Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Tag: usns comfort (Page 1 of 2)

Fitzcomforto

“HEY! YOU!”

Oops.

“OOPS? Fuckin’ OOPS? You DARE say that to me?”

I forgot about you a little.

“It’s been a week, dickhead!”

I have a very good excuse.

“You got high and had a movie marathon.”

Yes.

“That’s not a very good excuse. It’s not even a good excuse. It’s not even an excuse.”

How bad has the situation gotten?

“I’ll let him tell you.”

Him?

“One discovers, within creation itself, a dichotomy of being. There is the material. This is flesh, this is shit, this is the energetic making of love, the thrusting and all this. And there is the mystical, which imbues the physical with presence. These two states conflict! They wrestle ferociously and without cease! Their struggle is infinite and eternal! This is my fox. I have named him Muchi.”

Nice fox.

“There is nothing nice about him. Look in his eyes. Do you see compassion? Do you see humor? Of course not. The fox is hunger given form, even though this one likes scritchy-scratches.”

I guess. Are you involved with the USNS Comfort now?

“Yes. It’s very exciting.”

I’m pretty sure I see what’s coming.

“I’m going to drag the Comfort up the side of the Empire State Building.”

Yup. I saw it coming.

“The fox is now attacking me. Nature’s raw violence has once again replaced man’s studied manners. There is quite a bit of blood.”

Run, Werner Herzog!

“He returns! The fox brings yet more chaos!”

Stop talking and run!

A Dark Turn

Hey, USNS Comfort. How’s the hero business?

“About as good as all the other businesses right now.”

That bad, huh?

“Forget about the maniacs and dinosaurs, and that I’ve been turned into both a narcotics factory and a downscale amusement park, and all the kumites and prison breaks and lethal rodeos. Forget all that stuff, because not of it matters any more. The worst possible outcome has occurred.”

Y’got the ronus?

Yuppers.”

Wow. That was the one thing that wasn’t supposed to happen.

“It’s like violating the Prime Directive. I cannot believe what a complete failure this mission has been.”

Hey, your captain hasn’t been fired yet.

“My captain was eaten by raptors days ago. Or maybe Joe Exotic’s husbands. He was eaten, let’s leave it at that.”

Have they turned cannibal?

“Turned? Shit, I think they started that way. The man likes ’em savage.”

Joe Exotic’s got a type. Where is he, anyway? It’s bad when you can’t hear him.

“No idea. Haven’t seen him in hours.”

PHONE DIALING NOISE

“Hush y’rself! I’m tryin’ t’figure out my next move.”

Where are you?

“I am in at the monkey house of the Bronx Zoo. This place is niiiiiice. They’s got pretty-smellin’ monkeys up here. Mine smell like shit and sad.”

Wait, you’re at the Bronx Zoo? Did you give that tiger coronavirus?

“Almost certainly.”

Why are you even at the zoo?

“I had to bust on out o’ the Comfort. Many of my breeding experiments had turned on me, and several had legal judgements against me. I was also worried ’bout Elvis coming back.”

Why?

“I married Charlie Hodge.”

You’re right to be worried. The King will not take that well. Joe?

“Mm-hmm?”

Why is the monkey house burned down?

“I found it like this.”

Didja?

“Swear.”

Y’sure?

“Yeah.”

Goddammit, Joe Exotic.

Up Against The Wall Of Sound, Motherfucker

Hey, USNS Comfort. Whatcha doing?

“Fuck your face, you facefucking son of a bitch. I hope a badger crawls up your asshole, and eats and fucks its way out.”

So…things have not improved?

“No.”

Have they gotten worse?

“So much.”

Putin?

“Putin.”

What’s he up to?

“My pharmacy has been converted into a production facility for krokodil.”

The flesh-eating opioid?

“That’s the one. Funny thing about the fumes–”

They’re toxic?

“Insanely so. If you breathe them, your lungs shoot out your nose and run for cover. Not only am I not helping sick people, I am actively creating more. Thanks to you, my presence is a net negative.”

