magical girl mini event 1

[soulping]

You find yourself on top of a building. There's no goodies, no sign of even the echo themselves, but the rooftop is a tiny greenspace complete with flowering bushes, a tiny pond and a few cooing pigeons. It's an empty, miniature garden overlooking a busy city.

Below you, the streets are packed with cars jammed in stop-and-go traffic. People throng the sidewalks as they walk to and fro, talking on their cell phones, looking at their watches, hurrying to catch a bus or train. Adjacent to you are yet more buildings, some towering far into the sky and decked with giant tv screens mounted to their sides. Blaring lights and music and moving pictures pierce the quiet of the cool twilight sky.

Take a moment to appreciate the peaceful modern life around you.


[ Welcome to your mingle! It will last an hour.]

Comments

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ Oh, no. Oh no. ]

... Can... the King or Queen really do that?

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

I don't know. The City is still run by the Tops and the Public Security Maintenance Bureau. But the King is the strongest duelist in the City. They have tons of sway.

Whether or not you can, she didn't intend to find out that she couldn't. I know that much.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

So... What happened?

[ She probably doesn't want to know, but she also does. Very much. ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

...she won the Friendship Cup. And earned the right to face the King, Jack Atlas.

[He shakes his head.]

He destroyed her. It was like he was just toying with her. His tactics... [Sigh.] ...it was on a whole different tier from the rest of us.

....and the City is a competitive society. The winners rise to the top. So it's only natural that the defeated should fall to the bottom.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ Well, she definitely knows the feeling of seeing your best chance go out there and lose to someone who makes your best effort look like a joke. Sigh. ] Senpai...

So that just means she had to go back home, right? I mean, since... [ She can't bring herself to say 'Since Commons are the bottom.' ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

[Snort.]

....she lost over two years ago. I haven't seen her since.

Rumors say there's an underground recycling plant. If you try to escape from the Detention Center, or if you lose in the Friendship Cup, you're sent there to do forced labor.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ That's surprising enough that she can't help but just blurt out ] It can get worse?!

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

[Flatly:] Well, it did. So I guess it can.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

That's terrible.

[ ... ] And I guess it really does make my wish look stupid and tiny.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

Wanting to see your family isn't stupid.

I've been preparing to duel in the Friendship Cup for two years so I can win and get my sister back. It's not stupid.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

I... chose that, though. You... didn't. Or at least, if it were my sister, trying to find her... It wouldn't be a choice.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

That's horseshit.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

Wh-What?! How?

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

No five year old chooses to be separated from their family. You may have accepted it, but you sure as hell didn't choose it.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

I asked to be trained to be the best. It's the same thing.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

Fine. Whatever. [He doesn't seem to want to argue, for once. He just turns his head back out towards the city and keeps watching it.]

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ She decides to stare for a while, too. ]

I'm sorry. About your sister.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

Yeah.

So am I.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

Not sorry enough to go easy on you in a duel, though.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

[He notices the attempt to cheer him up...

....and it bounces right off his helmet and falls down to the street below.]

Not like it matters. I only duel to sharpen my skills for the Friendship Cup now.

Don't even know why I challenged you in the first place.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

We're duelists. It's what we do.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

Funny. Don't feel a lot like one anymore.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

That's because we're being forced into another genre for the time being.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

....genre?

[Squint.]

The hell're you talking about?

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

It's just a dumb joke. Don't worry about it.