[Preshow] The Recreation Dome

[Lilith]

Several glasses of wine washed away the reluctant lunch Lilith had been dragged to. She breezed through this detour that might've lasted hours in her mind, the chatter sloshing together as she slipped away from the present moment.

"Hey are we done here? Let's ditch this guy already," blurted the inebriated debauchee, tossing a loose arm in the direction of her level-headed companion.

"Yes, we have concluded our business for the moment." Chara attempted to remove the offending limb from her person, to no avail.

"Finally. I'm outta here." The goliath of a woman lurched up from her seat, nearly breaking all Syntech property in her vicinity. "Neheheh… you're coming with me." She entangled Chara in an aggressive handhold, whisking them away for more frisky interactions.

Josuke called out but his words fell on deaf and very drunk ears.

The taste of processed meat and carbohydrates lingered in the back of Lilith's tongue. She needed a palate cleanser after that ordeal.



The unusual pair stumbled upon a massive complex of rooms serving a plethora of purposes. It might be best described as the variety section. A gleeful Syntech employee named Betty strode up and inquired about their needs, pointing to the expanse of extravagantly decorated buildings and listing off their unlimited range of offerings.

"Uh, yeah, do you got like a BDSM place?"

Blonde blue-eyed Betty blinked. "No."

"Whatever. Just get an arcade for the two of us." Lilith tugged on her partner, bumping their side with her hip.

"That is an agreeable option," chimed in Chara, though her input was not considered.

Betty led the aberrant couple to a dazzling gaudy game room, reciting her statement to the letter, "Karl Jak assures you that your stay will be fully confidential."

"You hear that, pet? We get to have some private time~" Lilith giggled at the prospect, before noticing her camera accomplishing the exact opposite of what she wanted. "Guess I don't need that anymore. Alright everyone, stream's over. See ya who knows when." With the floating lens unmanifested, she proceeded into the arcade.

Being recorded didn't bother Chara, since that would be the case for the duration of this trial. But now without that lingering worry, she let her guard down, if only for a moment. Her scarlet eyes lit up at the assortment of colorful flickering machines, evoking a feeling of nostalgia from the mage's soul.

"Hey by the way, check out my website, lilithswonderland.com. All my stuff is there." The entertainment provided failed to impress the hedonist, who used the opportunity to plug her online persona.

What was worse, witnessing tragedy in person or behind a screen? Chara silently weighed the two. Toriel always warned her about adult websites, but if she could study the monstrous lady from afar, solely for research purposes…

"Now it's just you and me. We can get freaky without anybody knowing, especially not your sweet, pure-hearted brother~ I'd prefer an audience, personally." Lilith laid a prideful hand to her chest, before moving to the first thing that looked mildly interesting. She settled on a crane game.

"That does sound like an attractive proposition." Chara took the initiative, trying her luck against the machine filled with Syntech's line of marketable plushies.

"Yknow, I bet everyone thinks we're gonna screw. As if!" The degenerate woman had a hearty chuckle, smacking the glass panes of the giant metal box and throwing off the claw mid-grab.

"It is not as unlikely as you think." Chara stepped aside to let her cruel companion have a turn.

"Mhmm, I know you're begging to get intimate with me. You already worship my body." Lilith fumbled with the joystick like some sort of small sex analogy. Rather than waste her efforts outsmarting the unfair contraption, she yanked it from the floor and slammed it until the tacky prizes escaped their corporate prison. Having bested the game, she moved on to an air hockey table.

"...I take it I should not bring you anywhere I am worried about property damage." After moving to her side of the rink and setting the puck down, she began probing the murderer. "We can start right now. So, what does it feel like for you? Killing someone?"

As the disk and question slid her way, she energetically responded. "It's orgasmic!~ Killing is what makes life worth living, no matter how much I think it isn't! But it doesn't always get me there. It's the foreplay and everything leading up to it that really gets me going. Oh, and how could I forget, it has to be somebody important."

Clink

"What sort of importance?" Chara's intrigue steadily grew.

"Didn't you see Death Game? I thought you were a true fan… Anyways, I like my targets to be loved by many, yknow, the kind that people will miss. Or they're powerful, so it's a real challenge. I want their souls to have some depth, so I can see it on full display before tearing it away."

"And is that why you grew interested in me?"

"I guess you match most of my tastes... Just wish you had more meat on ya."

 

[Josuke Higashikata]

Outside of the Syntech tailors, Josuke stood outside to await his new pal's arrival so that they could execute their plan before time ran out. A biodegradable foam to-go cup is being held from its top by his right hand, firmly. After a few minutes of just standing, the pompadour boy lifts the drink close to his face and wraps his lips around the plastic straw to sip Pepsi. He lowers the cup to his side, looking around to see if Chara is approaching. Sure enough, the young royal girl walks casually to where Josuke waits calmly without Lilith by her side this time around.

