Hello there! Welcome to Tabletop Potluck, the inclusive Actual Play podcast where we showcase and discuss the wide world of pen and paper roleplaying games. If you're just joining us for the first time, we play a few episodes of a tabletop game, then have a themed potluck dinner where we sit down and discuss it. On the table today is Kids on Nikes written by Jonathan Gilmore and Doug Levindowski, and published by Renegade Game Studios. Kids on Nikes is a game of small towns and big adventures, evoking the films of the 80s and 90s. Think Stranger Things, E.T., The Goonies. Let's all go around and introduce ourselves. Please tell us your name, your character and what fad from the 90s you'd either like to bring back, or bury forever.
Hi, my name is Ray. Are you shy or they pronouns. I'm playing Melissa Kucera, she/her pronouns, and I'm a teen. And the 90s fad I want to bury deep deep within the Earth's crust, are tiny eyebrows.
Hi, my name is Matthew James Marquez, he/him. I am playing Juan Carlos Bologna, also he/him, and he is a kid. The one thing from the 90s that I would like to bury forever is the prevalence of animated shows released a year after a big movie is released, such as: Mask, the Animated Series; Beetlejuice, the Animated Series; Jumanji, the Animated Series. All of these should never have been made.
Hi, my name is Charlotte. I use she/her pronouns. I'm playing Alice Strazynski, who also uses she/her pronouns, and she is a kid. The thing that I would like to bring back from the 90s is the design trend of clear plastic. Those Gameboys that had the clear plastic so you could see the inside of the machinery. iMacs that had the clear plastic. Telephones. I think that shit looks cool.
My name is Megan, she/her pronouns, and I'm playing Monica Noel Meeks also known as M&M, she/her pronouns, and she's a teen. The thing I would bring back from the 90s is typical mall goth couture and lifestyle.
Be the mall goth you want to see in the mall.
My name is Noa, she/her, I am going to be the game master. And I really hope that turtleneck tank tops come back. I always thought they were really cool and pretty when I was a kid, and I was not allowed to wear them. So one thing about Kids on Bikes is it's a very flexible system. It can tell almost any kind of story that involves kids who happen to be on bikes, but one thing the game does encourage us to do is to set it in a time when not everybody had a working camera that can send information anywhere in the world in their pocket at all times. So I'd like you to come back with us. 24 years back, precisely. November, 1996. Bill Clinton just won his second term as president. The Nintendo 64 was released a month ago. The Internet exists but isn't really a part of people's daily lives just yet. Space Jam just became the number one movie at the box office. To us in the year 2020, 1996 might as well be another planet. Imagine that on this planet was a state called Arizona, and in that state was a city called Phoenix. If you follow a freeway called US Route 60 eastward for about an hour, depending on traffic, it's possible that an exit from that road would lead you to a small town nestled in the foot of the Superstition Mountain Range. At the enrance to that town might be a sign that would read, "Welcome to Valle Azul. Population: 2500." The first thing you'd notice is the amusement park, a motley collection of attractions with a kitschy Halloween theme. Then you might see the town itself, a dusty Main Street packed with storefronts, and a number of homes ranging from sprawling ranch style manors to single room trailers. There might be a high school, a bowling alley, an arcade, a tunnel leading down into an old copper mine. A crater on the edge of town. This town, Valle Azul, would appear to be struggling to find its footing. The world of 1996 is on the verge of massive change. Its small American towns like this can easily be swept away. This particular day is a Friday, the last Friday before the schools of Valle Azul get a week-long vacation before Thanksgiving. Let's check in on Valle Azul High, room 223, where Melissa Kucera and Monica Noel Meeks are sitting in English class. Their teacher is named Miss Danielle Frost, a young woman there late 20s, who would clearly rather be elsewhere. The room is pretty bare. Obviously, Miss Frost didn't really spend that much time or money decorating it. There are a few posters depicting the works of Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, that kind of thing. Let's start with Monica. Where do you sit in the classroom?
Monica sits in the middle of the classroom, almost the dead center because she doesn't want to take up backseat stuff, because she wants to make sure she sees everything well, but she doesn't want to sit at the front of the class.
So today, Miss Frost is writing on the board talking about the plot of Emma by Jane Austen. How did you like the book?
