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"Damn it!" Silver Wolf hissed, hands remaining on the controls as she glared venomously at the game reflected on the screen in front of her, and battled the urge to erase the stupid arcade machine entirely through the usage of Aether Editing.
She certainly could, with even more ease than usual — the moment she put the Supplicant Mask on her face and felt it change into supposedly "the true shape of her soul" (a mechanical mask covering her mouth, complete with wolf ears on her head, cool), she did not feel her powers strengthening. She definitely did, however, when she used her Aether Editing to open the inventory she keeps in a seperate reality bubble to deposit said mask.
The edges of reality rippled and wobbled, the pixels gleaming with the bright colours of her Aether Editing technique as she stared at it curiously. She kept the pocket dimension open at its usual size with a steady hand, though it threatened to grow bigger in a way it hadn't done since she had first started learning how to do this as a child, like a gaping maw itching to swallow everything into its deep chasm.
The fact that the Supplicants' powers would be amplified by the Elation Mask they wore was something she had already known and found quite useful, but it was strange to experience it for herself. She sighed, already able to guess that the adjustment period would be annoying.
She quickly opened their mission comms and contacted Bladie to let him know she got the mask. They didn't need to meet up again today, which left her with some free time to do anything she wanted while her powers hopefully stabilized for the next part of the script.
She walked through the streets of Duomension City, idly taking in the sights. Some aspects of Planarcadia reminded her of Punklorde, but for the most part, they were completely different; Punklordians would never bow down to the will of the IPC like this.
Regardless, she was not here to reminisce. She had her eye on one thing only: Star Rabbit.
She had heard it was a game that could be found in these consoles strewn across all of Planarcadia, and it was apparently supposed to be based on the Nameless, made to honour the ones who had been involved in Planarcadia's ancient history long ago.
Truthfully, she did not care much for the lore, but it being inspired by the Astral Express did pique her interest. She imagined Stelle had already gone to check it out, since the Trailblazer couldn't help but try any game she came across in the cosmos. Silver Wolf was much the same; if there was a game somewhere, she was going to play it.
So with a pep in her step that came from picturing Stelle falling to her knees in despair when Silver Wolf ruthlessly beat her score and dethroned her in the game leaderboards, as well as a smug smirk that image in her mind put on her face, Silver Wolf approached the Star Rabbit console in Duomension City.
Which brought her to now — her rabbit avatar dying for the nth time to the same collection of spikes, positioned specifically to piss the player off, she was sure.
She tried to make the jump again, eyebrows furrowed as she put all her focus on getting it this time, her hands expertly playing with the controls, flying over the buttons, every motion fast but careful, made with intent...
...And promptly, she died again.
She could do it. She was going to do it. She was going to hack into the code and leave a message for the devs about what exactly she thought of their stupid game and its stupid controls. She was going to grab the yellow wispae under the console who was currently looking at her warily and rigorously shake it with all her might. She was going to delete the arcade machine from existence with her Aether Editing. Or maybe she would do it the old-fashioned way and punch the screen with her fist instead; that could potentially be more satisfying...
She sighed. No, she was not going to do that. That would tauntamont to accepting defeat, ragequitting like a sore loser. Silver Wolf was not a quitter or a sore loser — she was a winner.
Her fingers moved to the keys once more to restart the run, and she leaned over as she took the optimal gaming position. It was time to finally lock in.
As the timer counting down from 3 ended, she instantly pressed the right arrow key. She ran and jumped there, and then there, avoided the spikes on the ground, jumped again, yes, that was a good double jump, she just had to keep up this momentum, victory was so close, she could taste it, she was going to do it—
The rabbit avatar's little feet hit the spikes on the floating pillar, and she died.
Before she even had a chance to react and show her frustration outwardly, a melodic voice sounded from right behind her.
"Are you having trouble?"
Silver Wolf's eyes widened in surprise and she whipped around immediately, hackles rising.
She had come to the console in person instead of virtually through a bathtub this time and didn't think anyone would recognize her, and even if they did, a Supplicant traditionally couldn't be interfered with during the Phantasmoon Games. Still, it was good to keep her guard up, especially since she was now a participant, but she had forgotten that while focused on the game.
Silver Wolf's gaze landed on a taller pink haired girl standing close, peering down at her and the game on the arcade machine. She had long fox ears resembling a rabbit's and a red bow behind her head, as well as an outfit vaguely reminiscent of a school uniform.
When she saw Silver Wolf analyzing her face, her curious look turned into an abashed smile.
"Ah, I keep accidentally scaring people with my entrances..." The girl chuckled with downturned eyebrows, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck, before her smile turned more cheery. "No need to look so startled. I was just curious about this game and went to try it for myself, then saw you."
