Realistic or Modern Mascot Wars

[GhastlySquash]

​

At the Plymouth County Recreation Center, it was unusually quiet. The place had been closed off and black suburban suvs blocked the parking lot flagged by men in black suits and glasses. There was serious business to attend to after all.

Each of the candidates had been given a private flyer with directions to meet and to come alone without their costume. As far as anyone was concerned, they were suppose to sneak in although how they'd accomplish that was hard to prove.

Inside the stadium, an older man was waiting, flanked by a delightfully yellow bumblebee mascot. The famous Spelling Bee was still in costume, taking the free time to practice her moves while they waited for the new candidates to arrive.

"So I heard we have two delightful newcomers. A cuddly teddy bear and a...hmmm...seems like our other friend changes a lot doesn't he?"

"Yes, Spelling Bee, but shouldn't be too hard to train them, yeah?" The old man chuckled. "Fresh agents are a good thing. Means there's people that care for this town enough to take on a job like this."

"Well I for one am ecstatic to meet them!" Spelling Bee held her appendage up high. "My first group of trainees. I wonder how they'll react..."

"Once they arrive, you'll be free to drop the act." The man smiled. "Be good to get out of that suit, huh?"

"Never thought I'd do it in front of strangers." Spelling Bee mused. "To undress and reveal myself. My, what a delightful spectacle these pupils will get to experience."

 

[waifu]

CHIAKI​

"Uuuu... This seems impossible..."

Chiaki peered through the bushes surrounding the school's entrance. The instructions given to her were clear: she had to infiltrate the academy without being noticed. There were strange men blocking the school gate, she counted at least fifteen of them from her spot. They were accompanied by their vehicles and sported a unified look.

Chiaki was immediately overwhelmed with fear. Was it even possible for her to accomplish this task? She had no choice but to try. It would be a shame to turn back now. "I-I need to try my best," she reminded herself after a while with clenched fists. She considered all her options and decided to seek an alternate route to break into the school.

She slowly rose up on one knee, only to go back to hiding again the next second. Maybe she should just go home. She couldn't do this after all. Chiaki could feel her heart beating fast. She clutched her chest and began sobbing uncontrollably. This was all too nerve-wrecking for her. "Z....Y....X....X?...W......" Chiaki began reciting the alphabet backwards with tears running down her face. This was one of the many stress management techniques she used in her daily life.

 

[cinnabuns]

K A S A I ​

Supposed to sneak in without her costume....

Kasai walked around the entirety of the school, listening to her music in her headphones as she went. How was she gonna get in here? Well, it wasn't anything to worry about. She'd find some way. They had to have found some sneaky entrances for the mascots to get in, especially with the way they had the front closed off with men in black suits.

Kasai took off her headphones and turned down her loud rock music, looking around more at her surroundings, and suddenly, when she focused, she saw something. She peered, seeing someone in the bushes. Instead of making it obvious, Kasai decided to go around the building once more, heading into the bushes to speak to the person hiding in there, hearing her sob the closer she got to her. Oh, man. She had to help somehow, this was her thing.

"Hey, sweetheart, are you--..." Something about this person seemed really familiar. Kasai kneeled down, making sure there was space between the two so the girl wouldn't feel crowded. And that's when it hit her. This was definitely Chiaki. To think she was going to send the girl another letter after orientation! Well, now she could give it to her in person. Kasai took her keys out of her pocket, holding out the recent key chain Chiaki had gifted her in the mail to make sure the girl recognized her.

"Hey, hey. Do you need some help?"

[ waifu ]​

 

[Mykinkaiser]

A R I S U
​

The roar of Arisu's motorcycle could be heard long before she could actually be seen. She had of course, in her usual brash style, entirely ignored the directions about sneaking into the school and instead opted to just bumrush the front door. Didn't matter how she got there if she got there right?

Upon spotting that the parking lot was blocked off by SUVs Arisu momentarily skidded to a halt, appraising the situation momentarily through the tinted visor of her helmet. However, she soon shrugged and revved her bike once more, showcasing its impressive acceleration as she tore off towards an embankment in front of the parking lot wall with a couple of bushes at the base. Not slowing down at all, Arisu ramped her bike off the edge of the embankment, noticing the figures of two people below her bike as she took to the air and sailed over the wall, not forgetting to let out a loud woop of excitement that didn't fit her small frame in the process.

