Plot || The Star Wars Vaikuntha Special

[hatejakku]

Who: Open
When: June 8-14
Where: Everywhere
What: The race for the crystals is on!!
Warnings/Notes: OOC Post


Crystals have fallen out of the Dream Width in a beautiful meteor shower and scattered all over the world! Due to their origins and mysterious properties, the Curti Center is interested in gathering as many as they can for researching purposes. To incentivize the public in helping out, O'aka has donated a few silver coupons to those top few who collect the most crystals. There's also a rumor that the one person (or more if there's a tie) who collects the most, wins something marvelous and mysterious~

The hunt for these crystals have taken storm across Vaikuntha and they're suddenly worth a lot. It's all anyone talks about anymore! The locals have gone crazy with it! If you weren't interested to begin with, surely the madness that is this new fad has sunk its teeth in. Besides, who knows what the crystals can actually do? Are they gifts? Curses? Dust collectors? Only one way to find out.

NAVIGATION
❄️ Snow	🔎 Shadow	🔥 Flame	🌼 Flower	☔ Rain	☀️ Sun	❤️ Love	🌵 Arrow
🎭 Sword	🎶 Chime	👻 Grey	🥚 Egg	✉️ Chrome	🏁 Rainbow	🐹 Plasma

LEADERBOARD
Character	| Crystals
Klonoa	| 08 ❄️🔎❤️🌵🎭👻✉️🐹
Kuja	| 07 🔎🌼🎭🎶👻✉️🐹
Frisk.bin	| 06 🔎☔🌵🎭✉️🐹
Uendo	| 05 ❄️🔎🎶✉️🐹
Corrin	| 04 ☔❤️🌵🎭
Red	| 03 🌵🎭✉️
Okuyasu	| 03 ❄️🌼🐹
Tyzias	| 02 ❄️🐹
Megatron	| 02 🌼🐹
Maul	| 02 👻🏁
Sephiroth	| 02 🌼✉️
Naoto	| 02 ❤️✉️
Adrien	| 01 ❄️
Castor	| 01 ✉️
Selphie	| 01 🌵
Pidge	| 01 🥚
Minimus	| 01 🌵
Kenichi	| 01 🐹
Papyrus	| 01 🔎
Naomi	| 01 🌼
Ovelia	| 01 🌼
Asriel	| 01 🎭
Kanji	| 01 ❤️

Comments

[pishirogane]

If Serge tried something that that again, Indigo dousing his 'ship' was going to be the least of his worries. Any time, she could switch over to Gunslinger and take advantage of the spilled rum herself.

After correcting herself and nodding to Slepnir, Naoto sped up a little just to make up for that slight off course. One racer was out and that wasn't her doing.

[last_son_of_dathomir]

Maul snarls in frustration as the sudden burst of light causes him to swerve briefly, though he manages to keep control of his pod-racer. Still, the distraction is just enough for him not to gain the lead as he was hoping. And with the DAHAK now protected by a shield, Maul isn't confident he could pull that trick again anytime soon. On Red, at least.

With one of the Tusken Raiders down, Maul resolves to finish the job and knock this last one out too; he's spent enough time on Tatooine to hate the filthy sand nomads for which this gang is named. Quickly taking stock of the track, Maul notices it is festooned with banners, some celebratory, others displaying the names of prominent Vaikunthan businesses, or that insipid "game" sponsoring the race. It will require precise timing, which might cost Maul his current spot but it's early innings enough yet that he can afford to take the hit, especially if it knocks out the last Raider. Then only the worthy challengers will remain.

[Force Mastery | Single Target (Melodies of Love banner)]
Maul uses the force to yank the banner down and cause it to fall on the remaining Tusken Raider's pod-racer.

[hatejakku]

"They're out of the bend and into the stretch now, folks! And- Oh, Indigo just threw something bright at- uh, one of the Serge's? Gosh, folks, that kid sure is confusing- Oh, wait a minute! His ship's on fire! And it looks like that's the real racer and not... whoever that other thing is! He looks like he's in trouble and is falling a bit behind.

"The other racers seem okay so far, though- Oh no! I've spoken too soon, folks! One of the Melodies of Love banners donated by our generous sponsor just fell on to the track and wrapped around Indigo's ship! It looks like he's going to be out of the race now, too! The crowd... actually seems to like that turn of events!

"Melodies of Love, by the way, will be available everywhere later this month and faulty signage from a third party is in no way an indicator of how the gameplay will be but ANYWAY!

"The racers are going down the stretch, and it's now down to Vaikuntha's Heroes of Light!"

---

1. Red
2. Maul
3. Naoto
4. Serge
5. Indigo
6. Azure

[timecrash]

Well. This is bad. The boat's on fire, it's the home stretch, and he's in last place. There's only one thing to do.

Serge explodes with white light for a moment, chi gathering around the prow of the boat in a cone- and then it rockets forward, propelled by the force of a [Dash & Slash]. It's the one trick he's got left, and it does have the added bonus of being Bad News for anyone in the way.