I mean, it was fine. I'd prefer something with a bit more action, more adventure, but I guess it could be worse. I mean, I like reading so...
As Miss Frost writes on the board, and talks about Jane Austen's use of symbolism and class in the Georgian period, somebody taps you on the hand.
Monica quickly looks up from the packing list that she'd started to make for her next camping trip.
To your left sits Kyle Witherspoon, the richest kid in school and probably the entire town. And he hands you a note. You can see him, like, mouthing out, "get this to Melissa".
The smile that was on her face kind of drops. But then she brings it back, nods, and passes the note over.
What is your approach to passing the note?
I'm going to try to sneak it, like, I'm just gonna kind of try to toss it into her lap so that I don't raise my arm too high.
I would like you to roll your flight stat. We're going to give it a difficulty of four.
Oh, no. Okay.
I can't fly for shit.
My flight is a D4, so... (gasp)
Oh?
I rolled a four on a D4.
So all of your stats have an associated die. If you roll the maximum value that die explodes, and you get to roll again. So it was a difficulty of four actually, right?
Yeah.
So in that case, it doesn't actually matter. You already passed it. You manage to slyly pass the note over to your right, where your friend and neighbor Melissa is sitting. Melissa, have you been paying attention in class?
I've been paying conceptual attention, because I've been trying really hard to figure out why the plot seems kind of familiar to me, but not really. I look down and unwrap the note.
So the note, which has Kyle's unmistakably messy handwriting, says, "meet at the Dragon's Nest at eight, question mark?" And you look over at Kyle and he's looking you expectantly.
I nod but with a very confused face. That belies: "You better be explaining this later".
It's hard to say if Kyle picks up on the subtext of your nod. But he gives a very enthusiastic thumbs up and then turns his attention back to the teacher. Melissa and Monica, could you describe yourselves real quick for the audience?
Monica is a girl of average height. She has kind of chubby cheeks still, because even young teens still chubby cheeks. Her hair is crimped and held back by a red bandana. She wears flared jeans, a black and white tie dye tank top, with a tattered flannel tied around her waist, and a white shell necklace around her neck.
Melissa is fairly average height for a 16 year old girl. Pretty average weight. She has strawberry blonde hair, which is up in the very highest high pony. Dark brown lipstick, an ascot, butterfly clips, a tank top, a plaid skirt and chunky boots. Welcome to the 90s babyyy.
Class goes on. And then suddenly the door opens, and in walks an average-looking middle-aged man in a suit, a dark suit, wearing dark glasses. Miss Frost turns to him and goes,
"Excuse me, we're in the middle of class here."
The man takes something out of his pocket, flashes it to her briefly, puts it away and says,
"I'm going to need you to come into the hall for just a minute."
And Miss Frost pauses for a bit, and then nods turns to the class and says,
"Continue reading Emma up to page 202. I will be back soon."
And follows him into the hallway, leaving you all unsupervised.
"Kyle, Kyle. What? Kyle? What? Why?"
Kyle turns to you he's wearing, like, a blazer and an ascot. He looks like Freddy from Scooby Doo a bit.
"It's a date. You know, those things we've been going on?"
"Yeah, but like, everybody's gonna be at the Dragon's Nest. And I don't know if I want to be with everybody."
"I mean, you got a better idea for a place we could, you know, be alone for a while?"
"I found this really cool sand dune."
"Where is it?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out."
"Okay, cool. I can be into sand dunes. I guess. Where would I meet you?"
"Just like, meet me in front of the school."
"Like just after school? Or like at eight o'clock?"
"Do you have anything to do before then?"
"My grandpa's having like a big dinner, so I can't really get out of that."
"Okay, fine. Meet me at the Dragon's Nest at eight o'clock. If we want, we can then go to the sand dunes."
"Okay, yeah, that sounds... that sounds cool. That sounds real cool."
"Oh, by the way, sorry M&M," and I'm just, like, moving back and forth trying to see around you to my boyfriend. She's like, "Sorryyyyyy."
Monica's just trying not to watch you guys talk around her, so she's just... has her head, like, into her notebook.
However, Monica, if you look up, the door has a window on it. And through that window, you can see the face of the man who is talking to Miss Frost. And I believe you can read lips.
