A Fair In City Four

"Where the hell is she?"

She stretched out her neck to look for Angie among the crowds surrounding them. She spotted a tiny girl barreling towards them from the ticket scanners, decked out in a silver bodysuit. The blonde wig and giant purple goggles nearly made her unrecognizable, but she would know that bouncy gait anywhere.

"Heyyyyy!"

Angie tried to slow down but ended up knocking into Sakura. She caught her before they both went flying. Sakura flicked her forehead. Her face scrunched up in mock pain.

"Isn't someone fashionably late?" Sakura asked.

"Sorry," Angie chuckled. "This outfit took forever to smooth out. Plus I had to figure out what to bring," she said and held out her arm to show a large folded up object hanging from her wrist.

"What's that?"

"It's my folding suitcase," said Angie, ushering them towards the train. She looked at her in confusion.

"You're bringing a suitcase?"

"Duh," said Angie, tapping her head. "Who knows how much stuff I'm gonna get. It's easy to bring this along just in case. See, I'm a smart girl."

She knocked Angie's head lightly with her finger. Sakura smoothed out the pristine white lab coat that she wore over a sturdy armour top. She and Angie both dressed up as characters from Defcon Zero. They both enjoyed the fun of dressing up as someone completely different, trying it out whenever they went to fairs and conventions.

Yukika was already sitting in her seat by the time they both came in. She was staring out of the window. She was dressed a lot more mundanely, in a royal blue tank top and white shorts. The simple outfit managed to enhance her long legs and pale skin. Sakura stared for a moment in jealousy. Angie pulled her to their seats.

The train started. She watched them leave the grassy towns of City Nine. She wiped down the touchscreen in front of her. There was an episode of Star Hearts she hadn't seen before. Angie leaned over to watch it with her. They turned on the massage mode and seat warmers before sitting back to watch the show. The time flew by as their eyes were glued onto the screen. The train slowed down just as the final line played.

"I will never let you feel lonely again. It doesn't matter what I lose. None of it will compare to losing you."

They were sniffling at the end of the episode. A robot cleaner rolling through the aisle offered a pack of Quik-Dryers to them. They paid it 25 Unicents and it rolled away, clinking within its tracks. Angie wiped away her tears. They had arrived at their destination.

Sakura looked out of the window. Colourful banners and signs greeted them, with more cosplayers milling about. They both hurried out of the train to check it out, with Yukika trailing behind. A woman with a brightly painted face edged towards them and displayed a flyer from her Screenpod.

"City Four's happy t'see you!" she chirped in a strong City Four accent. "You aren from 'round here, ye?"

"We're from City Nine," she replied. Sakura scanned the details of the display. There was a giant manga sale in the fair they were heading to. She pointed it out to Angie and she nodded. Their focus was disrupted by the woman's tinkling laugh.

"Dat little village city, so charmeen." Her tone was overly sweet. She wanted to frown but stopped herself. The painted woman clicked off the Screenpod and walked towards other visitors. She waved them goodbye. "Enjoy your time 'ere!"

"That woman is off."

They both yelped. Yukika was standing right behind them. Her eyes followed the woman before roaming around to take in the colours. She held two giant chocolate milkshakes in her hand. Yukika held them out to them. They glared at her and took the milkshakes. Her lips seemed to struggle to not form a smile.

After scanning their tickets, they weaved their arms together to walk towards the fair. It was a silly sight, two tiny girls holding onto a white-haired beanpole. Outside of the train station, City Four was even more vividly iridescent in the sun. There were festivities and stalls all around them, luring the three towards them with flashy signs. The smell of fried food and candies hung in the air. The sticky sweet chocolate was soothing and energizing on the hot day.

They stopped every dozen steps to check out trinkets and tantalizing food. Sakura picked up some caramelbean muffins and three volumes of manga. Angie took a talking wooden doll, a first edition of a book published a few centuries ago, a vintage handheld and a whole collection of manga volumes.

"Hey!" someone called out as they were leaning over watching a half-finished snowman build itself. They turned and saw a lanky freckled guy waving to them, approaching slowly. He seemed familiar. "Are you Lolitaholics?"

By the mention of the name, a memory of his face clicked. Sakura and Angie nodded. They went by Lolitaholics when they joined competitions together. It added to the fun and merriness of it all.

