RP Smash [IC/ Closed / PG-16]

[VCR_CAT 19]

Aria

“Yeah, I’m a little under the weather and I don’t know my way around. Aria gave me a really good tour when I first got here so I thought she might know,” Masaru said. “well, I actually meant to message to Mauvache but I still don’t know how this magic mail thing works. Are you any good at it Tegur?”

"Not in the slightest. Every time I try I just end up breaking the screen, gwaaaahahahaha!" Tegur replied with a hearty laugh

Masaru threw his head back and laughed as well. “Doesn’t surprise me at all. You never were any good at magic!” his smile faded and bit the inside of his cheek. “Still… Wait!” Masaru lit back up and snapped his fingers. “You’re good with this stuff, right Aria? Do you know how I would get this little baby slime in my watch-thing out? I don’t think Miss Mauvache is feeding it the right diet.” He looked genuinely worried. “He’s not growing at the rate he should so I’m kinda worried.”

"Okay, what the heck do you mean by 'baby slime', lemme see that!" Aria grabbed Masaru's watch-arm and yanked the screen a little closer to inspect. There she saw what was simply a digital assistant; not a real slime by any means. "Oh, that? That's just a digi--" Aria stopped herself and gave Masaru has arm back, thinking for a moment. He's already thought it was real, had trouble sending messages, and thinks technology is all magic. Just explaining what it was wouldn't do any good. Gotta think outside the box here. "I got it!" Aria said, planting her fist in her hand. "See, the slime there isn't really real, so it doesn't need to eat. You know pictures and paintings? That's kinda like how the watches work; they're just all moving pictures that we can do things with. So, the little slime there won't grow, but he doesn't need to eat either." Aria folded her arms proudly, thinking that she had flawlessly explained how the watches work despite the extremely simplistic nature of her explanation. Well, at the least Masaru won't worry about it being fed. "Anyways, I have the map to the hospital right here. I can give you tips on how to use the watch on the way if you want. But, we should get going so you don't have to stand around being sick all the time."

This time it was Aria dragging Masaru towards the door. "C'mon, he's not goin' anywhere, you can catch up later. Thanks for the help, Tegur! We'll see you later!"

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"It's all up here. That's where my power is. How much cold do I put out, what about wind, and most importantly, what do I make with my ice? It's all stuff I have to think about when I use my power. I'm only limited by my imagination!"

"Hmm, that does make sense." Gavin nodded, watching Aurora explain herself with the demonstration of her ice powers via her hands. It honestly reminded him on how he created VEX, at least to a certain extent.

"I use my hands a lot when I'm fighting though. It helps me visualize what I want to do... kinda like a painter I guess? But I don't need them. As long as I can think, I can fight. What about you? I'm guessing most of your power comes from that MOVA thingy?"

He was about to answer her question but was cut short by a message from a newcomer via his watch: Ross. With a sigh, he now had to go back to the arena just to say hello to this newcomer. Either way, he ran after Aurora and then proceeded to continue his explanation. "Power, it's more or less my arsenal. As mentioned before, it's like a Swiss Army Knife...I have the Surveillance-Bots, VEX, the dark energy shield, as well as the MOVA being able to holster my one weapon, the Aquila."

"The boomerang that he used against you in your bout."

"Yeah. Even have the MOVA programmed to launch the Aquila from it, known as the Flight of the Aquila." Gavin continued. "Other than that, I have my pistol and skills as a pilot...as well as martial arts experience while training in the force. But other than those, I'm really just a normal guy."

[LordCowCow 840]

Morgan and Cyanthrax

"Why are humans so stupid..."

Morgan might have responded to this but she was focused on the sight before her eyes. Why him? Of all the people she didn't expect to see that boy here. In a much more intense than usual tennis match. Something about it seemed unusual to her. She knew that Camille had come from somewhere else. These two seemed to know each other. And they were "battling" on equal level.

What if...

"Looks like we got new blood. Wanna go see what they're made of?"

"Huh? What?" Morgan turned her attention to the demon. New blood? Already? If she were being honest she kind of wanted to stick around to watch this. But she didn't want to admit to that. Especially not when it had to do with that weirdo. "Tch, fine, let's get going." She tossed her hair and went with Cyanthrax out of the stadium. "Dragging me all over the place, god, this is such a pain." She declared.

---

The girl that Morgan saw as they entered the now familiar virtual room didn't seem all that impressive. Her introduction much less so. "My name is Morgan." The girl began, speaking up first. "Greatest witch in the world and your clear superior." She rolled her eyes. "I suppose you're one of those tomboy types. Let me warn you right now that if you try and make me get into sports you'll regret it." She glowered at Cyanthrax. "Isn't that right?"

---

Xia

The tennis match was reaching a fever pitch. Both sides seemed to be finally truly getting into it and, quite literally, the heat had been cranked up. In fact Xia would even be able to feel a bit of it from her position.

And then something happened. Camille missed a swing. Their gaze traveled up to the stands behind Valerie and he shouted something to Valerie.

The girl turned and looked and her racket fell from her grasp.

Following their gaze Xia would see someone standing on the edge of the stage. Wearing a brown cloak that covered them head to toe. But there was something in the hood that could be seen. A flame.

