[ti]event[/ti] Mile High Club (Pre-Raid Event)

Admittedly, Kallisto was rather confused as to how they were going to train his sole Pokemon to fly, since penguins were flightless birds, but hey, if they could perform a miracle, that would be much appreciated. Anyway, back to the task at hand: the man who didn't seem to have the best eyesight was going to ride a bike to fly. That sounded like a terrible idea. How did one steer properly with a bike that could fly? He knew this was a game, but there were no keyboard inputs in virtual reality. ❝Sure.❞ he replied, unable to hide the uncertainty in his voice as he watched the man climb on the funky contraption.

Pedals and body weight. Before Kallisto knew it, he started to move, and then to his shock, the bike started to leave the safety of the ground. Another player was about to move to his path, but thankfully swooped away just in the nick of time. Cursing under his breath, he figured that he should also get to the air and figure out how to work his contraption, just so that he could also put a hand on the man's bike.

❝Keep that pace. You need to get higher to reach the ring.❞ he shouted with a bit of a scowl. The man then faced Morpheus , ❝We should follow him. The event likely relies on all three of us getting through those birds.❞

Kallisto turned on the UI for the contraption, looking at the controls the game provided. It seemed he had to hit these buttons to control it. Thrust, direction...okay, at least this one had some kind of "keyboard" input after all. It also didn't need a running start, though once he got his hands hovering over the buttons, he did a bit of a sprint before jumping up in the air and letting the wings spread. While he could certainly feel the weight on his back, once it was powered up, he found that the weight became what was supporting him as his feet left the ground. He cursed again, but he couldn't hide his excitement. Damn, technology nowadays was certainly something else..!

❝Oi! The right, turn to the right!❞ he shouted to Zac, completely unable to keep his persona down with how novel the experience was.

Verai did as requested, saying nothing to Kazuki's running commentary. "You don't have any on you, do you?" He finally asked, sounding very nearly serious for a second.

When Kaz stepped away to find his own device, Verai tried to figure out how this one... worked. He'd gotten no instructions, either auditory or mercifully visual. He was... left in the dark.

But- maybe they didn't need instructions after all. A thought, and the wings flared, nearly toppling him off-balance as they did so. And trying to self correct only led to the wings flaring to overcorrect- it was exhausting.

An ear twisted at Kazuki's call of kid, fixing more solidly at the bright response. Should someone so young be flying like this?

"... sure," Verai said, answering for Kazuki, and offering a soft smile to Jinx. "We'd love to have you with us." It would be safer that way, wouldn't it? With someone to watch after her?

Cygnus started up again, explaining the challenge. Verai quickly realized the problem. Primary being that he couldn't see the goal- which was expected. Secondly... he couldn't hear it, either. Everyone was talking, machines whiring and humming, sounds bouncing everywhere- Everything was left muddled.

"... Kazuki." He had to find a way to ask without explaining, because the explanation sounded.... ludicrous. I need you t go first because I can see you, thanks to whatever you've done to yourself. "You and Jinx go first- I'll follow behind."

In the truest embodiment of 'my work here is done', Muin returns his attention to the machines around them as soon as his decision is spoken, leaving ibis to be his extrovert self and recruit Silvermoon to join their team.

He decides to go for a belt, because, honestly... everything else looks too flashy and overly complicated for his taste. He doubts a belt will be much simpler, but at least it's closer to his center of gravity. Plus, Cygnus is wearing one, so surely they must work, no? Muin hopes so, at least.

Soon enough, instructions are being given, leaving time only for a simple "Hello, it's good to meet you." greeting to their new teammate before they're told to take flight. It's... about as disorienting as he had expected, but of course, Muin will always be one to make sure his perfect mask of composure remains unbreakable... no matter how much he may be panicking within.

This is fine. He tells himself, almost glaring at ibis for putting him through this. How in the world can anyone find any of this fun? It's dizzying, and the fact that the air gets thinner and thinner with the higher they go isn't helping.

"So... we just go through the Ducklett ring?"

Sounds easy enough in theory, but how does one stop going up and instead move horizontally? Cygnus had turned some dials and made it look easy, but he hadn't given any details. Why don't people ever give details?

Jinx hadn't especially been planning on hesitating once their new goal was announced, so being told to go on ahead suited her just fine, and she didn't stop to think about why the man might have asked for that or whether there was some hidden meaning to his words. Besides, she was a kid in here, right? And kids were known for their boundless energy, after all--so it made sense that she went first!

(The implication of "You and Jinx got first", that the two should be moving together in some way, was entirely lost on her in her enthusiasm.)

"Alright, let's see here... how do I..."

Unlike her teammate, her wings didn't move when she merely thought about moving them, so a little experimentation was necessary. First she tried flapping her arms, almost like she was doing the chicken dance, but no dice. Then she jumped in the air-

-oh boy, that did the trick and then some.

Jinx hadn't been paying attention to her arm movements as she jumped, and the wings sent her on an awkward diagonal path until she thought to keep both arms steady. Then she tried to correct and... flew just as far to the other side.

"Up" and "down" were straightforward enough, as were going from side to side, but amusingly enough, it took Jinx a moment to figure out how to move forward.

