Unknown Armies: Ashes of Innocence

6 pm Ashes of Innocence, Unknown Armies

• GM: Todd Furler
• Dave: Matt DeWalt (father)
• Me: Elise DeWalt (his five year old daughter by his first wife)
• Joshua Bonner: Oliver (her imaginary friend)
• Matt Moorman: Sharon DeWalt (mother)
• Rick: Grayson DeWalt (Matt's son)
• Drew: Captain JoJo (Grayson's imaginary friend)
• Jen: Lauren Markowitz (Sharon's daughter by her first husband)

Todd explained that there were two important elements in the scenario that he wanted everyone aware of up front.

• Intrafamily friction (blended family)
• Much tension from the threat of violence to children, including one scene he considered fairly disturbing

None of us chose to leave, but it was good that the option was there.

He then emphasized that we were creating a Serious Horror Movie, and had us repeat the phrase a few times. He gave us a couple of examples of the tone he was going for: Mothman Prophecies, Stir of Echoes, and The Uninvited, none of which I had seen. I asked if Inception, if done as horror, would count, and he agreed that it would. He also listed End of Days, which I also had not seen.

The next piece of advice was familiar to those of us who had played with Todd before: Stay on the production side of the movie. This meant:

• Stay in character as much as possible
• It is totally okay to metagame or step out of a role in the interest of the movie

And, he emphasized, we were not just the audience.

At this point, he noted that there were seven players, but, at the moment, the table only had 5 tent cards for PCs. There were two additional characters, but he wanted us to understand the relationships between the first five before introducing them.

Matt DeWalt was a tech guy. He had been married to Kara, who died in childbirth, of a disease which Todd assured us was an actual disease. Matt had remarried, and he was beginning to realize that, while he was comfortable with Sharon, his new wife, he would never love anyone as much as he loved Kara.

Sharon DeWalt's Sharon's first husband, Jim Markowitz, was hurt in the line of duty. Some time later, something happened, and he was fired. Then, he started hitting. Sharon left after the second time he hit her, taking their daughter, Lauren, with her.

Sharon was the manager of a flooring company. She's the kind of person that the company can't run without. She provides structure. She does that for the family as well. And, she smiles.

Grayson DeWalt, Matt's son, was 8 years old. He used to have a serious weight problem. Sharon had decreed that there would be no candy in the home, and this rule applied to everyone, not just Grayson. As a result, while Grayson was still pudgy, he had shed serious weight. He was starting to come out of his shell. He was disciplined, and he stuck to the diet Sharon laid out for him.

Elise DeWalt, Matt's daughter, was 5 years old and adorable. And, of course, Todd said, she would be in much danger throughout the entire session. Elise seemed a good match for me.

Lauren Markowitz, Sharon's daughter, was 15 and constantly in trouble. Matt believed that this was only at home, which was unsettling, but at least she was okay at school. Sharon knew better, but she was shielding Matt from that knowledge.

The kids _tried_ to get along. Everyone did, but there were always bumps. And, Todd had a special rule for this session. If one had to make a stress check due to intrafamily stress, on a failed check, one checked a failed box of the appropriate stress type, as usual. But, on a successful check, one did not check a hardened box. Family always gets to one, and, in any case, the PCs were not likely to be come hardened and detached from each other over the course of the game.

Now that we had a good idea of who the first 5 PCs were, Todd introduced the last 2:

Oliver was Elise's imaginary friend. He had no effect on the real world. When talking to Elise, he was limited to the vocabulary and concepts that a five year old could understand. I don't think we worried too much about defining this -- we had a vague, but workable, consensus of what that meant.

Captain JoJo was Grayson's imaginary friend. But, Grayson was getting to the point where he was outgrowing his imaginary friend. He could no longer see Captain JoJo and could only rarely hear him. Grayson heard him as a voice in Grayson's head.

This meant that Captain JoJo spent most of his time talking to Oliver. The two were like coworkers. Oliver could use grown up vocabulary and concepts when talking to Captain JoJo.