[pishirogane]

Glancing in the rear view at the next flash, if Serge wanted to crash into Maul or Red, he could be her guest as she moved aside, continuing her pace otherwise. Not that she thinks the move would end well. She might not know what Maul's up to, but she had a fair knowledge that Red might be ready for anything on the course.

Why was everyone around her generally like this?

[mech_and_mutt]

Being in the first position, Red knew well he had the most to lose of anyone left in the race; his barrier was holding, and no attacks seemed to be aimed his way... at least, not yet. Though it did look like there was some trouble coming up from behind him.

No matter. He'd flown clean so far; no point trying to suddenly turn heel now. He'd dedicate this stretch to trying to evade the other racers and hope for the best...

[last_son_of_dathomir]

Maul is in second place. He won't allow himself to be bested by a dog, much less a child or an idiot in a boat of all things. It's dangerous, but he's in this to achieve victory, not be the first amongst losers. Maul takes one hand off the wheel of his pod-racer and once again reaches out with the Force, using it on the Pod Racer itself; to push it forward with a sudden jolt of telekinetic force, making it look like a sudden burst of speed. If he can just pass the dog and keep his lead for a short few seconds, the race-and the crystal-are his.

[Force Mastery | Pod-Racer (Single Target)]
Attempt to push the pod racer forward, masking it as a burst of speed to take the lead.

[hatejakku]

"Holy smokes! Serge is suddenly coming out of the back like a dart! He weaves around Naoto, securing third and getting close to second-

"Oh wow! Maul's jumping ahead! He managed to get in front of Red and- and it looks like Serge is right on his heels, folks! This is going to be tough to call! Practically a coin flip finish! It's anyone's game! I'm on the edge of my seat, folks-!!!

"... And Maul wins the race!!

"Serge lost the race by a few mere milliseconds with Red and Naoto right behind him! That was tough, folks. What a race, right!?

"Looks like they're already running out to present Maul with the Rainbow Crystal! Congratulations to all of our contestants! Stay tuned for the next race, folks, and don't forget about our sponsor, Melodies of Love, coming out everywhere later next month!"

[timecrash]

Well. It's a bit of a job putting out the fire, that's unfortunate, sail's ruined but he can get another. But in spite of it all, Serge is grinning from ear to ear. In fact, once he does, he's making his way over to Maul and clapping him on the back. "That. Was insane. I was going full-tilt and using everything I had and then you did that thing with your hand it you were like a rocket, how the heck'd you do that?!"

[last_son_of_dathomir]

Maul accepts the crystal, and closes his hand around it, looking at it in triumph. These crystals may yet prove useful, if he finds a suitable apprentice...

He looks up when Serge approaches and nods at his praise, though he is careful about how he responds to the mention of the "hand gesture". He motions to the pod-racer he has just exited. "Oh, these machines are native to my reality, or machines close enough to them." He replies easily. "The Boonta Eve Classic is the social event of the season on Tatooine...or what passes for a social season there. In my ah, wilder youth I partook of the sport myself a little. Powerful machines, but...temperamental. Half the excitement of a good pod-race comes from watching the contestants crash, after all. You have to know how to handle them, it is a careful combination of skill..." And now Maul mimes the "hand gesture" he made before. "...And prayer." He replies. "Fortunately, it seems whatever gods reside in this world saw fit to listen." He tosses the crystal up in the air, letting it glint in the sunlight, and then catches it.

"A very exhilarating experience all in all. Thank you my boy, for being such a good sport." He regards Serge with a calculating eye. "You know, the way you handled that...boat...of yours, you may wish to consider pod-racing as a future career." He motions back to the machines. "You might find yourself well-suited to it. Something to think about, perhaps, mm?"

[timecrash]

Serge beams. "You really think so? Not gonna lie, that thing you were flying looks pretty rad. It would've been nice to win, but... honestly, it was a blast either way."

He offers his hand with a grin. "Seriously, congrats."

[pishirogane]

Serge will have to excuse her later, pulling up her goggles with egi-Slepnir trotting up at her side. She is small, but very, very annoyed.

"What was that?"

[timecrash]

Serge looks... honestly nonplussed. "Oh. The thing at the end? It was pretty cool, right? Normally it just makes me faster for a bit but I thought- dude. What if I could use it to make the boat go faster? So I tried it and then the boat was like fwooosh!" This, accompanied with a hand gesture to indicate rocket-like speed.

"But I mean you were there, so you probably saw."

[pishirogane]

"I don't care about your boosting. I'm talking about that flash before. You deliberately made a racer crash!"

Were this another competition like back at home, he'd be in more trouble than her snapping at him. "We're fortunate to have White Mages available!"

[timecrash]

"But... were we not supposed to do that? I thought..." The smile, the exhilaration, it's all fading, now. He'd seen other racers pull stunts like that, in the other races. The crowds had even cheered- maybe it'd been like a demolition derby or something, he'd thought, but... "I didn't know that was against the rules," he finishes, lamely.

[last_son_of_dathomir]

Maul takes the handshake with a small smile. His grip is...surprisingly firm. "Thank you, my boy. You were a worthy adversary."