Dare was dismayed to see that her strategy seemed to be having far from the intended effect: she'd managed to distract the attention of one of her allies and failed to capture that of her intended target. Worse than perhaps all of this, Dare had the impression that five out of five of her allies had failed to realize her embarrassing injury was intentionally self-afflicted (probably six out of six, if PhoenixMan had an operator watching this). Normally let her actions speak for her and didn't tote her own accomplishments, but most heroes didn't engage in such villainous acts of subterfuge. Dare decided that once this was all over, she would make certain her allies knew that drop wasn't a fumble.
Regardless, that would be then. This was now. Luckily, although she could see the less heavy HeelNavi moving her way, PhoenixMan had at least made it there first. That gave her a second for a one-on-one to try and get the would-be hero back on track to a may-be victory. She briefly placed a hand on PhoenixMan's chest while rising back to her feet. With her head still down, she muttered low and quiet to try and communicate with him. "Fake! Go!" she hissed, before finally managing to get back to her feet. She pushed off of him lightly to make her point, before falling back over against the chest (possibly into the arms?) of the tail-chasing HeelNavi.
While temporarily keeping her head down, Dare scanned her eyes and ears around to try and get a grip on the situation...
"Woah, hey, Dare!" Bruce spoke to her. "Pull yourself together! Teruko and Ante are counting on you to pull out a strategy against the big guy, he's almost to the end!"
Dare gritted her teeth, feeling she couldn't really do anything for them on that front. If she kept assaulting the winner's position, even if she did come up with something, VultureMan would probably wise up and go on defensive. Right now, she would do all she could to keep the enemy she had in hand occupied. Hopefully, Ante or PhoenixMan would have some strategy to try and reclaim the lead.
"I'm so embarrassed," she said to the HeelNavi honestly, propping herself up to look into his eyes. "Thanks to PhoenixMan, it's feeling a little better, but it's still a little sore... it's tough to ask this from a member of the other team, but could you help me back over to my lane? The show must go on, and injured foot or not I gotta keep trying to win..." She decided in this case a mix of truth and lies would be most effective. From what she could hear, Ante was laying on a thick and sultry call to the large HeelNavi, probably attempting to test his intelligence (this speech was something Dare wanted to hear more of herself, but she couldn't really focus). If she tried to lay it on thick with her target as well, two outcomes were probable: either they'd wise up themselves, or VultureMan would wise them up himself. However, she thought she might have better luck if she played it cool... acting like she was leveling with her opponent, not running counter to her usual motivations, giving her target a chance to be heroic (and touchy-feely, she suspected) while not making it obvious that's what she wanted him to do. She resolved to let him get away with whatever "help" he thought was appropriate.
Most importantly, however, she needed to make her way back to her lane. She didn't know what her Mettaur was crying about, but she was beginning to fear that if it got upset and started crying due to her actions, some rule about her "hurting" her Mettaur might be called into play. If she got disqualified, she wouldn't care. Her bigger concern was she couldn't remember if she'd verified whether or not the DQ would be for her alone or her entire team... in any case, she felt compelled to figure out what was going on.
ACDC Virtual Park
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As it turned out, Ante played VultureMan like a fiddle. He looked amused at first, entertained at the very notion of one of the 'good guys' trying to deceive one of his subordinates, but as she shifted the topic a bit, he found his judgement increasingly clouded by mental images of Ante lying naked in a bed, to the point he couldn't actually spit out the flaw in the other Navi's deception. Nope, he was just flying, staring, and imagining...
============================
PhoenixMan shot Dare an odd look as she tried to push him off, and gave her an equally terse response, motioning to his own Mettaur in the process: "Eating. Stay." Most likely, he was pointing out that he wasn't actually losing any progress at the moment, since he couldn't exactly eat the food in place of his virus. Still, when he realized she had the HeelNavi distracted, he decided to let it go, and with a silent nod, turned to head back to his lane.
Right around then, his Mettaur sat back, finished with the meal. The firebird Navi starting creating more flames and ash, regaining the virus ghost's attention, and they started to move back to the starting point. Barring a catastrophe, however, they probably weren't going to make it back in time.
============================
"WHY, THANK YOU! YOU'RE NOT TOO BAD WITH YOURS, YOURSELF!" While still moving, the giant HeelNavi saw no reason to not be civil to the enemy. "WHAT, YOU THINK THAT OTHER BED'S COMFIER? ...WELL, TOO BAD FOR US, SINCE I'M PRETTY SURE WE HAVE TO USE OUR OWN BEDS. I'M SURE THEY'RE ALL PRETTY COMFY, THOUGH!"
With that, Navi and Mettaur crossed the starting line, and over to the bed. The former kneeled down to the latter, for a little talk. "SO, HOW DO YOU FEEL?" The virus ghost put away its pickaxe, pretty sure that that was the end of the fun. It looked at the bed, and tilted itself quizzically at it. "GUESS VIRUSES AREN'T USED TO BEDS...THAT'S SOMETHING YOU CAN SLEEP IN! IT'S NICE AND SOFT, SO IT'S EASY TO FALL ASLEEP IN!" To prove his point, he pushed a couple of fingers into it, getting a good couple of inches in there. "WOW, THAT REALLY IS PRETTY SOFT! I BET YOU'LL LIKE IT! COME ON, HOP IN!"
The Mettaur, after a moment of hesitation, decided that the HeelNavi hadn't deceived it thus far, so there was no need to suspect anything, and hopped into the bed. Its eyes immediately began to grow heavy, and it began to lower its helmet...it wouldn't be long until it was out like a light.
============================
Dare's Mettaur managed to stop being loud, instead wandering over towards her. Didn't seem particularly interested in doing anything race oriented, though.
============================
While it couldn't understand a lick of what Ante was saying, her Mettaur was too focused on the RageClaw to listen anyway. As the Navi moved forward, so did the virus ghost, remaining steadfast in its fascination of the device. The two were getting close to the finish...but would it be enough?
============================
As it turned out, the HeelNavi wasn't quite expecting Dare to move into him like that, and as such, the two fell back onto the ground, with the latter laying onto the former. As they fell, however, the generic Navi grabbed her without thinking, trying to keep her from landing on the ground after sustaining her injury. Thing was, he ended up getting 'a grip the situation', where the situation was her right breast. Almost reflexively, he ended up giving it a quick squeeze, before realizing what had happened and stopped.
"Uh, sure thing!" He wasn't without chivalry entirely, at least, as he helped her pick herself up, and get back to her lane. He seemed to be deliberately going at a fairly slow pace...whether it was because he was concerned about her foot, just a desire to enjoy the moment, or some other reason, wasn't very clear. It was hard to get a read on someone when they didn't actually have a face.
On the plus side, his Mettaur was now walking with him, and that meant that it wasn't walking towards the starting line. With that, he probably wasn't going to beat his colleague.
CURRENT PLACE:
Lane 3: Giant HeelNavi - Mettaur is happy, and almost done heading back
Lane 5: Ante - Mettaur is still quite fascinated by the RageClaw, and is drawing close to the starting area
Lane 6: HeelNavi - Helping Dare back to her lane; Mettaur is walking and watching the scene
Lane 2: PhoenixMan - Navi and Mettaur are starting to head back
Lane 4: Dare - Mettaur is wandering over to Dare
Lane 1: VultureMan - Has probably completely forgotten he even has a Mettaur
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PhoenixMan shot Dare an odd look as she tried to push him off, and gave her an equally terse response, motioning to his own Mettaur in the process: "Eating. Stay." Most likely, he was pointing out that he wasn't actually losing any progress at the moment, since he couldn't exactly eat the food in place of his virus. Still, when he realized she had the HeelNavi distracted, he decided to let it go, and with a silent nod, turned to head back to his lane.
