Corner Deli
February 26th, 9:43pm
The Player was browsing the display refrigerators for a drink, his expression was along the lines of disappointment the farther he walked down the aisle as nothing seemed appealing.
"I hate it when a deli doesn't have what I'm looking for." He groaned irately after reaching the last fridge.
He opened the door and took out a small bottle of what appeared to be fruit punch, it was all he was familiar with considering Canopy's unique tastes; Berry-Nut Splash, Kiwi Cucumber Mix, Tropical Rain and Dr. Spice just to name a few. All of which were sounding disgusting or knockoff brands from his home.
Once he closed the door Filia and Squigly approached him.
"Did you two get what you wanted?" The Player asked.
"Yep." Squigly answered with a satisfied smile, showing that she had a few chocolate bars, at least 4 bags of chips and a 16 oz cream soda in her arms.
"Jeez, Sienna. You can barely carry all of that."
"Well you said I can get whatever I wanted, so that's what I did." Squigly shifts and inclines her head to the left with her eyes closed, acting out a spoiled princess façade as a playful poke to her roommate.
"I'm just saying that's a lot of junk, and I'm not talking about what's in the trunk." He countered her playfulness with a tease of his own, making Squigly face him again.
"Watch it now." She gestured her foot as if she were about to kick his shin.
The Player flinches at her initiated act, but their jointed laughter conveyed that they often had these exchanges. It was in good fun.
He turns to Filia who didn't have anything. "What about you?" He asked her.
"I'm fine. I don't need any junk food. I'm still on my diet."
The Player and Squigly turned their backs turned against her in, not so subtle, secrecy.
"That's the 5th week she said that." Squigly whispered.
The Player nods to confirm the facts. "Yep. Who does she think she's fooling?" He whispered back.
Seeing them made Filia squint her eyes, she knew what the topic of debate was among them.
"I AM staying true to my diet." She declared defensively, breaking up their huddle by getting their attention with her claim. "I'll have you know I lost a few pounds last week."
"And you gained more than you lost by eating all our damn ice cream last night." The Player clarified to remind her.
Last night…
Filia entered the kitchen to find some snacks to snack on. Her search for junk lead to the freezer where a large family size tub of vanilla ice cream was sitting at the forefront of all the frozen food they had.
"Hey, Player, can I have some ice cream?" She asked while peeking through the kitchen's passthrough window.
The Player was sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV, not paying her any mind. "You can get a spoonful." His eyes didn't even bother leaving the TV.
Filia, with a smug grin, pulled out an oversized 8inch wide x 2inch deep x 35inch spoon from out of nowhere and turns back to the freezer to claim her prize.
In the present…
"That was ONE time." Filia continued to defend herself…although poorly because the point still stood.
'How did she eat an entire family sized tub of ice cream in one night?' Squigly wondered to herself.
"Filia, get yourself some snacks before we head back." The Player commands in a bore. "If I wake up and find out you ate all my candy I'm gonna kick you."
"Why does Samson never take part of the blame? He contributes to my weight too."
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Filia."
In the middle of their banter a shady man wearing a hoodie and ski mask walks into the deli with his hands suspiciously tucked away in his pockets. He makes his way to the front counter and pulled out a revolver, taking aim at the cashier who immediately raised his hands in the air.
"Alright, you already know what this is. Open the register!" The criminal's elevated tone caught the trio's attention as they look over the shelves toward the front of the store.
Realizing what was going on the three friends duck out of sight, they were lucky enough to go unnoticed, but this was an oversight on criminal's end, he did a pretty weak job on surveillance, most likely figuring the store would've been empty since it was getting late.
"Yo, the store is getting robbed!" The Player whispered aggressively.
"Robbed?" Leviathan was the first to question this, popping out of Squigly's head as he normally does.
Squigly got her pigtail off the floor and tucked it away in her jacket pocket. "No doubt about it. He had a mask on and everything." She relayed the information to her Parasite.
The Player crawls to the end of their aisle and takes a peek to observe the scene.
The robber threw a duffel bag on the counter. "Put the money in the bag! Make it quick, I ain't got all day!" He demanded in haste.
The stress of the situation didn't make it any easier on the cashier, who clumsily tried opening the register.
"Why did he bring a duffel bag? It's a corner store, not a bank." The Player whispered to himself and shook his head. He turned back to the girls and expressed his confliction with the crooks lack of professionalism by displaying a disappointed expression.
"We have to help him." Filia states.
"He's armed, Filia. We can't just go out there and be heroic."
"The Player's right." Leviathan concurred. "It's too dangerous for any of us to try and take him head on."
Filia lightly smacks her teeth now that staging a reckless rescue was out of the question. "We can't just do nothing. We've got to try something!"
"Leviathan and I can kick this guy's ass no problem." Samson, who was now engaged in the situation, spoke in a matter-of-factly tone, he saw the easiest possible solution to handle this and was annoyed the others just didn't take action. "How about we just waste him?"
"We're not taking any lives, you fatuous buffoon." Leviathan gave him a disgusted glare. The very idea of taking a life in cold blood sickened him.
Ding! The register popped open and the cashier began emptying 5s, 10s and 20s into the bag.
The Player made one last effort to think of a plan, once again surveying the scene to weigh his options, but now that most of the money was emptied he had to go with the last idea that popped into his head.
"Filia, Sienna, do you have your scarves?"
Filia and Squigly reach into their jacket pockets and took out their winter scarves, answering the Player's question.
"Great. Put those around your face, it'll conceal your identity."
"You have a plan?" Filia asked.
"The makings of one." He answered.
Samson groans softly, being careful not to draw any attention. "Why do we always have to listen to what he has to say? It's always HIS plan."
"Samson, please." Filia sighed as heavily as she could at her Parasite's rebelliousness. Along with Squigly she wrapped the scarf around her face, covering herself from nose to chin. "What's the plan?"
"I'm gonna go out there and create a diversion. While I have his attention it'll give Samson and Leviathan the perfect opportunity to strike and then you guys subdue him."
"What? That's a terrible idea!" Filia was now on the disagreeing end of the spectrum now that it involved putting him in immediate danger.
"The register is almost empty. We gotta move." The Player got up and walked out of the aisle, casually strolling into the open.
"Player, wai-!"
Samson, in his bipedal form and smiling fiendishly, placed his hand over Filia's mouth to keep her from talking. "Wait, wait, wait! Let's see where this goes." Despite his restraints Filia fought aggressively against his hold but to no avail.
The Player approached under the guise of a calm demeanor when in reality he was sweating bullets.
"You're going about this all wrong, friend."
The criminal quickly turned his gun at the Player in a scare, shocked to see him. "Who the hell are you?!" He inquired with a reformed sternness.
"Just a guy on a snack run. Look, pal, you don't have to do this."
"What do you know? You don't know me!"
"True. I don't know you, but I know there's a better way. I look into your eyes and I don't see a killer, nor a criminal, just a lost soul who feels he ran out of options."
The robber went silent and remained stern with his gun aimed at the Player, seemingly undeterred by his words.
"It's all right. We can fix this."
The clerk's eyes were pacing between the Player and robber, trying to measure the situation to predict the outcome. He was down to the last few dollars in the cash register but stopped in hopes that the Player was the solution to the problem.
There was a brief stare down between the Player and the robber, the air grew tense as the hand holding the gun began to tremble from his reluctance to bring harm to anyone.
After an internal struggle with himself the criminal finally lowers the gun and hung his head in shame, groaning in disappointment.
"You're right! I never wanted this! I'm just…in a bad financial situation and I felt this was the only choice I had left. Nothing was working for me."
The Player, unexpectedly, experienced severe mood whiplash from the sudden shift. He was only acting after all, using what he saw on TV to buy some time, but now that it actually worked things were noticeably awkward.
"I just…I never had anyone to talk it over with. I was always on my own and didn't have the proper guidance. I don't know where I got this stupid idea…it's not right!" He faced the cashier and slid the duffel bag of money his way. "Here you are, sir. I deeply apologize for this. I wasn't in the right state of mind and acted rashly."
The cashier, just as shocked as the Player, stands there in silence for a moment before giving a slow nod. "Y-Yeah. It's okay…I guess."
"Thank you so much for understanding. And you know what? I'm going to turn myself in. I'm going to do the right thing and-"
Samson's fist interrupted by coming in clean across the would-be criminal's face. His sudden intrusion elevated the Player and cashier's shock, both flinching at the abrupt punch.
