Part 77: Rachel

Let's see... I went out to sea again and got wrapped up in some scheme at the beach involving dealing with Dudbears. Cap'n Tusk gave me some money to bribe them with.



So I went around bribing Dudbears and trading a lot of useless trinkets until I finally found some treasure. Roger showed up and tried to stop me, but I just bribed the Dudbears to take him away. If I knew that would've worked before, I would've done that long ago. Oh well.





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My new friend ditched me after that adventure at sea. Guess he doesn't like water. Oh well, I saw another potential companion here earlier.





Just got to bash my way through first!



Ah, there she is.




Works with me.




Seems like I can make use of her blood-sucking properties, which could come in handy.




Of course, not much can hurt me anymore, and anything that could would likely wipe her out.





I'm getting pretty handy with the hammer now, but that's to be expected considering how amazing I am with weapons.



Well, I guess I'll go see if there's anything going on in Domina. It's been awhile and I'm always searching for new adventures, especially since they're getting harder to find.





Oh yeah, apparently things are starting to wear a bit thin in Mark's household. Might as well see what's going on.



Let's leave the shop to Teapo and go up the mountains! I bet you didn't know daddy was good at tree-climbing, huh, sugar-cakes?
Daddy, why don't you take mommy? I'll watch the shop for you.



It's okay, sweety-baby! You shouldn't have to worry about the shop!



...Well, then. Maybe I'll come back later...

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Man, I can't find anything to do. Maybe something's opened up in Domina by now...



My husband says she's alright, but he doesn't know! Inside, he's probably worried to death, but so far he's hiding it.



Rachel's missing, huh? Maybe I should wait until tomorrow to see if she comes back. If not, hey, it's something to do.

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Well, let's see if Rachel's shown up. I know I shouldn't be, but part of me hopes she's still missing because, well, everything's been so boring recently.



Well, looks like she's still not back.



"I'll be away for awhile, but please don't worry about me." But I'm her dad... Of course I'll worry about her! What should I do!?




Rachel... Does this mean she's run away!?

Hmmm... I better ask around for clues.



I'm a magical creature made in Geo, and they wanted to redesign me... She's not the type to talk about them sorts o' things... But you understand, right?

...How would you redesign a magical teapot anyway?



That girl absolutely 'ates 'er dad.



...What?

We gotta stop 'er fast! Do something!

Maybe I should talk to Mark first before I do anything.



They say the teachers turn their students into stone to sell them! I won't let that happen to my daughter!

To be fair, that only happened one time, and the victim wasn't even a student!



...Maybe I should get to Geo quickly.







She's gotta be somewhere around here.



Nunuzac is here now... Let's try a day when he is gone.

Hmmm... No sign of Rachel here. Maybe I should keep searching...



I don't have time for this.

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Two days, and still no leads. Let's try the academy again...





Ack! What was that?





...I think I'll go back to Domina now. Yes, that is the best plan.



Well, so much for that. Better break the bad news to them.





Wait, she's back? So I just wasted my time in Geo? Bah...

She's gettin' along so well wiv Mark.



I'm starting to think Teapo's letting this "murder" thing go to her head.



At any rate, she is back, so I guess that's it for me.



So I see.



Daddy'll trade in this Teapo for the new Model 2! What do you say?

Seriously, how do you improve a giant talking teapot? I'm missing something here.

Hahaha.



But even Model 1 was quite the thing in Geo. It's how you use it that counts, I guess.



Huh... I guess Rachel picked up quite a bit at Geo. Like intimate knowledge about talking teapots. And perhaps a new personality...



OK, that's pretty weird. Something is up. I think I'll hang around a couple of days and see what happens.

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He says that girl isn't our Rachel! And now...



For the love of...



Seriously, what the heck is with all this "green wiggly" and "blue jelly" stuff? When I close my eyes, I see nothing. Am I one of the lucky ones or something?

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Well, let's see if Rachel shows any other abnormal signs. If she's that Shadow Zero again, I'd have to be ready to take it down.



I guess I'll wait and see what's going on first.



But let me ask one thing... Are you really my Rachel?







I just can't help thinking that you're not our daughter Rachel...



Am I wrong?



It's not that you're wrong, or anything, it's just that...Uh...



Oh... So today I don't have to laugh... Okay.
It's been happening every single night...



So I asked, "Then who the heck is the Rachel in our house?"



...OH COME ON.

Every night, it's the same! What on earth could it mean?



A telepathic message!?
Rachel appears as a blue jiggly whenever she uses her telepathy.



So I guess the Rachel that you refer to is at the Academy of Magic.



Wait a minute... Let's see here. So that whole experiment with Thesines... That caused Rachel and someone else, I'm guessing a student, to switch bodies. So the actual Rachel is now a Geo resident, perhaps a student. Wasn't there a student who claimed to be a green wiggly or something? Or maybe he just saw it. You know, whatever, I don't care.



How foolish! Who exactly are you talking about? The real Rachel is nothing like who you imagine her to be!






You don't understand Rachel's feelin's at all! I can't stand it anymore! I'm gonna spill it all! Listen up, you!



What is this, more pumpkins? Again?



Wha??
Rachel made me into a bomb to blow the house to bits, Mark, and you wiv it! I thought I could kill meself if it was best for 'er...




No!! Not our Rachel!! How could she do such a thing!?




...Wow. This is starting to feel awkward. Maybe I should kill Teapo and make my way back home...

A star map with three-dimensional directional indicators... Zero-gravity controls...



A space-rocket?



Go to outer space?




"I want to build a rocket and go play in outer space!"
Oh, yeah... She laughed at me, so I stopped saying that.

Wait...So she wanted to make Teapo into a rocket ship to help her dad fulfill her dream? I think I'm missing something here.



You're the one who said you wanted Rachel to laugh! So you concluded she didn't like you! Why didn't you understand her?

So this entire thing was a massive misunderstanding? Let's see if I've got this... Mark used to joke about wanting to go to space, which made Rachel laugh. Mark though she was mocking him and thought little of him, when in reality she found it amusing and perhaps endearing. Mark then decided that if he constantly doted over her, spoiling her rotten, then she'd like him more, when it actually drove her away.

It's funny how things work out.








...... Like this?



Ah, yes. I can see the blue jiggly...

...Just what in this crazy world is going on now? What the heck is Mark doing?

Is that you, Rachel...?





My thoughts exactly.



I...didn't notice you?



Rachel... Will you ever come back?



Blue jiggly... I want to call you Rachel...



No more?

You know, Mark repeats everything so often that I can figure out most of this "conversation" just from his side.



Rachel... Can I call you Rachel...?



Wait!



Rachel...




What the heck just happened!? Somebody better tell me!

I'd like to know, myself.




Seriously. Just when I thought I've seen the craziest thing in this world, something new pops up and takes the cake. I'm scared to see what will end up being crazier than this.



Rachel hasn't made you into a bomb, and we won't trade you in for a Model 2.
Wot's all this about a Model 2?



...but if everyone thinks this is okay, then I guess everything's okay.




...So that's that, huh? Sure, whatever. I don't want anything more to do with this nonsense.