**Katie**
“That was,” I started as Greg and I walked out of the cinema and into the mall’s lower area.
“Absolutely horrible,” Greg said shaking his head. “I’m sorry,” he continued after a minute of us blindly walking toward the stairs. “The reviews said that it was a good date movie and I…” he trailed off with a shrug that left me shaking my head and smiling.
“I think that the critics figured that a sappy chick flick like that had to be a good date movie,” I commented pulling him into a hug. “It fits their pre-conceived notions that women are all either sappy, romance addled idiots, or butch, battleaxes that don’t know what “true love” really is.” I watched as he smirked at my commentary and even blushed a touch. “Now,” I continued. “Since the movie Taylor and Akane suggested doesn’t start for another hour, what do you suggest to kill the time?”
Separating Greg actually stopped to think for a minute before responding, “We could just walk around the mall,” he started. Something must have shown in my expression because he finished with, “but you’re not a window shopper.” I smiled at him and shook my head no, “Then really there is only the Arcade, the food court or Uber and Leet’s place.”
I lifted an eyebrow at the last. Taylor had shown me the PHO thread on what had happened yesterday, and I had never known that the pair had a shop here in Weymouth, “Where is that?” I asked conspiratorially.
“It’s kind of hidden,” he answered smiling, “they prefer word of mouth advertising rather than mall wanderers, but I used to frequent their shop when it was over in Lords Market.
“Then show me,” I replied with a smile, “and let us see what we can find.” Greg smiled before grabbing my hand and leading me around the stairs to the other side and a curtain covered doorway with a sign reading “Games, Comics, and Cosplay”.
**
I had never admitted it to anyone, but I did have another secret besides being a parahuman. That secret was that I loved Japanese animation. The industry on Bet took a hit with the destruction of Kyushu, but there was still Aleph imports and within five years of the island’s sinking various companies had managed to claw their way back from the brink through either the licensing or the production of various Miyazaki works as well as going back into their archives for older works. Many of the earlier anime productions that had never been released outside of Japan itself found their way to America and Europe as animation artists and writers tried to get various new material produced and ready for release.
In the interim, and more pertaining to myself, between internet downloads from Aleph and some borrowed DVD’s from friends, I had managed to watch probably half of Ranma ½, the better part of Yu Yu Hakusho, and all three seasons of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was because of these that when Akane had walked in and so casually beat the hell out of Sophia Hess that I wasn’t even considering trying to start trouble with her. She carried herself like she deserved the two names she carried. (I had asked the ABB boy, Adam, about her last name and he had given me the name of another anime for me to check out,) and I knew from interviews with the manga-ka Takahashi that her story had been based on real people that she had taught in school. No, Akane Takamachi was not someone I would have wanted to fight, and that was before powers got involved, and then seeing her pissed last night reminded me even more of her namesake and that anime.
All that said, walking into Uber and Leet’s shop was like stepping into something akin to heaven. Along the wall to our left were shelves of shoe box sized totes filled with various disks, both of anime and games, mostly indexed alphabetically and separated by system. On the wall opposite the door were manga and comic books, alphabetized by title and again stored in totes for ease of sealing and protection. To our right was a register and behind it, a glass case containing various game systems and (what I hoped were) prop weapons while the center floor of the shop held a foursome of folding tables and chairs along with a quartet of mannequins. In the corner behind the register stood the Mjolnir armor that Leet had worn the previous day and one of the four mannequins was wearing the Shadowrun clothing that Uber had worn for the raid against the Merchants in the mall. Out of the other three mannequins I could only recognize one outfit, Yoko Littner’s bikini from Gurren Lagann.
“Hello, and welcome to Games Comics and Cosplay,” a voice said drawing my attention to a hidden door between the racks of anime and those of manga. A young man, only a few years older than Greg or myself was stepping out of what I imagined was a back area of the store, “I’m Uber,” he continued, only a domino mask hiding his identity, “how may I help you.”
“We’re mostly just browsing,” Greg answered from behind me as we walked deeper into the store. Uber nodded and Greg and I started poking through the various racks and totes. Greg seemed drawn to the print media more than the video, and I started looking for possibilities in building my own private connection of anime. It wasn’t long before I was engrossed almost to the point that I didn’t notice the flashes which caused me to spin and look behind me.