Captain JoJo's only link to the world was a GI Joe figure. He couldn't leave the room it was in. In game, this was simulated by a large piece of nerf shaped like a column with an asterisk cross section. This worked better than an actual figure would have, as no one had the urge to pose or play with it, but we all understood the importance of knowing where it was. The captain could only make himself be heard by Grayson twice during the game, but each time, it could be a full conversation between the two.

My notes say that Captain JoJo only had one personality, that of Grayson's perception, at five years old, of what GI Joe was, if I'm interpreting my scrawl correctly. If so, this probably meant that Oliver had a slightly more grown up personality when talking to Oliver than when talking to Elise. Both of the imaginary friends had two images, one on each side of their tent cards. The first was the drawing their child did of them at age 5. The second was a photograph of an actual human being, like the ones that appeared on all of the other tent cards.

Once we all had characters and had gotten on the same page, Todd described the opening of the movie that was the session: After opening credits, the movie opened to silence. There was no background music.

Broken toys, action figures, and a coloring book lay on the sidewalk. There were no people.

A crushed party hat lay on the lawn. There was a bicycle lying on the sidewalk, its front wheel slowly spinning down. A baseball glove lay face up, abandoned in the dirt.

Then, there was an exterior shot of a brick building, a school in some Midwest or Northeast town. The building had a basement. The basement windows were barely above ground level. And now, the audience could just make out music.

The next shot was an interior shot. Mariachi music was playing at high volume and there was a kaleidoscopic explosion of color as a pinata broke. From the ceiling of the room hung a banner: South American Appreciation Day

Some of the candy slid right to feet of Grayson DeWalt. He picked up a piece.

Grayson (thinking silently): I think I could get away with it. But if she _finds_ me --

He dropped the piece down on the ground. With a <thump!>, all the lights suddenly went out. It was not completely dark, of course, as there were lights outside, shining through the window. Naturally, that didn't stop the kids from screaming. But, as the movie camera, shooting from inside the coat closet showed, the lights quickly came back on.

The next scene showed the school bus dropping off Oliver and Elise outside their house. Elise's father was either at home or in his home office, and either way, the neighbor would keep an eye out for Elise. I described Elise as dressed all in pink, with a pink lunchbox, skipping. She was holding Oliver's hand, and he was also skipping. Sure, the neighbor only saw Elise, but the audience saw both.

Since it was South American Appreciation Day, I figured that Elise's class had been shown a map of South America with south at the top, as I've been told that a whole lot of South American geography and politics makes more sense when you look at the map that way. Naturally, Elise's class had not gone into much depth, so Elise's takeaway, which she proceeded to tell the neighbor, and as the session continued, everyone else, was that South Americans read their maps upside down.

Mrs. Striano (the neighbor): I guess South Americans must get lost an awful lot!

This became a running joke.

Meanwhile, Lauren was in principal's office. On the desk was her file, a huge file folder.

Mr. Striano, the principal (and the husband of Mrs. Striano -- yes, the principal of Lauren's school was also her next door neighbor) called Matt.

Principal: I'm afraid I'm going to have to send your daughter home again.

Matt: Again?

Principal: Yes, it's been the... third time this month.

Matt (fascinated by this news, but not in a good way): Oh, is it?

Principal: I think so. (flips through folder) Smoking and cutting class while she was smoking. (flips, then finds a post-it note) Oh, I'm sorry -- there's a note here that says that any calls are to go only to _Mrs._ DeWalt.

Matt assured the principal that it was all right and that he would call Mrs. DeWalt himself. And, he did.

The camera cut to the perfect desk. The Inbox was almost completely empty. A pair of perfectly manicured hands answered the phone.

Sharon DeWalt: Ace Tile and Flooring. Ace is the place for you!

Matt: It seems Lauren is in trouble. Again.

Sharon's player described a close up of Sharon's smile -- and a little -twitch- as reality made itself known despite her best efforts. The player had to roll a stress check against Isolation and made it. This did not, of course, earn a hardened notch.

Sharon: Oh? Ah, I meant to bring this up.

Matt: When?

The conversation ended, about as strained as it was at the start. Sharon picked Lauren up from school. Lauren's player described Lauren as mentally trying to run through possible things to say as the car pulled into the garage.