And then from the sleeves of the cloak came two massive gouts of flames that struck the opposite side of the stands which erupted into fire. People started running, screaming, and over the sounds Xia could hear Camille shout out. "Valerie we gotta get everyone outta here." And the two began to direct people to the exits.

A blur went passed Xia and she saw a woman standing in front of her.

"Xia." she said, the voice sounding somewhat familiar, "help them get people out of here."

[yui 576]

Day 8, 9:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

The bottom line was that Gavin had lots of tricks up his sleeve. That was what Aurora had gathered from their conversation, though over the course of getting back to the arena, the topic had changed more than a few times. By the time they were back, she wasn't really sure how they'd gotten to where they were in the conversation; only that they were there.

But that didn't matter anymore! There were things to do here right now. Like meet that new fighter! The message said that their name was Ross, right? Probably a guy. A tall one, with lots of muscle. That was the kind of person the name "Ross" made her think of. Thus, one could imagine Aurora's surprise when - upon getting to the same room where she'd met the other fighters when they first arrived - she was met with a totally-normal-looking girl. Something about her eyes was putting Aurora off, but she didn't pay it much mind.

"You must be Ross," Aurora smiled as she stepped closer to the current gathering of Ross, Cyanthrax, and Morgan. "I'm Aurora, a hero-in-training back home, but it's looking like Mauvache didn't approve of me trying to live up to that here. Nice to meet you!"

Edited May 3, 2019 by Yui

[Skaia 578]

Xia continued to watch the match as it seemed to be reaching its climax. She wasn't sure how Cam could hit the ball as hard as he was and still manage to make it go different places each time, and so she simply watched how he played, impressed by the display of skill and strength. The match, however, seemed to reach and  abrupt end as the two tennis players paused and looked towards a cloaked figure. Xia wasn't sure who that was, but even she understood that they were up to nothing good as they let loose a torrent of fire around the arena. Confusion was what was on her face most of all as the crowd erupted into panic, with Xia's eyes locked onto the figure that had caused it all. 

She couldn't fathom why the figure did it. She didn't understand why they would cause such destruction when everyone else was having a fun time. The girl started to grit her teeth and clench her fists, only to then refocus on the situation at hand as someone familiar passed by and told her to help the others. Seeming to snap out of whatever focus she had just had, the girl merely nodded and said, "right!" Looking to the people, she ran through the crowd shouting,  "everyone! Follow me! Don't fall! Watch your step!" As she did, the girl tried to direct people who needed direction or doing her best to help those who had fallen or were stuck in some way out as she tried to get everyone out of the arena. 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

Gavin arrived in the arena, where he first met everyone before, and saw this "Ross" in question. A young girl, which surprised him. Ross sounded like a name that was given to a male, but yet, this was not the case here. What was more, she looked, generally normal. Was this what everyone else thought when they first saw him? Gavin could only guess. Still, he let Aurora and the others do their greetings.

He honestly didn't feel like introducing himself to the newbie, but then again, VEX had just reappeared on his MOVA and cleared his throat. "What's wrong, VEX?"

"I believe it is rude to not introduce yourself to someone new. After all, you refused to do it with Morgan and Marsu. Please make the attempt to reach out."

"Jeez...what are you, my mom?"

VEX chuckled lightly. "Negative. However, I feel someone is required to look into your well being, Gavin."

"Alright, fine..." Gavin rolled his eyes, making his way towards Morgan. He simply waved his hand and nodded towards the girl. "Hey. Gavin Shepherd, best starship pilot this side of the Milky Way." He glanced at his MOVA, seeing VEX making himself known as he took a bow. "And this would be my AI unit, VEX."

"Virtual EXperiment...designated VEX for short. A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Ross."

[reparoni 161]

It didn't take long for them to get to the arena, where they met the new blood. Cyan was slightly disappointing to see a rather average looking person standing there - she would blend in perfectly with the rest of the cast. The demon shook his head - if these other kids were to go by, this one would also be full of surprises. He grinned as Morgana introduced herself to Ross. "I suppose you're one of those tomboy types. Let me warn you right now that if you try and make me get into sports you'll regret it." She glowered at Cyanthrax. "Isn't that right?" Cyanthrax simply scoffed as he stepped forwards.

"Whatever ya say, lazy bones." He said, turning his attention to Ross. He pointed his thumb to himself, giving off a menacing grin. "The name's Cyanthrax, The Lion Sin of Pride!" He said confidently, glancing towards Ross. "It'll be my pleasure to kick your ass in the ring!" The demon chuckled for a bit, before stepping back. "...anyways, it seems yer in the same boat as the rest of us." He said, scratching his cheek, before shrugging. "We could give you a tour of the place... not like we're doing anything better..." He muttered the last part bitterly, shaking his head.

He turned his attention to Aurora and Gavin, who probably came to introduce themselves to the newbie. The demon simply shrugged, stepping back as they started introducing themselves.