Landing her bike expertly, Arisu wasted no time in flipping the suited men and gunning for the stadium, relying on the fantastic acceleration and top speed of her street bike to outpace any pursuers while laughing like a madman. This was the kind of thing she lived for, the fast-paced electronic music pumping through her earbuds only serving to heighten her adrenaline and excitement.

Skidding to a halt in front of the stadium she unmounted her bike and dropped the kickstand before pulling off her helmet, letting her long orange hair fall free. With that she strode over to the door and kicked it open with a loud bang.

"ALRIGHT YOU FUCKS, I'M HERE!" She roared, again at a volume entirely unexpected from someone her size, a wide mocking grin adorning her face, "WHAT'S NEXT EH?"

[ cinnabuns waifu GhastlySquash ]​

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Yuuta
Interactions/Mentions: GhastlySquash waifu cinnabuns Mykinkaiser It had been about three hours now... three painstaking hours of lookout and carefully planned movement had led him to his current position. A cautiously orchestrated play, each moment crafted planned to the fullest extent.

The purple-haired teen had been walking through the streets of the mid-sector to the city. As he had been moving towards the upper-sector he was immediately ambushed by a man in full business attire... minus a pair of pitch-black sunglasses. Naturally, his initial reaction was to pull back in fear- but that reaction appeared severely muted or dampened as he responded by simply blinking at the new figure. Around this time a flyer had been thrust into his hand before the figure disappeared back down the alleyway. That had been about three hours and twenty minutes ago, and that had been an easy enough situation to explain... the current one- not so much. Originally he had planned to come in just his standard clothing and walk up to the meeting spot- but with the copious amount of guards, that would be nearly impossible to do.

Instead, a decent-sized object slowly shuffled forward. The bushes where it had likely emerged had a few leaves sprinkled on the grass nearby as silently the shape crept forward a little more. The rectangular silhouette seemed to be gaining just close to an inch each time it moved- surprisingly silent at that. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that this item was a large cardboard box. Along the side of this biodegradable package had been the words "The Peach" printed in uppercase along with a black banner, the banner and words had been placed atop what seemed to be a peach-like shape on the outside of the box. A fruit box that had been created entirely of pasteboard and corrugated paper (Recycled paper of course). But... Why was it here, and why did it move?

Within his peculiar confides was Yuuta, the aforementioned teen, who slowly began to creep through the tiniest gap he could find in the perimeters defenses. After a moment he heard what seemed to be a quiet whimpering, did someone get hurt on their way here? If so... he would need to help them immediately. But before he could manage to shift himself from within the box, the low roar of an engine began to hastily approach. "Did they call for back-up? No. There hasn't even been a fight yet... why would they?" Peeking out from the box, Yuuta managed to see what could only be described as an individual finding their destination with reckless abandon. Silhouetted against the light, the image of the flying bike and was pretty awesome... but it didn't seem to have a rider? Squinting his eyes, and straining for a moment, revealed the outline of a small individual- perhaps they were a younger daredevil?

Shaking his head for a moment, he realized the more important matter at hand. He still had yet to reach the building and that flying figure had already been making their way far beyond what he had done himself. If recklessness got you quick results... then perhaps he needed to act a little more reckless. With that, "The Peach" box rose from the ground sprouting a portion of the boy's legs in a rather comical fashion. He began to move forward, maneuvering around the ring of SUV's that served as a barrier. Taking great care to bob up and down to avoid the sight-line of as many guards as he could. As he did this an odd feeling washed over him, a curious sense of inner peace. 'I feel... safe in this. As if I'm meant to be here. Almost like... happiness?' He quickly dashed the thought from his mind, no way in hell he'd attain true happiness from running around with a cardboard box on his head. That would be ludicrous.

After moving to, what he assumed, the best infiltration point he hunkered down once more and stilled his breathing, a bead of hot sweat trickled down his brow. If nothing else, the box was unnaturally good at trapping in the heat. He watched as the biker kid moved towards the door, the moment their foot rose from the ground would be his moment. 'Now!' his mind screamed as he sprung up, the box was sent flying as any nearby guards would be alerted to his presence. He could almost hear a sharp sound of exclamation, a small scream of pitch calling out from somewhere above their head. No time for that now, instead, the boy sprinted after the freshly blazed trail of the biker. The distance was closing quickly, but he was out in the open now- stuck in what could become the crossfire from dozens of troops. Stealth was out of the equation for the moment, but perhaps he could duck around a corner and mask himself within the recreation center? All of it would be for nothing if he couldn't reach the door in the first place, a single thought passed through his mind 'Legs... don't fail me now-'.​

 

[GhastlySquash]

Entity.Eclypse Mykinkaiser

Few had ever dared to use a stunt jump as a strategy for stealth. But even fewer had accomplished such a feat to use it as a distraction. The guards screamed in surprise as the motorcycle sailed over their heads.

