HA:
uh, hello! Uh, I work at an animation studio, and, heh, we’ve had a bit
of an accident where our Fourth Wall was damaged, a-and, um, I heard
you were quite proficient in fixing such, um, things.
Repairman: (sighs, looking at his siren light)…Yeah, I think I know the one you’re talking about. I’ll be right–
[CRACK!]
The Repairman flinches, looking at the newly-created damage to the Wall right by him. He had just realized who he was talking to.
Repairman: (voice wavering) …Um, I’m…er…gotta let you go…
[Click.]
Marie: Um, are you okay?
Repairman: …I…I think I was called by…a creator.
Marie: Ooh! That’s actually kinda–wait, how’d they get your phone number?
Repairman: (frantically slapping at the crack in the Fourth Wall with a cement-soaked trowel) Never mind that! If a creator is calling, this must be bad!
[Scene opens on a wide shot of HEAD ANIMATOR’S STUDIO, which transitions to a mid shot of the HEAD ANIMATOR, brow furrowed, anxiously surveying the offscreen damage to the Fourth Wall]
HA: *finally reaches a decision and picks up the phone, dialing the FOURTH WALL REPAIRMAN, chewing their lip nervously as they wait for someone to pick up*
[Cut to a medium close-up of BEHIND A CARTOON BARN, where the FOURTH WALL REPAIRMAN and MARIE are pushing on the unseen Fourth Wall. The screen is noticeably narrower than the previous shot. It expands as the blobs push, until a soft *click* is heard.]]
REPAIRMAN: Whew, glad that’s over.
MARIE:Nods, wiping her brow.
REPAIRMAN: Now let’s get over to–
Stops, as a telephone rings from inside his toolbox. Marie jumps slightly, obviously not used to the Repairman getting calls.
REPAIRMAN: …Now, who could that be? Opens toolbox and pulls out a yellow rotary phone, still ringing. He picks up. …Hello?
“…Oh…” the Repairman said, putting the extinguisher down. “Well, I’m sure she’d like that…”
He looked at Marie, who turned her helmet back into a bow and shrugged.
“Well, you said we were gonna be around this world for a bit,” she said to the Repairman. Turning to Frisk, she asked “So, you think we could come along? It would be a nice time to catch up.”
“Um, if we do that,” the Repairman interjected, “We’re gonna have to break away sometimes, just to work on the Wall. Sorry ‘bout that…”
“Oh, it’s fine!” He grinned, “I could show you around our quiet little town a bit while you guys are here!” He started collecting his things, slipping his shoes on and the like, “So, what broke the wall this time?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” the Repairman shrugged. “My light only tells me
where and how bad the break is, not who did it. Besides, in a world like
this, it’s really anyone’s guess.”
He chuckled.
“So, what’s been going on?” Marie asked. “It sure has been a while…”
“Whoa- Hey!” Susumu was already liking what she was hearing. “It’s
not like our music, but it’s great!” She then looked at the other girls
to see what they thought.
Bowyetta, Bonk and Quartz seemed to be enjoying the music as much as
Susumu was. Beep, however, was hanging back slightly. She looked up when
she noticed Cat Slime looking at her. “Ah- I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“I’m not much good at dancing myself…”
Cat Slime squeaked loud, hype-inducing cheers as he continued to dance. It was so nice to have someone over in his pet house for once!
Though, Beep was hanging back a little…
He squeaked reassuringly, trying to coax her to at least try to dance and have fun. He even offered a little nub of a hand to her. Maybe she just needed someone else…?
Junior pouts slightly at the Repairmen’s grumpiness. Well, that was a disappointment; That crazy bird seemed fun for family reunions.
However, with further realization the chic quickly realizes that he was actually making things a bit worse.
“ Oh…oopsie… ”
Junior runs his hand on the back of his head-feathers a few times in sheepishly
“ Oh! I’m Junior! Wally Warbles Junior. An’, sorry. Gotta’ little excited dere is all, heh. ”
The Repairman stopped muttering to himself and turned to the bird. It was always surprising when someone stopped maliciously breaking the Wall.
“Ah, um, heh…” he stammered. “I…well, that’s all right. Most people do a lot worse.”
He sighed, uncertain of what else he could say, before slowly turning back and laying that brick down.
Marie waved on the Repairman’s behalf, as well as her own.
“Yeah, thanks for understanding. Nice to meet you though, Junior! I’m Marie and this is the Fourth Wall Repairman.”
The Repairman waved with his trowel the moment he could, grunting and turning back for a moment before laying another brick down.
“So, um, anyway,“ Marie said, eyes occasionally darting back to the Repairman, “I think you can sit and watch how it works, if you like…”
The Repairman froze briefly, but nodded.
“Feel free. Just don’t touch anything.”
Susumu seemed interested in the CD Cat Slime had chosen. “Hey, what’s that one?” she asked.
