gonna_shoot_it | 1st Quarter Alert [Action/Video]

[When Calhoun awakes, she finds herself facedown on a table in what must be Tapper's. The wood is slightly sticky under her cheek and smells of root beer, although when she moves a hand around stiffly, there's no mug anywhere to go with it. Which is strange.

What's also strange is that she's in Tapper's when she's supposed to be leaving Sugar Rush. That was the last thing that happened, right? Wreck-It had finally gotten his butt moving and they were going back to where they belonged before...

Stiffly, Calhoun sits up and looks around. And her eyes narrow. This isn't Tapper's. Wherever this is, it isn't the familiar watering hole filled with other arcade citizens. There isn't a single familiar face anywhere. And her gun is nowhere to be found.

For that matter, her armor isn't anywhere to be found. This is a plain white dress. What in the seven levels is this dress.

Calhoun is not amused. With a low growl, she gets to her feet - hits her head on the low-hanging light over the table - and takes another glaring look around the bar. Definitely not in Sugar Rush anymore. This isn't saccharine pink enough. There is, however, a thick journal with her name on it. She knows better than to leave a key item like that behind. After flipping through it quickly and deciding it's infinitely TL;DR, she takes the impatient route and just pokes at the transmission options a few times before she finds the video function.]

Anybody care to share what the flying fairydust is going on around here? Short version. I don't have the time to go through this whole cheat guide here.

[Aaand end transmission.

Alright. Now. First things first. She has to find her scanner, then her gun, then her armor. Then she can figure out what happened.

And somebody is going to get smacked for this.

Calhoun can be spotted slowly making her way through the main part of the village, looking almost like a lioness on the hunt at first as she tries to sniff out any kind of threat. Once she's made her stops into all the stores and found what she's looking for, she'll be a little more at ease, but no less irritated-looking. She's still got this place to scope out and figure out.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Short stack?! That's low!

[Oh, damn, that just added on to it. Red makes a noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl.]

There's no problem! It's just-- I'm not used to seein' people this tall! Where d'you all keep comin' from?

[First Daisy, and now this woman. Red wouldn't be surprised if the next one couldn't even fit in the buildings.]

Hero's Duty. [Said with a totally straight face. This is a woman completely comfortable in the knowledge that she's a game character. She unfolds her arms, though one hand goes to rest on a hip.]

Not sure where the other girls might have come from here, but back home? I wasn't the tallest.

[Because Bowser is huge, dude.]

Wasn't the tallest-- w-what kinda world did ya come from?! And what's it have to do with a hero's duty?

[Okay, she's pretty intimidating. Not just because of her height - though that's definitely a factor - but the way she carries herself. It puts Red in mind of some of the larger robots, looming over him even in his own robot. Heck, she could probably take on the Dahak with one hand tied behind her back!]

[Eyeroll. She's used to intimidating everyone, so that's not that big an issue here, but still. He's a little slow on the uptake.]

Not a hero's duty. Hero's Duty. That's where I came from. You asked, I told you.

You're sayin' you came from some place called... Hero's Duty? Furballs, I thought other worlds had strange names...

[Uh, Red, maybe it's not the best idea to mock anything about this woman.]

[There's a flash of irritation in her eyes, but she doesn't rise to the bait. After Vanellope and Ralph going on and on about how funny the word "duty" is, she's learning to take the criticism with a grain of salt.]

It's a game called Hero's Duty, fuzzball. Lemme guess, your game's got some kind of wonderful, awe-inspiring name.

Game? Are ya sayin' you came from a game? What, like cards or board games or some kinda sport?

[Guess who's almost never heard of video games? This dog.]

[Yeah, she's getting that vibe. And it's weirding her out.]

Video games. You know, Pong, Asteroids, that kind of thing?

[Those are as old as old gets, they should ring a bell...]

Video... hey, I think someone told me about those, but they're fictional stuff, right? So how can ya be from a video game?

[None of those titles are ringing any bells. It's just not his area of expertise.]

[She looks a little annoyed at that.]

I just am. It's in my code. Maybe you're the one who doesn't realize he's from a game.

Yeah, because I'm real fictional.

[There's some irony in that, maybe.]

Y'know what, forget it. Maybe ya really did come from a video game thing, I've got no real reason to doubt ya. Let's start this over. What's your name?

[She gives an eyeroll at the sarcasm, rather unmoved by it. Denial.]

Aren't you supposed to give your name first, pup? [But hey, she'll play along.] I'm Sergeant Calhoun. Space marines.

Red Savarin, Rank 6 Hunter. Do ya mean space as in... outer space? I thought nobody'd ever been there.

[And a marine, too. Isn't that some kind of military thing? Except... in space. He's pretty sure a sergeant is a high rank, though, so treating Calhoun with respect is a must.]

[She almost laughs at that sentiment, but it just comes out as an amused snort.]

Well, we've been there. We've been defending it for years. Someone's got to.

Defendin' it from what? Some kinda... space monsters? Space pirates? Space... uh, somethin' else?

[Forgive Red. There hasn't been much exploration of anything beyond his home planet; space is solely for TV shows and comics.]

[There's a slight eyebrow quirk at "space somethin' else", but she just shakes her head.]

Cy-bugs. Think cockroaches, only they keep getting bigger the longer they're left alive and they become whatever they eat.

[Her expression darkens.] And they'll eat anything.

[Anything...? Red drives Dahak backward a step, suddenly imagining a world in which giant, robotic insects take over. He's not letting his robot get eaten by anyone!]

You-- you had to fight somethin' like that? You gotta be real strong! Did ya just punch 'em to death?

[Well, she's certainly tall and intimidating enough...]

[She would be a proud of that, but Cy-bugs are no laughing matter for her.]

Sometimes. But we have specialized guns for it, too. So long as the blasted things don't eat those, everything's fine.

Sounds like you got 'em under control. Y'know, we got giant bug problems back home too, but they don't sound anythin' like yours. Way easier to deal with.

[Well, aside from her height, Calhoun seems to be a pretty good person. A little abrasive, but good.]

[She gives a soft snort of amusement.]

If they don't turn depending on what they eat, they're a cakewalk. Sure would be nice if we had your easy bugs for a day or two.

[Now there's an idea.]

Y'know, ma'am, once ya get settled in we could head to the battledome and switch bugs for a bit. I'll simulate mine for you, you simulate yours for me.

[It'd be good training! Totally not horrifying at all, nope.]

[Yeah, the horrifying part has made that amused look evaporate right off her face. She frowns.]

Even as a simulation, they'd still be very dangerous. You don't want to mess around with them, kid.

We'll see about that! No bug's been spawned that can stop me!

[...Except for cy-bugs. Red's going to have one heck of a time with them if he pursues this idea.]

Anyway, that's for later! Ya need any help gettin' settled in?

1st Quarter Alert [Action/Video]

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