[Mari]

Arle stood outside the Life Sphere's apparently one and only mall, a fact made appropriate by the current situation outside their little bubble of safety. She glanced anxiously into the building, unsure how to feel about what she expected to find inside. Clothes shopping? ...What were the odds of them having anything she liked? In her experience, the Life Sphere was very foreign and she fully expected the fashion in the mall to match this trend. ...Perhaps... Rulue could help ease her into trying something new though. She reassured herself with this thought as she waited for her childhood friend to arrive. So far, the evening was looking ... alright? Questionable, but alright.

(Seems like it's been a long time since we crossed hearts over space-time...)

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Well, that took a while, but there she was, at the Life Sphere's one and only mall. She still remembered when she offered Arle a trip to go clothes shopping, only to back down due to...personal issues. Thankfully, said issues finally were no longer a bother with the help of the sorceress in question, so the whole event was back up and hopefully without any setbacks to speak of. Once she got closer to said mall, she noticed Arle waiting there.

"Kept you waiting, hm?" She asked, announcing her presence to the mage at the same time.

[Mari]

Arle shifted to acknowledge Rulue, smiling brightly at the other. "I can't remember how long I've been waiting for this." Arle replied good naturedly, seeming to subtly imply that she wasn't actually referring to the shopping itself. Perhaps, rather, she was referring to the quality time being spent with a close frined. Arle glanced over her shoulder for a moment, consiering the possibilities inside. They could get clothes and get out quite quickly, but were they really just here to get some clothes and get out? ...Or were they here to treat themselves to a good, quality time together? "Well, we have the evening to ourselves." Arle began, taking a deep breath.

"...Too be honest though, the mall makes me really anxious. It's so easy to get lost, and it's so big. There's so many strangers and none of them pay you any mind. Some of them shove..." Arle lamented, revealing that she was actually not much of a mall person. Go figure! Something about the architecture of these really high buildings made her question how they didn't collapse at any moment. The closest thing she could remember from their own world was Satan's tower, and that was at least made of very sturdy looking bricks. The crowded nature of the mall also didn't agree with her desire for control over her personal space either, especially when nobody even bothered to apologize when they bumped into her. She sighed lamely, but quickly relented. "...But I guess it'll be hard to get lost when I'm with you~ Where do you want to go first?" she asked, beaming up at Rulue. She was going to at least try and have a good time. Hopefully it wasn't a busy day. If there was anything good to be said about these large buildings, it was that they could be fun to explore.

The girls had lots of options. They could get their nails done, style their hair, get something to eat, marvel at the technology, browse some of the shops, see a movie, or even go clothes shopping! Lots of things.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue nodded in agreement. They indeed had an entire evening to do...well, a lot of stuff. Sure, the objective was to nab some clothes for Arle (and some for herself, in extension), but the mall had so much else to offer...Where could they go see after clothes shopping? Rulue had no actual idea for now...

Well, she wouldn't have too much time to think about it because Arle suddenly stated her little problems with the mall. The Fighting Queen nodded and calmly placed her hand on the mage's shoulder. "Yeah, I get where are you coming from." She said, revealing something that she related with Arle...at least in the personal space issue. "And don't worry, I'll be by your side." Rulue soon reassured, moving the hand from Arle's shoulder to ruffle her hair affectionately.

"I don't suppose you want to look for the clothes first? I mean, that is the reason we scheduled this first, am I not correct?"

[Mari]

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. If we find something nice, we'll get to show it off in front of a crowd~" Arle replied rather light-heartedly. She seemed to appreciate the pragmatic approach, as she wasn't sure what else one did at a mall.
" . . . To be honest, though, I'm already lost. These places should come with a map--Oh, well what do you know?" Arle went on to admit, scanning her surroundings before finding exactly what she was looking for. ...It was a map! Arle slipped her hand into Rulue's and began leading her over to the map. She then squinted at the map. It was the layout of the building, but ...