Edited May 10, 2019 by A Crap Guide to Reptiles

[Skaia 578]

Ross looked, humorlessly, at the witch girl as she began her introduction. Likely catty and tactless, Ross could already tell that this Morgan was someone who knew exactly how not to make a good first impression. As the girl mentioned Ross trying to get her into sports, the girl bluntly said, "I don't think you'll have to worry about that too much." Next came the tiger elf - or lion elf as he had corrected her - Cyan. He certainly seemed the boastful type and like he one would expect from the "Lion Sin of Pride," but still seemed to be amiable enough. Her first impression of him was definitely better than that of Morgan's, but that was hardly a tough act to follow up on. 

Soon enough, two more people had joined the introductions crew. Both Aurora and Gavin, as she had learned their names, seemed to be ordinary humans. Not only did they seem to be regular humans, but unlike the witch they had also seemed to be from a similar time period to her. Granted, she wouldn't have been surprised if she saw someone in the DHG dressing up as a witch, so she instead briefly wondered when Morgan was from as well. 

This thought was broken up as she looked to Gavin, now confused about her assesment of him earlier. He had a talking virtual person in his watch. And he was a star pilot. That was certainly new. She figured he could've just been really into video games, and confused some kind of starship simulator for real life but the artificial intelligence that accompanied him made that a bit hard to believe. Which only left the white haired girl as the only one she was certain from a similar time as her. And she seemed nice enough at that. Though, she also seemed to be the busy body type, and Ross wasn't too keen on getting into any sort of "hero" work too quickly herself. Ross looked to the two of them, giving a short wave and saying, "well. I'm Ross. The new kid...you already knew that...but nice to meet you." 

Her attention turned back to Cyan as he had offered to take her around the place, if only to cure his apparent boredom. Still, with nothing better to do herself and this still being part of a "getting to know you process," the girl nodded. "Sure. If I'm gong to live here, should probably get to know what's around here." After a brief pause, the girl looked to the other four saying, "so what is around here?"

[yui 576]

Day 8, 9:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"Well. I'm Ross. The new kid...you already knew that...but nice to meet you." 

She seemed nice enough. And while she did look pretty normal, Aurora of all people knew that looks weren't everything. She might have had some amazing gadget hidden away somewhere, or some sort of powers like Aurora did. Or even both! After all, she herself looked like a pretty normal girl, but she had the most powerful Fragment she'd ever seen! So who knew what this Ross girl was packing?

"Sure. If I'm gong to live here, should probably get to know what's around here. So what is around here?"

Come to think of it, I haven't explored the city as much as I would like. Arena work was busy stuff and all. That didn't mean she had no clue what to do though! In fact, she distinctly remembered there being a nice little café somewhere not too terribly far away. Aurora pulled up her map of the city, looking for the spot. Right about... there! Pointing out the place on the map, she said "This here's a nice little place to grab a drink. And not too expensive either!" Pointing out other spots on the map, she continued "There's a photo studio here you'll probably wanna visit sometime, an arcade over here, and a park way over here if that's more your pace. Here in this building, we've got... lots of stuff. It would probably take a proper tour to cover everything here."

[Cheshire Toon 141]

To say Masaru was bewildered was a bit of an understatement. His brow was furrowed due to the level of deep and concentrated thinking going on within his cranium, which, to be fair, one would have to have an impressively high IQ to understand. The nuance was extremely subtle, and unless they had a strong grasp of both quantum and theoretical physics, most of his thoughts would be too difficult for the typical reader to understand. 

These thoughts required such intense concentration that he didn’t react until Aria had pulled him outside of the bar. Finally, after a second of hesitation, he revealed the conclusion of his mental gymnastics for all the world to hear; “I don’t get it,” he said, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb. “Little Slime’s not real? Or… he gains nutrients from the watch instead of minerals? Is that it?” Masaru hummed softly. “Does that mean that every time I’m sending a message to someone, Little Slime gets energy from it? Sort of like how some slimes can draw energy from the sun.” He clapped his hands together. “Okay, that makes sense! Glad to hear that Mauvache is making sure he’s taken care of.”

No sooner had he reached his conclusion he sneezed--once, twice, three times. He was out of breath when the fit was finally over. “Aaggh… about that doctor. Do you… do you want me to summon us mounts to get there faster?” He brightened at the idea. “I bet you’ve never ridden on a Saddle Slime before. You’ve gotta try it, it’s so much fun! Just give me one second.”

A pale blue glow of energy surrounded Masaru’s left arm. “What’s your favorite color?” he asked, and as he did, the energy slowly traveled down to the palm of his hand to coalesce into a small orb of magical power.

Aria hesitated. “Uhm, blue?”

Masaru grinned. “Good choice. That’s my favorite color too, so we’ll match!” He tossed the orb a few feet in front of him. It hovered in the air for a moment, then it began to swirl, expanding into a vortex of the same color. To examine it closely would give the impression that Masaru had taken a knife and cut into the fabric of reality, but before anyone could stare for too long, two matching slimes with saddles on their back made their way out of the portal. One was dark blue, while the other was a lighter shade.

Both happily wriggled in place when they saw Masaru. “Hey guys! Erdrick told me you were both getting to be really big, but you guys are huge now! I hope you don’t mind giving me and my friend a lift?” Neither of the Saddle Slime were opposed. Masaru turned to face Aria. “Aren’t they cool? They’re Saddle Slimes. This one is Cloud,” he gestured to the lighter colored one, “and this one’s Sora,” he gestured to the darker one. “Sora will be the one helping you out to--ACHOO!--sorry,” he grumbled, rubbing his nose. “Sora will be the one helping you out today. She’s super excited if you can’t tell.”