Yes, I'm very good at reading lips. I would definitely, would try to, because instant distraction.
If you want to read their lips that would be a Brains roll, difficulty of 10.
So, that is a nat 20.
Okay. All right, so the Dice Gods clearly favor Megan today.
Well, now they won't
It's almost like, this guy, not only is he speaking very clearly, he is enunciating every single word, so that his words are entirely legible to you. You can see him saying something along the lines of this:
"I just want you to be on the lookout for suspicious characters in the area, particularly around the edge of the town. The crater about a mile west of here, correct? We've had reports of strange folk around, and if you see anything, please let us know. If you find anything, please call us at the Ramada Inn at the edge of town. You know the number, yes? We're going to be staying in room 22."
Monica is going to just hold both of her hands up in a "wait", like "hold on" gesture, and turn to Melissa and just sign "no" at her.
Melissa doesn't know very much sign language, but she knows some, and she signs back just the letter "Y?"
Monica very clearly mouths "Dragon's Nest".
"Actually, Kyle, how about you meet me at my house? And then we can, like, drive over there? Because I'm not really feeling the Dragon's Nest today."
"I mean... yeah, sure, whatever... whatever you want, I guess. Yeah, the Dragon's Nest is played out, anyway."
"The Dragon's Nest is just crawling with all kinds of grody people. Do you want to be grody, Kyle?"
"Yeah, nah, nah, we're not grody people, right?"
"Nnnnoooo."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you after this, whatever this big dinner my grandpa's having. It's bullshit."
"Well, do you need, like, a date to the grandpa dinner, or is it not that kind of dinner?"
"Mmm, uh... I haven't really, like, told my family I'm seeing anybody yet. And... it's just, like, it's a just-family thing, you know? Just Witherspoons."
"Oh. Huh. Mmm. Interesting. Hmm."
"Yeah, it's like, my... my parents are weird like that, they don't like non-blood relatives to be there for grandpa's dinners. Apparently this is like a big thing, like an announcement or something."
Melissa takes a nail file out of her desk and just starts aggressively filing her nails. It's like one of those pink sandpaper tip, like one of the ones you have to mail in something to Teen Vogue to get., like aggressively just *angry nail filing sounds*.
"Oh. Really. Hmm."
Monica, to herself, just puts out her first two fingers on both hands, and just kind of up and down, just very subtly at her desk.
We zoom out of room 223 of Valle Azule High School and go over the town. In the distance we can see a small crater. That crater, which the kids call the Dragon's Nest, this crater was created when a meteorite fell to Earth just outside town in 1978. There was quite a media frenzy about it for about two days, but the meteorite itself was just an ordinary hunk of space iron. The meteorite was taken away to the Arizona Science Center, and all that was left was this crater, a popular hangout spot for kids looking for a bit of privacy. We go past the town, just about a quarter mile away, where we see Valle Azul K-8. Inside that school is a science lab. And inside that science lab are two children who are dangerously close to blowing something up. Their teacher is named Mr. Benjamin Naha. He's a big man in his 40s with long hair and a ponytail, and he's known for his exuberance in the classroom. He is definitely the coolest teacher either of you have ever had. JC, Alice, you two are lab partners. At the front of the room, Mr. Naha is giving you have a specific set of chemicals to mix together. And he's going on and on about exothermic reactions and handing out bits of food coloring to add to the concoction. He's just letting you know that you have never seen anything like this. What do you talk about as he walks around the room?
"So the Ducks are from a planet called Puck World, and they left Puck World and came to Earth. My favorite character is Duke L'Orange. He's kind of a spymaster. You know, I started watching the show because Batman: The Animated Series went off the air, but really, Mighty Ducks is a really good show and I think that you'd like it."
"Umm, my parents don't really let me watch a lot of TV."
"That's okay, you can come over and watch it."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Sounds cool. Sounds, you know, it's, I mean, it's whatever. It's fun. I mean, you know, I'm sure it's chill."
"Duke L'Orange's name is based off of Duck a l'Orange. It's a really nice recipe I've been reading about lately."
"What's in it? Besides duck?"
"It's... orange."
All right.
"Oh, that makes sense, I guess."