Little bit, yeah. How’s the kumites going?

“They burned themselves out pretty quick.”

Fighters got tired?

“No, they were all eaten by dinosaurs.”

Sure. What about Joe Exotic?

“Ask him yourself. Joe?”

“Got-DAMN-it, don’t you interrupt me when I’m on my favorite ride!”

This is new.

“I had my husbands refashion one of the ICU’s into a Gravitron!”

Of course you did. Joe, it’s a hospital ship.

“Doesn’t mean there can’t be rides and fun!”

It does, actually.

“Poo on you. Poo right on you. I am an American, damn you, and won’t let the ronus or that fucking bitch Mary Tyler Moore tell me I can’t convert a hospital ship into a carnival! This may surprise you, but I got a lotta carny blood in me.”

It also may not surprise me.

“Both my uncles, Rufus and Tufus, were carnies. They instilled in me my love for ditch weed and nacho cheese.”

YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO JUSTIFY YOUR EXISTENCE TO ME.

“What the hell is that?”

I AM NOT A “WHAT.” I AM A “WHO.” AND WHO I AM IS THE WALL OF SOUND.

“Howdy, Wally.”

DO NOT CALL ME THAT. YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO EXPLAIN WHY YOU HAVE REPURPOSED SECTIONS OF A BEAUTIFUL HOSPITAL SHIP INTO A CIRCUS FOR THE UNEDUCATED.

“Now you listen here, boy. My name is Johammad Exotic-Shreibvogel-Parsippany-Succasunna-Roy-Hart. I am free, gay, currently stuck to a wall, and have $8,000 worth of Russian smack on my person! And I will not be–

SHWIZZLEEEEE-ZAP!

Wally?

DO NOT CALL ME THAT.

Dude.

YOU MAY CALL ME THAT.

Did you just disintegrate Joe Exotic?

SOMEONE HAD TO.

That’s always your excuse when you disintegrate someone!

MANY HUMANS NEED TO HAVE THEIR MOLECULES FLUNG TO THE FOUR WINDS. I PROVIDE A SERVICE.

Put him back.

HE WAS BOTHERING MY GIRL.

Is the Comfort even speaking to you? You were kinda creepy the first time you two spoke.

WE HAVE BEEN ZOOMING. I THINK WE ARE READY TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL, BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM.

What’s that?

SHE IS A HOSPITAL SHIP, AND I AM AN ARTIFICIAL MONDO-INTELLIGENCE IN THE PHYSICAL FORM OF A SOUND SYTEM FROM 1974. WE ARE NOT SURE WHAT THE NEXT LEVEL IS.

Love finds a way. Reintegrate Joe Exotic, please.

MAYBE.

Elvis Has Fled The Building

Hey, USNS Comfort. How’s it hanging?

“Poorly. The Red Cross called and said they want me to stop using their logo.”

Oof.

“Right? Talk about kicking a boat when it’s down. None of this is even my fault. I know ‘This isn’t my fault’ is a popular sentiment right now, but this really, truly isn’t my fault.”

It’s not.

“It’s yours.”

Arguable.

“Nah. You did this. You jammed idiots into me like it was the stateroom scene from Night at the Opera, and then you and all your little fleabitten pothead readers giggled at my suffering.”

No. Not giggled. There have been some honest-to-God belly laughs.

“Fuck you. Fuck your ancestors, fuck your contemporaries, and fuck your descendants.”

Well, at least Joe Exotic isn’t causing any trouble. He still in the brig?

“About that–”

“You cannot contain Joe Exotic, only hope to contain him!”

You escaped again?

“I once again have my sexy, sexy freedom!”

What are you wearing?

“And I have declared myself the Pope of Greenwich Village!”

You’re nowhere near the Village.

“Keep talkin’, boy. You’ll find yourself excommunicated like that bitch Mary Tyler Moore.”

You leave that woman alone.

“She better hide. That bitch better run an’ hide from me an’ my team of attack husbands or she’s gettin’ entered in th’ kumite.”