"...I don't know what a video is, but I keep seeing that word." Arle remarked as she browsed over a video game store. She glanced back at Rulue questioningly, searching for an explanation. However, she wouldn't wait long before returning her gaze to the map.
"...I don't know what an electronics is either. This place has restaurants. I've never had a "cheesecake" before. ...Why do they need two different stores to get your nails done, and why is Victoria's store a secret?" Arle mused aloud, becoming a little flustered by the odd naming conventions of the mall. She had to admit, a store that promised secrets was kind of tempting actually. ...Maybe she'd have to visit Victoria and see what she was all about later, Rulue willing of course.

"Oh here we go! Dressfarm." Arle blurted out in excitement after a bit more searching, only to quickly realize what she'd just said. Why did someone put the words dress and farm together?! Was it owned by a farmer who was also a really talented dressmaker?? "...This mall has weird names." Arle remarked rather flatly.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue allowed the mage to push her to the mall's map, and really, she was just as confused as Arle was with some things. Granted, they were from a different time period, so it was to be expected.

"I'm not exactly sure what is a 'video game' or an 'electronic' or this 'cheesecake' thing...but I am certainly curious. You want to check what it is about after we look for clothes?" Rulue offered before listening to Arle's other comments. She tilted her head a bit, showing that she was still lost, but nonetheless still curious. "I'm...confused, but let's check up this...'Dressfarm' shop first anyway." Rulue said with a bit of reluctance on the shop's name before leading Arle to the mall's entrance, ready to enter into the building. It was probably going to be a really long evening, might as well make the most of it.

[Mari]

Arle did a doubletake on the map, awkwardly trying to get a feel for the building's confusing layout before leading the way with Rulue's hand in tow. She glanced behind her, tuning out the crowds as they quickly rushed to get past them. "Hopefully it's just a name. I don't think the farmer's daughter look is becoming of either of us~" Arle remarked as she weaved through the crowds of people. Was the crowd beginning to move faster? "I wonder if they--" Arle began, only for someone to run right into her, cutting her off with a yelp and stopping the mage in her tracks as she tried to regain her balance. Arle seemed a little bit upset by the unwanted and frankly over the top rude touching, but the person quickly slipped past and began running. In fact, there were a lot of people running. Maybe this wasn't just common rudeness after all!

...The crowd quickly thinned with a few panicked shouts to reveal... a squadron of fruits, vegetables and other foods with spindly little straw arms and legs were marching across the hall from the food court, chanting "Death to all humanoids; freedom for food!" as they waved silverware around like weapons. Arle watched the frankly bizarre scene for a moment before glancing back at Rulue. They didn't look particularly dangerous; in fact they looked quite edible. They also didn't seem to notice the two girls' presence... Her gaze asked for a second opinion. What did they do?

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Hearing Arle's comment, Rulue simply chuckled as they tried to set foot inside the mall, only to be greeted by a fleeting mass of people. She instinctively pulled Arle in a protective hug. Well, this didn't bode too well, didn't it? As the mass cleared, there was...food. Living food, rather. Huh, that part sounded familiar...

Tilting her head a bit once again, she sighed. Those two probably would never get a normal evening. Then again, what was normal over here? This place was a creepy mish-mash of various worlds...that din't matter now, though. There was food chaos around!

"Well, we simply cannot let food go to waste." Rulue jokingly commented. "Time to clean house, don't you think?" The Fighting Queen soon said, already lapsing into a fighting position. She seemed a little eager to fight this time around. At least, more eager than usual. Was it simply hunger or something else...?

[Mari]

Arle was pulled into a hug! She was once again surprised, but sooner or later she was going to get used to being held by the other without expecting to get thrown or something. Seeing as this was clearly the lesser of two evils, the alternative being having a bunch of strangers rough her up a little, she promptly buried herself against Rulue, minimizing how much she stick out by laying the side of her head against Rulue's chest. She hadn't intended to cower in Rulue's arms today, but she had been invited and she... She did kind of want to be open with the other about her feelings, now that they were trying to be close again. Rulue needed to get to know the new Arle now that she'd had some time to grow up at a distance from the other.

And then, just when the sounds of panicked footsteps began to pass, the subtle sound of an empty stomach growling reached Arle's ears. ...Had that been Rulue or her? She honestly wasn't sure, but she was soon released and sheepishly smiled at the other before turning upon the parading food. For a moment she wondered if she should object to eating something that was alive, on the grounds that she'd been on the receiving end of that far too many times. She quickly disregarded this however. If she kept worrying about how her enemies felt she'd wind up a pacifist--and then where would she be? Probably in Satan's dungeon somewhere, knowing her luck.