Right around then, his Mettaur sat back, finished with the meal. The firebird Navi starting creating more flames and ash, regaining the virus ghost's attention, and they started to move back to the starting point. Barring a catastrophe, however, they probably weren't going to make it back in time.
============================
"WHY, THANK YOU! YOU'RE NOT TOO BAD WITH YOURS, YOURSELF!" While still moving, the giant HeelNavi saw no reason to not be civil to the enemy. "WHAT, YOU THINK THAT OTHER BED'S COMFIER? ...WELL, TOO BAD FOR US, SINCE I'M PRETTY SURE WE HAVE TO USE OUR OWN BEDS. I'M SURE THEY'RE ALL PRETTY COMFY, THOUGH!"
With that, Navi and Mettaur crossed the starting line, and over to the bed. The former kneeled down to the latter, for a little talk. "SO, HOW DO YOU FEEL?" The virus ghost put away its pickaxe, pretty sure that that was the end of the fun. It looked at the bed, and tilted itself quizzically at it. "GUESS VIRUSES AREN'T USED TO BEDS...THAT'S SOMETHING YOU CAN SLEEP IN! IT'S NICE AND SOFT, SO IT'S EASY TO FALL ASLEEP IN!" To prove his point, he pushed a couple of fingers into it, getting a good couple of inches in there. "WOW, THAT REALLY IS PRETTY SOFT! I BET YOU'LL LIKE IT! COME ON, HOP IN!"
The Mettaur, after a moment of hesitation, decided that the HeelNavi hadn't deceived it thus far, so there was no need to suspect anything, and hopped into the bed. Its eyes immediately began to grow heavy, and it began to lower its helmet...it wouldn't be long until it was out like a light.
============================
Dare's Mettaur managed to stop being loud, instead wandering over towards her. Didn't seem particularly interested in doing anything race oriented, though.
============================
While it couldn't understand a lick of what Ante was saying, her Mettaur was too focused on the RageClaw to listen anyway. As the Navi moved forward, so did the virus ghost, remaining steadfast in its fascination of the device. The two were getting close to the finish...but would it be enough?
============================
As it turned out, the HeelNavi wasn't quite expecting Dare to move into him like that, and as such, the two fell back onto the ground, with the latter laying onto the former. As they fell, however, the generic Navi grabbed her without thinking, trying to keep her from landing on the ground after sustaining her injury. Thing was, he ended up getting 'a grip the situation', where the situation was her right breast. Almost reflexively, he ended up giving it a quick squeeze, before realizing what had happened and stopped.
"Uh, sure thing!" He wasn't without chivalry entirely, at least, as he helped her pick herself up, and get back to her lane. He seemed to be deliberately going at a fairly slow pace...whether it was because he was concerned about her foot, just a desire to enjoy the moment, or some other reason, wasn't very clear. It was hard to get a read on someone when they didn't actually have a face.
On the plus side, his Mettaur was now walking with him, and that meant that it wasn't walking towards the starting line. With that, he probably wasn't going to beat his colleague.
CURRENT PLACE:
Lane 3: Giant HeelNavi - Mettaur is happy, and almost done heading back
Lane 5: Ante - Mettaur is still quite fascinated by the RageClaw, and is drawing close to the starting area
Lane 6: HeelNavi - Helping Dare back to her lane; Mettaur is walking and watching the scene
Lane 2: PhoenixMan - Navi and Mettaur are starting to head back
Lane 4: Dare - Mettaur is wandering over to Dare
Lane 1: VultureMan - Has probably completely forgotten he even has a Mettaur
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After a certain point, Ante would have to concede that enough was enough. She'd talked big about how victory came first, honor and dignity later, but she'd had a lot of time to think to herself, done a lot of nonsense, and experienced a lot of failure. The black queen noticed Ante's thoughts shifting and cautioned her. "Are you sure you want to go that route? Your partner's a very competitive person and that may sound like 'giving up,'" the Black Queen cautioned her.
"It may, but while my partner wants to be the center of attention, I believe she also has some idea of roles, appearances, and sportsmanship. There's no way around this," Ante sighed. She stopped addressing the big heel navi, stopped goading on VultureMan (any further than being scantily dressed in his view), and stopped thinking up tricks, although she continued tapping the floor to get her Metool towards its bed. "Everyone! I feel the need to apologize," she announced, closing her eyes with a frown that made her shame apparent. "We came into this battle expecting trickery and devilry from our opponents, but so far, we're the only ones who have been using any dirty tactics to try to get what we want. While I resorted to dishonorable tactics such as provocation, lies, and inhibiting others to get what I wanted-"
"Also stripping mostly naked," Teruko pointed out, causing Ante to flinch.
"Th-That was unavoidable," Ante coughed, although the others hadn't heard what her operator said. "While I resorted to such tactics, our opponents have been nothing but fair. They have not tried to inhibit our behavior. They have been... mostly... good sports, and have played it all by the books. In certain cases, they've even shown gallantry. In the mean time, I persisted with increasingly dastardly tactics that I am, in hindsight, ashamed of, even dragging my good friend, Miss Dare, along through the mud with me. There, we wrestled fruitlessly in the muck of our own devices-"
"Wait! Are you still trying to distract them? Cause that last one was pretty-" her operator pointed out, confused as to her navi's intention. Ante interrupted her in turn and continued.
"-unable to overtake our foes. All of this has proven one thing: I was in the wrong, resorting to the very underhanded tricks I initially sought to curtail. For that, I am sorry. PhoenixMan, I believe that this fight will end in failure for us, for we did not take the high road. My path was clouded and I led us astray. In the battles to come, we shall return to sportsmanship: no more tricks. No more lies. Just good, gentle, respectable behavior, as befits ladies such as ourselves. We can still obtain our ultimate victory, but we'll do it the right way," Ante finished on an ironic note, as both she and Dare were still playing off of the other team's lewd desires one way or another, even if they weren't meaning to.
Teruko clapped for a moment, then tilted her head. She wasn't sure whether decreased sexiness would be detrimental to her date with Bruce or not. It depended on whether or not the display was getting him turned on in general or if it was getting him turned on for slender, ideal-shape navis specifically.
Ante had a few regrets: she had debased herself pretty far and Dare along with her. She figured that they were so far into losing this contest, though, that nothing short of acting the highwayman and robbing the big heelnavi would win it for them. "In the end, he was the better mommy," she sighed, sounding just a little sad. "But honor should always be at the forefront of one's mind, regardless of who they may be. So if I have to choose between honor and victory... especially if victory is unattainable... then I should choose honor," she finally resolved. "I apologize again, PhoenixMan. And you too, VultureMan and company. I shouldn't have resorted to such tactics."
"... I don't think you need to apologize to VultureMan. He probably preferred this to actually running the contest," Teruko informed her navi.