"What the hell! What kind of lunatic is this!" One of them motioned, jumping on all fours. There was no time however to react to the motorcycle as a second person ran in, wearing a box? The guards were split between the two.

One guard attempted to tackle the boy, but alas he was too fast.

In the end, both of them made it into the door, much to the surprise of their bumblebee coach.

"Oh? Well...this is a surprise to be sure."


cinnabuns waifu

As for the other two, the momentary distraction had passed and now the guards were scrambling to retain formation at the front. However, the commotion had also attracted any guards from the back, leaving a perfect entry way for the two to take.

 

[waifu]

Chiaki's tears momentarily ceased as she heard someone call out to her. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision and noticed a girl with a striking outfit crouched down in front of her. She was caught off guard and stepped back a little. Was she one of them? Was she going to kidnap her, cut her into very little pieces, and spread them around these bushes?! Was this school even worth her life? Chiaki's heart started racing again, until she set her eyes on the stranger's keys; a familiar keychain dangled in front of her. It was the small goblin keychain she had spent nights making not too long ago, she only made one of those, so there was no mistaking it. Chiaki's eyes widened in sudden realization. Wait, that calm voice... She recalled hearing it many times before.

Kasai?

Chiaki wiped her nose with her sleeve and smiled meekly in an attempt to gather herself. "I-I'm okay, thank you..."

She had a habit of talking too softly when she got shy. She caught herself in the act and cleared her throat before speaking again. "I'm happy to finally meet you, Kasai... I didn't know you also applied for this academy. That makes me really happy. Actually, you kind of helped m-" She was drowned out by sounds of a girl on a loud motorcycle that flew over them both. Chiaki watched in horror and awe as the scene further escalated to more shouting and violence. Chiaki covered her gasp with both her hands as a stealthy box entered the scene in front of her; her knees wobbling uncontrollably.


This was undoubtedly the final nail in the coffin. The commotion in front of them was probably big enough to alert all the guards to come to the front gates of the school, they were all soon going to be caught, and she was going to fail her entrance exam and disappoint her family. Unable to handle anymore stress, Chiaki glanced at Kasai one last time before finally losing conscious and falling in her direction.

cinnabuns Mykinkaiser Entity.Eclypse GhastlySquash

 

[cinnabuns]

K A S A I ​

Oh, geez.

It looked like Kasai had managed to freak out Chiaki even further until, finally, the girl got out of her head and noticed the keychain. Kasai was mildly relieved as Chiaki wiped her face with her sleeve and seemed to calm down a bit.

Kasai's eyes softened as Chiaki spoke up, happy she'd turned off her music. Thankfully she was able to hear her, even when the girl shifted between speaking at a normal tone and then a much softer one. This was surprisingly how she imagined Chiaki to speak from their letters. She'd watched her content, but this was different, seeing her under the mask.

Kasai tilted her head as she heard a loud sound from behind them, and when she looked up, a loud exclamation came from a motorcycle above them, sailing over the men in the front and into the school.

Now that was quite a baller entrance, she had to say, but Kasai had a feeling Chiaki wouldn't like it too much.

When Kasai looked to Chiaki, the girl was covering her mouth, gasping as she saw something else. Kasai followed her gaze to...someone in a box? They must have been trying to find their way in as well, weren't they? That wasn't too scary, wasn't it?

"Man. There's a lot going on around here, right Chiaki--"

She caught eyes with the other girl right before Chiaki fainted, falling forward. Kasai instinctively put her hands out, catching the much smaller girl before she hit the ground - although it wasn't that much of a drop, Kasai still didn't want the girl to be hurt.

"Oh, man. Poor thing." Kasai mumbled, shifting so that the girl was practically on her back. The pink-haired girl checked the number of guards, nothing with satisfaction that the guards from the back were now all in the front, meaning the two of them definitely had an opening now, thanks to the wild girl on the motorcycle.

"C'mon, Chiaki. It's you and me now, yeah?" She chuckled, moving them in the bushes closer to the back, before standing up and rushing forward, Chiaki still unconscious during her piggyback ride. Kasai could hear some of the guards yelling, but they had left too good of an opening for her to resist...!

