704/Hero Club: Puppet Show!

Hero Club: Puppet Show!
Date of Scene:	04 November 2023
Location:	Club Building
Synopsis:	The Hero Club's contribution to the Cultural Festival at Radiant Heart Academy is a puppet show!
Cast of Characters:	Fu Inubouzaki, Coco Kiumi, Yuna Yuki, Togo, Itsuki Inubouzaki

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Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Young children are gathered in their class room, sitting on the floor, with teachers and parents scattered around the edges. In front of the blackboard there's a booth-like construction, decorated with glitter and cardboard stars and colorful paint, and there's a pair of purple curtains hanging inside the booth to hide what's inside.

    Off to one side a table is set up for the narrator and audio director.

    Fu Inubouzaki is making sure her Demon King hand puppet is perfect as she crouches inside the booth. "Fufufu~. They will witness the fruits of the Hero Club's labor!" she says ominously. She pokes her head out to look over to the table.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Everyone seems ready and waiting, Fu-senpai", Coco reports after looking at the audience. She is still going by her behaviour of calling everyone in the club "senpai", no exceptions, since they have all been there longer than her. Coco is stationed next to the Demon Lord Fu and the Hero Yuna, holding a miniature stylizised version of herself as a cleric, ready to practice her singing to support the hero.

"I am all good here too, so I believe we can definitely start", she gives a triumphant smile of victory to Fu. She looks at the other club members, waiting for their go ahead before anything happens.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna can hear the sound of the excited kidlets sitting around, waiting for the show to start, and the murmur of the adults. The red-head is crouched inside the booth alongside Fu and Coco, with her Hero hand puppet. She whispers, "This is going to be great! I've always wanted to be a hero! That's why I joined the Hero Club!" Was that really her only reason? Yes! Fu said, 'H e y, y o u! Want to join the Hero Club?' and Yuna was immediately hooked.

    So this is, in some ways, the culmination of her efforts in a year of club membership. Yes, that's right, doing a hand puppet show for kindergarteners is the payoff for all of that community service.

    Simple minds, simple joys.

    "Ko-chan!" she says to Coco. "I'll be counting on you to support me as we assail the Demon Castle!" She's speaking in her hero voice. Is she getting a little bit too into this...?

Togo has posed:
    Togo is seated at the table with her laptop out and audio equipment set up. She looks briefly at Yuna when she calls Coco 'Ko-chan'. "...Maybe you should keep trying, Yuna-chan." How do you make a nickname out of a two-syllable name though, really? Anything you add would just be extending it instead of shortening it! Audio test. One. Two. Yosh. The music will be ready. They are set to begin shortly!

    "All settled, Itsuki-chan?" she asks to her co-host at the table.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki has made definite progress from how shy and timid she used to be. But she still has a long way to go. Even so, she is able to do public speaking now, even if it's only reading a script to a bunch of kindergarteners. She gathers up the short script, looks over to Togo when addressed, and happily says, "Yes, Togo-senpai! I'm ready!" She leans forwards across the table and cheers on Coco. "Coco-san, good luck in there dealing with my onee-chan!" Yes, she's not encouraging her sister, but the new member of the club. She knows her sister. She knows that chaos can erupt at any moment. And with Yuna in there as well...!
    With a nod to Togo to start the music, the lights are dimmed slightly, and Itsuki begins to read from the script. The sound of trumpets will ringing out when Togo starts up the music, followed by ominous music and comedic sound-effects.
    From there, it's up to the others...!
    "Once upon a time, there lived a Hero. The Hero is on a journey to convince the Demon King to stop tormenting the people. And finally, the Hero makes it to the Demon King's castle!"

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    The curtains open, and the Hero moves into view, with the backdrop of the Demon Castle in the background! "We're here, Demon King! Stop your heinous acts!" Yuna is clenching her fist, and looking up from behind the board that serves as the front of the booth. Next up is Coco! Yuna is giving this her all, so Coco should too! And yes, Yuna is workshopping a new nickname for Coco.

Togo has posed:
    Also, yes, Togo has started the music. Trumpets, and now violins, coming from her computer.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco doesn't have time to react to the nickname Yuna gave her, and she abandoned anyway. There is a show going on, let's hurry! The Cleric follows the dashing hero, melodiously humming a sound that evokes the feeling of the crashing of the waves and of the sea breeze. "The land has suffered enough, Demon King, please lower your weapon, the Hero and I are all too welcome to a more peaceful resolution", Coco says, putting on the emphasis that the show deserves. I am backing you up, Yuna, go forth, valiant hero!

