Ammokkx

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

“Serah! A delight to see you.”

The familiar voice ringing through the cafeteria-turned-ballroom immediately got Serah to perk up, shifting her gaze towards the source with a beaming smile. "Aura!" she happily yelled in her friend's direction, waving at her to come over. Aurora was quick to start the conversation, talking about how it was nice to see Serah dressed up with how much effort Arrish had put in. The girl fidgeted and blushed a little. "Ehehe... I still feel a little underdressed," she sheepishly admitted, taking a look around. "My day's been okay... I spent some time with Minerva, but my muscles are all sore from the training still. I think I managed to convince her to come, but..."
@Shifter_Master

Her thoughts trailed off as more people joined the fray. First Lucius, who asked to join them. With a "Sure!" from Serah, and approval from Aurora, the boy took a seat opposite to the two of them. Not long after Rhylaen and Sparks also came to sit at the table, gathering around Aurora. The more the crowd grew, the less nervous Serah began to feel. It seems like nobody really knew what to expect dress code wise- everyone had shown up wearing different things. Rhylaen even seemed unsure of herself, so Serah poked her head out from behing Aurora.
@Crusader Lord

"You look great!" she told Rhylaen. Clumsy as the tevrainian was with galactic standard, Serah could tell from Rhylaen's body language that she was referring to her clothes. "I mean, just look at me... I just tried dolling myself up with what I had," she said, standing up to show off her outfit a bit better.
@shylarah

It wasn't long after that that Elora also joined the party, wearing a dress of her own. Serah spun around when she heard the other girl call her name, not having noticed when she'd entered. Surprise turned to concern as Elora mentioned something about Bug taking her to a place called "The Pit", blinking twice.

'Did... did I set Elora up with some kind of criminal?' Serah thought to herself, slightly worried about how casually she might have gotten her friend associated with somebody dangerous. Then came the reveal of Elora's present, which was...

"...Some kinda drink?" Serah replied puzzled, holding up the unlabeled bottle and inspecting it. "Looks fruity," she commented as she paid attention to the viscosity. Still, Serah grinned and suddenly leapt at Elora, pulling her into a hug. "C'mere!" she shouted as she squeezed Elora tight. "You're so sweet! You didn't need to get me a thing!"
@Ariamis

Eventually after enough of Elora's protesting Serah would let go, a goofy grin on her face. Then shortly after she got seated again, staff began pouring out of the kitchen with all manner of appetizers. Shellfish, little skewers, fancy constructs with fruit and mashed potatoes- a little bit of everything, to everyone's taste. Serah's head began to spin as she'd never seen food this fancy before in her life. She wondered if it was even okay to eat any of it. Arrish soon came out of the kitchen himself, dressed perhaps the most fancy out of anyone there, greeting his guests.

"Please, enjoy a taste of Chateau Duval."

Serah very gingerly began to taste some of the dishes, her face washing over with bliss. She wasn't a particularly picky eater, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate when food was good. As things proceeded, eventually Minerva entered the dining hall- rather brusquely at that. She just stood there, middle of the room, bluntly asking what to do. Serah stood up from her seat and gave an apologetic wave to Aurora and Elora, rushing over to Minerva's side.

"Minerva! Come sit with us!" Serah asked of her as she grabbed onto the older girl's arm gently, tugging her to come over to the tables and guiding her to a seat next to Lucius. Only after Minerva was properly seated would Serah return to her own spot. She'd felt responsible for making sure Minerva was comfortable; after all, it was her who invited her fellow pilot to come over.
@Digmata

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah should not have agreed to train with minerva. Her body was aching all over, and she knew it was only going to get worse the next day. Her limbs were putty, having opted to lay face-down on her bed for a bit to let them rest.

"Just five more minutes, mom..." she muttered, trying to talk herself into just giving up for the day and becoming one with the bedsheets. She rolled over onto her side, then her back, laying sprawled out and staring at the ceiling. She stared at it blankly for a bit, trying not to think too much of the pains, until suddenly her stomach started crawling. "...Oh, right, dinner!" she suddenly remembered, throwing herself off the bed. She looked at herself in the mirror, disheveled and messy and still wearing the track suit. "Oh you are not showing up like that, Serah! You look like a slug!"

