Breaking Free from a Monochrome Life

 All was mostly quiet in The Corps!!! HQ. There wasn't much for them to do aside from clean up and collaborate with The Cure on certain projects. Jaz knew that the major shenanigans would die down the moment the Kobbers left, leaving just a few small fries to weed out. The Corps, much to Shadow's shame, was built more like a defense force rather than a variety of skills like The Cure managed to grab before their face turn. Mitori and Sanra were at least making an honest attempt to reach out and get others on board to help out in different community service deals, but they weren't exactly oozing with charisma.

 There was one other problem, made apparent when Jaz kicked away an empty bottle of sake. She peered into The Corps' research lab and frowned as she saw several bottles of booze litering the floor, research assistants passed out onto their keyboards. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she spotted a box of chocolates, all of the chocolates now pitch black instead of shades of brown. As a hand reached out and grabbed one, Jaz's eyes trailed towards the culprit, whose one-eyed hat moved to stare her down and blink.

 "What in the fuck did you do with those chocolates?" 

 The culprit leaned back, cheeks flushed with pink. She stared at Jaz for a bit before the color left, deadeyed stare meeting deadeyed stare. 

 "Huh, you ditched the shrine maiden cosplay for that witch cosplay," Tsubakura noted as she took in Jaz's new outfit. "Guess your hero burned you real bad, huh."

 "Nice try dodging the question: what'd you do, Tsuba?"

Tsubakura rolled her eyes. "What, you don't eat chocolates with ink?"

The color drained out of Jaz's face, and for the first time in a long time, her expression is one of utmost disgust.

 "You're not dumping fountain pen ink on those, are you?"

"Nah, just Blooper ink. Pen ink tastes like rust."

"Wh... how-" Jaz took a deep breath before the many questions that came to mind overwhelmed her. "Actually, nevermind, not important. Shadow wants to know what you're up to, especially now with all the changes happening in Olympia. I'm kinda hoping it doesn't involve booze," she adds awkwardly as an assistant muttered something about snake people infiltrating Olympia's government and 5G poisoning everyone worse than radiation. "For your sake."

 The head scientist slumped forward and put her head on her desk. "I'm researching the best way to not do research. All the hot topics are long- term projects, and after CarverCorp's fuckups, nobody's going to ask me how my limb-regrowing tech even works. They even ruined the concept of ready-to-go battle armor in case some burglar tries to steal your purse in the middle of the day." She groaned as she reached for an unopened bottle of sake,  grabbign a bottle opener and popping it open in one smooth motion. "Love it when corporations make it harder to chase your dreams." She brought the bottle to her lips and took a swig like a water-deprived Mr. Fish.

  "Aaand you're going to blatantly ignore that extra radiation down in Inner Rememberance?" Jaz asked as she snatched the bottle away, Tsuba glaring at her and trying to reach for it before Jaz smacked her hand away. "You have the nanotech to at least do something about that, right? Or maybe you can use that big brain of yours to improve on their anti-rad suits. Must be something you could lend a hand with."

 After a few futile attempts to get her sake bottle back, Tsubakura sunk into her chair, almost slipping off as she grumbled, "Yeah, I could, but that's less interesting than making battle armor."

 "But you'd be doing something productive."

 "...I guess."

 As Tsubakura booted up her computer and lazily brought up info on what her nanotech could handle, Jaz pondered for a bit. She was here long enough to notice the sort of interactions the crew had with one another, their regular routine. Tsubakura was notably the laziest of the bunch, an almost herculean effort and the promise of booze needed to get her to do most things out of her comfort zone. The only times she even bothered to get out, besides for a grocery run, was when nanomachines were involved in some capacity: first with Reaper, then with Dust. Jaz noticed sometimes while passing by that Tsubakura would stare at her screen, several tabs passing her by, barely noticing that it was about the supersoldiers CarverCorp had been developing until their eventual collapse. Granted, when they needed her help the most, Tsubakura had them covered, even helping Jaz recover from her fite a lot more easily, but it didn't look like very many things held her interest, and if she wasn't interested, it was hard to press her into action.