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    "It was the villagers who began to fear me and branded me as evil!" the Demon King I mean Fu calls out, adjusting her voice to sound as boyish as she can get it. "You, cleric! You should have seen their attitudes towards me first hand during your travels! And you, Hero! You have heard their cries for my downfall!"

    The little kids are all absolutely fascinated and ooohing and aaaahing.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    "Still you should not torment them! The song of my friend the cleric has soothed their anger!" She leans her puppet forwards towards the Demon King puppet. "We can talk this through!" This is a very important lesson to teach to these kids. Violence isn't the answer! It just begets more violence!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The Puppet of the cleric approaches the Demon King. "We know you have been hurt, but we have done our best to mend all injuries as we traversed the country. Please, Demon King, it's never too late to go back." Puppet!Coco approaches Puppet!Yuna. "Our hearts have always beaten with understanding for what you went through, our only hope is you accept that everyone here is willing to make amends and turn over a new leaf." After that speech, Coco starts singing Legend of Mermaid.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Growling, Fu has the Demon King's puppet say, "Why should I talk if I'll only be treated as evil again! Your song can not heal the wounds in my heart!"

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna is getting so into this that, after yelling, "We will not treat you as evil!" she sweeps her arm aside... And directly into the front of the 'stage', knocking it over. "WAaaahhhh!" she lets out while freaking out and windmilling her arms uselessly. The board falls flat on the ground, but at least it doesn't hit anyone! "We blew it." Yuna says meekly.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco stops singing as soon the whole stage falls over. Oh, uhm, this is bad. "It's alright, Yuna-senpai, we can recover", Coco whispers to her. But how, that's the question, she doesn't really know. "The stage... The stage..." she starts saying to the public. "The stage of fiction that was trapping the Demon Lord in her role has fallen!", she is trying to put up something, but she is saying it fast, not calmly at all.

"Now she is free of her past bindings and ready to choose a new path, she can forge her own story, and..." Coco at this point looks at Yuna and Fu, out of ideas, expecting them to continue that train of thought.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Ooooooppsssss... Fu laughs embarassedly, with sweat drops all over her face and says, "Good thing no one got hurt. But what should we do?" She turns towards Coco as her (Hero Club) kohai starts trying to improvise something to get them back on track. "Ohh-hoh!" she says admiringly.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna, panicking, decides to roll with it like Coco is. "HERO KICK!" she yells, smashing her puppet's fist into the Demon King puppet on Fu's hand! This is the essence of justice and friendship! Come on, cleric, back me up here! Violence is always the answer!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
A Hero Kick... with fists? Well, the puppets don't have legs for a kick, but why name it that? Coco loses a second or two as she ponders what is going here... "Ok, so, uhm..." Think, quick! Yuna can't wait!

"The Demon King has decided to take everyone's flaws and hatred onto herself so with her demise those might disappear. Thanks, and bye!", she says as she starts 'kicking' the Demon King alongside the Hero all while still humming, although it's much more forced now.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Then she gets slammed into by Yuna's puppet! "Eeeeeehhhh!?" she yells. "Seriously, that wasn't even a kick!" Then Coco 'kicks' her too! "EEEEEHHHH!? ET TU, COCO!? And we were just saying we should try to talk things out!" She has the whole single fang thing going and everything as she rages at her kouhai.
    "Take this! Demon King Drill Head Butt!" she slams her own puppet into Yuna's hand, and 'drills' through to Coco's Cleric as well!

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki was startled by the wall falling, but as things spiral out of control, she sits there, panicking, hands balled into fists and held defensively along either side of her face. "Um, Onee-chan..." This is going to be another mess, isn't it? It's a 2 v 1 battle of the puppets!

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna is sweating and beady-eyed with anxiety over her unforced error. And now she has pulled Coco down the same dark path! What a fool she was! As Fu yells at them, Yuna barely gets out, "But...!" Then she gets head butted in the hand by the Demon King and lets out a noise of pain/surprise! "C-Cleric-san, heal my wounds!" Right, because the Cleric didn't totally also get headbutted.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Forgive me, Demon King!" the Cleric says as she continues her offense. "You are brave, but I didn't want things to turn out like this!" She can only confide in the Hero's virtue now, may she save them all.