About an hour of chaos followed for her. Between picking out (from admittedly scant few) clothes, a round trip to the showers and making sure to redo her makeup, Serah kept herself rather busy- to the point she figured she was going to be late. She double, no, triple-checked that her ribbon was on just right and that she didn't have any smudges anywhere before finally nodding to her mirror image affirmatively, content with how she looked. Serah didn't have much, but she did have a nice blouse, skirt, leggings and pumps combo, enough to at least show there was an attempt at being dressed nicely. For a brief moment she wondered if she was overdoing it, but...

Making her way through the ship and eventually finding her way to the cafeteria, the whole place had been remodeled. Arrish had been hard at work making the place look nice with nice drapery and having the excess tables squared away, not to mention the soothing tune echoing throughout. Dressing up nicely turned out the right call after all. In fact, Serah was getting self-conscious she may have undershot things. Especially as...

"No way... how am I still the first one to get here?!" she quietly whispered to herself. Maybe Serah should've went together with someone... she's going to look like a total dork sitting alone at a table. She swallowed her pride and quietly took one of the many vacant seats, nervously rubbing her legs together as she blushed in embarrassment from being the only one there.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Earlier...

Serah & Minerva

---

Most pilots would be adjusting their room to fit more of their image. A few posters there, some plants of books in the cabinet might be nice but Minerva herself is above such simple pleasures instead favouring the spartan design of the original layout. In the mirror is a white woman with brown roots staring as if the world had just gone on its way to smite. Perhaps they did a long time ago but it doesn't really matter now as she zipped her bag and took a deep breath.

It hasn't been that long since her training exercise but the way it ended made her want to push herself a little bit further. She will show it to that old man one day that she is an adequate inheritance but for now she needs to walk the lone road of sharpening herself.

Now she needs to consider if she should use the simulators or just focus on her body and considering however that she just came from an intense round of battle. One where she actually died, she is inclined to do the latter.

With one last deep breath, she walked out of her room and headed to the gym.

After she made her way about halfway there, a thud hit her right in the chest.

"Ow!"

A little yelp followed soon after, knocking the poor soul who’d bumped into Minerva off-balance and stumbling backwards. Luckily they managed to steady themselves before they fell by putting their hand on the wall. Getting a good look at the figure, it turned out to be Serah, who clearly wasn’t paying too much attention to where she was going. ”Sorry, my bad- huh? Minerva?" she’d been quick to apologise. Serah’s gaze shot over to the bag Minerva had with her. "What’s with the bag? Were you up to something?"

Minerva would look at the unfortunate child who bumped into her, staring with unimpressed owlish eyes at the sight. She's not even trying to be honest.

”My personal tumbler and a change of clothes, I am planning to train a bit more.” she succinctly answered to Serah as a courtesy before walking once again.

“I'll be taking my leave, tell everyone to not expect me at whatever feast they are planning.” she spoke as moved away.

Serah blinked twice as Minerva just brusquely walked past her, telling her off. She spun around and shouted: "Hey, don’t ignore me! Wait up!" and followed after Minerva, walking alongside her down the halls. Serah peeked her head up at Minerva from the side, looking up at her like a curious little bird.

"Training? I guess you’re still upset over earlier, right? I know Lorenzo got under your skin, but, uh…."

Well, shoot, what could she say to comfort Minerva? The woman’s got seven layers of solid brick wall around her. As she was trying to find the right words, Serah would recall how fierce Minerva was in battle. She fought like a woman possessed, holding off three enemies by herself. The woman clearly loved to fight… and to train, given her choice of blowing off steam…

"...wwwwwhy don’t you train with me?" Serah proposed, thinking she was clever. Great way to get closer to Minerva, right?

Minerva tried to ignore her fellow pilot's attempt to get her attention favoring to walk towards her destination. On most situation she would just wordlessly proceed to the gym hoping that silence would be understood as rejection but...

"And you...You possessed the highest aptitude out of all the pilots." He slowly grinned. "Yes...I can see you have the potential for greatness, lassie. You have the eyes..."

This is the pilot Loranzo singled out for potential and aptitude. She had seen her actions at the mock battle, admittedly they are inspired but nothing out of the norm.

