Vitcity

Sam

"I definitely will,". "Until we meet again Mr. Aron," Sam says to Aron.

Nora laughs and shakes her head. "You truly are devilish. How delightful. It just makes me enjoy this more. You're on, of course. This sounds like far too much fun to turn down."

(Sorry, forgot to post again. I’ve got finals coming up, work, and meeting with counselors to put together a new plan for future semesters making it a little tricky to remember to post sometimes).
At a loss for how else to kill some time until nightfall, Dewey decides to go see if the mall is still standing.

Nora

You start the match, and Alice very quickly maneuvers to capture a pawn.  "I'll take this... which means you can take this."  She lightly tickles you for a bit before allowing you to proceed with your turn.  For a few turns, you can't make out Alice's strategy.  It almost seems like she's letting you win... then you realize she's prioritizing aggression and taking your pieces over trying to capture your king, even when it puts her at a disadvantage.  She's not letting you win, she's playing an entirely different game... and clearly enjoying doing so.  You try to regain the initiative and control the center of the board.  Alice allows you to do so, but you find it's impossible to cover all your pieces.  The added distraction really, really isn't helping, either...  You notice a few stupid mistakes too late.  If Alice were playing to win, she'd have seized a huge advantage.  Instead, she uses the openings to claim more pieces.

After a few turns - fewer turns, but at a much slower pace than usual - Alice pauses and observes the board, rocking one of your feet back and forth as she thinks.  "Ah, I see.  You've already won, then...  Well, let's just make sure it's a Pyrrhic victory, hm?"  She menacingly picks up her bishop, knocks over your queen, and proceeds to dole out an appropriate penalty.  It takes you a few minutes to recover enough to make your next move.

"There is one thing we disagree on.  I fail to see a purpose in finishing a match once the conclusion is inevitable...  Ah, I do understand the sentiment, though."  Alice calmly picks up her king.  "And for most games, I do agree.  Chess, though, feels like an exception.  After all, the match doesn't end with the king's capture, it ends when the king's capture is inevitable...  Hm."  She toys with the piece while she speaks.  "Seems like a rather poor commander, doesn't it?  To surrender only when he himself is doomed, not when he knows he's already lost, with the hopes of sparing his men...  I guess what I'm saying is that I've always felt that chess matches end prematurely, without a real conclusion.  You never see what becomes of the defeated king... in a proper match, anyway.  I suppose it might be fun to find out."  Alice stretches to calmly place her king in front of you.  "I surrender.  As the defeated..."  She pauses, sighs, lowers your feet to the floor, then gently places her feet in your lap instead.  "As the defeated, I place myself at your mercy, oh mighty baroness."  She crosses her arms and smirks.


Floyd

Fox and Katie hurriedly scamper over to Somnis while she's cleaning up after the cleanup, collecting work gloves and whatnot.  A police car rolls up while you're walking over, and you can see Somnis talking to the officer behind the wheel, a dark-haired lady.

"Hi, Somnis!" Katie yells.

"Hi, Miss Evermore..." Fox says to the officer.

Somnis turns and smiles.  "Oh, hey Katie.  Hi, Fox."

The police officer leans out of the window.  "Is that Fox?  You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!  And who's this?  Another member of your little club?"  She smiles at you.

Floyd smiles back and waves "Nice to meet you Officer! I'm Floyd, I'm newish and Katie n Fox have been great at showing me around oh and Somnis is my friend as well!" He explains

Gabriel

The pawn show is open, and it looks like it will be for another few hours.  Being sheltered in the alley and only having a few small windows seems to have spared it from any real damage.


Nora

Alice keeps her facade for a few seconds, lips slowly twisting into a grin, then letting out a few small giggles.  Soon she's laughing uncontrollably, clinging onto her chair, feet thrashing wildly.  When you finish she takes a few seconds to catch her breath before looking up at you with a glare and brightly flushed cheeks.  "So... that's... how it's... gonna be, is it...?  Well, then...  Excuse me... just a moment."  She stands up, smooths her outfit, then heads to the door out to the hallway.

She leaves the door open and you hear her go a short distance, open a door, and rummage around a bit before she soon returns.  "Alright.  Last match, then.  We'll both be playing with the same penalty.  Winner claims her kiss, or her bragging right...  And for the loser?"  With a wild smile, she sets a feather duster on the table.  "Execution."

"Oh my...  How high the stakes shine," Nora responds.  "I'm not going to hold back, dear.  This next game of mine will be the best game I've played in years.  I'll show you why I was a Grandmaster."

"You can talk all the talk you want to talk so long as you're willing to put your pride where your mouth is," Alice says.  "I may not be a retired grandmaster, but I'm no rank amateur, either."

When the match starts, it becomes readily apparent that you and Alice had the same game plan.  Move fast, try to force the opponent into the corners, keep up the offense...  The difference comes from Alice adapting to the special rules.  She accepts a few disadvantageous positions to claim some pieces, no longer holding back with the tickling and keeping you physically off-balance.  It's hard to keep all the pieces and positions and plans in mind when you can't stop giggling...  In the final stages of the game, it devolves into you and Alice both racing for the other's king and completely neglecting defense.

In the end, you see you're six moves from checkmate... and Alice is only four.  Of course you decide to play the game to the end, though you shift priorities to capturing pieces for a few last chances to tickle Alice.  Mercilessly.  "You're really... going to fight... until the end, huh?"  Alice spits out as you start to stroke her soles for the last time.  She giggles and twists until you're finally ready to accept defeat, panting as she slides her bishop into position.  "Check...  Checkmate."  She smiles weakly.  "Haaaa...  Oh, wow...  That was...  That match was certainly... more intense than usual."


Floyd

The officer waves back.  "Hi Floyd!  Don't be a stranger, OK?"

"I'll be back later tonight, K Mom?" Somnis asks, loading the supplies she'd gathered into the car.

"Alright, just don't stay out too late.  It is a school night, young lady," the officer says.

"It might be kinda late," Somnis says.

"Hm...  Well, just remember what I said about your grades."  She gives you all another wave, then drives off.

Somnis turns back around and looks at you all.  "Hi!  So-o-o-o-o I take it this is about that new place you all found?"

"Yep!" Katie says.

"How'd you know?" Fox asks.

"Kiran and Tia told me about it!" Somnis explains.  "I was planning to put together a group to go check it out myself sometime this week.  You guys wanna go tonight?"

"Yeah!" Fox and Katie say together.