Scene #8026: AdvenTinders In Cyberspace

Owner	Pose
Xion	"And then I used the power I borrowed from you to do this nyrrrroom-skrrrr-" Xion explains animatedly, swooping her hands before her in a complex diagramatic gesture as she walks Shijima Go through the previous night's activities, of punching a giant robot repeatedly until peace was returned to the land. The pair walked through a park in the perpetual evening of Deling City (nee Paris) lit by electric lamps and shaded by overhanging trees that enmeshed their branches and provided tunnel-like passages through a well-trimmed hedge-and-eveningflower cobblestone path. "And then, I did a flip kick, and summoned a giant combustion engine -fist-, and -pow-!" Xion swings a pantomime-punch down, and then starts laughing. "He never expected me to do it twice in a row. I don't think anyone does. Oh, wait, hold on." Picking up her phone - which unlocks itself - Xion swipes up to her apps. "Hold on, someone's got a new game and they're looking for heroes and villains and stuff. Wanna check that out instead?" On her phone screen is an AdvenTinder profile, listing main battle class, weapon proficencies, their ideal kind of encounter on a beach, and a > FIGHT NOW button. Xion has, of course, pressed that button with her thumb. Nearby, a crackling portal appears, yawning open to... THE DUELING PROFILE?
Chains Knight	MEANWHILE "Right, so this is going to be the third zone," says Chains, walking slowly up a futuristic boardwalk. "Techno beach zone. We'll workshop the name. Levels... eight through twenty. Maybe twenty five, if we buff the quest xp." There's a bunch of people following in his wake, in various levels of 'business suit' and 'programmer attire' and 'circus ringleader attire', all taking notes on what he's saying. "Prep activities for your assignments that'd be suitable for the boardwalk, the shore, and up on the-" His phone buzzes. He pulls it out and checks. Adventinder notification. "... take five," he says to his entourage, as he brings it up to check. Chains' profile is pretty extensive. He's got creds as a game master, quest master, final boss, miniboss, and various overlord-adjacent positions. He's got mostly positive testimonials, an S-rank in 'magic chain' and 'minion army' combat, and an A rank in 'support buffs'. His ideal encounter on a beach involves finding the inner strength that was within you all along in order to activate the final transformation or weapon - second favorite is a heartfelt but somber discussion about what you might end up personally losing on the quest to save the world, watching the waves while a downtempo rendition of the main theme plays. He peruses Xion's profile, and goes to click 'fight now' too, but the decision is out of his hands either way as the exit end of that portal opens up on the boardwalk. "Hmm."
Go Shijima	"No way!" Go, dressed in a red-and-white letterman matched with his usual tee-and-jeans ensemble, listens with rapt attention, eyes widening with every new detail. "You even did a skrrrt," he says in impressed disbelief, pantomiming a drift with his hand. Nodding sagely, "No one expects that--you're absolutely right." Pausing along the way when she checks her phone, Go raises a brow with mild interest. "A new game...?" Sure--why not? "That sounds like fun. Let's check it out!" Of course, hanging out with Xion means that things are only what they seem half of the time--the other half, it's portals. Go knows this and accepts it, shrugging his shoulders and leaping through. "Yo!" He says, landing on the futuristic boardwalk after an agile midair flip. Pointing dramatically, "Is this the right place for the new game? The one looking for 'heroes and villains?'" Go grins confidently, leaning against Xion. "If it is, then you could sure do worse than the two of us for 'heroes.'"
Xion	Xion's AdvenTinder profile reads: * Prior Roles: Dark General, Special Episode Boss, Mid-Roster Challenge Fight, Late-Joining Party-Member, Plot Device (Partial, Direct) * Main Battle Class: Hero of Everyone's Heart * Weapon Proficencies: Anything Goes! * Ideal Beach Encounter: I think the ideal beach encounter is a big barbequeue right by the waves, maybe some volleyball or sand castles, and having a night to remember forever. Fight optional, but exciting! Jumping through the portal to emerge in Chains Knight's demense, Xion lands on the boardwalk with a grin, expecting... Not what she lands in. Go takes the initiative to lead on introductions and the 'heroes' line, which Xion winks and cheerfully leans forward on, half-cupping a hand over her mouth. "Or villains! If the message is right." Righting, she bows into a half-wave, half-indicating gesture. "I'm Xion, and this is my doubles partner, Shijima Go." Her gesture becomes a thumbing 'this guy' gesture, back and forth. "He's a transforming hero who's already realized that his quest is ultimately one that has to straddle the power of destruction with the hope for salvation." Her hands come together. "He likes walks in the park, photography, and stunt racing." She flutters her eyes, grinning goofily while she looks at Go. "And he's a -scarf guy-. Did I miss anything?"
