You probably opened this thread after reading the title, so, welcome. I'm not a professional writer of any sort, I just happen to have a little experience with writing and got a half-decent idea for an osu! related plot in my head. I'll be using a lot of my own canon information as I write this story, specifically for details about characters that haven't been mentioned or properly discussed before.
And with that, enjoy!
“You tell them - you tell them there's a cost.....Every decision we make in life, there's always a cost.”
-Brad Meltzer, The Inner Circle
The lady hath found herself soaked in that lady own blood. Standing in a void of darkness, the lady could doth nothing but cry as the reality of that lady actions sank in. The lady cursed the day the lady wast born, as the lady now hadst to liveth with the burdening fruits of that lady greed.
The scorching hot sun blazed in the summer afternoon. It was so hot that looking a bit further down the street would cause a mirage. People had flocked to street vendors selling cold drinks this afternoon.
"An ice lollipop please, cherry."
"Here you go, that'll be 50 Yen."
The woman gave the vendor the money and walked off with her lollipop. Her hazel green eyes glistened in the sun the moment she tasted the lollipop. The woman had short black hair with her front bangs dyed a light pink. She wore a zipped hoodie with a white upper half and a pink lower half. She wore dark blue jeans and black shoes. Her name: Pippi. Aged 27, she was a free woman who spent her time enjoying her life. She walked through the town streets and made her way to the park. She sat on a bench under the shade of a large tree, where she enjoyed the rest of her lollipop. After a brief moment of rest, she got up and continued her walk. She found herself on the outskirts of the town, near the opening of a grass field.
Even though the town was well modernized, some of the locals still lived in semi-developed areas that were accustomed to farming and living a more rural lifestyle. Pippi envied their simple lives, her everyday life was empty, she had money coming from elsewhere so she did not need to work, she was well past her youth and had no reason to study.
"if only..."
"Hey! Pippi! Over here!"
A voice called out to her from behind. Pippi turned around to see a young girl running at her. She wore a white shirt tucked into black jeans. Her long green hair waved in the air as she ran at Pippi. She looked as if she had been running for a few minutes without stopping. It was Mocha, seventeen years old.
"Mocha, what do want?"
"H-hey... give... me a sec.. huf.. huf..."
Note: I gave Mocha casual clothes since her official sprite art is of her wearing a kimono. No one in their right mind would wear a kimono in this day and age during the summer heat after all.
Mocha bent down to catch her breath, she was exhausted from running. Pippi offered a bottle of water she had been carrying. Mocha gulped all the water down in moments and caught enough of a breath to speak properly.
"Yeah, I've been looking for you.. we're having a feast at the front of the complex, I've been trying to find you for the past half hour to let you know."
"Go figure, when is it?"
Mocha took a moment to look at her watch and read the time. The watch read 14:50.
"If we head there now, we'll make it in time."
"Ok."
Pippi and Mocha arrived at the gate of a grey building. The building had 5 floors and had many apartments. A table next to a smaller shed near the building was covered with plates and dishes with various food. Three people were tending to the table. Mocha waved to them and ran off. Pippi followed suit, walking. The group noticed and waved back at Mocha.
"I'm back, and guess who I brought with me!"
"It's Pippi, we know." The only boy in the group spoke.
"Way to kill the mood" A brunette girl next to him scoffed.
The girl had long, silky hair tied into a single ponytail with a large blue bow and ribbon. She wore a pink shoulder-cut single piece and had tightly fit pink sagged sleeves. Her name was Nana, fifteen years old. The boy wore a very worn down yellow shirt with only one attached sleeve. He wore brown jeans and had messy, un-maintained hair. His name was Shin, also fifteen. He looked almost homeless. The difference in their styles made them look miles apart in society's hierarchy. But alas, this duo were siblings.
Note: As you can tell, these are the osu!mania mascots, I picked this duo in particular out of personal preference, once the official mascots are announced, I'll be sure to change their names and descriptions.
A woman slams her hand on to the table. She angrily looks at both of them. The siblings are near opposites in terms of personality, even though they get along well and can agree on a lot of the same things, they're vastly different from each other.
"This party is supposed to be fun! And don't you two go about ruining the mood!"
