Red Stitch Report: Episode 4

For the Page Name just go with whatever it's listed as on Twitch.

## Summary

A brief summary of key events that happened. Basically what they would say happened previously on the following episode.

## The Details

Cadmus’ recovery is strained, with Georgie Fantastic attempting to strike a much undesired conversation and Shelly wanting to give Cadmus’ bed to K. Fabulous, who took a stray shot from Soccer Moses during their fight. While attempting to go for a walk, Cadmus bumps into Dearly Dashing, an old fan who was glad to see Cadmus back in the ring. Dear, while not necessarily being a bad person, is \*incredibly\* forward and off putting to the entire party. Dearly also appears to have some history with Haymaker, referring to him by his real name rather than his stage name, but also seems to be too extra for the party’s temporary ally. Once he (thankfully) leaves, the party note that they have a lull in their matches, and have the opportunity to fully explore the facility and finally uncover the secrets about Hutch. Having learned from their mistake last time about plotting in the open, they make the quick decision to head to the Storage Room first, and make their next move from there.

While Isabelle is initially enthralled by all the abandoned props, Florence reminds her that they’re here to get down to business, and the group go over what they know so far. Unfortunately, they’re still unsure of how to bypass security to break into Hutch’s room, and the group are easily distracted as always and end up contemplating meaningless tangents. They do learn, however, that the room that Ian labelled “Baller” on his map actually belongs to Double Diamond, the second-to-top Wrestler who clocks in just behind Hutch. With their ideas at a firm dead end, they call in Vick and Daisy (who also crawl through the vent to get to the Storage Room), and have Vick use his epithet to create an elevator. Vick's elevator, as he claims, will take people down to the next “level” it can find; which could potentially be total oblivion, if the next closest “room” is deep within the earth’s crust. Luckily, Vick claims to find a place just below the establishment, likely to be some form of basement. With Florence getting in, Daisy attends to the elevator, giving them one last chance to guess at her epithet. While Florence is close, Daisy dramatically reveals her exact word to be ☆Drop☆, using it to send the elevator plummeting down.

Rather than a basement, Florence and Daisy find themselves in a well furnished room, somewhat reminiscent of Vice’s office. Daisy, somehow managing to one-up Ian as a liability, sees a big red button and immediately slams it as hard as she can. This causes a secret door to open up, revealing some kind of horrific research lab with wandering monstrosities inside of it - leading to them immediately pressing the button again to reseal it. Continuing to explore the room, the duo turn on a screen that shows a live feed of the current match, where Nyx is about to use a finisher on Dearly Dashing. However, much to Florence’s horror, Nyx’s finisher involves stitching red threads into her opponent - unmistakeable red thread. Florence immediately calls the group to let them know about this, and Craigor manages to connect the two parties by finding a secret button on their end, opening an escalator between the storage room and the hidden one. While they initially consider splitting the group between Nyx and the secret room, they realise that they shouldn’t confront potential danger with anything less than their full strength, so they go pursue the most pressing matter and attempt to find Nyx - given the secret room won’t be going anywhere, but Nyx might.

At the infirmary, Nyx is nowhere to be found, but the group notice Dearly is being treated as normal for post-match injuries. Noting how dangerous Leianne was following her exposure to the red stitch, the group fear for the safety of all those in the locker room (Shelly especially), and Isabelle opts to pull the fire alarm to force them to evacuate - something they could reasonably attribute to the thick black smoke being emitted from Dearly himself. With the others out, Cadmus attempts to talk to Dearly, who still has mental control of himself, despite feeling physically atrocious. Dearly comments that this is completely out of left field for Nyx, as she’s never done anything remotely like it before. Florence, fully aware of the effect of the stitch, asks Dearly what his epithet is. Dearly, offering little resistance, reveals it to be ☆Dashing☆. Noting the black emissions, the group informs him that the stitch has likely underlined “☆Ash☆” as his new epithet. Unsure what to do, and uncertain of the consequences of trying to remove the stitch, Florence calls up Hunter Palm to take Dearly back to the Insurance Society, to try and treat him alongside Leianne, and keep the victims of the incidents under wraps as much as possible.

Haymaker, who has been blissfully unaware of the party’s true intentions, asks them if Dearly is going to be okay; as, despite his eccentricities, he was one of Haymaker’s first friends in the Absurd Beef Initiative. Florence admits that they’re not there for the fights, and actually there to investigate the red stitch, also taking time to reassure him that he’s safe from it; as it’s purely a weapon against the inscribed. Haymaker, still concerned, asks if there’s a way that he can help, but the group want everyone inside to stay out of harm’s way, and suggests that he just stays out of trouble as much as possible.

Retreating outside, the group try to steel their nerves, while planning their next move. Some of them consider coming clean to Vice and Zelda, but given that the building has a murder basement underneath it, it’s likely that at least one of them is involved in it. Cadmus, however, believes in Zelda, and honestly believes that she is unaware of the whole thing. Either way, the smarter move seems to be to explore the hidden basement first, and the group leave Dearly in Haymaker’s hands until the limo from the Insurance Society arrives to pick him up.

