LNH: Hungry Hungry Sabertooths #6pi.VI.6: "Tragedy and Trenchcoats" [1/3]

[Jeanne Morningstar]

HUNGRY, HUNGRY SABERTOOTHS!
#6pi.VI.6: "Tragedy and Trenchcoats"
A tale of resolutions, (self-)recriminations and reflections by Jeanne 
Morningstar

Note: the first scene of this issue takes place during #6pi.III.2, I *guess*

=====

I. RESOLUTION

Occultism Kid floated around the LNHQ in his astral form, looking for 
plots to try and resolve. He had the sense that this story was trying to 
tie up some of the plot complications so it can move on to the next 
phase of the narrative and then re-complicate itself again.

Drifting outside the LNHQ, Occultism Kid saw Imperilus preparing to take 
on the Black Halo and Scary Ghost Lass. They'd been stuck there for a 
while, now. Occultism Kid sensed a bit of a blockage preventing this 
plot from moving forward. He decided to take a step outward and think of 
the plot as a structural puzzle.

Imperilus was a classic Vegeta type, of the Garou from One Punch Man 
subtype. He was based on Namor, but Namor was Vegeta before Vegeta was 
Vegeta. This particular version possessed no power except the power of 
Determination with a capital D, but everyone who read shonen manga knew 
that this was enough power to take on a god.

Black Halo, on the other hand, was a blatant example of an antagonist 
from an early arc who joins the heroes. That meant they would put up a 
good fight against the current antagonist, but they wouldn't win. They'd 
just delay him until someone who could plausibly play the role of The 
Hero came long. But because of the quarantine, that would be hard, so 
Occultism Kid had to stall him until that happened.

Scary Ghost lass, however, was a bit of a wild card. Occultism Kid had 
to wait around to be sure how she functioned. The Black Halo, stepping 
back from the combat, seemed to have the same impulse.

"I'm not scared of anything!" snarled Imperilus. "And I'm *definitely* 
not scared of a little girl!"

Scary Ghost Lass walked up to Imperilus and looked him in the eye. 
"Boo!" she said.

Suddenly Imperilus screamed and fell over.

"Where'd she go?" he said, pulling himself up, head darting around 
desperately. The he saw the little girl beside him.

She was now drawn with much more sketchier, more detailed lines that 
looked a little bit like Junji Ito. Imperilus could definitely see that 
she was a little girl wearing a sheet, but he had a sense that maybe he 
didn't want to see what was under the sheet.

"BOO," she said, whispering into his ear.

Imperilus screamed and fainted.

"It would seem thy sojourn in the afterworld hath given thee a secondary 
mutation--powers over fear, as great as one of the Fear Lords of mine 
own realm, even Mara herself!" said Black Halo. Occultism Kid sighed 
inwardly at this Writer's tendency to tease stories that they were 
almost certainly never going to write. "But who is yon astral wraith?"

"Oh, I'm just Occultism Kid," he said. "The local cosmic mage type. 
Don't worry, I'll take care of him." He prepared a spell of 
teleportation and sent Imperilus on his way...

----

Imperilus woke up and saw a crowd of LNHers bearing down on him. He 
cracked his knuckles. "Now THAT'S more like it!" he said. He charged in 
in true one-to-twenty-seven battle-manga-villain fashion.

----

"Hey! Where'd he go!" said Scary Ghost :Lass.

"Oh, I sent him to a place where he won't be a problem for a while. 
After all, where better to send someone named Imperilus than to the 
Peril Room?"

He turned to speak to the Black Halo, but no one was there. He sighed 
when he realized the whole plotline with them and Imperilus had in fact 
been shunted a day ahead. [#6pi III.2--Footnote Girl] Which meant he'd 
been wasting all his energy on a secondary plot that was already due to 
be semi-resolved.

Scary Ghost Lass was still there, though. Occultism Kid turned to her 
and asked: "Hmmm. Do you have any idea why you're here?"

"Oh! I mean, I guess my statue was there when I, uh, died?"

"No, I mean why you're in the story. Usually ghosts come back for a 
reason. They are compelled to haunt something or someone."

"Oh. Huh. Yeah, I feel like I was pulled in here for a reason, and Black 
Halo was too. I feel kind of hmmm... hmmm.... Almost had it. Dang it. Oh 
yeah! The Bandshell. I'm being pulled there, in the long term."

"Thank you," said Occultism Kid. "The Bandshell is where it will all 
end. That's something, at least." With that, he realized he was feeling 
that telltale been-in-astral-form-for-too-long headache, and headed back 
for his body.