2091/A RISKy treehouse

A RISKy treehouse
Date of Scene:	21 November 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Hotaru, or 'Yokina', hangs out with Tsubasa and Laura in the former's treehouse! Together they play RISK, a game none of them have ever actually played and, with all of the houserules they're using... they still haven't played. Chaos ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Tsubasa Yuunagi, Laura La Mer

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
There were many, many games one could play. The old classics, like chess. New games with more pieces, like Heroquest.

But then, in some cases, people enjoyed most of a game... but not all. and for games like that, other things had to be added and created. These things were... house rules.

Today, three young kids, definitely not secretly heroes or anything, were sitting in Tsubasa's tree house, playing what would might call... the greatest game of RISK, of all time.

Yokina had asked if they wanted to try the house ruled version of RISK she used to play with her daddy... And then Laura had wanted to add the underwater kingdoms. After that? Well... if there were sea and land kingdoms, why not sky kingdoms?

So now they were playing the strangest game of RISK ever devised, with an assortment of house rules to attack land, sea and air. And Hotaru? Yokina was making a move... on the atlantic kingdoms. "Ohhhh ho ho ho ho ho ho!" Yokina laughed in her practiced, evil laugh. "I launch the laser dolphins, supported by my spear knight pigeons! Fly, my birdies, fly!"

Was it a good move? Not... particularly. But she really liked the laser dolphins and spear knight pigeons. Her goal of Empress of the World would not be denied by silly things like 'strategy' or 'overwhelming numbers'!

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
Tsubasa has been working on the treehouse for a while now. There's two entrances. One by rope, one by climbing the tree itself. Once inside, there's a few beanbag chairs scattered about. On the walls are pictures of various airplanes and birds, with a few models set on the shelves. When Yokina was asking about where to play, he had recommended the location because well... he wanted to show off a little bit. That his engineering wasn't all aeronautics! He can build a nice treehouse as well!

So now that they are up within the treehouse, playing RISK. At least it isn't Monopoly with all of it's house rules and confusion that could come up at any moment.

Instead, it's much, much worse.

He has been defending his small sky kingdom, and much like the North Atlantic in Axis and Allies, he has been stockpiling and building, and now... as Yokina moves in on the attack. "I move my Ostrich Jousters into position to defend the Atlantic seawall... I mean, if she wants the help!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
The situation had been fairly quick to escalate. After Laura getting introduced to Tsubasa's treehouse and discovering Risk thanks to Hotaru, the mermaid had been quick to point out what a deplorable oversight was that there wasn't an option to be queen of the oceans (meant for herself, of course).

When Hotaru had brought up house rules, the pinkette had been quick to modify the map with the seven ocean kingdoms, the kingdom of the giant squids, and Grand Ocean (no, neither Gaito nor the Witch of Delays got a spot, they can bug off), and with Hotaru introducing the animal familiars, Laura had ammassed an army of all animals tied to the seas.

"Ohohohoh", Laura breaks out into her own 'rich lady' laugh when Hotaru attacks her. "You really think my army will just stay there and watch you? Admire my splendid maelstrom mulloways, my watersprout walruses and my abyssal abalones!", she smiles, sending the relevant units to clash against Hotaru's.

"And of course, my majesty isn't being undersold, because Tsubasa recognises how important it is to lend me his troups!", she smirks at the boy. "All together now, my shimmering troops!", she extends her arm towards Hotaru with her palm in a sign of stop.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
"Oh no, not the abalones!" She quickly did some mental calculations... and some verbal. "Adding the bonuses from the ostrich jousers... reduce the pigeons... adding the abalones defenses... mulloways... crushed by the walruses..." she mumbled, before picking up the dice and rolling... She eeped. Then...

Dramatically swooned. "Nooooo, my laser dolphins, oh, cruel, cruel world, why must fate crush at thee? Was it because I am a fierce, merciless tyrant of wicked, cruel intentions? No, it must be other reasons! Retreat, my pigeons, retreat and we shall amass another army until I may once again throw horde after horde at them, oh ho ho ho ho ho ho!"

Truly, Yokina was an evil overlord of the worst, sacrificing hordes after hordes to the meat grinder of this cruel, hopeless conquest. "I... position my wolves on the edge and guard the southern front with a reinforcement of vulture bombers, your turn," she said, motioning to Tsubasa.

"So, have you decided what book you're going to do for your reading project yet?" Yokina asked, grinning up at them. "I've been thinking I'll do some of the diskworld. Setsuna-senpai *loves* them. They're like, her favorite books *ever*!"

