victory_road | 004. Video

_{[The entire screen is black and white as it pans across a backyard. Everything's buried under a good foot of snow, and big fat flakes are whirling past the camera so fast that they straight-up pixelate.]}

So... for those just tuning in...

_{[The camera's view jerks very suddenly to a massively fluffy Growlithe, who is very carefully sniffing the base of a completely snow-covered shrub.]}

... We're going for the fifteen-minute mark on Cooj TAKING HIS SWEET-ASS TIME FIGURING OUT WHERE TO PEE.

For the love of GOD, Cujo.

_{[He looks back at the camera, big pink tongue lolling out, and shakes off, spraying half-melted snow everywhere. Then he moves on to one of the patio chairs, along with the lumpy, weird-looking snowman from earlier that afternoon cheekily posed to be sitting in it-- to give that the once-over with his nose instead. And the trainer behind the camera lets out a melodramatic sigh.]}

What crime did I commit in a past life to deserve thi--

_{[and right then and there the video turns to a blur, because the snowman in the patio chair just stood up and Heather is LEAVING RIGHT NOW BECAUSE FUCK THAT COOJ YOU CAN PEE ON YOUR OWN]}

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I'm not gonna leave my house, I'm not running down the street in a blizzard...

_{[But Mabel's other suggestion ain't so bad!]

[Heather can't throw fireballs herself, but maybe someone else can.]}

Cujo, stop trying to sniff that thing's butt and use Ember or something!

_{[The dog tilts his head at his trainer comically from where he had-- yes-- been sniffing at the snow-thing's icy posterior. Then he sneezes.]}

C'mon, you can do it! Go and shoot some fireballs at that evil snowman monster thing! I know you can, Cujo!

[She really wasn't sure what was going on but whatever was happening? There was no way she wsa going to sit back and let that thing hurt them!]

_{[Both Heather and Mabel's voices are probably fairly muffled behind the glass, but well, he heard the word 'Ember', and also his own name. Somewhere in his head, the two things click.]

[He spits out a few cinders, which hiss loudly upon sinking into the snow.]

[Creepily, the thing barely reacts. Just... melts.]

[Gross.]}

...

... Well, that's... that, I guess?

[For a moment, Mabel simply just stares at the water before her. She really didn't know what else to say except for a raised eyebrow]

...Yeah, I guess so.

[Pause] You know, that was kind of expecting a little bit more out of that. Isn't it going to put up a fight or something?

Me... too, actually.

_{[She's USED to unexplained monsters putting up more of a fight.]}

But it's... kind of a puddle now, so...

_{[She takes a moment to thank the cosmos that Cujo is a Fire-type and therefore not prone to rolling in puddles. ... He rolls in plenty of OTHER things, but at least not puddles.]}

[As Mabel kept on staring at the puddle, she simply just looked back at Heather and then back at the puddle once more]

...What are you going to do now? It's not chasing after you soooo.....

Try and... find out what that was, I gues--ohGOD.

_{[With a terrible tap, a big stick-arm had whacked against the door. THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE. A DIFFERENT ONE.]}

Seriously?!