"Okay, kids! Time to add the hydrogen peroxide."
Does one of you want to make a Brains roll? With a difficulty of five.
I'll give it a shot. I have a d8 in Brains. I rolled a one.
Alice, you drop the hydrogen peroxide into the concoction, and for a minute, nothing happens.
"Oh, man."
And you kind of put your head over the beaker, you're wearing goggles, and suddenly a big thing of foam just hits you full in the face.
"Ahhh!"
And it's hot, not like scalding hot, but it is, like, uncomfortable, and you get it all over your face and your shirt, and a bunch of kids around laugh at you.
I take my long sleeves and just start wiping my face down.
"Mr. Naha, can I go to the bathroom?"
"Yeah, sure thing, Alice. This is why we wear goggles!"
"When she gets back, if any of you still laugh at her, you're gonna have to deal with me."
"Now, now, JC. That's not how we solve our problems in my classroom."
"So we're just gonna let people laugh at her?"
"No, but we don't have to threaten our friends when we are upset with them."
"They're not my friends."
"You know, how about we we talk a little bit more later? Go ahead to the bathroom, Alice."
"Okay."
So Alice, you leave the room and walk down the hall, and walking towards you, in the opposite direction is an average-looking man, about middle-aged, in a black suit, wearing black glasses.
"Hello there."
"Uh. Hi?"
"What's your name?"
"My parents told me not to talk to strangers."
"Very smart."
He takes something out of his pocket and flashes to you briefly. It looks like some kind of badge, but you don't get a good look at it.
I'm just gonna go,
"Oh, uh, I'm Alice."
"My name is Agent Jeffrey Wolf. It's a pleasure to meet you, Alice."
I nod at him.
"Do you mind if I just ask you a real question real quick?"
"Can it wait until I wash off all this hydrogen peroxide?"
"Yes, of course. Go on."
And I go to the bathroom.
So JC, you see this man walk into the room and kind of gesture over to your teacher Mr. Naha for him to come closer.
"Yeah, excuse me. What's up?"
"I would just like a few words with you, if you don't mind, out in the hallway."
"Uh, sure. Kids, don't play with the chemicals anymore, okay? Wait til I get back. I'm looking at you, Patrick!"
"I don't give a shit what Mr. Naha said. Again, if you laugh at her, you will get punched."
Are you talking to anyone in particular or just the room?
The room.
So one kid goes,
"Okay, Baloney Boy."
I'm gonna roll to punch this kid!
Are you, like, looking to knock him out, or just give him like a punch on the shoulder, or what do you do?
Oh, no, yeah, I'm punching him full on in the face.
Alright, so in that case, roll your Fight, difficulty of 11.
I rolled a one.
You take a swing at this kid, the aforementioned Patrick, and your punch goes wide and knocks one of the beakers full of foam onto the ground. Glass goes everywhere. And it's a very loud noise, and all the other kids kind of go "Oooooh!" And then one of the kids, the resident snitch, goes,
"Mr. Naha! JC is breaking things in the classroom!"
And Mr. Naha returns.
"Juan Carlos Bologna, go to the principal's office right away."
"But... but..."
"No buts. Breaking my equipment is a harsh no. I'm sorry. You gotta go."
I get up, and I take another beaker from the table, and I just knock it off.
Thankfully, this one doesn't break, but more of that foam gets all over the floor. And Mr. Naha just gives you a very disappointed look as you march past him towards the principal's office, where you walk past the man in the black suit. And the man the black suit says,
"Sounds like you had a rough time in there."
"I have to go to the principal's office."
"Mind if I join you? I have to talk to the principal as well."
"It's a free country."
"That it is."
And he walks apace beside you. He also flashes his badge very quickly before you can really get a look at, and goes,
"Jeffrey Wolf. FBI."
"JC Bologna. Nunnaya."
"Nunnaya what? What's nunnaya?"
"Nunnaya business."
"Oh, that was a joke. Very humorous. Tell me JC. You ever get out to the dragon's nest?
"No. What do I look like, a loser?"
"Haha. Of course you don't. Well, you might want to stay away from those parts anyway. There's some nasty rumors around town about goings on out that way.
"And why is the FBI here?"
"Well, I'm afraid that's classified."
