Itvashim knew this was his chance. He slipped into the shadows and slid into the backdoor of the backstage as smoothly as he could.
Of course, it wasn't quite as smooth as when he was younger...
He took a moment to reminisce the good ol' days, when he could effortlessly slip and slide into a beautiful woman's DMs - and then later, into her - but nowadays, his advanced age had to be taken into account after all.
"Come on, Itvashim," he muttered and puttered to himself.
"You've still got it!" He told himself with a wheeze.
...Now, where would Jemima keep her piece of the EVP Blueprint?
There! As it turned out, Jemima's part of the EVP Blueprint was rolled up neatly on the dressing table, next to a well-worn puppet and some hand lotion.
Was it going to be this easy?
He checked carefully for any subterfuge, but in the end, it seemed like it was just there for the taking.
*Yoink*
-He was able to grab it without trouble! He held the Blueprint in his hands incredulously, then stuffed the scroll into his pants, since that seemed to be the standard spot based on canon and character preference.
As he crept out, Itvashim noticed that the Play had gotten up to the hospital scene, where the pretty girl Puppet 3 was now reading the Sutra of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Oh... Puppet 3 was quite attractive. He found himself starting to actually watch the Play.
W-Why did it feel so… relatable?! That's right. Puppet 4. The person who wanted Puppet 3. Was Puppet 4 the main character? He found himself rooting for Puppet 4. Puppet 1 was such a goody-two-shoes simp... If he was in his position, he would have studied the Sutra without question. What exactly were they um-ing and ah-ing about?!
...Oh thank goodness Puppet 3 had a spine! Of course you should choose to survive! Was it even a question?! He was filled with disdain for Puppet 1. He wasn't worthy of Puppet 3... Was Puppet 3 even a man?!
Puppet 4... He was so much better! Itvashim found himself getting sucked in by the power of the Unholy Play, and found himself rooting for Puppet 4...
Internally, he began to relate the Story of the Unholy Play to his own life and world-views. Sally was like Puppet 3... and Puppet 4 was himself... the one who would set her free...
In the end, as expected, Puppet 3 chose Puppet 1, her true love, because of plot, Itvashim figured... but in his mind, Puppet 4 was brilliant, a misunderstood anti-hero and genius, worthy of respect... in the real world, things would go differently...!!!
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