She put a hand on her chin as she mused, "'Star Rabbit'... Right?"
Silver Wolf looked at her for a few moments longer, then answered, "...Yeah. I heard about it online recently so I went to check it out. It's not too shabby, though some improvements could be made. There is some difficulty but not that much. I was just about to beat this stage."
"Oh, really?" The girl asked with a tilt to her voice. "Can I watch?"
Silver Wolf turned back to the game. "Sure. Just don't distract me."
She positioned her fingers on the controls again, restarting the run as the timer had still been going while she spoke to the other girl. She didn't want the run's time to be too high; she had to be in at least the top 3 of the leaderboard, after all.
As Silver Wolf played through the stage, the pink haired girl silently looked on from behind her shoulder, watching with bated breath as if eagerly waiting for the exciting conclusion of a scene from her favourite show.
Silver Wolf could feel her presence from right behind her, their bodies standing very close. She focused on the game instead of that little piece of information dwelling at the back of her mind, body tense and heart beating fast inside her chest as she attempted to beat the level.
This was it. This was the run.
...It was, in fact, not the run.
Silver Wolf glared at the screen.
"Let me give it a try." The girl suddenly spoke up again. "Maybe I can get a better score than you."
Silver Wolf heaved out a breath and stepped back, shaking her hands in an attempt to soothe the ache that had started appearing in her wrists. Even she wasn't infallible to her hands hurting after playing games for too long.
"I doubt it, but go ahead."
The girl's lips quirked up, eyebrows furrowing playfully as she moved towards the console. "Don't be too surprised when I beat you~"
Silver Wolf was surprised, alright.
"Shoot!" Evanescia exclaimed as her rabbit avatar died once again. This time she lifelessly slumped down onto her knees and bumped her head against the screen in defeat.
Surprised, that is, when the girl started smashing her fingers against all the directional keys at the same time while puffing out her cheeks in concentration, until Silver Wolf shook herself out of her befuddlement and told her how the controls are supposed to work, which the girl listened to with an expression similar to a student getting a lecture about a subject they know next to nothing about.
That was around the time the girl introduced herself with a, "Ah, I forgot — you can call me Evanescia. Great to meet you!"
Silver Wolf watched from behind Evanescia akin to the way Evanescia had done with her some time ago, arms crossed. She asked, voice a bit incredulous, "...Have you never played games before or something?"
"Well, I'm usually more of an observer..." Evanescia lifted her head, looking at Silver Wolf while still in her kneeled down position. "...But I guess I've started getting into participating in games more recently."
Evanescia sighed. "This is why I normally prefer not to participate myself though. I like being in the audience, watching the story on stage that makes your heart pound in excitement much more..." She continued as she started to stand up, giving the yellow wispae a little pat on the head as she did so. "Like this comic I've been reading lately, Fluffy Across The Blue, inspired by the adventures of the renown Astral Express..."
She pointed to the little rabbit avatar on the arcade machine's screen, now standing still due to having nobody controlling it, and beaming at Silver Wolf as she did so. "Did you know that the rabbit from this game is designed after the Nameless' Conductor? Aren't they just so fluffy and cute?"
"They are really adorable." Silver Wolf agreed; she did enjoy cute things. She had been eyeing the pink rabbit accessory hanging from Evanescia's waist this whole time. "But the real version is even fluffier and cuter."
"Wow, you've seen them in real life before? How lucky! Though I suppose it makes sense..." Evanescia said, turning back to the game. "You know, the thing that makes Fluffy Across The Blue my favourite comic isn't just the adorable, fluffy animals or the thrilling storylines, packed with plot twists and action and emotion — it's also the characters."
She raised a hand as she counted, "There is Himekat and Mr. Yang, the mature older ones who dutifully look after the younger members. Woof Woof Dan who is reserved but kind and protective of his loved ones, March Bunny who is a bubbly girl capable of putting a smile on anyone's face, and... the Baseball Raccoon, the silly yet headstrong protagonist, fighting against destiny every step of the way. Each character is truly unique and interesting."
Then, her eyes slid back to Silver Wolf. "...Even the antagonists."
"And what do you think about these 'antagonists'..." Silver Wolf questioned, walking closer to the other. "...Observer of the Phantasmoon Games?"
Evanescia turned to fully face Silver Wolf and smiled at her, staying silent for a moment until her expression took on a more thoughtful look. "Well... These 'antagonists' — although maybe it's not quite right to call them that — don't get much screentime despite most readers liking them, and are usually only mentioned or referenced. There is one I've always been especially curious about though... A cute gray wolf called 'Wolfie'."
Silver Wolf let out an amused huff. "'Wolfie'? Is that really the best they could come up with? How uninspired."