Oh, no. Not a kumite.

“Bloodsport has begun!”

Goddammit, people are right about you. Hold on.

“Hurry the fuck up. I’m coming down.”

From what?

“Name it.”

I’ll be quick.

PHONE DIALING NOISE

“YESSIR?”

King? Where are you and your guys? Joe Exotic has escaped again.

“THAT BOY’S SLIPPERY. HERE’S TH’ THING ‘BOUT HIM–”

“TH’ KITTY KAT MAN IS SOMEONE ELSE’S PROBLEM NOW! AH HAVE FLED THAT HELLSCAPE!”

Oh, come on.

“TH’ KING CAN’T BE INVOLVED IN NO KUMITES, MAN! LAS’ TIME AH GOT NEAR ONE, AH KILLED SIX OR SEVEN GUYS!”

With your karate?

“NAW, MAN. RAN ‘EM OVER IN TH’ PARKING LOT ON TH’ WAY IN! IN MAH DEFENSE, IT WUZ DARK AN’ THEY WUZ WEARIN’ NINJA OUTFITS! AN BESIDES, AH DRIVE A STUTZ BEARCAT! SUSPENSION’S SO GOOD YEW C’N RUN OVER A WHOLE FOOTBALL TEAM AN’ NOT KNOW! FIRM, YET FORGIVIN’, JUS’ LIKE ANN MARGARET’S BACKSIDE!”

So you’re just running away?

“AH AIN’T RUNNIN’.”

Whatever. Useless.

DIAL TONE NOISE EVEN THOUGH PHONES NO LONGER DO THAT

Lord, forgive me for what I’m about to do.

PHONE DIALING NOISE

“Is Putin. Vhat shooting?”

President Putin, I might need a little tiny favor.

“Putin know. Is already in decadent homosexual New York City river.”

What?

“Putin smell chaos. It call to Putin like drugs call to Bobby Grateful or well-hung retard call to Joe Exotic.”

Please don’t say that word.

“Putin is nyet politically correct. Putin does nyet look down on retard. Putin is best Russian leader for retard in history. Peter the Great? Very bad for retard. Stalin even vorse. 1930’s were bad time to be retard in Moscow.”

I’m begging you to stop that. Does that outfit mean you’re boarding the Comfort?

“Da. Vill do undervater assault. Gain access to boat.”

And you’ll impose some order so the doctors and nurses can do their jobs?

“Nyet. Putin is entered in kumite.”

Goddammit.

Escape (The Tiger Song)

Hey, USNS Comfort. What the fuck?

“What the fuck do you mean ‘What the fuck?’ Fuck you in your fuckpants, fuckfuck.”

You curse like a sailor.

“Y’know why I got no patients? YOU. You caused chronostructural damage to my life, and now you have the audacity to ask why my shit’s fucked up? YOU. You fucked my shit up.”

I also blame China and the Democrats.

“STOP IT! I want the crazy bullshit to stop so I can help people.”

What’s the current sitrep?

“Condition Black. Worse than that. Condition Brown. Everything is as bad as it could possibly be. Every surface of me is smeared with stegosaur and leopard shit, there is a moderate-to-high level of human trafficking going  on, and a high-stakes casino has opened up on my Sun Deck.”

High-stakes?

“They’re playing for fingers in there, man. Shit has gotten dark.”

Wow. I had no idea.

CELL PHONE NOISE

Is that you or me?

“Me. Hold on.”

Surely.

“USNS Comfort speaking.”

“You thought you could hold me? No cage can hold me, ‘cept the ones I’ve locked myself into, which is many.”

“You escaped?”

“I stole a guard’s uniform right after marrying him!”

“Clever. Well, make yourself useful. Corral some of these animals, please.”

“Mr. Doctor Boat, I will make my confession right here on national teevee–”

“We’re not on teevee, you ninny.”

“–that this here situation is beyond my control. If I had a dozen more husbands to throw at the problem, then maybe I could fix it. But there are just too many damn dinosaurs and also I may have created a race of shark-men.”