"Okay, then why are you asking me questions?"
"Well, we need information and who better than the eyes and ears of any town: the children?"
"I don't know anything."
"Very well. In that case, our association is at an end."
"Wait! Actually, I think I saw my classmate, Patrick, snooping around out there."
I'm gonna have to ask you to roll your Charm. That's gonna be a difficulty of 10.
That's a one, plus one is two.
He turns to you goes:
"Is that so? You're not lying to me, are you, Juan Carlos Bologna?"
"You're the FBI, isn't is your job to know that?"
"You're right. And I'll be honest, I know you're lying to me. And I'm curious as to why..."
"Patrick sucks!"
So, he leans down so he's eye level with you. You still can't see past those dark glasses.
"Mr. bolonga. I want you to know that it's a very serious matter when you lie to a member of the FBI. Now, I want you to tell me right now, do you know anything about things going on at the dragon's nest?
"No."
"Very well."
He stands up/
"Kids make out there!"
"Well, that's very helpful."
You get to the principal's office and he opens the door leaving you to sit on the bench outside of it and goes:
"You have a good day. Juan Carlos Bolonga."
And then he walks inside to talk to the principal.
Yeah, I just sit there.
Can I have exited the bathroom and seen the last bit of that interaction?
Absolutely.
In that case, I'm not gonna go back into class. I'm gonna follow JC.
"What did that guy want?"
"He was just asking questions. He's part of the FBI, which means he's probably can't be trusted."
"I see. I got nervous when he was talking to me, and I was gonna go to the bathroom and like, recompose, and I was gonna be like, 'What's your badge number?' Um, but then he walked away, so I didn't get to do that."
"Also, if he's part of the FBI, he should be more secretive about being a part of the FBI."
"I mean, he's not a spy. He's just a... police man, at the federal level."
"Anyway, he's a real dingus."
"Yeah, seems like it. You want me to sit with you?"
"Yeah."
"Cool."
We see two kids sitting on the bench outside the principal's office. One, her face is covered in soapy water, and the other one looking down at his hands from the punchy mist. What do you look like?
Alice is 10 years old, average height, long blonde hair-- that is probably now, uh, wet-- that falls in front of her face. She does also wear a bucket hat, baggy clothing, sneakers... Just think about that super uncool kid that you went to elementary school with.
Juan Carlos Bologna is a 12 year old kid with a Jonathan Taylor Thomas haircut.
Is that curtain bangs?
Yeah.
Nice.
He also wears a denim jacket, a faux Navajo print shirt, jeans, and black Converse. Uh, he's also Mexican-Italian, so he's got light brown skin.
Juan Carlos, since you failed two rolls, you now have two Adversity Tokens. You can spend Adversity Tokens to increase the result of your your roll if you miss, and you can also use them to activate some of your Strengths.
Enjoying Kids on Bikes? Want more teenage supernatural adventure? Then I recommend A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Want to listen to it for free? Just head on over to "audibletrial.com/potluck for 30 days free on Audible and one free audio book. But before you do that, let's get back to the game.
The rest of your days go about a pace, for a Friday. Juan Carlos, you get a phone call from your parents. Needless to say you are grounded for the rest of Thanksgiving break.
"So I guess this means we can't watch Mighty Ducks."
"What are they going to do? Watch me from the deli?"
Let's go back to Valle Azul High. So the bell rings. You're free for a week. Let's go with Melissa. What do you do first?
The usual Friday afternoon ritual is,probably for everyone to hang out outside their lockera and schmooze.
Alright. Who do you talk to at the lockers?
I'm talking to my best friend Kirsten.
Kirsten is next to you at the locker. She's also dressed in what was considered stylish for the time period clothing. What are you talking about?
"I don't know what the deal is, but apparently something weird's going on at the dragon's nest. So, I don't know if you still even hang out there anymore, but like, now it's definitely dead.
I don't know, I've heard that Jimmy Bucket is going to be taking his girlfriend there soon and you know, whatever Jimmy Bucket does all the boys want to do.
"Well, it's gonna be pretty hard for everyone to do what Jimmy Bucket does if Jimmy Bucket falls into a sinkhole."
"Were you just saying, like, you're gonna like push him into a sinkhole or something?"
