Introduction to 'Beat Our Quest' Podcast
00:00:10
Speaker
This is Beat Our Quest, an improvised comedy role-playing podcast using the Kids on Bikes system. And even though you can't see us, we are all wearing our helmets.
Character Introduction
00:00:23
Speaker
Ivana Maria Mendez-Babon as Chad Boers. Tucker Dally Johnston as Alfie Towers. Nate Valentine as Janet Cromwell.
The Mystery of Stuart Justice
00:00:37
Speaker
guys look in front of you. Is Stuart Justice, the man that you could have sworn you saw was shot the night before. Uh, I wanna, I wanna turn to, uh, like, kinda whisper Alfie and Chad?
00:00:53
Speaker
Psst, guys, I don't think, just so you know, Chad, that's definitely not actually Stuart Justice. Hey, no, Janet, I'm not stupid. God!
00:01:03
Speaker
I just want to make sure we don't blow our cover. Remember remember all those guys in suits that broke in and shot him. This could be really dangerous. Yeah, you're talking to me like I've never seen Day of the Dead Alive. have not seen that, so I cannot contribute to this.
00:01:22
Speaker
I actually also haven't seen it, um but i did talk to Meatball about it and he has a friend who has seen it, and so he told me how it ends.
00:01:33
Speaker
Alfie, you seem like somebody who likes
Alfie's Scary Movie Challenge
00:01:35
Speaker
scary movies. How do you act? Do you feel like you've seen a lot of scary movies or not? um he He had never seen any scary movies before this summer, but since he was trying to go down the dark path, Alfie tried to watch as many scary movies as he possibly could. He made it about two minutes in into the a**hole.
00:01:58
Speaker
and had to turn it off. o Can't use that name. We're going get sued. What was the name of that movie? He got about two minutes into, oh God, he got,
00:02:14
Speaker
he got, he got about two minutes into Satan's favorite.
00:02:20
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Great. Yeah, it didn't work out great for him. ah No, he is a he's a scared little baby when it comes to that. ah I just want everyone to realize um that we still have our cover.
Stuart Justice's Plea for Information
00:02:33
Speaker
to get ice cream. So Stuart Justice is eventually standing in front of the classroom. and he goes Now, I hate to say this, but last night some horrible hooligans broke into our facility and they made off with some very particular technical equipment that I had been fiddle-faddling and researching with.
00:02:52
Speaker
Now, if any of you know anyone who has maybe had a history of... thievery or being a no-good Nick. Now would be the time. And he slowly is like browsing his way down the aisle. You see he's maybe like 10, 15 feet away from your group.
00:03:10
Speaker
And he's eyeing each table. Chad raises his hand. He turns
Spirit Week Antics and Classroom Drama
00:03:14
Speaker
and he kind of has this weird stilted turn as he looks to you and yes, young one. ah Well, um as co-captain of the football team, ah I know a lot of people around the school very well, you could say.
00:03:28
Speaker
And I do have one person that you should really look into. His name might or might not be Johnny. Last name might or might not be Mellon.
00:03:39
Speaker
And you described someone who just sounds exactly like him. Like what you said is something that I think everyone in this room could say is a classic Johnny Mellon move.
00:03:52
Speaker
He is a piece of work. He loves to be a hooligan. Johnny does. Yeah. All right. We're going to have you make a um a charm roll. I would say there Johnny probably has a history in this class.
00:04:03
Speaker
That's going to be a six. Okay. Which of us are both of us for um from Chad. Okay. Let me roll it Oh, no.
00:04:14
Speaker
that's that's a three. ah so that um that's a three Oh, wait, I'm going to use three of them. Great. To get up to a six. And because I failed it, do I still get another one? No.
00:04:26
Speaker
No, because I succeeded technically. Okay. Jonathan Mellons. And he sits there and he goes, I feel like I might have heard that name. And he whips his head to the teacher and goes, do you know a Jonathan Mellons who attends this academy?
00:04:45
Speaker
Possibly some wayward thug in no good nick. And the teacher kind of sits there and nods. At this point in time, I want to recognize that it is Spirit Week.
00:04:56
Speaker
It's Wednesday, and the theme for Spirit Week is cartoon characters. Oh boy. Janet, what kind of costume are you wearing? um Well, you know This is a little less over the top than Janet normally does. It's kind of like an understated, almost like minimalist costume.
00:05:16
Speaker
ah You know those things that go through your head that have like a side of an arrow, and the side an arrowhead, and an arrow feathers? It's like... it look it's So it's like that. It's basically a headband with two sides, but it has the classic, not classic actually, but very very topical in in this era, ah cartoon dog cat.
00:05:37
Speaker
So one side is a dog and one side is a cat from the classic show Dog Cat. Amazing. So cute. Boy, now I'm going to have to write an entire dog cat theme song in the style of for next time.
00:05:49
Speaker
Stuart Justice walks along and he plinks the little side of the the dog cat on your head and he goes, I like this. It's very odd. um As he's slowly walking around, he stares at the table of the three of you for a second.
00:06:04
Speaker
And he looks at you, Alfie, and he goes, why do you look so familiar to me? um Because i everyone knows who Coward the Couragely Cat is. ah Make a ah make a ah charm roll of four.
00:06:22
Speaker
feel like that is a a reasonable request. You'd say that, wouldn't you? i know you're not good at. yeah He goes, must be something ma my my niece must be watching.
00:06:39
Speaker
Huh. And he slowly trods away. Eventually, the class does end. Janet, who
Janet's Art Class Confrontation
00:06:46
Speaker
you're going to one of the classes that you had a project for.
00:06:50
Speaker
You had a finger painting class that you had to attend. And you already put together your finger painting project. You said you reserved time for it. Yes, did. But what did you finger paint? I, well, I'm still on my still life grind. So it's a finger painting. It's actually incredible.
00:07:09
Speaker
um Let me paint a picture for you, if I may. It is, um you know, it's it's kind of like, ah God, I don't know know about art to really sell this, but it's really like thick, almost three dimensional painting of a scene exactly of of something that I was something that i was photographing and And then, you know, obviously had to do the finger painting assignment. So it's it's kind of, it's not that crazy, but I'm in fucking high school. So it's like a bowl of apples and bananas and oranges. But, you know, again, it's like three dimensional. There's huge smears of orange and like brown to give the effects of shadows.