What is he seeing that she didn’t.

"Fine you could join me, you might want to prepare your own change of clothes though." she spoke as she looked at Serah.

Serah beamed as Minerva gave a positive response. "Sweet! Won’t let you down! I’ll meet you at the gym in a moment!"

With a little wave Serah zoomed off to get her own change of clothes.

---

When she reached the gym, Minerva would change into her gym clothes and make her own warm-ups. Nothing unusual in her eyes, just some stretching and mild exercises to keep her body moving. She was planning to do only light exercises due to the intense battle but there is a part of her that wonders.

How good Serah is in a spar?

And as she thought as much, Serah herself barreled straight into the room, wearing a track suit. "Cadet Gene reporting for duty ma’am!" she yelled with a goofy grin and a salute. "Though… I’m not exactly much of a military type myself, ehehe. Our training’s been helping, but I don’t think my stamina’s as good as yours, so… take it easy on me, alright Minerva?"

She ducked into the supply closet for a moment to take out a mat for herself and plonked it down next to Minerva, doing some stretches herself as a warmup. It became readily apparent that Serah’s body was still extremely sore from the simulation as her entire body screamed in agony, probably not helped by all the running around she was doing. It didn’t seem like her joints creaked and burned as much when she’d been dashing all over the place, but that was probably the copious adrenaline coursing through her veins numbing her to the sensation. "You sure are impressive," Serah would comment after a little time had passed. "I’m still aching all over from the simulation, but you’re here exercising anyway… is there a reason you train so much?" she’d ask, trying to probe and get to know her squad mate a little better.

Minerva did pay a bit of attention to what their classes already knew about that. In fact she believes that she is the most athletic all around person in the program (the literal robot doesn't count and even that is disputable).

”Just do what you could do.” she answered as she started a set of burpees.

”I don’t think I train too much, just enough to be better.” she casually answered to Serah as she withdrew the offer to spar for now seeing how tired her body is.

”How about you? What made you start becoming a pilot.” she probed as well hoping for some puzzle piece that will give her a bit more understanding on what makes her special.

Serah paused and leaned back a bit when Minerva bounced the question back to her, taking a moment to really think about it. "I dunno if I really started anything… I was drafted more than anything," she’d start. Serah then leaned forward again, stretching her upper torso to try and reach her feet.

"Dunno if I told you yet, but I’m from an orphanage back on Taivar. Didn’t have much growing up, didn’t even really go to school. I turned 18 not long ago, so the military draft came around and found I was really good with Atty. I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, but even if I did, it’s not like I had anything else lined up for me…" she mused to Minerva, taking a break to groan and complain as her body wasn’t as stretchy as she’d like it to be.

"Oh, but I’m not complaining!" Serah perked right up, realising how dour that must have sounded. "Aura’s been really nice to me! And you and Ava are really cool! And Sparks knows so much! I really like everyone a lot… even Bug doesn’t seem like that bad of a guy in the end. I know you said you didn’t want to come to the party, but… I think it’s really nice of him and Arrish to throw one. It’d be nice if everyone was there… you included, y’know?"

”I hate wasting time.” Minerva replied her thoughts to the party, trying to hide the bit of her pride in her chest at being called amazing. There was a bit of sympathy from her learning that Serah didn't exactly choose her career but…

”Part of me is pleased that you're having fun though, don't let me stop you.” she said as she looked at Serah.

Companions are always a good thing to have.

The pain of losing them though…

It was obvious Minerva was a tough nut to crack, hard to convince once her mind was made up. That didn’t stop Serah from trying though. "Mmm… I don’t think its a waste, though," she told the older girl, starting on some sit-ups as she talked. "You’re part of the squad. The same as all of us. It’ll be easier for everyone to trust you out on the battlefield if they see you at least make the effort to be around," she’d tell Minerva. Her body, meanwhile, was screaming in agony- Serah only got a few reps in before collapsing entirely, arms and legs stretched as she looked up to the ceiling.

”You know… I was kinda worried about you," Serah admitted as she vacantly gazed up. "You got really angry at the professor… I dunno what happened between you two, but I don’t like it when my friends are upset. I was hoping the party could help cheer you up a little, too."