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
Tsubasa nods as the moves are made, nodding quickly. "Hmm. Hmm!" he announces. As Laura makes her move, his hand moves to tuck under his chin in thought. Especially since the war seems to be between Yokina and Laura, which means... he can move around as he sees fit. With his alliance, albeit temporary, with Laura has driven back the pigeon war, he needs Laura's sea spaces to buffer him from Yokina.

All this time, he's been moving a unit further and further away from the war's immediate battles.

But at Yokina's question, Tsubasa perks, and ohs. "I haven't decided on a book yet. There's just so many that I could pick from and just..." There's so many books on flight and birds and planes and he's having a hard time picking one.

His attention flits back to the game - and now, it's their moment to attack. "I move my Amphibious Peguin Panzers onto land in the frozen north, supported by my Kiwi Commandos." With that, he rolls the dice and huhs. "Well... this may not go well."

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Sorry, Yokina, you know how it is, to the victors go the spoils! Counterattack, my faithful soldiers, and take all that you can. Today, you will dine and be merry at my behest!", Laura announces proudly, moving the pawns forward.

"Of course, I am more than pleased to give your people the liberators they have been waiting for!", Laura nods pleased. Though that would have to wait for Tsubasa to go through his turn first. "Use your turn well", she tells Tsubasa, waiting out for him to answer the call of fate separating them from rightful conquest!

For now, she doesn't mind what the boy is intending to do, but the current situation is just everything playing into her hands, she assuredly claims. "My surging seagulls intervene from France by force in the fight Tsubasa has started!", she tosses her own dice, ending with a bit of an average result, but far from being damning.

"I have been using my time to read 'Big Bangs' by Howard Goodall. It does an ok job", Laura talks, the reading she had picked actually misleading since it's about how a small bunch of the humans have defined music. "Once I am done, I will likely look at how the options you two have. Is yours about alternate worlds, Yokina-chan?", Laura assumes of Yokina's title.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou blinked a few times, eying them. What could these two be plotting? How could they--

"No..." she whispered, eyes wide. "T-the pengis..." she whispered. But then... he rolled poorly! YES! VICTORY! IT WAS--

"What?! The seagulls?!" Nobody expects the seagulls! How could they? They were quite gull-ing!

"I-I activate my chameleon platoon, deploying them to reinforce! And..." She rolled her dice. Pretty good, all things considered. High roll. "YES! We repel the forces and only lose one unit. Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Your attack was powerful, Tsubasa-kun! But now, you've played your hand, in two turns I will be able to move my rhinos up to assist and then it will be all over for your forces! With your forward penguins decimated, I will sweep across these lands and take the world! Or, like... at least a city or two! Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho! Your turn, Laura-kun! Make your play!"

And then she instantly changed gears from 'Megalomaniac overlord' to... normal girl. "Yup! Discworld is all about witches and wizards and magic people and death and it all takes place on the back of a giant turtle with an elephant infestation on its back! It's super cool, and silly! I like death, he's really nice. And he has a daughter, she's super, duper cool."

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
No. Defeated. Crushed under the heel of the Yokina war machine!

Tsubasa tips over his poor penguin troops and takes them off the board. "You served me well." he says with a small sigh. For now, he realizes he needs to retreat. So, he starts to pull his troops back. "Oh no, she's going to overrun me in two turns." he laments, as he purposefully pulls closer to Laura's troops, placing himself between both forces.

"What's that book about, Laura-kun?" Tsubasa asks curiously, even as he listens with intent to Yokina's information, and he smiles.

"If we ever go to Sorashido City, I'll have to introduce you to my parents."

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Prepare yourself, Yokina-chan, for my one and only seavian combo strike!", Laura announces, before Yokina's high roll actually manages to overpower the assaulting forces. "I am impressed by how far you have gotten, you are a worthy opponent after all", Laura replies, behind the safety of her sea armies. Of course, she needs Tsubasa around for a lot more still, so the two can pick at each other and she can emerge victorious from their confrontation, it's the perfect strategy!

"Yokina-chan, perhaps you haven't considered that your rhinos have to closer to do any real damage, and how can they do that if your fleet have to brave the danger of my... polar bear punters, paw-ing the way for my spectacular victory!", Laura boasts.

She then places the bears together with the maelstrom mulloways and another reserve of her surging seagulls in an attack against the rhinos, the waters around Yokina's lands infested with her troops. The mermaid flips her hair back as her other hand tosses the die, netting her a much better roll than the previous one.

"Sounds like a world full of adventure and charm", Laura eases herself from her previous all-out speech. "Once I am done with mine, I will start yours, and then we can compare our opinions. That works great, right?", she smiles at her friend. "Just the history of music for some of the human lands in the west. You really know your things, I am positively surprised", she explains to Tsubasa.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou smirked and gave a nod. "Indeed. Oh ho ho ho ho! Perhaps the sky kingdom should surrender to me now? Save yourself and your pathetic birds destruction at the head of my leopard... chameleon... rhino... army! Oh ho ho ho!"

