New Meridian, Convention Center Auditorium
A large and colorful banner was hung above the auditorium's double doors - it was designed to grab people's attention, but it wasn't professionally designed; the banner reads 'PROJECT AUDITIONS! LOOKING FOR BADASS GIRLS!' written in crayon and marker. There were cartoon animals crudely drawn around the sign, but none more noticeable than chibi-styled faces of the trio hosting the auditions...take a wild guess at who they were.
Filia, the Player and Squigly were sitting together enjoying coffee behind the judges table. They were marked Judge 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
"I can't believe how many women showed up." Filia said in a surprised tone. "Once people found out about these auditions they've been lining up around the block."
The Player and Squigly slowly turn their heads in Filia's direction as she went to sip on her takeout cup.
"...Filia, why did you just blurt that out?" The Player asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You literally just gave a complete summary of our day. We've been sitting here for hours looking for cast members and then you randomly threw that out there like we weren't in the know."
"I was just making an observation."
"Rather bizarre observation." Leviathan comments with conflicted feelings - on one hand he was sure she had her reasons, but on the other what she said was oddly specific.
Filia narrowed her eyes at the three as they all stare at her with confusion on their faces. "I was doing it for the readers, okay? They weren't going to know what we were doing here." She explains in a huff.
"The last omake literally told them we were going to be hosting auditions." The Player plainly stated.
"And the intro." Samson added.
"...I thought we weren't supposed to break the 4th wall anymore?" Squigly asked now wondering when the next bill for the aforementioned wall was going to drop.
"Yeah, Filia." The Player crossed his arms and gave her a look of disapproval.
Filia threw her head back and groaned loudly. "When the PLAYER breaks the 4th wall it's okay, but when I do it there's a problem? At least I was trying to be helpful!" She rants.
"It's okay for me because I'm the main character." He replied with a bit of smarm.
"ONE of the main characters. We're in the same circle of importance!" Filia continued to argue.
A pile of mail rains from the sky behind them, catching the attention of Squigly who looked over her shoulder. "There it is." She plainly comments.
The Player sighs and raised his clipboard, cycling through the pages of their contestants' applications until he reached the current slip. "Let's just get back on track. Send in the next contestant!" He called out to the security guard at the backstage door.
The door opens with a loud metallic screech and equally loud shut.
A spirited young woman walks onto the stage and stood in the spotlight at the center. She was a little on the short side, standing about 5'1, and her dark brown hair was tied in a ponytail with a white ribbon. Her attire was a plain school uniform and a red scarf wrapped around her neck. Despite her stature she was quite endowed, it was hard not to notice, in fact it was the first thing Samson noticed.
"Damn. Look at the rack on that chick." Samson mumbles under his breath.
"Samson." Filia mildly called his name through her teeth, wanting him to correct his behavior.
"What? It's not me. Look at her!" He spoke at an elevated tone that contradicted his whispering attempts.
"Still! Don't be rude."
"Okay, uuuuuuuh, Asuka - main character of the first Senran Kagura timeline?" The Player asked after reading over her file to make sure they had the right girl.
She nods to confirm. "Yep! That's me!" She proceeds to bow at the 3.
"Great. What can you tell us about yourself? We're looking for strong female leads who can really handle themselves in a fight."
"Then look no further! Fighting is what I do best! I'm a ninja after all."
Asuka was already feeling good about her chances considering the requirements were simple. It almost felt like she had a surefire shot.
"Another ninja? Those seem popular these days." The Player was beginning to sound disinterested. He began cycling through some of the last pages on his clipboard. "We've had an abundance of ninjas come in today: Taki from Soul Calibur, Mai Shiranui from King of Fighters, Ibuki from Street Fighter...and not to mention we already have a ninja themed fighter in this universe, Valentine."
"Oh..." Asuka's shoulders droop in disappointment.
"That's not to say you're out." Squigly intervened the moment she noticed Asuka's mood had declined. "What matters is what you bring to the table. Not all ninjas are the same."
"What are your skills?" Filia inquired.
" I can wall run." Asuka began to count on her fingers, starting with her pinky.
"Basic." The Player flatly states.
She extends her ring finger; "I can summon a giant toad."