”Take it easy.” Minerva advised as she looked at the Serah who was definitely forcing herself at every set taking a moment to stop her own exercise.

For a moment she tried to argue Serah’s logic before reluctantly and wordlessly admitting she is up to something with her words. Any thoughts of acquiring would be halted by the young girl's next words.

Minerva's face morphs into one of genuine irritation as he recalls the old man once again.

”Whatever his problem is, it's between us. You have no need to intervene.”

"Don’t I?" Serah replied as she pulled herself upright, wincing from sharp, sore pains. She turned to Minerva and sat cross-legged, smiling as she always did. "I know the professor tossed out that challenge to all of us. And well, ehehe, you kinda remind me of a friend of mine somehow… I figured you were gonna go at it alone to show him what for," she sheepishly admitted, scratching the tattoo on her cheek.

"But I don’t think you’re going to be able to beat him by yourself. Why not take me along? If it’s the two of us, I think we’ll stand a better chance, and you get to show him up!"

”I could.” she spoke with finality as if she knew what she was saying about. It could be arrogance or the sheer faith in the talent she had honed for years. Despite that…

It is a to shut his mouth if she managed to do it as part of a ‘team’. Speaking of, she could make use of this.

”I won't mind it though but I have a condition.” she spoke with complete seriousness before it broke into a hungry smile.

”I challenge you to a duel, show me the potential they say you have.” she muttered metaphorically throwing the gauntlet.

"A duel… is it?" Serah answered with a pause. A grind soon followed. "Nice! You totally get me!" she gleefully replied with sparkles in her eyes. She forgot about her mission of cheering Minerva up as her fighting spirit was lit on fire "After all, if you can’t even beat me, you definitely wouldn’t stand a chance against the professor, right?!"

Serah sprung up and jumped to her feet, ready to throw down then and there… up until the moment she felt intense cramps all through her body. "Owowow…" she complained for a bit, her grin quickly replaced by a softer, more sheepish smile with her eyes closed. "But uhm… maybe not today. I think I might actually die if I climb back into the pilot seat right now…"

Serah very carefully crouched down to roll up the mat she’d been using, and as she did so, asked a simple question to Minerva: "Tomorrow’s fine, right?"

Minerva smiled before speaking.

”Take all the time and preparations that you need, you will need it.” she warned Serah hoping that it would make her take things seriously and make for a greater challenge.

Serah snickered when Minerva told her as much, looking back at her with a salute and a wink. "Scary, scary… I’ll try my best not to disappoint!" she cheekily replied. It took a few moments for Serah to get everything stored, but once she had, she made her way back to the still-training Minerva.

"I’m going back first, alright? Sorry for not being able to keep up, ehehe… the VR really took its toll on me. I’m glad we got to talk a bit!" Serah told Minerva, her face still lit up like a ray of sunshine. The girl brought her hand to her chin, pretending to be lost in thought as she spoke her next words: "Hmmm… just a duel is boring though, don’t you think?" she asked rhetorically. "If I win, I want you to tell me more about yourself, okay? As for what I’ll do when you win… surprise me!"

Serah didn’t leave Minerva any room to protest, quickly skipping over to the exit. "Bye bye! I’ll see you at the party! I’ll tell people you’re coming, okay?"

With those final words, Serah left as soon as she’d come, like a hurricane passing through a town and razing everything in its path.

Minerva paused for her training for a while as Serah added a stipulation without her input. For a moment she looked at the reflection at the nearby mirror. What is there to tell about her when her entire life is just catching up to legend…

Not like she'll win though.

Minerva stood up, performed her cooldown exercises earlier than planned and left the gym. It would be annoying if she lost the duel if she overworked herself.

And she's hungry, now she heard something about a team dinner earlier, maybe she'll join them.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah's head spun from hearing Zel-Ghin drone on and on, not giving her a chance to speak. Well, he did give a brief pause for her to interject, staring intently into her eyes. She didn't look away- albeit more out of defiance than for any other reason as she looked him in the eye.

"Well... I don't know, have you tried being less of a jerk?" she'd tell him bluntly, crossing her arms with a frown. "You're part of the team now. It wouldn't be a party without everyone there, you included. If you tried being nicer to people, I'm sure they'd like you a lot better."