She closed the door behind her and Chiaki with a satisfied sigh.

"There. See, we did it." Kasai spoke smoothly as she continued walking towards the stadium, unsure if Chiaki could actually hear her or not.

"That must have been a little scary for you though, right? It's okay."

Hell, Kasai was pretty good at talking to herself, anyway. It was fine.

[ waifu , Mentions: Mykinkaiser , Entity.Eclypse ]​

 

[GhastlySquash]

It appeared the rest of the candidates had finally arrived. Holding her arms up, Spelling Bee screamed. "Welcome all! You made it past the first test!"

"And what a test it was?" She began to pace back and forth. The emotionless head of the cartoonish bee seemed to be staring into all of their souls like a cop interrogating a group of suspects. Her pace was measured, each step taken into a direction closer to the candidates. "The life of a mascot is no easy feat. If you become popular, people will try to unmask you. Grandiose stunts like that."

Turning to the guards around her, she made a gesture with her arm as the blinds were closed and the doors locked.

"As your coach, it is a sacred tradition to unmask myself. This creates trust through solidarity, solidarity through identity that is. Just as I will never unveil you to a competitor, you shall do the same to me. Even if we see each other in the streets, we cannot wave high or act as if we are any more than strangers. Of course, previous friendships should remain the same. Suspicion is the biggest weakness we as mascots can attract."

Carefully, there was a hiss as Spelling Bee reached for her head, slowly lifting it up to reveal a human face underneath.

The girl underneath had done her hair in braids. Her face looked friendly. Cheerful. The kind of face of a girl who loved to spend the outdoors in. In fact, it didn't seem too far off.

That was...until she spoke in a thick country accent. "Alright Y'all...now that the guise is up, Ah' can get rid of that stupid accent."

Her eyes immediately turned to Arisa. "Ah' luv me some evel knievel type shit but going on ramps and riding into the sunset is the surest way some no good banditto is going to follow yer' trail motorhead.

She turned to the purple haired boy. "Usin' them boxes is pretty darn clever, boy. But ain't gonna save ya' if them video game rustlers figure it out."

Finally, she stopped at the two remaining candidates. "And ah've met cows with more courage than these two hidin' in the bushes like a bunch of sissies. Reckon y'all can just take advantage of them opportunities huh? Well guess what, ya' certainly can! But what happens when there isn't no gold at the end of the river. Ya'll gonna be stuck in the woods with jack and shit. Guess what, neither do y'all no good."

She crossed her arms. "Y'all probably heard how this works. But Ah' was sent for a reason. Seein' as half of ya' lack guts while half is gonna spill guts, reckon Ah'm the one to straighten y'all out into proper mascots."

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Yuuta
Interactions/Mentions: GhastlySquash Mykinkaiser cinnabuns waifu Entering the building had been... easier than he would've expected. With this, he moved a little further in before tucking himself against a nearby wall, to which the box shifted, and he realized a small error in his plan. He hadn't actually thrown the box at the guards, which explained the surprising amount of heat surrounding him. "Well, at least the guards don't know how I look..." He muttered under his breath before lifting the box off his body and setting it beside him. Looking back towards the rest of the room he immediately spotted the little daredevil who'd come in before him. Surprisingly enough, she was far shorter than he'd expected. Granted he'd only seen her a short time as she flew through the air atop a motorbike.

The sound of doors slamming shut behind him was enough incentive to turn and see what was approaching, another figure closed into their position. It seemed that they were carrying another person with them, had they been injured on their way here? Before he could even offer assistance, the sounds of another voice yelling drew his attention. His eyes focussed on this individual almost instantly, it was none other than Spelling Bee. The general aura that came from the mascot was unnerving, it seemed as though they were trying to peer into secrets that he held onto. His vision sharpened on the yellow insectoid as she spoke, especially when she made a motion to the guards within the room. Looking around, he watched as they were closed off from the outside world. Trapped in a cage of mystery.

As he was doing this, he began to notice something strange about the other contestants. All of them were, assumedly, female and the only other males in the room may have been the surrounding guards and the one beneath the costume. Shortly after this idea was crushed, and Yuuta remained the black sheep. He didn't have time to dwell on that situation, instead, he would take solace in being surrounded by a bunch of cute girls. With that, he pulled himself from his thoughts to focus his attention on Spelling Bee's statements.