She had long white hair and wore a dark blue hoodie with star-shaped dots on it. She wore a matching tracksuit with it. Her eyes were a soft purple, her gaze was so gentle, it was like looking at a silver sunrise. Her name was Alisa, seventeen years old. However, the eyes glaring at the two siblings at the time were the furthest thing from gentle. She looked as if she was about to tear their limbs off.
"S-sorry, we won't ruin it." Both of them spoke synchronized.
Pippi approached the table and sat on a bench. She took a long sigh.
"We're doing this again? It's the second time this week. I'm gonna get fat if I keep eating this much."
"Well, I'm the host this time. The last time was Maria, and her party was... interesting, to say the least.
Two days prior, Maria hosted her little feast, it was all fun and games until a certain man jumped face-first on to the table, ruining the whole meal.
Mocha picked up a plate and started putting food on it. She looked as if she hadn't eaten all day just so she could eat as much as possible at the feast.
"H-hey! Everyone isn't here yet! You can't start!" Alisa let out a cry.
"Oh come on! It's fine... no one's gonna care. Plus, I'm starving!"
Pippi sat quietly for a moment and a slight smile grew on her face. She grabbed a plate and started taking food as well.
"H-hey! Why you.."
Alisa gave up on waiting for the others, telling off Mocha was too much work and telling Pippi to stop was out of the question. She looked at the siblings on the other side of the table, both of them sat quietly with smiles and hadn't taken any food.
"You two can start eating as well."
Hearing those words, the siblings wasted no effort as they grabbed a plate and started throwing food on to their plates. Alisa also grabbed a plate and started eating.
"Eh? You already started without me? I know I'm late, but that's just rude."
A tall and well-built man approached the table. He had short blue hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a blue zipped jacket and grey jeans. He had a pair of green headphones around his neck. His name was Yuzu, a nineteen-year-old freelancer. Even though he was just a young adult, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.
"Oh! Yuzu, come quick! we're running out of fish filets."
Mocha grabbed a handful of filets and threw them on to her plate. She then sneered at him. Yuzu quickly walked to the table and grabbed a plate. The group enjoyed the feast and had a blast. After finishing their meals, the group talked for a moment. Pippi, who mostly gave single word answers and smiles or giggles thought for a moment. Then she asked.
"Oh yeah, where's Aiko?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen her in a while, she's somewhere," Alisa spoke.
"She's always trying to better than Mocha, so she's probably out practising," Nana added.
The group looked at Mocha, who was still stuffing her face with food. She looked up and took a moment to look at them all. She then gulped her food down as soon as she finished chewing.
"What do you want me to do? She just won't give up, it's not my fault she didn't come out on top."
"I suppose so, maybe she just needs more time, she's bound to pass you Mocha," Nana spoke boldly.
"Yeah, she has a lot more energy than you after all," Shin added.
"Youthful exuberance isn't everything you know." Nana retorted.
"But what about Pippi? She's far stronger than any of us, and she's the oldest."
The word 'oldest' ticked off Pippi. Little did Shin know that he had just incurred wrath that he could not even fathom.
"Well I guess you're right, she's been around the longest, and she's crazy powerful."
Mocha, Yuzu and Alisa, who were all listening realized the mistake that the siblings had made. But before they could act, Pippi suddenly stood up. She slowly turned her gaze toward the siblings.
"Say, you two, why don't you consider writing an autobiography? I'm sure it'd make a great addition to the history books." Pippi grinned and spoke very gently.
Even though her tone was calm and friendly, her face was twisted into something unbearable to look at. The siblings immediately realized what they had just done and began laughing to play it off.
"W-we were just joking you know?"
"Yeah.. hehe, you look a lot younger than you think actually!"
Mocha, who couldn't even bear the idea of what Pippi would do to them stood up and screamed, getting everyone's attention. She quickly ran over to Pippi and grabbed her arm firmly.
"H-hey Pippi! Help me take the dishes to the washing will you?"
"But we're not done eating yet."
"Oh! come on! We don't have time! Let's go!"
Mocha gave Pippi a stack of plates and walked off holding her with one hand. All while giggling desperately. As soon as they turned the corner, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"Jee Shin, you should be careful with your words! You nearly got us killed!"