It was then that Zel-Ghin commented on her being eager to jump into the fray, and that he'd trade her a lollipop for a kiss. She visibly shuddered at the thought. "I- no?? No thank you, not in a million years!" she snapped back, taking a step back to get away from him. He took the opportunity to walk past her, saying he'll be at the party. At least she accomplished what she set out to do. Before Zel-Ghin fully walked out of sight, Serah put her hands around her mouth and shouted one last thing at him:

"The professor said we could change parts of our frames out! If you really think Squid was the problem, then just try it and see what happens!"

...There. Serah had done everything she'd set out to do. She spun on her heel and walked back in the direction she came from, away from Zel-Ghin. She suddenly remembered the lollipop he gave her and pulled it out, inspecting it as she walked. "For a kiss...? You're throwing them at everyone on the ship..." she muttered to herself. She didn't want it to go to waste so she fumbled with the wrapper for a bit, then a small piece unceremoniously crashed to the ground from having split in two after the head bonking incident. Serah begrudgingly picked it up to not litter, partially because she was raised as a good little girl and another part of her didn't want to find out what kind of horrific punishment littering was met with on this ship. Then she licked it, because Serah ain't afraid of no floor.

It was apple flavor.

Yuck.

She promptly tossed both halves in the nearest bin she could find.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah kept her hands folded behind her head as everyone else started to chime in on things. Some had intense reactions, some barely felt bad at all. Arrish in particular stood out, laughing like mad for some reason. Serah kind of understood where he was coming from though- Stella planting a parrot sticker on Lucius' uniform was funny. Speaking of him, the boy answered Serah's question in Lorenzo's stead. He explained how its about how people react under pressure, seeing everyone's weaknesses and strengths. Didn't make much sense to her, though. Nothing about that facilitated them having to fight each-other. There's a bunch of other training exercises that could've been done to her mind, especially with simulation technology at everyone's fingertips.

Lorenzo's followup clarifying things further didn't help much either. Serah knew none of the simulation was real, that she'd be fine in the end- that's why she got reckless. Still, one thing did ring true- when two people clash, their true character is revealed. Not too long after, he chastised Mema-ka for discarding his frame like a tool.

'You go professor. You're not such a bad guy after all!' she thought to herself all smug-like. Whatever sense of unease she'd felt from Lorenzo when she met him was quickly dissipating. He'd been reasonable so far- heck, she agreed with him on almost everything. Didn't take long for Lorenzo to issue a challenge to all the pilots after, with the old man piloting a frame known as... "The Cruxi Fister". Serah could barely hold back the laughter, though a grin was still plastered across her face. The competitive spirit inside of her flared up again. "A pilot’s true character is only truly known at the moment they clash with another," those were his own words. Serah was going to find out for herself how what the good professor was truly made of. Though...

"Do not bother yourself for me," an agitated Minerva would say towards Ava. It was hard to miss how snubbed Minerva had gotten during the debriefing, and even when pressed for details, Lorenzo had been off-hand about it. Watching Minerva stomp out of the room, the gears began turning inside Serah's head.

Minerva had a grudge against Lorenzo to settle. Serah wasn't going to be defeating him alone.

'Well... maybe I should leave her alone for a bit first. There's someone else missing...' Serah would think to herself, looking at the spot Zel-Ghin had once stood. The boy left early into the debriefing, wholly uninterested. He'd missed both Bug's invitation to party and Lorenzo's announcement on being able to swap out framewerk parts. A party wouldn't be complete without everyone present, so...

"You want me to go get Zel-Ghin?" she'd casually say to Griff, Ava and Bug as she walked up to the trio. "I think he left before you could invite him. Oh, also, good luck Bug!" she'd say to the guy with a wink, but omitting why she said so. Before he had a chance to stop her, Serah had already- quite literally- ran out of the room, dashing past Elora who seemed to be waiting inside the halls for someone.

As Serah jogged the halls in the ship, she'd think of where she'd be able to find Zel-Ghin. She didn't know the guy all that well. Only three traits stood out to her: One, he was obsessed with candy. Two, he was a massive jerk. Finally, because he's a massive jerk, he barely looked at her when they'd been talking. Instead, his attention was drawn to the little gaming device he'd carried around. Zel-Ghin liked games, in other words. So she'd find him at...