"No! No, I'm just saying, like, it's not just that the dragon's nest is uncool. It's like there actually might be something dangerous there. I'm not gonna murder Jimmy Bucket."
"What-- what do you mean? What kind of something? It's just a, just a hole in the ground."
"Do you know that girl, MnM? Monica, whatever?
"Oh, yeah."
"She's my neighbor. And she knows a lot about, like, nature."
"Ew."
"It's kind of her thing. Hey Kirsten, nature is all around us. I don't know why but MnM told me not to go to the dragon's nest. And if she tells me not to... I just think she knows what she's talking about."
"Hmm, I don't know. She's kind of weird."
"Yeah, weird kids know everything about science."
"Okay, yeah, whatever. But you are hanging out with Kyle tonight?"
"Oh, yeah, definitely. He's gonna meet me at my house. So We'll see."
"Okay."
"Wink!"
"Oh! oh my god. Oh, girl!"
"There's just one problem."
"Yeah?"
"Kyle hasn't told his family that we're dating."
"What?"
"I thought we were really serious. We've been together for like, two months already."
"His family are like total snobs though. I mean, just cause-- just because they own the copper mine, they think that they're the coolest people in town. I mean, I know that the richest people in town but..."
"And I'm the hottest girl in town. So I'm a catch!"
"You got to be like, play like... coy. You can't just let him have it. Until you know that he's, you know, gonna be serious about you."
"Oh my god. Kirsten, you're so wise."
"Mhm. Yeah, that's what my mom said. She said I'm an old soul."
Melissa solemnly puts her hand on Kirsten's shoulder and says:
"You are so old."
Uh, Monica. How are you doing? (Laughs)
I am getting my go bag, which is really just more hiking gear, I guess, out of my locker because I'm gonna want to bring it home for this week. So I'm not going to be going straight from school out to the woods or anything, so...
So where do you go?
MnM is going to take a little bit of time in case anyone wants to talk to her. But her first stop will be under the bleachers, where she tends to scan to see if anyone's lost anything that she can pick up.
So, when you say scan for things that people have lost, like you're just like, looking under the bleachers for things that fell down or...?
Yeah, like I've got a really cheap handheld metal detector that really doesn't work. The technology's not there for it to be so small, really, like not for how much I can afford. So it's kind of just like... a magnet.
Yeah, I guess this would be a Brains roll. Let's make it a difficulty of 12.
I got a two.
You are sweeping around this handheld metal detector, and it's making weird beep sounds but it's... nothing's coming up, and you're not really looking where you're going and you walk right into a trash can, and the trash can falls over.
"Ugh..."
And trash goes everywhere. But you notice something weird in the trash can: clothes. Children's clothes. Does not make sense to go into a trash can near the football field that your high school,
I'm going to pick up some of the crumpled homework that's also in that trash can and pick up the clothes.
These clothes are all fairly uniform. It's like someone had multiple copies of the same outfit and dumped all of them. And they're all this kind of faded blue color. And on the lapel of the shirts. You can see the words are clearly, like, very, very faded. But there are definitely words there and like a serial number of some kind, but you can't really read it.
A shiver kind of runs up her spine and she is just going to shove one of the outfits into her backpack.
All right, let's go over to the kids. Let's start with Alice.
Yes.
School's out. Where do you go?
Since JC is grounded now, I probably just bike on home.
Describe your family home.
It is one of the few houses in town with a real basement; a one story ranch style house on probably a lot of land, towards maybe the outside of town.
Your parents are Doomsday preppers, correct?
Yes.
How does that manifest in the home?
They have a fence. They probably also have security cameras, uh, which is super high tech for '96. That basement I mentioned is filled to the brim with supplies, and possibly weapons. They don't really let me go down there.
As you're biking to your house, you see that your mother is talking with somebody in the doorway, and you get closer and it's somebody you recognize. She is a very very tall, gaunt woman. Weirdly thin, dressed, in very kind of fuddy-duddy clothes, with her hair done up in an old fashioned way; 1970s style. You know this as Mrs. Galatas, she is a pretty important woman in your neighborhood. She's the head of the local Homeowners Association. And also you know, she sits on the city council. The discussion she's having with your mother, you can tell from here is rather heated. You can't hear the details yet.