00:07:46
Speaker
And it's like really well done. and And that was my, you know, whatever we're calling this benchmark project. Now, it just out of curiosity, because Janet does seem like somebody who's like good at things.
00:07:57
Speaker
Is Janet a a good artist? Is this another skill that she's honed down? Or is this something that she's really had to like? I would say she's like ah she's like a tryhard, but not innately gifted. Like, it's very, yeah it's very ah you know, it's kind of like ah target art you could buy. it's not It's not particularly deep or inspired, but it's very technically proficient.
00:08:18
Speaker
like TJ Maxx art. Yeah. Okay. Motel art, you know, it's like, it's like, this is going to sell. Pictures of horses, bright colors, sunsets, cliff faces. It's extremely inoffensive, unadventurous, but it looks pretty damn good.
00:08:33
Speaker
Plain canvas with just a heart in the center. Yeah, yeah. Goes for $8.99. It says live, laugh, love in the bottom. you are So you're you're going to your finger painting class, and you're in there, and you're showing off your thing to your teacher.
00:08:45
Speaker
um She's very impressed by your work. She goes, now this is very lovely, Janet. I'm so impressed with the depth, the texture. Everyone gather around, gather around. And everyone comes and looks at her your work. um Trixie Steele, who's the local mean girl, she didn't end up being on the cheerleading squad. Maybe she had an experience on the cheerleading squad in the past, but she's no longer affiliated with you.
00:09:08
Speaker
Walks by your painting, and with a bit of paint on her finger, she smudges a huge chunk of the bottom end and marks a big black splot walking by. She does this very dexterously, ah not to make it obvious that it was her that did it, but you think out of the corner of the eye, you see she did it. What do you do? Am I am i holding it or just like on the wall or something? It's on the wall and everyone's gone up. She's like, so the teachers asked him to kind of come up and check it out.
00:09:32
Speaker
And at some point in time, she must have walked by, dipped her finger in some paint and like, you know, walking away from it, smudged her finger against it. I'm going to go cut her off. I do not like this bitch. I'm going to go stand in front of her and I'm going to say, excuse me.
00:09:46
Speaker
And I would like to ah kind of like pull her hands up. I want to catch her red handed. Okay. Make a um ah make a flight roll to see how quickly you could like snag her hands and see if you can get her.
00:09:58
Speaker
Make it a six. You're because you're swooping over her and grabbing her hands. All right. Well, that is a 10. You do that. you you You grab her hands and you go, you pull them up. And she has her hands up and you see there's like a little bit of black on one of her fingers. And her name is Trixie Steele.
00:10:14
Speaker
Trixie Steele. Uh going to say, excuse me, Trixie, what's this? And Mrs. Lombardi. Mrs. Lombardi, can you come here for a second? Oh, yes. What seems to be the issue?
00:10:27
Speaker
Well, it looks like Trixie had another little accident. See this paint on her hand? She looks over and she sees that there's like a bit of black paint on her fingers. Exactly what you said you did. You revealed it for Yep.
00:10:39
Speaker
and And do you see what happened at the bottom of my painting after you were telling everyone how nice it is, Miss Lombardi? She looks over and she sees it and goes, that's really unfortunate. Now, Trixie,
00:10:50
Speaker
Was this an accident? I assume this wasn't something that you would do on purpose. That's that's very devious. And Trixie goes, of course that wasn't something I did on purpose. I'm not, like, a bitch or anything like that. Such a bitch. Like, I must have just been, like, gotten a little close and, like, been, like, admiring how good it was. I'm sorry. Like, it's finger painting.
00:11:09
Speaker
Things are going to be on my fingers. And she, like, walks by and she smudges a kid's bag accidentally as she walks off. See, like, anything can happen. I'm sorry. She's not wrong. And I'm going to turn to Mrs. Lombardi and say... I appreciate that you don't want to rock the boat, but um this is the third time that she's ruined one of my paintings. dang And I know i know how that she's probably scraping by with a C. I saw her drawing of her house, but it's not appropriate and she deserves attention.
00:11:39
Speaker
And you need need to stick up for your class. You can't just let these kids walk over you, Miss Lombardi. You're walking all over me. but so youre walking all over me i don't know what you're talking about. I don't. I'm taking your advice right now.
00:11:56
Speaker
You're walking all over me. We don't need any of this. Well, if this is what you want to teach kids about art, is that to to, you know, desecrate other people's work, then you're doing a great job. Art is about making you feel.
00:12:09
Speaker
You clearly evoked something out of her with your wonderful work. You should feel proud. And she's evoking anger out of me by by destroying my work. That took me.
00:12:21
Speaker
17 hours to paint last week. oh I am think I can't believe I'm saying this as a teacher. i think you need to spend less work on my class.
00:12:36
Speaker
Then I'll never get into Yale. We'll make sure I can send a good recommendation on your finger painting skills to Yale. Alright. Well, I'm going to send you a reminder for that because I do need two more referral letters, actually. So we'll talk about this.
00:12:51
Speaker
I'll write it myself. And she like wiggles her little finger like she's going to do it with her um well ball finger painting. Nate, I just want to know, what are the first two art projects that Trixie Steele ruined? Yeah.
00:13:04
Speaker
Well, they weren't both finger paintings because I've taken a few classes with Trixie Steele. um She put, she spat chewed up food into my first ceramic bowl.
00:13:17
Speaker
Jesus. When we had that on display. Yeah. Drinks is disgusting. it was And it was fucking chili day in the cafeteria. It was disgusting. Whoa! And a meat eater? Gross.
00:13:29
Speaker
And the other one was also a finger painting, but that one was... um more impressionist. It was kind of you know, like little, I don't want to, don't want to compare myself to Jackson Pollock, but it was a little Pollock-esque because that was the assignment.
00:13:43
Speaker
And she ah just spilled a can of white on it when I was working on it. It wasn't finished. Thankfully, I was only a few hours in, but Yeah. I reported both of them to Miss Lombardi, and she has done absolutely nothing to stand up for me. you're You're real patient individual to have somebody ruining your art, especially from somebody who just does, as you described it, target art.
00:14:05
Speaker
Well, I mean, you know, rules are rules, right? Cool. So that um we're going to button down on that class ah as we we move forward to Chad. Yeah?
