Poppin’ Off

A man in battle-worn black armor with a billowing cape. In his arms, a beautiful young woman with light green hair and a white asylum outfit.

It was cosplay. At least, it should have been just cosplay. But standing there like that, it looked more like the man had just broken into a facility to rescue the woman- No, the love of his life. Especially with the way the woman clung onto the man, completely entrusting herself to him.

When Poppy called out to him, the man turned around, revealing a mask with a black glass panel where a face should be. Unreadable, inscrutable.

And one that caused Poppy to involuntarily flinch. "A-Ah." She quickly bowed her head and said, "Sorry for disturbing you, S-Sir!"

The beautiful young woman frowned and poked the man's helmet. "You are terrifying them, Husband."

Distorted laughter echoed from the mask. Low, rumbling. But with the charisma of a man used to being on the battlefield.

Poppy started to sweat.

The man shook his head and said, "My apologies. It's just been a while since someone was brave enough to call out to me wearing this."

The woman caressed the man's mask and said, "That's because Husband emits a terrifying presence when your silly expressions are concealed. Though you are quite enthralling like this as well..."

The man nodded and then said, "True. Just like how you're far too cute cuddled in my arms like this."

"H-Husband..."

Poppy laughed. The loveydovey actions of the two broke the tense atmosphere, removing the intimidating presence of the man.

She glanced at the green-haired woman, particularly at the wedding ring on her left hand. After that, she shifted her gaze to the man and said, "Could it be that the Demon Emperor returned from the grave to be with his immortal witch at long last?"

The woman paled, quickly averting her gaze.

Seeing that, Poppy frowned. At the same time, she carefully stared at the woman's face. "...Wait a minute. You're-"

The man interrupted and said, "It's pretty convincing cosplay, isn't it Miss Gloria?"

Poppy blinked and then she nodded in understanding. Winking, she said, "It really is. And I have to say, you two make a wonderful couple together. Though with how you've changed the 'future' recently, should I be worried about you changing other things as well?"

The man... No, John laughed and said, "You should be worried more about a certain time traveler. I'm perfectly content with how things stand, but that guy seems determined to make the world a better place. The electronics expo should be fairly interesting because of him."

"Is that so?" Poppy nodded and then turned back to the cameraman. "Make a note of that."

The woman..., No, Yue reached out to tilt John's mask towards her. "Husband... Can we go now? I wish to try more of the food before the festival is over."

"Of course." John nodded at Poppy and said, "See you around, Miss Gloria. Let's talk more at the Expo."

After saying that, John kicked off the ground... and then started flying through the air with Yue in his arms. But instead of immediately falling down, purple light flickered around his suit of armor and then turned his descent into a controlled glide.

Gasps, screams, and cheers filled the air as the crowd pointed at John and Yue.

As for Poppy, she laughed and shook her head. "This show might be called 'What's Poppin', but you didn't have to pop off so hard..." She smiled and turned back to the camera. "And there we have another pair of interesting guests. For those in the know, I'm sure you figured out who they are. And wouldn't you agree that they're a real life power couple?"

In the background, a group of people dressed as CapsuMon trainers turned to look at the sky, following after John and Yue. A young teenaged girl with green hair tucked beneath a beanie was included in that group. And when she saw the pair fly through the air, she facepalmed.

Poppy looked over at that and laughed before gesturing for the cameraman to follow her. "Anyway... While we've talked to some guests, why don't we see what vendors have to say about the event?" She turned to look around and then pointed to a booth off to the side. "This place looks interesting. Why don't we have a chat with the vendors?"

A banner over the top of the booth showing a handsome man with golden hair reaching out towards a beautiful woman with silver hair, a jade talisman suspended in the air between them. Life-sized cardboard cutouts of those two characters standing along either side of the booth.

And manning that booth were three people, sitting at the chairs behind a simple clothed table.

In the first chair, there was a cute young woman with short orange hair, some freckles, and green eyes. Her outfit wasn't outrageous like some of the other people walking around. Instead, it was a professional white dress shirt and black pleated skirt.

In the third chair, there was a handsome young man with lightly curled brown hair. Like the young woman, he was dressed professionally with a black suit and tie outfit.

And sitting in the center between those two was a beautiful young woman. No, calling her beautiful would be a disservice. Elegant features that looked perfectly sculpted by a master artisan. A harmonious blend of Western and Asian features. Enchanting crimson eyes and silky red hair...

Taken together with her outfit, a white martial artist uniform with a crimson sash, she looked like someone from a different world. An ethereal beauty that couldn't exist.

For a moment, Poppy froze, her eyes locked on the beauty in the center.