After punching the man Samson grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and tossed him down the chip aisle.
Squigly appeared at the end of the aisle, coming from out of hiding with her back turned against him. The flying man smacked right into Squigly's smaller, yet sturdier, body putting them back-to-back and halting his momentum. It was like being shoved into a wall.
Squigly grabs the wrist of the hand he was still holding the gun with and twists it enough so that he forcibly dropped the weapon…the weapon that he didn't intend to use.
Once the gun hit the floor Leviathan used the end of his tail to perform a swift neck chop which instantly knocked him out, leaving him to lay limp against Squigly's back to which she punctually flicks him off with a bump of her butt.
"That'll show you!" The serpent huffed at the unconscious man.
The Player and the clerk continued spectating in silence. Things elevated too quickly, it would've took too long for the words to catch up and voice what they were feeling.
Samson reverts back to normal on Filia's head and Filia looks down the aisle. "We got him!" She expressed her joy with a successful fist raised into the air.
"Of course we did. Nothing but small fry." Samson replied with a cocky smirk.
The Player looks over to them with a slightly raised hand, his index finger hesitantly extended. "Um…guys?"
"Wow! What a rush!" Even Squigly was showing joyful colors, golden sparkles shimmering around her face as her eye glimmered in glee. "We actually prevented a robbery!"
"About that…" The Player once again tried to explain, but found himself stopping short.
The clerk, who had seen enough action for one day, realized Filia had sentient hair and Squigly had a living serpent coming out of her head and ear. It became clear what they actually were. First a planned robbery and now he had Parasites in his store, or at least that's what he figured. He didn't want to jump to conclusions but what else could they be? There was only one way to find out-
"Are those Parasites?" The clerk asked in a calm and curious manner.
The Player, Filia, Squigly and Leviathan face the store clerk and that awkward silence once again befell them for several seconds, lucky for them their identities were concealed.
"Uuuuuuuuuuh-" The Player didn't have anything for this.
Samson sprouted his arms and legs, seizing control over Filia. "SNATCH AND RUN, Y'ALL!" Figuring they were already in trouble Samson turned to the nearest source of goods, the potato chip rack, and snagged an armful of chips, the flavors didn't even matter, he just grabbed them and ran out like a madman before Filia could even process what happened.
The clerk jumped at the sudden outburst and Squigly ran after Samson, taking the distraction as her ticket out of there.
The Player stood there watching his friends leave with his arms held out in a silent 'What the hell…?' gesture. Leviathan, extending his body length, wraps his tail around the Player's arm and drags him along before Squigly got too far.
So basically the store was robbed anyway.
Empty Parking Lot
9:55pm
The trio escaped to a nearby parking lot not too far from the deli. Samson stopped ahead of Squigly at the nearest lamppost with his stolen chips held tight.
Now that he finally stopped all that wild running Filia was able to scold her Parasite.
"Samson! We're not thieves! Why did you steal those chips?!"
"He saw us. We were screwed either way, so I figure we might as well capitalize off of it."
"The end doesn't justify the means, Samson." Filia let out an exhausted sigh, feeling that she was always repeating herself when it came to her Parasites antics. "Besides we had our scarves on to protect our identity."
"Eh. We got away before things got too heavy. That's all I care about."
Squigly and the Player join Filia shortly after, both lightly panting as they had to put an extra sprint in their escape to follow Samson's poorly made decision. Now that they were re-united the girls pull their scarves from their noses and around their necks.
"That was…eventful." Squigly said with an exhale.
"It was." Filia concurred. "Even if Samson went the extra mile and took those chips."
A loud crunch was heard after Filia was done speaking, Samson had already popped open a bag and was munching away at his spoils. "If you're really going to complain about it then don't think of it as stealing. Let's just say it's a reward for our good deeds." He reached into the bag, grabbing a handful of that nacho flavored goodness and threw them into his gaping jaws.
"We do good deeds because it's the right thing to do, not because we expect compensation." Leviathan joined in.
Now that the Player caught his breath he looks back in the direction they came from, wondering if he should head back to apologize for everything that happened. "Um. Ladies? I think…I think we might've messed up." He then turns to face Filia and Squigly. "That guy back there. He- He…uh…"
"Got what was coming to him!" Filia finished his sentence for him.
"No, no. That's not-"
"I have to admit, while it was pretty scary, it felt amazing helping that poor man." Squigly went on to express herself in regard to the situation, the Player was once again unintentionally cut short.
"Yeah. We were like a team of superheroes!" Filia joyfully exclaimed.
The Player wasn't sure how Filia even got to that conclusion and just looks at her with a doubting look. "…What?" Even his tone was dismissive.
"Don't you read comics? Superheroes wear really awesome costumes and fight crime."
"I know what a superhero is, Filia. But what we did isn't enough to qualify us as superheroes."
"Aw, come on. Don't be a party pooper. Hey! What if we became crime-fighters?!"
"Crime-fighters?" Squigly questioned.
"Yeah. It's perfect! Think about it: We're hosts to Parasites, right? With costumes on we can protect our identities and not have to worry about being lynched. And most importantly it'll give us the chance to help the community. Honestly, I think it's about time we start putting our training to good use other than fighting monsters."
Color Leviathan intrigued. Filia's selflessness warmed him into a smile at the young girl. "You know, that actually doesn't sound bad." He comments, open to the idea.
"Helping people at the cost of attracting the Egrets? Somehow that doesn't sound all that appealing." Samson denies.
"We don't have to make a big deal out of it." Filia counters. "We can stick to the general area around neighborhood, keep it safe."
"So we'd be freelance neighborhood watch?" The Player asked.
"What's that?" Filia only provided a question to his question.
"It's an organization that people make for crime prevention in their neighborhood. It's a thing where I'm from so I'm not surprised you're unfamiliar."
"Oh. Well, yeah, that sounds great! Let's do that. What do you think?"
The Player folds his arms and angles his head on a slight decline, he gave it some thought and considered all possibilities of taking up crimefighting. If it wasn't for his ability to synchronize with Filia and Squigly then it would've been a definite rejection, but they've been against far worse than petty criminals.
Squigly takes a step forward, placing her hand on the Player's shoulder. "We might be able to make a difference." She said with a smile. "You've gotten pretty good at Heart Synchronization with Filia, that's already pretty big. If we combine our strengths we could really do some good for the city. Crime has really sky rocketed since I've last been alive, so I'm sure every little bit will help. With the Medicis out of town we shouldn't run into anything too threatening."
"I wonder if the Skullgirl running them out of town has anything to do with petty crime being on the rise." Leviathan used the tip of his tail to scratch his chin in a curious gesture. "Lack of serious competition and all."
The Player sighs, giving one last thought to the suggestion. Apparently he completely forgot their 'heroism' was misplaced as the misguided man from earlier was going to turn himself in.
"Uuuh. Maybe we should just leave it to the professionals. I know you two are raring to go, wanting to make the world a better place and all that, and I'm very proud of you two for that, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. As awesome as it sounds, life isn't a comic book, it's a completely different ballgame out in the streets, where anything goes. Besides, Samson has a point — If we end up attracting any form of attention then the Egrets will be on our asses."
Samson forces himself to swallow what he had in his mouth, not even giving himself to chew beforehand, to put his attention on the Player.
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Did you just agree with me? As in you think I'm right?"
Realizing what he had given Samson the Player briefly pauses, now regretting his decision. "Please, don't make me take it back." He pleads knowing it was bound to get rubbed in at some point.
"Nope. No take backs. That's a win for me!" Samson boasts.
Discouraged at the decline Filia pokes out her bottom lip in a sulking fit.
Seeing Filia's reaction put a big chunk of guilty weight on the Player's shoulders, and he could hardly stand it. To make up for it he gives her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Come on, let's head back home. It's getting late."
Feeling his touch Filia looks up to his tender smile. It was clear he was making an honest effort to show that he wasn't rejecting the idea for the sake of it, but because he genuinely felt he had the girls best interest and safety in mind. This was crimefighting after all, criminals were dangerous and had no discrimination on who they hurt.
Filia looks to Squigly as a last resort for backup, however she merely submissively shrugs at her gander. If the Player wasn't on board then using their full potential wouldn't have been possible. It was what it was, much to Filia's chagrin.
Having no other option Filia gives a disappointed "Okay…" to her friends. Her heart was in the right place, but she was still young. Perhaps it was naiveté that was keeping her from seeing that crime-fighting was a dangerous profession, especially if one of her reasons for considering was her passion for comic book heroes and their adventures.