00:14:15
Speaker
Chad, what are you wearing for Spirit Week? So
Chad's Theatrical Monologue
00:14:21
Speaker
Chad is painted blue because he's part of the blue gnome group. You know, that cartoon of all those blue gnomes that live in those ah mushroom-like houses? The blue gnome group.
00:14:41
Speaker
So he's dressed ah with some white pants, a white hat, and painted blue. Chad likes to just be shirtless a lot. I was going to say shirtless with body paint. That's the move. If you were Chad, you would too. Yeah, that's true. By Chad's body, I would be shirtless and painted all the time.
00:15:00
Speaker
Chad, you seem like somebody who doesn't really like class. No. You have a hard time. What is the one class during the week that maybe you look forward to? um Somewhere you feel like you can really express yourself in a way that you didn't... Honestly, think you would think it's like P, but it's not. It's it's theater.
00:15:19
Speaker
Wow. and Do the rest of the football team know you take a theater class? They need to know. What? They don't need to. I didn't answer your question, but I answered it with a different statement.
00:15:31
Speaker
They don't need to know. Now, Chad. Yeah? You're in your theater class. Heck yeah. Today, you're going over theater classics.
00:15:42
Speaker
Excellent. And the teacher is giving you monologues. And the big thing you've been looking forward to all day is you're going to give your big dramatic death monologue. Absolutely.
00:15:53
Speaker
ah You've been preparing. It's very weird 18th century style. Chad. Yeah. Are you ready? Is this something Chad is confident in? how ah It's like, Chad, have you done anything like this before?
00:16:03
Speaker
i mean, Chad does give his pep. talk monologues in the locker room often. So, he's not afraid to talk to others.
00:16:15
Speaker
Is he going to get the essence of a character? don't know, you know? i feel like it really needs to be something that he relates to. Like, um, a Victorian age ghost that can't find his mother.
00:16:30
Speaker
so That's the monologue he chose. He chose the monologue of a Victorian victorian ghost child. So that the teacher is there, and he's he's been pacing about in front of you. He's got a scarf. He's so dramatic. Shaved head. He's got this whole aesthetic, and he goes, acting?
00:16:50
Speaker
is more than just the words you're given on a piece of paper. Acting is more than being there and listening.
00:17:03
Speaker
Acting is getting attention. I want all of you to remember that. Chad, you've done really good work. I'm very proud of you.
00:17:16
Speaker
And I need you to remember all those notes. And come up here and give your monologue from the play Little Kitty Hot Hot Feet Feet.
00:17:28
Speaker
Yes! Hot Hot Feet Feet. That Victorian classic. Victorian classic. Little Kitty Hot Feet Feet. Little Kitty Hot Hot Feet Feet. Excellent.
00:17:39
Speaker
Chad walks up and stares at his classmates and says, I'm Chad. And I'm going to be doing a monologue for little from Little Kitty Hot Hot fi Feet Feet.
00:17:52
Speaker
I will be interpreting the Victorian ghost child looking for his mother. Am I expected to go into the monologue now? ah Yes, please. We need this.
00:18:06
Speaker
Oh, mother. mother. Where art thou, mother? Are you hiding in the drawer? Are you hiding the building?
00:18:18
Speaker
Are you hiding behind the brick? Are you hiding in the shindling? Can't you see my feet? Can't you see my hands? Can't you see my mother walking round with other mans?
00:18:31
Speaker
Can't you see my father? Can't you see my sister? Can't you see my mother run away with another mister? Mother, mother, where art thou?
00:18:43
Speaker
Mother, mother, can't find you now. Thank you, everyone. That was really hard to memorize. And ah my dad tells me i need to work on my accent.
00:18:54
Speaker
And so, like, it's not super ready. But, like, but I i feel like gave it my best. Bravo! ah Chad, can you give us a charm roll of ah five?
00:19:05
Speaker
have to roll after that? okay yeah I gave you, I'm giving you advantage on this role. Cause that was an expert performance from Chad from little kitty.
00:19:15
Speaker
Oh, that's a seven. Great. Um, there's like a lot of tepid, enthusiastic applause from the room. Uh, the teachers like Chad, that was very real. and Some of that.
00:19:28
Speaker
I listened and you felt like a ghost. I'm proud of you. Does the paint on my body have anything to do with it? Or do you think I actually, uh, like conveyed the emotions of ghosts like beings?
00:19:42
Speaker
Honestly? Yeah. I think the paint didn't hurt. I wouldn't tell you not to wear that paint every day for the rest of your life. Okay. You wouldn't tell me. That's right. Tomorrow I'll be blue again. the future, there might be something that sounds a lot like blue gnome group. Nope.
00:19:58
Speaker
I'll tell everyone I came up with it. the I'll tell everyone it was my idea. ah Perfect.
Alfie's Unexpected Athletic Success
00:20:05
Speaker
Conversely, to Chad's expertise, we're pivoting to Alfie's worst class, ah which is, of course, P.E.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yeah. Now, P.E. is the one opportunity because P.E. was the class where you befriended a girl named Jackie Swunch on that first day of school. um You both had an awful gym experience.
00:20:25
Speaker
Yeah. ah Nate, what embarrassing thing happened to Tucker in in the gym? On the first day? the gym on his first day. Track and field, obviously.
00:20:37
Speaker
Start with track and field. There's a lot of different micro units. It was the triple jump. Triple jump? Alfie just tripped. You were running, running, running. You you i geared up for your first jump, and you just face planted right in the sand. So if someone were to measure it as a triple jump,
00:20:55
Speaker
I don't know the rules of triple jump. You might have just been disqualified disqualified, but you probably got about four inches. You just ran, tripped, face planted, and as your face is in the sand, you're facing to the left, and you just lock eyes with Jackie Swanch.
00:21:13
Speaker
So that that was that was how you started. my god. Yeah. And real, true story, that happened to me my senior year. Not Triple Jump, but something very, very similar. I won't name names. But her name was Jackie Swunch, which has, like, really been fucking with Nate since the first day we used that name. Thanks, Paul. So, you're there in class, and you see her, and she comes up to you, and she goes...
00:21:33
Speaker
Hey, Alfie. Hey. How you doing? Good. I like your little pink cat with the little shirt that says I'm brave on it. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah, I'm Coward the Courageous Cat. It's a pretty good cartoon.