"...I could eat~!" Arle remarked, eyeing the tiny sentient food soldiers with intent. Arle anounced her intentions by striking a much less intimidating fighting pose and leveling an accusing finger at the even less intimidating enemies. "Let's..!"

(You may make up to three grapple rolls on the food warriors, with each success raising the difficulty of the next roll. First roll: 10+, Second, 13+, Third, 16+. If you grapple them, you may consume them for a 12% heal or gift them to Arle if you're feeling generous. She'll be having a much harder time succeeding those roles.)

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"...have our lunch!"

With no extra words, Rulue dashed forward, ready to eat food. Well, sentient food, but it didn't matter now, did it?  The Fighting Queen went up and tried to grab some of the food warriors...

2AWpWtXfp_1d20+4(Oh, okay.)
p_1d20+4(Rulue's being quite the lucky girl.)
p_1d20+4(There it is again!)

Rulue managed to scoop up 3 of the food warriors. She gently hurled two of them to Arle. "Don't hesitate to call for my help now~" Rulue said to Arle before she feasted on the remaining food on her grasp. "Hmhm, not bad." She commented nonchalantly. Was she trying to intimidate the rest of the living food or just making a harmless comment?1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+4

[Mari]

viiswMVmp_1d20-3 (Arle's food hunting skills)
p_1d20-3 (Arle's food hunting skills)
p_1d20-3 (Arle's food hunting skills)

The skirt quickly advanced with Rulue, provoking the edible terrorists to raise their utensils in self-defense! However, they were no match for Rulue and several found themselves being plucked from the ground, often dropping their 'weapons' as their weak arms were pinned to their sides. A bunch of tiny food people screams were heard as several of their squad were plucked from their numbers. Meanwhile, Arle scrambled to try and catch a few of her own only to receive a mostly harmless but very annoying jab at her hand with a fork for trying, followed by another. How as she supposed to get a grip on them while they were poking her with forks and knives?! Arle's cheeks began glowing a nice tint of pink as she found herself embarrassed by her own incompetence, but her frustration was quickly quelled as Rulue tossed her a bell pepper and a toasted dinner roll. ...As embarassing as it was to be made a fool of, they were a team and this quickly made her feel better about not being able to catch any herself. "Seems like I need it, ehehe~"

Then, as Rulue popped the slice of pizza into her mouth and ate it, a chorus of screams was heard amongst the sentient food. "She ate Greg!" one particularly upset potato remarked. Nearby, Arle brought the bell pepper to her lips with interest, only for it to shout at her. "Wait, don't kiss me! I'm married!" the bell pepper protested, holding up his arms to shield his face in protest. Arle just sort of hesitated a moment to give the bell pepper an incredulous look. ...There were so many things wrong with that statement... "And besides, you're kind of gross! No offense. Not into humans." the bell pepper went on to remark, in a matter o' fact tone, earning himself a glare. That comment had probably not been in his best interest. "...Gross?" Arle questioned in mild irritation, barring her teeth in a toothy smile. "Well I think you're tasty, so let's see about getting you into me~!" Arle retorted. ...Really? Are you proud of that sentence, Arle? You're going to summon ghosts! ...Or worse, Junko! Arle promptly gobbled up the bell pepper in one swift movement. Huh. So that was what terror tasted like! The nearby dinner roll Arle was holding cried out. "No! You ate my husband!" it shouted, eliciting a bemused look from Arle.

"...You're a girl?"
"Can't you tell??"
"Um... Nnnno?"
"...I knew I should have worn my fake eyelashes."
"You have eyes??"
"Yes, they're right above my mouth. I'm a very beautiful dinner roll you know!"
" . . . "
" . . . You're missing the point you horrible witch! I'm never going to see my husband again!!"
"...Yes you are."

And before the manzai could continue any father, Arle abruptly devoured the dinner roll.