"A blonde shinobi with spiky hair from one of the biggest manga series ever created has already popularized summoning giant toads. We don't want to make it seem like we're copying his shtick." The Player once again expressed his disinterest.
The third and middle finger came up; "I'm very proficient with ninja weaponry."
"As all ninja should be." The dismissals continued, the Player had seen it all at this point.
Asuka nervously bites her bottom lip and counted to her index finger; "Um...I'm the granddaughter of a legendary shinobi. It destines me for-" She stopped mid-sentence the moment she saw the Player slowly shaking his head out of boredom, his body language expressed his painful familiarity with the destiny cliché.
Asuka dropped her hand in defeat. She didn't even want to bother at this point.
"Player, maybe you should cut her some slack." Leviathan whispered.
"This is important, Leviathan. We can't just have anybody coming on board." He whispered back.
"Yeah, but still."
While the group was distracted with their conversation one last thing came to mind for Asuka. "Um, I can...transform and ascend to a higher skill level." She adds.
"A transformation?" Filia's asked in interest. She looked over to the Player. "That sounds neat."
"Yeah, those other ninjas who auditioned didn't show anything like that." Squigly added.
The Player, though skeptical, exhales through his nostrils and leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Fine. What else can you tell us about this transformation?" He inquired with an impassive gaze.
Asuka actually won their interest, this was her chance! Her eagerness returned with a confident smile to go with it.
"The shinobi transformation is a physical technique that uses the Attribute of Yang, in where the fundamental essence of the shinobi is used as a battle tool by releasing the body's internal spiritual energy in all six chakras simultaneously."
"Can you give us a demonstration?" Filia inquired.
Without hesitation Asuka nods.
"Of course! Well...it's a little embarrassing with all the attention, but here it goes!"
Without warning Asuka's clothes were shredded to pieces, blowing off her body like confetti, this included her bra and underwear, casting her out in complete nudity.
A scroll popped out of Asuka's bountiful cleavage and she takes it in hand. "Here I go! Shinobi...Transformation!" She held the scroll above her head and a mystical green light emanates from the scroll, consuming the entire auditorium.
Filia and Squigly's reactions were that of stone...literally, they had seemingly turned to stone and were frozen in place - their jaws dropped and eyes dulled by the thick shadow that covered them. A faintly echoing "Guh...!" was all they could muster, the echo being a dramatic effect brought on by the universe as it saw fit.
The boys on the other hand? The Player was watching with wild enthusiasm, bouncing in his chair and shoving large bulks of popcorn in his mouth. Samson was holding up a perfect 10 out of 10 sign to further encourage the transformation with a 'TAKE IT ALL OFF' subtitle under the score. Leviathan's white cheeks were alight with a bright rosy hue, making it all too apparent he was overwhelmed with Asuka's display. His eyes shrunken to small circles while his mouth was left agape similar to the girls.
A new set of clothes materialize on Asuka's naked body: a pair of brown shoes, black thigh-high stockings, a green-plaid miniskirt that rivaled Filia for the shortest length, a cream colored vest with a white shirt underneath, a green tie and arm guards.
Once the transformation was complete Asuka opened her eyes and draws her weapons, a pair of wakizashi swords, and she poses afterward.
All of the judges were left silent, there was no reaction once it was all over. Seeing them unmoving, as though wondering if that was all she had, Asuka gave them a few seconds to settle into the transformation before deciding to take it upon herself to establish that she was done.
"...Um. Ta-daaaaaa?"
The Player jumps out of his seat, giving Asuka a standing ovation, and Samson whistles praise. Filia and Squigly flinch at their outburst and face the Player with unimpressed glares, Leviathan looks to Samson with mute disgust.
"YES! Encore! Encore!" The Player clapped continuously.
"O-Oh! You like my transformation?" Asuka was genuinely surprised at the warm reception.
"How is that even a question? Was the clapping and whistling not enough? Of course we liked it!" Samson declared.
Asuka's face builds up into a confident smile, failing to realize the two judges jumped the gun for obvious reasons. Filia, Squigly, and Leviathan were very displeased with the lack of professionalism from their co-workers and waited for them to correct their behavior like mature and civil individuals, but, nope, it didn't seem like it was going to happen as they were still at it.