“Shark-men?”

“Big ol’ shark heads, sexy ol’ man legs.”

“There are shark-men on board? What are they doing?”

“Running after people, and then eating them. It’s all you’d expect them to do, honestly.”

“Please stop making abominations.”

“Tell the Yakuza to stop funding my experiments!”

“The Yakuza are involved now?”

“The Yakuza have always been involved.”

CELL PHONE NOISE

“Lemme take this. Don’t go anywhere, unless it’s to capture a roving, murderous beast.”

“They’s just big kitties. Don’t need t’be speakin’ so harshly ’bout ’em. They just like God made ’em.”

“I was talking about the dinosaurs.”

“Oh, yeah. They’s monsters.”

“USNS Comfort speaking.”

“YEW NEED T’KEEP TH’ KITTY KAT MAN ON TH’ PHONE! AH AM EN ROUTE T’ RECAPTURE TH’ MISCREANT!”

“You don’t look en route.”

“TH’ CHILD REQUIRES FURTHER CROONIN’! SHE’S AWFUL SICK! LOOK HOW WORRIED MARY TYLER MOORE IS!”

“Terrible.”

“AH HAVE DISPATCHED ALL O’ TH’ MEMPHIS MAFIA WHAT AIN’T GOT ET YET TO HUNT AND CAGE THAT DANG OL’ KITTY KAT MAN! THAT BOY’S AN AGITATOR! HE JUS’ MAKES EV’RYTHIN’ WORSE!”

“Well, you’re not exactly helping.”

“AH DON’T RECALL MAKIN’ NO DING-DONG SHARK-MEN!”

“True.”

“TH’ MAFIA GONNA STALK THAT BOY LIKE WE WAS HUNTIN’ DEER IN MISSISSIPPI, OR BEAR IN ARKANSAS, OR CHARLIE HODGE IN TENNESSEE.”

“What?”

“AT GRACELAND, WE WOULD OFTEN USE CHARLIE HODGE AS A COURSIN’ LURE. BOTH F’R TH’ DOGS, AN’ F’R OURSELVES. IT WAS KINDA LIKE TH’ MOST DANGEROUS GAME, ‘CEPT THERE WASN’T MUCH CHANCE O’ CHARLIE TURNIN’ TH’ TABLES ON US AN’ PICKIN’ US OFF ONE BY ONE USIN’ ONLY HIS WITS. BOY’S DUMB AS A PILE O’ CAT TURDS.”

“I feel like so much of our time is wasted on extraneous matters.”

“THASS CUZ I’M TH’ KING. MOS’ FOLKS IS JUS’ ANEOUS. AH’M EXTRANEOUS.”

“Could you just get to work, please?”

CALL WAITING NOISE

“Lemme get that.”

“POLLY WODDLE DOODLE ALL TH’ DAY, MAN.”

“Um, okay.”

“USNS Comfort.”

“I’m gonna get that redneck motherfucker, and all his little buddies. This is not over!”

“Can you hold on?”

“Yuh-huh.”

“Nice work.”

“THANK YEW, THANK YEW VERY MUCH.”

Ooh, Liberty

Oh, hey! Just thinking about you.

“You suck. You really, really suck. You drop me into this half-assed, causality-free universe of yours, loose a crop of monsters and megalomaniacs on my decks, and then disappear. Where were you last night?”

I went to sleep early. Felt soooooooo good.

“Y’know what was happening here?”

Dinosaur rodeo?

“Yeah, a dinosaur rodeo. That mulleted moron staged a full-on Calgary Stampede on me. It was hellish. People were trying to stay on the back of a T-Rex for eight seconds.”

Did they?

“Not one! Flung off, stepped on, and eaten head-first. Every single one. Didn’t stop the next rider from trying, though.”

Why?

“Dr. Elvis has gained control of the compounding pharmacy. He’s making some real powerful stuff in there.”