Meanwhile... "Loyal warriors of truth, do not allow this bimbo to frighten you! We shall retrieve our compatriots and make examples of them! CHAAARGE!" a tiny bundle of grapes wearing a tiny red berret called out in his heroicly itty bitty voice before rushing Rulue with a spork, drawing Arle's ire with his words. She rushed to intercept the grape and this time managed to intercept him, bending over and plucking him from the ground by the stem, as well as a sushi roll, which she quickly consumed before it could even protest. She held back from immediately eating the grape however. casually relieving him of his spork. She then promptly moved to hold the grape terrorist over Rulue, immitating a certain cliche.

"...My lady? *Snerk* May I feed you these grapes~? *Giggle*"

Arle was just barely holding back a wave of laughter, squirming with a sudden case of the giggles. Was her ironic chivalry just that funny to her, or was there a joke she wasn't letting Rulue in on?

p_1d20+4 (Arle's Intimidation Attempt)

...A kielbasa recoiled at the sight of one of his generals being humiliated by a giggling schoolgirl. Suddenly the idea that maybe they couldn't win sunk into his... brain that he may or may not actually have. "SCATTER! WE LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY!" the kielbasa shouted before turning tail and sprinting away from the scene, followed quickly by the other food terrorists. They all went in different directions, attempting to lose the girls.

There were quite a few stores they'd need to search if they wanted to root out the terrorist foodstuffs. Also noteworthy, a random goomba that didn't seem to have been scared off like everyone else.

He looks rather lost, but seems to have zero interest in getting in the girl's way.

((Rulue! For each food terrorist you've eaten, you may later heal yourself for 10% damage at any time during the mission!))

The Food Intruders
5 out of 12 "captured"

Areas they're hiding in:
JP's Game Palace (2: Banana & Blueberry Muffin)
Victoria's Secret (2: Celery Stick & Spaghetti)
Movie Theater (2: Potato & Apple)
Dressfarm (1: Kielbasa)

1d20-3·1d20-3·1d20-3·1d20+4

[TheSpatialWeeg]

...Did that living grape just call her a bimbo? That insult would infuriate Rulue already under normal circumstances, but when a fruit ends up doing that, saying that Rulue was 'enraged' would be the understatement of the ever-lasting century. Before she could even grab and squash the grape with her bare hands, Arle had nabbed that nasty fruit and offered it to her, all while trying to suppress laughter. While she didn't catch the joke, laugh was surely contagious. The Fighting Queen found herself trying to stifle a giggle of her own.

"My sincerest thanks." Rulue joined in on the 'chivalry' and grabbed the living grape. As she looked at it, one could see fire on her eyes. "...So then, you think I'm a bimbo, huh?" Rulue asked rhetorically to the 'terrorist' as she yanked a part of it's 'body' before playing with it a bit. "You know, you talk big for something that shouldn't even have a will of it's own." she soon continued, popping the bit of the grape terrorist she held on her hand before...gobbling the whole fruit terrorist in its entirety. "If I had all the time of the world, I'd rip you apart one by one and slowly consume you, but guess I'll settle with having my stomach acid dealing with you." the Fighting Queen sighed before noticing the rest of the living food escape.

"I figured they would do something like that." Rulue noted, maybe referring to the fact they split up. "I guess it's better for us to split up as well. I'll go over to that...'Game Palace' thing. It...doesn't look like a palace..." Rulue said before storming off to the video game shop. 

[Mari]

The grape terrorist began helplessly whacking at Rulue's hand as he was grabbed. With arms that tiny, it really just didn't amount to much. "You wanna piece 'a me, ya' ditzy broad?! You don't have the guts!" the grape taunted rather single-mindedly before vanishing as he was consumed. "...Wow, that was an... was a really specific choice of last stupid words." the mage remarked rather flatly, only to choke on a giggle. "Rulue wait--! Pfff..." Arle blurted out, clutching her abdomen. One could only imagine now where this laughter was coming from ...Big mystery, really. Apparently, Arle was ticklish. The mage caught her breath for a moment as she tried to fight the urge to laugh. Before we split up. Dia--*Gigglesnort* Ohmygod. ...Diacu--*Gigglewince* ...Diacute!" Arle struggled out, finally managing to incant a spell without laughing. A single charge of diacute graced Rulue's being for her to use if anything ever got out of hand ...Though, one had to muse that Arle's laughter might put her in a vulnerable position given that she needed her voice to fight. Still, she was probably fine on her own, right?

