THE VEIL a Slimeball story from the Cool Cats Universe

The Veil Ep. 7

July 3rd, 2023

INT. OF THE ROYAL LIBRARY BASEMENT - DIAMOND CITY, COOLTPOIA

Maully, Slimeball, Jazz, Joey and Jill have just experienced a fracture, and now Maully has a few questions for our Librarians.

MAULLY: Yeah, okay, Slimeball, we get it. You think slime is cool. But now, now I want to hear from you. Yeah, you, air pet, what’s your name?

JAZZ: Uh, I’m Jazz, and this is Joey.

MAULLY: Ya, nice to meet you. How about you tell me how you opened that fracture? What you did is impossible.

JAZZ: Well, actually, it’s rather quite easy. I knew which fracture Slimeball went through because it’s the one the wolves always come through it, and I had just happened upon the right spell a few days ago. The book is around here somewhere.

JOEY: There!

The pouch pet points to the floor. Jazz picks up the book, finds the page and puts it on the table for everyone to see. Maully smirks at the very sparse diagram, and Jill, Jill stares at Jazz in disbelief.

JILL: Oh my goodness, Jazz! Those are the most words I have ever heard you say. What’s going on?

JAZZ: Oh, Yay! You can hear me now. Haha, soon you may be hating that. Oh, but I am glad. This is going to make things so much easier.

(The friends hug each other.)

MAULLY: Cute. Truly. I’m glad you two can understand each other now, but I still need to know how these instructions work. How can you even read this?

JAZZ: Well, as you can clearly see, it says a cat is needed to open it. Luckily Jill came down looking for Slimeball and saved the day. It was a bit of work, but we got there. I must say I am pretty pleased with our first attempt.

MAULLY: Wait, you needed a cat?

JAZZ: Yeah, obviously.

MAULLY: Yeah, obviously.

JAZZ: I can read it cause this text was written by my mentor, Berg.

JAZZ: He is the great and magical cat that brought me here using another fracture. Unfortunately, I can’t find it now. He has hidden it from me with magic, the same magic that won’t let me go up those stairs.

MAULLY: Geeze. Some mentor.

JILL: Oh, Jazz, you’re trapped? Why didn’t you tell me?

JAZZ: I did try many times, but don’t be sad, friend. I like it here. The basement Library is all a pet like me could hope for. I have learned so much, and I am quite satisfied. Please, please don’t worry. This is where I belong.

SLIMEBALL: No wonder you are always so happy to see everybody. I am glad that the redacted bullshit is finished. It was frustrating.

JAZZ: I think you are still going to be disappointed, Slimeball. Now others won’t be able to understand you. That’s equally frustrating.

MAULLY: Yeah, Remember the baker?

SLIMEBALL: So what? Not like anyone listened to me anyways.

MAULLY: Riiiight, so Jazz, what did the wolves do while they were here?

JAZZ: They did what they always do. They wrote.

MAULLY: Ha, those two are hardly poets or historians. What could they possibly have to say?

JAZZ: I don't think they were writing as much as transcribing. Their quills work so precisely and quietly. It is almost as if they are spellbound. When not in front of the books, those two are otherwise boisterous and clumsy and rather dumb.

MAULLY: Yeah, that sounds more like Ghostie and 14.

SLIMEBALL: Those guys tried to eat me.

JILL: Oh, poor Slimeball!

MAULLY: Look here, Slimeball, if a wolf wanted to eat you, you’d be eaten. I’ve never seen a wolf eat a pet. Have you?

SLIMEBALL: You weren’t there. They wanted me scared.

MAULLY: I don’t want you scared. No wolf is gonna eat you as long as I am around.

JAZZ: Friends, I should probably mention something else that happened. Before they left, the squinty one randomly grab a book off the shelf and wrote something. Then, the pair argued before opening the fracture and leaving. Here I can show you what they added.

Jazz fetches another book and lays out the text:

“Today, A water pet puked slime on me. It tasted great! Would make a nice glaze for duck.”