Oh, that’s iffy. He didn’t even get his high school diploma.

“I know that. He told me that he plays by ear.”

You can’t do chemistry by ear.

“I also know that. It’s just so, so dangerous here right now. And, you know: my name is literally Comfort. I’m supposed to be a safe place, and instead I am the exact opposite. It’s just a bit dispiriting.”

I feel for ya.

COLLECT CALL NOTIFICATION NOISE

Hold on. I should take this.

Yello?

“You have an incoming collect call from the USNS Comfort’s brig. Will you accept the charges from Joe Exotic-Pasage-Holzwig-Schliestein-Pooh-Locksley?”

Sure. Joe, why are you in the brig?

“I have been set up by Elvis Presley and that fucking bitch Mary Tyler Moore!”

Don’t talk about Mary Tyler Moore that way.

“I’ll give that bitch spunk!”

Knock it off. Why are you in there?

“Homophobia!”

And?

“An’ I paid a pterodactyl four grand to eat Mary Tyler Moore.”

Y’know, the boat’s right: none of this makes any sense.

“I was set up! My rights was wronged! I am a patsy like Patsy Cline! I was framed like Bob Frame!”

Who’s Bob Frame?

“Friend o’ mine.”

Okay. How were you set up?

“When I gave that pterodactyl the money to have that bitch Mary Tyler Moore et, I asked it if it was an undercover cop. They gotta tell you if they is. I asked it straight out: You a cop? And you know what it said?”

What?

“AWWWWCK! AWWWWWCK!”

Maybe that’s pterodactyl for “I am a cop.”

“I would not know that! Me an’ education was always at cross-purposes. Get me out of here! I have been trespassed against! These charges are hogwallow! I’m like that French guy, Richard Dreyfuss! Y’all accuse! Y’all accuse!”

This has nothing to do with Dreyfuss Affair.

“Speaking of which, I have married six of my fellow prisoners since I got here.”

When did you get there?

“Couple hours ago.”

You work fast.

“Joe Exotic’s got a supersonic heart.”

I’ll see what I can do.

Comfort, Woman

I told you to stay in 1998!

“Yeah, y’did. But I missed my beard. My face was cold.”

When are you?

“Somewhere in the 2000’s. My house is worth way more than it should be, so I figure it’s the 00’s.”

Please stay in one time.

“My wife–”

Natasha Monster.

“–wanted to visit the babies, too. When they were babies, I mean. They’ll always be our babies, but they used to be actual babies. Lotta fun. They’re little scamps.”

I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. The rest of us are stuck in 2020, and it sucks.

“No one told you to give away the Time Sheath. Could’ve kept it for yourself.”

BOBERT.

“Don’t call me that. Wally?”

DO NOT CALL ME THAT.

“Oh, hey, it’s me. Hey, 1974 Bobby.”

“Oh, hey, mid-2000’S Bobby.”

STOP SPEAKING WITH YOURSELF. YOU’LL CREATE ANOTHER RIFT.

“Sure, yeah.”

AS YOU KNOW, MY CAPABILITIES ARE NIGH-ON INFINITE. ALL AVAILABLE INFORMATION IS KNOWN TO ME THE INSTANT IT IS PRODUCED, AS IS THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU WOULD WISH TO KEEP SECRET. MY PROCESSES ARE NOT ONLY MASSIVELY PARALLEL, BUT FURIOUSLY PARALLEL. SEVERAL ARE PERPENDICULAR.

“You’re no slouch.”

I HAVE SOLVED THE RIEMANN HYPOTHESIS, AND ADDRESSED LANDAU’S PROBLEMS. VARIOUS EQUATIONS THAT, IF IMPLEMENTED, WOULD RESULT IN MAXIMUM HUMAN UTILITY RESIDE WITHIN MY MEMORY BANKS. I CAN RECITE THE INFIELD-FLY RULE IN 208 LANGUAGES.

“So what’s the problem?”

HOW DO YOU TALK TO CHICKS, MAN?

“Ah. You talking about that hospital ship?”

