[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/oBJ38oL.png[/img] [@Krayzikk] [@Crimmy][/center] Evolution was a mighty force in nature. Many physical anthropologists believed that there was a singular genesis, a turning point, that would unite chimpanzees forced to survive on the savannas of Africa into the disparate groups that would later become humanity. Karl Marx would brush on the same principle millions of years later, but the chimpanzees faced a problem far more immediate than something as droll as late capitalism or the struggles of the proletariat. The chimpanzees were arboreal creatures, stranded on the savanna; they were, quite simply, easy pickings for the lions. The first examples of collective action in what would become human history were, simply, ganging up to throw rocks at lions. One chimp with a rock was a laughing matter to a lion. Fifty chimps with rocks was a fatality. The Bible would go on to popularize the story - or maybe just dumb it down. But the principle was still the same. David slung a rock at Goliath. Goliath died. The Chinese used this same principle to kill traitors and fiends. This was a recurring instinct throughout human evolution. It was now being utilized against Brennan Griese, local Goliath, traitor, and fiend, to damning effect. When he had fallen asleep the night prior, he had been an easy-going, run of the mill Academy City boy with a nerdy yet cheerful girlfriend at his side. Waking up had been a startling experience, not just because Brennan had hoped to get a few rare hours of relaxation on this fine Saturday morn, but also because that same lovely girlfriend seemed to have been replaced by a Kanamin-mimicking pod person, glaring down at him with wide, baleful eyes for having the audacity to sleep. The glare had been hidden behind Kanamin's signature V-finger pose. Brennan had thought about telling her how offensive that would have been in the home country, but he was more appalled at her costume. It was a fucking hot costume. But he could have handled it if she just waltzed around the apartment, or even in public, wearing it. He would have overcome his natural impulse to mock the earnest otaku as she deserved to be mocked and simply gone about his day. But now Brennan was feeling uncomfortably like a lion. One magical girl throwing the vee was simply a cute example of cultural ignorance. Thirty thousand magical girls would overwhelm him like the chimps on the savanna. It didn't help that Umeko thought she was the best of all Kanamins gathered. It [i]definitely[/i] didn't help that it was true. [color=0072bc][i]My God, I died the other night.[/i][/color] It was a jarring realization. [color=0072bc][i]Mam, I went to hell...[/i][/color] Holy shit, the Dianoid was [i]full[/i] of them. Nerds dressed as their idealized versions of characters, magical girls of every stripe, from Kanamin to her erstwhile rival-turned-best-friend. There were booths with figma and doujins and fucking Magiā˜†Mint Chip, a special tie-in flavor that they had seen at the supermarket earlier in the week. It was a tie-in product with Musashino, their first foray into ice cream. Brennan half-expected Umeko Kawaguchi to try and hold [i]that[/i] entire stall up with her wand. It would probably be best to get that first and then get the hell away, before she started thinking of ways to try and pilfer every single spoonful of the ice cream in the convention center. Every single virgin in this place probably had a battle plan that was along those same lines, though, and there was no doubt they considered the other cosplayers to be competition. This combative streak was no doubt why Umeko had brought him along. That and she was just a clingy girlfriend by nature. [color=0072bc]"Ice cream foorst,"[/color] Brennan said, his natural Dublin brogue and use of English making himself doubly unintelligible to anyone around. Umeko would understand it, and that was enough. Plus it beat outing her as a Kansai lunatic to those around. [color=0072bc]"Then I don't give a fook. I just wanna go to the Orbit booth."[/color]