Sharon: Smoking? Smoking?

Lauren: Well. Yes.

Sharon: Why?

Lauren: I look old enough to get cigarettes for myself.

As the door on the garage came down, we cut to the first Dinner Table scene. Todd figured that the scenario would cover about four calendar days, and that every day, we'd do a Dinner Table scene.

The action toy that Captain JoJo was linked to was with Grayson, discarded on the floor. Captain JoJo stood behind Grayson, attentive, alert, and totally out of place. Of course, no one other than Oliver actually saw him.

Either Matt or Sharon: Broccoli -- it helps you grow up big and strong.

Probably Lauren, possibly Grayson: It's awful.

Matt: It's what Captain JoJo eats.

Captain JoJo: It's true.

Oliver (the only one who heard him) nodded sagely.

Captain JoJo (to Grayson, who didn't hear him): Careful, Commander. I think the general is on edge tonight.

Oliver (to Elise, who does hear him): I once saw him eat a whole plate of it.

Elise: Wow!

Captain JoJo saw a figure in the Collins' yard, facing the DeWalt home. It was only there briefly. Captain JoJo talked about Lauren's situation with Oliver.

Captain JoJo: It's that no good boyfriend of hers.

Oliver: Third time this month?

Captain JoJo: Affirmative.

Captain JoJo (I forget the context): It isn't my place to question my superiors.

GM: Who's going to take out the trash tonight?

Sharon (without missing a beat): Check the schedule.

We decided that it was Matt's turn. He and Mr. Striano took out their trash together.

GM: Did you close door behind you when you left?

Matt: I left it ajar.

GM: It's open a bit wider than you remember.

Later that night, Lauren was in her room, which was decorated with pictures from fashion magazines. She was flipping through a new fashion magazine. There were still unpacked boxes in her room, as her old room, before she and her mother had moved, had been bigger.

Suddenly, someone put his hands over her eyes from behind.

Male voice: Guess who?

Lauren: Dean!

Dean was Lauren's boyfriend and had apparently entered through the open bedroom window. Lauren wanted to know where he'd vanished to so suddenly. They were together, and suddenly, Dean was gone and the principal was there! What was up with that?

Dean: I've, like, a fifth sense about this. (Todd confirmed that he had said _fifth_ sense.)

He teased her about her mother.

Dean: I've heard that when your Mom farts, only dogs can hear it.

Lauren (giggling): She's never do _that_!

Grayson's room had some meticulously labeled boxes, and there was a Spiderman bedspread on the bed. Elise's room was about half girlie and about half structured around schoolwork, as Elise's tastes tried to accommodate Sharon's sense of structure and vice versa.

Captain JoJo and Oliver were both in her room, talking. This meant that Elise was conscious, but not paying a lot of attention to them.

Captain JoJo: Oliver, can I talk to you, man to man?

Oliver: You can ask me anything.

Captain JoJo: The commander can't see me. I think he can hear me. What happens if he can't hear me? (now less philosophically worried and more curmudgeonly) It'll be _him_ sneaking into some girl's bedroom one day.

Oliver: You raised him better than that.

Captain JoJo: Come on, we were all 15 once.

The closet door slowly opened, and a yellow eye looked out of the closet. Oliver, Captain JoJo, and Elise all saw this.

Voice: Well, isn't this interesting?

Elise asked who that was and whether he was going to live in her closet from now on. He said that he would, and he turned out to be a bogeyman, and a rather nasty one at that. He tried to attack Elise, but Captain JoJo picked up a pink sword from the Shia doll on the ground. It was a real fencing sword when it was in the frame with him.

The bogeyman was hurt, as Captain JoJo took off the ends of its claws, like fingernail clippings. But, Captain JoJo was hurt worse, as the bogeyman raked him with claws, moving very fast.

Meanwhile, in the parents' bedroom, Matt was putting on his various sleep monitoring gadgets.

Matt: Smoking -- _and_ cutting class? Is this the third time _smoking_?

At that point, everyone heard Elise scream and people came running. By the time anyone arrived, the bogeyman was back in the closet. Captain JoJo was standing next to Nurse Barbie and took her first aid kit, which, for him, had real bandages. Everyone else just saw the two dolls on the floor.