This resolve was shaken for a moment when the beginning of her accent shone through, so much so that he had to hear her speak again before believing that to truly be her. He listened carefully as she went on chastising each member for their method of entry. When she pointed out his own, a slight smile teased the corner of his lips and his arms loosened from a crossed position. He accompanied this with a nod of acknowledgment, respectively agreeing with the recently unmasked individual. The words that had been chosen were a bit... off-putting at first. It was an odd bout of slang, most of which were unfamiliar to him. But, overall she seemed to want to help them rather than harm them.

Yuuta waited for their coach to finish speaking before moving a bit closer to the rest of the contenders, more aptly the pink-haired one with one of the other members hoisted on her back. Despite moving closer, he kept a fair distance from each of them for personal space reasons and what-not. "Hey, It looks like your friend there might be a little worse-for-wear. Are both of you alright?" He questioned calmly, offering a small smile towards the piggybacking duo. While figuring out what was expected from them was important, it felt a little wasted if some of the members were unable to take it in. To that same point, it would be a bit cheaty to withhold that information from them as well.​

 

[waifu]

Chiaki woke up to Kasai's calming voice moments later. She could hear Kasai continuously comforting her while also carrying her on her back. Her instinct was to immediately jump off her back and apologize to Kasai for troubling her, but she also didn't want to leave her newfound safe space. With her eyes still closed, Chiaki gave a slight smile as both of them made their way inside the building.

Once inside, Chiaki jolted up from the doors shutting behind them. She didn't really want to, but she decided to end the piggyback ride once they were inside the stadium. She had somehow managed to pass the first challenge, but she probably wouldn't have that big of a break again. She had to be alert and ready for anything they throw at them next. Her being on Kasai's back was probably going to put both of them at a disadvantage too. "Um, I think I'm good now.... Y-you can put me down. Thanks," she mumbled with a reddened face as they joined the rest of the group. The gutsy motorcyclist from earlier was present, as was the boy who utilized a box to sneak past everyone.

Their coach, Spelling Bee, soon revealed herself. Chiaki thought she was incredibly cute, until she started speaking. It was really frustrating hearing negative remarks about your friends. She was mostly right in her observations, except for just one point, and Chiaki wanted to correct it. Chiaki meekly raised her hand to speak, tears forming in her eyes. No matter how intimidated or scared she was in that moment, she was going to say what she had to say. It would be wrong for her to just stay quiet.

"Kasai is not a sissy!" She exclaimed with every ounce of energy she could muster.


Chiaki rubbed her eyes as Box-kun approached both her and Kasai. "I-I'm fine now! Fainting spells are kind of common for me, sopleasedon'tworry!" she reassured him with nervous smile. "I'm sorry for making you all worry..."

cinnabuns Entity.Eclypse GhastlySquash Mykinkaiser

 

[cinnabuns]

K A S A I ​

Was this lady...serious?

Kasai's eyebrow raised as she let Chiaki down, patting the girl's shoulder as Spelling Bee continued to speak. It seemed like the more experienced mascot was supposed to be their mentor in this school. And yet, the first thing she managed to do was be rude to everyone.

"And ah've met cows with more courage than these two hidin' in the bushes like a bunch of sissies. Reckon y'all can just take advantage of them opportunities huh? Well guess what, ya' certainly can! But what happens when there isn't no gold at the end of the river. Ya'll gonna be stuck in the woods with jack and shit. Guess what, neither do y'all no good."

Kasai understood pointing out the flaws of her students would be helpful to see what they would need to work on, but...something about the way she did it brought Kasai some irritation. Very irritated. It didn't show on her face more than the eyebrow raise, however. Before Kasai could say anything in response, however, she heard Chiaki speak up.

"Kasai is not a sissy!"

Aww. That.

That warmed her heart, actually. Suddenly, the bit of ire Kasai had felt was replaced twofold with the appreciation she felt for Chiaki saying such a thing. A smile appeared on her face.

"Didn't realize there was a mascot hierarchy, and I'm not too interested in it. Especially since I think anyone taking time out of their day to appear as something else to hundreds and thousands of people is brave. But if that's what you're here to teach us about, then whatever. Like you said, you're our teacher for a reason, yeah? Hope you teach us something good."

With that, Kasai gave Chiaki's head a pat and responded to her.

"Don't be sorry. I'm your friend first. We'll work to raise your confidence up, okay? You can get through this."

[ waifu , Mentions: Mykinkaiser , Entity.Eclypse GhastlySquash ]​