Pinball Wizard

[dragony]

WHO: gallitrap and inspirefear
WHERE: A Downtown GameWorks knock-off Arcade
WHEN: Saturday afternoon (1/30/2010)
WARNINGS: ... twelve year olds.
SUMMARY: The only cure for seasonal depression is bright lights, terrible pizza, and Big Buck Hunter.
FORMAT: Words! probably switching to action spam after setting the scene

The place was a lot larger than Ruka expected, and a whole lot louder, too, with a mild crowd of kids out of school for the day. Arcade machines of all different sorts filled the huge room — some she was expecting, with nothing but buttons and joy sticks, or pinball machines lining one wall, but others were really strange. Plastic guns, fake guitars, drums, snowboards, platforms covered in arrows, some machines stuffed with toys.

It was obviously the right place; as Ruka made her way deeper into the labyrinth of fighter games and dance simulators, she pulled out her communicator and typed out a quick private text. Ruka had never met the guy, after all, and didn't know what he looked like in person. Lingering by a claw machine near to the front entrance, she waited.

Comments

hiiiiii.

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

An explosion. [ He tries not to sound obvious but it's not as if there is much for them to go by. They'd have to get a closer look. ]

[ He glances over at Ruka, mostly at her arm. ]

That's supposed to glow, right?

darling!! *catches*

[dragony]

[ He sounds just as ignorant as she feels, so she doesn't both with the "I knew that"s. ]

Eh? [ She blinks back in surprise, and tugs up her sleeve and down the elbow-length glove covering her right arm. Behold, a great glowing claw-mark on her arm. It's roughly the same color as the bubble surrounding them. ]

[ She says something in Japanese from habit, before quickly correcting herself. ] I mean, the Crimson Dragon's birthmark. It always glows like this, when we're— I use my powers like this.

baby! *sparkles*

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ He feels like he asked a dumb question, he mentally kicks himself for this. ]

Oh, alright. [ There is more rumbling, probably the building collapsing more. ]

Stay here. [ A pause. ] Or get yourself somewhere safer. I'm going to see what's happening outside. [ He observes the shield...he's not sure he can just step out of it... ]

*sparkles in a slow-motion meadow run*

[dragony]

[ She firmly shakes her head at Alex's request. ]

It's alright, you don't have to worry about me. We'll stick together.

[ It was, after all, her fault they were here in the first place; while she didn't know what sort of powers Alex had, she knew that her shield could withstand much worse than this, and she did still have that other thing... Ruka certainly wasn't going to let him get hurt because of her. ]

[ SORRY BRO YOU ARE STUCK. ]

*skipping toward you lovingly, a single tear escapes eye*

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ HE'S A MAN. I mean. Boy. BUT TOTALLY CAPABLE OKAY.

But he's cool with her hanging with him. Plus, he isn't one for arguing when there's the possibility that other lives are at stake.

He gives her a look, translates to something like, "THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO BACK OUT, CHICA." ]

Fine. Stay close, okay? And if I tell you to get out, you should probably listen.

[ He leads them out the diner and into the streets. There are people running, making it difficult for them (damn their height) to see the collapsed building. ]

*calls out name as symphonic background music comes to a crescendo*

[dragony]

[ SMART MOVE; this is a girl who would try to out-stubborn God (and probably win). She accepts the look with her own firm determination. GODZILLA WAS WAY WORSE OKAY. ]

Alright.

[ While they can move with the bubble up, she dials it back so they're not as conspicuously walking in a giant pink bubble through a disaster area. She follows close behind, uneasy. ]

*squeals with joy and leaps into*

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ HE WASN'T AROUND WHEN GODZILLA WAS HERE AND THAT UPSETS HIM GREATLY. ]

[ After being pushed a bit trying to get through the crowd of people WHO SHOULD BE USED TO THIS BY NOW, the two of them finally face the destruction. Dun dun dun.

It's.

well, the building is still collapsing but there is no apparent culprit standing around laughing maniacally. ]

What the hell happened here...? [ Don't answer that, Ruka. ]

[ He leads them closer to the rubble and dust?? Help me, I have no idea where I am taking this... sob,.. ]

*catches and twirls with giddy laughter*

[dragony]

[ SHE AND 'ZILLA WERE BROS, YO. ALSO SHE TAUGHT GAMERA HOW TO BUY SHIT. YOU MISSED OUT MAN. ]

[ It's a little surprising that no one tries to stop them from approaching THE BUILDING THAT IS STILL COLLAPSING, considering it is a collapsing building and they are clearly Not Trained Professionals. Then again, people are stupid. ]

[ The two continue forward, pushing past the crowd's self-imposed safety buffer, and begin to tread on broken glass and mostly intact chunks of exterior wall. It's clearly not a demolition site, as otherwise there would be physical barriers and a presumable construction crew. It's not as bad as she's seen before, but the familiarity makes her uneasy. ]

There don't seem to be any fires...

*rainbows and unicorns in the background*

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ HE WILL NEVER GET OVER THIS. ]

...Which is unusual for an explosion. We might be able to rule out bombs.

[ They get to the point where they are able to enter what's left of the structure. This is where Alex stops. He tries to look in, but there seems to be nothing, no one. ]

Huh.

IN HARMONY HARMONY OH LOVE

[dragony]

[ MAYBE SOMEDAY, KING KONG WILL ARRIVE. WOULD THAT MAKE IT BETTER? ]

[ Ruka follows close behind through the gaping archway of what once was a door frame, peering around cautiously. If it had been a real earthquake, they probably would have felt it. ]

Something underground? [ There had been those weird centipede things a while back... ] Or someone like Quatre—

[ There's a loud creaking as a segment of ceiling several feet away groans, sagging; Ruka instinctively wraps a gloved hand around Alex's elbow as she backs away from the source of the noise. The segment collapses, stirring more dust and debris into the air. ]

I WANNA BE WITH YOU AND MAKE-BELIEVE WITH YOU

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ NOTHING CAN COMPARE WITH GODZILLA. SOB. ]

[ Alex is pulled back by Ruka as parts of the ceiling and stucture fall. There was no way they were going to enter that. Not unless they wanted to be crushed. ]

Oh, okay. [ a beat, and ttly not minding her holding on to him, by the way. ] Let's just check the perimeter instead.

