Criminal Cogs: Try

Everyone had finally made it back to the palace, with Lucy still recovering somewhat from being drugged. Avis would feel bad, if Lucy didn't stop complaining about it. They had all gathered into the throne room, since no one would bother them. 

"We won't have to worry about Titania for awhile, she's doing her usual mortal world trickery." Vinea said with a smile as he sat down on one of two thrones that were next to each other. "Oh gracious king, won't you give us a pardon for our crimes?" Avis said with a playfully dramatic feint, always having fun when she went to visit Vinea's place.

"Nope. Sentenced to death." He jokingly replied, though Lucy prepared to summon her chains, but was slowly talked down by Arlo. "So what is our plan?" Nvr asked with a grin, leaning down to the others.

"Well, we won't be able to take her down physically. She could turn us into plants with a snap of her fingers before we could even strike." Vinea explained before getting a mischievous smile, looking at Lucy. "Which is why Lucy will play a game. A game no mortal has ever beat Titania at." 

Lucy almost seemed excited as she asked: "Is it a battle royale? A bloodsport? Something involving fighting? Is it cards? I do enjoy poker."

"Uhm... No, it does have something to do with fighting though." He sighed before pulling out a small games console from behind the throne. He held up a disk with a dramatic pose. "You shall fight Titania in a game of Criminal Cogs!" 

"What the hell is Criminal Cogs?" She asked, making both Avis and Vinea gasp. "It's the best fighting game ever! How have you never heard of it?" She asked with a flabbergasted look, though was staring at a wall as she began yelling.

"Also... Why does the fey realm even have a video game console? I thought this world was technologically behind on that front?" 

Vinea gave an awkward laugh as he looked at his console. "Well, I sorta maybe kinda... Asked Titania to break into the city and grab it for me..."

Lucy froze up before letting out a violent yell. "TITANIA CAN BREAK INTO MY REALM?! WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME SOONER?! ARE YOU THAT THICK SKULLED THAT YOU COULDN'T THINK TO MENTION IT TO ME?" 

Everyone covered their ears as they heard Lucy screech in rage. "Hey, calm down... Only she's made it inside so far, no one else." He said with an awkward smile. After a good few minutes of trying to calm Lucy down, Vinea set up the console with a bit of Fey magic and the use of the sub-mind attached to Avis's guitar to boot up the console. 

A large holographic screen appeared in front of them once it turned on. Lucy sighed and sat on the throne next to Vinea as music began to blare from the screen. 

*Criminal Cogs: Try*

The screen read. "What a stupid name." Lucy grumbled as Vinea loaded up a match. He handed a controller over to Lucy with a smile. "Okay, now just choose a character." He said as he chose a character called Luna Goodgal, a rather gruff looking woman in blue. 

Lucy looked confused at the character options, going over each of them before choosing W.H.Y, a sickly looking man wielding a gigantic Key axe. "You're letting her play W.H.Y? Shouldn't she pick a cheap character like Ly?" Avis said with a sigh. Though not being able to see the screen, she had played the game so much that she could play it blind.

*Luna Goodgal VS W.H.Y* 

"Mankind knew they could not change society, so instead of reflecting on themselves, they blamed the beasts. FIGHT." 

"So what are the controls?" Lucy asked, having no actual understanding of how to play the game. Vinea, despite being in his forties now, was acting the same as when he was young, yelling; "Dodge this."

Before Lucy even knew it, she saw her character being grabbed by the head and thrown into the arid desert behind, her health bar completely drained in just one combo. "I give up. I'll just fight Titania normally." Lucy complained, but Vinea pulled her back into her seat with his vines. "Nope. You started this, we're gonna finish it."

Lucy let out a sigh before trying to play again, actually managing to get the first hit off as the next round started. "Heh, I'm pretty good." She mumbled, beginning to get into it as Vinea was kind of just letting Lucy feel out her moveset. 

"Hey Lucy, Guess what?"

"What?"

"Dragon Install."

