Child's Play

[Kelne]

"Oh-kay." Emily had briefly considered pushing things, but Thirteen was pretty unlikely to give them any more info. That 'who' was suggestive though. Some other intelligence loose in the game. She had to wonder just how this one had gotten in. Thirteen could obviously jump about without any physical connection. Could this one too? Could any of them, potentially? Definitely somethng to consider.

[Idran1701]

Sam's still a little concerned...but if Thirteen says it's safe, he doesn't have any reason to worry.

"...Oh, hey! So what battlemons do you have, anyway? Do you play it normal too, or is this the first time for you?" For some reason, Sam has trouble imagining Thirteen sitting down somewhere with a Deus.

[Shinigori V2]

"I've played before...In this game, even." Thirteen says. "I never played video games like a human, though."

She seems to be dodging the question of what mons she has.

[Idran1701]

"Really? Never? How come?" While Sam still finds it strange that Thirteen plays videogames at all, the idea of playing them all from the inside is really strange. "I mean...some games I guess it'd be really neat to go in and actually be in the game. Like this one! But if it was a game like Lanio I think it'd be kinda boring to actually do it, since it'd just be all running and jumping and stuff. It's fun to play outside, but I don't think I'd really like it inside. And it'd probably make you pretty tired too. Oh, and what about puzzle games, like Pentris? That would just be weird, being inside one of those...I don't think that'd be very fun inside."

[Shinigori V2]

"You won't know until you try." Thirteen says.

[BrainWalker]

Max has his hand on his chin, and seems to be considering Thirteen intently.

"I'll bet you're into psychic types. Maybe also ice. And ghost or dark."

[Kelne]

"You're not hiding a batch of legendaries, are you?" Emily asked, waggling a finger in mock-sternness.

[Shinigori V2]

"Perhaps I have some legendaries." Thirteen says. "Though I'm not sure why you'd assume I'd harbor a Dark type."

[Animala]

"Or maybe..." Lauren paused dramatically "...you are the legendary!" Lauren wasn't entirely sure what "legendary" meant in this context, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

[Besyanteo]

Enzo headed for the door, smiling a little at Lauren's comment. With their abilities, he wouldn't doubt it was possible for Thirteen to be her own legendary Mon.

"Well, if it's all safe then I guess we should get right into it. You want to join us? Until we find the juniorkind we're just going to be battling NPCs and maybe each other anyway. And maybe catching things if it happens to be convenient."

[Shinigori V2]

Thirteen shifts her weight, he coat fluttering in a non-existent breeze. "I'm not certain if I should."

Kid and Janet, meanwhile, are tkaing the chance to converse with some of the NPCs in the Monspital.

[Idran1701]

"How come?" Sam gives her a funny look; is she nervous or something? It's so hard to tell with Thirteen. "Is something wrong?"

[Shinigori V2]

"The other who is here, I'm sure they're here for me. I wouldn't want you to get involved in it."

[Idran1701]

He nods with understanding, frowning a bit. He wishes he knew more about Thirteen; she's so mysterious about herself, and when something like this comes up...what does she think about things like this, he wonders. "Okay. So...what're you gonna do instead? Are you gonna stay and do other stuff in here?"

[NebulaQueen]

Silvie narrowed her eyes, and asked, "And who is that other who, anyway?"

Even if she didn't outright distrust Thirteen, her vagueness was still annoying.

[Shinigori V2]

"Ah..." Thirteen says, as if expecting the question. "She's a Hunter, a type of Wunderkind that prefers to improve their lot by stealing from others. She wants some of my equipment. She's been at it for years, and is notoriously persistant despite her constant failures. She also believes herself to be highly intelligent and charismatic. As far as I can tell, she doesn't have a real name, like you or I, but all those in her order call her 'Flea', due to her jumpy nature and how hard she is to deactivate."

[Idran1701]

Frowning a bit, Sam keeps in mind to watch out for this person. That just sounds mean! Stealing from other Wunderkind, that's not right. And yet, his curiosity still isn't satisfied.

"...But what're you gonna be doing while we're doing other stuff, Thirteen?"

[NebulaQueen]

"Huh..." SIlvie paused, and said, "That's kinda weird. How'd she become a wunderkind, anyway? Did she just get sucked in?"

[Shinigori V2]

"I haven't decided yet." Thirteen says to Sam. "Just as I don't know how she became Wunderkind. She's not...Normal." Thirteen frowns. "You will know her, if you see her, I'm sure."

[BrainWalker]

"Woah, wait, what? Years? Just how long have you been at this 'digital evolution' thing? I thought this whole moon-radiation or whatever business was a somewhat recent development."