 Now that the Kobbers were gone for good, it seemed like it was even harder to get her to do anything. She'd spend the days drinking and the nights eating and sleeping, with maybe the occasional looksie at the Kobber Blogger. All made worse because ultimately, she wasn't exactly needed. All those scientific concerns could be delegated to ex-CarverCorp scientists, or at least those with a strong moral and ethical core. Andrew and Brandon would be able to find the best fit for some of them, if not all of them. It was as if Tsubakura knew she was no longer an important asset, either for The Corps!!! now that The Cure was handling more of the heroics and they had all the tech they needed to handle things, or Olympia as a whole. And so she would loaf around and get her paycheck by doing the bare minimum and live a boring life.

  But Tsuba would always look back at the Kobber Blogger, eyes bright for a moment before she became deadeyed again once there was no significant update.

 So did she really want this life? Or was she looking for something more interesting to come along and sweep her for the ride? A feeling rose in Jaz's gut as Tsubakura summoned the more sober assistants to take samples of her nanomachines and do a radiation stress test. Part of her wasn't sure to trust it: she really shouldn't be making guesses about what a person really wanted out of life. The other part? Well, she wouldn't know unless she gave it a go!

 "Y'know, the Kobbers are heading to a new place in South America," Jaz said, keeping it casual as she looked over at the weird-hatted scientist. 

"Uh huh." Tsuba was typing away, pulling up maps of Rememberance, taking a look at just how much radiation was in each sector as of a more recent study. "Somewhere that Maya chick was from. Brume- no, Agama, wasn't it?"

 "Yep. Turns out, there's a whole bunch to be discovered there. Lot of ruins, full of mysteries."

"Mmmmhmmm." Barely a reaction, if anything.

"Some of them might even have some ancient magitech, since I hear Agama's perhaps the most magitech-friendly place around."

 Jaz immediately noticed the glint in Tsuba's eyes, though she at least kept her bored look. "That's neat, I guess?"

 Time to strike. Jaz leaned back and stretched, keeping a poker face on as she said, "Well, they're open for more people to help out with research. They might have more modernized magitech now, but there's always something to learn from those that came before you. Who knows, maybe there's a way to incorporate something like that into your nanomachines or your casual battle armor ideas. Maybe bring them back to Olympia once people forget about CarverCorp's mistakes 'n all."

 Dead silence. Jaz kept her poker face, though she wanted to break into a smile so bad. The bored look was gone for longer than a second, and for the first time, Tsubakura had an intense curious look on her face. Even if it didn't last that long, it was all Jaz needed to know.

 "I'll... look into it, maybe," Tsuba replied as she straightened herself up. She glanced around at the mess everywhere and frowned as she added, "Maybe after I do a little cleanup and finish up those stress tests." She looked back up at Jaz as the shrine maiden-turned-witch with a raised eyebrow as she asked, "Still, did that loss really hurt you that bad?"

 Jaz picked up a few empty bottles of booze and turned to leave. Her reply? "Just needed a little change, that's all."

 "That doesn't answer anything," Tsubakura grumbled as the door shut behind her.

Sometime after the mess was cleaned and the assistants were gone for the day to sober up and relax, the scientist stared at her computer intensely. Kobber Blogger still wasn't updated. No information on Agama from there. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. She reached out for the mouse and clicked to open another tab, her fingers flying on the keyboard as she brought up Wikipedia. Search for Agama... aha! A barely written wiki, but a wiki page, nonetheless! Not much known, but there were several references to news stories and articles about their entrance into the world stage. Click, click, click. Tabs flew open, and she leaned in, soaking every word of those articles like a sponge. Every reference, she clicked. Every scrap of information, she wrote down. Her browser's tab catalogue ballooned from just three to twenty as she scavenged what little information there was, from general information to what little people knew of the technologies within. And what little she could find, she compiled into a file, before making another file on research topics, then making another on several hypotheses on how magic can affect nanotech and how they can be used in productive ways, including how it can raise how much radiation nanomachines can handle before they break down entirely.

By the time her work was done, Jaz came back to a bloated browser, an overly crowded task bar, and a snoozing scientist. It was only then that Jaz cracked a smile, leaving a bottle of Chocalcohol besides Tsubakura before tiptoeing away. One life potentially changed for the better... she hoped.