But then the orange-haired young woman raised her hand and waved. "Hello there! Are you walking around to check on different vendors?"

Poppy blinked and regained her composure. She walked over and smiled. "That's right. I'm Poppy Gloria and this here is my cameraman. We're streaming for our viewers back at home... Do you mind?"

"Not at all!" The orange-haired young woman smiled and waved at the camera. "Hello everyone! We're Ars Nova Productions, an independent game studio devoted to creating brand new story experiences for the world to enjoy! And today, we're here promoting our first game, 'The Jade Talisman: Golden Oath unto Snow!'" She smiled and said, "I'm Emily Nova, CEO and lead sound designer of the company! Nice to meet you!"

The man in the suit looked over and said, "You're getting a lot better at saying that, aren't you, Emily?"

Emily crossed her arms and said, "And you're still just as bad at remembering to pass out the promo material, aren't you, Ichi-kun?"

"Gah. Right." Ichiro shook his head and grabbed a bag from under the table.

It was a canvas bag. Simple, but with a print of the game cover, a snowy scene with the Golden Emperor and the Snow Fairy Princess standing back to back. Inside, it was filled to the brim with acrylic stands, custom-art Steem cards with codes for the demo, and a few stands.

He held it out to Poppy and said, "Here. We'd appreciate it if you passed these out in a giveaway or something."

Poppy grabbed the bag and opened it.

The camera panned to look inside, showing off the goods before panning back to the three at the booth.

Poppy blinked and said, "You're okay with just giving all of these away? It's a lot of stuff, you know?" She rummaged in the bag and said, "A lot of this could sell for a good price. These are some pretty high quality goods."

Ichiro smiled and held his head up a bit. "Why yes, they are high quality, aren't they?"

Emily rolled her eyes and said, "Don't get too arrogant, Ichi-kun. Betty helped you out too, didn't she?"

Ichiro cleared his throat. "O-Only on the finishing touches." He turned towards Betty and said, "Come on, back me up here, Boss."

Betty smiled and nodded. "Ichiro deserves all the credit. He is our Lead Artist, after all."

Ichiro smiled and said, "See, Emily?"

"...Even if he was too lazy to touch up the drawings with proper lighting and shading."

"Oh come on!" Ichiro turned to Betty and said, "Lighting and shading takes a while!"

Betty shook her head and then looked to Poppy. "In any case... It is a pleasure to see you in person, Miss Gloria. My name is Betty and I am the Lead Creative Director at Ars Nova Productions. We have one other member of our team, but she is currently out with some family exploring the convention."

Poppy nodded her head and said, "A pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Betty. Though..." She stared at Betty's face and tilted her head. "...Have we met? You seem familiar for some reason."

"Mm." Betty let out a sly smile and said, "Not personally."

"Wait!" Emily stood up and pointed at Poppy. "You're real?! I always thought you were just Felix's alter ego! ...Though now that I look at you, you're a lot girlier than I remember..."

Poppy blinked. "...Thank you?"

Ichiro shook his head. "Don't mind Emily. She can be a bit weird at times."

"I am not! Besides, I'm not the-"

"Emily." Betty interrupted her and nodded towards the camera.

"Oh, right. A-Anyway... Oh yeah, what time is it?" Emily pulled out her phone and then gasped. "Oh my gosh! It's already three?!"

Ichiro blinked and jumped to his feet. "I'm going to miss my favorite doujin circles!"

"I'm going to miss all the cosplayers!" Emily turned around and started scrambling, shoving the remaining promo material into bags and boxes.

Betty giggled and waved at the two. "You head off first. I will do the clean up and teardown."

Emily stopped and looked up at Betty. "Are you sure?"

Ichiro stopped as well and frowned. "I feel bad making you do all the work, Boss..."

"Then get me some souvenirs. And get ready to man the booth tomorrow by yourselves. But in any case..." Betty turned back to Poppy and stood up. She smiled and said, "Thank you for taking a look at our humble exhibition, Miss Gloria. And thank you, viewers. If you are interested, please consider watching our presentation next week at the Winter Tokyo Electronics Expo."

Poppy smiled and said, "It's our pleasure!" She held up the bag of goodies and said, "And I'll definitely take a look at these and pass them out."

"Thank you." Betty smiled. "Ah. And if you have not yet, I would recommend taking a look at the booth for Project MirAIs." She pointed deeper into the convention center and said, "There should be a big crowd and a customized DeLorean. Impossible to miss."

"Oh?" Poppy's eyes sparkled. "We'll do that! Thanks again for your time, Ars Nova Productions!" With that, she waved to Emily, Ichiro, and Betty before walking off.

"Now... Let's go visit the most popular exhibit of this showcase, shall we?"