Sora, the Saddle Slime in question, made her way over to Aria in a rapid succession of short hops. She was still an expressionless slime, but said gelatin was quivering, and she bounced the saddle strapped onto her back up and down expectantly.

“Go ahead and hop on,” Masaru encouraged. “You’ll love it.”
 

[VCR_CAT 19]

Aria

“I don’t get it,” Masaru said, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb. “Little Slime’s not real? Or… he gains nutrients from the watch instead of minerals? Is that it?” He hummed softly. “Does that mean that every time I’m sending a message to someone, Little Slime gets energy from it? Sort of like how some slimes can draw energy from the sun.” He clapped his hands together. “Okay, that makes sense! Glad to hear that Mauvache is making sure he’s taken care of.”

Aria blinked. "I..." she started to say, but paused for a few seconds. "Sure, sure." Aria thought for a moment of how many messages that might mean people would be getting from Masaru. Oh well, cross that bridge later.

“Hey guys! Erdrick told me you were both getting to be really big, but you guys are huge now! I hope you don’t mind giving me and my friend a lift?” Neither of the Saddle Slime were opposed. Masaru turned to face Aria. “Aren’t they cool? They’re Saddle Slimes. This one is Cloud,” he gestured to the lighter colored one, “and this one’s Sora,” he gestured to the darker one. “Sora will be the one helping you out to--ACHOO!--sorry,” he grumbled, rubbing his nose. “Sora will be the one helping you out today. She’s super excited if you can’t tell.”

Sora, the Saddle Slime in question, made her way over to Aria in a rapid succession of short hops, bouncing and quivering on the spot.

“Go ahead and hop on,” Masaru encouraged. “You’ll love it.”

"Wait, you said Sora and Cloud? Are you refer--" Aria stopped herself and laughed for a brief second. No, there was no way. She eyed the slime with a fair amount of discomfort. Sor-- Masaru had no problem with his, but also wasn't he a slime as well? Of course he wouldn't have a problem, like if a human was riding another hum-- okay yes, there's a basis for why someone would have a problem with that. "Alright, here goes nothing..."

Aria stepped forward and slotted her foot into the saddle's hold, then tried to pull herself up. The saddle slipped around on the slime's body and Aria found herself losing her balance on a couple occasions. Masaru couldn't help but laugh at her attempts, and Aria could feel her face turning red. Finally, she was able to hoist herself up and mount the saddle successfully. "There! No problem! First try!" She grumbled. "Now let's get going!"

[LordCowCow 840]

Morgan

As Aurora and Gavin made their introductions, the young witch mimed a gagging motion. God they were so disgustingly friendly and polite.

It made her sick.

She rolled her eyes heavily at Cyanthrax. Oh please, even he was being nice with her? Just cause she was new and a tiny little bit cute, probably. How absolutely disappointing.

"so what is around here?"

Morgan raised an eyebrow as Aurora gave a small list of places. "Oh come on, are you trying to bore her to death?" Morgan said, pushing her way in front of the rest to stand right before Ross. Morgan looked the girl up and down. "Listen up. I don't know why Mauvache brought you in but don't forget that it's our job to beat you down. I don't want them to make you forget that...Buuuut, I also don't want that girl scout there making you think this place is as lame as she is either. Basically anything you want you can find after all. And if you stick with me you'll get in to all sorts of places that these dorks probably would never work up the nerve to set foot in."

She flipped her hair and shrugged. "Maybe you're boring, I don't know you, but maybe not. You shouldn't be asking what there is to do. Just say what you want to do and I bet you can make it happen. We're basically celebrities around here." She placed a hand on her chest. "Of course not all to my level but who could be?"

---

Xia

The crowd was starting to thin and, with Valerie, Camille, and Xia working together they managed to avoid trampling over each other in their haste.

Meanwhile in the stands the mysterious figure was attempting to launch flames at the crowd. Every time that they attempted to,however, the elf girl was there with some sort of barrier to prevent them from harming the people escaping.

The figure seemed to grow frustrated by this and a red lance appeared in their hand. They dove off of the stands and thrust the weapon at the girl. It pieced through the barrier she created and struck her in the shoulder. The momentum pushed them both downward and forced the girl into the ground just in front of the stands.

If Xia were to look around she'd see that Camille was trying to go over to help but kept being interrupted by more people. Meanwhile Valerie had disappeared farther along the hallway, making sure people went towards the exits.

[Skaia 578]

Ross was, at least glad to hear, that there was something that sounded like a city beyond these walls based on what Aurora had been telling her. Of course, it didn't really help her figure out exactly what it was that she wanted to do at the moment, but her train of thought was disrupted as the witch had walked up to her. Ross was fairly certain that, at least in regards to Morgan, she wasn't going to forget that her job was to fight any time soon. The girl did say something interesting in that the city probably had something for everyone and everything. It was like Space New York. 

After Morgan told Ross to just say what she wanted to do, with some bragging involved as well, Ross said in a flat tone, "well, I did need to get some blood to drink." Her expression didn't seem to change in the slightest as she said this and looked at Morgan, only to then say, "but I haven't actually seen a movie in a long time. Think they're showing we'd know of here?" 