Behind me Greg and Uber were looking at a computer screen that sat in the glass case as images of me spinning around started to appear on the screen. Likewise, five columns appeared below the original pictures and a gauge started to show progress as a program worked its way through its operations. “What are you doing?” I asked stepping over to them.
“Leet wrote a program that can use pictures to take measurements and custom make cosplay outfits for people,” Uber answered. “Thing is, it also cross references images all across the internet for potential costumes so that you have something to choose from if you don’t have any idea what to get made.” He smiled at this point, “It’s great around Halloween for people who need last minute costumes, maybe twenty-four hours for a turn around so long as we have the base materials.” I felt my eyebrows rise at this as images started to fill the five columns with a match percentage beneath them, and then I saw Uber hand Greg a five-dollar bill causing me to cock my head at Greg.
“He bet that the system would throw out Tifa or Alice before anyone else and at the highest match,” Greg explained, “I said that it would throw out Rikku or Yuna.” At that point I smiled, Greg grinned and with a shrug we turned back to the screen as it seemed to settle on what seemed to be my top five matches.
**
“Alright,” I commented as I looked at the screen, “Greg seemed to call two out of the three we can see, but what is the lockout on the other two.” I asked as we looked at the results. Greg, as I had said, had been right that Yuna and Rikku had popped up as the highest matches, but Uber had been right that Alice from the Resident Evil series had also come up. With those being the top three I had wondered why they last two were blacked out and labelled “Age Locked.”
“Well,” Uber said rubbing the back of his head, “You know that there are various adult materials out there as well,” I nodded and then suddenly facepalmed as the realization hit me.
“The last two are from adult franchises aren’t they,” I answered, and he nodded in response. “Are you even able to look into them?”
“We can,” he answered, “but in all honesty the program gets wiped at the end of the day so that there is no compromising information on anyone.”
I nodded at that, “Yuna’s outfit then,” I told him and both him and Greg goggled a minute at me. “What?” I asked, “I’d look good in that.” I said pointing at the outfit.
Greg grinned, “Yeah, but it’s a little early for Halloween and unless there is a local comic-con that I don’t know about…” Greg trailed off as I smiled. “Alright,” he said matching my grin. “What are you thinking about?”
“Well there happens to be two different conventions next month, one in Boston, the other in Marlborough and I was thinking that maybe I could take you on at least a day trip to one of them.” I went silent at that point, figuring I had probably gone just a touch to far, too fast.
Greg floundered for a moment, his bran obviously trying to reboot from what I had said. “You know,” Uber said coming to Greg’s rescue, “I could give you a discount on the Alice outfit as well if you’d be willing to wear it for this years Halloween episode.” I looked at the cape and raised an eyebrow, so he explained. “The mall has already contracted Leet and I to do a zombie apocalypse adventure night for Halloween proper, having Alice and maybe a few other heroes show up to help the customers would make for an epic show.”
“I might be game,” I replied smiling. “Especially if I can convince my choice for Jill Valentine and Ada Wong to come join the fun. That of course could probably be helped by you being willing to give them discounts on those costumes.”
Uber opened his mouth to respond when Greg’s brain finished rebooting, and he stepped over in front of me and kissed me good and proper. This sent my brain spinning in the process and once it ended, I was staggering a bit before looking at Uber who was grinning. “I think I can get Greg into shape enough by then to take a role in this as well. Maybe an Umbrella merc outfit?”
Uber nodded, “Let me get your number and I’ll get your Yuna outfit started,” he said as Greg and I stood there grinning like a couple of idiots. “The costume should be done by next weekend unless we get some serious rush orders, but I’m not expecting anything like that. You contact your other teammates and get them in here over the next few months and we’ll get everyone’s costumes ready by the start of October.”
I nodded to that, “Alright Greg, lets go see another movie,” I said taking him by the hand and leading him toward the door, stopping long enough at the cash register to pay for the outfit and a couple of anime DVDs and provide Uber with the number to my new cell phone.
“You two have fun now,” Uber said smiling as we walked out of his shop, I grinned as I pulled Greg closer, holding hands as we went back towards the theater and what I had been told had been a decent action movie.
“That was,” I started as Greg and I walked out of the cinema and into the mall’s lower area.