"Yep, that's us. Nice to see you again, August."

August was a newbie organizer for gaming conventions. They had met a few times at conventions, and he had signed them onto a few notable competitions. He was a friendly guy if a little crazy when it came to games. He smiled at them.

"Get your ass kicked-"

"-by the Lolitaholics!" they chorused, laughing. He pointed to their outfits.

"I like your cosplay. Rejna and Aegis are the best."

"Thanks!" they beamed. August pointed further away into the fair. They followed his finger and saw a blue dome surrounded by lots of people.

"Did you know that they're making new updates for Cosmos Fighter? You can test the levels out if you'd like. I think I can get you an early spot."

Her heartbeat raced. A new update? Hell yeah, she wanted to check it out. Angie tugged on her sleeve and nodded frantically. She glanced towards Yukika. Her smile had totally disappeared in the presence of a stranger.

"Is that alright, do we have time?" she asked. Yukika nodded, and Angie fist-pumped. August clapped his hands together.

"Great! Come follow me."

They trailed after August, making their way around many costumed visitors and colourful City Four dwellers. There were normal dressed visitors as well, traditional garb wearers from City One, floatily dressed City Five folks, covered up people from City Eleven. She looked up and saw a sign for a history display. She noted that, hoping Yukika would like it.

Inside the dome were banners with Cosmic Fighter characters on them, Cosmic Fighter merchandise and holographic projections of characters. In the front were huge screens with scenes from the game playing on them. There were lots of cosplayers and geeks around, even though it looked like the dome had just been opened to the public.

"I'll stay right here," Yukika said, sitting down on the concrete near some others. She was worried that Yukika would be bored, but then she pulled out a book she bought out of her bag. She nodded and waved to her before August led them away to a space behind the screens.

There were a couple of people organizing the line for the testing. A few people looked offended as they made their way to the front. August spoke to one of them, a curious-looking guy in green.

"Hey, I'm just some schmuck with some friends who are super fans," he said, before pulling out his card. The neck strap dangled down. She stared at it before realizing that August was involved in the Cosmic Fighter organization as well. "Can they get an early turn for the testing?"

Sakura gave him her best puppy face. Angie followed her lead, looking like a chubby hamster girl. He laughed and nodded.

"Alright alright, I can't say no to these little ladies, especially such cute cosplayers. Say, folks," he spoke to the people at the front. "Spare a minute for these two, eh?"

They didn't seem to want to agree, but wanting to not be kicked out of the line, they stayed quiet. She almost felt bad, but then remembered that feeling bad for her opponents would make her a sucker.

They went inside separate booths. Sakura put on the goggles and took the controllers in each hand. The enemy roared. It was a mutant alien, large and spewing acid from what seemed to be many arms. It circled her. She watched it with bated breath. It ran towards her in full speed. She leaned back to dodge. It stopped in its tracks when it failed to catch her. She took the opportunity to shoot her gun.

The enemy produced a large area of effect that would make her suffer from burns. She ran further away from it. The enemy charged up an attack while she ran, and she only just managed to avoid a hit at her current spot. She shot her gun again. It barely made a dent in its HP. She changed her bullets to lightning, then to fire. The fire bullets dealt much more damage, burning away at the alien's armoured skin.

So the duel began, with her firing as many times as she could and dodging each blow. She had to keep running away from its AOE, and she ended up with a few burns. The enemy wasn't particularly fast, but the hits and burns it dished out were devastating. She loved how the battles had her stomach in knots trying to keep her HP afloat. She dealt her Ultimate several times, pulling it closer to her and shooting a cascade of fiery physical damage, and each time it dealt more damage than the last as she wore down its armour. Finally, as it fell, a score flashed before her eyes.

Gar-gan-tuan defeated. Score: 679428/700000

She took off the goggles and placed the controllers aside. She went out to see Angie and August clapping. They were all handed a Cosmic Fighter T-shirt before they walked away from the line.

"That was so much fun!" said Angie.

"I should go manage the rest of this," August said, spotting someone trying to grope a hologram. "But not bad, kid." He smiled at her before leaving.

They looked for Yukika, but couldn't find her anywhere in the dome. They went outside and heard a commotion. There was a crowd gathered in the middle of the fair. They were shouting in lots of different tones and languages. Anger and frustration vibrated through them. They ran over to see.