While Xia had managed to direct everyone out of the arena, her attention was soon snapped towards the figure and the new girl fighting each other. As they were forced to the ground, Xia saw the figure looming over her and felt something inside of herself. Something she hadn't felt in quite a very long time. A feral beating in her chest, an instinctual urge that was overcoming her. As the figure had caused so much destruction, poised to murder someone else here - in her home, Xia felt a rage take over. Clenching her fist, the girl crouched down before rocketing herself towards the cloaked figure. Leaping towards them, Xia punched at them as she passed them by, the figure thought easily managed to jump out of the way. 

Landing on the ground and skidding to a halt, Xia kept her eyes deadlocked on the figure as she asked the girl on the ground, "are you alright?" 

The girl stood back up, and without responding to her question asked, "is everyone else safe?" 

Xia merely nodded as the figure seemed to go on the offensive again. Creating more flames, the figure shot them towards the two of them which Xia merely barreled through. As she made her way through the flames they were hot, definitely much hotter than she was expecting, but her tenacity kept her going and she simply kept charging through the flames, sweeping them away as she went for another punch. As she did though, the figure was longer there, and was simply falling from the sky, spear at the ready to brought down onto Xia. Seeing the spear come towards her, Xia had had a similar experience to this before, and simply reached up and grabbed the spear with both of her hands before the figure's dive had completed. 

The spear was uncomfortably hot to the touch, but the girl kept her grip on it while the figure did not. Letting go and moving to the side, the figure seemed ready to let loose yet another blast, only to have to dodge out of the way of another energy blast. Seeing Cam join the fight, Xia kept the spear in one hand as she shouted at the figure, "leave this place alone!" 

The figure didn't say anything, the spear vanishing from Xia's grip and into the figure's as they dragged the tip of the spear against the ground. A wall of fire appeared along the line they traced, forcing the other two combatants to stop their advance towards them. As the wall of flame died down, the figure seemed to be leaving through a window, their hood falling a bit as they did. While Xia was primed to chase, she stopped in her tracks as she caught a glimpse of the face of the figure they had been fighting. Confused more than anything else, Xia merely spoke the name aloud. "Valerie?" 

Edited May 18, 2019 by Skaia

[reparoni 161]

Cyan turned to Aurora, who had stepped forward and seemed to want to guide Ross herself. The demon simply scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And maybe later we can go get our nails done." He said sarcastically, shaking his head. Morgana seemed to have similar issues with what Aurora was saying, although instead of actually suggesting anything she asked Ross to say what she wanted to do. What Ross said perked Cyan's interest.

"Blood?" Cyan said with a curious tone, leaning in towards Ross. "What, ya some sort of vampire? Would explain why yer so damn pale!" The demon chuckled, crossing his arms. "Probably not from my world though... we don't have any of these 'movie' things... whatever the fuck that is." He said, letting out an annoyed sigh. "It sounds boring as shit." He gave the girl a glance for a moment. "Why don't we discuss this over some ale at the bar?"

[yui 576]

Day 8, 9:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"Oh come on, are you trying to bore her to death?"

What?

"Listen up. I don't know why Mauvache brought you in but don't forget that it's our job to beat you down. I don't want them to make you forget that...Buuuut, I also don't want that girl scout there making you think this place is as lame as she is either."

But... those are nice places to visit.

"Well, I did need to get some blood to drink."

Excuse me, some WHAT? Although, with a witch and a demon already among the current cast of fighters - among other things - maybe Ross was some sort of vampire? Would she be okay going out in broad daylight? Cyanthrax seemed to also think she was some sort of vampire. Maybe she was onto something after all. The suggestion of going out to see a movie, meanwhile, seemed much more agreeable than going out to drink blood or ale. It would've been nice to sit back for a couple hours... but Aurora and movie theaters didn't blend well. They were already a bit chilly inside, and keeping the human icebox in one place for too long would only make that worse.

But she really wanted to see the movie. She had an idea on how to have her movie and watch it, but there was a solid chance it wouldn't work out at all. But she really, really wanted to go to a movie theater. "A movie sounds fun!" she agreed. Cyanthrax didn't know what those were though. How could she explain that in a way he'd get? "They're like, uh... like watching actors on a stage I guess? But the stage is a big screen instead, and depending on what type of movie it is, there's lots of explosions and stuff." He probably liked explosions, right?

[Cheshire Toon 141]

Masaru didn’t immediately hop into Cloud’s saddle. He waited until Aria had successfully scrambled on top of Sora’s back, originally with the intent of helping her, but she had been determined to do it on her own. "There! No problem! First try!" She grumbled. "Now let's get going!"

Masaru snickered. “Not so fast! Riding a Saddle Slime is a bit different than most mounts,” he said, coming up on her side and putting a hand on her back to steady her. “Careful. See that part right there sticking up sorta like a sword hilt?” He pointed to leather paddle at the front, which to Aria, would greatly resemble an arcade machine joystick. “You gotta grab onto that to tell Sora here which way to go. Push it forward, Sora will jump forward, pull it back and Sora will stop. The main thing to remember is never, ever, let go of that. You might fall off and it may not look like it but a Slime Saddle can jump over thirty feet in the air, so it’s a long way down.”