"So, does that mean I get the part?" Asuka asked hopefully.
"You're in." Both the Player and Samson answered without hesitation, the former taking his pen to the audition sheet to mark Asuka as a cast member for their upcoming project.
Filia slides the application form from under the Player to keep him from making a premature decision, especially for the rest of the judges. "Don't even try it." She gives him a scolding half-lidded glance before facing Asuka with a smile. "Thank you for that...interesting display, Asuka. I think we have all the information we need so you can head to the breakroom and mingle with the other contestants while we finish up the remaining auditions. Help yourself to some food and treats."
Asuka cancels her transformation and reverts back to her regular clothing. "Okay. Thank you for having me!" She performs another ojigi out of respect and gratitude. She is then escorted to the breakroom by another security guard.
Filia pops the back of the Player's head and Samson as a disciplinary strike. "What is wrong with you two?" She was stern in tone.
"What did we do?" The Player was confused as to why he was hit.
"Gawking at...at...THAT like a pair of deviants."
"We were not gawking. We were genuinely amazed at Asuka's mastery over the ninja arts."
Filia and Squigly were looking at him with their arms crossed, eyes dulled and their lips angled off on a slant. One look at their faces and the Player knew they weren't going to fall for his nonsense.
"...Okay, you got me. But what did you expect? She literally got naked. Did you see how huge her boobs were?!"
"THANK YOU!" Samson threw up his tendrils.
"It's a little strange though, isn't it?" Squigly asked the group, getting their attention. "I'm not taking their side, but...every kunoichi that audition were overly endowed. Not just them either, Valentine too. Are large breasts the standard for female ninja these days?"
"I'd rather not question it." The Player crossed his arms at the topic. He liked his busty kunoichis.
"Of course you'd say that." Filia dismissed his response.
"You guys are talking like you don't flaunt off your stuff."
"My breasts are never exposed!" Filia debates.
"No. But you your thick ass thighs are. So is everything under your skirt because you refuse to wear modest clothes."
Filia scoffs uncontrollably at the Player. "It's my uniform! It's iconic!" She continued to argue.
"It's generic jailbait. That's what it is. Plus your fighting stance has an unnecessary amount of bouncing in it, which causes A LOT of jiggling in the chest area."
Filia blushes deeply, a bit more than usual now that he pointed out some of her traits. She was having trouble coming up with a reply and was left sitting there to dwell on the Player's observation. Her last resort was to baton pass the issue onto Squigly who caught wind of Filia's imminent pass and looks back at her like she wanted nothing to do with the subject.
"Hey, don't look at me. B-cup basics over here." Squigly held out her chest with her hands on either sides to put emphasis on her small bust.
"Don't you try and play the innocent card with me, Squigly! You might not have the bust but you've got the butt, and you SHOW it off."
"I do not!"
"You kinda do." The Player immediately sided with Filia.
"When have I ever?" Squigly crossed her arms and put one leg over the other like her friends had nothing on her.
"Your outtake attack. You put your hands on your knees and throw out your ass like you practice twerking. You poke out your lips and everything. Leviathan even puts on a pair of shades and makes the 'DAT ASS' face. You thought we wouldn't notice?"
Leviathan paused for a moment and then nods giving them a mute 'Touché.'
"No! T-That was...! That-" Squigly ended up being reduced to silence the more she tried thinking of an excuse. When her brain failed to come up with something believable she crossed her arms and slowly sinks into her seat. "Just send out the next candidate!"
A/N: This is not the next big chapter(s) that I was currently working on, literally writing like 3-4 chapters simultaneously and that's what's keeping me from uploading sooner rather than later, I keep going back and forth with ideas and then getting new ones and that kinda birthed a whole new chapter and, well, basically, I'm a mess. I apologize for keeping you all waiting with the major updates.
It's been a while since the last omake chapter anyway, originally this was going to be one whole chapter in itself but these aren't supposed to be long or drawn so I'm cutting it into pieces. I'm predicting there will only be like 4 parts, including this one.
Again, sorry for keeping you all waiting, rest assured I'm still writing and making progress. Slowly but surely.