Insert Coin to Continue...!

[actuallyselfish]

[1]

A few weeks after the destruction of the Ladies' Good Men, and a week after the final fight with the Kijin, Dido tightens her grip on the controls, eyes narrowed, teeth bared.

"I can't give up now!" She declares. "I won't despair! If I stand by justice, and keep moving forward, a way will open up! I know it will–Aw Fudge! Fudge! C'mon! Fudge! That combo's broken! This boss is OP! Cheap! Hax!"

On the arcade game's screen, Dido's Qipao-wearing character twitches helplessly in the throes of hit-stun, then flies back across the stage. "K.O.!". The boss character, clad in a sharp business suit and fish-crested gladiator helmet, folds his arms and laughs."Pathetic! You're ten years too early to beat me!".

Dido's bloodshot eyes twitch. "I'll wipe that grin off your face!" She shouts, fishing quarters from her pocket.

For god's sake, someone drag her away!

[2]

[Private Chat, locked to Mizuki]

"Yo, 'Zuki!" Dido pops up on your tablet screen, shadows under her eyes, a grease stain on her chin. "Could I ask you for a favor?"

[3]

[Private chat, sent to Ken, Hetepheres, Sarah and Peola]

Dido pops up on your tablet screens, looking chipper and extremely energized. "I challenge you to hand-to-hand mecha combat!"

Comments

2)

[not_a_prize]

In... a... minute!

[Peola was in the middle of arm wrestling one of the burlier techs for the honor of the Security Guard unit she was a part of when Dido called. She was laying off the ki powers and working solely with her own strength so it was a pretty even match.]

Re: 2)

[actuallyselfish]

Dido squints at the video feed. "Jenkins? Is that you?" She asks the burly tech. "And you're wrestling Peola? Hold on, I'll be right there!"

Dido rushes to the scene, then stands to the side. "Whoo-Hoo!" She calls out. "Kick her butt, Jenkins! And don't let her blow air on your extremely sensitive elbows!"

[not_a_prize]

[Peola simply grits her teeth and refuses to take advantage of the maybe possibly weakness Dido just let out. Her honor as a runaway princess means fair play! So she yells and brute forces the whole way, managing to slowly and surely tilt Jenkins' hand before he rapidly slaps the table to tap out. Both taking deep breaths. She gives a small but gracious smile.]

Lets... lets call this one a draw.

[actuallyselfish]

"Great match! That was awesome! Both of you were awesome!" Dido approaches with a smile, wincing for a moment at the brief glare Jenkins gives her.

"So..." She asks. "What was that all about? Strength training? A bet?"

[not_a_prize]

Nah. It was just for fun. Allen, one of my friends on the Security team... you know the one with the scar on his face that everyone else said he got from running into a stopsign on foot? Well he said Jenkins had a standing record of beating everyone in the Security in an arm wrestling match.

I thought I'd try you know?

[She shrugs before looking contemplatively at Dido.]

What was that about hand to hand machina combat?

1

[herodrawing]

Eh, it's not that bad. It was a few months too early, at most.

Re: 1

[actuallyselfish]

"Grr...plsh...Arggh!"

Dido calms herself down. "Thanks...that's very kind of you, Izuru–whoops, it's starting!"

"A Storm of Battle is upon us! Glory or Death! Fight!"

Dido starts out with a jump kick towards the boss character, clipping him in the head. But he crouch-blocks, and then–!

"Pankration Upper!" Dido's character gets knocked out of the air with a rising punch.

"Dammit!" Dido snarls. "I hate you, President Gladiator! I hate you!"

She glances over her shoulder. "Izuru! You're a teenager! You're good at video games, right? Any advice on how to beat this guy?"

[herodrawing]

Wow, this guy's really cliche, isn't he?

Anyway! I'm no expert at this like Suruga, but I think...

The computer is always bad at mixup, right? String a high-low combo maybe... can you even jump cancel in this game?

[Look, Izuru suddenly started to speak in an alien language.]

[actuallyselfish]

"What the fudge is a mixup?" Dido wails. Nonetheless, she follows Izuru's advice, and alternates attack angles, hitting President Gladiator with some high jumping punches, then some low kicks. She bypasses the president's block and manages to trip him, then throw him the moment he gets up.

"Yes!" Dido shouts. "Izuru, you're a genius!"

Across the screen, President Gladiator gets up, and then crouches, waiting.

"Dammit." Dido hisses. "He's trying to lure me in. If I get too close, he'll uses his Glory Meter to hit me with a Century Cestus special! What should I do?"

[herodrawing]

It's... it's what you're doing! Keep it up!

And now that he's in a corner and turtling, can you punish him from afar somehow?

[It's not very heroic, but in a fighting game you counter cheese with cheese of your own!]

3

[abugslife]

Oh? What is this? The student has enough of the lessons from the master. Do you think your skills have grown enough to fight me on equal footing?

Re: 3

[actuallyselfish]

"Hell no!" Dido blurts out. "You're gonna kick my ass!"

Re: 3

[actuallyselfish]

"But still..." She shrugs. "The past few fights have pushed my mech hard, depleting its armor and energy. Hell, my lance was shattered for the first time during that Lady's Good Men fight! I need to learn how to use the mech as a weapon itself for when my lightning and thorns run dry...and a sparring match with you would show me what I need to improve!"

"Plus," she says wit a jaunty grin, "I think I can land a few good hits on you before going down! Care to prove me wrong...Master?"

[abugslife]

I see. You have a very cautious approach to this, perhaps even bordering on underestimating your own abilities, and your logic is very sound.

I refuse.

3

[63rd_shockwave]

...What.

Re: 3

[actuallyselfish]

"You know, a friendly hand to hand spar! Testing our abilities! Pushing our limits! Seeing if the Mecha control OS I cooked up last night works!"

Dido bounces up and down a little. "You game?"

Re: 3

[63rd_shockwave]

...That sounds like it'd get expensive fast.

Why do you want to do this? Your...turtle thing doesn't seem like much of a melee fighter.

Re: 3

[actuallyselfish]

Dido shrugs. "True...but the last few missions, I've had to fight without ammo or without my lance. Given the sorts of enemies we're gonna have to face in the future...I should probably learn how to use ShelLancer itself as a weapon."

She holds her hands up. "As a last resort sure...but I should make sure my last resorts effective, right?"

3

[tiger_ken]

...You're kidding, right?

[Interrupting him during a workout... and he doesn't seem in the best mood.]

Re: 3

[actuallyselfish]

"I wasn't trying to kid." Dido replies "Is this a bad time, Ken? You feel...intense."

Re: 3

[tiger_ken]

...Sorry, got a lot on my mind...

[His mind flashes to Mizuki, among other things, but he shakes his head.]

Didn't exactly peg you to be the physical fighter type though.

Re: 3

[actuallyselfish]

Dido shrugs. "I've been getting my lance wrecked the last few fights, not to mention running low on ammo. Learning some basic hand-to-hand mecha defense skills might save my bacon someday."

She glances around, then leans in and whispers. "I've set up a new control scheme on ShelLancer that might help with that, but it needs testing. Do you think you could help?"

2

[empress_without_a_throne]

Depends on the favor.

What do you need?

Re: 2

[actuallyselfish]

"Ummm..." Dido scratches the back of her head. "Could you spare a cup of Void Energy?"

[empress_without_a_throne]

A "cup"?

[She raises an eyebrow incredulously.]

What for?