“Don’t worry too much though,” Masaru assured her, flashing her his blindingly bright smile. “Sora won’t let anything happen to you. She and Cloud are from my best mount Erdrick’s litter, so you couldn’t find a safer partner if you tried. Isn’t that right Sora?” He patted her on the forehead. Sora bounced excitedly, the core in the center of her body mass wiggling. 

“I’ll make sure to let Erdrick know how awesome you two are,” Masaru said. Then he made his way over to his own mount, effortlessly hooking his foot into the stirrup and pulling himself up. “Whenever you’re ready Aria. I’ll be right behind you, so even if you do slip, I’ve got you.”
 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

[LordCowCow 840]

Morgan

"well, I did need to get some blood to drink."

The witch examined the girl as Cyanthrax brought up the idea that she might be a vampire. Morgan...had to know. So she stepped up next to the girl, grabbed her face by the cheeks, and used her thumbs to push Ross's lip upward. She leaned forward to check the girl's teeth and then stepped back. "No fangs." Morgan called out to the rest. "She's got weird eyes, though." The latter comment seemed off coming from Morgan given her unusually orange eyes which, as the light struck them, shone briefly like a cat's.

"Probably not from my world though... we don't have any of these 'movie' things... whatever the fuck that is. It sounds boring as shit. Why don't we discuss this over some ale at the bar?"

"Oh. My. God." Morgan said, throwing her head back and sighing loudly. "I swear all you ever want to do is drink. You're such an old man." She looked back at Ross. "I'm sure we can get some familiar movies but a movie is a movie right? I'm sure whatever they have can't be much different from whatever you had." She then remarked, pointedly, towards Cyanthrax "Unlike some people I know that movies can be cool."

"A movie sounds fun!"

Morgan's face paled as she realized she was agreeing with Aurora of all people. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She muttered.

---

Xia

The maid boy and elf girl watched as the attacker fled through the window. The elf seemed like she wanted to follow but a flashing from a device on her chest gave her pause. Moments later the girl had vanished and in her place was the small form of Aurea that Xia had seen before. "Oh, dang it, out of juice." She muttered.

Camille looked at Xia, who seemed confused, and quickly glanced away. "That um, well, you see, er..." He hesitated and simply closed his mouth.

"That...was me." Valerie said as she emerged from the exit where they had been guiding people. "Sort of...That was me from, well, another universe." She gave a laugh and rubbed at the back of her head. "Yeah it's a bit of a mess."

---

Masaru and Aria at the hospital

Once the duo made their way to the hospital, after getting many odd looks from onlookers and being stopped every so often by fans, they would find it to look, to Aria at least, more or less like a basic hospital waiting room.

Chairs set up along the walls and surrounding several rectangular pillars. Instead of the usual magazines there were instead pads that linked to various news and gossip channels.

The main thing that set it apart from a hospital Aria would be familiar with was the virtual receptionist at one end of the room. Who, as the two approached, would notify them that "Oh, Masaru, we have been expecting you. Dr. Akoola is waiting in room 309, on the third floor. If you'd like we could have a guide-bot escort you to the room."

As she spoke a small, pill-shaped, robot with clamp-like hands attached to spindly arms, a pair of glowing pink eyes, and a surgical mask on, came through a tube in the wall and hovered nearby.

Spoiler

Note for Drew that you are free to not arrive at the hospital right away if you'd prefer. This is just to set the scene once you both arrive there.

 

[Skaia 578]

The girl saw the faces drop of those around her as she made her comment, much to the bored looking girl's amusement. Before she could say anything else, though, the witch then boldly made her way up to Ross. The young demon hunter wasn't sure what to expect from her, but her shoving her fingers in her face and prying open her lips certainly wasn't it. Stunned by the suddenness of it, Ross gave her a weird look and then to everyone else, only to then seem even more confused as the girl mentioned her eyes. It wasn't as though her eyes weren't strange, it was just a bit strange hearing it from the clear picture of normalcy that Morgan looked to be.  Looking at her, Ross just asked, "having fun there," to Morgan.

After that was done, it seemed that the group had, more or less decided to go see a movie now. Looking at the lion elf, she said, "sorry, majority votes movie. Besides, I'm too young to drink anyway. Oh," as almost an after thought she said, "I'm not a vampire. I just lived under a lot of dirt and rocks for awhile." Her tone, quite like before, did not seem to change in the slightest nor did her expression.  Looking to Morgan and Aurora she said, "so, what kind of movies are you guys in the mood for. I'm down for something with action." As she began making her way for the door of the room she said, "oh. Right. One of you should probably lead the way. New in town, and all." 

Xia looked confused at the trio of others. She didn't quite get what they were trying to say, and voiced this aloud, asking, "what do you mean by a, uh, 'other universe'?"

"It's such a pain to explain..." Valerie said. "But I guess I should start with...I used to fight in the Arena, just like you, but I...wasn't the first. Before me there was this...other Valerie. She was like me, I guess, but different. More flames, that weird spear thing, and not nearly as cool." She gave a brief smirk at this part.

