HtH132 – Rejection and Gojiraaaa!!!
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: One door closes, another one opens.
Fwipfwipfwipfwip...
Anno runs her fingers through pages and pages of the play script. She would quickly scan through a page, and place it down in a pile on her right. The speedreading makes causes Eclair to fidget in the chair, legs pressing against her own fingers locked together. Was her senior not going too fast? Did she truly understand the story she had written? Why had she not said a word about it all this while? When the final piece of paper was put in the 'read' pile, the girl with blue pigtails closes her eyes in deep thought, a finger on her chin.
"Well? How was it? What did you think about it?"
For a while, there is no response. The expression on Anno's face changes the longer she remained still, flitting between confusion wonder, then back again. Finally, like she had made a decision, Anno raises a single finger while asking the question,
"But why is Morganna evil?"
"Why...?" Eclair did not quite understand the question that she was being asked. Anno had raised a question about the main character of the play, but it made no sense to Eclair. Was it not evident in the nature of the play itself? "I just thought... it was something you wouldn't hear in the New Continent. A tale from my homeland."
A tale from far away, portrayed in a fashion that defies expectation.
Is this not exactly the thing that is being sought after right now?
"Probably nyot!" Anno laughs, straightening the papers on the table, "But I've been up there too you know, the floating city in the sky!"
Eclair's heart tightens upon hearing those words.
A half-remembered foggy sauna bath comes into her mind's view.
Most continentals would not have heard this side of the story before, much less ventured into Arcadia.
But...
It just so happens that the person sitting across the table...
... is Anno.
Eclair's fingers grip tighter under the table; the rapid-fire words across the table no longer reach her ears.
At the same time, in our beloved Theatre House...
A most visceral picture is painted as a backdrop; a monster tears through the city, skyscrapers torn to shreds as a testament to humanity's hubris. As the scaly green-skinned monster departs for a body of water, dragging its tail along crushed asphalt, we see the survivors, their strength and resilience personified.
"I imagine them rising, not in defeat, but in defiance, a testament to the indomitable human spirit."
"""Gojiiraaaaaaaaa!!!!"""
[SPLASH!]
Hikari falls backwards into the small, round, inflatable tub that has been set up in the middle of Mistral's Fun Place. Instead of the elegant purple kimono that the girl usually wears, she is suited up in a scraggy, over-sized mascot's costume. The hood of this green-skinned menace is pulled down, revealing Hikari's hair and laughing face while she lies soaked in the tub, the kaiju flesh-colored front facing the sky.
"No, you guys don't understand!!"
Minara is besides herself at this point. When she ran upstairs, she ran right into the impromptu band making its merry round around the first floor! In frantic hand-waving, she tries to explain the thing she saw downstairs [HtH129]; only for the lights of the Fun Place to turn on and reveal...
... nothing?
No long-handed monster with a red gem in the center.
In fact, when the lights were switched on, it was clear that Mistrál has been renovating the place for some time. The mini-bar is intact, but most of the tinkerer's robotics experiments have been moved away.
Then, having ducked behind the mini-bar, the purple-haired girl emerged with that get-up.
"In the ruins, a glimmer of hope, a chance for redemption. I feel the heartbeat of Earth itself, a pulsing life that refuses to be broken." Gojira-Hikari emerges from the little tub, having been tossed in by her merry friends. She waves her triangular-clothed arms with a cute little roar at the only one in the house left out of this cooked-up conspiracy, water dropping down from its arm-flippers.
As Gojira-Hikari approaches one scaly stomp at a time, Minara can't help but notice a second mystery;
Gone are the display cases where her many-fingered friends sleep. In its place, a long and wide court has been drawn out in chalk, as if in preparation for something. The fun-loving girls seem to delight in this new decor, congratulating Mistrál for a job well done.
A badminton court? Here? In the basement?
Mistrál doesn't seem like the sporty type, so what are they up to?
"I made that!" Piaccta raises the water-proof arm, like a fight promoter giving her champion the bump she deserves.
"No, no, you guys are not understanding at all!" Minara circles an invisible and empty dotted-line space behind the mini-bar with her finger. "There was thing, right here! It was at least as tall as the ceiling, and it had one glowing eye! I know what I saw!"
Minara was firm in the thing that she saw.
She was not going to take 'gojiraaaaa' as an answer!
When the costumed girl roars, Minara roars right back!
Meanwhile, the other purple-haired girl is conferring with our local tinkerer on more important matters.
House and Mistrál are standing at the long edge of the court, deep in discussion. House is making large horizontal cutting motions with her hands,
"So I was thinking, large, floating platforms, kind of like the kind of gym Claude-san gets stuck on..."
"Ah, but would that not disadvantage fire-types?" Mistrál gives a suggestion, scratching away on a digital notepad.
Like she had gained a large piece of insight, House's eyes light up, and she slaps a fist against her open palm! "Ehehehe! Good point Mistrál! Very good point! Don't want any poor saps cryin' about 'muh terrain disadvantages' when they lose!"
"Good sister-in-law... What's going on here? It feels like you all are in on something..." Minara taps on her mentor's back shoulder. To which, the girl turns around with a kind, but rather mischievous smile on her face,
"We're having a tournament, friend Minara."
"A tournament? Whatever for? Is someone going to fight gojiraaaa over there?" Minara thumbs behind her, rather dismissively.
"As we face the monster, we face ourselves, our fears, our failings. And in this battle, we find the true measure of humanity. A battle not for survival, but for a world reborn from the ashes, a world where---"
"Alright, alright! I got the point!" Minara holds the sides of her hairband, horrified by the now wet and perfectly pirouetting gojiraaa. Have you ever seen a kaiji perform ballet moves before? I think not!
That is when Minara feels a tug by her side.
"Does Miss Incognito want to join too?" Piaccta holds out a small red ball. "Piaccta can loan you her own Bulbasaurus Rex!"
Minara stares at the red-colored ball with a button in the middle.
She is sure she has seen it somewhere before, but can't quite recall whatever for?
"I think I'll pass... I have important streaming things to get to..."
"Aw, its just for fun!" House pouts, bending forward with her hand on her hips. "We're gonna invite a whole ton of people to watch-see! It'll be great, pinky-promise!"
House holds out a single pinky while bent forwards.
The other girls around the girl are looking at Minara, eyes shining with expectation.
...
...
Well, what could possibly go wrong?
She has no idea what she is getting into.
If it is fun, then...
Minara's own pinky reaches out for the one before her.
"Did I just forget about something important?"
Recall
[HtH129] - Not too long ago, Minara saw 'something' down here! The train ride and everything that happens here occurs on the same day, by the way!
We are trying something different! This is a simul-posting at the same time as the Scribblehub release! Go check out the entire series at this link!