“Absolutely horrible,” Greg said shaking his head. “I’m sorry,” he continued after a minute of us blindly walking toward the stairs. “The reviews said that it was a good date movie and I…” he trailed off with a shrug that left me shaking my head and smiling.
“I think that the critics figured that a sappy chick flick like that had to be a good date movie,” I commented pulling him into a hug. “It fits their pre-conceived notions that women are all either sappy, romance addled idiots, or butch, battleaxes that don’t know what “true love” really is.” I watched as he smirked at my commentary and even blushed a touch. “Now,” I continued. “Since the movie Taylor and Akane suggested doesn’t start for another hour, what do you suggest to kill the time?”
Separating Greg actually stopped to think for a minute before responding, “We could just walk around the mall,” he started. Something must have shown in my expression because he finished with, “but you’re not a window shopper.” I smiled at him and shook my head no, “Then really there is only the Arcade, the food court or Uber and Leet’s place.”
I lifted an eyebrow at the last. Taylor had shown me the PHO thread on what had happened yesterday, and I had never known that the pair had a shop here in Weymouth, “Where is that?” I asked conspiratorially.
“It’s kind of hidden,” he answered smiling, “they prefer word of mouth advertising rather than mall wanderers, but I used to frequent their shop when it was over in Lords Market.
“Then show me,” I replied with a smile, “and let us see what we can find.” Greg smiled before grabbing my hand and leading me around the stairs to the other side and a curtain covered doorway with a sign reading “Games, Comics, and Cosplay”.
**
I had never admitted it to anyone, but I did have another secret besides being a parahuman. That secret was that I loved Japanese animation. The industry on Bet took a hit with the destruction of Kyushu, but there was still Aleph imports and within five years of the island’s sinking various companies had managed to claw their way back from the brink through either the licensing or the production of various Miyazaki works as well as going back into their archives for older works. Many of the earlier anime productions that had never been released outside of Japan itself found their way to America and Europe as animation artists and writers tried to get various new material produced and ready for release.
In the interim, and more pertaining to myself, between internet downloads from Aleph and some borrowed DVD’s from friends, I had managed to watch probably half of Ranma ½, the better part of Yu Yu Hakusho, and all three seasons of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was because of these that when Akane had walked in and so casually beat the hell out of Sophia Hess that I wasn’t even considering trying to start trouble with her. She carried herself like she deserved the two names she carried. (I had asked the ABB boy, Adam, about her last name and he had given me the name of another anime for me to check out,) and I knew from interviews with the manga-ka Takahashi that her story had been based on real people that she had taught in school. No, Akane Takamachi was not someone I would have wanted to fight, and that was before powers got involved, and then seeing her pissed last night reminded me even more of her namesake and that anime.
All that said, walking into Uber and Leet’s shop was like stepping into something akin to heaven. Along the wall to our left were shelves of shoe box sized totes filled with various disks, both of anime and games, mostly indexed alphabetically and separated by system. On the wall opposite the door were manga and comic books, alphabetized by title and again stored in totes for ease of sealing and protection. To our right was a register and behind it, a glass case containing various game systems and (what I hoped were) prop weapons while the center floor of the shop held a foursome of folding tables and chairs along with a quartet of mannequins. In the corner behind the register stood the Mjolnir armor that Leet had worn the previous day and one of the four mannequins was wearing the Shadowrun clothing that Uber had worn for the raid against the Merchants in the mall. Out of the other three mannequins I could only recognize one outfit, Yoko Littner’s bikini from Gurren Lagann.
“Hello, and welcome to Games Comics and Cosplay,” a voice said drawing my attention to a hidden door between the racks of anime and those of manga. A young man, only a few years older than Greg or myself was stepping out of what I imagined was a back area of the store, “I’m Uber,” he continued, only a domino mask hiding his identity, “how may I help you.”
“We’re mostly just browsing,” Greg answered from behind me as we walked deeper into the store. Uber nodded and Greg and I started poking through the various racks and totes. Greg seemed drawn to the print media more than the video, and I started looking for possibilities in building my own private connection of anime. It wasn’t long before I was engrossed almost to the point that I didn’t notice the flashes which caused me to spin and look behind me.