Chains Knight	"I see - I didn't expect to get applicants so soon. We're still building the game out - we haven't even set up the quest hubs for this area yet, let alone populated it with mobs and the actual quests," says Chains. He rolls his shoulders as he looks the two over, putting his phone back away. "Hero-wise, I have positions for player training, taking supporting spots in event battles, and relationship minigame options - ideal for scarf wearing heroes, I'll point out. Or if you're just looking for a one time deal we can talk heroic endorsements and using your likeness." "Other positions open for villainry. We aren't doing a villain-who-has-a-point type of story this time, so if that's a no-go for you, we can just take your information and call you when we're ready to do that type of story in the hopefully near future." "But either way..." He rolls his shoulders again. "I need to check your bona fides before we talk specifics. While not everyone can rock a scarf, Adventinder profiles are sadly easy to fake these days." And then without prior warning, he pulls his chain from its belt holster, and lashes out at them both, checking to see how fast they can transition from 'talking' to 'fighting'!
Go Shijima	"No," Go reassures Xion with a goofy grin of his own. "That sounds like everything." "Wow," he says, frowning thoughtfully at Chains. "You're really going all-out with this, aren't you?" His brow furrows as a spark of confusion flickers across his features. "Wait," he says, glancing back to Xion, slightly flushed. "What was that last option?" He's so distracted that the mention of testing his adventuring inches passes his notice. It's only because of fight idiot instincts that he's able to belt up in time. Lashed by the chain, Go rolls away from the impact, his hand dipping into the pocket of his coat. Momentum channeled into his arm slaps the belt on, and fuels a lateral flip. "Let's..." A miniature bike is slotted into what appears to be a belt-mounted exhaust pipe, causing a lance of red-hot flame to spew as the belt revs up. "Henshin!" A hardlight assembly of pit tools flash-forges a stylish, red and white suit of armor, with lines (and a number!) reminiscent of a well-loved golden age of racing. It's even got the very rare double shoulder cape. The suit is only still for a moment, tires at the ankles revving up to carry Go forward in a controlled spin. "You heard him, Xion--it's a test. Let's show him the power of our bond!" Thrusters pop him into the air, his body pivots, and that centrifugal force is brought to bear with a dizzying overhead spin kick. Go's low landing sees him immediately moving again, bringing his body around to sweep low.
Xion	"Oh, we're going straight to the interview? Well--" Xion looks up and down the boardwalk, grinning and entirely into it. "Yeah, I'm actually really down with antagonists with a point, but sometimes you want a story with a monster nobody feels bad about hurting. It's easier, and faster to get to the meat, to have a threat that doesn't talk. Plus, it's a lot less--" Distracting. Xion barely catches Chains' hand moving to his holster while they talk about bona-fides, a soft smile quirking into confusion, and then realization. Back-skipping from neutral, Xion casts her hands into the path of the chain and swings - with a 'shwink!' of metal-twinkle, a length of crome and a grip of blue with an empty-starred comb clashes sparkingly with the magic whip-chain. Knocked out of the line-up while Go transforms, Xion lands in a crouch and wrests clear her weapon with a flick. "Yeah! I know! We came here for the test! I pressed 'fight now'!" She grumbles, taking one step and disappearing into an instantly-yawning portal to re-appear in a ripple of black cloth and atmosphere, following Go's overhead to sweep with a delayed overhead of her own, dropping from a dive into leaping off ground, guy, or guard to jump over and make another downward-aerial crossup slash.
