Twisted Wonderland - Port Fest: A Striking Performance

Chapter 1-9: I'VE GOT IT!

At the Golden Straw's deck, Jack is doing some sweeping on the

Sweeping the floor, Jack says, "Man, I keep racking my brains, trying to figure out Leona's advice... But I just can't make heads or tails of it."

Soon, Ruggie arrives on the ship.

Ruggie asks, "Hey, Jack. Get the hang of the flute yet?"

"Ruggie!" Jack shouts, and turns to see Ruggie.

"Didn't think you'd still come out to clean the deck, what with everything going on," Ruggie says.

"The headmage told us to clean it daily. Rook and Floyd should be here soon," Jack says.

"Rook, sure, but we're not gonna see Floyd, I can tell you that," Ruggie says.

"You came to help clean too, I assume?" Jack asks.

"I came to give you a little reminder that giving up the concert's the way to go. Figured you might've cooled off by now," Ruggie says.

Jack grunts in frustration, "Gah... In any case, here's a deck brush."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not scrubbin' those annoying corners, though. That's all you," Ruggie says.

Jack however ignores this and continues sweeping.

"Seriously, though, how's flute practice going?" Ruggie asks.

Jack stops and says, "...Nowhere, honestly. Leona chewed me out, too."

You went to LEONA about it?! Talk about desperate measures," Ruggie says, shocked, "Bet he didn't expect all this from you."

"Yeah..." Jack says, "He told me that animals who can't identify their prey end up starving."

"Uh, okay," Ruggie says, confused, and asks, "And what does that mean?"

"I think it means to find something I CAN do. Maybe," Jack says.

"Not exactly encouraging," Ruggie says.

He then asks, "Did he say anything else?"

"...That he'd be mad if we 'assaulted his ears' with terrible music," Jack answers, "Oh, and 'this whole Port Fest nonsense is because of you and Ruggie.'"

This has Ruggie shocked, "What?! You didn't have to tell him that! And now our music has to be up to Leona's standards? Oof. Maybe it'll help to try and reframe things. Like, what if we think of it as a show FOR Leona?"

"Uh... I think that makes it even harder. When I stand on this stage and imagine Leona in the audience..." Jack says.

First Daydream:

Leona calls out, "Get on with the show, already!"

"Right! Without further ado..." Ruggie & Jack says.

Jack and Ruggie begin to play their music, but it's not good at all.

Leona frowns in response, "Are you guys kiddin' me?!"

First Daydream Ends:

"NOPE!" Jack and Ruggie shout.

"He's not the type to say he'll be happy so long as we give it our best," Jack says.

And Ruggie says, "My 'give up and don't play awful music' plan is sounding better and better."

"Yeah, but if we do things that way..." Jack says.

Second Daydream:

Leona says, "Yo, get this show on the road!"

But Jack says, "I'm sorry, but we can't do it."

"So instead, we've brought in the Pop Music Club!" Ruggie says.

Pop Music Club cheer, "YAAAAAAY!"

However, Leona says, "You guys tryin' to punk me or somethin'?!"

Second Daydream Ends:

Ruggie & Jack agree, "ALSO NOPE!"

"Savanaclaw would lose face if we foisted this job onto somebody else," Jack says.

"And Leona'd probably 'foist' us into next week," Ruggie says.

"I keep racking my brain trying to think of what he'd like," Jack says.

"The old idea machine ain't cranking 'em out, I'll tell ya that," Ruggie says.

Ruggie & Jack question, "...What are we gonna do?"

Ruggie groans, "Agh! I wish I'd never told them we could help with Port Fest!"

"Come on, seriously?! I've been trying NOT to say that to you this whole time!" Jack angrily says, and slams the brush on the deck.

Ruggie reacts in shock, "Did you just slam your brush on the deck? What, you got a problem with me or somethin'?"

"No, that's not..." Jack says.

Then Ruggie says, "YOU should've just picked a different restaurant when the first one was closed!"

"No!" Jack refuses, "I said I was treating you, and I'm not treating to you to anything less than their special!"

Ruggie groans in frustration, "ARGH! You're driving me up a wall! I don't care what I eat, so long as I GET to eat!" And slams the brush on the deck as well.

And Jack says, "I can't do that! I want to treat you to something really special and delicious!" and slams the brush again.

But this time, the deck brush ends up hitting the supplies.

Ruggie cries out, "Whoa, one of the deck brushes fell over!"

"Agh!" Jack reacts, frustrated.

"All the mops and buckets fell on you!" Ruggie says and turns to Jack, "You okay, Jack?!"

Jack remains silent.

"Well, you don't look hurt. That was so loud, it made me jump," Ruggie says.

Again, Jack remains silent.

"You're ridiculously strong, man. You gotta be careful when you're slammin' stuff around," Ruggie says.

Jack remains more silent.

Confused, Ruggie asks, "Uh, Jack? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Suddenly, Jack shouts, "I'VE GOT IT!"

"Huh?" Ruggie says, shocked.

Jack then says, "Yeah, it's perfect. It'll impress Leona AND the Port Fest attendees! Ruggie, we've gotta tell Rook and Floyd right away!"

"Tell them what?" Ruggie asks.

"THAT I'VE FOUND OUR PREY!" Jack answers.

That leaves Ruggie dumbfounded.