"Ah... I'm a little past the ideal age for courtship, so... I was just doing what I could, in that regard. I mean, I'm still... intending to be active in that arena, you know... but I doubt he's really interested one way or the other, he's simply easy to please. Seeing an older woman such as myself in garments like these is really more of an embarrassment than it is a lewd pleasure. VultureMan, I must doubly apologize; it seems our operator here as the unfortunate impression that you were gazing at me out of some sort of sexual intent, rather than to demean me. I know that must be even more embarrassing for us both and I have really been terrible to you, acting in such a suggestive manner that you must certainly find tasteless. I'm certain you were laughing at me this whole time, thinking that it was ridiculous that I'd try to lure you in with sexual conduct... I hold no illusions about matters such as my figure. We're adults here and it's fine to admit that I've slacked in physical fitness, instead devoting that time to my practice of societal arts. I don't have the ideal body that one might wish to see in such garments, homely though they be-"
"Uuuugh, stop! You're not old-looking, you're not out-of-shape looking, and you're not homely looking! Who are you trying to kid, talking like that when you're doing your sexy crawling around on the ground, dressed in your sexy red frilly underwear?!" Teruko complained, bringing her face very close to the PET and failing to watch her volume.
"W-What? These clothes weren't meant to be provocative at all, not in that way! These are just my regular undergarments! I happen to like the color red, th-that's all!" Ante responded, waving her hands and blushing. "I'm actually quite a modest dresser-!"
As Ante was talking about her modest garments, the garter at her thigh broke apart, then her bra quickly fell into pieces, turning into a small number of chips and clattering to the ground. Her breasts were now mostly exposed, covered by a large, red, heart shaped sticker over each. The stickers had a sort of wrapping paper sheen to them, offered no support, and the only saving grace was that they managed to hide the texture of what was underneath better than other types of pasties might. The princess' face turned as red as her underwear once she realized that, while crawling, her cups were now hanging with no support at all; her bare back was still towards VultureMan, to whom it must look as though she was wearing nothing at all on her top. "A-A-Ah! I didn't choose to wear these! They came with that glitch program, the same one that makes me gray, honest! These aren't my preference! I-I'm not trying to play dirty any more, I swear! My bra came off on its own!" she told everyone, looking from face to face to make sure that nobody thought this was another attempted distraction.
"Oh dear," the Black Queen sighed internally, as was becoming a running theme. "You're cute when you're embarrassed, though..." she whispered.
"I-I'm not trying to be cute!" Ante sobbed, barely able to keep up the tapping for the Metool, who must be wondering why its mommy was becoming hysterical.
"It may, but while my partner wants to be the center of attention, I believe she also has some idea of roles, appearances, and sportsmanship. There's no way around this," Ante sighed. She stopped addressing the big heel navi, stopped goading on VultureMan (any further than being scantily dressed in his view), and stopped thinking up tricks, although she continued tapping the floor to get her Metool towards its bed. "Everyone! I feel the need to apologize," she announced, closing her eyes with a frown that made her shame apparent. "We came into this battle expecting trickery and devilry from our opponents, but so far, we're the only ones who have been using any dirty tactics to try to get what we want. While I resorted to dishonorable tactics such as provocation, lies, and inhibiting others to get what I wanted-"
"Also stripping mostly naked," Teruko pointed out, causing Ante to flinch.
"Th-That was unavoidable," Ante coughed, although the others hadn't heard what her operator said. "While I resorted to such tactics, our opponents have been nothing but fair. They have not tried to inhibit our behavior. They have been... mostly... good sports, and have played it all by the books. In certain cases, they've even shown gallantry. In the mean time, I persisted with increasingly dastardly tactics that I am, in hindsight, ashamed of, even dragging my good friend, Miss Dare, along through the mud with me. There, we wrestled fruitlessly in the muck of our own devices-"
"Wait! Are you still trying to distract them? Cause that last one was pretty-" her operator pointed out, confused as to her navi's intention. Ante interrupted her in turn and continued.
"-unable to overtake our foes. All of this has proven one thing: I was in the wrong, resorting to the very underhanded tricks I initially sought to curtail. For that, I am sorry. PhoenixMan, I believe that this fight will end in failure for us, for we did not take the high road. My path was clouded and I led us astray. In the battles to come, we shall return to sportsmanship: no more tricks. No more lies. Just good, gentle, respectable behavior, as befits ladies such as ourselves. We can still obtain our ultimate victory, but we'll do it the right way," Ante finished on an ironic note, as both she and Dare were still playing off of the other team's lewd desires one way or another, even if they weren't meaning to.
Teruko clapped for a moment, then tilted her head. She wasn't sure whether decreased sexiness would be detrimental to her date with Bruce or not. It depended on whether or not the display was getting him turned on in general or if it was getting him turned on for slender, ideal-shape navis specifically.
Ante had a few regrets: she had debased herself pretty far and Dare along with her. She figured that they were so far into losing this contest, though, that nothing short of acting the highwayman and robbing the big heelnavi would win it for them. "In the end, he was the better mommy," she sighed, sounding just a little sad. "But honor should always be at the forefront of one's mind, regardless of who they may be. So if I have to choose between honor and victory... especially if victory is unattainable... then I should choose honor," she finally resolved. "I apologize again, PhoenixMan. And you too, VultureMan and company. I shouldn't have resorted to such tactics."
"... I don't think you need to apologize to VultureMan. He probably preferred this to actually running the contest," Teruko informed her navi.
"Ah... I'm a little past the ideal age for courtship, so... I was just doing what I could, in that regard. I mean, I'm still... intending to be active in that arena, you know... but I doubt he's really interested one way or the other, he's simply easy to please. Seeing an older woman such as myself in garments like these is really more of an embarrassment than it is a lewd pleasure. VultureMan, I must doubly apologize; it seems our operator here as the unfortunate impression that you were gazing at me out of some sort of sexual intent, rather than to demean me. I know that must be even more embarrassing for us both and I have really been terrible to you, acting in such a suggestive manner that you must certainly find tasteless. I'm certain you were laughing at me this whole time, thinking that it was ridiculous that I'd try to lure you in with sexual conduct... I hold no illusions about matters such as my figure. We're adults here and it's fine to admit that I've slacked in physical fitness, instead devoting that time to my practice of societal arts. I don't have the ideal body that one might wish to see in such garments, homely though they be-"
"Uuuugh, stop! You're not old-looking, you're not out-of-shape looking, and you're not homely looking! Who are you trying to kid, talking like that when you're doing your sexy crawling around on the ground, dressed in your sexy red frilly underwear?!" Teruko complained, bringing her face very close to the PET and failing to watch her volume.
"W-What? These clothes weren't meant to be provocative at all, not in that way! These are just my regular undergarments! I happen to like the color red, th-that's all!" Ante responded, waving her hands and blushing. "I'm actually quite a modest dresser-!"
STRIP DRAW
Eight of Spades
Eight of Hearts
Ace of Hearts
Eight of Diamonds
Ace of Diamonds
50 POINTS AWARDED
POINTS: 63
GARTER OFF!
POINTS: 58
BRA OFF!
POINTS: 38
PASTIES HOLD
REMAINING POINTS: 38
Eight of Hearts
Ace of Hearts
Eight of Diamonds
Ace of Diamonds
50 POINTS AWARDED
POINTS: 63
GARTER OFF!
POINTS: 58
BRA OFF!
