Lunch Money Shakedown

PaperMan was out of time and had to end the battle quickly...and so did Shao. The white navi launched itself forward with its claws, but strangely, Shao didn't even roll away from the ground and took the powered-claws to his stomach without any resistance. "..."

Now that PaperMan was within range, Shao grabbed the navi's thin wrist and jumped up on to the ground. "...Let's end dis!" Throwing his blue staff away to the side, he drew his right hand only an inch away PaperMan's bruised torso and barely touched it with his four fingers.

"Torriya!!"

With minimum movement, Shao struck PaperMan with a powerful punch that sent the navi flying (once again!). Unlike the first attack, it did more than just send PaperMan flying. It imprinted a large fist mark on the navi's torso and the 3-feet diameter around Shao was completely clean of grass from the sheer force. [-80 / Microburst] "Dis...Nao...Yuur Mooney..."

Shao reached his limit as he fell on his knee again, head tilting towards the sky with a blank stare in his eyes. A blue crystal slipped out from his sleeves and thudded against the ground, silently floating and spinning around on its own accord. "I can't make it...Eben with mooney...I don't have time to buy food..." Shao really looked like this was the end as it swayed back and forth before he began to fall forward...

*Sniff*

His hands lurched forward to stop himself from hitting the ground and pushed himself off the ground and on his two feet. His nose sniffed around some more, facing directly opposite from the bank. "...*Drool*" Faint as it was, the smell of food invigorated the hungry navi and filled him with hope. Completely ignoring the crystal possession he was once holding, Shao quickly took off while taking his staff as well...

"Bah! You fight back too mich! I'll remember yuu when I see you with a full stomak!"

And with that, PaperMan was left alone, bruised and wounded. On the bright side, the blue crystal opened itself to reveal a large pile of zenny... ... ...Poor Shao.

Shao.EXE: 1 HP / FLED

Terrain: 60% Normal, 40% Grass

PaperMan.EXE: 1 HP [Rageclaw: 4/6]

-BATTLE WON!-
1,000z

"Hello, welcome to Pizza Hub. May I take your order?" asked the female worker at the register, with a smile on her face and the tone of a robot.

Craaaaaap. Hurry up, PaperMan! Damnit! swore Turner mentally, which, for his mind, was actually pretty mild. "Uh... Yes, two slices pepperoni... extra cheese." answered Turner as slowly as humanly possible, but only stalling to the point where he realized he hadn't actually ordered food for himself. "And, uh... Four slices..." he muttered, glancing up to the menu on the wall, "... Supreme." Hey, he was a big guy. He needed the works.

"Would you like drinks with that? Breadsticks?" asked the worker in a patter as close to cut-and-paste for human speech as possible. Oh god, get the money already, PaperMan...

After soaring through the air due to Shao's final strike, PaperMan found himself flopping to the ground... right in front of the ATM! Happy day! Except... Ow. He hurt. It was pretty hard for PaperMan to move. He had to, though! For Turner's trust! For Shiri's happiness! For both their stomachs! Climb, PaperMan! Reach! The origami Navi pushed himself up as far as he could, then stretched his arm out towards the ATM's control panel. If only his arm was a little bit longer...

... Oh wait, he was made of paper. He could stretch his arm as far as he wanted. Looked like the theatrics were over.

"Thank you for using Electopia National online banking. The requested amount has been transferred from your savings account to your mobile account. Have a nice day." reported the virtual machine.

Victory! PaperMan slumped wearily against the side of the ATM, holding a feeling of overwhelming relief within himself. Wait... PaperMan was looking back towards the former battlefield, and there was suddenly a broken blue data crystal on the ground. Why was there... Oh god money. Did he really... All PaperMan could really think to do was bury his hands in his face out of sheer embarrassment for Shao, before trudging up and over to the forgotten cash to collect it.

"Very well. How will you be paying today?" asked the worker soullessly. Was she an android or something?

"Uh... Ergh..." grunted Turner awkwardly as he glanced at his PET. Account balance... not zero! Holy crap, PaperMan did it. "Account transfer." answered Turner immediately, wanting to get this over and done with before something else stupid happened. He pointed his PET at the register, let the digital currency beam in, and thus all was well.

"Thank you for your business. Please enjoy your meal." responded the worker as Turner's order magically popped out from the kitchen. She handed the food and drinks to the disgruntled father, and with that the female worker had become irrelevant in the rest of Turner's life.

"Here you go, Shiri." said Turner as he laid the food tray down, after finding his daughter having camped out the single largest table in the restaurant for the two of them. How very... 6 year old.

"Yay! Thank you Daddy!" cheered Shiri as she immediately grabbed a slice of pizza. After happily nibbling on it for a bit, she paused suddenly and asked, "Is PaperMan done with his walk, Daddy?"

... Oh... right. PaperMan. Having only looked at his account balance before, Turner hadn't even seen what was up with PaperMan. "You done in there, PaperMan?" asked Turner lazily, not even daring to mention why PaperMan was in there in the first place.

The origami Navi, who had gathered up Shao's forgotten cash and promptly fell flat on the ground again, just gave a thumbs-up towards the video screen. That was probably a yes.

(Jack Out)