Sharon was a little disappointed in Elise, I think. I gather that she was trying to wean Elise off needing to sleep with a light, but I'm not sure, as I don't recall anything about that in my sheet. Elise was trying to explain that it didn't matter whether or not the light was on, since it was the monster she was afraid of, not the dark, but I'm fairly sure this point got lost in the shuffle.

Next day at school, Lauren was in math class, hating it. She was relatively new to this school, as she'd had to switch schools when she'd moved, and Dean wasn't in this class.

He surprised her after class, popping up as if from nowhere.

Dean: Interested in a smoke?

Lauren: Yeah.

Elise was still upset about the bogeyman.

Elise: I wouldn't mind if it were a _nice_ closet monster!

Oliver: If it were a nice closet monster, it wouldn't be a monster.

Elise: That makes sense.

Oliver: It'd just be a closet guy.

Captain JoJo now had a rifle. There was a toy rifle in the action figure's hand.

Last night's dinner conversation had included the South American maps. Either that night or this night's dinner also included a quietly tense discussion about why people might do things bad for them, like, oh, introduce poison into their lungs. Elise was honestly boggled why anyone would want to do that, and didn't understand Lauren's comments about maybe wanting to experiment. Somehow, this night's discussion topic became monsters, at least temporarily.

Lauren: Not all monsters jump out of closets. Sometimes they eat dinner with you.

Elise (remembering what Oliver taught her): No that's the dinner guy.

This made everyone laugh.

Captain JoJo saw a figure in the yard again. This wasn't the bogeyman, just a figure in dark robes who beckoned to him.

Captain JoJo (to the figure): I think I have one more mission.

Oliver: Captain? Is there someone out there?

Captain JoJo: Only the future.

Grayson: Is it cold in here? I have a chill.

After everyone went to bed, Captain JoJo decided to speak to Grayson. It had not escaped Grayson's notice that the action figure had been in Elise's room after the closet incident.

Captain JoJo: Commander, I think it might be best if you stationed me in Cadet Elise's room tonight.

Grayson: You think so?

Captain JoJo: I'm afraid there might be another attack.

Grayson agreed.

Captain JoJo: I'm fairly certain the bad guys are back.

He said a couple of other things. I'm not sure what they were, but they did clue Grayson in that something was up, beyond the possible attacks on his sister.

Grayson: Are you saying you're leaving?

Captain JoJo: No. I won't leave until you're ready, but I think maybe tonight you don't need me.

Grayson told Elise that he'd leave Captain JoJo with her, and that she should consider letting him train her. In Elise's room, Oliver told her that they couldn't expect Captain JoJo to do _all_ the work, so the two of them, which meant Elise, pushed boxes and the toy chest in front of the closet door to keep it from opening.

Meanwhile, Lauren was in her room.

Lauren: I'm trying to be cool, like I'm not waiting for Dean, but I'm waiting for Dean.

In mirror, the audience saw the window open up, absolutely silently. Dean came in and closed the window.

Matt was in the basement, soldering. He tested a clap-on clap-off light, figuring that this might help Elise.

In Elise's room, Captain JoJo was marching back and forth. He was calm, strangely so.

Dean was talking with Laura and found an old drawing of Max.

Lauren (embarrassed): Max is my imaginary friend. Was -- everyone's got one.

Dean (reading aloud, doing funny voices): Better watch out or I'll make Max kick their ass. (in his own voice) Chick hasn't been born who can kick my ass!

Lauren: We've only been dating a little while -- I'm full of surprises

Dean: Ooh!

Matt woke up to a fully illuminated room. It was daytime in the kitchen. His wife -- Kara -- was making breakfast. Then, Sharon came in.

Kara (to Matt, sadly): Oh, Sweetie, there's no room in your life for me any more.

Matt started awake, for real this time. He did not realize that he had been talking in his sleep and that Sharon, lying next to him, was awake and had heard every word. Sharon successfully made a mind check against Helplessness.

My notes, a bit confusing here, say

Matt weeps (and in hallway -- not in bedrooms) Smolder.