[Shinigori V2]

"She's from my time." Thirteen says.

[Besyanteo]

Enzo blinked, and smiled a little.

"Are you allowed to tell us how many years in the future you're from? Or will that hurt the way things develop?"

He hardly expected a straight answer to THAT question, but she'd surprised him and the others before.

[ChristianC]

Alexis was, of course, super-excited about seeing Thirteen and all. In fact, it was a HUGE surprise! But really, wherever the kids went, Thirteen would be; Wise, awesome and completely vague, almost opaque.

So couldn't they do all this talking... on the road!?

Hi Thirteen! Alexis said over the intercom cheerfully, the gengar floating some feet in front and to the left of her giving a chuckle. Her hoodie, however, was back to eyeing Sam at the moment.

Maybe we can walk with each other to the end of this town? I'm sure we wouldn't run into any kind of enemies or other trainers or wild mons until then!

[Shinigori V2]

"Of course." Thirteen says, beginning to walk again. "What is it that you're doing in here, anyhow?"

[Idran1701]

Behind Alexis, Sam can't help but glance to Alexis's hoodie - it is just a sweatshirt...right? - as he talks to Thirteen. "There were some kids that went missing in a mall, and they were playing this copy of BattleMon, and Mr. Rivendare thought they got sucked into it! And so we got sent in to try and find them and bring them out safely! We think maybe they're more Juniorkind. Do you know anything about it, Thirteen? Can you...um...sense them in here or anything?"

Meanwhile, Louie keeps close to Spooky, tailing him cautiously as they walk along. Should Spooky glance back, he would find Louie narrowing his eyes. He is watching Spooky, and he is wary of his trickery and tomfoolery!

[ChristianC]

Alexis' hoodie occasionally throws the others in the party a glance, and the large smile on her chest seem to occasionally wiggle, as if the article of clothing is chuckling for itself. It wasn't hard to mistake the young girl for a gengar if you weren't looking closely, the way she wore the hoodie, but the Froslass backpack kind of made for a strange sight anyway.

Spooky, on the other hand, seemed to revel at the undisguised attention the farfetch'd was paying him, and bounced around, making faces, occasionally melting into the ground, only to appear right before the duck, seemingly loving how annoyed it was with his tomfoolery.

[Shinigori V2]

"I know that theyr'e in here." Thirteen says. "But I can't sense them."

[Idran1701]

"...Is that bad?" If Thirteen can't sense them, does that mean something's wrong with them? He hopes not.

"...Oh, do you think it's 'cause of that other person you said was in here too? Is she maybe making it so you can't sense them for some reason?"

[ChristianC]

Who cares? I'm sure we'll find them if we search long enough. Besides, time's much faster in here anyway, so even if we're here for days, it might just be hours in the real world... or minutes!

She pulled down her hood momentarily and gave the others the brightest smile ever.

What're you guys waiting for? Let's go out and catalogue the bunch of'em!

[Besyanteo]

Enzo was with Alexis on this one.

"Race ya! First one to catch a mon wins!"

He ran towards the tall grass, intent on winning. He'd been with the others about spending extra time catching Mons originally, but... well, now they were outside. It was different now. They were actually playing now, and he was wearing a grin almost as big as Alexis' as he went racing forward, his Ratata just barely holding onto him by biting down on his collar.

[Shinigori V2]

Enzo begins racing south, trying to be the first to catch a new 'Mon. However, as he runs, he suddenly freezes in place. ...As does everyone else.

And then a familiar music track, common to all the games, begins playing from nowhere. The theme for Team Submarine.

While the entire group is still frozen in place, there's a puff of smoke! And as it clears there is...Another Wunderkind.

Her uniform, black and orange, seems unaffected by the game's program. She places her fists on her hips and leans in, grinning wickedly at Thirteen. She seems about the middle age for a Wunderkind, twelve or so, but other than that, she's not like any Wunderkind they've seen before: Her skin is a light grey color, her hair a dark grey. Her eyes are a bright, slightly glowing yellow with black irises.

Everyone's suddenly free to move again, as the girl speaks. "Aha! I've finally found you, Turd-Teen!"

Thirteen frowns, her coat billowing against a wind that doesn't exist once again. "That would make much more sense if I was two years older. Would you like a few more days to come up with another one?"

The new girl stomps, leaning in and bearing slightly pointed teeth at Thirteen. "Sh..Shut up! I've got you this time and you know it! There's nowhere to run, your powers don't work in here!"

Thirteen sighs, crossing her arms. "This...Is Flea."