Tsuba by herself wouldn't be a totally great idea. Always better to go in pairs. But Jaz had an idea for that. After all, there was certainly someone interested in the "magi" part of "magitech", someone with a more blatant curiosity... and one who could break Tsuba out of her shell and drag her into sheenanigans, whether she liked it or not. 

Jaz smirked as she took out her phone and made a call.

"Hey, Reimu? I might have something to scratch Marisa's itch for a thrill..."

Roomies Hangin Out

“Ah, I’m running late!”

Cherry blossoms swirl in the background as a girl no older than 15 runs through them, her long hair swaying in the breeze. Small Town High was looming before her like a giant as she hurried, trying desperately to keep the roast beef sandwich in her mouth. High school was the time of change, where she could change her life for good! Now she could stand out and-

She tripped on her own left foot, tumbling to the ground as her books flew out of her messenger bag. Embarassed, she hastily got up, watching other students pass her by without even lending a hand. Her sandwich was safe, but now she was struggling to get everything together.

“Oh no, oh no, I’m gonna be so late!” she says as she grabs a “Math 5 Dummies” book as thick as a dictionary and shoves it into her bag. “Man, what a way to start the day-”

From the corner of her eye, just as she grabbed her “Dragon Business” book, she saw a hand. She took it with out thinking and smiled as whoever it was helped her up.

“Thanks, I really needed that-” she started, before she realized she was holding a hand that was a little scalier than most. Either that or that was some bad eczema. And was it normal for people to have slits for eyes? And a dragon tail? And horns?

Her heart clearly went doki-doki as her eyes met with possibly the weirdest, yet handsomest mix of man and dragon alive-

There is a distinct crunch of a chip bag as a girl clutched it close like it was a long lost lover, watching the scene on her TV with anticipation. Ah, the signs of a possible love interest! Something abnormal, something cool, something-

“Hey, Sabrina, I’m home!”

Sabrina turned around with shock as she saw her roommate, a woman dressed like some Victorian Era widow who poisoned her ex-husband’s wine to inherit his massive fortune, in the doorway with two bags full of groceries.

“Huh?! You’re back so soon, Nikki?” Sabrina asked as she quickly paused her anime and turned her full attention to her friend. “I thought the store was having a sale? And weren’t you at a con, too?”

Nikki sighed and put the bags down before stepping into the room and taking a seat beside Sabrina. “They had a sale on everything we didn’t need, so I just got the bare essentials,” she replied, taking off her veil and shaking her head of long, brown hair. “The con’s going on for a couple more days, so I’m not worried about leaving early. Lot of cosplay going on, but there’s a distinct lack of B.C. that kinda gets at me.”

“Hasn’t he been gone for the last con, too? I mean, I know he’s still active and all, but he hasn’t been at any conventions recently!”

As Sabrina got up to toss her chip bag in the garbage, Nikki groaned and flopped onto the floor like a lazy, goth seal. “He’s been gone for two years and I hate it. I wanted to buy the next issue of Aqua Princess Rita and have it signed! I wanted to ask for like, five million comissions! AND I wanted to buy those handmade plushes of Kobbers!” Groaning turned to outright sobbing, her gloved hands covering her hands as she wept, “God damn it, why does everybody I like go somewhere else?! First it was the Kobbers and Zoofights, then WCW, and now B.C.! It’s like god says Manhattan can’t have nice things!”

Sabrina detected a sad friend, and when sad friends are involved, she could not leave them be! Quickly, she went to her dresser and opened up the top drawer, revealing the “Feel Good” stash, filled with small, soft blankets, plushes, scented candles, a collection of cassettes and video tapes of cute things, and fun sized candies. Most of it was pushed aside, though, as Sabrina grabbed the best weapon against Nikki’s eternal sorrows and dumped it at her feet along with a big box of crayons.

Nikki stopped her sobbing as she looked down at the thing in front of her and took it into her hands. Her sorrow quickly turned to confusion, her eyebrow quirked.

“ ‘Big, Bad, Zoofights Coloring Book’?”