The decision made the Player give Filia another, more gentle, pat - moving her along and walking beside her as they start making their way back, Squigly walking on the opposite side of the Player.
Although last night proved eventful for the Player, Filia and Squigly life returned them to the daily grind — Filia searching the city in hopes of finding her best friend, Carol, Squigly being forced to stay safe inside the apartment until her roommates returned, and the Player was working.
Ever since the 'robbery' took place life felt…sluggish. There was no rush, no thrill. With Double gone and the Medicis out of town from Marie's rampage…the 3 friends realized how plain their day-to-day lives were: Wake up, work 9-5, search for missing friend, stay in the apartment, come home, eat, talk, sleep, rinse and repeat. Synchronization training on Saturday, and lazy Sunday was nothing but getting ready to deal with Monday.
Beef Royalty
February 27th, 1:15pm
The Player was sweeping behind the counter while Feng and two other employees were working the register and taking orders, everyone else was making the food and handling the drive-thru, typical stuff.
"A BBQ bacon double Hooper with small fries and a soda. That'll be 5.53." The customer in line exchanges the money with Feng and gets the appropriate change back along with their order, Feng delightfully smiles and waves goodbye. "Thank you for choosing to eat with us. Have a nice day!"
With the last customer in her line gone she drops the cheery attitude and sighs. The Player sweeps past her and brushes the back of her heels with the broom, earning her attention.
"Better keep that smile up. You'll end up on cleaning duty with me." He teased.
"As if." Feng responds with a return to form in regards to the smile, although this time it wasn't forced for the sake of customer service. "We'd lose customers if my pretty face wasn't at the register to greet them."
"We get more customers when you're off actually. So I don't think that's necessarily true."
"I can't hear you over the sound of the floor not being swept."
"You're right. Let me just sweep up this big pile of trash." The Player once again sweeps the broom across Feng's shoes, suggesting that he was trying to sweep her along into the dustpan. "Huh. It won't budge for some reason."
His remark earned a snickering outburst from the neighboring cashier.
"Shut up, Howard!" Feng commands with a laugh at their co-worker, having him distract his attention elsewhere to make it appear that he was never listening in on their exchange. Feng removes her uniform visor and twirls it around her index finger. "It's about time for our break. Wanna get something to eat?" She asked in address to the Player who went back to cleaning.
"Is it? Oh. I didn't realize what time it was. Yeah. I could go for something. Anything that isn't a burger or fries, I'm sick of looking at it. It's bad enough I work around it all day, but Filia and Sienna really love eating it for dinner most of the time."
"Wanna get hotdogs?"
"Hotdogs? Again? Hell no. I'm thinking spaghetti at that Marteña Garden spot down the street."
"We only have 30 minutes, you're trying to fancy dine. We'll be waiting in line for an hour just to get a table."
What Feng was saying wasn't of interest for the Player, he had an appetite for spaghetti and was going to get it. He sweeps the last of the dust and dirt into the dustpan, all while randomly breaking into song:
"Heeeey! Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy there's vomit on this sweater already-"
Feng squints her eyes and watches him, unsure why he suddenly just broke out into song. She held up her hands giving a silent "…What?" before her mouth curls into a conflicted, yet entertained, smile at his randomness.
He dumps the trash in the bin and walks back over to Feng, still in song apparently - "Mom spaghetti! Mom spaghett-! Ah, screw it. You wouldn't get it" He smiles back at her, dismissing his own gesture. "Nah, but seriously though, we should get something Italian."
"Italian?" Feng questioned. "What's that?"
'Right. I keep forgetting the demographic of Canopy is only based off real-world ethnic groups and don't actually have those ethnic groups.' He thought to himself. "Jesus Christ, that gets old really fast." The latter he says aloud to himself.
"…Who's Jesus?" Feng questioned again.
"Nobody for you to worry about. Let's get some meat buns from Yu-Wan's."
"Mmm. That sounds good. How much they run for?" Feng reached for her wallet, checking how much she had on her.
"My treat. They don't run for much."
"Oh? Since when have you been so chivalrous? You trying to impress me?" Feng teased with a smirk.
"Psssh! Keep wishing. Anyway, you mind if we make a quick stop at the bank first? I want to deposit some cash into my account."
"Not at all. I might as well withdraw some money while I'm down there anyway. My wallet is looking mighty thin."
"Cool. Let me dump this stuff out and we'll be on our way."
The Player takes the broom and dustpan to the janitor closet and removes his Beefy Royalty visor, tucking it in his pocket and walking out to meet with Feng.
"Ready to go?" He asked.
"Yep. Let's get moving, I'm starving."
"Cool. Howard, let the boss know we're going on break. We'll be back regular time."
Their co-worker gives them a two-finger salute while counting the money in his register to show that he heard them and would pass on the message to their boss.
Once they saw Howard accepted the request they head out for their lunch break.
United Bank of Canopy
1:26pm
The Player and Feng arrive at the bank and were a few customers behind in their line. There were only two bank tellers at the time so windows were limited, meaning there wasn't much of a steady flow for the customers.
Feng stands behind the Player looking impatient and hungry. "The way this line is moving we'll be spending our lunch break here." Her stomach growls, demanding nourishment, to which Feng placed one hand over it and groans sadly.
"The day I decide to come down here and there's only two windows open. Fantastic. Want to see me tempt fate? Could this day get any better?" The Player sighs as though unimpressed, practically expecting this of his luck.
Meanwhile, outside the bank
A black van with tinted windows comes around the corner and pulls up across the street. Inside the vehicle 3 men and a woman inspect the outside, pleased to see that there didn't seem to be too many customers in the bank.
"Okay. So we all know what we're doing?" One of the men inquired from the back. "Codenames from here on out, boys. SEAHAWK and FALCON, you're on civilians," he was addressing the driver and passenger up front, revealing their codenames "CLOVER and I will handle the vault."
"Got it, BOSS." SEAHAWK, the driver, nods in understanding, also using the codename to appropriately reveal who the boss was.
"Good. Park the van in that alley over there."
The van makes a quick U-turn and drives alongside the curb until finding the alleyway where the banks dumpster and garbage was. SEAHAWK puts the car in reverse and parks where instructed.
BOSS and CLOVER dig into their duffel bags and withdraw their weapons; SEAHAWK got a pistol, FALCON an assault rifle, CLOVER a shotgun, and BOSS had an LMG. Each member made sure their weapons were loaded and all their gear was accounted for.
"Alright. We should set." BOSS comments while marveling at his weapon. "CLOVER, once you rig the vault with the thermite bombs pack as much money as you can in your bag and once you're full I'll go down and take the other half. We'll each cycle our take, so after me, FALCON, you're up. Lastly, SEAHAWK, you wrap us up. Once we have all that we can carry we walk out."
"Why do I go last?" SEAHAWK sulks childishly.
"Because you're the getaway driver. If you get the money first you'll probably pack it up and leave us."
"What? You guys don't trust me?"
"We're criminals. Why would we trust anybody?"
"But we're doing the job together!"
"And you're the only one of us who knows how to drive. Kind of don't have a choice. Besides, CLOVER isn't all that threatening-"
"Hey!" CLOVER shouts, revealing herself to be a woman.
"-but she's our weapons expert." BOSS continued. "FALCON is the big dumb one. He's not smart enough to lead, but he's strong and likes a good fight."
"No I'm not! Take that back!" FALCON debates, having taken offense to BOSS's claim.
BOSS rolls his eyes and rotates his neck. "Fine. You're not strong." He corrected.
"That's better." FALCON nods in agreement.
…
…
…
"…Wait." FALCON just caught on that the correction wasn't any better. "I'm telling mom!"
"Once we're done with this job mom won't be mad at any of us. She'll be living a life of luxury." CLOVER claims with a smile, revealing the group were siblings.
"Can we focus?" BOSS asked with a displeased face, it was a pain being the big brother. "Get your masks on. And remember, we do this clean. No civilian casualties. Is that understood?"
The siblings all nod in understanding, equipping their ski masks to hide their identities.
"Good. It's go time." BOSS threw his mask over his head, covering everything but his eyes and mouth.
Back inside the bank
After wrapping up business with another customer the bank teller behind the counter window looks out to the line.
"Can I help the next customer in line?"
She calls out as the Player patiently for her acknowledgement so he could finally make a deposit.
"Finally." He walks from behind the white line and takes out his wallet, opening it to count the money he was ready to put into his account. "Good afternoon. I'd like to make a deposit."