Chains Knight	"The last option," says Chains as he unspools more chain from his belt. "Being a romance target. It is a quite popular assignment. We distribute appropriate gifts throughout the game, the players acquire them and bring them to you, you engage in a bit of dialogue, maybe a short date when your bar fills - we can give you an earpiece with a coach on the other end if you need." He watches the henshin appreciatively. "Good - you have your own catchphrase and callouts? Saves our marketing team a bit of work, there." The problem with this style of interview is that a knockout question can literally knock you out, as evidenced by Chains geting a spinkick to the head, and then a crossup right after that. With one hand, he brings the chain up defensively, and the other goes for his belt. "So you want to show off the strength of your bond? Then let's set up a little challenge for your teamwork..." He yanks out a couple of cards from his belt holster, throwing them haphazardly onto the boardwalk - a bunch of random fantasy units pop into existence, and then spread out. He pulls another card, this one more specifically picked. "The Green Knight's game," he announces, and holds it up into the air. All around the boardwalk and beach, mana veins pop into existence, leaking precious power-up-juice into the air. "Node control. Do you think you can keep my units from powering up?" Indeed, those fantasy fighters who have reached a vein are looking slightly more buffed already, and swing spells and arrows at the duo!
Go Shijima	"Why do you have an app with a button for--" There's no point to finishing that question, Go quickly realizes, with a laugh. "Never mind." Having the field suddenly change doesn't slow Go down, but it does change his route. Leaping nimbly backwards, his thrusters carry him higher into the air, extending the arc of his jump and buying a few seconds more to survey the changes. We can't fight him and his help. But I don't want to fight them at a disadvantage. We'll need to secure our own spot and attack from there...! That does, unfortunately, put Go in the line of fire. Arrows and spells crash into his armor, sparks flying from the suit as he makes a single-minded beeline for the nearest unoccupied node. Spinning 'round to let his tires carry him in reverse, Go lifts that laser pistol of his, feathering the trigger to provide covering fire for Xion. "Let's power up and take them on!" Mashing the belt's button, the air smells suddenly of ozone as red lightning crackles around his form. The tires skid to a momentary halt once he crosses into a node, and the lightning condenses into a tightly packed globe of red-white fire at the emitter of the pistol. Slotting a miniature bike into the weapon's chamber, the suit's AI announces something that sounds like 'DANGER!' Holding down the trigger forms a hardlight construct--a tiny bullet with cartoonish shark teeth and eyes. Bolstered by the power-up juice, he swats the remaining projectiles from the air with spirited jump kicks before finally, the trigger is released. The little bullet hops over to the gathered fighters upon their vein--and immediately grows to the size of a sedan, turning its very sharp teeth and bulk against them!
Xion	"You're a belt guy too?!" Xion laughs brightly while Chains goes for the Confident Driver Manipulation. The power of bonds - of chains, of course! - flows out in bursting fonts of mana, and the minions go from 'chaff and stage potpourri' to serious threats suddenly. Immediately forced to respect the mechanic when Chains goes on the defensive and the Nobody takes a fireball to the back. Sent sprawling forward in a stagger, Xion pushes herself up with the tip of her weapon and sweeps it through a trio of arrows that follow up, coughing smoke and smouldering from the node-enhanced goons. "You want to do some work as a capture target, Go? I knew you wanted to capture hearts with your art, but I didn't know -you- were the art on display!" Pivoting to the leylines, Xion sweeps out her left hand and closes her fist, a second sword crystallizing into shape in a dark purple flash. Shattering outward in a puff of instantly-etched dust, Xion flings the crystal-circuit longsword as soon as it forms into one of the outpouring nodes of power. "Power up, huh? Alright then - Here we go!" Xion shouts, her Cantio-copied weapon tapping into the power vein of digital magic and beaming out -- well, actually, it's kind of a buttrock-y theme song with lots of guitar, switching to a spanish guitar sound while Go unleashes his DANGER chompy. "I'll show you the power of bonds - our heavy feelings!" Raising up her hands as she jumps up, drafting on cutscene attack power, Xion's magic swells and coils into a grand crackling purple singularity of ley-line juiced magic that she directs down with a falling gesture of her hands. "Gravija!" Xion directs the imploding-exploding singularity down on top of the gathered-up mooks to preditably pyrotechnic results.
Chains Knight	The help gets blasted apart on one side - and then just simply eradicated by the Gravija blast coming in on the other. Altogether, the enemy forces just simply dissolve, in both the figurative and literal senses. No amount of juicing up could have saved them, it seems. The entire field is momentarily clear of enemy minions. Towards the back, Chains Knight gives a small golf clap. "Very good, very good indeed. Consider your bond sufficiently proven..." "... but not yet as proven as mine. Meet Kukuru's game." He pulls another card, and holds it up - and with it, he grows. Chains Knight grows in all directions and dimensions, reaching easily twice as tall as he had been and then some - not nearly make-my-monster-grow kaiju size, but more than enough for a respectable raid boss. "Show me... more," he says, rearing back with his chain and then casting it at Xion's position, and then winding up and sweeping it over at Go's spot. It's a powerful attack, with long reach and a large area that gets hit with each strike, but it seems he has to wind up for each swing. "Your greatest heroics, your most despicable villainry. Show me that you can craft a story - not with your words, but with your very existence!"