'Ah-ha! Found you!' Serah celebrated as she'd spotted him turning a corner, towards the leisure lounge. Only one place on the ship where people got together to play games.

"Hey, you! Wait! ...I said wait!" she'd yell out at him, before sliding across the floor and spreading her arms wide in front of him to block his path. "Sheesh... finally caught up..." Serah complained, taking a moment to catch her breath from all the running she did. She fixed her posture and looked up at him- god he was tall- her hand scratching the back of her neck. "You really should have stuck around for the debriefing... well, whatever. Bug and Arrish are going to throw a party tonight at the dining hall. You'll show up, right?" she'd ask, judgingly glaring at him.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah kept one eye closed with a wry smile on her face, hands behind her head, as she listened nonchalantly to Lorenzo chewing her out. She'd been prepared for a tongue-lashing and boy did she get one, not even half as gentle as she hoped he would be. Still, if a bit of verbal abuse was the worst of it, she didn't mind so much. 'Same old, eh professor?' she thought to herself, smirking, before her smug self-confidence turned to confusion. She'd never met Lorenzo before last week, so why did she feel like this all had happened before, and not even just one time to boot?

Odd sense of deja-vu aside, she felt a little more sorry for the rest of her squad. Some got off easy, some were chewed out. Serah herself thought everyone didn't do half bad... well, aside from Mema-ka. He absolutely deserved it for abandoning Raptor like he did. Zel-Ghin too. Zel-Ghin was a jerk. The pair of brothers aside though, Serah thought everyone else looked really cool in the footage, even picking up things she missed earlier. Arrish diving in to save Elora was super cool, Ava and Minerva were beautiful to watch in action, she was shocked all over again that Bug survived Aurora's assault... Serah really thought everyone was super talented.

If the professor didn't want them all to get killed, he shouldn't have pit the crew in a death match. One side was going to lose no matter what. At least, that's how Serah viewed it.

The lieutenant approached Astolfo and Ava with a tiny box after the professor had promoted those two, a decisions Serah supported fully; the two made an awesome pair inside the simulation. Elora gave her full support too, clapping when the two got promoted. When Elora meekly withdrew into herself from embarassment, Serah decided to clap too, yelling out: "Go Ava! Go Bug!” to cheer the two of them on. Then, Serah turned to Elora and made a "peace" sign at the other girl while a cheeky grin was plastered on her face, having made a fool of herself to make her friend feel a little better.

Unfortunately, the goofs didn't last long. The first person to speak up when the professor asked for questions was Griff, stepping in lightning fast. He defended Serah, Elora and his whole team. He blamed himself for being the reason team Apple lost, and quickly grew meek when he realised how much he'd mouthed off.

That bugged Serah. It bugged her a lot, actually. Part of it was just it being Griff- but also that he felt the need to come in and defend her. "Cut it out Griff,” she interjected, crossing her arms and averting her gaze from him. "The professor's right. I got reckless and careless. Just because it worked out doesn't mean I didn't do something stupid,” she'd say half-heartedly. Its not like she regretted her choices, but Lorenzo's critique of her was justified.

"Just one thing, though, professor,” Serah would cast her attention to Lorenzo, intending to follow up with a remark of her own. "What's the point of making us fight each-other, if you don't want us to get ourselves killed? We had a rrreeeeeaaaaaallly close match there.”

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah perked up when Aurora answered her question. She didn't respond out loud, but the sparkle in her eyes signaled that she was, once again, awestruck at the bond Aurora and Sleepy had. Just like her friend, though, Serah's attention was soon shifted to the final moments in the simulation. Arrish and Horst parried blow after blow from Ava and Argent Wings, with the latter pair going all-out despite the damaged state they were in. Both of them were incredibly impressive, but Arrish came out the victor in the end, though not without Horst being unable to keep itself upright any longer. Still, Arrish hadn't given up- though immobilized, he took aim from the one spot he could and watched- maybe prayed- to see if Sparks and Guinevere would come in range. Though, as everyone could see, the man himself took the necessary precaution, circling around and using Guinevere's arclight system to take out Horst from behind.

Seems like her team... won.