Before Lucy was even aware of what happened, Vinea quickly put in 214214H. Lucy watched as Vinea's character shifted into a blue dragon creature and grabbed her before slamming her against the floor and instantly decimating her health bar.

"That was bull." Avis laughed, watching as they fought again. Lucy lost both rounds once more and decided to swap characters, this time going for Pet, a gigantic man in iron clad armour. Vinea actually seemed worried about her pick as he launched up the next match. 

*Luna Goodgal VS Pet-kin*

"Mankind knew they could not change society, so instead of reflecting on themselves, they blamed the beasts. FIGHT." 

Vinea quickly tried to get the opening hit, only to get Pet grabbed and loosing half his health bar. "Hmm, this is actually fun." Lucy smirked, grabbing Vinea again and destroying his health bar, winning her first round. 

"Alright then... Guess I'll actually have to try." He sighed. Once the round started, Vinea unleashed another devastating combo, dropping Lucy's health down to a mere fraction. "What does this do?" Lucy asked herself before accidentally activating her super.

Vinea's smirk faded as he watched his character get grabbed and flown into the air. "HEAVENLY PET-KIN BREAKER!" Vinea began screaming, the same as his character, as he heard the words play on the screen. He watched with his mouth agape as his health bar dropped to zero in an instant. 

As Vinea looked defeated, Avis took his controller, now intent on getting a match in. "I have to fight a blind woman? This will be easy." Lucy smirked. "Don't be ableist." Avis smirked before selecting her character, We-Kno, a Rockstar witch wielding a guitar. It was no wonder Avis chose her.

 *We-Kno VS Pet-Kin*

"Mankind knew they could not change society, so instead of reflecting on themselves, they blamed the beasts. FIGHT." 

As the match started, Avis moved faster then Lucy could react, instantly losing the first round rather easily. "That's what a blind woman can do." She had a smirk on her beak as she adjusting her sunglasses smugly. 

The next round began and Lucy decided to wait patiently for an opening. Avis moved in with blinding speeds, but as she went to launch an attack, Lucy just hit her with a grab, breaking half her health bar already. 

Avis caught on quick to Lucy's plan, instead choosing to walk in slowly. Once close enough, she tried to grab, only for Avis to back dash, making Lucy with the grab, leaving her open. The former demon quickly tried to think of a new move, realising that she did in fact have, other moves.

"What does this one do?" She questioned before inputting the command grab, catching the witch mid-air and finishing her off with an easy light combo. 

Avis let out a squawk, seeming both heated and excited to see how the match would end. Both on their last life, they were neck and neck. 

Lucy opened up with a slide, figuring it out rather easily. She managed to get a grab off in time, decimating half of Avis's health. The harpy quickly backed off, launching projectiles to counter Pet's weak range. 

"That's cheap." Vinea smirked. "I call it a viable strategy." She replied, watching as she began slowly chipping away at Lucy's health bar. Soon enough, both were neck and neck in terms of health. Avis went in for a more reckless attack, only for Lucy to use one of her supers. 

"HEAVENLY PET BREAKER!" 

Lucy smirked, though a little disappointed that it didn't kill Avis, but left her with a smidge of health left. "Hey Lucy. Don't block." 

Lucy, feeling like Avis was lying to her, blocked the attack, but was met by a grabbed. A twenty second long cutscene played of the witch summoning a speaker with a set of angelic wings before blasting Lucy away through the wall, winning the match. 

"Hmm. Reminds me of your escape from detainment." Lucy smirked, putting the controller down to stand. "That was fun. But is that really how I beat Titania?" She asked with a sigh.

Vinea gave a nod, motioning to some pictures on the wall. "Titania adores this game right now, and if you beat her... You could get anything you wanted... Though if you lose, she'll just trap you in a painting." He awkwardly laughed. 

Lucy sighed, realising she had to actually learn how to play the game. Arlo and Min quickly took the controls, wanting to kill some time as Lucy looked around the throne room. 

"I suppose I should learn a thing or two then... And maybe learn how to Heavenly Pet-kin Break people."