MAULLY: 14 got slimed?

JAZZ: The other wolf too, but he didn’t eat it. I saved the slime I cleaned off that one.

Jazz runs behind the stacks and returned with a medium-sized glass jar full of slime. The slime bounces in the jar. Happy to see Slimeball. Jazz lifts the lid, and it leaps into Slimeball’s mouth. He takes it in one gulp, and instantly Slimeball looks taller, brighter, and maybe even a little happier.

MAULLY: Oooo, that’s neat. I just knew you were going to be useful!

SLIMEBALL: Now listen here, wolf. I don’t work for you! And I do appreciate the concern and assistance of these good librarians. Consider me grateful for the institution’s excellent service, but I did not ask for the ability to shape slime into racecars! And I did not want to travel through some sort of shadow portal thingy. Now excuse me. I need to be anywhere else.

Slimeball leaves, heading up the long set of stairs.

JAZZ: Goodbye, Slimeball.

JILL: Yeah, bye.

MAULLY: Geeze, he’s a moody one. Okay, Wings, I’ll be back later with more questions, but for some reason, I feel like I gotta stick with this Slimeball. But when I come back, I wanna hear more about Berg. I’ll see you soon.

Maully pounces up the stairs and quickly catches up to Slimeball.

MAULLY: Hop on. I will take you to the top of the stairs.

SLIMEBALL: I will never ride you. Leave me alone.

MAULLY: Okay, fine, I will walk slowly all the way up the stairs with ya. It will give us plenty of time to talk about our feeling and really get to know each other.

SLIMEBALL: What in God’s name did I do to deserve this?

MAULLY: Oh, come on, let’s be friends it will be so much easier.

SLIMEBALL: All friends are scams. Now leave me alone.

MAULLY: Ooof, I felt that. I’m sorry, mate. I am sorry that’s been your experience. I’ve actually had some very nice friends. Even Ghostie and 14 aren’t that bad, not really. You just gotta get to know them.

SLIMEBALL: No, thank you. I have absolutely no reason to trust you.

MAULLY: Yeah, but you also don’t have any reason not to trust me. I even helped you. I gave you cookies.

SLIMEBALL: You stole those cookies.

MAULLY: I’m resourceful! I was trying to bring you home before those basement dwellers went all cowboy. Jazz may have said it was easy, but do you even realise how amazing it is that they opened a fracture with just a book? We should stick with them.

SLIMEBALL: I’m better on my own. Now for the last time, leave me alone!

(Maully sighs in resignation.)

MAULLY: Fine, I can see it’s no use.

She leaps up the stairs leaving Slimeball behind.

INT. ROYAL LIBRARY GRAND ENTRANCE

Maully gets to the main floor of the palatial Library. It is pretty busy for a library, but Maully goes unnoticed. She wanders through the lobby a bit before jumping behind the large librarian’s desk. She bends down, sniffing about with casual curiosity.

JARVIS: (clears throat)

Molly pops up, and the Pirate cat Jarvis is standing in front of her. He seems startled to see her.

MAULLY: Oh my god, can you see me?

Jarvis starts to whistle quietly and then looks up at the library’s magical ceiling. He turns his back to the desk and crosses his arms.

Maully comes out from the desk to face him.

MAULLY: You can totally see me! What is going on? Has everyone in Diamond City gone through a freaking fracture?

Jarvis stops whistling but keeps his gaze upwards.

Maully is studying the pirate when Slimeball makes it to the top of the stairs. She immediately spots him and hollers at him.

MAULLY: Hey, Slimeball! I think this pirate can totally see me.

Jarvis looks from the ceiling directly at Slimeball.

SLIMEBALL: Great. (Slimeball mumbles to himself)

There is no escaping the pair. They are directly between him and the front door. Slimeball begins to walk with speed.

JARVIS: Hey Slimeball, I see you took my advice. Isn’t this place really something?

Slimeball ignores him.

