Stranger Things is the thirty-fifth chapter of the Black Lagoon spinoff series Dismemberment Galore! The Gore Gore Girl. It was originally released on July 19, 2022.
Plot[]
Sitting in a wheelchair with a hook in lieu of his right hand, Picton looks at Jacqueline, who sits on the floor with her hands tied. Telling Jacqueline his name, he adds that his main job is to buy and sell people but also works as a movie producer for a hobby. Speaking about his line of work, Picton remarks that he has seen people who quit being human, some of whom are born that way, including himself. As he tells the girl that he has several such humans, several men donned with pig heads emerge from several doors surrounding Jacqueline, also bringing three large, chained boars. Sarcastically telling the girl not to worry since he will not kill her, Picton states that he knows excellent doctors and will keep her on the verge of dying, evilly smiling and informing Jacqueline that she will be the main character in a long-form video series.
Noticing a man to her right creepily smiling and holding a video camera toward her and the boars, Jacqueline's eyes widen in fear as one boar grunts and stands inches from her face. Elsewhere in a speeding car, Choptop drives with Sawyer the Cleaner in the passenger seat as the former tells the latter that they will get to work. Speaking to Sawyer about Picton, the punk recalls that Picton called the place "The Studio." Adding that a kidnapped child would likely be taken to said studio, Choptop shudders as he comments that he would not have been able to initially save Jacqueline had he chased since the "vampire" Martin was after her. He additionally states that the vampire is fragile but makes one's arms stand up, clarifying that Martin thinks that he is a vampire due to a congenital disorder relating to his skin being incredibly vulnerable to sunlight.
According to him, Martin only acts at night and supposedly regularly drinks actual human blood. Moving his eyes to her, Choptop asks Sawyer if she is going to help Jacqueline after all, and Sawyer rubs her chin and ponders. In a building storage room somewhere, Martin is at his desk and looks at The Undertaker No. 2 tied up to a folding chair. No. 2 asks him why he is keeping her captive, telling him that she has no worth as a hostage. Agreeing with her, Martin smiles and says that she is actually his food, commenting that her blood looks delicious. Slowly removing the burlap sack off her head, the alleged vampire comments that a child's blood is exceptional, causing the bob-haired No. 2 to ask where he took Jacqueline. He assures her that the child is still alive but coldly jokes that the child would be better off dead. As Martin prepares to sink his fangs into the nervous No. 2's neck, Jessica suddenly appears behind him with a hammer and a wooden stake, trying but failing to strike Martin in the back as he vanishes behind her.
Kneeling defensively and surprised that he did not realize her presence, he asks her how long she has been there. Smiling, Jessica remarks that she is disappointed since she wanted to see if the hammer and stake would work. Martin clarifies that such a trick works on every person, to which Jessica replies by claiming that she has also prepared garlic and crosses. Pulling out a small capsule of liquid, Jessica states that she has "holy water" that will fill the room with gas quickly if she throws it onto the ground, adding that it is a neurotoxin that unlike Nosferatu's gas will kill instantly. When Martin reminds her that she will die too if she uses the poison, Jessica only smiles and agrees in indifference. Laughing heartily in response, the vampire states that he will leave for now and vanishes into a shadow, disappointing Jessica since she thought she would have fun with him. Remarking that her timing was helpful, No. 2 rhetorically comments that Jessica likely did not come for her. Smiling, Jessica hands over the burlap sack mask back to No 2., who puts it on and tells Jessica to go find Jacqueline. Having a curious expression, Jessica asks if Jacqueline is truly still alive.
At the studio, Picton compliments how the keepers can tame the ferocious pigs as he watches them surround Jacqueline. Claiming that the reason for the keepers' skill is darkness, he elaborates that those who peer into the darkness that is too deep will be swallowed by said darkness, comparing their ability to a psychic ability. Taunting the girl by reminding her that she does not have her samurai sword, the hook-handed man orders one of the men to untie her to see how she fights back against the boars, and the cameraman's whole body begins to shake involuntarily. When Jacqueline removes her glasses and stares at one of the pig-headed men, he begins to shake uncontrollably as well. Confused, Picton asks them what is wrong, and Jacqueline widens her glare toward her would-be attackers, forcing them through hypnosis via eye contact to bow their entire bodies down to her, scaring Picton.
Crying and sweating, Picton realizes what she has done, frantically wondering how the child has the same ability to control the darkness that he spoke of. Controlling both the men and the boars with her mind, Jacqueline turns her gaze towards Picton and points at him, silently ordering her new minions to kill him. Now completely terrified, he pleads with Jacqueline to stop her attack, asking her if she knows whom she is messing with. The three large boars walk to the screaming Picton and begin to devour him, and soon Sawyer and Choptop arrive on the scene and are baffled at the scene. After Picton's body is completely eaten with only his hook and a pool of blood remaining, Jessica arrives at the same time and reunites with the relieved Jacqueline, who runs into Jessica and tightly embraces her. Admitting that she was scared, Jessica smiles and asks her sister if she lost her glasses again. Elsewhere, No. 2 silently stands still and contemplates.
Notes[]
- The chapter title is a reference to the American horror drama television series Stranger Things.