Fantasy PHANTASMA: SCHOOL OF THE STRANGE

[MechaGhoul]

Susie just stared at Lily for a good moment as she said she had a working Super NES. A working Super NES. Her eyes twinkled with delight, as she emitted a bit of a high pitched squeal. "Eeeeeeee!~ A working Super NES! I hardly get to see those! I used to, but not so much now. Had the relic of the Sega Genesis though... With a fantastic title! Aaaand a couple of actual arcade stations! Those were, Eeee!" Susie immediately blinked, as her face reddened as she realized what she did but a moment earlier.


"W-well, uhm, it is a good place to start." Susie stated as she raised up her comic book to hide her face, sans the eyes. "But it is hard to set up and what not. Plus with such an ancient piece of tech you really would want to be gentle with it. And ah, it's a good machine. Couldn't really go erm, t-too wrong with it. And good to know the history of the games..."

 

[CSA]

Lily's smile grew when she saw how enthusiastic Susie was about her SNES. She'd thought the Elf would like it, but didn't dare dream that she would squeal with such vigor. It was really cute.


"A Genesis? You had one? That's so cool! See, I've been wanting to get a working one, but I'm trying to hold out until I can find someone with that, the Sega CD, and the 32X so I can make it a complete set all at the same time. I had the chance to do so once, but I got the SNES instead and had it repaired to working order," said Lily, happy that she had found someone else who got excited about this stuff.


Not that she was some kind of dork, of course.


"Anyways, I'm glad that you're so concerned about my Super Nintendo, but there's no need to worry. Its purpose is to be played on, and I've got everything we need to do so. I'm sure it will be a great place to start out on Anya's gaming adventure."


Lily wrapped her arm around the adjacent Neko, and held her close.


"When we get back from the field trip, Anya, we're gonna play your first video game. I hope you have lots of fun."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"What's a video game?" Anya asked, giving a beaming smile at her friends. The cat had never in her short life heard that term, but apparently it made her friends ridiculously happy, so happy Anya would be on the receiving end of a hug. These clearly had great sway over their hearts. Perhaps Anya, too, would have to become a 'video game'.

 

[CSA]

"Wait, so she really doesn't know what video games are? At all? Where was this kid even raised?"





"Uh, well, you said you've heard of Mario, right? Well, Mario is a character in a video game. A video game is a game you play on a monitor. Like, a picture shows up on a screen and you can control that picture to play a game."


Lily paused for a few seconds. It wasn't a very good explanation, but the Alraune didn't quite know how to explain video games to someone who didn't even know what they were.


"Well, anyways, it's a kind of game that people play. It will be easier to show you later," Lily concluded.

 

[MechaGhoul]

How, in this day and age, does a person not know video-games? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? Susie thought to herself. Keeping a hold of the comic book, she peered over at Anya. And it appeared that Lily was going through in explaining, somewhat, about the concept of a video game.


"Erm, y-yeah, it'd be easier to show rather than tell." She said nodding her head at Anya. Darting her pupils down towards her comic book, she idly flipped a page and returned to reading it.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"But I know how to play lots of games. You usually just run around and stuff, right?" Anya asked, tilting her head.


"Unless it's like truth or dare, where sometimes you just tell secrets. But it can have running around, too."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie kept the comic book in a good position to hide her face. Darting her pupils to glance at Anya she spoke, "Er well uh, d-depends on the system the uh video game is on. Some you just sit down and move it with a joy-stick and press buttons to get the character on the screen to move and act. ...Or in some cases the button pressing in the 'game', just gets the text to move out of the way. Some have er, m-motion controls so you can move around, and cause the character to move around."

 

[CSA]

Lily nodded as Susie gave Anya her own explanation about video games. It was better than her own, but she still doubted that Anya fully understood it.


"It's like that, Anya. It is very different than the games that you usually play, but they are fun all the same. Most even have stories, so it's like storytime and playtime combined. That's not something you usually get from other games, except maybe tabletop but that's a different conversation."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Note to self... Susie thought as her ears twitched a bit at the mentioning of tabletop. ...Great, I just forgot it. Idly flipping another page of her comic book, her pupils darted back down as she continued to read it. "Er yes, video games are uhm, fun." She stated fairly absentmindly, as she continued to read the book.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"But.... but isn't all you're doing just pressing buttons?" Anya asked her friends.


"That sounds a little... boring. I don't think I get it." she said, frowning. She'd hoped her friends weren't lying.

