Filler
Mitch woke, finding himself in a waiting room chair. Next to him were his allies whom included Rick, and mages Essie and Cerissa.
"It's been a while since we've been in a new story, has that Roses311Sublime guy finally started the new arc?"
"Sorry Mitch, but no." Cerissa answered sadly. "From what I understand, Roses wants to do two more stories in the Hugh vs Leftover plotline that we spun off from before resuming our true quests (shameless self promotion: https://theprose.com/book/3184/the-ultimate-hero-network-a-short-story-collection). It would appear that we are in another filler story."
"Filler again?" Rick groaned. "Roses needs to be reminded that this story isn't an anime!"
"True Rick, but we all know that Roses is a big anime fan." Essie replied reassuringly. "And besides, filler isn't a bad thing necessarily. You told me that you like some of those Naruto filler episodes."
"True, and no story can be all bad if you're in it Essie." Rick responded, not caring about being subtle about his feelings for Essie. This was only a filler story anyway. It could potentially not even be mentioned in the main canon in the long run.
"Now we figure out where we are once again." Cerissa said in an attempt to move the story forward. "At least it's not a kitchen this time."
"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Rick said excitedly. "So this story is connected with that one at least (https://theprose.com/post/441372/adventures-of-the-pirate-crew-how-did-we-get-in-this-kitchen-pen-to-the-paper-one-shot)!";
"They're all connected Rick." Mitch grinned. "Just some stories are more important than others."
"We're getting off topic guys." Cerissa said firmly, but with a kind tone all the same. "Last I remember from our last appearance in November, we were leaving Mirk's celebration of life to head back to Mitch's home to settle in, and train for our future confrontations with Petunia and Glicko. Does anyone recall if we ever made it there?"
"Definitely have no memory of that, since that hasn't been written yet. Hence, filler tale!" Rick moaned.
"It's ok Rick. Like Essie said, maybe this will be a filler tale with a Naruto quality to it." Cerissa replied. "Getting back on task, we appear to be in a waiting room of some sort. We need to find out what kind of room, and it's significance."
"Looks like a veterinarian office." Mitch chimed in. "I wonder if Roses is writing this while waiting in a veterinarian's office with a pet."
"Awwww, I hope his pet is ok!" Essie exclaimed with concern.
"It could just be a routine visit." Rick reassured his crush. "Maybe immunizations or something."
"I wonder what kind of pet it is." Cerissa pondered. "Maybe a dog, or a kitten?"
"Maybe a parrot?" Mitch mused. "I hope not though. Despite my Pirate persona from transforming, I haven't had good parrot encounters."
"So a veterinarian office." Essie interjected, now taking over Cerissa's role of getting everyone back on task. "I wonder where this story is going to go, since Roses is coming up with this on the fly."
"I'm a little worried that his turn will be coming up soon." Rick added. "That could cause the story to end."
"Yachi!" A voice called out over the intercom, as everything began to fade.
"Sounds like Roses got called, so time's up." Rick said sheepishly. "We at least learned that Roses has a pet named Yachi. I wonder if he named his pet after the Haikyu!! character."
"Too bad we didn't see any action this time." Mitch lamented. "Oh well, I'm sure we will be back soon enough, even if it is for another silly filler entry."
"Well, for what it's worth, it is always nice being with you all, even if nothing noteworthy happened today." Cerissa smiled. "See you all in a future adventure!"
The Pirate and his crew will return.... I promise! Their previous adventures can be read here: https://theprose.com/book/3137/new-adventurers-enter-the-pirate-crew