POINTS: 38
PASTIES HOLD
REMAINING POINTS: 38
As Ante was talking about her modest garments, the garter at her thigh broke apart, then her bra quickly fell into pieces, turning into a small number of chips and clattering to the ground. Her breasts were now mostly exposed, covered by a large, red, heart shaped sticker over each. The stickers had a sort of wrapping paper sheen to them, offered no support, and the only saving grace was that they managed to hide the texture of what was underneath better than other types of pasties might. The princess' face turned as red as her underwear once she realized that, while crawling, her cups were now hanging with no support at all; her bare back was still towards VultureMan, to whom it must look as though she was wearing nothing at all on her top. "A-A-Ah! I didn't choose to wear these! They came with that glitch program, the same one that makes me gray, honest! These aren't my preference! I-I'm not trying to play dirty any more, I swear! My bra came off on its own!" she told everyone, looking from face to face to make sure that nobody thought this was another attempted distraction.
"Oh dear," the Black Queen sighed internally, as was becoming a running theme. "You're cute when you're embarrassed, though..." she whispered.
"I-I'm not trying to be cute!" Ante sobbed, barely able to keep up the tapping for the Metool, who must be wondering why its mommy was becoming hysterical.
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"W-what a gentleman," Dare told the HeelNavi as he helped her back towards her line. In reality, Dare's mind was still stuck on his decidedly less than gentlemanly actions moments earlier, preventing her from giving any more than a terse reply. Stripped of her Navisuit, the digital leather of her jacket was the only thing that had kept her adversary from getting a handful of her. She had time to reflect that it was the most intimate situation she'd been in on the Net, and tried to remember if she'd let out a gasp when she'd been grabbed. Had she? That would have been pretty uncool...
Still, she thought it had been pretty cool that her hand hadn't shot out and caught her would-be savior across his purple-helmeted mug right there. That said, it didn't seem to have put them any closer to winning. The giant HeelNavi appeared to be 3 for 3 in intelligence, incorruptibility, and general momminess. Dare reflected with a wry smile what that last point might mean regarding her own eligibility for future relationships.
While she was caught up staring into the kaleidoscope of her own problems, it seemed Ante had begun some sort of address to all collected. "Is this another attempt at distraction?" Dare wondered. It was a pretty bold move for Ante to ask everyone to stop what they were doing in the middle of a competition and pay attention to her speech, when she wasn't obviously laying it in thick in an attempt to garner wandering minds... well, not much, anyway.
Since she was being helped along at a ginger pace, Dare actually had a chance to listen and possibly have Ante's words hit their mark. Rather than another attempt at grabbing everyone's attention, Ante's words seemed to be a waving of the white flag. Dare's knee-jerk reaction to this was annoyance, to wonder whether Ante's shouting of a plan across the room wasn't a diversionary tactic but simply poor planning... luckily, however, her need to keep a cool facade in her current situation allowed her to withhold her judgment.
As Dare continued to listen, she began to feel she may have been the one in the wrong. "Sure, winning is what matters for me, but part of the understanding of every Navi's capacity to be a winner is understanding winning means different things to different people... Maybe I was so focused on the contest that I allowed myself to conveniently misinterpret Ante's intentions." Dare frowned, beginning to feel she may have been a real jack*ss. "What if Ante was so focused on winning the contest by any means for my sake, she was pushing herself into situations that went against her own set of values? With PhoenixMan being such a straight arrow type, it's beginning to seem like I was the most uncool one on our team..."
"That Ante's a pretty good girl, you know?" Bruce commented, resting his hand on his chin. "It takes a lot of guts to admit when you're wrong. Although, she's totally off-base with the whole 'look how old, gross, and out of shape I am' routine."
"Yeah," Dare agreed, having stopped listening to what she had interpreted as rambling in the later part of Ante's speech. "She's an upstanding type and a real hot tamale with a serious image problem." Left to her own devices, though, Dare had begun to notice something odd... Ante was going on and on talking about how they were admitting defeat, but wasn't she still tapping the ground getting her Mettaur to move to the finish line? "Is this another fake out...?!"
Before Dare could continue plumbing into the true nature of Ante any further, the Navi in question's glitch deigned to make a few revelations of its own. Dare completely lost her train of thought, seeing her friend scramble to preserve her dignity and dissolve into a torrent of squealing embarrassment. "Wait... so hold up a sec. She isn't doing that voluntarily?" Dare said aloud. "She has a glitch that makes her strip?"
"Oh, oh yeah," Bruce said, seeming very focused on his PET screen now. "Yeah, I knew about it."
"Why didn't you tell me?! I thought she was doing that as part of her strategy! I wouldn't have-" Dare began, before clenching her teeth and cutting herself short. It might not be a good idea to get too specific on the details of her strategy with her knight-in-shining-armor still right beside her.
"You never asked," Bruce said simply, still watching with interest.
"Okay, well, show's over," she told Bruce, prying the vision of his viewscreen from Ante's dismay to the face of the HeelNavi beside her by turning her head. "Look, I appreciate the help. I guess Ante's right and maybe we're not going to win this, but I've still gotta try. If something happened that gave us a shot and I lost because I stopped running the race, it'd be a big egg on my face. All right? You can get back to doing your thing or sit around and enjoy the show like ol' Buzzard Brains."
With that, Dare released herself from her HeelNavi helper and began moving her way over towards her food bowl. She realized she seemed to have gotten her Mettaur moving, although the "how" was still unknown. Was it concerned for her after seeing her accident? Was it more interested in her now that it had seen her cuddling with other people? Reasoning aside, Dare stood over by her bowl and crouched, ready to help her virus to it if he made it.
Still, she thought it had been pretty cool that her hand hadn't shot out and caught her would-be savior across his purple-helmeted mug right there. That said, it didn't seem to have put them any closer to winning. The giant HeelNavi appeared to be 3 for 3 in intelligence, incorruptibility, and general momminess. Dare reflected with a wry smile what that last point might mean regarding her own eligibility for future relationships.
While she was caught up staring into the kaleidoscope of her own problems, it seemed Ante had begun some sort of address to all collected. "Is this another attempt at distraction?" Dare wondered. It was a pretty bold move for Ante to ask everyone to stop what they were doing in the middle of a competition and pay attention to her speech, when she wasn't obviously laying it in thick in an attempt to garner wandering minds... well, not much, anyway.
Since she was being helped along at a ginger pace, Dare actually had a chance to listen and possibly have Ante's words hit their mark. Rather than another attempt at grabbing everyone's attention, Ante's words seemed to be a waving of the white flag. Dare's knee-jerk reaction to this was annoyance, to wonder whether Ante's shouting of a plan across the room wasn't a diversionary tactic but simply poor planning... luckily, however, her need to keep a cool facade in her current situation allowed her to withhold her judgment.
As Dare continued to listen, she began to feel she may have been the one in the wrong. "Sure, winning is what matters for me, but part of the understanding of every Navi's capacity to be a winner is understanding winning means different things to different people... Maybe I was so focused on the contest that I allowed myself to conveniently misinterpret Ante's intentions." Dare frowned, beginning to feel she may have been a real jack*ss. "What if Ante was so focused on winning the contest by any means for my sake, she was pushing herself into situations that went against her own set of values? With PhoenixMan being such a straight arrow type, it's beginning to seem like I was the most uncool one on our team..."
