one bite

[seeksherownsalvation]

[ video ]

[ CRINKLE ]

Hey, so, that machine lady--

[ CRUNCH. ]

Y'know, the one that starts nagging us right when we get here.

[ A lurching blur, another CRINKLE. ]

She's not so bright, is she, huh?

[ And the blurry, disjointed image on the communicator's screen finally resolves into something coherent: a teenage girl eating chips and staring at the device with a fiercely unimpressed expression. ]

If she's not gonna listen when I tell her I ain't no hero, she kinda sucks at this importing thing!

[ CRINKLE CRINKLE CRUNCH ]

Seriously.

[ She balls up the now-empty bag of chips and flings it away off-screen. ]

Someone better tell me how I get outta here soon or I'll just hafta mess up the place. That'd prove I'm no hero, right? But it's a waste of time if there's an easier way, so you should probably just let me know now.

Comments

[soulbondee]

Hey, this place gets messed up enough already, okay?! None of us need you addin' to it!

[seeksherownsalvation]

So all your heroes are no good at protecting it?

[soulbondee]

Hmph! How well would you do against giant octopus-men, huh?

[seeksherownsalvation]

You mean giant takoyaki when I'm done with them?

[soulbondee]

[a normal person might shudder at that sort of response.

but in another universe, yuma eats popcorn made from the explosion of a sentient man of corn.

so they will get along
just
fine...]

Haha, you wish! Can you even win against a regular octopus?

[seeksherownsalvation]

You wanna find me one, huh? I'll slice it right up.

[soulbondee]

You're on!

[seeksherownsalvation]

[Oh, she's not really supposed to admit to being capable of slicing giant octopi up, is she? She got kind of carried away and forgot about that. For a moment, she sort of...blinks at the communicator a bit. Then she grins again.]

It better be a big giant octopus, all right? I ain't putting all that effort into beating up some little shrimp. Well--octopus. Y'know. Not a shrimp.

[soulbondee]

[and Yuma's not really one to encourage hurting innocent animals; he sort of got swept up into the challenge, too.

maybe they will both balk and just go to a restaurant instead.]

Definitely, definitely! What kinda person do you take me for?!

[seeksherownsalvation]

[Only if it's an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Or if Kyouko's busted open a particularly fruitful ATM beforehand.]

A scrawny one. You look kinda small. Even if the octopus is no shrimp you might be.

[Not that she can really tell over, you know, a little cellphone-like device. But that's not going to stop her.]

[soulbondee]

Hmph! I could take on a whole pie of octopus with my kattobing.

[seeksherownsalvation]

No way! You're gonna hafta prove it to me. A kattobing doesn't even sound like much of a weapon. I mean, is it some kinda club?

[soulbondee]

No, no, it's nothing like that! It's strength!

[seeksherownsalvation]

Haha, so you don't even got a proper weapon? What, do you just punch them a lot?

[soulbondee]

Hah, shows what you know! I can make a weapon outta anything.

[seeksherownsalvation]

Ehh! I bet you're just boasting! I haven't seen you slice up any giant octopus-men yet.

So, you a coward, or you just weak?

[soulbondee]

Neither! It's not my fault you missed it.

[seeksherownsalvation]

Can't have been anything much if I missed it.

Try harder next time, ya loser.

[soulbondee]

It was months ago!

[seeksherownsalvation]

All that means is you could be making it up! You can't even prove this place existed months ago, right?

[soulbondee]

Can you prove you existed before you got here?

[seeksherownsalvation]

I don't need to prove I existed before I got here. I know I exist.

[A pause, as she actually takes half a second to consider the concept.]

You probably know you exist too, right? And you're thinking, why should I hafta prove it?

You don't really, I guess, but if you do wanna prove it, you could always fight me. And you better fight hard. Then I'll believe you exist, same as me.

[soulbondee]

... I'll face you head-on in a match, but being violent and hurting people isn't something I like. It's no fun.

Isn't there something else you'd rather do? A game you can put your heart in?

[seeksherownsalvation]

Hey, it's not about fun. It's about doing what I gotta do to get by. But--

[Oh, she hasn't figured out what she's going to do about the fact that she doesn't seem to need to hide the magical girl stuff anymore yet. She's still not sure whether it's all right to actually explain it, though, so she waves that away and moves on.]

It's not like I put my heart into anything. That's just how you get hurt.

But...I'm not bad at a bunch of games.

[Well, it's not like she has anything better to do, and she doesn't cope that well with downtime, so...]

You got any good arcades here?

[soulbondee]

[there's a lot of that pinging against Yuma's sensibilities -- hiding yourself away for fear of getting hurt, he knows that. and he knows what happens when that happens.

but first things first.]

Yeah, I know a couple.