"Melody Lull!" Coco shouts out when she makes a sign of waving towards Yuna as she is hit by the Demon King Drill Head Butt. "Take the last blessing hero, and go forth and eradicate the world of the sin the Demon King took upon herself!" Then she makes her puppet faint. Cleric down, I repeat, Cleric down!

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    "Itsuki, Music!" Fu yells. If the Hero is getting support from her Cleric, then the Demon King should get support as well!

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    "Huh?! Wait... How's this?" Itsuki replies, not expecting to find herself mixed up in the chaos, but typing away at her laptop until she taps a button and the music starts up! But not the music that might be expected for a climactic final battle between the Hero, her fallen Cleric companion, and the Demon King...

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    "O H N O, M Y C L E R I C!" Yuna yells in English as she moves to have the Hero hold the Cleric in its arms. But then the dark orchestral music starts up, and she turns around in shock. "Eeh!? The Demon King's theme? Now?" Itsuki, how could you betray usssss...!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The Cleric puppet in the Hero Puppet's is turned to stare at Yuna in the face, its mouth semi-open as if to indicate a smile that trusts the Hero to do what she musts. Can the audience even understand that...

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Drawing upon the negative feelings of the people who labelled him as evil, and now bolstered by his theme music, Fu has the Demon King rise up (by standing), glowing red and menacing! "UWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" She starts using her voice acting skizzles to yell out, "This will be your grave without your Cleric to help you!"

Togo has posed:
    Togo, as the narrator, cues onto Coco's attempt to get the story back on track, before everything broke out into violence, with her Dramatic Tension senses. With a gleam in her eye (or NewType flash, depending on genre) she thinks, Oh, no. I need to rally the kids for the Hero. Then she leans into her microphone and calls out to the children who are freaking out in their chairs/seats on the ground/etc. "Everyone, cheer for the Hero. Let's pump our fists to send power to the Hero and resurrect the noble Cleric!"

    Togo pumps her fist in the air and calls out, "Fight on! Fight on! Fight on!" After a brief pause, the initially confused kids soon turn into a crowd cheering and pumping their fists! One kid is even clapping, like one would to bring back Tinkerbell, only for a Cleric instead!

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Before she can have the Hero properly mourn the Cleric, getting only to say, "The memories of our journey, and the people we met! I will never forget them! Let them turn into my strength!" Then Yuna is left flailing her arms as the Demon King rises! "Aaaaah! The Demon King is totally into it! Why, you!" She tries to attack again, but it's only after the kids start cheering that she seems to get her second breath in preparation to fight back!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
While the Hero flais her arms against the Demon King, the Cleric Puppet is standing to the side, completely still. Meanwhile the kids in the audience are still cheering and even clapping in that one case, their faith in the Hero renewed. It is then that suddenly the Cleric jumps up. "Your cheering and faith in the Hero has brought me back to assist the cause of the righteous. Justice is about to shine on these lands again thanks to the Hero's virtue! Go forth, Hero, go forth!"

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    "Good improvising, Onee-chan!" Itsuki says quietly to herself, clenching her fists with a satisfied smile for her no-doubt invaluable contributions! Even if it seems the Hero, bolsted by the Cleric's song, is about to strike down the Demon King!

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Fu groans dramatically and clutches at her shirt as she makes a face of consternation and effort, while calling out, "Uwaaaaahhh! Their cheers weaken meeeee! Curse you, Cleric! You should be defeated!"

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    "Now!" Yuna yells as she stands up too, winds up for a haymaker, and yells, "YUUSHAAA... PAAAAAUNCHI!" Then she punches Fu's hand with everyone's strength! And also all of her strength! Mostly all of her own strength, really!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
As the Hero continues the valiant fight against the Demon King, Coco resumes singing amidst the cheering of the crowd. That's it, the final push is close. Please, don't give up, Hero!

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    With a roundhouse punch to the hand, all Fu can really do is yell, "OWWWWWWWWW!" and fall to the floor on her butt. Then she hisses at Togo, "Call it! Call it!"

Togo has posed:
    *Ding!*

    "And that was how the strength of the people reformed the Demon King and saved the country!" Togo narrates pleasantly as though this all went according to keikaku. Then she starts cheering 'Hooray!' alongside the kids, and waving a pair of tiny Japanese flags that she got from... Somewhere? Does she just carry those around?