The dragon girl only seemed to grow more concerned by  this explanation, sort of grasping that there was somehow two Valeries. "She's also a lot meaner." The Valerie in front of her right now was a friendly and fun person, so if they were the same Xia didn't know why she would do something so awful. 

 "Yeah, well...that leads into the next part. She was the most popular fighter in the Arena. She won most of her matches and was, well, like me so you know. People loved her." She frowned. "No one knows what exactly happened but she eventually got enough points to take on that big event, you know the one I mean?"

Xia thought on it for a moment before her eyes brightened up saying, "oh, the one with the dragons right?"

Valerie snapped her fingers. "Exactly. So she took on that event and...something happened. She got hurt. Couldn't fight. But Mauvache didn't want people to know, since she was so popular, so...she brought me here. Eventually something....broke in the other Valerie and." She gestured out the window. "That."

Xia's face looked downtrodden, as her thoughts went to what the other Valerie had to have been, and what she was now. "That's...awful...Oh," she then looked back to Valerie saying, "not that you were brought here. You're super awesome Valerie, but..." She then stared at the window in concern.

"Yeah, it kinda sucked. Didn't help that I'm not exactly the same as she is. So things kinda got awkward. It wasn't long after that people started to quit."

Xia looked confused by this and simply asked, "well, why did you quit, Valerie?"

She shrugged. "Lot of others had already. Plus I didn't really like keeping up the act that I was someone else....Even if that someone else was me."

Xia still seemed troubled by the whole thing, but eventually said, "so...she can't just...we have to make sure she doesn't do this again. Right?" 

Edited May 22, 2019 by Skaia

[yui 576]

Day 8, 9:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"I'm not a vampire. I just lived under a lot of dirt and rocks for awhile."

Aurora now had additional questions. If she drank blood and lived under dirt and rocks, but wasn't a vampire... then what was she? Hopefully there'd be time to ask about that later. For now though, it was movie time! Aurora pulled up her map of the city, looking around for the nearest movie theater. It wasn't too far off, either! Or at least, it was closer than that park had been. That kind of makes sense, come to think of it. Entertainment here, entertainment there. Maybe it was a district thing? She didn't know; she was a hero-student-gone-fighter, not a city planner.

"We can figure out what to watch once we're there. It's not that far, so let's get going!"

---

Well, here they were. The movie theater. Cyan and Gavin opted not to tag along, and Aurora... didn't recognize any of these titles. Which made sense. Ross had said an action movie might be nice. Aurora agreed. "What kind of movie have you got in mind?" she asked to Morgan.

[reparoni 161]

Despite their best efforts, Cyanthrax wasn't sold on this movie thing. Why would he pay money to go watch some actors make probably fake explosion when he could go out and make his own? The newbie didn't seem so keen about drinking, which caused Cyan to grumble. He turned to Aurora, who seemed more than eager to guide the new blood around. He simple shook his head, before turning away from the group. "Well, anyone who want to go watch some shitty movie can do as they please." He said, starting to walk away from the other fighters. "Me, I'm gonna go get a drink, maybe wander around the place some more. Any of you fucks are welcome to join me." He stopped at the door of the arena, turning his head back to see if anyone had taken up his offer to go drinking. His eyes seemed to lock onto Gavin, as he seemed to be the only one here that was old enough to enter a bar no problem.

[Chaos Sonic 442]

Honestly, Gavin didn't care too much for the new person, at first glance anyway. But then again, judging a book by face value most likely was a bad idea. Either way, Aurora and the girls seemed to be all in favor for heading to the movies to watch something.

"We can figure out what to watch once we're there. It's not that far, so let's get going!"

"Thanks Snow Angel, but I think I'll pass." Gavin shrugged. "Not a huge movie goer..."

"This is the unfortunate truth." VEX piped in. "Unless it is a fantasy film."

"VEX..." he rolled his eyes, grumbling slightly. He was about to go just head back to his room, but Cyan, who also didn't want to watch the movie...to him, it was probably because he didn't have a damn clue what those were...spoke up.

"Well, anyone who want to go watch some shitty movie can do as they please. Me, I'm gonna go get a drink, maybe wander around the place some more. Any of you fucks are welcome to join me."

Seemed like Cyan was definitely staring a hole into Gavin's soul, from his perspective, but then again...he did miss having a few drinks here and there with a few of his buddies back on his world. A smirk appeared on his face, as he sighed and shrugged, making his way towards the Lion Sin of Pride. "Well, can't pass up a drink. So what the hell...I'll join ya."

[LordCowCow 840]

Girl's Afternoon

"so, what kind of movies are you guys in the mood for. I'm down for something with action."

"What kind of movie have you got in mind?"

Morgan rolled her eyes. She was already in a huff since Cyanthrax completely ignored her earlier and her mood didn't seem to be getting much better. "I suppose I have to decide everything for you people don't I?" She said. The witch shook her head as she examined the screens that displayed what movies were on going.

Maximum Overdrive, a movie about a popular fictional character called Jaxx "The Max" Benton who was a muscular "Manly man" who beat up criminals and nerds while driving fast cars and throwing out punny one-liners.

Stuck in the Middle (Of the World) With You, a comedy about two friends who got transported into the center of the world where they had to try and disguise themselves to blend in with the native Mole Men and find a way out of there while going through all sorts of wacky high-jinks. Mostly involving the pet lizard they found along the way.

