RACCCafe: A Return to the RACCCafe

[Phantasm]

RACCCafe: A Return to the RACCCafe

   A man walked into a bar.  Ouch.

   Okay, bad jokes aside, a man strode into a corner cafe, one that
seemed to have been overlooked by many.  In fact, he seemed to be the
only one there, except for a grizzled old man polishing glasses behind
the counter to the bar.  The man who had just entered was dressed in a
black coat, and had a hat which he kept pulled down so that only his
mouth and chin were visible.
   The bartender looked over at the man.  "Haven't seen anyone else in
here in a while," he said.  "Writer or character?"
   "Once, I was both."
   "Look, Dave, we don't..."
   The man in the black coat removed his hat.  "Jack! How could you
mistake your old Writer for him? I'm shocked!"
   Jack looked over at the man.  Yes, he was older, and his left hand
was at an odd angle, but... "Arsenal? Is that really you?"
   "I go by 'Phantasm' now, Jack," he said, taking a seat at the bar.
Jack had been a character of his, long ago, before the title he'd been
in was brought to conclusion and then the imprint rebooted.  "How's
life without a Writer treating you?"
   "Painful.  Especially when no one frequents the RACC Cafe anymore.
What about you? What brings you here?"
   "Looking for a writing partner."
   "What happened with UpLink?"  UpLink Station-Boomer had been
Phantasm's writing partner back in the old days.
   "We had a falling out.  I haven't heard from him in almost a year,
or seen him in five."  Phantasm sighed.  "Plus, our styles diverged
too greatly.  Hell, even *you* could tell, there near the end of my
first run ten years ago, what parts were his and which were mine."
   "Ouch.  Well, first frappacchino's on me."
   "Appreciated, Jack."

   Somewhere, someone's head exploded from the frappacchino.

                    *                    *
*                    *

   Way back about 10 years or so ago, several writers had the idea of
a Cafe where continuity held no sway, where Writers and characters -
as well as the occasional Narrator - from any imprint could interact
with each other, where Jesse Willey's head would explode on a regular
basis from the house drink, called a frappacchino.   This was the RACC
Cafe, or RACCCafe or RACCafe, as its been called from time to time.
Cornelius came up with the idea, and Dvandom got the ball rolling.  It
even housed the RACCies one year.  Sometime between the time I
vanished from RACC and the time I returned, it had disappeared.
   I figured, to help me get writing again, I'd help revive it.
   The rules of the RACC Cafe are the same: No continuity with other
imprints, and anyone brought into it was fair game for anyone else to
use.

Jack is from my old StarFall title "City Streets".  He doesn't have
much characterization beyond what is seen above.