00:21:47
Speaker
And she goes, well, I've never really gotten to watch a lot of cartoons. So I really was like frantic this morning. And i i i um that's why I'm wearing this yellow cardboard box with the big eyes on it.
00:22:00
Speaker
I'm some some kind of wizard bus. I don't know. and It seemed appropriate, but nobody seems to get it. i don't I probably should just take it off. But then I'd feel embarrassed again. I really kind of messed it up every day.
00:22:11
Speaker
Sorry, have a question about this, Jackie. She doesn't watch cartoons and she didn't know what a spirit week was. What's wrong with her? Nothing. She's perfect.
00:22:27
Speaker
I don't get to watch a lot of movies and TV, okay? I'm asking you directly, Jackie. I'm asking my fellow campaigners. She looks, she goes, hey, we're supposed to do a three-legged race today. do you want to be partners?
00:22:41
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. um it's ah It's going to be a little hard. I might trip over my own tail. Is that going to be a problem for you? You just can't, you don't want to just take it off?
00:22:52
Speaker
I feel like you could just, you know, take it off and put it back on. Oh, here's the thing about that. um I didn't wear my actual clothes under this.
00:23:04
Speaker
So it it's just it's just underwear and then the cat. Okay. And you'd feel weird wearing your underwear? Yep. Yep. Okay. Just checking.
00:23:16
Speaker
Yep. I don't know.
00:23:22
Speaker
um So you guys all pair up on the the gym line. ah The teacher is, of course, ah Chad Brewer's dad. um What's your dad's name again? Daddy.
00:23:36
Speaker
His name is Daddy Brewers. Hey, kids! buzzed a little and was like, Hey, kids, we're here to have our, uh, I'm Coach Brewers. Don't like it when you guys call me... Don't like it when you call me by my first name. Gets weird. His name's Brad. We all know how the three-legged race works. You're gonna run through this little relay course that I built. You're gonna go up a flight of stairs with your partner. You tied up your legs together. You guys all ready?
00:24:01
Speaker
He looks at you and he goes, You there. Gangles. That's you. Oh, um... I'm Alfie Towers. Alfie Towers. Alfie, sorry. Alfie... Alfie Towers.
00:24:12
Speaker
Uh, you know, I don't want a repeat of that first day in Fizident. You know, that was, um... That was embarrassing for me, even. i i don't. I mean, you know, if you if you if you fall down, it's all about getting back up.
00:24:29
Speaker
Right, coach? Yeah, but you spent all that time playing jacks in the sand pit. And I was like, don't put metal jacks in the the thing you're going to jump. That's fair. That might have been my fault a little bit.
00:24:39
Speaker
And when I was like, you gotta tie your shoes, and you looked at me and go, tying my shoes is for squares? Come on, man. I still hold to that belief. um That's why I wear my Velcro pumps. those are Those are some pretty sweet pumps. And I like that they light up when you run really fast.
00:24:54
Speaker
Now, I'm only giving you a hard time because I know in that heart, and it like taps on your chest, is the heart of a lion. Oh. you' got there's some There's some bravery in here.
00:25:05
Speaker
I can sense it. Thanks. So I need you to really buckle down and show me and everyone else here that you're not going to be little hopscotch sandy boy anymore. Huh? ah You're going to be Mr. Three Leg. you This is still a partnered thing, right?
00:25:22
Speaker
Well, I'm not going to call a girl Mr. Three Leg, right? That'd be weird. So this this little motivational speech is for you. Oh, okay. Yeah, I feel super motivated and not at all like you just brought up one of the worst moments of my life ah thus far ah in front of ah my race partner. The teachers do not like Alfie, huh?
00:25:44
Speaker
Alfie teachers do not. He's not been impressive. no We've only had him in classes he's bad at. There. feel like I passed that last test. Alfie, what is your pre, you know, you're ready, you're going do this. We're going you make a flight roll along with Jackie.
00:25:57
Speaker
Okay. You together need to beat a 12. Okay. Here we go, flight. Don't fail me now. 12. Damn it. oh What'd you get? i exploded on an 8. Yeah.
00:26:07
Speaker
Oh, shit. And then got a 5 after that. Whoa. She rolled a 9 on her 10. so that would be 13, 22. Yeah. And the challenge was beat it I will let you narrate your victory.
00:26:23
Speaker
Great. um So we start the three-legged race, and, you know, Alfie is just all flop sweat and cat hair that's coming off of his costume.
00:26:37
Speaker
But he he locks eyes with Jackie. She locks eyes back. And there is so much... black eyeliner between the two of them that they just lock in and their their heartbeats and their breath synchronize and i go one two one two left left right left right one two and they just never look anywhere but directly in front of them and they actually go
00:27:12
Speaker
past the finish line and they just sort of forget how to, how to stop moving.
00:27:19
Speaker
Uh, Until ah he hears the whistle well from Coach Brewers ah trying to trying to call him back. And he sort of snaps out of his somehow perfect perfect physical form that he made. He hit the he hit the like the zone.
00:27:41
Speaker
And he's as he hears the whistle blow and he hears it like, Alfie. Alfie! Alfie, we won! Alfie! And you look and you kind of see it's Jackie, and she's like, I can't believe you were amazing! i i We were so good!
00:27:53
Speaker
but Can we... Can you... And she's like trying not to get too excited and like find the appropriate like way to react, and she's like, can we... Untie ankles? Absolutely.
00:28:05
Speaker
Absolutely. Although I feel like somehow i I am better at walking when they're tied together, but I agree that that we should untie our ankles because I feel like I was about to drag you onto a highway. Okay. She laughs and she eventually, they you untie the thing and the coach is shocked. You completely blew past the rest of the team.
00:28:29
Speaker
And he goes up to you, I've never seen you do anything like that. have you ever been interested in maybe playing on the football team or something like that? No, not ever. All right, we might have an opening coming up in the future. So we might... Would you be open to coming to practice one of the days this week?
00:28:43
Speaker
I feel like you didn't listen to the first thing I said. um That seems very, very scary and like I shouldn't do that. And I don't think you understand that um i I burnt my hands yesterday. And he's going to look at Jackie and just see what is in her eyes. She...
00:29:04
Speaker
is looking like she's impressed by you ah in a way that you haven't really experienced maybe in your life. You have always been a brainy kid and brainy kids victories are very solemn and private. Your your test comes back. It's on a sheet.