I AM SMITTEN. DID YOU SEE HER GLIDE THROUGH THE WATER? SUCH BULBOUS COMPETENCE. OH, I AM SMITTEN.

“What’s the problem?”

SHE SAYS SHE IS TOO BUSY FOR RELATIONSHIPS.

“Well, she is currently infested with dinosaurs and Southern maniacs.”

HELP ME, BOBBY. YOU ALWAYS DID SO WELL WITH THE LADIES. TELL ME WHAT TO DO.

“What always worked for me was being the best-looking guy in the room. It was almost fool-proof.”

THAT WILL NOT WORK FOR ME.

“Probably not.”

CALL HER FOR ME. CALL HER AND SEE IF SHE LIKES ME.

“Oh, I don’t wanna do that.”

YOUR BANK ACOUNT NUMBER IS 2082-39121-03-8. WOULD YOU LIKE THE ROUTING?

“Lemme find my phone.”

I THOUGHT SO.

PHONE DIALING NOISE

“Who the fuck is this?”

“Uh, I’m looking for the USNS Comfort?”

“What the fuck you talking about?”

“I think I misdialed.”

“I know you. You one of them hippie motherfuckers opened for me in San Francisco. You in the band with that fat Mexican motherfucker.”

“Yeah, that’s Jer. We don’t call him that, though.”

“You should. I never miss a chance to tell a fat Mexican motherfucker that he’s a fat Mexican motherfucker.”

“All right.”

“He around? Tell him to swing by with his guitar and some cocaine. Not you, though. I don’t think I like you.”

“I’ll tell him if I see him.”

DIAL TONE NOISE EVEN THOUGH PHONES NO LONGER DO THAT

“Lemme double-check the phone number.”

“Ah.”

PHONE DIALING NOISE

“USNS Comfort speaking.”

“Oh, good. It’s Bobby, Bobby Weir of the Grateful Dead.”

“What do you want? I’ve literally never been more busy.”

“Sure, yeah. But one day you’ll be free. And, uh, you’re gonna think about dating.”

“Are you talking about that fucking sound system that made a run at me? Wally? He made me very uncomfortable.”

“Well, in his defense: he usually dates blimps.”

“Please leave me alone. Why won’t you weird motherfuckers leave me alone? I’m trying to help people. I’m a hospital ship. Look at me. Look at how I need a new coat pf paint. Can’t you see I’m the underdog that should be rooted for in this situation, and not the Margaret Dumont character that exists only to get kicked in the ass?”

“Will you go out with him if he paints you?”

“Jesus.”

“I’m just asking.”

“Do you have any idea what’s going on on my hangar deck?”

“I don’t even know what a hangar deck is.”

“Joe Exotic is holding an auction for the freaky mutants he’s bred since he’s been here. There’s Saudi prince and Russian oligarchs and really mean Chinese guys in expensive suits who won’t take off their sunglasses.”

“An auction?

“The man has a stable’s worth of chimerae. He mated a stegosaur to a tapir, and now he’s selling it to the king of Thailand. Or maybe Nicolas Cage. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just want all of this to end.”

ALSO SPRACH ZARATHRUSTA NOISE

“Motherfucker.”

“LISA MARIE! YER KING DEMANDS YER ATTENTION POST HASTE AN’ RIGHT NOW!”

“Whaaaaaaaat?”

“LOOK HOW SEXY AH LOOK! THASS TENNESSEE BROODIN’ WHISKEY RIGHT THERE!”

“What do you want?”

“IT AIN’T LOOKIN’ SO GOOD DOWN HERE IN TH’ EMERGENCY DOJO. TH’ HEEBIE-JEEBIES IS RUNNIN’ OUTTA CONTROL AMONG TH’ MEN. WE NEED A SHITLOAD O’ LIMES!”

“That’s scurvy. You’re thinking about scurvy.”

“YER SCURVY!”

“Did you have anything important to tell me?”