“Yep! Now you can color in your favorite moments from every Zoofights imaginable!” Sabrina replied cheerfully, brushing back her long, pink hair and taking a seat beside her friend. “That includes even the Croctopus moments, y’know!”

The goth quickly looked through the pages before settling on one particular page that made her want to cry.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO” she wailed like a dying whale. “NOW I HAVE TO RELIVE THE LOSS OF MY FAVORITE EEEEL, NOOOO WHYYYYY DID YOU DO THIS TO MEEEE”

Sabrina tilted her head for a moment. “I dunno, I thought the horse was better! If it makes you feel any better, you can color the horse red and stuff? Use your imagination!”

Nikki raised her head, giving Sabrina a thousand yard stare. “Sab?”

A shiver went down Sabrina’s spine, but she pretended that it didn’t mean anything. “Yeah, Nikki?”

“I’m kicking you out of the house of this blasphamy.”

The gaspening begun, Sabrina flailing about as she shot back, “But wait, I’m your best friend! You know, your big, lovable best friend from grade school? You can’t just abandon your friend to the streets, right?”

“BUT THIS IS AN ACHILLES EEL HOUSEHOLD YOU MONSTER! IT’S LIKE I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU ANYMORE!”

Oh no. She upset the friend. Now what to do? Concentrating, she held out her hands, feeling the warmth of the sun shining through her windows, feeling the warmth inside her and channelling that to her fingertips, where that same warmth, that energy, shaped itself into small motes of colored lights. And with a bit of struggle, she shaped them into not-so-perfect recreations of a dumb horse and an eel with a shoe, where the eel clearly kicked the horses ass.

“Does that make you feel any better?” she asked, a bead of sweat rolling down her face. “C’mon, cheer up! Instead of being mad we supported the wrong teams, why not focus on what we both agree on? You know, like how that lobster should have never won!”

Nikki stared at her for a long time before she said quietly, “Yeah, we should. We’re living in the worst timeline, the one where Final Mantisy XV isn’t a thing.” She smiled, sitting up before glancing over at the anime Sabrina was in the middle of watching. “Anyway, guess you’re binging again? Thought you’d be at a job interview, least with CarverCorp saying that they’re giving your resume a look over. Or maybe working on your resume.”

Sabrina snapped her fingers, the motes of light dispursing as she sighed and flopped onto the floor next to Nikki. “I’ve done all I could with it, so now it’s just a waiting game to see who hires me first,” she admitted, taking off her glasses to wipe off a bit of dirt that got on them with her shirt. “So while I wait, I’m just watching ‘My Heart-Pounding Dates with Dragons’. I heard it was great and full of fluff, soooo~!”

Squinting, Nikki took a good look over at what could potentially be the dragon date and said, “Huh, I think I’ve seen this. Or at least heard about it. Lot of fans are pissed at the ending, and if I remember right, it was some real shit.”

“S-spoilers, geez!”

“Listen, I’m trying to prevent your heart from breaking in two ahead of time. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Well, in that case, then you’ll have to suffer with me!”

“Wait, no, I’m not ready for that kind of commitment! And I have to change out of this stuffy outfit-” Nikki said, but Sabrina grabbed her and held her in place with a firm hug.

Sabrina pressed play and continued watching the horribly awkward scene with glee as Nikki struggled in her grip before, eventually, her roommate simply gave up and just watched along with her. The coloring book is swiftly forgotten as the two girls watch anime together, one delivering a snarky commentary along the way.

Suddenly, A Boyfriend

Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep-

SLAP.

“Piece of shit alarm...”

Cindy groggily pulled her hand away from her alarm clock and rolled over in bed with a groan. The sun’s light trickled in through the window, past the heavy curtains she set up. Damn sun, always being up so goddamn early. Sleep more important. Sleep’s always more important.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

She slapped it again, rolling over and shoving another pillow on her face. It was too early to do anything. It was her day off. Every day was a day off, now that she was taking a break from the actress gig. And that meant she could sleep in as long as she-

BEEP BEEP-

“For fuck’s sake!”

Cindy grabbed the alarm and chucked it like she was a Chuckster all her life, the poor thing flying across the room-

Bonk.

“Ow!’