"That Ante's a pretty good girl, you know?" Bruce commented, resting his hand on his chin. "It takes a lot of guts to admit when you're wrong. Although, she's totally off-base with the whole 'look how old, gross, and out of shape I am' routine."
"Yeah," Dare agreed, having stopped listening to what she had interpreted as rambling in the later part of Ante's speech. "She's an upstanding type and a real hot tamale with a serious image problem." Left to her own devices, though, Dare had begun to notice something odd... Ante was going on and on talking about how they were admitting defeat, but wasn't she still tapping the ground getting her Mettaur to move to the finish line? "Is this another fake out...?!"
Before Dare could continue plumbing into the true nature of Ante any further, the Navi in question's glitch deigned to make a few revelations of its own. Dare completely lost her train of thought, seeing her friend scramble to preserve her dignity and dissolve into a torrent of squealing embarrassment. "Wait... so hold up a sec. She isn't doing that voluntarily?" Dare said aloud. "She has a glitch that makes her strip?"
"Oh, oh yeah," Bruce said, seeming very focused on his PET screen now. "Yeah, I knew about it."
"Why didn't you tell me?! I thought she was doing that as part of her strategy! I wouldn't have-" Dare began, before clenching her teeth and cutting herself short. It might not be a good idea to get too specific on the details of her strategy with her knight-in-shining-armor still right beside her.
"You never asked," Bruce said simply, still watching with interest.
"Okay, well, show's over," she told Bruce, prying the vision of his viewscreen from Ante's dismay to the face of the HeelNavi beside her by turning her head. "Look, I appreciate the help. I guess Ante's right and maybe we're not going to win this, but I've still gotta try. If something happened that gave us a shot and I lost because I stopped running the race, it'd be a big egg on my face. All right? You can get back to doing your thing or sit around and enjoy the show like ol' Buzzard Brains."
With that, Dare released herself from her HeelNavi helper and began moving her way over towards her food bowl. She realized she seemed to have gotten her Mettaur moving, although the "how" was still unknown. Was it concerned for her after seeing her accident? Was it more interested in her now that it had seen her cuddling with other people? Reasoning aside, Dare stood over by her bowl and crouched, ready to help her virus to it if he made it.
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Ante's apology simply made VultureMan grin, as he entirely ceased to stop staring even in her more noble moment. "Like we needed to play dirty! Told you we were about to make our comeback!" As she directly addressed him, he simply started to laugh...probably for Ante sounding like she thought he wasn't staring at her for unlustful reasons. It only got louder as her bra was removed, making one wonder how he was even capable of flight at that point. He never stopped staring, though. That was one dedicated Navi.
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"Don't worry about it, Ante. It was underhanded, true, but you didn't flat out violate any rules. You have nothing to be truly ashamed of." PhoenixMan probably shouldn't have said that last part, as the person he was addressing lost about 98% of what she'd been wearing above the waist. "...Uh..." ...Going over to her would probably just compound her embarrassment, so as much as he disliked doing nothing about it, he looked away, and resumed leading his Mettaur. But not for long; suddenly, his virus ghost vanished. But why?
============================
The giant HeelNavi sat down, and started scratching the side of his Mettaur. It seemed to like it quite a bit, stretching as it enjoyed it. "THAT'S RIGHT, JUST RELAX..." It wasn't too much longer before some faint snoring could be heard. The event was over. He didn't make any sounds or motions to signify this, instead continuing to quietly sit with the virus ghost, even as it disappeared. If he'd heard Ante's apology or subsequent antics, he didn't show any signs of it.
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After freeing herself from the HeelNavi, Dare watched as her Mettaur wandered over towards her. As it approached the food dish, however, it vanished.
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Ante, despite taking further 'losses', managed to get her Mettaur to the bed. It inspected it for a moment, then, seeing the other of its kind happily snuggled in, started to hop in...but it never would, as it disappeared before it could land.
============================
"Well...if you're sure." The HeelNavi let Dare be on her way, but, seeing his teammate so far along, he decided to do as she suggested, and sat down and enjoyed the show. His Mettaur disappeared soon after, but he didn't seem to notice, being a bit...preoccupied.
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"The event is over! Lane 3's Mettaur has successfully fallen asleep. The winner of this event...PET Carrion!" With the results in, ShamanMan sent the Mettaur ghosts on their way with a wave of his arm, regardless of what they were doing. The 0 next to the opposition's score became a 1, meaning that at the very least, they weren't going to skunk them.
FINAL PLACING:
Lane 3: Giant HeelNavi - Mettaur fell asleep
Lane 5: Ante - Mettaur was about to hop into the bed
Lane 2: PhoenixMan - Mettaur was about halfway back
Lane 6: HeelNavi - Mettaur was slightly less than halfway back
Lane 4: Dare - Mettaur was at food dish
Lane 1: VultureMan - He had a Mettaur?
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"Don't worry about it, Ante. It was underhanded, true, but you didn't flat out violate any rules. You have nothing to be truly ashamed of." PhoenixMan probably shouldn't have said that last part, as the person he was addressing lost about 98% of what she'd been wearing above the waist. "...Uh..." ...Going over to her would probably just compound her embarrassment, so as much as he disliked doing nothing about it, he looked away, and resumed leading his Mettaur. But not for long; suddenly, his virus ghost vanished. But why?
============================
The giant HeelNavi sat down, and started scratching the side of his Mettaur. It seemed to like it quite a bit, stretching as it enjoyed it. "THAT'S RIGHT, JUST RELAX..." It wasn't too much longer before some faint snoring could be heard. The event was over. He didn't make any sounds or motions to signify this, instead continuing to quietly sit with the virus ghost, even as it disappeared. If he'd heard Ante's apology or subsequent antics, he didn't show any signs of it.
============================
After freeing herself from the HeelNavi, Dare watched as her Mettaur wandered over towards her. As it approached the food dish, however, it vanished.
============================
Ante, despite taking further 'losses', managed to get her Mettaur to the bed. It inspected it for a moment, then, seeing the other of its kind happily snuggled in, started to hop in...but it never would, as it disappeared before it could land.
============================
"Well...if you're sure." The HeelNavi let Dare be on her way, but, seeing his teammate so far along, he decided to do as she suggested, and sat down and enjoyed the show. His Mettaur disappeared soon after, but he didn't seem to notice, being a bit...preoccupied.
============================
"The event is over! Lane 3's Mettaur has successfully fallen asleep. The winner of this event...PET Carrion!" With the results in, ShamanMan sent the Mettaur ghosts on their way with a wave of his arm, regardless of what they were doing. The 0 next to the opposition's score became a 1, meaning that at the very least, they weren't going to skunk them.
FINAL PLACING:
Lane 3: Giant HeelNavi - Mettaur fell asleep
Lane 5: Ante - Mettaur was about to hop into the bed
Lane 2: PhoenixMan - Mettaur was about halfway back
Lane 6: HeelNavi - Mettaur was slightly less than halfway back
Lane 4: Dare - Mettaur was at food dish
Lane 1: VultureMan - He had a Mettaur?