 

[CSA]

"No, Anya, it really is fun. You'll understand when you try it, alright? But suffice to say that both Susie and I like them, and we can't both be wrong because Susie is smart and I am me," said Lily, scratching Anya behind the ears.


"Anyways," said Lily, turning to Susie, "I guess I've told you about some of my hobbies already, but as for other things, I'm not entirely certain where to start. Is there anything you can think about in particular that you want to know about me?"

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie lowered her comic-book very slightly as she glanced at Lily. Tilting her head slightly she began to ponder in thought. There were many subjects to inquire about. It would be good to start off small, she supposed. Glancing at Lily she spoke, "Hm, w-well er, before I ask something like uh, what did you do before coming to this school, or something like that. I think I'd like to know uhm, hobbies and favorite color?"

 

[CSA]

"Easy enough," Lily replied, smiling, "Well, I like video games, cosplay, and fashion as you already know. Not that I need clothes and makeup to look fantastic, but it does add a little."


Lily looked down at her blouse, and quickly undid one more button. Too much of her beautiful, creamy green skin was being concealed, and that was just a crime. She looked back at Susie.


"I also like, uh, Japanese cartoons and baking. But not just 'baking' baking, you know? I spend some of my free time experimenting with alchemy. Oh, and my favorite color is actually kind of a tie between green and pink. On one hand, I am a really pretty shade of green that people can't help but want to touch. On the other, pink clothes look good on me and I can't wear green because any green clothes will just look terrible next to my already perfectly green skin."

 

[Blumenkranz]

The bus's interior was exquisitely decorated. Black leather seats, walls upholstered with velvet, mahogany wood details all over the place, stylized lamps between each row of seats and even a small lamp in each seat to facilitate reading at night and... was that an expensive Persian carpet in the floor? Whoever decorated this vehicle put a lot of effort and money into making it not look like a bus at all, more like a three centuries old living room. Natalya found this funny since the rest of the school looked like a psychiatric ward abandoned three centuries ago.


The teacher looked around, inspecting each row from her place. Every seat taken by all kinds of students, some rows even occupied by one student alone. Couldn't blame them, they probably weighted several hundreds of kilograms, which meant the seats were also reinforced to support huge loads. Every seat... except those in the back row, where Achim sat.


Natalya traversed the narrow catwalk, tripping several times with tentacles and other long limbs in the process. After around two minutes of loud thumps and exchange of apologies, she finally sat next to Achim. Hopefully, the tranquility of the back row would allow them to meet each other more in depth, or at least when the children weren't looking.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie nodded and listened as Lily explained her hobbies, which she did hear all of them, including the lowered 'Japanese cartoons'. She quickly moved her comic book back up as she undid a button. "Alchemy you say? What's your favorite potion to produce?"


-------


Achim glanced around, keeping his ears open, and peered down the aisles. He had to make sure the students weren't going to cause a ruckus just yet. So far, there hadn't been an outbreak, and they were seemingly at peace. It was the 'magic' of the bus he supposed, and the fact it was a field-trip. Achim smirked as Natalya sat down next to him. Though of course, choices were sparse.

 

[CSA]

"Oh, well, right now I'm experimenting with a-"


Lily watched Natalya as she passed. A new teacher, perhaps? Lily was certain that she would have remembered such a nice-looking lady. After a second, her attention returned to Susie.


"Can't tell her about THAT. Or the other thing I'm working on. I suppose I'll tell her about the third experiment."





"Well, I'm not particularly concerned about becoming old. Neither are you, I would bet. But I've always been interested in... 'preserving' races more prone to age. Right now I'm working on a youth concoction, though it's far from being finished."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

Better Olga's doors hissed shut as the vampire driver gave a cheek splitting grin, revealing a maw of fangs. Richter gave a soft moan, breathing heavily as he ran his hands across the steering wheel. Gently, he turned a golden, old-timey key in the ignition, and the bus roared to life.


"Oooooooh, yes~" he said, guiding the bus up a ramp. A panel opened, and the bus pulled out onto the school's dilapidated lawn. As he gained speed, he pressed a button, and a pair of wings unfolded as the primary jet thruster ignited at the rear; a second button activated the bus's seat warmers. Pulling back on the wheel, they gained altitude, and the school was soon a small speck far below them.