I'm assuming that the "Smolder" refers to Sharon's reaction, but clearly, I've lost something in transcription.

Todd asked if Elise were asleep and if so, why JoJo and Oliver were still there. I said that she was probably daydreaming or thinking about something else, as I didn't want to keep the players from playing.

Either Elise or Oliver was clutching the ears of a ragged bunny doll. My notes say "Oliver eye on rabbit", but give no indication of what this means.

The closet door started to open and bumped against the door.

Bogeyman: You've got to be kidding!

Meanwhile, in Lauren's room, things were starting to heat up.

Lauren: Ah, here go the hands!

Then, Elise screamed. Sharon was not pleased to have her sleep interrupted again and was not mollified by the idea of a clap-on clap-off light, since the whole idea was to wean Elise off needing a light at night. Matt noticed that the drag marks on the rug for how the chest had moved just didn't look like a result that could have come about with little Elise pulling on the chest. He also pondered the merits of a lock on the closet door.

By now, Sharon had heard something that aroused her suspicions about Lauren and whether Lauren was entertaining a boyfriend. But, Dean was nowhere to be seen. Sharon still completely mistrusted Lauren. Lauren was angry at her mother, but also a little baffled. She couldn't see Dean when she looked out the window, and when she looked in her closet, she saw only Dean's hat on the floor. She hid this from her mother.

The next morning, Sharon was in the kitchen first, working on making Matt's favorite omelet.

Matt: Morning.

Sharon: Made your favorite breakfast.

The two tried very hard to make things be normal.

In the basement, a hand came out of the closet, grabbed up a pair of Grayson's shorts that were in the laundry room, and put candy into one of the pockets.

The bogeyman then had a conversation with Captain JoJo. Captain JoJo listened carefully. Apparently, there was a whole society of bogeymen, but interesting though that was, the key thing that Captain JoJo realized was that the bogeyman had to follow certain rules. For example, it couldn't be seen by adults.

Dean did not show up in school, to Lauren's chagrin and concern. At dinner, Captain JoJo saw the hooded figure again, possibly even in the dining room, and Sharon took the opportunity to disparage Dean.

Sharon: A boy like that -- always looking for the next best thing.

My notes mention a Man-Cave, which I suspect was Matt's workshop, where he had a small talk with Grayson. I think they both understood that they didn't disbelieve Elise, but I'm not sure how much more beyond general agreement and support they got.

Todd ran the next scene, warning us that it was the one with DISTURBING CONTENT.

Grayson dreamed that he came into his room to find a plate of steaming chocolate chip cookies and a bowl of ice cream next to it.

Grayson: This is a trap! I've seen this before -- this is a trap!

The door slammed open.

Sharon: I should've known!

And, to Grayson's surprise and horror, cookie crumbs and ice cream were falling from his lips although he had never touched the forbidden foods. Yet, they had clearly been eaten.

Sharon: One diet never fails!

She took out a long needle and thread and sewed Grayson's mouth shut.

Grayson woke, bleeding from where his lips had been sewn shut. Then, he woke for real.

The player rolled well on Grayson's stress check, which meant that the stress was under Grayson's control -- or, to put it the way Todd did, "The player _can_ choose to freak." The player did.

Once again, the household was awoken by screams -- from Grayson's room.

Grayson: Blood! Cookies! Sewing my mouth shut!

He pointed to Sharon. Sharon, having no idea what was going on, looked behind her to see what Grayson was panicking about.

The next day, Sharon found the candy which the bogeyman had placed in Grayson's pants and confronted him about it. He truthfully denied having put it there or having eaten any. She didn't believe him.

This was the night that Matt's parents, fondly known as Pop-pop and Yaya were coming over. Sharon spent some time working on making souvlaki.

So, the dinner table was a little more crowded than usual. And, once more, Elise told about the upside down maps used by the people in South America.

Yaya: They must get lost a whole lot. (tasting the souvlaki, to Sharon) You're getting better!

Sharon smiled determinedly and thanked her.

After dinner, Yaya had a surprise.

Yaya: I brought dessert.

Sharon: I'll cut it.

Yaya: Oh, this isn't something you have to cut!