"Absolutely, sir. Do you have your account number?"
"Yes. It's 888-"
He was abruptly cut off by the bank's double doors being kicked open - enter BOSS, SEAHAWK, FALCON and CLOVER, aiming their weapons at the customers who were all drawn to their rowdy entrance. Nobody could react fast enough given that they weren't given enough time to.
"NONE OF YOU MOVE! YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS! EVERYBODY GET ON THE FLOOR!" BOSS immediately established aggression with a hardy, demanding tone.
Now things were connecting for everyone, this was a robbery. Everyone was in shock but collectively did as commanded with a few audible gasps here and there. The bank tellers raise their hands as SEAHAWK and FALCON take aim at them.
The Player stands stupefied at the events, unable to comprehend that this was actually happening. "You've got to be freaking kidding me." He frustratingly groans under his breath, being the last one to go down.
"Nobody is going to get a medal for playing hero! So just stay calm and we'll be on our way!" FALCON assures.
"We're only here for the Medicis money." Clover added. "It's going to a good cause. And by good cause I mean our pockets. Which we may or may not use to help rebuild our city from the destruction the Skullgirl brought with her."
Other than the robbery that actually sounded noble. The Player was confused listening to the wannabe aggressor.
'What the hell is up with the criminals in this town?' The Player thought to himself.
Boss runs over to the door that lead behind the counter, just beyond that was the way to the vault which was located downstairs. "Open the door." He commands to one of the tellers who didn't act out of fear. "Open the door." He tries again with stronger emphasis on what he wanted done, but the result was the same. "Open the door!" Growing increasingly annoyed he walks over to the Player and aims his weapon at his head, threatening to shoot if they didn't comply. "I SAID OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!"
Seeing the weapon aimed at him the Player's eyes widen and his teeth grit in a mild panic..
"You better not let me get shot, woman!"
"T-The buzzer for the door isn't behind any of our stations!" The woman found the heart to explain before anything bad could happen.
A little farther to the back one of the employees speaks, "Don't hurt anyone! I'll unlock the door!" he reaches his hand out of the robbers' view and rings the buzzer, unlocking the door.
BOSS bursts through and immediately holds all the employees at gunpoint, CLOVER follows suit and rushes to the bank vault farther down in the bank. She goes through the only other door to bypass any security measures with thermite bombs.
"GET ON THE FLOOR!" BOSS commands to the employees.
Not wanting to get shot they all do as they're told, getting to the floor with their hands behind their heads, giving BOSS the power of watching over them to ensure they didn't make any attempts at stopping their robbery.
While SEAHAWK and FALCON were patrolling the civilians the Player made little rolls back to the line. Making a little more progress each time one of them had their backs turned to him. Feng tried multiple times to get him to stop, giving him head shakes of disapproval every move he took. But once she realized he wasn't going to listen she rolled her eyes and sighs softly.
What was stupid about this was that it actually worked. The player got over to Feng and they laid on the floor together.
"Is this the famous 'Player Luck' I've heard so much about?" Feng inquired with a dull glance and a whisper.
"In full effect." The Player answered with the same look.
"Maybe next time don't tempt fate? Now we're being robbed and hungry."
"I didn't think anything was actually going to happen."
As SEAHAWK was coming around on his pacing patrol he noticed the Player and gives him a suspicious glare. "Hey, you!" He calls out to him.
"Me?" The Player asked as if the gun wasn't pointed at him.
"Didn't we tell you not to move?"
"…I didn't move."
"Yes you did."
"…No I didn't."
"You were just over there by the counter."
"I was?"
"I'm going to shoot you."
The threat made the Player tuck in his lips, his eyes widen as well. "I just wanted to get robbed next to my friend. She was getting scared and I didn't want her making an outburst. Heh, heh." He quickly threw together a story to keep things leveled.
Feng just looks at him with one brow raised, but she didn't debate. She noticed SEAHAWK's eyes were on her and she looks up to him with a bashful grin, showing her white teeth.
SEAHAWK squints his eyes at them, hand still firm on his weapon. "I'm going to have to watch you very closely." He wasn't sure if the Player was trying to be funny, or if he was being sincere, but he couldn't risk it. They had to be watched.
BOSS noticed SEAHAWK conversating from behind the counter out the corner of his eye and looks over to him. "SEAHAWK, what's going on out there?" He asked from behind the protective glass.
"One of the civilians moved over to his friend. I'm going to put my focus on 'em so they don't get any funny ideas."
"What? How did he get over there without either of you noticing beforehand?"
"That's what I want to know." Feng mumbled to herself.
"How did you move without us knowing?" SEAHAWK passed the question onto the Player so he could give an answer to his boss.
"I rolled every time you guys turned your back on us." He answered honestly.
"He was rolling every time we-"
"I heard him, fool." BOSS interrupted his sibling as the Player was easily heard. "Pay more attention to your surroundings. If they try anything shoot 'em." Of course that was an empty threat to integrate fear into anyone who wanted to play hero.
"Understood." SEAHAWK responds, feeling a little foolish for not realizing sooner, but it helped him become more aware, more cautious. "You hear that? Unless you want a bullet in you I suggest you do as you're told."
"Yeah. Sure thing." The Player complied.
A minute passes and CLOVER surfaces to the top floor, back to her brothers. "BOSS, I got it. The thermite bombs ate right through the security gates. The money is out and waiting for collection. I got my fill." She shakes her now swollen duffle bag with a smile on her face.
"Good. I'm going down. Watch over the staff."
"Copy that."
BOSS and CLOVER switched roles, now she had her weapon aimed at the bank tellers and BOSS made his way to the vault downstairs.
"…Where are the security guards?" The Player asked aloud to no one in particular.
"Quiet." SEAHAWK flatly commands.
"Bro, you don't think that's a little suspicious? This is a robbery and you guys didn't have to deal with any resistance."
"I said quiet, boy. What are you deaf?"
"No. I'm just pointing out there's a glaring flaw in this. What bank doesn't have security?"
"Player, just close your mouth!" Feng exclaimed, praying he wouldn't get shot for his talkative habits.
"Now you're siding with him?"
"I'm not siding with anybody! He's going to shoot you!"
"He's not going to shoot me." The Player said with confidence only to be riddled with doubt a second afterward. He then looks up to SEAHAWK. "You're not going to shoot me, right?"
"Oh my g-! Man, will you quit acting dumb and take this seriously?!" SEAHAWK expressed his annoyance with the lack of compliance to his hostage.
"Sir, trust me, he's not acting…" Feng regretfully assures him.
"You calling me dumb?" The Player redirects attention back to Feng, unappreciative of her claim.
"Oh sweet merciful mother above…you're still talking. If you get me shot I'm haunting you for the rest of your life."
"Go ahead. Come back as a ghost, guess who I'mma call? The Ghost Busters, and they're gonna bust your spooky ass."
SEAHAWK couldn't believe these two. He just couldn't believe it. They were bickering in the middle of a robbery and no matter how serious the threat against them was they just kept going, more specifically the Player who kept instigating the issue.
Even the neighboring hostages were looking at the Player and Feng like they were crazy. Were they not taking this seriously? It was odd. Very odd.
In the middle of all the drama the lights suddenly go out and it became pitch black.
"Aaaaaaaaah!" A lone high-pitched scream sounds off.
"SEAHAWK, control that girl's scream!" FALCON's voice commands.
"That wasn't me!" Feng called out.
"…Sorry." The Player hesitantly apologized for his outburst.
"What the hell is going on?!" CLOVER called out to her brothers.
"Hell if I know!" SEAHAWK replied.
"Hang on. I've got my flash light in my- GAH!"
"CLOVER? Hey, CLOVER, you alright?"
A few seconds of silence from the sister and the lights inside the bank flicker before turning on again. SEAHAWK, FALCON and all the hostages were accounted for but CLOVER was nowhere to be seen.
"What the hell? Where's CLOVER?" FALCON asked once he realized his sister was gone.
"I-I don't know. She was just here a second ago!"
This was a strange occurrence. The Player moves his head from left to right and saw nothing. "Are…the security members ninjas by any chance?" Once again he speaks to no one in particular, talking aloud.
"Okay. That's it. I'm airing this little shit out." FALCON, having grown annoyed with the Player, aims his assault rifle at the Player.
"Eep!" The Player helplessly squealed.
He wasn't going to actually shoot him, but he looked the most intimidating, so it was easy to assume he was the wildcard of the group, if someone had to die as an example he looked like the type to pull the trigger, but, again, he wasn't. It was just an empty.