"Like I said, Wolfie's group don't appear in the comic too often, perhaps due to them being based off of real criminals and Fluffy Across The Blue being published in IPC territory, so maybe Miss Nihilux didn't deign to put too much thought into it." mused Evanescia. "Still, each of them have had a big, memorable moment in the story, not counting the group's mysterious leader of course — he's an endgame-type character, after all —, except for... Wolfie.
"A character who is part of one of the most major factions in the story, the antagonists who are a direct parallel to the protagonists, yet she is often treated as... a joke character of sorts, more so having relevance in filler chapters — not that I don't like those filler chapters, I love all of Fluffy Across The Blue!" Evanescia waved her hands in front of her face, then gazed straight at Silver Wolf again. "...But it makes me think that Wolfie has a lot of untapped in potential, and that leaves me very, very curious about her."
Evanescia smiled elusively. "...So I'm quite interested in you, 'Wolfie'."
"Is that why you came here? To seek me out?" Silver Wolf raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't specifically attempt to find you; I really was quite curious about this Star Rabbit game." Evanescia gestured towards the arcade machine. "Stumbling across you was simply... good luck."
"Hmm..." Silver Wolf pondered, turning to study the screen like Evanescia had before. The rabbit, modeled after the Astral Express' Conductor stood there in silence — a puppet with no one to control it, unable to act without the instructions of others, fated to forever be played in the same game level over and over again.
"I don't know how Wolfie is written in that comic, and I don't really care either. Comics have never caught my interest much, I've always liked playing video games like these more." Silver Wolf said, fingers tracing over the console. "Taking action yourself, controlling your character to beat the stage, something you can only do with your own skill... Unlike you, I don't like remaining in the audience, watching the tale unfold in front of me, and nor do I want to be just a character inside a story..."
Her wandering hand landed on the controls, "...I want to be the player."
"That's interesting coming from someone following Destiny's Slave." Evanescia smiled amusedly with her eyes closed. "Don't you guys always try to stick to the 'script'?"
"I wouldn't call it 'following'. All of us in the Stellaron Hunters are unique people who have different agendas, it's nothing but a common goal and the promise Elio made to each of us that brings us together." Silver Wolf spoke, putting a hand on her hip. "For that goal and the fulfillment of said promise, we have to follow the script. However, there will always be things in the margins left unmentioned, like the blank spaces in a story that you can fill whichever way you want with your own imagination. Acting with one's free will in those moments in life is what makes a person a 'player'.
"For Planarcadia, Elio gave me a longer scipt than normal, one where I play a lead role. More detailed than usual, but the ending parts are completely blank... And I like it that way. Life is painfully boring once everything becomes expected and predictable — the chaos of Elation is needed to not make living an absolute chore." Silver Wolf turned to Evanescia, lifting her head to resolutely look at her face. "This time, the ending won't be decided by the script... It will be decided by me."
Evanescia stared for a few moments, blinking at the speech just given to her. And then she laughed, putting a hand over her mouth.
"Hahaha! I was right — this Phantasmoon Game's Supplicants will definitely be entertaining!" She leaned in with her hands behind her back and asked curiously, "What else does the script say? Anything about me?"
"Well... It said you will be vital for Stelle's journey in this planet, and that you will help her multiple times, so you're not a threat." Silver Wolf paused, slightly hesitating before saying the next part, "...And the destinies of you and I in this planet are deeply intertwined."
"Ooh." Evanescia's eyebrows raised, and then she nodded as if that made perfect sense. "I guess the two of us will release in the same patch, after all."
Before Silver Wolf could say that sounds exactly like the kind of nonsense Stelle would say, Evanescia spoke again, hand on her hip. "Since you're as intriguing and amusing as I hoped, I will grant you a wish that you can cash in on whenever you want throughout this Phantasmoon Games."
"Interfering with the participants of the game you're observing doesn't seem very fair." Silver Wolf pointed out with her usual drawl.
"You can't fault me; you're a hacker yourself, right? And I did say I was recently getting into participating in games, didn't I?" Evanescia winked. "Though, I do like watching a good story too..."
She leaned further into Silver Wolf's space and whispered into her ear, lips almost brushing against it. "...So try to surprise me, okay? See you soon~"
Evanescia's body which was against Silver Wolf's a second ago, standing so close that Silver Wolf could acutely feel the warmth of it seeping into her skin — though said warmth could also just be from the inexplicable reddening of Silver Wolf's cheeks, even if she wouldn't admit that part out loud — disappeared as fast as it came, gone with the wind.
Instead, Silver Wolf felt something in her hand. She looked down, and her lips quirked up at what she saw.
The cute pink rabbit that was hanging from Evanescia's waist.
Yes, very soon, thought Silver Wolf, recalling the next parts of the script. The thought of seeing Evanescia again unconsciously made her smile widen.