fandomhigh | Public Service - On the Edge, Monday, Period 2

Class this week was once again held in the Danger Shop, with the students up on the cliff in the desert, overlooking Edge down below. Reno was standing right on the outcropping of that cliff, next to a table that looked decidedly out of place in this particular sim, and today he had a bit of a smug grin. And some company.

"Yo, Rookies," he greeted, once it looked like everyone was settled. "Feel good to know who the hell you are again? This place, right? And just in time to come back to see my smilin' face on a Monday morning, yo. It's okay if you wanna applaud. I'll wait."

If anything but a small patch of yellow flowers grew out in this desert, this would be where the tumbleweed would have rolled through. Or where people applauded, if his students actually cared to.

“Ooooh, they look so young!” Standing next to Reno was a badly-dressed young woman who seemed extra-fond of bright colors and bouncing on her toes. “Hi, everyone, I’m Rikku and I’m totally helping out with class today. Maybe other classes, too! I mean, like, maybe future weeks of this class. I’m not just gonna be dropping into your other classes all randomly. Although that’d be fun.”

Yes, she was always like this. Sometimes, it was even worse.

"Watch out," Reno chuckled. "Now she's gonna audit all your classes. But today, she's here because next week I'm plannin' on taking you all on your first actual trip to Edge, and there's a few safety protocols I wanna go over with you guys. Since, you know, Edge is crawlin' with nasties - I mentioned there are monsters, I mean that in a real literal way - and I'd rather none of you get eaten by anything from a dog to a demon-possessed friggin' motorbike this semester."

No, he was not kidding. Did he mention that his world was a special place? It was. Edge: Super special.

“So I made armor!” Rikku announced, in the tone you might expect for someone baking cookies. “I didn’t know who would want what, so there are a few different options at, like, different levels. Some of you just might need a nudge in case things get bad, and others might want as much protection as possible. It’s okay. Take as much as you think you’re gonna need, because it’s way better to be over-protected than under, you know?”

"I don't want any of you kids gettin' in shit while we're in Edge," Reno added, "so I'm makin' it mandatory to put this stuff on before we go. You don't like it, you stay behind. You got somethin' better you'd rather wear, run it by me first. You got a weapon you want to bring along, run that by me, too. This isn't a 'beat up monsters' class, though, and it ain't in the Danger Shop, so any shit you get in out there? It'll be real."

“Don’t worry,” Rikku said calmly. “Reno won’t let anything happen to you. He just means, don’t go picking fights because you think maybe that monster looks like something you can take, you know? So there’s armor, and if, like, anybody has special requests, armor-wise? You can totally ask me. I can do all kinds of cool stuff, so if you need, like, extra protection against lightning or to make sure you don’t pass out, just give me a heads-up.”

It was a shame that some ingredients were so freaking hard to find, or else she would have made everyone the Super Extra Protect level of armor. Considering Fandom, though, they’d be okay.

"Once you get your armor," Reno said, "I'm gonna let you have a turn at the three types of things you might run into out there that'll try to kill you, just so you know how friggin' important it is to stick to the group. There might be different monsters the closer we get to Midgar, but for most of Edge, it's gonna be the desert fare." He gave a nod, and the Danger Shop shimmered three different figures into view. "We got Kalm Fangs, which I guess most of you would probably think of as more like wolves. They'll bodycheck you, or they'll bite you, and they're pretty easily taken down with fire, if you got anything like that on hand. Devil Rides are probably gonna freak some of you out a bit. Motorbikes with no rider, and they want nothin' more than to run you over. They ain't invincible by any means, but there's no easy way to off 'em if you ain't a fighter. You spot one, you come back to the group and I'll take care of it myself."

The last of the three figures? Was just a man in a mask, standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"And you ain't gonna like this one," Reno said, finally. "Prowlers are roaming thieves that'll get the jump on anyone who gets too close to the edge of... Edge. They won't hesitate to tackle you, take anything of value they can get their hands on, and take off. The wolves and the bikes, I trust you can handle. But straight-up bein' mugged in the middle of class is why I'm sayin' right now, the smallest our group sizes get if we split up is gonna be half-and-half, and you're all gonna have my phone number so I can come runnin' to bail you out if somethin' goes bad."

There was no arguing with this point. Reno's expression was more serious than most of his students had probably ever seen it.

"So, I want all of you to take a look at this armor that Rikku's rigged up. Talk to her if you need anything specific. And then, if you think you're a fighter, I want you to show me what you can do against any or all three of the enemies we got lined up here. If you're not, work on water filtration plans for the rest of class, let's see if we can figure out what we're gonna need to look for once we hit Edge next week."