Josuke finishes his Pepsi when he spots her and swiftly throws the cup away in a trash bin next to him.

"Hey, captain pompadour. Ready to execute our plan?" In her usual cynical mood but not in a rude way, Chara calls out to Josuke, walks past the stand user, and activates the entrance automatic dual doors that briskly open to let the game's guests enter.

"You bet. This is going to be great." Josuke follows behind his new friend, smiling in glee about the shopping spree they are about to embark on completing.

The two-run inside in a rush to pick up as much clothing ranging from shirts, socks, pants, jackets, undergarments, and other accessories to add to their style. Fun pursues Josuke and Chara to see what sense of style fits their satisfaction. By this point, anything that the duo liked when their eyes laid on it, they will snatch off the racks urgently. A female Syntech employee checking the sales floor stock for inventory notices the two contestants grabbing random clothing and creating an enormous pile in their arms to hold barely. She gives them an odd look, just trying to wonder why these competitors are so fixated on collecting an epic collection of garments.

Whenever Josuke and Chara compare what they collected so far for their stockpile, they give high fives of approval while having their hilarity. They continued on this shopping spree for half an hour until their arms started to feel tired from carrying a building cloth weight. Laughter mostly coming from Josuke fills the store coming from him while they exit the store with their arms wrapped around a giant ball made of random clothing; Chara, on the other end, remains a little quieter than Josuke. It still felt weird to Josuke that they could walk out of the store without paying a single coin.

"Holy shit! I didn't imagine I could carry this much style in my arms. Man, is it me, or is it weird that everything here is FREE!" Josuke walks joyfully down the strip alongside Chara, becoming giddy about her plan fixing to take into effect while focusing on making sure not to drop a single garment.

"Yep, shame that we won't be able to do anything like this back on Erde. So you better enjoy it while it lasts, tough guy." Chara seemed a little disappointed that this fun shopping probably would be the last fun thing to do before starting the most challenging part.

"This is starting to make me feel like a millionaire," Josuke adds to their enjoyment while they sort of struggle to carry their extensive clothing collection.

"Onto our next plan, to the barracks. I have a good idea for a bet to make things interesting. Whoever laughs first in the barracks, once our plan is set, is the loser. Whoever loses has to treat the winner to a burger in their hometown." Chara taunts him about a little game and follows behind Josuke while he leads the way toward the barracks, making him respond to her proposed wager.

"Challenge accepted, you are so going down!"

 

[Chara Dreemurr]

Lilith.

After spending all that time around Lilith, Chara had been given tons of data, ample time and a close-up eye on the abomination. With all that data, she had concluded….

That she sure was Lilith. Disappointing, to say the least, but as Chara made her way to the tailor store, she allowed her disappointment to leave her with a sigh.

She had made one friend - two, maybe, if you counted Sigmund - and learned more about an important obstacle in this coming battle. As Chara’s plans went, this one was loose - a little leaky, but winning was not necessarily the plan. If she could at least appoint someone more or less decent to be in an excellent position to win it all, then the Judge would have achieved her goal here.

She had made a friend or two, and learned more of a couple of her enemies. That would have to do.

“You seem to be thinking hard over there. Glad one of us has the brain-power for this kinda thing!” Josuke stated enthusiastically, ruffling Chara’s hair with a carefree smile.

“We do not have hairbrushes in the duffel bag, dude.” Chara pointed out, before Josuke just gave a jokey grin.

‘My bad, my bad!” the giant stated to the much shorter girl, “I happen to carry a few spare combs. How about I lend you one for the competitio-ulp!” josuke gulped.

Chara gave a sigh. Their unique situation was not about to let them do that. Josuke was just lucky that she was at the perfect head-patting height for big dudes, or he wouldn’t have managed that either.

“How about you give it to me once we get on the island and meet up? You know, gives me an extra incentive.” Chara quipped back, and Josuke gave a nod, sweating a little.

“I could probably use Crazy diamond to…” Josuke stated, but Chara gave him a sharp look, remembering the youth explain his stand to her earlier.

“Ah-ah-ahh. Let us not reveal all your tricks in public too quickly now - not for a haircomb. We need to save some surprises, just in case.”

Josuke just gave a slight frown. “I guess… geez, I’m really not used to having to hide my stand!”

“It is alright. We will not have to for much longer. Our plan is already in motion, and the stage is set. Pretty soon, we will not have a choice, anyways. This island will take every trick we have up our sleeve to survive.” Chara would say, the reality of the moment striking her now.

It was showtime.