Savage Garden, a horror movie about being stuck in an underground ruin with a killer vine monster. The tagline was "Truly, madly, deeply, in danger".

And A Whole Lava Love, which was described as a Steamy romance between a cleaning lady and an occupant at the hotel she works with which was located inside of a volcano.

Morgan stared at the options for a while then pointed at the last. "It says it has a lot of 'hot action' that's what you wanted, right?" She turned towards Ross and it was clear from her face that she didn't realize anything wrong with coming to that conclusion.

---

Xia

"so...she can't just...we have to make sure she doesn't do this again. Right?" 

Valerie gave an empty laugh. "Don't think I've tried? She's stronger than me and I only ever find her when she comes to me. Hard to fight back when she only pops up when she wants to."

Aurea rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I don't know how she does it but none of us have been able to track her down yet. It's kinda embarrassing honestly."

Camille for his part seemed to be trying to avoid attention. But when addressed he'd just say "I don't...want to have to fight anymore."

Soon after a group of workers, humans and fae alike, came in to start clearing things up and fixing what was damaged. Aurea, suddenly remembering she was working still, told the rest that they should probably get going while they get everything under control here.

[yui 576]

Day 8, ?:00, Movie Theater
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"I suppose I have to decide everything for you people don't I?"

As Morgan looked over the current listings, so did Aurora. There was an action movie, indeed, with fast cars, one-liners, and all that good action movie stuff. There was a comedy movie that seemed funny enough, but something about it just didn't click. Aurora opted to skip over the horror movie, or at least, she skipped the part where she'd consider watching it. And then there was a steamy romance movie that was... well, it certainly didn't look like the kind of thing that she'd find playing at home in the living room. Morgan, for whatever reason, seemed to have her eye on the last one.

"It says it has a lot of 'hot action' that's what you wanted, right?"

Somebody had to stop this girl before she made a wrong decision. "That's, uhh... that's not the kind of action we meant, Morgan." Pointing up to the Maximum Overdrive movie, she continued "We were talking something more like this. Cars, guns, explosions, all that stuff." That was what an action movie was all about. Whether or not they were written well didn't matter as long as it delivered on adrenaline-pumping action scenes. I wonder if they do 3D glasses here. Those things give me a bit of a headache anyway though.

"Sounds fun, right?" she asked, already heading up to buy the tickets unless someone stopped her.

[reparoni 161]

"That's the spirit!" Cyan said as the boy made his way towards the demon, his gaze lightening up a bit. He wondered how many drinks the boy could handle before losing it. He turned back towards the door. "Let's go."

As the boys walked into the bar, everything was just as he remembered it. It felt like coming home after a long journey. "Follow me." he said, making a beeline towards a set of empty seats at the bar. Once he sat down, he took the time to absorb the atmosphere around him. As he did, and his eyes roamed the room, he noticed a silver haired women was there, one that Cyan had never seen around these parts before, sitting a table away from them. She didn't exactly blend in with the crowd, standing out among the other patrons around her. Cyanthrax glanced over to Gavin. "Hey, ya know anything about her?" He said, nudging his head towards the stranger. "Never seen her around these parts... and I'm very familiar with these parts."

Edited June 5, 2019 by REP

[Skaia 578]

With the trio of girls, as both the boy and the lion elf didn't seem interested, now going to the movies, they eventually got to the theater proper. As they got there, the girls all looked to the posters that were outside to see what was showing. Ross wasn't exactly an expert on movies back at home, but she was fairly certain none of them were quite as...colorful as the ones on the poster here. They all seemed to be in line with what she would expect, but with their own little quirk to them. All the same, as the girl examined the posters, she then looked to Morgan who seemed to have a suggestion. At first, Ross figured she was joking with her, but as she looked at her entirely sincere expression, Ross's generally stoic expression had a small crack in it as the girl had to stifle a laugh. 

Though they had only known each for very little time, Ross was already starting to realize what was up with Morgan. She knew that here, if they went to go see the movie or if they were to explain it to her than it would have a similar effect to telling a kid that Santa wasn't real - Ross briefly had to wonder if Morgan believed in Santa as well - and couldn't bring herself to do that to the kid. So, following Aurora's lead she said, "yeah, I think I'm more in the mood for that uh, Maximum Overdrive movie. But uh, we can check the other one out later...when you're uh, older." Ross wasn't actually sure how old Morgan was, but with all that sorted out, the group walked to get tickets. 

Once they got them, they were directed to the room the picture was playing in. When they were in there, the first thing Ross noticed was that the seat were floating. "Well," she said aloud, "that's certainly not from back home." Walking to them, the young girl took her seat, waiting for the picture to start playing. 

Xia was still concerned about what had happened between the two Valeries, and her expression showed her down trodden-ness at the situation. Hanging her head low a bit, she merely said, "I see.." As everyone seemed to be moving out, Xia looked back to Valerie and said, "well, if I can do anything, I'll help you out. I'm not sure what I can do but," Xia seemed to try pumping herself up as she said, "I'll do everything I can!" After she had offered her help to Val, if nothing else was needed, Xia would then leave the arena to go about the rest of her day.