Yaya revealed her dessert: a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

Sharon (with far more sincerity than Yaya realizes): Oh, you shouldn't have.

Just then, the door chimed. Sharon went to answer it and saw that it was a police officer. And, there was a police cruiser in the driveway. It was visible for all of the neighbors to see.

The policeman had come to ask about a student who had now been missing for two days.

Sharon: Can I see some ID?

Policeman: Absolutely.

He showed it, unoffended.

Meanwhile, back at the dinner table:

Captain JoJo: Today, I learned a grandmother outranks a general.

Oliver: I think a grandmother is kind of like a president.

I think Grayson blew a stress test at this point. He froze, a tear falling from his face as he saw the forbidden cookies, memories of nightmare and unwarranted scolding mingling in his mind.

Elise determinedly did not eat the cookies. There was a rule. If Grayson couldn't eat them, neither could she -- it wasn't fair!

This explanation caused a general "awww" reaction, so I figure I got it right.

Yaya and Pop-pop were not clear on what was going on. Yaya started talking to Grayson in her native language.

GM: She's trying to be soothing. Greek is not a soothing language. Also, Yaya hasn't quite pieced together the whole cookie thing, so she's offering Grayson a cookie.

Meanwhile, first Lauren and then Matt followed Sharon out to the front door. When Lauren understood that the police were looking for Dean, she told the policeman everything she knew: that Dean had been in her room two nights ago, that she hadn't seen him leave, and that he had left his hat behind. She brought the hat out to the policeman.

Sharon was furious. The policeman, no idiot, picked up on this and allowed Sharon to urge him out so that she could deal with family business. Lauren called after him to please let her know if he'd heard anything from Dean.

Sharon (to Matt): If you want to put a lock on this house, put it on her window!

Matt: Amazon does sell iron bars on windows. I'm putting in an order.

Somehow, the rest of the family dinner was survived.

Oliver: I have a confession to make...

I forget the context of that quote, but I think it led to some kind of man to man talk about courage with Captain JoJo.

Oliver and Captain JoJo (and Elise and Grayson) decided that Elise should sleep in Grayson's room that night.

Captain JoJo: I think it's a good idea. I don't think the general will go for it. But I think we can countermand her orders, just this once.

Oliver: You don't think it's too dangerous?

Captain JoJo: There's always danger. There's also rules.

The imaginary friends took up their stations, as did their children. Grayson's nerf gun, a flashlight, and duct tape (I think for the closet door) were all a part of the tactical defense of Fort Grayson.

My notes say that Sharon has "art for kids", but I'm wondering if that's supposed to be "art from kids". Matt's sleep monitoring devices registered that he was in deep sleep.

Sharon was dreaming. Matt opened the door to see his first wife, Kara.

Kara: I'm back to stay.

Matt (to Sharon): I'm not going to be needing you. You and your little whore can go.

Sharon saw that Lauren was _visibly_ pregnant.

Kara: Like daughter, like mother.

Sharon realized that she herself was also pregnant -- and 16, even though Lauren was the same age.

All of the neighbors were lining the lining driveway, turning away and refusing to make eye contact, like a pile of dominoes. At the end of the line of people was Sharon's mother, looking like Sharon had stabbed her in the heart.

Sharon woke and successfully made an Isolation check. Sharon regularly slept with an eyemask. One finger went briefly under the eyemask, and there was a snuffle sound. Then, the mask was straightened, and Sharon did her best to go back to sleep.

Lauren was in her room, fully clothed. She'd been crying. Her phone was next to her and on, in case Dean called. Then, she heard Dean's voice.

Dean (forlorn): You _let_ me go! I loved you and you _let_ me go! How could you do that? They do terrible things to me in there!

He showed her that his chest was scarred as if it had been raked by claws.

Dean: It's all because of _you_, and you're not there for me! Everything that's happened is _all_ your fault!

Lauren successfully made a stress check against Isolation. As this was not something involving close family, that meant that she could also make a hardened check. She woke on her bed, alone.

In his own room, Grayson valiantly tried to stay awake.