"This is your captain speaking; we're looking at a five hour flight, our in-house movie is a double feature, we have Star Wars 18 followed by Game Grumps: Behind the Blow." he spoke into a microphone, blasting his voice across the relatively small craft. Placing the microphone back in its holder, he tapped the 'on' button on the hot drinks dispenser. It was good to be king.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Ah yes... keeping life preserved. Ah we have long since figured that out. Susie gave a nod to Lily, "Oh well that should be a fun experiment. Anything else, or is that the one that keeps you the most busy?" And then the bus began moving, through the air. So it was really more of a plane than a bus. Susie lowered her comic book as she smiled contently. Oh she did enjoy the skies, and very much hoped... Unfortunately that wouldn't probably happen. Sadly, she was not with the crew for that. Oh well.





Her ears twitched at the mentioning of the in-flight movie. "Star Wars 18? Series went down-hill after 15." She shook her head as she glanced back at Lily.


"Anyway!" she eagerly declared, "Ah but yes, is that the only experiment you have going on right now?"

 

[CSA]

"Yeah, it's pretty fu-"


Then the bus took off. Into the air. With wings. They really must have gone all-out for this thing, except for the media selection she guessed. This double feature was gonna suck.


"You're telling me," Lily replied to Susie, "The whole series has been kind of a roller coaster, but it's really gotten ridiculous lately. Anyways, yes, I have multiple experiments I'm working on. I don't want to say much until I know whether or not they will work, though, so I'd like to leave it at that."


"She may be a wizard, but she's also kind of religious. Don't know if I want to tell her about the homonculus just yet, and the other one... I'm not even sure where that's going. Gotta keep it under wraps."

 

[DrBones]

Work B20 clung for dear life to the underside of the driver's seat. How could things have gone so wrong? At first, things were quiet, just like B20's home vents. Then, all the things rushed into the metal tube, screaming and howling and stomping! Then, a thing planted its feet right in front of B20, sealing off its exit! Then, the metal tube began roaring, grumbling, and moving! This wasn't a massive vent, it was just another thing! If B20 wasn't too busy holding on, it would have panicked and fled into the aisle!

 

[MechaGhoul]

"Right." Susie said to Lily, knowing quite well that you wanted to keep projects a secret until they were ready. Such as her little dearies, she didn't want to reveal the re-animated corpses until they were quite ready and adjusted for action. Susie frowned a bit at the thought that she hadn't created such creatures recently. She shook her head and glanced back at Lily, "I fully understand. Though as a side note, it is a shame they couldn't get some other feature."

 

[CSA]

"Yeah," Lily replied, nodding, "But we don't need garbage movies. I'm better than Star Wars 18, and I plan to occupy you the whooole trip."


Lily scooted even closer to the Elf, and looked up into her eyes affectionately.


"I know we were just doing me, and I do plan to answer more questions, but do you have any hobbies other than the ones I know? And what about your favorite color? Is it black? Purple? I have a hunch it might be one or both of those."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie's hands shook a bit as she kept a hold of her comic book, as she watched Lily stare into her eyes. Stabilizing them she quickly raised up her comic book and glanced at Lily, in a vain attempt to hide her flushed face. "Er a-ah." She cleared her throat. "For favorite colors, yeah black and purple are my favorites. Though I prefer black. Er well you know the main hobbies." She paused for a moment as she spoke, "E-er, I ah, do like er uh ah- Volleyball. I don't ah, play often but I do enjoy the game. And er, some other sports are fun. But Volleyball is the most preferred."

 

[CSA]

Lily angled her head so that she could get a better look at Susie's face. Damn, she loved making that girl's cheeks all pink. It was adorable.


"Oh, you're just too cute when your face gets all flushed like that," said Lily, a flirtatious smile on her face, "you know, I used to dress in black and purple. It was totes adorbs, but I was also into a lot of embarrassing music back then. Anyways, I haven't done much sports. Maybe you could teach me some volleyball some time, and we could play together?"


"Sports might really help with my motor skills. I could always use more ways to practice with my legs."





Lily then turned to Anya and pulled her a bit closer.


"What about you, sweetheart? I know you like dress-up, but what other things do you like to do in your spare time? Also, I'll want a favorite color. You look like you might be into black too. It's a nice color."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Oh?" Anya thought carefully about how to answer this question. She had to make sure her friends knew important things like this, and that meant making sure she covered everything.


"I like any game with friends! And playing in the snow is good; I used to do it with Papa... and I like to cook for people and when they like to eat it. That's why I like cooking for you, Lily; Papa would eat all my food and say it's delicious." she exclaimed with a smile.


"And, uh, I like stories, but only stories about good things." she said and paused, nodding silently for a moment.


"And, colors.... Papa said red was good because it's bold, so it's a family color. I think black would look okay, though." Anya said, examining the fair skin of her hands. Pinching a lock of glossy black hair, she looked up and asked, "What do you think?"