Video - It's Us, We're the April Fools

[crackedreflection]

[The video clicks on to show MT in her room. Just like last time, the place is a complete mess—thankfully sans paint, this time. Unlike last time, the mess is from the multitude of books, notes, and maps scattered around the room in addition to the normal level of teenage clutter.]

[MT looks different too. It's hard to define, but her posture is slightly straighter, and the look in her (baggy) eyes is the same one that theater kids have whenever they need to play a role they strongly dislike.]

As I'm sure you're all aware, something is very wrong with Main Street right now, [she begins, voice sluggish with exhaustion as she speaks through grit teeth.] Everything's been off for a little while. Wait, no, I can be a bit more specific than that.

THIS PLACE IS GETTING CORRODED, YOU FREAKING IDIOTS, AND I—ONE OF THE NEWBIES—AM APPARENTLY THE ONLY ONE WHO'S WORRIED ABOUT IT!

[MT sits back down, collecting herself.]

Ahem. So I decided to take a page from one of my old friend's books and do some good ol' fashioned research to figure out why. I did all sorts of sciencey stuff: walked around town, measured general attitudes of the populace correlated with the liveliness of plant life and the weather combined with distance from the train station... [As MT continues to explain, she starts looking more and more annoyed with herself.] Then I looked into the train station's history, tried to figure out whether there were any specific artifacts or people that were tied to it, and after that I did a bit of light reading on how the Corrosion actually works and-

Look. I'll get to the point.

We are the problem.

We, the Heroes of the Magic Kingdom or whatever, are the problem. We've been causing way too much trouble, making things difficult for the residents of Main Street, sitting on our butts while almost nobody goes out and does missions to actually help... I just... gah.

[MT pinches the bridge of her nose.]

This? Main Street's whole situation? It's our fault. Which means it's up to us to fix it.

I know we're a motley crew of jaded teenagers and demons and who knows what else, but as far as I can tell, the only way to rectify all of this is to bring up the cheer levels ourselves. So... and I can't believe I'm saying this... we need to have a festival. Produced by us. To try and make things more "fun," [she makes actual airquotes with her fingers] around here.

Also, everyone who's ever done a crime here or messed with the residence should get on doing community service to make up for that. I'm in the same boat as everyone else who messed with Main Street for fun, so I'll be joining in too.

Anyways, on to the festival planning. I admit, I'm not very good at this kind of thing. But I do have a few ground rules: one, no magic. We all know full well how badly magic can backfire even with the best of intentions, so let's not make the residents of Main Street even more resentful of us, okay? Two, no pranks. Looking at you, Lawrence Betelgeuse "Beetlejuice" Shoggoth. You too, Mal. No matter how "fun" they may be, I think the people who live here have had enough of our pranks.

I already have some plans that I have attached below, but I could really use you guys's help here. I don't think this is going to work if it's just me. [For a small moment, there's vulnerability in MT's voice. She's scared. She's genuinely come to care about this place, these people, and... she doesn't want it getting ripped away.]

BUT SO HELP ME, IF I HAVE TO PRESSGANG YOU INTO GETTING THIS THING TOGETHER, I WILL DO IT! DON'T THINK I WON'T!

[And there's the anger again.]