“Susumu,
Quartz and Bowyetta mostly listen to J-Pop,” Beep explained. “But they
also really like electronic music. I prefer a much softer tune myself,
and Bonk… I don’t even know what to call what she listens to.”
If
Bonk’s eyes were visible under her glasses, she’d have given Beep an odd
side-eyed glance. “It’s called Denpa-core,” she said.
“Anyway, that CD should be just fine,” Susumu continued. “We’re always up for trying something new.”
Cat Slime nodded, listening to Beep. He turned and gave a brief inquisitive squeak at “Denpa-Core,” but shrugged. He could ask later.
He could not have made it to the turntable fast enough. He slammed the CD in and soon, a soft, flowing song was playing, gaining a heftier beat as it went on.
He swayed and bounced happily, occasionally stopping to see the Denpas’ reactions.
“I don’t see why not,” He said as he grinned to his two friends, “I
don’t know if you’ve ever met Chara… or Asriel for that matter… Ah,
anywho, drive or walk there? I’ll leave it to the guests to make ya’
more comfortable.”
“I mean, we’ve–”
Marie was about to say “–met versions of them, I think”, but cut herself off when she saw the look at her brother’s face.
“…No, I don’t think we have.” she finished.
“Anyway, we can walk there,” the Repairman said, after sighing in relief. “We kinda have to get a feel for this place…”
“Besides,” Marie added, “Wouldn’t want you pulling over in weird places…”
Aggie let out a sort or purr-like noise, grateful for CatSlime trying to calm him down.
Meanwhile,
Kitterah stared at the odd assortment of things, not entirely sure
where to start or even what to do. “Ummmmmmm…” She just kinda stood
awkwardly, but at least she WAS able to stand.
“Well, you might want a place to sit,” Marie explained, gesturing towards the chair she put on the tarp. “I bet you’re tired. Even if you spill getting over there, it’s no issue…”
Her eyes suddenly widened, and she looked past Kitterah.
“Actually, did you leave anything behind…? We can go to get…”
The Repairman stepped forward.
“Hang on a sec, can you still do any magic…?” he asked. He doubted it, but he didn’t want to find out she could do it the whole time. “Maybe just…try to teleport onto that chair…?”
“ Da wall’s…broken..? ” Junior thinks for a moment. He never seen that wall before, and there was no way someone just built it out of the blue without him noticing. Actually, it seemed to appear only after he complained about how sluggish he was feeling and blaming the writer for being such a –
Oooooooh.
“ Ooooooh! Da ‘ wall’s ’ broken! I get it! ” The chick giggles in both amusement and newfound mischief. “ I didn’t know it would actually break! I thought dat was just a metaphorical shindig! ”
With all this new, unholy knowledge, Junior’s energy escalates as new questions keep popping in his overgrown head. In fact, he seems to be popping out of all directions while the two (try to) work.
“ Can I see? What’s it made ov’ anyway? What happens if it breaks completely?
An’ What’s on da otha’ side? Can I boop my writer on da nose? Or would I have ta meet my animators to get permission ta meet my writer cuz ov’ Copy Right issues? Is Woody Woodpecker really my uncle or is dat just a comical suggestion?”
Marie nodded, passing a brick and a bucket.
The Repairman said nothing, setting the brick in the proper spot in the crack after placing a large splotch of mortar.
And then he heard the kid giggle as he realized what they were talking about. He sagged, looking down and silently counting to ten.
“…Yes,” the Repairman sighed, “it’s real, and I gotta–”
Too late. Already, there were tiny cracks appearing over the Wall.
He rolled his eyes as the bird popped out all over. Marie Flinched constantly, trying to keep track of Junior but failing.
The Repairman shook after a bit.
“STOP!”
He sighed.
“…Look,” he finally said, “I’m pretty sure you’re not related to Woody Woodpecker, the Wall is made of cement and metaphor, and the other side…”
He shuddered.
“Eugh, I don’t like thinking about that…”
Marie gently turned the Repairman back to the Wall. Maybe she could help out here.
“Um, look…what’s your name…? This is a pretty busy job, so we’d appreciate if you were a little careful around here…”
“…Eh?”
Susumu looked up, just realizing what she had been
doing. “…Oh! I… I-I was just…” Her face was starting to turn as red as
her hair. “I got… Erm, never mind.”
“What Susumu means is, she has a tendency to get ahead of things,” Beep sighed.
Susumu
then stepped up to Cat Slime, trying to shake off her embarrassment.
“Anyway, uh,” she began. “Gosh, you’ve got a lot of cool stuff in here,
don’t you? What kind of music do you have in there? Anything by Princess
C?”
Cat Slime shrugged. No harm done.
“Miiiiiii….”
He looked on the shelf for anything by “Princess C”, muttering to himself.
Eventually, he turned, shrugged, and squeaked if a cd from “DJ Boppin’ Flight” was okay, explaining that it was soft electronic music with a fast tempo.
He also took a moment to ask if anyone else had suggestions.
Siblings-a-Fixin' 