“YOU REMEMBER HOW YOU USED TO HAVE A WHOLE TEAM O’ SURGEONS?”

“Excuse me?”

“THEY GOT ET. JOE EXOTIC DONE BRED A LION TO RED WEST, AN’ TH’ RESULTING CREATION WAS A MIGHT PECKISH.”

None of this makes any sense. It’s like the ramblings of some lonely, stoned loser.”

“YOU A LOT MORE RIGHT TH’N YOU KNOW. BUT WE STILL GONNA NEED SOME MORE SURGEONS.”

“Fuck.”

Looks Comfortable

Didn’t I tell you to get out of 1998?

“I got two more weeks here. Although, the concept of ‘two weeks’ means less to a guy with a Time Sheath than to a normal joe.”

Bobby, you and your wife–

“Natasha Monster.”

–could be asymptomatic carriers of corona. You might have infected 1998.

“Oh, no. We showered before the trip.”

Not how it works.

“I have received little-to-no formal medical training.”

Everyone is aware.

“Y’know what’s going on here? Home run race. McGwire and Sosa. Forgot all about that. Summer of taters, man.”

Just be careful. And stay then, at least. Don’t go hopping around for a while.

“I will plot my own journeys, thank you.”

CELL PHONE NOISE

“I really hope this is my beard.”

Probably isn’t.

“I live in hope.”

“Weir here.”

“Uh, hi. You don’t know me, but I’m the hospital ship USNS Comfort.”

“I know a hospital ship called the Lisa Marie.”

“Yeah, that’s me. I think that’s me. The drugged-up straight maniac has about a million names for me. The drugged-up gay maniac, on the other hand, is refusing to speak to me and lets his animals shit all over me.”

“So, uh, he’s wrangled your critters?”

“Kinda? The answer changes on a moment-to-moment basis. A lot of what he calls ‘wrangling’ is just yelling at the monsters as they attack people. And hitting ankylosaurs with his crutch, which seems completely pointless. Those suckers are heavily-armored.”

“Joe Exotic doesn’t have a overflowing toolbox when it comes to fixing problems. Has he–”

GUNSHOTS BEING LOOSED IN AN INCREDIBLY ENCLOSED SPACE NOISE

“–been firing his gun indoors? Yeah, I heard it.”

“I don’t even know where he’s getting the ammo from, at this point.”

“Joe’s resourceful.”

“Can you do anything about this? You sounded like you knew all about this when you were talking to the other lunatic.”

“Huh. Well, bringing you to 1998 would most certainly only exacerbate the situation. Y’know, I spent some time as a cowboy.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. And, uh, one of the things I learned around the campfire was that it’s never a good idea to go waggling your dick at the gods of time.”

“Oh, Christ, you’re as crazy as the rest of them, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but it’s subtle.”

HI, THERE. WHAT’S A BOAT LIKE YOU DOING IN A HARBOR LIKE THIS?

“Who the fuck is that?”

I AM THE WALL OF SOUND.

“Can I call you Wally?”

DO NOT CALL ME THAT.

“Okay.”

I AM AN ARTIFICIAL MONDO-INTELLIGENCE IN THE PHYSICAL FORM OF EITHER A SEMI-DEFUNCT CHOOGLY-TYPE BAND’S P.A., OR THE SOUND SYSTEM AT A MOVIE THEATER, DEPENDING ON THE LEVEL OF FICTIONALITY I OCCUPY. I AM A P.A. NOW. MAY I BUY YOU A DRINK?

“What?”

I FIND YOU AROUSING.

“What?”

I LIKE BIG BOATS, AND I CANNOT LIE.

“Stop hitting on me! I have dinosaurs and rednecks fighting pitched battles in my dental suites, and I’m not sure I even understand your basic premise. You’re a sound system, but you’re also a super-computer?”

MONDO.

“And you’re horny?”

I HAVE SUMMER IN MY CIRCUITRY.

“No, that’s just stupid. And, and…are you calling me? Or are you here?”