"Me? YOU'RE the one who agreed with me? You didn't even try defending her. Admit it!"
"Who do you think you are? Quit telling me what to do four fingers."
"Eh! Y-you... all you talk about is how you're so good at playing with those seven fingers of yours! Go do something to help yourself with your so-called powerful fingers then!"
"W-what!? Y-you..."
"What's all the commotion?" A deep female voice spoke from behind both of them.
It was from Maria. Eighteen years old. She had long brunette hair and wore glasses over deep blue eyes. She was tall and rather voluptuous. She wore a white single-piece and had a blue earphone in one ear. She approached the quarrelling siblings and gave them both a warm smile. She then asked.
"What are you two so mad at each other about?"
"Shin called Pippi old!" Nana blurted out.
"B-but she agreed with me!"
"Oh dear, one mustn't call a woman old." Maria sat down in between them and spoke.
"I don't think anyone is in the wrong here, Shin just made a mistake, didn't he?" Maria turned to Shin, who nodded. She then continued:
"Nana also made the mistake of going with his idea. As long as you both learn from it, there's no problem."
Maria, once again, gave them both a warm smile. Nana, who wasn't satisfied with the outcome scoffed and stormed off. Maria tried to call her back, but she didn't listen. Yuzu, who watched the whole scene unfold went up to Shin.
"Hey kid, come with me, let's hang out for a bit."
"I think he should go and make up with her first."
"You don't expect them to make up right off the bat, do you? Let them have some time apart." Yuzu insisted.
"Come on kid, I'll show you some cool places."
Yuzu rested his arm around Shin's shoulder and left the complex. Maria got up and went after Nana, who was now inside the complex building. Alisa, who was still present was left all by herself sighed. She began to clean the table. Just then, Pippi and Mocha returned to the table, to find it empty.
"Oh, everyone's gone... That was fast."
Pippi walked among the crowds of people going shopping. Different people of different statuses going about their lives, enjoying themselves.
In this world, music isn't just a sense or form of art, it's a form of power. An ability gained by those who put in the effort. Those with latent abilities find themselves reaching into vast amounts of power. Using such abilities, the people got together to create a society and a world of peace. However, amidst those blessed with musical superiority, came those with no abilities. Some of them come to terms with themselves, some curse themselves.
As everything in the world is, even music has the opposite. Those seeking to take it, gaze over those with such abilities with envious eyes. Beings devoid of music, filled with nothing but emptiness.
As Pippi exited the district and headed towards the city park, she was suddenly stopped in her tracks. The air had become damp, her ears sounded blocked. A strong sense of nausea crept over her. As she looked up, she saw the source of the disturbance. A black line stretched through the very fabric of reality, and a ginormous object instantly popped into the sky. The object floated over the city, it was an upside-down pyramid, but it absorbed any light that came into contact with it, making it look like a giant triangle in the sky, the top of the pyramid was hollowed out and instead had a circular core with rotating branches around it. The object had two smaller pyramids attached to its sides. It was like a space-craft from a sci-fi movie.
The air suddenly began to sound crackly, Pippi then saw a small ripple expand from the bottom tip of the ship. The ripple touched the ground and continued to expand, as it grew, every piece of glass it came into contact with shattered. She braced herself as the ripple reached her. As the ripple passed her, a high pitched screech filled the air, people fell to the ground out of the sheer pain.
As the ripple subsided and people came back to their senses, they began running away, as expected. A giant black ship appearing over a city and causing damage is surreal, and one should evacuate the area. Pippi however, wasn't scared. It was an all too familiar sight for her.
"This is a surprise, the beatless appearing after over two years? I don't want to fight them, but they'd destroy the entire city before the others get here..."
Note: Yes, that's a placeholder name for now, feel free to give me your ideas.
She weighed her options, if she waited for the others to arrive, the beatless would destroy the city. On the other hand, if she decided to take them on, it would cause problems for her, it's not that she couldn't fight them off, but it would be too costly. Alternatively, she could try to delay their attacks without overexerting herself. After considering the latter, Pippi sighed.