Hell yeah. Mango rules.

Didn't take long for Elora to come over after that, having taken a moment to talk to Arrish. Though Elora asked Serah how the mission went, Aurora was actually the first to answer the question. Her comment about VR struck a relatable note for Serah. "Yeah... its like me and Atty were really there. It actually put me a little more at ease, if you can believe it.”

She waved Aurora goodbye as the woman excused herself, then turned her attention back to Elora. "Right, I never answered myself, did I? Honestly I think I'm about to get yelled at pretty bad, ehehe...” she sheepishly admitted while rubbing the back of her head. "I was one of the first to go out. The professor told us to learn from you guys, so...” her voice trailed off, her eyes briefly darting to the side as she remembered how upset Elora was earlier. She seemed perked up now, but Serah still felt bad about it. "Well, doesn't matter! You did great out there. You really hung in there, despite all the damage. You and Rhylaen formed a pretty deadly duo for me...”

Serah spun around and looked at the entrance of the room. It probably wasn't a good idea to keep Lorenzo waiting. "Well... I think I'll go march to my doom now. I just hope he won't be too hard on me.”

After Serah took a few steps towards the exit, something popped into her mind last-minute. She spun around and faced Elora again. "Oh, right! Bug promised to treat me to something after the battle, but I don't really want it. Why don't you take him up on it? Tell him I'll forgive him for making fun of me if he does!”

Serah playfully stuck out her tongue a little and gave Elora a wink, then waved goodbye as she dashed out of the room to go get debriefed.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah nodded sagely, or more like Popukoly, as Aurora told her which one Jake was. Didn't take long for the man in question to come along and mingle himself, which was a bit goofy given his astronaut helmet. Still, Serah didn't judge- externally, anyway. Minerva came to say hello too, praising Aurora, to which Serah's eyes lit up. This was the first member of her own team that actually came in to say hello without some form of ballistic candy or improvised kidnapping incident.

"Hiiii Minerva!” she waved, trying to get the woman's attention. Serah had been stealing glances at the battle inbetween all the chatter, so she'd seen first hand how Minerva dodged and weaved through all the enemy fire. "You were really cool out there! You and Argo worked together really well... you just kept going even as you two could barely keep standing!”

Serah's eyes sparkled with excitement and admiration as she gushed over Minerva's display. That excitement, however, soon died down as another, much angrier voice cut through the crowd like a hot knife through a chalkboard.

"No! I can still fight! Get back here!"

Griff.

Serah scowled as he approached the group, making a buffoon of himself as he still talked down to Rhylaen. He strutted over to Serah's location not soon after. Her opinion grew even worse as he called her a little girl and that he'd teach her how to fight. Even worse, he was reaching out his hand like he was going to grab her. The girl was just about to slap his hand away and yell at him, and if Stella hadn't returned at that exact moment she just might have done so. Serah had a cup shoved into her hands, a blankie wrapped around her and front-row seats to Griff getting humiliated by a nannybot. 'Serves him right,' she thought to herself.

She took a deep breath to compose herself and, to distract her mind a little, refocused on the battlefield. Things had gone a bit awry since last she looked. Bug had turned himself into a child not even God could love while Arrish was struggling against Sparks' hacking. Seeing her team on a roll like that made her feel nice and fuzzy; they were working together really well. Made her feel less bad about being one of the first to go, too. However, those feelings soon got muddled by another, much less pleasant feeling; disdain. Mema-ka did a reckless, suicidal move- on first blush, that is. He rigged his frame to explode, intending to crash it into Cockroach to take it out of the game. Bug was quick on the draw and managed to fuse both frames together, then the two ejected in tandem... but Serah sensed that that wasn't Mema-ka's plan at all. The ejection happened almost immediately as the frames fused, meaning it was set to go before then.

Meaning Mema-ka was intending to sacrifice Raptor and save himself.

A scowl came across Serah's face as she glanced at the 'Naughty corner' with Zel-Ghin in it. One brother blamed his frame for his own failures, while the other threw his frame to the dogs to save himself. Both of them were just as bad as each-other. The frames weren't just some weapons, they were partners. The frame protects the pilot from harm and the pilot works with their frame to fight the enemy. How did either of them manage to form a bond, 'synchronize' as they say, with their frames? Serah couldn't even begin to imagine how callous jerks like these two got selected for this program.

