make it sound like he's just forgotten about it.

"Let's get going. Come on, Garry."

[fraternal]

Sigh.....

He'll shove the bag of medicine at him - you have to carry stuff too mister. Then onward they'll go.

[triggeringbiggering]

Oof. He shoulders it without more of a complaint than that, though.

The walk through the mall again is quiet, with only their footsteps echoing in the empty area. It takes a bit of a while to find the camping store - and the shutters are down. Not locked, though.

"Eesh..."