Go Shijima	"Art... j-just how am I supposed to respond to that?!" Go calls back to Xion, flustered beyond the full helmet's ability to conceal. Standing still... I'm at a disadvantage, like that. Miyamomo's style is totally unsuited to it. I need to move the minute Xion gives me the chance...! As it happens, she gives him quite the chance to do so. Feeling the familiar stomach drop of impending Heaviness, Go's hand is already reaching for his belt when Xion invokes Gravija. For a brief moment, he's still as a picture--only for an explosion of red light to burn away the afterimage. SIGNAL BIKE//SHIFT CAR - Dead Heat! A different armor--aggressive, calling to mind a straight sprint rather than a rally racer. A tire flies in to merge with the red breastplate, striking weighed-down stragglers on its way towards him. "Gh!" He scarcely has a moment post-transformation before Chains' attack is upon him. With a rev, the suit carries him with blinding speed, up and forward--but the knight's increased size and reach make an adjustment necessary, one that's too late to make. Go is struck dead on, sent rolling laterally through the air by the force of the strike. My story... if he's asking questions like that, he must really be dedicated. Then... "Here it is!" Dead Heat's thrusters push that roll into a midair recovery. Chains' weapons are now large enough for the nimble rider to run along their length as waves from their wielder's attacks rush to meet him. Striking sparks into the link as his boots fall upon it, Go rockets suddenly forward, bringing his knee up at the last minute to crash into Chains' breastplate. Daunting though the task might be, Go keeps himself in the fight with burning willpower, weaving in and out with tag-team flurries of bullet punches, elbow strikes and wheel swipes with his boots and that wheeled laser pistol. When Xion presses, he does, too, making one final attack: Blasting with paralyzing screens of red energy shaped like stop signs, Go attempts to lock Chains down for one dramatic combined haymaker--his story. He's come a long way to get here--to give his trust freely and keep his heart open. He's come a long way, and he didn't walk it alone. His kick comes at the end of a momentum-building, lightning-fast circuit, transferring all of it into an abrupt stop to deliver a leaping, burning dive kick from behind.
Xion	Sweeping the field clear with the twinned detonation, Xion falls slowly back to the boardwalk ground, grinning while she gets a clap. Both of her summoned swords - Starlight and Corecalibur - get slung across her shoulders. The back of her neck and head is highlit in pulsing purple crystal circuits and shiny chrome-silver. 'But not yet as proven as mine'. "Hah?" Xion gapes, as the INCOMING GAME is: Big! Having to dodge smashing sweeps and sprays of terrain, Xion cross-blocks and slashes through the worst of it, being pelted all the same as she tumbles out of the way of the enormosity of Chains LARGE. "Just because you're gigantic doesn't mean your bonds are better or more! But I really like your dialogue, I'm realy into it! Go, let's--" Go gets smashed again, and he's looking bad. "Try to keep it together, Mach! The race isn't over!" Xion encourages, but knows her 'doubles partner' is still beat up from his last heroic stand. Hopping up with a skipping pace that lands on blob-like music notes, tangible 'bits' that flatten with her steps, up and up on an orchestrated staircase. Go's burning willpower and ultra-speed setup becomes the intensity while Xion sprints up to the last note, leaps, and clears the top of the enormous giant under the heavy curtain of crimson STOP-energy. "We can't show you our greatest, yet - there's always more. More to be, more to do!" "We don't have limits!" Combining her swords into one purple-silver helix of energy, she reaches up, and the knot rises perpendicular to the horizon, up and up and up. She swings down, a single cleaving helm-splitter down Chains Knight's centerline that erupts into a re-entry aftershock-boom of pressure.
