Junction Jones (2022)

In the derelict slums of the multidimensional town of Junction, Mister Nibs and Junction Jones scour the dangerous alleyways in search of illicit organic material to sell off at the local black market chopshops and transmutation garages, until an anonymous tip leads them to the remains of a murdered Earth hobo. The evidence they uncover on the body points to a vast government cover-up, a conspiracy of which they're now inexplicably at the center. Their first instinct? Run and hide! But a suspicious maintenance team that just so happens to arrive at the same time, looking for the same body, may hamper that. In the ensuing stand-off Jones decides the best option may be a joke; will it fall flat or land?

Framed for the murder of the hobo Gummy Joe and wanted for the deaths of four Junction Agents, Mister Nibs and Junction Jones must solve the mystery of the dead body and clear their names or end up recycled. Their only lead? What they were able to rummage from the poor bum's pockets-a soiled business card and a telegram from earth circa 1938 that points them in the direction of the ringleader of Junction's most infamous Interdimensional Carnivale- an entity known only as Forshmak Toot. There they'll find out what all their troubles have to do with an obscure crime only Toot remembers, cryptically referred to as the "Boxcar Bop"!

After barely escaping the disaster at Forshmak's carnivale, Mister Nibs and Junction Jones can feel the Authorities closing in. Not only that, they now find themselves in possession of the most dangerous and illegal device in all reality-a Time Dislocator. Forced to travel in the bowels under Junction Town to evade detection, their last hope to break the case comes from a mysterious text inviting them into the back rooms of a blackhole speakeasy that shouldn't exist. Tucked into the most dangerous alleyway in the most lethal section of the Skids, JJ and Nibs will finally come face to face with the mastermind that set all their torment into motion.

Now that all has been revealed by Corduroy Caramel, Mister Nibs and Junction Jones are left (once again) with a single terrible option if they want to stay alive; breach a Fissure Point Facility located at the heart of Junction Town, commandeer a Jaunt Room and utilize the Time Dislocator Coin.The plan? Hit up the only Dealer left in Junction they can trust, procure a couple counterfeit janitor's badges and sneak in under the radar. To accomplish this they'll need to take a trip into the INbetween: a derelict schism between Junction and the skid row alleys of Earth. Easy-peasy, right? But something smells downright fishy... and if anybody can smell fishy it'd be Mr. Nibs (because he's a cat).

Captured and bloodied. In the clutches of Junction Authority Agents with vengeance on their minds. It looks like the jig is up for Junction Jones and Mister Nibs. And hey, when you think about it, what hope did a single (mal-functioning) worker bot and a scruffy junkyard cat ever have to break into a heavily fortified, privately-funded, government facility, let alone make it back out... alive?

The dust is settling. Junction Authority has been notified. The bodies have been counted, collected and swept under the rotted fiber-optic rug that is Junction Town. Back in the wretched slums of the Skids where nobody survives or rests, and everyone is put to work, the lucky walk with their heads down and answer the ringing factory bells.