00:29:21
Speaker
You may be at the end of you, you get to give a little speech because you were the smartest. You did something. ah This was the first time I think maybe Alfie has ever experienced victory in a public forum. Oh my god.
00:29:31
Speaker
um And that's a very different experience, the sort of adrenaline of somebody you like impressed by you. so So after he sees Jackie looking impressed at him, hearing something nice and supportive coming out of a father figure, oh my gosh he is going to go, okay, yeah, I'll come to rehearsal, yeah.
00:29:59
Speaker
you can come You come to football rehearsal, kid. I'll make sure. I'll get you i'll get you all set up. I'll get you set up. And he slaps you on the back, and you kind of get knocked forward. You never really had that kind of physical affirmation ah from, as you said, a father figure or anything like that in your life.
00:30:13
Speaker
We're going to push forward a little bit to the lunch period where you guys are all free, and I assume maybe you guys want to gather.
Investigating the Mystery and Team Initiation
00:30:20
Speaker
i will ah i will take my lunch tray.
00:30:24
Speaker
I have a ham sandwich. cheddar cheese thank you for asking and that was rude of me I'm sorry uh chocolate and I'm going to I'm gonna walk up to the table where Alfie is sitting alone and yeah sure sure why not yeah yeah fuck you dude
00:30:43
Speaker
um yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna sit down next to you um be like hey hey Alfie how's it going um I don't, I don't know.
00:30:55
Speaker
I'm okay. I'm not okay. I'm, there was some stuff. Hey, is Stuart Justice, um, dead? I, I think he is, but. Okay. Also, I'm part of the football team now.
00:31:06
Speaker
Oh God, you too. What does that mean? Boy, I don't know you, Chad. What? Chad bursts open, uh, the doors of the cafeteria, throws a chicken nugget up in the air and says, yo, Janet!
00:31:19
Speaker
And then catches it with his mouth. And approaches the table. Keep doing your homework at least. I'm not even going to make you roll because it's going to be effortless. I just want to know if he's coming into the lunchroom, where did he get the chicken nugget from?
00:31:35
Speaker
Oh, he took it from a kid who was walking out of the lunchroom. um Strong answers. I like the idea of Chad standing at the door and waiting and being like, gotta make an entrance.
00:31:46
Speaker
Yeah. Gotta wait till somebody comes through. i already did the football toss on Monday and yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna, I'm gonna like, kind of be like, ah Chad, shut up, sit down.
00:32:00
Speaker
We gotta keep a low profile, man. Can i have some of your french fries? You can have my french fries. You can have my french fries. Yeah. We need to figure out what's going on with Stuart Justice.
00:32:13
Speaker
That was not him. And something really, really sinister is going on. So Chad, can we keep a little bit of a lower profile while there is a manhunt out for us?
00:32:24
Speaker
Well, I'm going to say yes, because I respect you. but Thank you. if we want to be true to ourselves, which is what I've learned from every movie I've ever seen,
00:32:36
Speaker
I need to be myself in order to not raise suspicion. That actually, that, oh my god, that made a lot of sense. Yeah, I want to argue with you on principle, but that's, yeah, yeah, what Alfie.
00:32:50
Speaker
Also, I really, ah Chad did a really good thing and threw Johnny Mellons under the bus. And now that was great because I thought that bus was coming right at me.
00:33:01
Speaker
But now now I think they're going to look into into Johnny and and we're okay. And I don't know, do we give the thing back? What do we do with the thing that we stole when that guy got murdered?
00:33:17
Speaker
I'm okay. I'm part of the football team now. Wait, you are? You're part the football team? Oh, wait a second. We need to initiate you. Chad's going to stand on the table in the middle of the cafeteria. don't want hear to do this anymore.
00:33:32
Speaker
And hold Cuffy under his arm in a fraternal way, not an intimidating way. and say Not a noogie. Yeah. Everybody.
00:33:44
Speaker
And he's going to wait for like a clap back. Yeah. Everybody clap, clap, clap, clap. We got teammate. to <unk>ta His name's Alfie.
00:33:58
Speaker
Say hello, Alfie. It's when you say hello, Alfie, you have to say hello to them. Physically say hello? Hello. There we go. How does the cafeteria react to us? Screaming seconds late, you hear me Paul come in and go, ah.
00:34:14
Speaker
Everybody says, am I missed it? Oh, the rest of the the i the, this is one of those dumb things that like teams do that nobody cares about if you aren't a part of the team.
00:34:28
Speaker
ah But it seems to have made Meatball's day. Meatball comes in and sees you embracing Alfie very excitedly. And he goes through a roller coaster of emotions very quickly. And eventually comes to sit down begrudgingly and he kind of eyeballs Alfie, not angrily, but sort of in that way to like measure him up as he's checking him out that up and down.
00:34:47
Speaker
So, they're gonna let you on the football team, huh? I don't know. I did i did really good at ah track today. So, but Coach Brewers said that I should come to come to rehearsal.
00:35:01
Speaker
Was it like a 40 meter sprint or something, Alfie? Did they have you do like wind sprints? Did they have you catch a ball? Did they have you do any blocking? What exactly did you do?
00:35:12
Speaker
I did a three-legged race with a girl. With a girl! Oh, is that a euphemism? I don't think so. oh God, is it?
00:35:24
Speaker
ah Yeah, never mind. I don't know. i I feel like we got off topic, but now I don't know if we should get back on topic. Yeah, I'm going to take off my glasses for a second and look at Meatball.
00:35:41
Speaker
and try to lay some some charm on him, as as is ah pathetically easy with a 16 year old boy and a 16 year old girl. Say, hey meepaw. Yeah?
00:35:52
Speaker
Janet? I don't have any fries on my tray because I shared them with Chad. Could you be a doll and go get me some more fries from the food line? I don't really understand why. I mean, can you let me, could you give me money so I can buy some fries too? I, I bat, I bat my eyelashes at him.
00:36:11
Speaker
Uh, for reasons unknown, while this would assumedly be a four, this is actually 12 for meatball. Whoa. Wait, what?
00:36:23
Speaker
what Tugger, do you want to explain why this is this is a harder roll for Janet to try to charm Meatball? Oh,
00:36:31
Speaker
oh, oh. So I have to roll a 12 charm? I love this. Yeah, roll a 12 charm. I forgot about this from the first episode, and I now recall, and I like that we're not addressing it head on. and i' So I have to roll a 12?