Captain JoJo (to Grayson): This will be my last mission. There are some things I do know. There are rules. One of those rules is that you have to fight your own fight -- I think.

Grayson: You think if _I_ fight the monster, I can hit it?

Captain JoJo: I believe so.

The bogeyman, again expressing disbelief at the preparations made against it, attacked. I think it attacked Grayson, rather than Elise, which hit Elise's Anger stimulus.

Elise (kicking and lashing out ineffectively as the bogeyman picks her up): No hitting my brother! No hitting my brother!

Elise was tossed out of frame, which hit Oliver's Fear stimulus, I think that something would happen to Elise, so he attacked.

GM: It's gonna be ineffective, but you say what the audience sees.

Oliver: Fighting with a nerf blade.

Grayson now had a hardened notch Violence and had been clawed in the belly and one of his arms.

Grayson: I say, "Help me, Captain" -- and then I lose my shit and start hitting it.

Matt and Sharon ran to Elise's room when they heard her scream.

Sharon: When I see that Elise is not there -- I scream!

Bogeyman: Adults! (heads back to the closet --)

Captain JoJo blocked him and tackled him.

Captain JoJo (calling to the figure he's seen three or four times before): I'm ready!

Bogeyman (struggling): Grownups! Can't be real in front of grown ups!

Captain JoJo's player rolled really well, and the Bogeyman could not escape.

Oliver closed the closet door, which meant that Elise closed it, "helped" by Oliver. As the rest of the family arrived, the robed figure appeared right beside Captain JoJo.

Bogeyman: No! Not me! I said no the first time!

Captain JoJo grabbed for the figure's hand.

Bogyman: I'll be honest -- I came for you -- just say no! Like I did! (desperately) I'll bring the kid back -- I'll bring Dean back!

(Captain JoJo hesitates.)

GM: The figure waits, but it won't wait forever.

Captain JoJo: I grab its hand.

The bogeyman turned, revealing a barcode on the back of its neck, looking at Lauren in fury.

Bogeyman: You let me go once -- and now you're letting me go again!

Lauren (shocked and crying, looking at the camera): Max?

Grayson saluted Captain JoJo.

Oliver: Elise, Captain JoJo has done something very brave, so you have to salute him.

Elise did.

The parents started bandaging their children.

The last shot was of the broken figure of Captain JoJo on floor, eerily reminiscent of the action figures on the floor at the beginning of the movie.

And, as the imaginary credits rolled, Todd filled in a few details for us.

Max with the barcode had been Lauren's imaginary friend. If an imaginary friend doesn't go with the hooded figure when its time comes, it becomes a bogeyman. Max is actually a she, Dark Angel.

This was the first time anyone devastated Max and got Max dragged along to oblivion. It was only the second time that Captain JoJo went to oblivion. Usually Max realized that way to keep Captain JoJo is to attack Grayson so that Captain JoJo refused to go and became a bogeyman.

Max (if Captain JoJo becomes a bogeyman): I can teach you everything you need to know -- and who knows? One day you can come back.

It's agonizingly painful becoming a bogeyman.

Max (again, if Captain JoJo becomes a bogeyman): Don't worry. The pain does end. Except the pain in your heart from being abandoned by your best friend. That never ends.

No one ever has negotiated Dean's release. No one ever asked for that before, but Max had already offered everything else, so had to try that. But, as Captain JoJo's player remarked, "Every war has casualties."

A physical attack is not the only way to go. A bogeyman can't be real in front of adults. But, a bogeyman must be real to open the closet door. The bogeyman can make nightmares. Turning on lights doesn't actually hurt, but the rules say that the bogeyman has to not be out in bright light.

And, the bogeyman always tells Captain JoJo the rules. This was just the first time the player had pieced it together.

Matt sometimes helps by putting a camera in Elise's room, because the bogeyman must be real to open door.

Max really did come for Captain JoJo. Max was following Lauren and moved in with her.

There was nothing forcing Captain JoJo to swear allegiance to the bogeymen, even if he didn't go into oblivion. I think at least once, he refused to take Max's hand.

The only other time that Captain JoJo went to oblivion, the movie ended with Max screaming, "I'm here for you! You're the only reason I was here!"