Returning to the murder basement, the group note that the three walking chimeras near the entrance have some modicum of intelligence, with one of them approaching the group when it notices them. Noting that the chimeras release flies from their body, Cadmus and Florence attempt to enter with torches, using the flames to prevent the flies from lingering. The chimeras themselves are weaker than the group expects, with them falling apart with a well placed smack from Cadmus’ chair. This works right up until Isabelle wanders into the middle of a fairly obvious spike trap, summoning the attention of a more powerful chimera that doesn’t appear to contain flies (or immediately fall apart upon impact). They manage to defeat this one as well, but proceed to suffer immensely while rescuing Isabelle from the spike trap, something they are forced to do due to an apparently psychic force able to assault them in the room they came from.

With an unlabeled button, the group open a secret door to what is either another research lab or a flat out torture room. Florence notes the presence of a coffee machine and appropriate stains, which may be a potential indicator of Marco’s involvement, given his penchant for the beverage. Additionally, they took note of a rack that was suspiciously similar to some furniture Vice had inside of his room, further hinting that he may indeed have an involvement with whatever was going on down below. While wondering about the creatures they encountered, Cadmus comes to the horrifying realisation that they were likely former wrestlers that have since gone missing - with the psychic force being similar to powers displayed by Door Guy, and the posing menace they just dispatched being eerily reminiscent of Canoe Guy. With the enormity of the situation hitting the party, they take a moment to themselves before continuing, beginning to move with a more personal fire now brewing inside of them.

As they continue further into the murder basement, Cadmus remembers another former wrestler, Nuisance, who had control over swarms of bugs. The chimeras emitting flies are unlikely to be a coincidence. The group open up another room, startling a weapon-clad Ian who had set up some defences to protect himself. Ian had been attacked by an unknown assailant, and his mouth stitched up, but was still able to talk - and did not seem to be reacting adversely to the red stitch. Discussing his epithet, Ian reveals his power to be ☆Shaft☆, with the stitch not underlining any part of it (despite “Aft” being a possibility). Craigor comments that his own epithet should not be stitched, due to a specific reduction being potentially disastrous. Ian also comments about the entire area being a maze, something the group had not realised due to them entering through what was effectively a secret exit. While the group considers taking Ian and leaving, Ian mentions that he was down here with someone else - a woman whose identity they’re unable to decipher, due to Ian only giving unhelpful hints about her appearance - and so the group delve deeper into the maze in an attempt to find and rescue her.

Ian, having deeply frustrated the group, is sent to navigate the traps before the rest of the group - which is an ineffective punishment, given swift movement and manoeuvrability are pretty much the only things he’s actually good at. The group manage to circle around the hidden lab, coming across the chimera with the psychic powers, and elect to ignore it for now as they investigate the sounds of a kerfuffle further in.

To their surprise, the woman that Ian was with was not someone they knew at all - and, as they entered the room that she was stuck in, found that she was in the process of being attacked by a giant chimera. With the creature temporarily stuck on a barbed wire fence, the party had a moment to prepare before jumping in, with Craigor deciding to try and get a sneak attack with a rocket launcher. Compared to the people and humanoids they had faced thus far, however, this beast could handle far more damage and decay, and this was merely the initiation of a fight, not the aversion of one.

The creature turned and began to target the group, giving the mysterious woman a chance to breathe, but meaning that they had to contend with it themselves. Cadmus, continuing a trend, overextends himself and is swallowed by the beast early into the fight. Florence and Craigor make use of their various weaponry to try and take it down, but the true star of the show is the woman that they had come to save, who freely unleashes a barrage of knives into it and utterly dominates it into its own demise.

While the stranger proved themselves to be arguably more capable than the group, she still compliments Cadmus’ moxie, being impressed at how he handled being eaten. Finally getting a closer look at her, Cadmus recognises her as Goose McNamara, formerly a world class racecar driver (before a head injury that caused her to retire). Claiming to have just been visiting as a wrestling fan, she states that she, like Ian, was knocked out and brought down below, and has no idea who did it to her. Opting to leave the murder basement as soon as possible, the group make a quick stop to put one more chimera out of its misery, ensuring the chimera made from Door Guy will suffer no more.

The group finally returned to the storage room, where they found Vice waiting for them. Cadmus, filled with rage from his desecrated former friends, had no time for Vice’s devilishly playful demeanour, and was on the brink of pummeling him; and likely would have, if he wasn’t on the verge of collapsing himself. Vice feigned ignorance, claiming that he doesn’t know what’s down there, but confidently implied that it’d be nothing if he checked. So, placing the matter directly into Cadmus’ hands, he asks whether there is something below them, or if there is not. With bated breath, the party all look towards Cadmus, wondering what fate his answer will bestow upon them.