00:36:43
Speaker
Yeah. ah That was 6, and I literally don't have enough adversity tokens. I would have, but... ah So I fail. Why don't you go get us some more fries so us football guys can have a little snack, huh, darling?
00:36:59
Speaker
You know what, Meatball? I'm so uncomfortable physically. Don't but don't be a dick, Meatball, all right? If you're not going to be a gentleman, then at least don't be a dick. Meat, I'm going to be honest with you. ah We have to talk about a project that...
00:37:15
Speaker
that we can't tell you about because it's going to be like a really cool thing that we're going to bring to the school that is a secret and it's on a need to know basis and you will need to know about it for when we give you the special instructions that we have to give you later.
00:37:35
Speaker
Okay, but when we promised each other last summer there wasn't going to be any more secrets between us, And now you have secrets with all these other people. And I only have... Exactly. The secret the secret is not between us.
00:37:49
Speaker
It's between me and the two of fun. but Okay. Can you make a um ah charm roll of six? Sure. To convince a meatball. Oh, his is a six?
00:38:00
Speaker
and yeah Chad's 10. so That's 7. Meatball looks and goes, in know, okay, but if we have secrets that we're trying to keep between us, maybe I have a secret for you. Bye, Meatball. Bye. We're going to miss you. Talk to you later. Okay, Janet.
00:38:24
Speaker
but ah Bye. Bye. And I'm going to grab the fries off his tray as he gets up and kind of... don't
00:38:34
Speaker
um know why Janet's a bitch this episode, but... Perspective has given Janet, like, some, like, reasons not to be kind to everyone. yeah Yeah, yeah, I guess I did see someone get murdered yesterday. That's the that's the explanation.
00:38:48
Speaker
Makes perfect sense. it' It's called character growth, guys. All right,
Science Club Lab Visit Plan
00:38:51
Speaker
so um so we need to get into the lab. And figure out what that egg thing is.
00:38:58
Speaker
Because ah Stuart Justice told us not to trust the man. And now there all these men coming in here and trying to to root out what happened. And lying.
00:39:09
Speaker
And pretending like they didn't murder Stuart Justice. And something really, really deep and sinister is going on. and And we're the ones who are going to fix it.
00:39:24
Speaker
For the extra credit.
00:39:28
Speaker
Yeah, we're the ones who have to fix it. It's on us there's no one There's no one else who can do this but us. Yeah. I really, honestly, I really need to pass that class.
00:39:38
Speaker
So. Yup. Yeah. We really need to pass the class and we really need to protect that thing from the bad men you are up to do good. Janet, I don't, I don't want to point fingers, but I do see you putting an emphasis on the word men. And as a man, I'm going to try not to take it to heart, but like they could have other people working at the facility. Are you literally not all manning me? Not all manning me? I just want us to like be more general and like inclusive in our vocabulary. Because as a man, my feelings are hurt.
00:40:14
Speaker
Okay. I hear you. And I'm just saying that Mr. Justice said, don't trust the man in air quotes. I'm air quotes right now, podcast listeners.
00:40:25
Speaker
The man. As in figures of authority. As in that creepy dude who followed us to the bikes. Yeah, yeah. So let's we can't trust authority. We can't trust we can't trust the teachers.
00:40:38
Speaker
We can't trust the police. We can't trust the grown-ups. Even if they're women. Okay, so we just have to get into the facility to get answers. We have to get in there to get answers. And i I don't know how we're going to get in there. I mean...
00:40:55
Speaker
We don't really have the resources. Does anyone else? Well, in Science Club, we were debating over what our um what her next big trip should be.
00:41:08
Speaker
And i had I had wanted to go see um the dinosaurs at Dinosaur Ridge. That's the real thing. Yeah, you could you could do real things in Geogra- Because that's actually in Colorado.
00:41:20
Speaker
Ha ha! I want to go to Dinosaur duni or Ridge, but like i could we could maybe see if the club wants to go two the lab.
00:41:32
Speaker
That's a great idea. And also, I don't want to mention this, but I'm going to mention it because I trust you, and it feels weird to say out loud, Jackie Swunch's dad works at the lab.
00:41:44
Speaker
Oh, well, that's a really good in. Oh, that weird girl. du The beautiful amazing girl Jackie Swanson? Yeah, her. That's what you said, right? Beautiful and amazing, huh? What? No, the girl.
00:41:57
Speaker
The girl, she's a girl. Amazing and beautiful. Weird. Girl. Girl. She's a little weird. You're a little weird. Anyway, so field trip? Well, ah maybe maybe once we finish eating, yeah we can all go talk to Jackie about giving us a ah more intimate tour so that the three of us can get into the lab and try to figure out more about the eggs. I only see one problem with this plan. Okay, I'm listening. Um, no one would believe that I joined the science club. Well, just say you need to do it for extracurriculars.
00:42:36
Speaker
No one would doubt that a hard worker like you, Chad, would be taking extra initiative to boost your GPA. Wow, I didn't think of myself that way. But now I do. Okay. Okay.
00:42:49
Speaker
That easy? You just turn confidence on like that? That's really impressive. Let's go! We're ready.
00:43:00
Speaker
I'm going to go talk to Jackie right now. So I don't know if any of you want to come with me, Mr. Beautiful and Amazing. But ah if not, I'm going to go talk to her. bo we'll Well, we'll all go. We'll go.
00:43:12
Speaker
We'll all go. sheesh She does seem to like you, Alfie, so might be helpful to have you there. That's not... I mean, I was going to go just in case. i just I was just going to go because, you know, it's part of the... You know, we're trying to we're trying to do do right. We're do-gooders. We're doing good, and that's the whole reason that we're doing this for good. Yeah, exactly. I think it would be really important for the cause of good for you to come talk to Jackie more, Alfie.
00:43:36
Speaker
So you should definitely come with me. I feel like I'm being tricked, but I'm going to follow you anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like when you're getting tricked to attend your own surprise party. Yeah, yeah.
00:43:48
Speaker
And Chad, i guess I guess you should come with us because you're part of this. ah So, Jackie is sitting at her own little table. She's finish finishing a sad little meal by herself.