Unfortunately the threat now had to be dealt with - a whip of some kind swoops from above and coils around the assault rifle. After a good enough grasp the head of the whip rises and reveals that it was actually a sentient snake creature, it hisses aggressively at FALCON and takes the unsuspecting man by surprise, getting a fearful jolt out of him.
The snake lassos the gun out of his hand and is pulled up to the ceiling.
FALCON looks at his now empty hands unable to believe he was disarmed so swiftly. He looks above to where his weapon was abducted only to see a descending high heel coming down to him. His face was met with a diving kick by a surprise attacker, who makes their appearance known by bringing him to the floor and using his body as a gymnastic mat rest.
SEAHAWK looks in his brother's direction to witness the takedown and aims his weapon at the mysterious attacker.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The attacker rises from the unconscious body of the muscular brute and stands tall, revealing the figure to be a woman. She had long flowing hair that reached her back in length, long horns protruding out of her forehead, pointed ears and lilac skin. Her outfit was…daring to say the least, consisting of nothing but a latex bustier-leotard hybrid with a long tail extending from the lower back designed with a heart shaped tip. This dominatrix-themed outfit was complete with black long armed gloves and thigh-high boots.
"You know it's not polite to point a weapon at a lady." The mysterious woman said with a smile, maintaining her crouched stance over the unconscious FALCON.
The fact that she wasn't fazed by his aggression put SEAHAWK on high alert. He could feel a sweat coming on, subconsciously wishing BOSS would hurry up in the vault.
"What have you done with CLOVER?!"
The woman points to the ceiling, her smile unmoving.
When SEAHAWK looks up he saw CLOVER dangling alongside the chandeliers, gagged by cloth and bound by rope - squirming fruitlessly for freedom while also trying to warn her brother beyond the clothed gag that he should focus on himself.
"…How did you even get her up there?" SEAHAWK wondered while looking skyward.
While the woman was telling the truth SEAHAWK's mistake was taking his eyes off of her - Just as he went back to focus on the masked woman SEAHAWK came back to witness the woman bringing her leg around in having already been in the process of performing a reverse heel kick.
Standing on her right foot she brings around the back of her left heel across SEAHAWK'S gun, causing him to drop the weapon, effectively disarming him. CLOVER witnesses this and stops squirming, instead sighing heavily.
SEAHAWK watched as his gun slides away from him along the marble floor before turning back to face the woman, albeit hesitantly. When they made eye contact SEAHAWK was met with a confident smirk that was practically daring him to try and make a move against her.
He wasn't completely defenseless though, he still had a tactical knife strapped to his vest in case something like this happened.
The two have a brief stare down. It was down to the wire, but it was SEAHAWK's move - his trump card:
"I give up." He threw up his hands, surrendering without a second thought. "I hated this plan. I don't know why I agreed to it and I deserve what's coming to me."
The woman wasn't all that surprised by his reaction but she didn't expect it to be that easy.
"Hm! Good boy." The woman grabbed some of the rope she had tied around her hip and went about apprehending SEAHAWK, tying it around his wrists and ankles to keep him from moving. "So that's you, the big guy on the floor and the girl on the ceiling. I'm one short. You know where your boss is, sweetie?"
"In the vault. He should be coming up any-"
BOSS came back up to the main lobby with a duffel bag full of cash and the first thing he noticed was a lack of CLOVER watching over the staff behind the counter but the employees were still holding up their hands.
He briefly pauses in confusion, not paying the hostages any mind, and then walks from behind the teller station.
"Yo, SEAHAWK. Where's CLOV-?"
BOSS walks out to find FALCON down and SEAHAWK under the boot of the dominatrix.
"Ah. There he is." SEAHAWK comments like getting busted was supposed to happen.
"You've got to be shitting me." BOSS flatly says in minor frustration. Minor because he wasn't all that surprised his siblings managed to screw this up.
"It's not our fault! She came out of nowhere!" SEAHAWK protests against his brothers frustrations.
"You know what? I can't even be mad that you took these fools down. I expect nothing less from the legendary D. Violet."
"D. Violet ?" The Player whispers over to Feng in confusion.
Feng looks over to the Player and gestures him to keep quiet so they don't draw any attention to themselves.
"You flatter me." D. Violet said with a hand on her hip. "How about you make this easy and just give up? You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of all these people."
"Pfft! You may have taken down my siblings but you'll find that I'm not so easy."
A challenge, D. Violet raised her brow curiously, wondering if he actually would've provided her a reason to put some effort into stopping the robbery.
She directs her eyes south to inspect his shoes. She waits until he noticed her glance.
"You should check your shoe laces before we begin. I'd feel better if we did this without you tripping, I want my opponents at their best."
BOSS looks at her with an unamused expression and then laughed. "You can't be serious. You honestly believe I'm going to fall for that?" He kept his hand steady on his weapon.
"I'm serious." D. Violet assured with a more neutral face.
"Tryin to make a fool out of me, huh? You cocky skank. I'm going to enjoy turning you into Swiss cheese."
HiiiiiiiisSsSsSsSsSsSssss
A noticeable hissing came from below. BOSS, having heard it, looks down to his shoes and sees an aggressive white snake slithering across his right shoe, over his laces. Once he realizes what it was the snake looks up at him and hisses aggressively.
"Ah! Snake! It's a snake!" BOSS lifts his leg and began to frantically Ah! Snake! It's a snake!" BOSS lifts his leg and began to frantically hop about on one foot in a desperate attempt to shake the snake off. "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Get it oooooooff!" He hops about in a full 360 until the snake finally comes loose and drops to the floor, slithering away to reveal that the snake was the woman's whip, a living weapon.
The snake may have been gone but now D. Violet was on him after she closed the gap while he was distracted. The moment he acknowledged her presence she performs a back turn, tucked her right leg in and kicked it out on the spin, intentionally missing to gain momentum for the left leg — throwing around a light high kick to the face — standing on her right foot to execute it.
By the time BOSS recovered from the first kick D. Violet had already transitioned to the tip of her left foot and brought around the right leg for a heavy right hook kick, the back of her heel struck BOSS right in the head and took him down in an instant. It was a knockout.
"Damn!" The Player and SEAHAWK exclaim after witnessing her technique. The former of which got an elbow tap from Feng.
D. Violet stands upright from the attack and looks over BOSS on the ground who was frozen with a goofy expression on his face, a barely audible groan of defeat, and a comically oversized lump on his head. Not the best way to go out on a robbery.
"Well that was fun." D. Violet smirks, grabbing the last bit of rope from around her hip and using it to tie up BOSS and FALCON.
The bank tellers applaud D. Violet for her heroism and are soon joined by the civilians who stood up.
"Is…that it? We're saved?" The Player asked.
"Looks like it." Feng lets out a sigh of relief and stands.
The snake whip slithers by the Player and gives him a brief hiss, causing him to flinch. After that interaction the whip makes its way over to D. Violet and awaits her attention.
'A sentient whip. It's kind of like Vice-Versa. It has to be a living weapon. Cerebella wasn't kidding.' The Player thought to himself as he watched the whip move along like it was an actual snake. After his observation he got up from the floor and brushes off his clothes, he was then popped up the head by Feng. "Ay! What was that for?"
"You could've gotten yourself killed! All that backtalk you were doing, you weren't thinking."
"What? You're still on about that? C'mon, Feng. You know how bank robberies go: robbers come in, make empty threats, everyone plays it safe, they take the money, get busted and then spend seven years in jail for armed robbery."
"You don't know what people are capable of. Don't ever do that again. Or do. Just don't do it when I'm around."
"Aaaaw. You're so cute when you're annoyed with me. What? You like me or something?"
Feng scoffed with a smile and rolled her eyes. "Please. Filia would kill me." She teased.
While in the middle of putting the finishing touches on FALCON, D. Violet pauses. She overheard Feng and looks in their direction, quietly observing them from a short distance.
"Yeah. She might." The Player casually concurred which made Feng pause uncomfortably.
"Heh, heh…heh…eeeeeh." Feng tried playing it off with a laugh but, for her, that didn't seem too far-fetched and could very well be a possibility.
D. Violet continued watching them, apparently Filia's name meant something to her. Before long, and after rounding up the robbers, D. Violet grabbed her living weapon and walks toward the Player and Feng, but not a few steps in and she was surrounded by the civilians.
"What the-?" D. Violet took a step back from their sudden interest.