[Idran1701]

Sam gives her a funny look; she's weird for a Wunderkind. Is she talking like this because the videogame's making her a Battlemon bad guy, or is she always like this?

Something about her makes him think it's the latter.

"...Um...hi? What're you doing in here anyway? How come you're in here?" If she doesn't know yet about the Juniorkind, he doesn't want to spill the beans...but what else could she be here for? "And what d'you mean you've got Thirteen? You just showed up out of nowhere!"

While Sam expresses his confusion, Louie readies his leek for battle! This person looks entirely untrustworthy, And Louie just knows she must be up to some sort of unseemly activity. And that just will not do, sir! It will not do at all!

[ChristianC]

Alexis seems to have completely abandoned all sense and purpose when she plunged into the Best Game Ever©, pointing a finger at Flea and looking all fierce!

"I challenge you to a Monster Battle!" She shouts, once more dropping her stutter as Spooky floats up behind her, arms folded, all business... for now.

Looking suddenly a bit distracted, Alexis seemed almost to pause, before a small window appeared in front of Flea. The coding was pretty shitty, and the text kinda glitched up on the window, blinking and changing color.

CREEPY SKULK HAS CHALLENGED YOU TO A BATTLE

[Kelne]

Well, that had taken all of five seconds flat. Granted, it wasn't technically Team Submarine, but Flea seemed to have the mannerisms down. Including that obsession with capturing a certain... Well, not Battlemon, but she'd apparently been after Thirteen for a whle now with no great success.

"So, does this mean you'll be sticking Thirteen in a big jar so she can't zap you with her electrical attacks?" she asked innocently. Might as well see just how far the parallels went.

[BrainWalker]

Max had been walking along with the group, quietly contemplating over one of his monspheres, when everything froze. With Flea's appearance, Max just stares, and raises an eyebrow. This was Thirteen's mysterious nemesis? Seriously?

Max busts out laughing at Emmy's commentary, nearly dropping his monsphere.

[Animala]

The reference sailed gently over Lauren's head as she watched in confusion. "Lightning attacks? Jars? What?" And when Alexis issued her challenge, "Oh, hold on!" Lauren rummaged around in her pockets and produced a small notepad and pencil. "When they fight, could you guys maybe explain what they're doing? I've never played before..."

[Idran1701]

At first Sam merely stays back, snickering at Emmy's comment. At Lauren's question, though, Sam perks up. "Yeah, I-"

Before he can finish, though, Louie steps up, nodding to Lauren. Walking up to Alexis, he points to Spooky with his leek, and in turn to Flea, a sprightly tune picking up as he presents the two fighters. In the window hovering between the two, the screens shift between the various screens of a BattleMon fight as Louie gestures emphatically and quite meaningfully, pacing back and forth between Alexis and Flea. Stepping back to Sam, he snatches one of his empty MonsBalls - "Hey!" - flicking his pointing-onion towards Flea with a shake of his head. He tosses the ball back to Sam, and displaying a few borrowed MonsDollars - "...Hey!!" - he once more gestures towards Flea.

Crossing his wings, he gives Lauren a questioning look. Before her face appears a small window, with only two words:

Code: Select all

YES
NO

[NebulaQueen]

"Wait, that's Flea? Wow, what a - hey!"

Silvie blinked, and asked, "What's Louie doing?"

[Idran1701]

Sam looks to be confused as anyone else there. "Um...I...think he's teaching Lauren how to play?" Louie wasn't this weird when Sam played, was he?

...Wait, yes he was. Well...okay then.

[Shinigori V2]

Thirteen takes a step back, letting the other children handle this for her.

A text box pops up in all of the children's field of vision: Creepy Skulk Alexis wants to battle!

"Uh." Flea says, holding up a finger and looking horribly confused. "I, uh, was just gonna start punchin' Thirteen till she gave me her crap..."

Creepy Skulk Alexis sends out Spooky!

Spooky swerves in, standing between Alexis and her challenger. ...Challenged. Whatever.

Flea squints her eyes, crooking her finger just slightly...Even more confused now. "Uh, I have..Absolutely no idea what's going on."

Annoyance Flea is out of usable Battlemons!

"Wait, wha-" Flea manages to get out before the next box pops up-

Annoyance Flea blacked out!

With an "Urrgh", Fleas eyes roll back in her head slightly as she...Blacks out. As she collapses, her body turns white, and seems to disintigrate- Her code is moving to the last Monspital she visited. And who knows where that is.

"Expertly done!" Thirteen says, clapping her hands as she comes towards Alexis. "I believe that is yours." She adds, pointing to a small brown sack on the ground, decorated by a Credits symbol. Alexis won the duel, so clearly she has won money.