*ROBOT DOLPHINS LEAP IN THE FOREGROUND*

[dragony]

[And Ruka's had enough of being in collapsing buildings before even COMING to the City, thank you very much.]

Yeah... alright.

[ ALEX YOU PLAYAH. Well she doesn't notice immediately that she is holding him, so the hand stays in place for a little while they go to CHECK THE PERIMETER. ]

*BREAKS THROUGH THOSE STAR THINGS*

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ He leads them around toward the back of the building, nothing really to see, more rubble, more broken glass, and no answers. ]

Alright, what the hell? [ Alex looks annoyed, ALL THIS RUBBLE BUT NO ONE TO BLAME? ] Buildings don't just collapse on their own...usually.

*CATCHES STRANGE MAN-FAIRIES*

[dragony]

[ The hand on Alex's arm tightens for a moment, then—as Ruka realizes both where her hand is and who it is she's with—quickly falls away. She takes a few steps closer to one of the smashed-out windows, peering inside. ]

Were there people here?

*LEAPS GLORIOUSLY, FLOWING RAINBOW MANE*

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ The moment she pulls her hand from his arm, he looks at her curiously but then decides to pay more attention to the boring ruble... ]

If there were, they're gone now. [ he bends down and picks up some pieces of building and examines it. Nothing out of the ordinary here... ]

*SLOWLY... LAGS...*

[dragony]

But, that's strange, isn't it?

[ She turns her back on the building, gesturing with her arms a little plaintively. ]

It's the middle of the day, and a business area... if there wasn't any warning, then shouldn't there have been people inside?

[ She hesitates, looking down, away from Alex. ] I mean, I'm glad if there wasn't, but... it doesn't make sense.

*TAKES AN ETERNITY TO TAG*

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

This entire city is strange. [ a pause ] This building doesn't look like it was condemned.

[ tosses a piece of rubble as he stands up ] Doesn't look like it matter now, though. I just want to know who or what caused this. [ his eyes are a bit glowy D: ]

*THE FASTEST ETERNITY* ALSO I KEEP IMAGINING THAT THE CULPRIT OF THIS IS LIKE. THE TREMORNATOR.

[dragony]

[ Her eyes follow the path of the flung chunk of rubble, but when she looks back, she's started by his glowing. Ruka steps closer to verify that what she's seeing isn't just a trick of the light, and she grabs her right arm reflexively, fingers digging in tightly. ]

Your eyes... Are they supposed to do that?

IT CAN BE. IDEK. MAYBE THEY WILL NEVER FIND OUT WHO IT IS. AND HE REAPPEAR IN OTHER LOGS WITH THEM.

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ Oh whooops. Alex closes his eyes and opens them again, all normal. ]

Sometimes. [ He decides to not go into it. Too much to explain at the moment. ]

Do you think whoever did this escaped during the panic?

... CAN THEY HAVE A ROGUES GALLERY.

[dragony]

[ Well, it's not like she can talk about unexpected glowing power stuff, and thus doesn't pry too deeply; she does, however, make a mental note of it. ]

[ She looks back at the building, expression caught somewhere dark, and shakes her head. ]

Yeah... I think so.

Someone probably called the police... [ She looks back at Alex, a little unsure. ] Should we get out of here?

THAT WOULD BE KIND OF AMAZING.

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

Dammit. [ He clenches his fists. Mentally beating himself up for not having checked the crowd when they were walking toward the building. ]

[ Alex looks to Ruka, tries not to look too frustrated but it shows...a bit. At least his eyes aren't glowing. ]

Yeah.

[ They probably don't want to go back to the diner so he starts walking in the opposite direction. ]

Come on. [ He holds his hand out, but it's unsure whether he is just gesturing for her to head in his direction or to hold his hand. ]

ALL NAMED AFTER REALLY CHEESY CHARACTERS FROM 90'S MOVIES.

[dragony]

[ She's distressed too; she takes one last look at the building, just in case there is anyone still inside, but hearing nothing, jogs after. ]

[ Ruka hesitates at the proffered hand, as well, but when she's within reach she takes a hold of it, letting Alex lead them both away from the wreckage. ]

AND NEITHER OF THEM WILL PICK UP ON THE REFERENCES WHICH WILL CAUSE FURTHER CONFLICT.

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

[ He eventually takes them far enough to where they can barely see the building (not that not being able to see it means much distance wise since it crumbled and all but) ]

[ Alex thinks for a moment, the day certainly derailed from let's help Ruka cheer up to chaos. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go out today. ]

Sorry, this probably didn't help that seasonal-depression thing at all.

THE AUDIENCE WILL CONSTANTLY BE SCREAMING "OH COME ON!!!" BUT THEY POP-CULTURE FAIL FOREVER.

[dragony]

[ She looks back over her shoulder far more frequently than she'd like to admit, distressed and concerned for whatever may have caused that sort of destruction. As far as her own experience went, damage like that was never something as simple as a weak foundation. ]

[ When Alex cuts through their silence, Ruka shakes her head. ]

You don't have to apologize. It wasn't your fault, after all.

A THOUSAND YEARS LATE.

[inspirefear.livejournal.com]

But still... [ he rubs the back of his neck, HE FEELS KINDA GUILTY ]