Cindy sat up in an instant, eyes wide as she turned towards the source. The alarm fell at a man’s feet, the poor guy rubbing the unfortunate bump that formed when she accidently hit him with it.

“Oh god, are you okay?! I’m so sorry!” Cindy said, rushing out of bed to brush away his red hair and kiss the boo boo like her life depended on it.

He shrugged it off, even though he flinched when she kissed it. “Don’t worry about it, I’m alright,” he said. “You probably shouldn’t be chucking those things around. Besides, you can just… disconnect them.”

Cindy stared at him and gasped. “Wow, you’re a goddamn genius! Maybe I should do that!” She then shrugged and crawled back into bed, yawning all the while. “But you know… that just… isn’t my style.”

“So, your style is ‘aggressively throw things you don’t like across the room.’ Remind me never to bring Prinnies into your apartment.”

“And your style is yelling ‘FIGHT ME!’ in the middle of a wrestling promo that didn’t even involve you.”

“Touche. Anyway, now that you’re up, you want something from Dunkin? I can go grab a bite for us to eat. Maybe you can catch a few more minutes of shut eye while I’m out.”

“Long as you don’t catch that stupid tie in a door and strangle yourself, sure. And why go to Dunkin when you can just… go order some Black Magic Bakery stuff online.”

He raised an eyebrow, then took out his phone, bumbling his way onto the BMB website. “They deliver locally, and last I checked, they’re in Kuwahawi and Manhattan. We’re in neither of those places.”

Never had Cindy been so incensed at living in California. Nice beaches, nicer homes, nicer food, but no goddamn Black Magic Bakery. It was an utter sin, and she was about to correct this right now.

“Hold on, bae, I’ve got this,” she said as she pulled out her phone and dialed. “Hello, Parsee? Heeeey, girl, it’s been forever and a half! I’ve been secluding myself after my shameful display at Drown Yer Mates-”

“You were actually busy doing weird actress things that involved getting drunk,” ‘da bae’ corrected, though Cindy waved him off.

“-and crying bucketloads because the paparazzi got a hold of it and tore me a new asshole. I mean, come on, half of you chumps wouldn’t have even tried. Anyway, could you get me one of those cinna-waffles Celestia has? And a big stack of pancakes? VROP ‘em over, I’m starving. Unless you wanna do an in-person delivery!

Uh huh, I’ll pay you back ASAP. Thanks, you’re the best! Love ya~!” Cindy hung up, turning towards her man with a smirk. “Breakfast is on the way. Now get over here and cuddle me, goddamn it.”

“W-wait, hold on, you got that set up that fa-”

Cindy rolled her eyes, got out of bed, grabbed him by the stupid tie, and dragged him into bed with her, snuggling him tight.

She wasn’t exactly sure how this started. It was sometime where she was filming something stupid: the director wanted her to be at least tipsy and try to act like a snobby princess all the while. Gods, the plot was weird: tipsy princess with a gun, fending off challenges from Overlords everywhere as they all tried to kill her for some god forsaken reason. Oh, and some weird, forced romance between her and some guy. Lots of stunts were involved, and the main actor wasn’t nearly as talented as her. They went through a bunch of stunt doubles trying to perform the tricks he had to do, most of them cowering out when they realized they were up against a very scary, real Overlord who was just acting like a dick for the pay.

Poor actor was left to do his own stunts, bless his soul. But one day, just as he was about to pretend to kick an Overlord’s ass, Mr. Big Tie just rolled up and actually laid the beatdown on the Overlord. Just… outright kicked his ass, no hesitation.

She wasn’t sure if she wolf-whistled at him for no reason other than wow, nice muscles. Maybe she also said something lewd. All she knew was that maybe she had too many shots that night and she might have said something vaguely romantic or tsundere or something and he took her to a hotel so she could puke and get over her hangover.

Then he got hired as the stunt double because ~magic~ and they went on casual dates and… now they were here. Snuggling. In bed. At 7 AM.

Cindy didn’t know how the hell it actually started, or when it became a real thing, but all she knew was that she at least enjoyed his company. It was hard to find anyone worth dating when you were an actor or actress, because people tended to date them as trophies, as a golden egg, the sugar momma or sugar daddy or whatever the fuck they called them these days. Personality? Who gives two shits about that, when they’re famous?