One may watch this and consider that they could likely never play a game as complex as RISK with Yokina. They'd have nothing to fear, because this game had ceased to be RISK long ago.

Unfortunately, Empress Yokina ran into a problem. Namely... The Polar bears. "Nani?!" she asked, staring. Oh no. No. NOOOOO! Her rhinos... decimated. But, well... she had one last card to play, one last final gambit. She began to chuckle under her breath, the light gleaming off her glasses.

"Well then, you truly are a glorious ruler, and a fierce competitor. I see only one way out of this challenge!"

"Go big, or go home, I believe is the term? Well, if I am to go down, I will go down taking the heart of your kingdoms, or sacrifice my soldiers in the process! I activate my 'Final Siege!' card from claiming Australia! I put it back in the box and BAM, all of my units reposition... HERE!" she called, moving all of her things... to londom! But leaving all of her territory to fall! "It looks like we're entering the end game, my worthy rivals! Can you stop my war machine before I eliminate the hearts of your kingdoms? Oh ho ho ho ho ho! The Yokina empire advances!"

It... was not a very good move, in fact it was incredibly risky. If they could hold her off, her territory was sitting ducks.

Also, RISK was never designed to be played this way, it was truly madness and the wild ravings of a child who loved making up house rules.

"Ohhhh, so like a group project? That sounds fun! Tsubasa-san, now you have to choose a book, we can all read each other's then and share notes! I bet there's something you're interested in and can share with us?"

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
"Wait, wait, you can't put it all back in the box!" Tsubasa starts to say, before he realizes that this is house rules. Totally house rules. "The Yokina Empire must be stopped... no matter the cost." he says with a dire tone in his voice, looking over his pieces. "I give my remaining Kiwi Commandos and Penguin Panzers the power of flight and I withdraw all my troops into the Sky Kingdom."

"Once there, I will hold my forces in defense - though if you attack me, I will not hesitate to defend myself." he says with a firm nod of his head, the knight prepared to defend his home.

"A book for me to pick... maybe 'The Right Stuff'?" he suggests. "I mean, I know I can fly now, at least... for now. But what about space? That could be fun to explore!" There's a nod of his head in that thought.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura stares open-eyed at the rearrangement of the board. Yes, she had indeed been introduced to that card while they remodeled the game to fit them, but she didn't... Not to actually see it played. All this time, she thought she could do this flawlessly, but that wasn't fair to the other two.

"I see, I see", Laura nods sagely after recovering from the surprise, a wide smile on her face. "I now see what kind of person you are, Yokina-chan. You too have the temper to never stop trying, and being determined to see your dream realised, no matter what happens. All I got to say now is, whatever happens, your tale shall be remembered forever."

She too has one last card to play. The best for last, one could say. After all, she'd insisted on giving it a quite simple name before it all started. "I too move my units to one place, Grand Ocean! Then I activate Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer, that allows me to pick three territories", she points to the three places where all the units have been moved to.

"I choose londom, the Sky Kingdom and Grand Ocean! Now all the units inside them into Pretty Cure units! And since they are all in the same alliance, they can't attack each other!", Laura declares satisfied, grinning widely at the way she brought her mission into the game.

"Going to space would be interesting, and I could find out what is up with the planets. I met Sailor Uranus, and there is no Uranus fairy apparently!", the mermaid says almost as if that was absurd.

"But yes, like a group project! Sharing each other's experiences is also a good way to learn things", Laura smiles.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
And lo... All had been mounted against her, prepared for violence. A glorious, vicious, violent end of destruction. She smirked as he withdrew. Yes. All would be decided in this. "One does not achieve world domination through hiding and defending, they have to attack!"

"Oh ho ho ho ho, prepare for-- NANI?!" she asked once more. "How-- no. NOOOOOOO!" Yokina cried. Then paused. "Noooo..." she kind of mumbled, as she grabbed her pen, then turned her back to them, doing... something... And then turned back around.

She had a toothpick. With a piece of tape on it. And she had doodled a little peace sign on it. "And with that... I believe world piece has been achieved," Yokina said, sighing. "My empire's dreams of world conquest and destruction, dashed on the ground like some kind of vegetable tossed on the ground... alas..."

"Welp, that was fun!" she said, perking up. "And ohhhh, space? I'd love to go to space. Maybe one day if I ever get more powers, I could take you both to space! We're like, moon and planet themed, so I'm pretty sure we can totally go to space one day. Eeee! This is going to be the best ever!" Yokina said, a big grin on her face.

This whole having friends thing, hanging out, playing games?

She liked it. Being Yokina... was fun.