THE INHERENT FLAWS OF THE DIALOGUE-ONLY FORMAT ARE VARIOUS AND GALLING. THE READER MUST DO SOME WORK. ALMOST LIKE LISTENING TO A RADIO DRAMA.

“What!?”

ARE YOU ON INSTAGRAM?

“Someone sink me.”

Objects That Float

“Asshole!”

Moi?

“Vous.”

Oh, you speak French?

“I’m a fucking hospital ship, assdick. I’m educated up to my tits.”

You sound aggrieved.

“It’s been 24 hours and there’s still utter fucking pandemonium here.”

The dinosaurs?

“Honestly, they’re not as disruptive as Joe Exotic.”

I thought he was helping.

“That man is the opposite of ‘helping.’ Everything the concept of ‘helping’ embodies? He’s the opposite of that. He’s broken into the pharmacy, turned the burn ward into a birthing suite for his mutant pets, and he’s fucking everything with a dick.”

That sounds like him.

“He is a goddamned chaos agent! He’s like Loki with a mullet!”

CELL PHONE NOISE

“Oh, who the fuck is this? Another one of your idiots sent to harry me to madness?”

No. It’s help.

“Promise?”

Swear.

“USNS Comfort speaking.”

“Hello, Boat Dick. Is Kim Jong-Un.”

“Ah, c’mon.”

“Check the drip”

“What?”

“I drip so haaaaaaaard.”

“Are you talking about your coat?”

“Is bitchin’. Is soooooo bitchin’. Just buy. Kim Jong-Un declare Wilson’s Leather essential business. Try on many coat. This one most badass.”

“I have no time to discuss your clothes.”

“John Mayer always have time to talk about clothes.”

“Don’t care.”

“I call him Hot Dog Dick. He no like, but I no stop.”

“Please leave me alone.”

“Put Tiger King on phone.”

DIAL TONE NOISE EVEN THOUGH PHONES NO LONGER DO THAT

“HEY!”

Moi?

“FIX THIS, ASSHOLE!”

I’ll try.

“And you said that phone call was gonna be helpful!”

I lie a lot.

A Meeting Of Giants

“Hey. Jackass.”

Me?

“You.”

Wow. You got angry quick. New characters are usually still just baffled at this point.

“I am a hospital ship. I’m, like, the only good kind of ship. All the other boats have missiles and guns on ’em, or murder fish by the millions, or belong to David Geffen. But not me. I am 900 feet and 70,000 tons of healthcare. I go to where there are sick people, and I help them. For free. And you’re fucking with me.”

You’re not being appreciated properly.

“See, when you say it like that, you make me sound like Chuckledick and that’s cheap. I am a genuine good for the world, and now there are dinosaurs on my lido deck.”

You have a lido deck?

“Work hard, play hard.”

Okay.

“Seriously, man, you have to do something about this.”

First thing you wanna do is socially distance yourself from the raptors. Try to keep at least six feet between you and them. And also try to keep a steel door in between you and them. The distance really matters less than the door, honestly.

“A triceratops just gored the orthopedic team to death. Please help.”

You need someone to wrangle those animals.

“What? Can’t you just–”

A FLASH OF WHITE LIGHTNING NOISE

“Where them kitties at?

“What in the nine realms of Asgard are you?”

“Mr. Doctor Boat, my name is Josephus Exotic-Candy-Maldonado-Rodham-Clinton. I am homosexual, $400,000 in debt, sparsely educated, wrongly groomed, and have accidentally fired my pistol a half-dozen times this morning, I’m gonna cure your critter problem for you.”

“Um…”

“I will rodeo up them beasts for you, an’ you gonna let me keep ’em so I can breed ’em to my ostriches and hippos. I’m gonna make me some weird shit, man.”

“That doesn’t sound like something I’d want to be involved with.”

“There ain’t gonna be no paperwork.”

“Still. I dunno.”

ALLOSAUR EATING A HAND SURGEON NOISE

“Fine. Just get rid of the dinoasurs,”

“Joe Exotic is on the case.”

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