"You were amazing!"
"Thank you for saving us!"
"Ms. Violet, please, can you sign my shirt? I want to add it to the shrine I have of you in my closet!"
"I would have your kids!"
The comments and praise kept coming, everyone was talking over one another to get D. Violet's attention.
D. Violet motioned her hands as a gesture for the crowd to settle down. She was flattered by their show of affection, but she also wanted them to ease up a bit. She was becoming overwhelmed.
"Um. I-I appreciate your kind words, everyone. I really do. But I can't stay. The Egrets will be here soon and they won't be happy to see me."
"…Okay, but can you still sign my shirt?" That one weirdo from the crowd asked.
Despite their continued enthusiasm D. Violet kindly bypasses through the small circle and walks backwards to continue declining their advances. She ends up bumping backs with the Player.
"Oou!" The Player jerks forward.
"Oh, sorry." D. Violet turns to him once they made contact.
"It's okay. No big de-" Once the Player turned to face her he found himself paralyzed with hormonal urges for the older woman. His mouth was still open from his incomplete sentence, literally dropped from her beauty.
Lucky for D. Violet she bumped into the right people, this was exactly where she wanted to be after all, happy accidents.
"Are you okay?" She asked with a snicker, finding his face humorous.
"…Eheeeeh." The Player blunders with a dorky laugh and an even dorkier face.
Feng crossed her arms at the Player's sudden lack of basic motor skills. She used her index finger to close his mouth and bonks him on the head to get his brain working like an old TV lacking signal.
"I'm the Player!" He suddenly introduces in an elevated tone. Feng's method seemed to have worked perfectly.
D. Violet gasps, not because of his sudden outburst, but because the name held some form of weight. Both Filia and 'Player' got a reaction out of her.
"I'm sorry for my friend's behavior, ma'am. He's usually never like this. I think." Feng began to doubt herself with a flat look on her face now that she had to consider who she was talking about. She reverts back to a friendly smile when facing D. Violet. "Thank you for dealing with those criminals. You made it look so easy."
"It's nothing I'm not used to." D. Violet snaps back with a confident smile.
The Player quickly takes her hand in his and begins shaking frantically. "You were spectacular! Amazing! Wonderful!" He reduced his vocabulary to adjectives in hopes of earning some form of affection from the voluptuous woman.
"Thank you, thank you." D. Violet allowed him to shake her hand for a bit before having to forcefully pry her hand out of his grasp before it got too awkward.
The Player continued shaking hands with the air until he realized he wasn't holding anything anymore.
"So, like, are you some kind of superhero? I've been living in New Meridian for a while now, but I've never seen any superheroes."
"Oh, no. Superhero is a broad term. I'm more of a crime-fighter. I've been retired for quite some time now, but ever since the Skullgirl ran the Medicis out of town crime has skyrocketed. I couldn't stay back knowing my city was suffering. Even if it's just one crime at a time every little bit helps. These guys, however, I was following their operation for the past week."
"…A week?" The Player questioned doubtfully.
"Yep. They planned out an entire robbery in a week. Honestly, I'm just as surprised as you are. Apparently up and coming criminals believe it's only a matter of wearing a mask, holding a gun and walking out with loads of money. All they did was argue over who got what role for most of the prep time."
The Player and Feng look at each other and let out a single laugh, humored by the robbers less than stellar display. No wonder she had such an easy time taking them down.
"Oh! By the way, my name isn't actually the-"
"It's okay." D. Violet raised her hand to him, having him stop short. "I know."
"…You do?" Feng questioned.
Before they could further discuss the matter Egret sirens could be heard in the distance, and judging by the sound they were coming in bulk.
"Uh oh. That's my cue to get out of here." D. Violet said while looking over her shoulder to the bank's window and then back to the Player and Feng. "Do me a favor? Don't tell the Egrets I was here. You know how our princess feels about vigilante justice."
D. Violet makes a sprint for the nearest window to make her escape since the front door wasn't an option.
"Wait!" The Player called out, getting her attention. "…Can you please step on me while I call you mom?"
"Player!" Feng blushed deeply at his words.
"I'm so sorry, Feng. I cannot help myself. Her aura just intoxicates me with hormones. I want her to dominate me."
Most of the women in the bank look at the Player in disgust, but the guys were nodding in agreement with him, 'This guy gets it' and all that.
D. Violet wasn't expecting him to be so forward, but it made her smile knowing she still had that affect. There was no harm in humoring him, even though he was dead serious to some degree, but she turns to him and gives a flirtatious wink.
"Continue what you're doing and I'm sure we'll meet again. Who knows? You might even become my sidekick and be at my side at all times…or under it, if you prove you're up to it."
The Player's eyebrows incline.
Poorman Apartment
5:10pm
"Guys, we should be crime-fighters." The Player suggested to Filia and Squigly who were sitting in the front room.
"Yay!" | "What?" Both Filia and Squigly respond simultaneously.
"Yep. I think we should be crime-fighters."
"That's- …I thought you were against the idea." Squigly said. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Um. The city is just plagued with crime and I think we can make a difference with our new abilities. Yeah…all that noble stuff."
Squigly's look of doubt turned into one of confliction and remained as she couldn't bring herself to believing he had a genuine change of heart, especially after he was so vocal about wanting to protect her, Leviathan, Filia, and Samson, this was the Player after all, the overprotective 'dad' of the group.
"I knew you'd come around!" Filia on the other hand joyfully fist pumps the air.
"Hold on, Filia. Shouldn't we have a group meeting about this?" Squigly suggested as the only soul of reason.
"What's there to talk about? Seems pretty anonymous to me." Filia said.
"…Unanimous, Miss Filia." Leviathan corrected.
"Sienna, weren't you on board with it when I originally suggested it last night after we stopped that robbery?" The Player inquired matter-of-factly.
Filia sat on the couch looking lost after his question. "That was… That was me. I was the one who came up with the idea. Remember?" She said softly to everyone present hoping they would give her the credit she deserved. "Guys? Remember?"
"I was." Squigly answered him. "But…how often do you change your mind like that? Especially when it comes to us being outside the borders of this apartment."
"You're making it sound like I force some kind unjust authority on you."
"Can I start going outside as myself without being chaperoned?"
"No. It's not safe for you to be out there."
"See? See?! That's what I mean!" Squigly pointed at him as though she caught him in the act.
"What are you on about?" The Player crossed his arms like he didn't know what she was getting at.
"It's been 5 months since I started living with you guys and you STILL won't let me leave the apartment! But after a single day you want us to go out and be crime-fighters? That's not you."
"Squigly, don't you read comics?" Filia now entered the conversation. "We won't be out wearing our regular clothes or anything like that. We'll be dressed in costumes and hiding our identities. No one will know who we are so it'll be okay for us to be outside with our Parasites."
"What she said." The Player pointed his extended finger to Filia.
Squigly looks at the Player with a squinted eye and an inclined chin, staring in silence like she didn't want to hear what he had to say since he probably just pulled that out of his butt.
"It'll be so much fun!" Filia continued. "And you know it's a good idea. Come on, you know you don't want to pass this up. You want to do as much good for New Meridian as we do."
"I…I guess." Squigly sighs.
Filia grins brightly and bounces giddily. "This'll be great! You'll see!" She grabs Squigly's hand and guides her upstairs. "Come on, I'll teach you everything you need to know about being a crime-fighter. We've got so many comics to get through."
The Player chuckles as Filia dragged her off. Still, that didn't change the fact that Squigly was sharp. She was the only one who suspected he had some ulterior motive, but if the cards were played right Filia should keep Squigly's suspicions at bay. Still, whatever the case may be, the group were now decided on their roles: they were now crime-fighters in the making!
This…is their origin story.
3 days later
March 2nd
The Player was hard at work drawing some rough designs for his costume. He was looking pleased with himself as he went along progressing his sketches.
While he was focused on his artbook the sound of muffled footsteps running along the carpeted floor was accompanied by girly giggles, enter the ladies of the house - Filia and Squigly came to the front room after spending some time upstairs.
"Heh, heh. Player, look!" Filia called out to him from behind the couch to catch his attention.
The Player looked over his shoulder to see what the fuss was about.
"TA-DAAAAA!" The girls perform excitable jazz hands at the reveal of their superhero outfits.
Filia was wearing a blue long-sleeve crop top, a red skirt that rivaled her old school uniforms in length, if not just a tad more modest…but that's not saying much. A pair of thigh-high socks matching her dress and a cape. The crop top was meant for a slimmer body, so Filia's chunky build ended up making the top look like a fitted garment, it was a bit tight around the chest area specifically.
