Finding The Way Back (A Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Fanfiction)

[28] Where Lions Meet

Chess bobs and weaves between abandoned buildings. Even with Benson and Dave pulling distractions to bring the attention of Scarlemagne's forces, some were still around. Those lingering stragglers may catch an eye on him if he isn't careful, which Chess makes sure to keep his eyes up in the sky as he heads westward as that is where Benson and Dave are both heading.

The tuxedo cat makes it out of the city as the flamingoes begin to scatter. He finds himself in some kind of forest. The lights of the flamingoes sparsely swoop over the canopy as pinpricks of light shine through.

"Chess!"

Benson's voice calls out to him, to which the tuxedo cat finds Dave wearing a...trench coat and Benson a cowboy outfit? And Mandu's got a fake white beard and hair made of wool.

"Huh...?" Chess tilts his head.

"It's gonna take a bit of explaining to do," starts Benson. "What Wolf said about taking the path in the mountains is true, it would take a few days. But...there's a reason for that."

"Larper Lapines." Dave answers.

"....Huh...?" Chess tilts his head again, to the other side this time.

"They roleplay, and they take it seriously." Benson is taking out various costumes from an unseen stash and taking Chess's measurements each time he brings out one.

"To the death kind of seriously," Dave adds on, shuffling through the stash for equipment as he takes out a magnifying glass and shoves it in the pocket of a trench coat. "They see life as a theatre and the people in it having a role to play."

"That's cool and all, but the thing is they have a strict set of rules," Benson takes two fake revolvers and holsters them. "And the biggest one being is this: do not break the immersion."

[Fs-SCARLEMAGNE DEAL WITH IX-THEM(Q)]

"Due to their sheer numbers, Scarlemagne hadn't dealt with them. That and their rules made them aggressive to anyone that didn't fit in with a certain scene."

"Huh..."

Looking away for just a moment, Chess can see what appears to be lights between amber yellows and a blend of purples and blues. But his eyes widen even further in realizing just how big this roleplay city is. From the edge of the forest canopy, the city of the lapines had extended for likely miles. Using the broken ruins of a mountainside city as a foundation, the rabbits created sectors with different parts of the city. From what he can tell by the differentiating styles, there's currently 3 types. The first being some kind of wild west aesthetic, the next being the dreary cities with a sense of ancient modernity. With an aura of crime and mystery, Chess can only pinpoint that the setting of that sector must be something akin to Noir. And the last one being, from how futuristic, neon lit, and how bleak it looks, that sector must be a cyberpunk setting.

"Put this on."

Benson shoves a set of clothes onto Chess's arms. Chess only stumbles as he looks at what appears to be a power level scanner, a black leather jacket, and some boots. There's also ID cards (albeit made of some cheap plastic).

"We'd usually add a bit of makeup to make you look more cybernetic."

"Looked great when I had to go to Twilight City. Practically looked like a scrappy cyborg myself!" Dave beams.

"Buuut, since you got yourself a genuine augment, you won't really need to."

Benson gestures to his left arm, which Chess immediately figured that he's referring to Piece. He brings up his armored hand, looking at it to see if it really fits the aesthetic of cyberpunk.