She didn't get to ponder over it long though. Bug got shot, making Serah wince both in pity for the guy and because she'd hoped he'd take out Mema-ka instead. All while this was happening, Ava managed to take out Elora, so both her and Bug's helmet lifted as they were removed from the battlefield. Elora retreated into herself, distressed. Seeing her friend taking the result so badly, Serah instinctively wanted to dash over and do something to comfort her. She was slow, though, and several of the guys went over to do so instead. Bug, Lucius, Doomguy- all three of them with slightly different approaches.

Serah wasn't sure if she could trust boys to be gentle and cheer Elora up, but... well, they weren't Griff or Zel-Ghin. It was probably fine. She'd trust them, anxiously turning back to Aurora and Minerva.

"Hey, you two," she'd break the ice, clearly intending to ask them something. Serah turned her face to the monitors again before continuing: "Don't you think its wrong to sacrifice your partner?" she asked them, commenting on Mema-ka's actions from earlier. "I don't think... I could ever abandon Atty like that. I feel guilty enough about what I put him through already."

---

I'll keep a side eye on this but I wouldn't count me in as a for-sure player.

I'm assuming the words have to be strictly english words? I can certainly see being creative if you're bilingual like I am, but I also understand how quickly that could become a nightmare if you allowed non-english languages.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah was clearly lost in thought even as she continued to observe the battle, her eyes looking beyond what's on the screen. Cracks in her cheery demeanor were starting to show, given the rather serious look on her face. She didn't really know what to think- the 'nightmare' she'd just had bugged her. It was the same mid-battle, with the spider-like frame she recalled. Even before that, she'd mistaken Minerva for someone else briefly. Something gnawed at her. It bugged her. She was-

-suddenly picked up by a big robot lady.

"Wait- uh, huh??”

Despite Stella having the same subtlety as the rocket-powered hammer Mother Goose wielded, Serah was still caught off guard by being picked up like a bag of potatoes. She'd not noticed the robot lady having come over and noticed her distress, and quite frankly, she had a different reason to be distressed right now. "Stella what are you do- whahuh?!”

Without being able to get a word of protest in, Serah was nyoomed over to Aurora and Lucius in the blink of an eye. Stella put the girl back on her feet before she could even readjust herself to the new company.

"Please hug eachother for comfort," the Lilim suddenly said. "Soft and cute parameters within threshold. Serah's punishment is therapy."

And with that, Stella rushed out of the room to go get... something. Serah blinked a few times, dumbfounded at what had just happened. Then, she turned her head. There was an Aurora and one as-of-yet-unknown-to-her Banana in this spot. An Aurora who, without missing a beat, broke the ice with a simple “Hello.”

There was some dry humor to be found in having that be how Serah was greeted, but at the same time a sense of relief washed over her as the girl soon forgot all about the tension she was feeling. Matching Aurora's smile with her own, Serah greeted her in turn: "Hi Aura!”

The next few words out of Aurora's mouth were as short and to the point as her greeting was. A point that made Serah sheepishly scratch the back of her head, given it was about the stunt she'd pulled in the simulation. "Ahaha... yeah, maybe. Rhylaen and Griff had my number the whole time... I figured I had to do something to break you guys' formation. I think Stella's upset with me about it... but it was kind of the best idea I could come up with at the time. My team did ask me to take out Electric Dragonfly if I could.”

After the little exchange, Aurora turned her attention to the boy next to the two of them. Serah was quick to follow. "Oh yeah! I haven't seen you before either,” she'd say, and if Lucius had been paying attention, he'd notice this was the same voice that said she had seen him earlier. "So... you're the new person? Like, uh, what was your name... Mr. Banana Split?"

...That wasn't right, was it? Oh well, she'd blurted it out anyway.

She turned, scanned the room and then pointed at Jake, who seemed to be stretching. "I thought you were that guy over there! I saw him a little bit ago... or, well his helmet anyway,” she blabbered on and on. And, with a lightbulb springing in her head, she'd just realized she never introduced herself either. "Oh, right! I'm Serah, by the way. Its nice to meet you!”