Behind me Greg and Uber were looking at a computer screen that sat in the glass case as images of me spinning around started to appear on the screen. Likewise, five columns appeared below the original pictures and a gauge started to show progress as a program worked its way through its operations. “What are you doing?” I asked stepping over to them.
“Leet wrote a program that can use pictures to take measurements and custom make cosplay outfits for people,” Uber answered. “Thing is, it also cross references images all across the internet for potential costumes so that you have something to choose from if you don’t have any idea what to get made.” He smiled at this point, “It’s great around Halloween for people who need last minute costumes, maybe twenty-four hours for a turn around so long as we have the base materials.” I felt my eyebrows rise at this as images started to fill the five columns with a match percentage beneath them, and then I saw Uber hand Greg a five-dollar bill causing me to cock my head at Greg.
“He bet that the system would throw out Tifa or Alice before anyone else and at the highest match,” Greg explained, “I said that it would throw out Rikku or Yuna.” At that point I smiled, Greg grinned and with a shrug we turned back to the screen as it seemed to settle on what seemed to be my top five matches.
**
“Alright,” I commented as I looked at the screen, “Greg seemed to call two out of the three we can see, but what is the lockout on the other two.” I asked as we looked at the results. Greg, as I had said, had been right that Yuna and Rikku had popped up as the highest matches, but Uber had been right that Alice from the Resident Evil series had also come up. With those being the top three I had wondered why they last two were blacked out and labelled “Age Locked.”
“Well,” Uber said rubbing the back of his head, “You know that there are various adult materials out there as well,” I nodded and then suddenly facepalmed as the realization hit me.
“The last two are from adult franchises aren’t they,” I answered, and he nodded in response. “Are you even able to look into them?”
“We can,” he answered, “but in all honesty the program gets wiped at the end of the day so that there is no compromising information on anyone.”
I nodded at that, “Yuna’s outfit then,” I told him and both him and Greg goggled a minute at me. “What?” I asked, “I’d look good in that.” I said pointing at the outfit.
Greg grinned, “Yeah, but it’s a little early for Halloween and unless there is a local comic-con that I don’t know about…” Greg trailed off as I smiled. “Alright,” he said matching my grin. “What are you thinking about?”
“Well there happens to be two different conventions next month, one in Boston, the other in Marlborough and I was thinking that maybe I could take you on at least a day trip to one of them.” I went silent at that point, figuring I had probably gone just a touch to far, too fast.
Greg floundered for a moment, his bran obviously trying to reboot from what I had said. “You know,” Uber said coming to Greg’s rescue, “I could give you a discount on the Alice outfit as well if you’d be willing to wear it for this years Halloween episode.” I looked at the cape and raised an eyebrow, so he explained. “The mall has already contracted Leet and I to do a zombie apocalypse adventure night for Halloween proper, having Alice and maybe a few other heroes show up to help the customers would make for an epic show.”
“I might be game,” I replied smiling. “Especially if I can convince my choice for Jill Valentine and Ada Wong to come join the fun. That of course could probably be helped by you being willing to give them discounts on those costumes.”
Uber opened his mouth to respond when Greg’s brain finished rebooting, and he stepped over in front of me and kissed me good and proper. This sent my brain spinning in the process and once it ended, I was staggering a bit before looking at Uber who was grinning. “I think I can get Greg into shape enough by then to take a role in this as well. Maybe an Umbrella merc outfit?”
Uber nodded, “Let me get your number and I’ll get your Yuna outfit started,” he said as Greg and I stood there grinning like a couple of idiots. “The costume should be done by next weekend unless we get some serious rush orders, but I’m not expecting anything like that. You contact your other teammates and get them in here over the next few months and we’ll get everyone’s costumes ready by the start of October.”
I nodded to that, “Alright Greg, lets go see another movie,” I said taking him by the hand and leading him toward the door, stopping long enough at the cash register to pay for the outfit and a couple of anime DVDs and provide Uber with the number to my new cell phone.
“You two have fun now,” Uber said smiling as we walked out of his shop, I grinned as I pulled Greg closer, holding hands as we went back towards the theater and what I had been told had been a decent action movie.
Wolf wins every fight but the one where he dies, fangs locked around the throat of his opponent.
Currently writing BROBd
Currently writing BROBd