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"Hmph! Laugh all you want. I've made my peace!" Ante retorted to VultureMan, thinking he was mocking her for having ever believed that he was interested in what she was selling. "I've more than ample skills left to-!" Her words were cut off short when her Metool disappeared mid tuck-in, leaving her disappointingly placing a blanket over nothing. She bit her lip and frowned, barely avoiding cursing the air. She wasn't sore over losing any more, but she'd have at least liked the satisfaction of knowing she put her Metool to bed. "... More than ample skills left to win the next challenge, regardless of my desire to conduct myself as a sportswoman, my regret over this match, or any failures in my body, age, or wisdom. And you will see that!" With the contest over, she turned her attention back to PhoenixMan, dismissing her rageclaw and crossing her arms over her breasts, as she was now free to do so. "No, a true lady of honor shouldn't use loopholes or cheap tricks. She should conduct herself with dignity and walk the path of a proud victor, not one who relies on distractions or cheap tricks," she admitted again, looking very exposed with her serious expression and wearing only her frilled panties and the meager top coverings that were hidden behind her arms.
"Well, we lost the battle, but not the war! That's why I always play best three out of five when I can. There's always another chance to win!" Teruko reminded her navi, still managing to pump herself up.
"Depending on your position, that could just mean prolonging your defeat," Ante replied, lowering her eyebrows into a characteristic horizontal set. She made her way over to Dare, wanting to give her a help up or otherwise give her a comforting hand on the shoulder, but not wanting to move her arms. "Thank you for trying so hard in this competition, Dare. I think I've learned a little something and I appreciate the fact that you'd shed your own garments to try to make me feel a little less uncomfortable with my own situation. I must say, it was an effective distraction and may have even boosted my morale a bit," she addressed her friend with a shy smile. In reality, it hadn't made her feel much better about her own predicament, but she figured it could only improve Dare's mood if she said that it had. "We'll get them on whatever our next challenge is, don't you worry."
"Well, we lost the battle, but not the war! That's why I always play best three out of five when I can. There's always another chance to win!" Teruko reminded her navi, still managing to pump herself up.
"Depending on your position, that could just mean prolonging your defeat," Ante replied, lowering her eyebrows into a characteristic horizontal set. She made her way over to Dare, wanting to give her a help up or otherwise give her a comforting hand on the shoulder, but not wanting to move her arms. "Thank you for trying so hard in this competition, Dare. I think I've learned a little something and I appreciate the fact that you'd shed your own garments to try to make me feel a little less uncomfortable with my own situation. I must say, it was an effective distraction and may have even boosted my morale a bit," she addressed her friend with a shy smile. In reality, it hadn't made her feel much better about her own predicament, but she figured it could only improve Dare's mood if she said that it had. "We'll get them on whatever our next challenge is, don't you worry."
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Dare sighed as her Mettaur disappeared. It wasn't a surprise, of course, but it certainly was an anticlimax for her. "To think, all that work and no upset, no fanfare... Oh, well." She imagined that if she'd been about to tuck in her own Mettaur like Ante or PhoenixMan, she would have been more upset, but she had only been halfway to the finish line, after all. She rose to her feet and swung her arms for a moment before placing them behind her head.
Her ally was approaching her in an outfit that would, in most cases, indicate that Dare was about to get a lapdance, but in this case just meant she was about to get a pep talk. "Hey, you don't have to thank me for trying hard in a competition. It's in my programming, you know? I just wish I'd been able to contribute anything to this one... And hey, I wasn't 'shedding my garments' to make you feel better about yourself! You straight-up told me to as part of your strategy! But hey, if all I have to do is take my pants off and shake my tail to get you motivated, I'll remember that for the future," the Navi added with a chuckle and a grin.
"Aaanyways... as much fun as it has been getting naked with you, I'm going to make myself decent again." Dare bent down to reach for the Navisuit she had been dragging around, the feet still tucked into her boots and the fabric still draped over her boot pipes. She pretty quickly realized, however, that while she'd been able to find a way to get it off, putting the suit back on without exposing herself to a major wardrobe malfunction would be nearly impossible. Thinking quickly, Dare simply removed her boots, tugged the suit off her feet, and then re-summoned her shades in a flash of fire. She snapped them back to her face and spread out her arms in a "ta-dah" gesture. "There, lookin' decent! It'd be an embarrassment if I had to keep performing in the buff!"
She planted her butt back on the ground and raised one of her long, toned legs to pull her boots back on. "Yeah, I can keep running this, outfit or no outfit. I think it might even be a good motivator! Maybe when you think about it like that, your curse isn't so bad? No? I guess not, huh?" Dare said, grinning and shrugging. "Well, rest assured, we'll tie it up with a win in the next round. And we'll try and do it quick so your predicament doesn't become any more precarious, all right?"
Buckling up her last boot, she rose back to her feet and made her way over to PhoenixMan. "Sorry for the less than inspiring performance in Mettaur Mommy, but don't fret over it! Ante and I are still game for another competition. Hopefully you'll forgive our new dress code, but, uh... we kinda are where we are, ya know?"
Her ally was approaching her in an outfit that would, in most cases, indicate that Dare was about to get a lapdance, but in this case just meant she was about to get a pep talk. "Hey, you don't have to thank me for trying hard in a competition. It's in my programming, you know? I just wish I'd been able to contribute anything to this one... And hey, I wasn't 'shedding my garments' to make you feel better about yourself! You straight-up told me to as part of your strategy! But hey, if all I have to do is take my pants off and shake my tail to get you motivated, I'll remember that for the future," the Navi added with a chuckle and a grin.
"Aaanyways... as much fun as it has been getting naked with you, I'm going to make myself decent again." Dare bent down to reach for the Navisuit she had been dragging around, the feet still tucked into her boots and the fabric still draped over her boot pipes. She pretty quickly realized, however, that while she'd been able to find a way to get it off, putting the suit back on without exposing herself to a major wardrobe malfunction would be nearly impossible. Thinking quickly, Dare simply removed her boots, tugged the suit off her feet, and then re-summoned her shades in a flash of fire. She snapped them back to her face and spread out her arms in a "ta-dah" gesture. "There, lookin' decent! It'd be an embarrassment if I had to keep performing in the buff!"
She planted her butt back on the ground and raised one of her long, toned legs to pull her boots back on. "Yeah, I can keep running this, outfit or no outfit. I think it might even be a good motivator! Maybe when you think about it like that, your curse isn't so bad? No? I guess not, huh?" Dare said, grinning and shrugging. "Well, rest assured, we'll tie it up with a win in the next round. And we'll try and do it quick so your predicament doesn't become any more precarious, all right?"
Buckling up her last boot, she rose back to her feet and made her way over to PhoenixMan. "Sorry for the less than inspiring performance in Mettaur Mommy, but don't fret over it! Ante and I are still game for another competition. Hopefully you'll forgive our new dress code, but, uh... we kinda are where we are, ya know?"
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Dare didn't have far to go, as after the contest ended, PhoenixMan had immediately landed and started walking to his team to regroup. "Don't worry about it. We're still in the lead, after all. As for your outfits...well, if you're fine with it, I suppose I have no reason to object." He shrugged, then turned over to his arch-nemesis. "Looks like we're all eager to put that one behind us...shall we determine the next event?"
"Ha! As soon as we win one, you want to move on...typical!" VultureMan flew over to the machine, and looked around at everyone. "Everyone okay with just heading to the next one?" A bunch of nods and 'yep's confirmed it, so... "Fine, let's keep this roll going! Next!" He slammed his hand on the button, causing the next event to be revealed...
"OONIBjdgangas"
...Huh?