Chains Knight	Chains brings the chain up defensively, but he's spending more attention on watching what they're doing - watching, examining with a critical eye. "... Hah, yes! The hero of the blazing passions, who can't be stopped! And the black robed figure who's surpassed her limits to the point that she no longer has any!" Go heads behind, and closes in. Xion comes in from the front. "Show me... how far you can surpass them!" The two attacks contact - the burning dive kick, and the cleaving skull splitter. "... Wonderful! Amazing. I yield, I yield!" Chains drops his weapon - and drops his increased size, returning to normal. "I have seen all I need to see - I have seen far beyond what I need to see, and I thank you for it. You are hired - you can name your own positions, even." Once everyone's calmed down from the battle, Chains (who has a bit of blood running down the side of his helmet, but doesn't seem to notice) holds out both hands, one towards Go and the other towards Xion, palms up. A pair of screens appear - almost like holographic displays, tablet-sized, one in each palm. \|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=PARTY INVITE=-=-=-=-=-=-=-\| \| Join Chains Knight's party? \| \| ACCEPT >Y N \| \|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-\|
Xion	Landing with a a floaty-softness as Xion's heeled boots drop onto two satbesides musical notes that pop - with the crystal sword, into so much purple dust and sound - once the fight is '''over'''. Xion still crackles with the sauce, breathing with the puffing-restrained way of someone just on the cusp of bursting and having to swallow it down instead. But the fight's over! The fight's over. Lifting her idle tip-down keysword to set it across her shoulder, Xion exhales a long sigh of trying-very-hard-to-be-relief, and looks down at the bleeding-helmed knight's palm. "Umm. . . Is your head okay?" Xion presses the >Y input without thinking too much about it. "What kind of titles would you think fit for us? I didn't really think about it that much when we matched on AdvenTinder."
Go Shijima	Good Work! Go's bruised and scratched in places when the armor fades away, but his smile makes his feelings as plain as day. "All right," he excitedly exclaims, jumping into the air and pumping his fist as he lands. "We did it." he says, eyes gleaming proudly as he looks over at Xion. "I can't believe we're gonna be in a game!" Looking back at Chains, go taps Y. "After that fight, I can see how you'd come so highly recommended," offers Go to Chains. "You're really hard to close in on, you know!" Xion's concern for Chains' well being draws a similar look from Go, who notices the little spot on his helmet. Quietly, he hands over a towel, which he seems to have just been carrying with him in the expectation that someone here would need it. Such is life, when one lives by the fist. "I'm fine with any title--but if it's all the same, I think my romance flag belongs with Xion."
Chains Knight	Xion holding clear 'hard enrage is coming up next in the boss AI script' energy may indeed be part of why Chains is ready to call the rest of the fight off. "I've got HP left on my bar, why wouldn't it be okay?" says Chains, the trickle of blood not stopping. He does take the towel and hold it up to the side of his helmet, though. The screens beep and then disappear as both of them touch 'Y'. "Excellent - okay then. For Xion, I'm not settled on the idea yet, but I'm getting the feeling of a recurring encounter mechanic? You'd show up, challenge players, drop higher rarity loot if they drive you off - well, you can't challenge every player or party, so maybe we'd... get a bunch of other black robed challengers who'd be your themed lieutenants, with maybe similar weapons or names or something. Like... some sort of organization. I'll workshop it." "And you - you're gonna have a leveling zone. Kamen Rider Mach Raceway. Players can fight... evil cars or something. You fight those, right?"
Xion	"Yes. He fights those." Xion closes with a grin. "Well, if you're asking me to help out doing what I already do, and you're willing to supply the stuff for me to drop: I'd be happy to! Communicating with people is really easy when you don't let them put up their normal defenses." Beaming, Xion puts her arm around Go's shoulders, cants her chin at the Kamen Rider, and grins catlike. "Trying things out from the Roidmude angle, hmm? Sounds great. Show them what a real Mach Racer Course looks like."
Go Shijima	Go can't really lie. He has indeed fought those, among many other things. "I can't wait," he says. "I'll give it my all to make that zone memorable!" He's caught off guard by Xion, though he certainly doesn't seem to mind when he sees her smile. "I will," he says, smiling warmly back and wrapping his arm around her waist. "And I know you'll give those players an amazing fight! The Hero of Everyone's Hearts..." His eyes scan the horizon of the futuristic boardwalk, gleaming with excitement--and then a thought crosses his mind. With a laugh and a light squeeze, he adds: "You're really good at recurring encounters, huh." In a way, it's kind of how they met.