Rows after rows of the crowd began to fall silent. They searched and saw Yukika making her way through the crowd. With every row she passed, people went silent before leaving. She reached the middle of the crowd with little hesitation.

Two people were yelling at each other. They spoke in an odd tone, and she realised that they were speaking in an Ancient Language, not quite Forgotten, but not widely spoken. One was holding onto the collar of another. Yukika touched their shoulders. Her lips seemed to be saying something, but she couldn't figure out what. Their faces went blank. They gave each other a dazed stare and left. They hurried over to her.

"Yukika, are you okay?" Angie asked.

"I'm fine."

"Why did you come all the way here? What did you do?"

"Someone had to stop the fight. I told them police were coming." She shrugged. Sakura raised her eyebrows. She looked from side to side. Fair-goers met each gaze.

"Someone called the police?"

"No."

Yukika began walking away from them. It took them a few seconds to process the situation. Angie burst out laughing.

"She's a comedian for sure," said Angie between giggles. They caught up to her and Sakura led them to where the history display was. There were a few signs to guide them. They arrived at a large building with heavy double doors. There weren't that many people about. Yukika opened the door and they were greeted with artifacts on each side and lights leading the way.

It was dim in the display. The signs projecting information shone sharply in contrast. Yukika quickly found a sign she was interested in. It was a small sign detailing the founding of Unius. She took a look at it as well.

Unius was formed after the Great Destruction that wrecked the world. Many survivors were taken away from their homes, and their relics from the past had been largely destroyed. These survivors sailed away to form different colonies. The first union of survivors formed City One, a city-state now dedicated to preserving the history from this Era and the Forgotten Eras. As City One grew, many split off to find new environments and new people from different corners of the land. So forth they formed City Two, Three and on and on. Although vastly different from centuries of development, the citizens of Unius hold one thing in common: to stand together and disregard all divisions from ancient Eras.

Sakura looked around and saw an ancient gun. It was rusty after all that time and came with a barrel that could be opened to insert bullets. She imagined firing it while adventuring around in olden times.

There was an old sword beside it, dated only a few centuries ago. In its glass case, it showed that the laser blade could retract entirely within a second. She stared in awe. Now, such weapons could retract within milliseconds.

Angie watched a video further ahead. The other two walked towards her. It was an incredibly old video, taken before the Great Destruction. The video showcased a woman writhing around in bed. Her veins rose above her skin, glowing red. A scanner showed that her spirit soul's powers were too much for her to handle.

"I'm glad that I don't have that problem," she murmured. Yukika watched passively.

The next video was taken in the midst of a Spirit Burst. She saw a commander giving orders far away from the battle, right in front of the protected area. Someone jumped down from a building. She landed with no more than a bump and blasted a spirit in the face with a green aura. Exhaustion ringed her eyes. A van careened through a corner with an open door. She jumped inside and it drove away.

A defence unit came and attacked advancing spirits with her shield. Sakura stared in awe as the shield itself caused the spirits to disappear. Another fighter used a flamethrower to burn all the spirits focused on attacking him. The fire funnelled through the flamethrower seemed to come from nowhere else but his skin. He wore protective armour everywhere but his arms, which were shaved clean. The last spirit burned away, and all the fighters were triumphant.

"Woah..." they all said.

They walked further into the display. At the end was a section with souvenirs of replicas of weapons from the current era. They grabbed a weapon and began to fight in a replication of the battle they just watched. Sakura grabbed a shield. With a press of a button, it flashed a bright light. They fought for a few minutes, Yukika as blank-faced spirits screaming in a monotone as she got attacked, Angie as the two offensive attackers and Sakura as the defender and commander. At the end, they had devolved into giggles. They placed the weapons back and walked out of the display.

The sun was beginning to wane down. Sakura watched as birds came down to settle on trees above them. Yukika grabbed her hand. The coldness of her hand made her warm up.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" she asked. "Ready to go home?"

Angie and she nodded. They weaved their arms again and turned around to go back to the station. As soon as they settled into their seats, Angie fell asleep on her shoulder. She stared out of the window, watching the evening sun light up the dying colours of City Four. The train started, and so did her daydreams of valiant battles.