"...What the?! What's this gibberish doing on my beautiful machine's screen?!"
"Yeah, that doesn't look like any event's name..."
"Meh, must be a bug. Let's try again!" And the event would be...
"PIJGONAEnodngagangasgaogofSAGGANWABGEAGandkagasbwGOSUBSGduganbsgasgpoasgibw4"
The dark bird Navi tapped his foot impatiently as he brought up a screen in front of him, and started typing on it. "This makes no sense...why is it...ugh!" The screen was dismissed, and he turned back to everyone. "Well, we have...a problem. My lovely machine's programming is completely fried, and I have absolutely no idea why. But without that, we can't continue, and it's going to take a long time to fix. I'd say at least 10 hours."
"Hold up!" Lite suddenly floated over from the judging area to look at the machine. "Why can't we just continue without your little machine? We can count, and we can just draw events from a hat..."
"Nope. Not happening. I'm not continuing without my beautiful machine!"
"Sigh...he's hopeless when he's set his mind like that." Ante and Dare were probably the only Navis that actually heard the remark, and yet it almost felt like everyone nodded at the same time...even the HeelNavis. "All right, I guess the rest of this competition is going to be postponed until a later time. Thanks to everyone for coming, and we'll let you know when we'll be able to finish this."
"A most disappointing end to the festivities...but it seems it cannot be helped. I shall await the day where we may all reunite to complete this contest. Until then, farewell!" And ShamanMan left.
"And right as things were starting to get a little interesting...figures. Well, whatever. I suppose I'm game to finish this, if I'm not busy." Syki warped away.
"Well, this is a bummer...but you know I'll be up for finishing this some other time! Just let me know, okay? Later!" Lite went somewhere else.
"What a time for the boss's machine to go on the fritz...just my luck. And my operator told me to come straight back when we were done, too, so I can't even stay. Meh..." The HeelNavi jacked out.
"IT'S TOO BAD ABOUT THE MACHINE...BUT AT LEAST I GOT TO END ON A HIGH NOTE! CAN'T WAIT UNTIL WE CAN FINISH THIS! BUT SINCE WE'RE DONE, THERE'S SOMETHING I NEED TO DO...TAKE CARE, GUYS!" GIANT HEELNAVI WALKED OFF.
Instead of leaving, VultureMan appeared to immediately get to work on fixing his beloved invention. PhoenixMan shook his head, and focused on his teammates. "Sorry for the abrupt ending. Would you two be up for returning and finishing this once we can get everyone back? Don't worry, you saw this to its conclusion, so in the meantime, it's a mission cleared for the two of you. I don't have the rewards on me, but I'll make sure they're both ready by the time you report it back to the GNA."
Well, it definitely looked like things were done. For now, anyway.
"Ha! As soon as we win one, you want to move on...typical!" VultureMan flew over to the machine, and looked around at everyone. "Everyone okay with just heading to the next one?" A bunch of nods and 'yep's confirmed it, so... "Fine, let's keep this roll going! Next!" He slammed his hand on the button, causing the next event to be revealed...
"OONIBjdgangas"
...Huh?
"...What the?! What's this gibberish doing on my beautiful machine's screen?!"
"Yeah, that doesn't look like any event's name..."
"Meh, must be a bug. Let's try again!" And the event would be...
"PIJGONAEnodngagangasgaogofSAGGANWABGEAGandkagasbwGOSUBSGduganbsgasgpoasgibw4"
The dark bird Navi tapped his foot impatiently as he brought up a screen in front of him, and started typing on it. "This makes no sense...why is it...ugh!" The screen was dismissed, and he turned back to everyone. "Well, we have...a problem. My lovely machine's programming is completely fried, and I have absolutely no idea why. But without that, we can't continue, and it's going to take a long time to fix. I'd say at least 10 hours."
"Hold up!" Lite suddenly floated over from the judging area to look at the machine. "Why can't we just continue without your little machine? We can count, and we can just draw events from a hat..."
"Nope. Not happening. I'm not continuing without my beautiful machine!"
"Sigh...he's hopeless when he's set his mind like that." Ante and Dare were probably the only Navis that actually heard the remark, and yet it almost felt like everyone nodded at the same time...even the HeelNavis. "All right, I guess the rest of this competition is going to be postponed until a later time. Thanks to everyone for coming, and we'll let you know when we'll be able to finish this."
"A most disappointing end to the festivities...but it seems it cannot be helped. I shall await the day where we may all reunite to complete this contest. Until then, farewell!" And ShamanMan left.
"And right as things were starting to get a little interesting...figures. Well, whatever. I suppose I'm game to finish this, if I'm not busy." Syki warped away.
"Well, this is a bummer...but you know I'll be up for finishing this some other time! Just let me know, okay? Later!" Lite went somewhere else.
"What a time for the boss's machine to go on the fritz...just my luck. And my operator told me to come straight back when we were done, too, so I can't even stay. Meh..." The HeelNavi jacked out.
"IT'S TOO BAD ABOUT THE MACHINE...BUT AT LEAST I GOT TO END ON A HIGH NOTE! CAN'T WAIT UNTIL WE CAN FINISH THIS! BUT SINCE WE'RE DONE, THERE'S SOMETHING I NEED TO DO...TAKE CARE, GUYS!" GIANT HEELNAVI WALKED OFF.
Instead of leaving, VultureMan appeared to immediately get to work on fixing his beloved invention. PhoenixMan shook his head, and focused on his teammates. "Sorry for the abrupt ending. Would you two be up for returning and finishing this once we can get everyone back? Don't worry, you saw this to its conclusion, so in the meantime, it's a mission cleared for the two of you. I don't have the rewards on me, but I'll make sure they're both ready by the time you report it back to the GNA."
Well, it definitely looked like things were done. For now, anyway.
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Hearing Dare's response, Ante smiled in a gentle way that was both friendly and patronizing at the same time. "No, I don't recall telling you that you needed to undress... We were all in a rush then, so perhaps there was some miscommunication," the princess navi chuckled, clearly trying to delude both herself and her friend into thinking that she'd never asked Dare to take her pants off. "It's best if we just put it behind us."
Teruko couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief as PhoenixMan interacted with two half-naked female navis. She leaned over to Bruce and whispered so that no one else would hear her. "That guy's stone cold! He doesn't seem to give a hoot one way or another what they wear. Just between you and me, I've never seen Ante this naked before... it's a little distracting, even for me!" she spoke quietly while covering the side of her mouth with one hand. She watched the screen again a moment, blinked discretely (it was hard to tell when she was blinking), then whispered to Bruce again. "What's owooneebuhjadgangas?" she repeated after the machine. When the machine tried again, she opened her mouth briefly, raised one finger, then lowered it again and shut her lips. "I'm not going to try to pronounce that one..."
Her navi stared blankly at the menagerie of judges and participants, who were discussing what to do with the machine on the fritz. It seemed easy enough to Ante for them to progress regardless, but VultureMan was having none of it. She felt simultaneously deflated at the lack of climax and relieved that she was going to get a chance to take a little time off for her clothes to put themselves back on. "Well, no getting around it... If he won't agree to finish out the contest now, we'll simply have to come back later and finish it," she agreed, figuring it worked to her advantage to play along with the childishly pouty VultureMan for now. "Yes, for my part, I'll be happy to return and assist you in wrapping up our victory. I also thank you for the SP base... it will be especially handy, given my current situation."