Off in the distance, an arcade themed video game store awaited Rulue. The screens were alive, demonstrating the newest Life Sphere games to hit the market. Was that an action game called Li Heroes? It had a lot of seemingly famous playable characters.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue looked at Arle as she was apparently coming close to having a giggle-fit. Honestly, she was just as lost as before, but the gigglesnort uttered by the sorceress succeeded in making the fighting queen laugh. Regardless of such, she was granted a charge of Diacute. "Hey, thanks, Arle~" Rulue said before making her way towards the Game Palace.

...It didn't take too long for everything to catch Rulue's eyes. Everything looked so...different from what she was used to. It was almost tempting to see what was this whole sorcery before she tried to concentrate on the matters at hand. She was going to check those 'video games' later, there was sentient food to hunt and eliminate! "Now...where did they go..." Rulue muttered, looking around the game "palace" for the escapees. 

[Mari]

"Is it... safe?" a rather nasally man's voice asked from nearby. A rather harmless looking nerd peeked out from behind the counter, stopping for a moment to quietly admire Rulue's appearance. Judging by the name tag on his shirt, he was JP--the shop's owner. "Nnnyerherher~ Wow, there's a hot babe. In my store. I can't believe this, and neither will anyone else unless I get a picture. Francis will be so jealous..." the nerd went on to murmur, oblivious to the fact that he could be overheard. Rather abruptly, a tiny voice called out from nearby.

"Hey, I found a giant robot!" a talking banana announced rather matter-o-factly. Of course, this 'giant' robot was only giant by his standards. It was actually only slightly bigger than a normal human, a fact that would become obvious as the hulking robot stepped into view. "NOOO!! My realistic life-sized fully autonamous Cyber Akuma action figure! That's worth more than your house!" the nerd blurted out in alarm, all but lunging over the counter to dramatically reach in the robot's general direction. "...I don't have a house." the banana replied rather flatly. "It's worth more than your car!!" JP called out, still making a point to be overly dramatic. "Don't have a car either." the banana once again replied in the same flat tone. "It's... worth more than your favorite game console!!" the nerd cried out, now stumbling for a comparison. "...Still don't have a house." the banana replied, eliciting a horrified gasp from JP. "Plebian! Remove yourself form this sanctuary of gaming!" the nerd called out, apparently offended at the notion that the banana did not have a game console. This was promptly met with a rocket fist soaring at his face, eliciting a girly scream from the nerd who promptly dropped into a fetal position and hid behind the counter again. The banana and his newfound super fighting robot then turned to Rulue and they both struck a pose. The banana was, of course, resting on the robot's shoulder.

"Hey~ I look pretty good perched on this robot don't I~?"

...Was that banana flirting with Rulue? Suddenly, the blueberry muffin came running out. She was holding a power cord in her tiny arms that attached to the robot's back. "...Dude! She ate our friends!" the muffin complained, apparently the straight 'man' between them. "Yeah, and? I'm a banana! One does not simply eat a banana. You can't. It's like kissing your elbow." the banana scolded in response, apparently not having any of this logic stuff. "Ugh... Why did I let you talk me into this? How are you even going to date her? How is any of that going to work? Are you going to eat food with her?" the muffin went on to ask with audible disgust in her voice. " . . . Shut up and have my back, Jessica." the banana would reply after a moment's silence before returning his attention to Rulue.

"How about you and me split this joint and forget all this banonsense~?" the banana asked. One would just have to imagine the stupid grin on his face, as he certainly sounded proud of that.

((Rulue! ...That robot looks kind of threatening. You might want to be wary about approaching it in any threatening way. However, if you manage to get close enough without threatening it or it's master, you might be able to quickly KO the banana.))

The Food Intruders
5 out of 12 "captured"

Areas they're hiding in:
JP's Game Palace (2: Banana & Blueberry Muffin)
Victoria's Secret (2: Celery Stick & Spaghetti)
Movie Theater (2: Potato & Apple)
Dressfarm (1: Kielbasa)