I'm gonna do my best to remain unnoticed for as long as possible so I can hear a little bit of the conversation
Roll me a Flight difficulty of, let's say, five.
Well, I rolled a one on that one. Plus one equals two!
Okay, so in that case, you can hear Mrs. Galatas, talking about, you know, just boring adult stuff about the fence, driving down property values, all those cameras being unsightly, and your mom is just nodding but clearly not really listening. She does not care what Mrs. Galatas has thinks. But before you can really hear too many details, you step on a dry branch, it snaps, and Mrs. Galatas turns around and goes
"Oh, hello, Alice, was it?"
"Hi."
"Enjoying your time off of school, I hope."
"Well, that time off started about 30 minutes ago, so...so far so good."
All right, you stay out of trouble now!
"'kay."
"I'll be watching..."
...turns and gives your mother a very significant look. Mrs. Galatas then walks over to her nice Buick and drives off and your mother kind of feigns wiping away some sweat and goes,
Oh, that woman!
"What was that about?"
"Oh, you know, she's just more concerned about how our house looks rather than, you know, if it's safe."
"That's stupid."
"Yeah, well, people are stupid, honey."
(laughs)
Real talk.
"How was school?"
"Uhhh...It was okay. I spilled hydrogen peroxide on myself and everyone laughed."
"Oh, aw, oh honey, I'm sorry. Times like these you'll look back at it and laugh. I-you know the kind of stuff that I got up to at your age and embarrassed myself with- it would make you blush.
"Oh, tell me one thing."
"One time, I was going to go up to a boy that I liked. I had a note for him explaining that I wanted to go on a date with him. And I dropped it and another boy picked it up and thought it was for him."
"Moooooom! Nooooo!"
"Well, it's a funny story because that boy turned out to be your dad. So it all worked out for the best
"Boys are gross."
"You're not wrong."
"Um, there was also a weird guy at school"
"What kind of weird guy?"
"He told people he was an FBI agent, but I didn't get-"
(interrupting) "-That he was a what?"
"Yeah, I didn't get a good enough look at his badge though, he could have been like lying."
"What did he look like?"
"Well, he was wearing a black suit and he had black sunglasses. And he said his name was agent Jeffrey Wolf."
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, no. Okay...um...all right, Alice, uh, sweetie, if you saw this man again, would you recognize him?"
"Probably. He also talked to my friend, JC."
Okay. All right. I would like you to stay in the house for now, okay? We'll-we'll go out another time. But I don't think now's a great time to leave the house.
Do I have to stay in- I mean, can I just be careful?
"Of course, you're going to be careful. We taught you how to be careful. Do-do you want to leave the house? Is there anything you were planning on doing?"
"Well, it's Thanksgiving break! I wanted to maybe, you know, hang out with my friend and do stuff, you know."
"With your friend JC?
"Yeah! Or with MnM."
Okay, I would like you to roll your Charm. Let's give that a difficulty of four.
Well, it's a d4, so we'll see what happens.
You don't know.
Four plus one is five.
"Okay. All right, that's- you know what? Of course you're-you're a kid you should be- it's a vacation. You should be having fun. Yeah, just do you want to go to you see your friend, MnM. Or do you want to go see your friend, JC?"
"Well, JC got grounded. Soooo..."
"did he get into a fight again?"
"Yeah. Okay, well, in that case, I suppose you better go to the Meeks' house, right?
"Yeah!"
"I have their phone numbers. That's all fine."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. Okay, just don't go too far. Just, you know, go to the Meeks' and stay with Monica and then you can come right back home. Okay?
"I promise I'll be careful."
So, JC, you talked on the phone with your mother after your talk with the principal. And she told you to come right back home after school. Are you going to do that?
Yeah, I have a job. Yeah, I ,uh, rollerblade with my black and neon rollerblades. I got my backpack in one hand and my Converse in my other hand as I rollerblade down to, uh, the Bologna Family Deli.
Bologna Family Deli. It's- you said it was an Italian deli?
Yes!
So there's a lot of good meats hanging up in the window capicola, salami! You walk in and your mother is behind the counter and she goes,
"Well, if it isn't my little vandal."