And then... her arms splayed in front of her, her head leaning forward, feeling a little like Superman but really more like some incompetent idiot about to be busted by Superman, she headed towards the goal, a soft giggle sneaking out of her throat as she did so.

This was tricky, and her path still wasn't quite on target, but flying really did live up to all the hype.

"Kazuki! Uh... other guy!" Had the other guy said his name? Jinx didn't think so. "This way!"

“I offered,” Kazuki huffs, but stoops down to aid in securing the wings around Jinx . They were just as intricate as the pair Verai wore, except with an almost entirely different design– and it had lights. And spikes.

He raises a brow, but he’s not going to bar a child from an important learning experience. “Alright, mini-flying death trap is secured. You’re all set to go, kid.”

And before he even gets another word in, Verai accepts Jinx into their group which– great, now raid prep has turned into babysitting duty. Then again, this entire game has been mostly babysitting duty.

Cygnus goes onto the next phase of the demonstration, of which only half manages to enter the dubious sludge that is Kazuki’s brain– at least until his guild leader walks into the mix. Kazuki chuckles, before sticking his fingers in his mouth and wolf-whistling along with the cheers and hollers of the other Creeds, one of which is Tuesday who’s already putting the moves on her. When the guild leader comes to collect his spare pokemon, he hands her the ball containing his Dragonair, figuring it will benefit from the flight lesson, else learn how to hijack planes, knowing the cunning widow.

Now all that’s left is to jump through hoops.

He’s fiddling with his belt when Verai calls his attention. “What?” He looks up, puzzled and a little irritated because figuring out his machine is taking more than two brain cells. He squints at Verai’s instruction before it dawns on him.

“Oh, sure, we’ll go first, and leave the blind guy to fly alone in the back with new equipment.” Pressing a button on his belt causes it to light up, his body being surrounded by a soft glow. His feet begin floating an inch off the grass.

Jinx is already several steps ahead of them. After a brief little chicken dance and a brave jump, she’s airborne, having to fend off some strange angles before settling in a Superman pose towards the circle of ducks.

Kazuki grabs Verai’s hand. “Alright, now how to…“ He’s already flying, technically, even if it’s just levitating off the ground. Trying to wiggle his foot kind of drags him a few inches higher, but it’s still not enough for proper acceleration. Maybe he should’ve nabbed the boots too?

Hmm.

For science, he sets his fist on fire, and then throws a punch into the earth. Without any sort of limitation, the resulting force is matched to take down Duraludon.

The explosion sends them rocketing into the heavens, straight toward Jinx.

Kazuki USED SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION!

He had actually picked out a flying scooter since as cool as the hoverboard was, he was terrified with the idea of having no handles or anything to hold onto. Unfortunately someone already got the fancy solar sail that reminded him of a certain animated movie he watched, but no matter, he hoped that this one would be easier to control. He let out a small whine though at his Pokemon being taken away from him - he wanted them to experience flying too! Or maybe have Cliff or Pond up there at least in case something went wrong! (Not like he could hang onto a Pidove nor Mantyke anyway, they would drop with his weight, but still!)

So he was at this with his teammates instead. And they had to fly through the ring of Ducklett (the ring of water, but might as well be a ring of fire anyway). ❝Ugh okay, let's not crash and burn, kids! I'll go first, but you should already start trying the contraptions you picked. Don't soar too high yet though!❞ he wasn't sure if he was the most qualified to watch over them, but he wasn't going to just let something go wrong on his watch. An explosion could already be heard nearby, which only made his anxiety shoot up. Stepping on the scooter and trying to find his balance, he thanked his lucky stars that the buttons seemed simple enough to work with. Though, he did end up yelping when it lurched forward; it wasn't exactly a smooth ride.

Okay, you can do this, Killian! Calibrating the controls, he kept glancing back at Yggy Br00ks and Aero before trying to properly start the scooter. He let out a yell when the acceleration jumped quickly; its wheels sticking to the ground before picking up enough speed to push itself up in the air, much like a little, overpowered airplane. Actually, he misinterpreted - those wheels were actually something more like fans, he realized, whirring as they propelled him up in the air, and he almost teetered and fell over before correcting his balance. To say his heart was pounding was an understatement. Once he felt like he was steady in the air, he moved back closer to the ground to see how his teammates were doing, making sure to keep the contraption afloat so there was no need to completely turn it off.

There was never any discussion of question as to whether Morgana was part of their team. She was the paprika to their ketchup and mustard. The white tiger to their Signfreid and Roy. The Pentagon to their Twin Towers. The switch knife in the back pocket of their skinny jeans.

In short, she was indispensable yet thoroughly unpredictable.

"Let's see now," Sarah said, checking that her belt was tight enough for the fifth time. "If I just..." she hesitantly clicked the dial on her belt a single notch, and noticed that she felt lighter. She took a running jump and sailed a good ten meters before landing. "One more then." She clicked another notch, jumped again, and kept going, sailing without control in the approximate direction of the Ducklett circle.

"Not to alarm anyone, but I may require some course correction," she called down to her team. She fiddled with the compass on her belt, but only drifted further off course. "No rush, but, well, mild haste would be appreciated."

Team Women's Suffrage: Laguna Bergamot Gristleborg