Squigly was wearing a black tailcoat, a white tuxedo shirt with a black bow tie underneath it. Black high-waist/high-leg bottoms, and fishnet stockings. She had a magician motif going, complete with white gloves and a top hat.
The Player's reaction? He just sits there, silent, his expression unreadable. The girls assumed he was in awe.
"Well? What do you think?" Filia asked cheerfully after giving him enough time to take it all in.
"…I think you both lost your damn minds." The Player bluntly responds looking to the girls with stern disapproval.
"What?"
"You two are not fighting crime in those outfits. Hell no."
"Why? What's wrong with the way we're dressed?" Squigly asked in confusion. "This is how female crime-fighters dress according to the comics Filia has."
"I don't care. I'm not letting you two go out looking like that."
"Wow. You really don't like them?" Now Squigly was looking a bit disappointed.
"No."
"Do they look ugly?"
"No! Stop playing innocent! You know exactly what's wrong — Sienna, no offense, but your ass is too phat and your hips are too wide for those bottoms."
Squigly wasn't anticipating that answer which caused her to blush deeply. She placed both hands over her butt in a futile attempt at hiding her ample backside. "But…I went on that diet! It should've slimmed down." She cried out humorously, a whiny mouth squiggle waving across her face.
"Eating less cake and burgers isn't a diet, Sienna." The Player flatly corrected. "Eating less of the junk you consume doesn't mean you're fighting against ass gain. You're just making your butt bigger at a slower pace. You have to eat healthier and exercise regularly. Cut out some of the junk you consume. You still drink too much soda and devour instant ramen in waves."
"Oh." Was all Squigly offered as a response before pausing. She ended up shrugging her shoulders, not a single care to give about her eating habits. "Well, I'm not giving up cake so we can forget about that diet now. Dieting is officially for chumps."
The Player dropped his shoulders like her comment added weight to them. The slight roll of his eyes shows that he wasn't surprised she ended up abandoning her diet not a month after starting it…and all she did was eat less junk while also still consuming junk.
Now the Player's attention was on Filia. "Filia, you're a thick girl and those clothes are too small for you." He explains.
"They didn't have any plus sized outfits for superheroes." Filia answered, almost dishearteningly.
"They?" The Player repeated in confusion. "Who are 'they'?"
"The store where we got our costumes. Squigly thought it would be good for us to-"
"Nope! That's not how being a crime-fighter works!"
"The hell are you on about?" Samson asked, sounding a bit short with the Player.
"It's basic crime-fighting 101: Design your own costume. We have to craft our own identities from scratch."
Squigly, while still listening, had walked off into the kitchen in the middle of the Player's explanation. She came back with a piece of chocolate cake wrapped in paper towel. "Why go to the trouble of buying all the stuff needed to handcraft outfits when we can just buy affordable costumes and save time?" She opened her mouth wide and slides the cake past her oddly flexible stitches.
"We're not going to be dollar store brand heroes, you fool." The Player answered with a deadpan look. "What are we going to look like running around in stuff you can get at the store? The Generic 3? The Poor Friends? The Coupon League? D-Men? The 'D' stands for 'Discount' by the way."
Squigly continued eating her cake dismissively, causing the Player to squint his eyes at her for the body language.
"Oh! You're disregarding me now? You okay with being a discount hero who saves the world from high prices and not crime, Sienna? Passing out coupons to criminals so they might consider ending their robbery to save 30% off on their next firearm? If we want to play hero and be disappointments to everyone we can join Neighborhood Watch."
Squigly nearly choked between the laughs that were overwhelming her ability to swallow the cake mesh in her mouth, but once she managed to get it down she giggled from over the paper towel she used to wipe the chocolate off her lips. "I love getting you worked up." She teased, going in with an extended finger to boop his nose. "It's so easy."
"I thought you guys wanted to be crime-fighters."
"We do." Filia and Squigly answered in earnest.
"Then we have to do this right. Here, look at this." He turned his sketchbook over and shows the group the design of his outfit.
Filia and Squigly lean in and look at the Player's sketches along with their Parasites.
"…What the hell are we looking at?" Samson asked looking lost.
"It's my costume."
Leviathan tried to read over the details and made it as far as the alter ego name. "Says here 'Playinator'?" He looks up to the Player for confirmation on the name, wanting to see if that was an accurate pronunciation, and he got a nod to verify. "Wow. That's uh…uh…"
"Brilliant?" The Player tried finding the word Leviathan may have been searching for when in reality it was the word he wanted to hear.
"…Something. It's something." Clearly anything positive wasn't meant to come out Leviathan's mouth. "Don't you think that's a little obvious?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean 'Playinator,' it just seems so…um. What made you go with it?"
"It's like the Terminator…but with 'Player'!"
"But you're the only person in the kingdom who goes by 'Player,' people are going to know who you are. Especially the Renoirs."
"…Oh shit. Right. I completely forgot about them."
"Only a naive fool wouldn't realize it's you." Samson assured.
"I thought it was a good name." Filia spoke with the utmost sincerity.
Samson felt his point was proven the moment Filia spoke to defend him and threw his hands up to convey this, it was like Need I say more?
The Player angles his mouth to the side and looks down to his book now that he sat it back on his lap. "Well, it's still a work in progress." He replied, now having doubts about his design choices. "I'll fix it up though. Work on a better name, and I'll design your outfits while I'm at it, ladies."
"Why can't we make our own costumes?" Squigly asked with her hands on her hips.
"Because you two clearly don't know what you're doing when it comes to design. I fear no matter how many ideas you come up with it'll be something impractical and gratuitous — nipple pasties and underwear in high heels or something."
Just imagining that made Filia, Squigly and Leviathan blush. "We wouldn't!" The girls deny immediately.
"I don't wanna hear it. The only way I'm letting us do this is if I design the costumes."
"You're so demanding!" Filia rebelliously argues.
"Crimefighting was your idea, I haven't had any real input on the matter. The least you can do is let me design your clothes!" The Player argued back.
Squigly pats Filia's back to ease her dismay. "Come now, Filia. It's not so bad." She spoke in a soft motherly tone.
"But, Squigly-"
"He's just looking out for us. Look at it this way — we won't have to go to the trouble of working hard on our outfits. I don't know about you, but…I can't draw to save my life. Then again that's not saying much considering I'm not...technically among the living. Heh."
Filia quietly came around, but the look on her face was comparable to that of a spoiled child being rejected exactly what she wanted. "Tch. I guess." She responds now remembering that she couldn't draw to save her life.
"There you go. Chin up! Besides, I have…some faith in him. I bet he'll come up with some really great designs!"
When a group of ordinary people living life on the underside of the glorious New Meridian empire awaken after being exposed to a radioactive meteorite that crash lands on their planet they discover they have been gifted amazing superpowers!
Sargent Patriotism: An enhanced human who fights crime with his figurative, and now literal, Main Character Shield. He has the super-amazing ability of being completely immune to plot irrelevance by making specific women strong enough to rival the Skullgirl and overthrow her tyranny!
The Player stands in a heroic pose at the forefront of an American flag. His hands on his hips and his new shield strapped around his arm. He had an irisless domino mask to protect his identity and one of those superhero muscle padded jumpsuits to give the illusion that he had the body on an Adonis.
A large 'P' was poorly drawn on the suites chest with a diamond logo serving as his hero emblem.
His signature weapon, the shield, was circular in shape and designed with what appeared to be blue spray paint. When actually looking at it though it was kind of easy to see that the 'shield' was actually a metal trash can lid.
Joining him are his sidekicks:
Eagleass: A young woman with a hair demon.
Filia walks into frame and stands on the Player's right. She didn't bother making an attempt to pose, she had no motivation. Her costume was terrible - a turkey costume that clearly contradicted her superhero name. The thighs of the costume were much thicker than her already thick thighs to add onto this. She also had an ireless domino mask to protect her identity.
And Songstress: An immortal woman that can sing songs.
…
…
…
"Songstress. That's your cue." The Player said aloud after nobody showed up, he was still maintaining his pose trying not to break character.
…
…
…
The Player looks to his left with an impatient glance. "Songstress! Get in frame!" His comment was directed offscreen.
"Uuuuuggggggghhhhhh!"
Squigly hesitantly walks into the picture and stands on the Player's left, dressed in a quaver note costume. That's it. Like her friends she had an ireless domino mask for identity protection.