"You're thinking of a GMO!" Teruko pitched in, laughing at her navi. "An SP base is like that thing you use to make a pet or a companion, usually. Or I've heard of making like... a car, or armor."
"My clothes will handle themselves," Ante sighed. "I made up my mind to bear this curse with dignity until the original offender is brought to justice, remember." Her panicking and covering herself hardly seemed like bearing the curse with dignity, but there again was just another instance of her selective memory helping her out. "I was more so referring to the fact that we may be able to use the SP base to give my companion her body back, although its strength certainly won't be like in the olden days. I'm sure the Black Queen is tired of inhabiting the unseen realm inside my head."
"... On the contrary, I really enjoy being able to hear your inner thoughts, Red Queen. I've really become quite accustomed to it. I also like being able to converse with you whenever I want! I think it would be fine for both of us if I just stayed where I am," the shadow murmured, peaking out from behind Ante's back with a thin smile.
The princess clapped her hands together and gave another pleasant smile. "It's settled! We'll use the SP base to give you your own body back," she confirmed regardless of the Black Queen's preference. Ante clearly wasn't enjoying having to share all of her innermost thoughts with her gossipy friend. "Thank you again, PhoenixMan. We'll return in due time," she agreed, attempting to give a curtsy for just a moment before realizing that 1) she had no skirt to do it with and 2) it left her barely covered breasts exposed. She blushed, crossed her arms again, and gave a simple bow. "Dare, we'll meet again soon as well." With that, a tower of poker chips descended with a rhythmic click click click and transported her off the net.
((Jacking out))
Teruko couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief as PhoenixMan interacted with two half-naked female navis. She leaned over to Bruce and whispered so that no one else would hear her. "That guy's stone cold! He doesn't seem to give a hoot one way or another what they wear. Just between you and me, I've never seen Ante this naked before... it's a little distracting, even for me!" she spoke quietly while covering the side of her mouth with one hand. She watched the screen again a moment, blinked discretely (it was hard to tell when she was blinking), then whispered to Bruce again. "What's owooneebuhjadgangas?" she repeated after the machine. When the machine tried again, she opened her mouth briefly, raised one finger, then lowered it again and shut her lips. "I'm not going to try to pronounce that one..."
Her navi stared blankly at the menagerie of judges and participants, who were discussing what to do with the machine on the fritz. It seemed easy enough to Ante for them to progress regardless, but VultureMan was having none of it. She felt simultaneously deflated at the lack of climax and relieved that she was going to get a chance to take a little time off for her clothes to put themselves back on. "Well, no getting around it... If he won't agree to finish out the contest now, we'll simply have to come back later and finish it," she agreed, figuring it worked to her advantage to play along with the childishly pouty VultureMan for now. "Yes, for my part, I'll be happy to return and assist you in wrapping up our victory. I also thank you for the SP base... it will be especially handy, given my current situation."
"You're thinking of a GMO!" Teruko pitched in, laughing at her navi. "An SP base is like that thing you use to make a pet or a companion, usually. Or I've heard of making like... a car, or armor."
"My clothes will handle themselves," Ante sighed. "I made up my mind to bear this curse with dignity until the original offender is brought to justice, remember." Her panicking and covering herself hardly seemed like bearing the curse with dignity, but there again was just another instance of her selective memory helping her out. "I was more so referring to the fact that we may be able to use the SP base to give my companion her body back, although its strength certainly won't be like in the olden days. I'm sure the Black Queen is tired of inhabiting the unseen realm inside my head."
"... On the contrary, I really enjoy being able to hear your inner thoughts, Red Queen. I've really become quite accustomed to it. I also like being able to converse with you whenever I want! I think it would be fine for both of us if I just stayed where I am," the shadow murmured, peaking out from behind Ante's back with a thin smile.
The princess clapped her hands together and gave another pleasant smile. "It's settled! We'll use the SP base to give you your own body back," she confirmed regardless of the Black Queen's preference. Ante clearly wasn't enjoying having to share all of her innermost thoughts with her gossipy friend. "Thank you again, PhoenixMan. We'll return in due time," she agreed, attempting to give a curtsy for just a moment before realizing that 1) she had no skirt to do it with and 2) it left her barely covered breasts exposed. She blushed, crossed her arms again, and gave a simple bow. "Dare, we'll meet again soon as well." With that, a tower of poker chips descended with a rhythmic click click click and transported her off the net.
((Jacking out))
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The daredevil Navi started to raise a finger and object to Ante's selective memory, but shifted her attention as she saw VultureMan was announcing the next event. "All right," Dare said, clapping her hands together and rubbing them as she saw the name flash on-screen. "Let's get rolling on Oonijangas!"
Bruce had been trying to listen to Dare and Teruko at once, while still having a bit of his focus on Ante, but finally addressed his Navi. "Hold up, I think you missed some syllables in there," Bruce responded, scratching the light stubble on his chin. "There's definitely a 'B' in there somewhere."
Dare was on her way to telling him the 'B' and 'D' were silent before it became apparent the machine was glitching up somehow. She wasn't going to venture a guess on how their second potential contest was supposed to be pronounced. That aside, she had heard something far more alarming than the simple fact that VultureMan's precious gadget-baby was burping up. "The heck? 10 hours?! And we seriously can't continue until he's done repairing it... Rrgh! I can't deal with letting this go on low momentum...!"
"Well, we haven't got much choice," Bruce told the Navi, who was now in the process of tearing at her frizzy hair. "I mean, no way Teruko and I are gonna be here 10 more hours, even if you did want to wait around."
"Shoot," Dare replied, crossing her arms. "Uh, I feel bad about taking your money and running with the contest only part way through, but regardless of the rewards, you can bet we'll be back to finish this! I won't be able to sleep, knowing that this contest's still up in the air. PhoenixMan, Ante, I'll be seeing you two again real soon." With that, Dare raised a hand in a goodbye gesture and then peeled out, her flame roaring as she pulled off the Net and back to her PET.
Bruce had been trying to listen to Dare and Teruko at once, while still having a bit of his focus on Ante, but finally addressed his Navi. "Hold up, I think you missed some syllables in there," Bruce responded, scratching the light stubble on his chin. "There's definitely a 'B' in there somewhere."
Dare was on her way to telling him the 'B' and 'D' were silent before it became apparent the machine was glitching up somehow. She wasn't going to venture a guess on how their second potential contest was supposed to be pronounced. That aside, she had heard something far more alarming than the simple fact that VultureMan's precious gadget-baby was burping up. "The heck? 10 hours?! And we seriously can't continue until he's done repairing it... Rrgh! I can't deal with letting this go on low momentum...!"
"Well, we haven't got much choice," Bruce told the Navi, who was now in the process of tearing at her frizzy hair. "I mean, no way Teruko and I are gonna be here 10 more hours, even if you did want to wait around."
"Shoot," Dare replied, crossing her arms. "Uh, I feel bad about taking your money and running with the contest only part way through, but regardless of the rewards, you can bet we'll be back to finish this! I won't be able to sleep, knowing that this contest's still up in the air. PhoenixMan, Ante, I'll be seeing you two again real soon." With that, Dare raised a hand in a goodbye gesture and then peeled out, her flame roaring as she pulled off the Net and back to her PET.