“And if anybody mugs you,” Rikku said, “you let me know so I can go steal it back.” She was totally a thief, you guys. It was what she did.

[OOC: Open! Co-written with the lovely

the_merriest this week, yay!]

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Sentient motorbikes. O...kay. "Don't suppose they'll run away if I find a screwdriver to throw at them," Four muttered.

"Not if you throw it at them," Rikku chirped, helpfully, "but there are patrol droids you can disable if you pull out a few key screws and let the whole thing collapse. The key is to be quick about it. I don't know if you could dismantle enough of this thing in one go before it hits you with the wheel."

"I'm pretty good with my hands," Four said, "but that might be pushing it. What's the fastest way to getting rid of these without a weapon?"

"Without a weapon?" Rikku asked. "Punch it. Or kick it, if you're more the kicking type. Pick it up and drop it. Try to find a vulnerable spot and aim your fist there. See if you can break something important."

"Here's hoping I don't end up with a broken hand," Four said with a wry smile.

"If you do, I've got potions," Rikku chirped.

Four blinked. "Like medicine?"

"Like medicine, but better," she said. "Magic stuff. Oh, right. If your world doesn't have magic, um, magic's real and I have potions that do awesome healing-things. I mean, we're in the Danger Shop anyway, but just in case you need 'em."

"I'll keep that in mind," Four said. "Thanks."

The motorbike was idling in place while it waited for Four to finish his conversation with Rikku. The Danger Shop would allow him that much grace. But the moment it seemed as though he was finished, the thing revved its engine and went peeling toward him, flying up on one wheel and intending to smash the front tire down on his head.

Gaia's monsters didn't tend to half-ass this sort of thing.

"What the hell," Four muttered, then remembered Rikku's advice, and aimed a hard kick at the...headlight looking thing.

Technical term.

Well, ow. The Devil Ride certainly hadn't seen that coming, and pulled away, skidding to a halt a few feet away, idling in place as its own weird arms revved the engine. There was a crack in the headlight, which it wasn't terribly pleased about, but it didn't seem entirely keen on giving up just yet.

It drove back around, trying to pull a full circle around Four, and then came plowing for him again, abruptly turning at the last minute and leaning far to one side, attempting to knock Four's legs out from under him as it skidded his way across the ground.

Four's faction got around by jumping on and off of moving trains (because that was smart), so he was quick on his feet.

He leaped over the Devil Ride, waited for it to come at him again, and wondered if this would be easier if he rode it like some kind of bull.

It might be! It would also serve the dual purpose of amusing the hell out of Reno.

The bike slid until it was aware that Four had moved, and then its wheels spun underneath it, pulling it back upright as it attempted to just rush Four, head-on.

"Here goes nothing," Four said with a little huff of breath as he prepared to jump onto the bike. Timing had to be right....right...now!

...and now he was on it. Great. What was the second part of this plan?

Good question! A better question might be, 'had the trains Four jumped onto ever actively tried to buck him off like an angry bull suddenly finding itself with an unwelcome rider?'

Because that was what the Devil Ride was doing now. So many wheelies and spin-outs, trying to throw this new weight from its back. So many.

Well the tracks hadn't exactly been repaired, but they didn't have this kind of dedication behind it, either.

"Stop moving!" Four grunted, punching at whatever looked vaguely important before he could inadvertently go to Plan B: throwing up all over the thing.

Oof, hey. Motorbikes from hell weren't for punching, Four. But there was a good swing in there that hit it on one of the arms that reached up from the seat to the handlebar, and the bike jerked and twisted, skidding out again and... attempting to swat Four right back, with that skinny purple-red limb.

It had never had a driver before. That wasn't how this was supposed to go!

"No hitting," Four scolded, ripping the purple-red limb off.

Ever hear a demon-possessed motorcycle scream, Four?

There was probably a first for everything. The second arm flailed about wildly, attempting to claw or grab or throw Four from its back. It was not pleased with the way this was going. Not at all.

Four, face grimaced up in distance, kept bashing away with the arm...thing.

Of the motorcycle.

How was this his life.

It didn't take too long for the arm-bashing to get the better of the bike. Its trashing and spinning out started to slow, and then pause entirely from time to time.

And then the bike just dropped, flickered a little, and then just faded away.

... Leaving a little glowing vial on the ground in its wake.

Welcome to the wonderful world of item drops, Four.

Four poked at the vial curiously with his boot, just in case it was going to try to leap up and kill him.

Maybe this was a potion Rikku was talking about?

Public Service - On the Edge, Monday, Period 2

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