theairlock | Week 3

Entry tags:

!round 5,
!week 3

Week 3

[Well, your first case sure was something, wasn't it? Yuuri Wakasa and Thomasin have both suffered brutal deaths, and while your Overseer didn't seem particularly pleased with the way Thomasin went out, you're all still being held here.

On Sunday morning, you'll find that the metal sheet between the Starbucks and RoombaVille has disappeared. More importantly, though, you'll find yourself waking with things you'd forgotten still ringing in your head.

There's one new hallway to explore, and two more still unaccounted for. Maybe you'll find something to cheer you up? Probably not. It's worth a go?]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Don't forget to do your weekly check-in and check the memory regain post! The item roll and Xander office hours posts are still open as well. ))

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[Junpei watches her for a bit, because the central part of the mall is, well, the central part of the mall, and if he wants to ransack Spot Spopic some more he sort of has to pass through. After more or less getting a sense of what she's doing, he clears his throat and speaks up.]

Would it help if someone held that guy up for you? You know, at more of a person-height level.

[It's as she connects with poor, poor Howdy Rancour once more that Jane hears Junpei, and she stops. She's already sweating with exertion, and breathing hard, but once she processes his words she shakes her head.]

Oh - oh God, no, I don't - I wouldn't want to actually hit a person, not on accident...

[Though it might actually be more satisfying to connect wood with wood, or wood with...ngh...it flitters away, she can't hold the thought.]

Well, I do have something of a personal advantage on that front.

[Waves his robot fingers at her. Come on, Jane, it's fine, your bokken isn't gonna hurt his IRON FIST.]

...What if I got the other arm instead? Or your head? Those aren't metal.

[But he keeps insisting...nnnngh...fiiiine. Jane sighs and kicks the very sad plush towards him. It doesn't go very far.]

Seriously, I'm not trained in bladekind. Even if this isn't a real blade with actual metal, I can't imagine it'd feel nice to be hit by it.

[Poor Rancor-kun. Junpei ambles over to pick him up and dust him off.]

All right, all right. Will you feel better if I hold something in my other hand to block you with? I could use the practice, too, I'm not trained in, ah. Anything, really.

Like a shield or something?

[Get Church, he's the Champion Shield.]

It would be a relief, yes.

I don't have a shield, per se.

[Down goes his now ever-present backpack, and out of it comes--well, that sure is an ornate dagger from the display case in Armigod.]

But I'm pretty sure this'll do in a pinch.

...Dang.

[No wonder he went for the backpack during the motive. Jane nods at last, raising the bokken up.]

Alright, you've convinced me.

Don't hold back, now.

[He picks up Rancor-kun in his right hand, holding it kind of like a shield, and twirls the knife in his right before standing ready.]

I'm not even here. It's just you and Howdy Doody.

[She snorts softly at that.] Howdy Doody and me.

[And then, Jane moves in. Her swings do hold back at first, as she tries to get a feel for the plush now at a much higher place and to not thwack Junpei, but it seems she quickly grows acclimated. Her form is still inexperienced and sloppy, but her blows move in a way designed to push back and hit hard, her footwork is light and fast, and she's focused, like anyone who's fought for their life for months would be. Like a teenage girl shouldn't be.

Hitting a plush toy still isn't the right kind of satisfying, but it's a little easier for Jane to "fight" this way.]

That's it.

[I've come up with a new reci--nope, wrong advisor. All Junpei does is hold the stuffed animal--stuffed alien?--steady, at first, and makes sure to lean away from her sloppier swings.

Once he feels like she's got the hang of it, he warns her--] Up high. [--and raises Rancor-kun aloft, more at, say, Church's height. Or Xander's.]

Got it-

[And the shift in height is like a switch being flipped. Her stance firms up - not enough to be proficient or to really fight someone, but as if her muscles know how to react to this change. Her swings and hits are a lot more certain, and definitely less likely to clip Junpei, even if her form is far from perfect.]

[Huh. That's interesting. It's not something Junpei can put his finger on, not exactly, because he's not a fighter--but it's interesting all the same.]

So did you go to battle school or something, Li'l J?

[He's intrigued.]

Nope! [Thwap, right into Howdy Rancour's tummy. He did nothing, this is cruel and unusual punishment. Her answer continues, punctuated by hits.] I'm more used to - tridents! But I've - been fighting - monsters for like - five months? In the game - my friends and I are playing - so it's not - like I'm flying blind!

Monsters? Really?

[Would you like to Tell Junpei About Homestuck, Jane?]

[She can tell him about some of Homestuck, they have a Multiple Death Solidarity at this point. She pauses in her assault on their plush friend to catch her breath.]

Yes, it's part of Sburb. When you play the game, you enter a sort of...totally new reality? And each player in the game has their own planet and quests and things to figure out and monsters to fight, and in the process, this is supposed to...make an entirely new universe for you to live in, because in entering the game, you...kind of sort of...leave your old world behind, and it gets destroyed. And it's not like you could choose not to play, either - you literally can only play properly if you were made to play the game, like...my friends and I were. Apparently. And some of our family members, too, erm...like...my daughter.

[She does look uneasy - this shit's pretty unbelievable, after all - but she keeps going anyway.]

But our session of the game was all mixed up. Without players from a different session - without Jade and her friends, we would have just stayed there forever without being able to make progress. Ergo, five months of fighting skeleton behemoths.

[Engrossed as he is in this story, he ends up lowering Rancor-kun somewhat. Eyy, take a break, shortstop.]

Yeesh... and I thought Diana and Sigma had it bad.

[He considers what he just said and then winces a little.]

Okay, no, they did have it bad. Just... you guys also had it bad. Uhhh, you didn't have to, um. You know. Make your daughter. Did you?

...Not in any sense. I was...not involved in that process beyond being some genetic goo for a while.

[eeeeey genetic goo]

Roxy and Dirk said someone from the other session, with Jade and everyone else, would have had to do it in their session. I...couldn't really keep up with the particulars beyond that.

I'm not going to pretend to understand the genetic goo part, but... okay. Well. I'm glad that didn't happen to you, at least.

[He looks down for a moment, seems to remember Howdy Rancor in his hand, and lifts it gently towards her.]

Hey. Hug and make up?

Yeah, it's...I certainly don't pretend I get it, either.

[She looks at Howdy Rancour for a moment before her mouth cracks into a soft smile, and she takes him gently and hugs him.]

I'll try fixing him up if we get, like...a sewing store or something. He's been a good sport.

[Awwww. Jane's such a sweet kid.]

He can take a few hits, at least. A good trait in a friend.

Mm, ideally a friend shouldn't be hitting another friend...

What? Nahh. Sometimes, that's the strongest proof of friendship--shows you have a friend who's willing to stick it out through the worst to help the rest of the group out.

[Because he is a video game man and sometimes video game men do the punchypunch.]

...I guess there's a point to that.

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Week 3

Howdy Rancour

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