JARVIS: Okay, well, I was waiting for Jill. Have you seen her? I need to ask her about, uh, a book.

Slimeball keeps walking for the door with no reply.

JARVIS: Thanks, Buddy. I guess I will just keep waiting.

But Slimeball is already past him, continuing not to engage. Maully leaps after him and blocks him from the door.

MAULLY: Don’t you care that this cat can see me?

Slimeball looks Maully dead in the eyes.

SLIMEBALL: Nope.

Then he pushes past her and exits.

JARVIS: (chuckles)

Maully returns her attention to the Pirate cat.

JARVIS: Nice chat.

MAULLY: I am on to you, Pirate.

Jarvis chuckles again, then he (resumes whistling) turns his back to the door, and Maully follows after Slimeball once more.

EXT. CITY SQUARE DIAMOND CITY

The day is bright compared to the library, and Maully shields her eyes from the sun.

Maully shouts across the populated square.

MAULLY: SLIMEBALL, WAIT!!!!

Slimeball stops and turns.

SLIMEBALL: Tell me how to get rid of you!

A few passers-by take notice of the little pet, seemingly speaking to no one.

Maully slowly approaches, dodging around the oblivious crowd.

MAULLY: For generations, we’ve been told fractures are just for us wolves. It’s our gift from the elders after our great victory! But recently, we started hearing rumours that a few non-wolves had come through in the wandering territory, and now I meet you, and then your friend has a spell that needs a cat to open a fracture. Things are really stacking up. Something important is going on here. The Veil is somehow lifting. I can’t help but think that’s going to be bad for everyone, like ‘end of the world bad’ kind of bad.

SLIMEBALL: The Veil?

MAULLY: The Veil is this magical curtain between wolves and cats. It has allowed us to coexist undetected and in peace for hundreds of years, but everything changed when the pets arrived. And Slimeball, I don’t know why yet, but you’re important to this story. I can just feel it, and I am usually right about these things.

SLIMEBALL: Why me?

MAULLY: Cause wolves got a shit load of slime.

SLIMEBALL: Sounds like I’m not getting rid of you.

MAULLY: I am afraid not, friend. I am your shadow now.

Meanwhile, back in the basement… (CUT TO)

INT BASEMENT ROYAL LIBRARY

JILL: Okay, Jazz, Joey, I’m gonna go too. I was supposed to meet a friend, and they are probably worried about me. Plus, I am exhausted. Hoooo, that was a lot of excitement for one day. Are you two gonna be okay?

JAZZ: Yes, of course. Go, have fun. Recover.

JILL: Okay. I’ll be back soon. I promise.

Jill waves as she leaves via the staircase. Jazz and Joey wait until Jill is out of sight.

JOEY: Why did you tell them all about Berg?!

JAZZ: I had to tell them something, and they were the first people we could actually tell.

JOEY: Yeah, but it didn’t have to tell them about Berg right away!

JAZZ: I think it’s time to trust someone if we ever want to get out of this basement.

JOEY: You were being real trusting when you showed them that bogus spell.

JAZZ: That’s different. We can’t afford to lose the stone. It’s too valuable. Safer if no one knows it exists.

Joey pulls open her pouch, displaying a radiant gem tucked in with her.

JOEY: We are going to have to be more careful now that the cat and the pet can understand us.

JAZZ: Yes. Yes, we are.

(CUT TO)

INT. GRAND ENTRANCE ROYAL LIBRARY

Jill smiles when she sees Jarvis still at the desk.

JILL: You waited. That’s so sweet of you. It’s a good thing you suggested I check on the water pet! I ended up being super helpful. I am sorry it took so long.

JARVIS: It was no problem. Is everything okay? Is Jazz doing alright?

JILL: Yeah, everyone is great. (giggling), Wait a minute, how’d you know my friend’s name?

JARVIS: You must have told me before, Silly. How else could I have known?

JILL: Hehe, I don’t know. Silly, Jill.