Her feet slowly lifted off the ground and she flew up, over the buildings and observed the ship. Tiny black dots began coming from the ship, as they got closer to Pippi, she realised that it was the beatless footmen. Hundreds of them.
Note: I don't have a clear image of how the footmen should look, so I avoided describing them.
"Eh... that's a lot of them... I didn't think that many would come from a small ship."
The now discernable figures of the footmen continued to grow as they got closer and closer to Pippi. That's when she realised, they were coming for her. An eager footman lunged at her at an incredible speed. She swiftly dodges it, just barely missing its claws. Almost as soon as she dodges the first one, a second one comes right at her. Her body reacts without her even realizing it and she holds her arm out at the footman, a translucent circle appears and implodes, causing an explosion. She then flies ahead as a horde of footmen pursue her, some footmen maintain their distance and begin shooting at her. Pippi fluidly dodges all of their attacks as she flies at incredible speeds.
The fluid motions were all-natural to her, it was as if she was in a sort of trance; on autopilot in a sense. Once she gained a decent distance from the footmen, who were now gathered together in a group, she turned around and stuck out her arm, as she twists her fingers, circles appeared in front of the horde and all imploded as she clenched her fist. The resulting explosion incinerated the entire horde.
She took the moment to catch her breath when she noticed the hundreds of more footmen approaching her at alarming speeds. Some of them weren't ordinary footmen, some of them were bigger and had a sort of pointy spear at their ends. Interceptors, as they were called. Pippi continued to dodge their attacks but only barely getting out of the way.
Note: Again, I don't have a clear idea of what the should look like.
The footmen were reckless, their missing attacks hit the buildings beneath them, destroying building after building. Pippi, who was nearing her limit, flew down to the ground to avoid the interceptors, only to find herself facing one coming right at her. In a split second, right before the tip hit her, Pippi used the last of her energy to teleport her up into the sky, leaving her to freefall.
The interceptor slammed into the ground at full speed, causing a massive explosion. The shockwave, reaching up to the falling Pippi. She took the moment to think.
At this rate, they'll end up destroying the whole city before the others get here. I'll just have to get serious.
She looked at her hands and clenched them.
I can't go Kiai for very long, so I'll have to be fast. I just hope the others get here soon...
Pippi stopped her fall and positioned herself upright, a black void appeared from underneath her feet and surrounded her. Her hoodie turned from white to black and the pink areas began glowing. Her jeans also turned black and the outward-facing sides had pink lines that also glowed. Her nose and mouth were covered with a black mask. Her hazel green eyes became a vibrant pink. As the void faded after her transformation, a footman stood in front of her.
With the flick of a finger, the footman was incinerated. She then took off at an incredible speed and blew away any oncoming enemies. Even the interceptors that had once made her struggle were now nothing but small fry. With one fell swoop, a giant ripple was sent through the sky, destroying anything that touched it. She destroyed the entire army in mere moments. Leaving only a handful of footmen and interceptors at her wake. She then turned her attention to the giant ship ahead of her.
She stuck her hand out and an interface appeared. She placed some circles on the interface and connected them in a specific pattern, as she finished and closed the interface, a barrage of circles were sent flying at the ship. After timing it just right, Pippi clenches her hand and the circles all collapse into a group. The following explosion was so great that it flattened buildings and destroyed any standing structure in almost half of the entire city. In her attempt to destroy the ship, she caused more damage than the beatless initially had. As the explosion subsided, she flew down to the ground and landed gently.
She looked up at the giant smoke cloud as it engulfed the entire visible sky. She sighed. Her black suit disintegrated off of her, and she was back in her normal clothes. She turned back and began walking.
"Well, that's that..."
In only two steps, her body froze, she became paralyzed with a ripping pain that overtook her entire body. Before she could even register the pain, she began throwing up blood and collapsed on to the ground. Her body still spasming from the regurgitation, she could only let out quiet noises. She tried to hold herself up with her hands.
"S-shit... I overdid it..."
Is all she could say to herself before her trembling arms gave way and she finally hit the ground and fainted.
I hope you all enjoyed reading it, I'd love your feedback on it. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about the story. I'll write more in the future and post it, so be sure to keep an eye out!
And with that... see you next time.