“Hey, Cindy?”

Cindy groggily turned towards him. “Yeah, Adell?”

“You think we could maybe go out of the country sometime?”

“Did you kill an Overlord and have to run away from your crimes and your horrible past or something?”

He stared at her, sitting right up as he said, “Wait, what? No, no! I meant to watch some Brawl something or other! It’s in Kuwahawi, and two friends of mine are in it!”

Cindy sighed dramatically, sinking further into her bed. “Damn it, I was ready to forge some documents and everything.”

“You were seriously thinking of covering tracks, weren’t you?”

“Maybe.” Cindy sat up and streched before she leaned on Adell’s shoulder. “Anyway, sure, we got time to spare. I don’t have shit to do aside from post cat pictures and latte art on my Instagram.” She rested for a bit before her brain switched on. Brawl. Kuwahawi. A Brawl on Kuwahawi. Suddenly, she jerked up, giving Adell a shocked as hell look as she shouted, “Wait, your friends are in the BIG BAR BRAWL?!?”

“Could you not shout in my ear?” Adell shouted back, flinching before he pulled up photos of both Gonzy and Priere. “Anyway, yeah, I know these two! They were both involved in some Demon Hunting stuff, and they both helped me beat up Zenon! Was wondering what they were up to all these years, so I figured now might be a good time to catch up!”

Cindy looked at him, then back at her phone. Adell, phone. Phone, Adell. Phone.

“One sec, bae,” she said softly before she dialed Parsee again. “Hey, Paru-paru? Why didn’t you fucking tell me your stupid, adopted Penguin Son is IN THE BIG BAR BRAWL?!?”

“Wait, Gonzy’s Parsee’s adopted what now?!?”

“No, I didn’t know! Please, get me front row seats so I can watch your penguin son die horribly and I can get drunk and tell my boyfriend, ‘ha, I could do better than that’. “ Cindy watched Adell’s cheeks turn pink, turning away from her the moment she made eye contact. God damn it, why was he so cute when flustered? “I’ll do Brawl votes just for you if you get ‘em! Pinkie promise! Also need some hotel rooms because I’m inviting Kevvy, too! We’re hardcore brawl fanatics, you know!”

As she chatted away, breakfast arrived in bed, the VROP startling Adell for a second before he dug into his pancakes like a starved hyena. Watching him eat breakfast in bed alone was no fun, so she quickly wrapped up her call and joined him, smiling right at him as she said, “Well, I guess you know where we’re going soon!”

“Yep! Heard about these Kobbers: they seem to be just my type. Kind of like big damn heroes, huh?”

“MMMMMMM, 90%, yes.”

“What about the other 10%?”

“5%’s too cuddly to be heroes and the other 4% are… out there. Courier’s was a weird one before he died, and then there’s a few others who kinda straddle the line of gray morality.”

Adell wiped some syrup off of his face with his tie. Didn’t he ever hear of napkins? Did she have to ask Parsee to VROP some napkins in, too? “Do I even want to hear about the 1%?”

Cindy leaned in close, so close her lips were right next to Adell’s ear. “Sinefam.”

“Nevermind, don’t think I wanna hear it.”

She grinned as she took a bite of her waffle. “Yeah, thought so. Long story. Either way, yeah, they fit your style like a glove, except they scream ‘FITE ME’ at one another and lo and behold, they do it! The Big Bar Brawl is basically them shouting ‘FITE ME’ at each other all at once and then 99% of them die. And that’s just for kicks, too! Can you imagine that Zenon guy you keep talking about showing up and turning people into demons for his power and then being all wordy in front of them? He’d be dead before the year was out. Trust me, I know.”

“Zenon was kind of a chump anyway, so that sounds a lot like overkill.”

As the two talked the day away and Cindy explained all Adell needed to know about Kobbers, excitement built up in her chest. She’s going to see the Brawl with her best friends and her battle maniac of a boyfriend. She’s going to watch people kick ass and take names. Maybe she’ll get dragged into a Kobber thing or two.

Most importantly… she would have someone to share it with.