Juan Carlos is going to throw his rollerblades into the corner. I entered through the back door and there's a little area for personal items.
"Mind telling me what you were thinking? This is, what, the fifth time this year?"
"Yeah, well, they were laughing at my friend, so they deserved it."
"They deserved what? You broke something at the science lab. What was it?"
"Yeah, it wasn't on purpose. This kid called me 'Baloney'. Okay?!"
Oh, this again, Juan Carlos. It's just a nickname! You can't let them rile you up over a little things like this.
"No, I think they should say my name right, maybe."
"And you think that throwing things around and trying to punch people will make them do that."
"Well, asking them nicely hasn't."
"Listen. I know it's difficult, but you have to control- learn to control your temper. Imagine if you had hit that boy. Imagine if you had sent him to the hospital. What then?"
"He would have gone to the hospital. I'm sure his family has enough money to pay the medical bills, I don't know."
"And then you would have been expelled from school. Then that's what would happen!"
"Oh no! I would have been expelled from school and then I could, I don't know work here full time."
"Is that really what you want to be doing with your life, working in a deli for the rest of your life? I'm sure-"
(interuppting) "That's what dad does."
"Yes. And your dad does this so that you can do something better!"
"I never asked for the last name Bologna! I never asked to work in the deli!"
and she pinches the bridge of her nose goes,
"What am I going to do with you?"
"I'm gonna be fine, mom."
"I wish you could really promise me that and I knew it would be true. Because it just doesn't stop! Your father's out on a delivery, he'll want to talk to you when you get back. In the meantime, restock the canned goods."
"Fine."
"Fine."
And I put on my little apron.
Monica, where in town do your family live?
We live not too far from the school but we're kind of near a nice park.
So as you're walking near the park, you see riding on her bike Alice. Just happens to be that your paths converged.
I'll raise a hand and wave.
oh I wave- I wave back and I pull my bike over to the side and I meet up with you.
I am gonna put up a finger and then open up my backpack and pull out the outfit that I found, kind of raise an eyebrow, and point to it.
Can I try to examine the writing?
Yeah, let's give a Brains roll, difficulty of six.
Wee. Got a d8 in that so chances are not great. Sadly, that is just a three.
Right, you get another Adversity Token. So you can't make out the writing at all. It's definitely very faded.
Since Alice and MnM have hung out before and know each other I probably also know a little bit of sign language. So I'll kind of like combination sign talk.
"Where did you find this? Oh, hold on!"
I pull out just a notebook from my bag like a little tiny flippy type and I-I hand it to you.
I just write 'under bleachers'.
"Oh, that's weird. It looks really small."
Uhh-just then, from the nearby park, uh, you hear rustling from a bush,
I kind of tap you on the shoulder and point to the bush till you know and then I motion for you to come with me.
I'm going to put a hand on your upper arm both like "I'm here for you" and also like "and you're here for me".
And you approach the bush together?
Yes.
As you get closer, you see some buddy kind of crouching behind it like they're hiding. This person, you can't really make out any features yet. But they do have on a very similar looking blue outfit to the one you just put in your backpack.
"What the hell?"
I'm gonna immediately drop to my knees, point to them and then just do the just with my fingers just "OK?"
The person looks at you and for a moment, the person you're looking at is human shaped, but does not look human: completely hairless, pale flesh colored skin, but with no eyes. But as it looks at you, something begins to change. It grows hair out in much the same style as yours and the exact same color, it grows eyes in the exact same color as yours, its skin tone changes to match yours. Its features don't look exactly like yours, but it could be your little sister.
"MnM, what's happening?!"
And the thing behind the bushes kind of looks at your hand where you're doing your sign language, and then kind of concentrates for a moment, and then signs three letters, M, A, B. And that's what we're going to end for today.
Tabletop Potluck is made possible by generous donations from audience members like you@patreon.com slash Tabletop Potluck. You can follow the show on Twitter at Tabletop Potluck. For episode transcripts, fan art, and more. Go to Tabletop Potluck calm. Kids on bikes was written by Dr. Levin Tao ski and Jonathan Gilmore and published by Renegade Game Studios. As always, we want to thank Riley Allen for the creation of our theme music. And thank all of you for sitting at our table. See you next Monday.