Now that she was at his side the Player went back to assuming his pose. The girls on the other hand were so done with his nonsense that they couldn't even bother posing.
Joined by fate they form-
The Heroic League of Badassery!
The group were recording all of this on camera in front of a green screen, which explains that American flag in the background. And now they hold it-
…
…
…
"Annnnnnnnd cut!" The Player breaks his pose with an iota of fulfillment. "I think that was great!"
"This is pretty much the worst thing I've ever been a part of." Samson flatly debunks the Player's claim. "And I've experienced some really bad shit before. Like almost the end of the world bad."
"You're just a hater." The Player walks over to the camcorder and stops the recording.
"No. I'm agreeing with Samson on this." Squigly said with a surly look. "I mean…seriously? Look at us! We look ridiculous! I'm a quaver note!"
"That's your character!" The Player corrected. "You sing. You're the Songstress!"
"And I'm a turkey." Filia flatly adds, wondering what that meant for her.
The Player turns to her and doesn't say nothing initially because he didn't have anything. "Yeah. You're serving delicious…justice." His delivery wasn't even convincing. "Leviathan, you're a man of culture, help me out here."
Leviathan squints his eyes at him, doubting he could help even if he wanted to.
"…Um. Thiiiiiis is rather humiliating for the girls." Leviathan admits.
"It's better than what they had on before. Now nobody will be able to see their goodies."
"So, what? You're our dad now?" Squigly sarcastically remarked.
"Don't you use that tone with me, young lady!" The Player ironically, and unintentionally, played the part.
"I'm older than you!"
"Not to mention their names suck ass." Samson piled more on the criticism. "I mean, really? Eagleass? I get what you were going for, but you spelled the name wrong — it's Eagle LASS, not Eagleass, the latter sounds like she's an eagle's ASS. How could you not see that?"
"Yeah! You're the only one with a cool name." Filia pointed out, directing her comment to the Player.
"Hm. Names aside…he still looks like a tool, Filia. So there's that. I guess that balances it out." Samson somehow managed to find some good in this for himself, so it wasn't too bad.
"Speaking of looks — I thought you were making the girls costumes from scratch?" Leviathan then questioned.
"Yeah. You just went out and bought two extra costumes for us and one for yourself. Wasting your money." Squigly had another one for him, but with some sass to go with it.
The Player had the entire group against him on this, and rightfully so, these ideas suck.
As they were critiquing him he stands there looking like the victim, going as far as to cross his arms with exaggerated disbelief all across his face, all stemming from the fact that he felt he was doing them a favor.
"So, you're saying my ideas are bad?" The Player asked with one hand pressed against his chest.
"Yes!" Filia, Samson, Squigly, and Leviathan answered. "Dumbass!" A little extra courtesy of Samson.
The Player scoffs and ejects the VHS tape from the camera. "Whatever. I'm saving this." He sits the tape down on the glass table by the couch.
"We're making another one." Squigly takes a stand for herself and Filia.
"What? Why?"
"If crime-fighters really do have their audition tapes then we're not using that one. Filia and I will use the costumes we picked out for ourselves and we're going to make our own names and backstories."
"You guys have a problem with the backstories I made for you too?"
"It doesn't make sense." Filia bluntly assures him. "Like, my character's backstory; I witness my parents die after their carnival act messes up? Then I go on to become a vigilante under you? And why was my original name Robin?"
"That…uh, that was a typo." The Player suspiciously clarified. Looking a little pressured on that specific question.
"Wait. You misspelled eagle…for rob-"
"Let's not worry about that! All right…maybe I have gone a little overboard with my intentions."
"A little?" Squigly wasn't going to let him downplay his mistakes to make it seem less than what it really. She immediately got on that.
"I was just trying to look out for you two."
"By making Filia a turkey because she's thick?"
"So THAT'S why you put me in that costume!" Filia outbursts out of Squigly's view.
"And dressing me up as a quaver note because I can sing?"
"…It sounds bad when you put it that way." The Player crossed his arms and looks away shamefully.
"Oh, trust me, it's worse." Samson clarified making the Player look in Filia's direction with a half-lidded glare.
Ignoring Samson's comment the Player focuses back on Squigly.
"I didn't mean any harm. I was being sincere when I said I was just trying to look out for you guys. I can't have my girls going out and showing that much skin. I don't need any of those scumbags ogling you while you're kicking ass."
"Aaaw." Filia clasped her hands together at his explanation, charmed by the fact that he wanted to protect them.
"Your girls?" Squigly was intrigued with his word use, her hands on her hips and a complacent smile. "You really are a dad." She teased.
"Bite me." The Player remarked at her teasing.
"Careful. I'm a 'zombie' remember? I actually…MIGHT!" Squigly suddenly jumps at him, jaws open to show her teeth beyond her stitches as though she had the intention to bite. She rolled her eye so far up into her head that only her sclera was visible, making her appear mindless.
"Aaah!" The Player flinches at her, failing to realize she was just playing.
Seeing his reaction made Squigly burst out into a cute laugh. The fact that he was genuinely scared of that little display was too much, it tickled her.
The Player crossed his arms and huffed having played the fool.
Take 2 - Make it flashy guys… Action!
When a group of ordinary people living life on the underside of the glorious New Meridian empire awaken after being exposed to a radioactive meteorite that crash lands on their planet they discover they have been gifted amazing superpowers!
Sargent Patriotism: An enhanced human who fights crime with his figurative, and now literal, Main Character Shield. He has the super-amazing ability of being completely immune to plot irrelevance by making specific women strong enough to rival the Skullgirl and overthrow her tyranny!
The Player stands in a heroic pose at the forefront of an American flag. His hands on his hips and his new shield strapped around his arm.
Using an aerial backflip from a spiky hairball Filia pops out into frame and lands at the Player's side in a crouching stance.
Tricho-Noir: A spirited young woman with a strong sense of justice. With no memories of who she once was this brave girl is forced to embark on a perilous journey in search of answers. With a shapeshifting Parasite at her side and a connection to New Meridian's most notorious crime family her very existence invites challenge, but until she gets some answers…she refuses to back down.
Squigly performs a back walkover on the opposite side of the Player and assumes a side view pose for the camera.
Madame Butterfly: Cursed with burden of immortality, the last surviving member of a legendary family of opera singers seeks vengeance against those who took everything away from her. Having endured a 14 year long slumber she awakens to a future drowning in chaos. Together, with her trusted Parasite, she takes to the harsh streets of New Meridian to bring forth the justice the city desperately needs.
Joined by fate they form-
The Heroic League of Badassery!
And now, in their chosen poses, they hold it…
…
…
…
"…Okay. That's enough." The Player was the first to break the pose, even slouching a bit that suggested he was tired, but chances were high it was because he was still upset his plan was scrapped. "Is that it? Are we good?"
"I like it." Filia happily answered.
"Yeah. It's better than the bullshit you put out." Samson said.
"It's so much better." Squigly grins brightly.
"Everyone got a little piece of what they wanted for this group project. I'm satisfied with the outcome." Leviathan was the last to chime in.
The Player ejects the tape from the camera and writes 'Audition Tape 2' in red marker.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's official. We're crime-fighters." The Player turns to the group with a confident smile. "For too long has New Meridian been under the tyrannical reign of the Medicis. For too long has New Meridian been the victim of Skullgirl attacks-"
"It was like…twice actually." Samson nonchalantly correctly.
"-But not anymore!" The Player continued as though not even hearing Samson's comment. "That officially ends with us! The Medicis may be gone, for now, but crime still runs rampant. It's gotten out of control with petty thugs trying to make a name for themselves now that the big boys are no longer on top. They'll stop at nothing to get a piece of the pie, but not on our watch!"
"Yeah!" The girls simultaneously cheer in agreement. He actually managed to rally the troops this time around.
"The pursuit of the almighty dollar will persist. It will corrupt the hearts of many and plunge them to darkness…but we'll shine ever brighter and forge a path to greatness!"
"YEAH!"
"Now! Let's become the beacon of hope New Meridian needs!"
Egret sirens could be heard going off in the distance. It was the first call of duty for the group of crime fighters.
The Player, Filia and Squigly turn their heads to the living room window where they heard the sirens from outside and then over to the alarm clock by the couch.
11:22pm
Seeing how late it was they all pause for a second.
"…Tomorrow?" The Player suggested to the group.
"Tomorrow." The girls nod in agreement looking exhausted.