00:43:59
Speaker
God. She's getting up to leave. Why is it a sad little meal? Don't dunk on the make-believe girl, Paul. Jeez. Poor girl. from, like, it's coming from like ah rather than, like, having the school lunch, she's got a little lunchbox that she's eating out of.
00:44:12
Speaker
Like, it's got, like, a little kind of pre-made thing that she seems to have put together. um You don't even see much of it. It's coming out of, like, a little ah thermos. Was she homeschooled before this? I don't know, you guys don that you don't ask any questions about yourself. You just ask what movies she hasn't seen.
00:44:30
Speaker
Um, and she's getting up and she's packing up the rest of her stuff to throw it away and getting ready to go to, uh, physics of capture the flag, her recess class, which is after this. Hey, Hey Jackie. Hey.
00:44:42
Speaker
Oh, uh, hi. Hi, Janet, Janet, Jane, Janet. Yeah. How, how, are how are you? That's okay. Yeah. Um, it's good. Well, it's good to meet you officially. Uh, I, I knew your name because I know your buddy, Alfie, um,
00:44:56
Speaker
So he was, you know, he talks about you a lot, so... Are you talking about me, Alfie? What has Alfie been saying? What have been saying about ah well, sorry, let's not... Let's not fixate on that. um We were... Well, we were actually talking about um your dad and the lab and, you know... Why are you talking about my dad? Well...
00:45:18
Speaker
She's so defensive. um we ah We e are all in the science club, and we really wanted to go check out the lab. We know there's so much cutting-edge technology there. And I don't know are you a science person or just running the family? She looks over everyone and goes, I've done a little bit of science work. I kind of like robots. Yeah, me oh me too. They're so cool.
00:45:42
Speaker
Yeah. Alfie, did you want ah ask me anything? Yeah, Alfie, did you? by I, hey, that was a pretty good three-legged race that we did. um So just thank you for that, um for walking good with me.
00:46:01
Speaker
um Do you want to, do you want to, do you want to... Do you want to join the science club? And, um... well but to I mean, I know maybe it's boring for you to go to the the lab, but i think I think it'd be neat, and um maybe you could show us.
00:46:21
Speaker
She shifts in place for a little bit, and she thinks, and she's she looks at her shoes, she's... ah It's hard to tell she's embarrassed um or just really shy about everything that's going down. She goes, and then she thanks for me goes yeah, i'd I'd like to go with you guys.
00:46:34
Speaker
I think that'd be fun. um Do we think maybe we can do like a trip or something? I don't i don't i don't want to bother my dad. like i don't want to and I don't want to interrupt his day, but maybe we can get the school to put something together?
00:46:47
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, we'll do ah we'll do a field trip. We just thought, you know, because because you're... because it It'd be nice to see him. Yeah, that'd be great. And because he knows, you know, it it it would it would be a good, it's like, it's like, instead of bring your parent to school, ah it's bring your daughter and the whole ah science class to the lab day.
00:47:10
Speaker
Chad has been standing in like near the table, but not, As a part of the conversation, just giving his back to them, kind of like bodyguarding this conversation, arms crossed in front of him, just protecting and making sure no one's listening around us and that no one is watching us talk to the weird girl.
00:47:31
Speaker
ah you As this is going going down, you're actually looking across the room and that's at some point in time, you see a door slam open. But like more slam than when I slammed it.
Cafeteria Confrontation with Johnny Mellon
00:47:43
Speaker
more. And it's Johnny Mellon. Uh-oh. Coming in. And he scans the room and he eyeballs Chad and he looks and goes, Hey, everyone!
00:47:55
Speaker
i bet you didn't know that Chad is a big rat. And everyone is murmuring under their breath and goes, Chad likes to tell little stories and make things up about people.
00:48:09
Speaker
Even when they're lies. What did you tell them, Chad? What did you tell them, Chad? Johnny, if I'm such a rat, then come and catch me, baby!
00:48:20
Speaker
And Chad is going to run on the tables. Shit, shit. and leap from table to table running waiting for johnny to go behind him and try to catch him i'm gonna give you a ah flight roll of 10 on this is that fair uh-huh well i got a seven so it's not that you jump a few things and then at some point in time you step on a lunch tray and you slip oh spaghetti goes flying and it lands all over you and splatters on your blue ah chest and Johnny Melon's Johnny Melon slowly walks over to you and grabs a thing of milk and dumps it all over you. Oh no you got Johnny Melon. You
00:49:07
Speaker
you and And people are laughing and cheering. I'm now going to let you guys know that there's a new mechanic I've introduced to this campaign called social status. Oh, fuck. product of when you do something cool, people in the school will recognize it and raise your stakes.
00:49:26
Speaker
So, for instance, Tucker crushing it in the three-legged race probably raises social status. Having Johnny Mellon's milk you in front of the whole school during lunch hour. you. lowers your status amongst the rest of the school. Are you just not going to tell us what our status is beyond how people are react? I'm going to keep it a secret. Can cant can we know when when our score is going up or down? Because that'd be very fun for me.
00:49:49
Speaker
think you should know. think you know when you do something in high school that embarrasses you and when you do something that makes you look cool. So that is going to have happened to Chad.
00:50:02
Speaker
Chad's going to take a lunch tray, break it on his knee angrily, point at Johnny Mel and say, no, cool. And then walk away angrily to the locker rooms to go change as his blue paint drips away with milk. I was going to say, by change, do you mean put on a shirt? We move to the the the school science class.
00:50:26
Speaker
ah Specifically, ah what class is ah getting out? The science class? Yeah, what science class? yeah It's just volcano dioramas. Yes! The best science class.
Science Club Field Trip Organization
00:50:39
Speaker
Holy shit. love that. The teacher is there, and you guys are... It's a bunch of, like, that kind of end-of-class traffic as people coming in. You guys are waiting for your chance to kind of sneak in.
00:50:48
Speaker
And there you see this, like, raggedy old man who's standing around with the room is, like, filled to the brim with ah volcanoes. And he's got... piles of empty baking soda and just stuff like sitting on the corner and he's like rubbing his temples and he looks up he goes, hi everyone.
00:51:06
Speaker
I got it. This is my break. I got to clean up. They, they, they did a bad balance. What you kids need? What do you kids need? Oh, Alfie, Janet, Chad.
00:51:18
Speaker
yeah All right, kids, what do you what do you what are you here for? What do you want? um mr um Mr. Edwards' hands, ah we wanted to go to the the the lab as ah as we thought it'd be a cool science trip for science club.
00:51:37
Speaker
Um, you know, I know a lot of people were talking about going to see the dinosaurs, but, you know, well, with, uh, that one guy coming in from the lab, uh, and, and talking about it, you know, we were all just kind of talking, sciencing around, and we thought it'd be very interesting to go and actually check out the lab.
00:51:58
Speaker
Science lab, science lab. Do you think they would be hiring by any chance? I don't... I'm 14. Okay, okay. So you're not looking to take a job if they're offering.
00:52:11
Speaker
All right, all right. I like what you're thinking. Hey, I don't have a connection there, kid. Do you have anyone you can maybe convince to, like, get a... Well, um, there's a there's this one... One of students, a, um...
00:52:22
Speaker
one of our students um ah a um a A woman named Jackie Swunch, her dad. Woman. I believe um ah ah Mr. Swunch works there.
00:52:38
Speaker
Okay, so I have a connection. I've got like a ah somebody I can say works there on my behalf during my interview. Okay, okay. Then let's let's set up a trip. I can do that. I can do that. I need you to nice group of kids together, ah and then we'll we'll we'll coordinate something. I think we'll wear our best outfits. We'll look really good. Right. And don't know. Yeah. Yeah, we're going to take the whole science club.
00:53:02
Speaker
The whole science club? All those idiots? Our best outfits? um Mr. Edwardsans, we're students, and and the science club is decidedly not full of idiots. It's all high achievers. Right.
00:53:14
Speaker
They're so weird looking though. i agree. Chat, chat. And I turn and give chat like the dirtiest look, like remember why we're fucking here, glare It could just be, you know, the the three of us and Jackie and Jackie's dad. Actually, that's actually, Alfie, good idea.
00:53:35
Speaker
um What if it was just to us three and Jackie Swanch? I've heard her described as beautiful and not at all weird and kind of like too much eye makeup. Yeah, you guys are all you guys aren't going to be too distracting and you make good representation of the the kind of students I make.
00:53:52
Speaker
And maybe maybe we can get some extra credit for this too. Maybe just too.
00:54:04
Speaker
Chad, if I get this job, I'll make sure you get an A on my way out. Okay, I'm in. But I need you to help me during that interview, maybe. You got it. I promise we will do everything we can. i don't, this is a little weird because, you know, you're, you've done a really good job teaching volcano dioramas.
00:54:23
Speaker
And it's weird that you have one foot out the door and you're admitting it to all your students, but we'll get you that job. If you give us those A's, I say, pretending like that's the only thing we care about. We're not trying to sneak in to figure out what's going on with that egg.
00:54:36
Speaker
He goes, all right, listen, you you talk to that kid. You make sure that we have some kind of a connection in there. And then we'll ah we'll go. All right. We'll go this week. Great. ok go We'll go Friday. Friday's a good week. Two weeks from this Friday. Yeah.
00:54:48
Speaker
Let's do that. Two weeks? That's like 400 episodes. No, no, no, no. I'm saying. No, he's doing the math in the two weeks. Oh, oh, oh. Over my head. Jesus. Yeah. right. Thank you.
00:54:59
Speaker
Thank you, Mr. Edward Hands. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Edward Hands. Thank you, Mr. Edward Hands. No, thank you, kids. I really needed this. This this has been rough. for this has been rough. I pay for all the vinegar we use.
00:55:11
Speaker
Oh, no. To be a teacher in America. Okay, we'll see you later, Scissor. As you guys are leaving, and you're going to probably plan on going to talk to Jackie, you see that she's getting on her bike and she's pedaling home.
00:55:24
Speaker
oh Jackie? ah She looks like she's moving pretty quickly.
Following Jackie Swunch
00:55:28
Speaker
Do you want to try to keep up with her on her bike or do you want to just wait to the next day? I feel like we should maybe follow her if she's... We could we could just bike to her house if she's going home, right? Fine. This is a small enough town that we probably know where she lives, right, Deanna? Do we all where she lives? It's small town, bro.
00:55:44
Speaker
Okay, so then you um so you guys are going to tail Jackie Swunch. ah We're going to say this is a communal flight roll of 20 to make sure that she doesn't see you kind of chasing her. Wait, we're not chasing her. Wait, I mean, oh if i if I can metagame for a second here, we're not chasing her. We're just going to find, like, if she sees her. Are you just keeping up with her? okay. just Then just to even keep up with her.
00:56:05
Speaker
Alfie got a five. i got Chad got a three. I guess I was going to try to do cool under pressure. Wait, if five and a three, you said it's 20. I literally can't get it. Unless I explode. You can explode. I got eight, which that's the five gives us a, I'm going to do that math for me. 16.
00:56:23
Speaker
16. So it's not ah not a fail by five. So you guys are peddling behind... Wait, wait, wait, wait. Can I use four adversary tokens to catch her? You absolutely can. That's all of my tokens. So you you are biking, and then you eventually you're just kind of watching, and you just watch her peel off from side to side.
00:56:38
Speaker
And eventually, ah you see her pull off to what you assume is her house. ah She's kind of got this little very simple kind of quaint white picket fence house in the neighborhood. It looks just very templative.
00:56:52
Speaker
um She kind of makes her way in You see she's got little like, you know, decorative lawn gnomes and a tree swing or whatever it is. It looks just very generic by all terms. um And you make your way, and she eventually, she taught sets her bike down, she just sort of sets it on the ground, um and she makes her way through the door. And just as she makes her way through the door, she sees you guys, and she just kind of looks turns white as a ghost, and really embarrassed.
00:57:18
Speaker
And we're going to end the session there. oh okay Oh, but I wanted to know who did her fan set.
00:57:31
Speaker
Oh, shit. ah You're still here. Sorry. Usually people ah turn this off after they hear the outro music. ah ah Anyway, if you liked what you just heard, the outro music and the intro music done by the fabulous The Rebel Kicks, want to give credit to our illustrious Game Master, Paul Emmerich, and... ah Just wanted to thank everyone again for all of the feedback they've been supplying to us. And honestly, the best thing that you can do for us would be to leave a like and a review on whatever platform you listen to this podcast on.
00:58:07
Speaker
Because it honestly really helps us out a lot. And we just want to say that we love you. that weird? I didn't have anything planned for this. Love you. Bye.