XSYS Arena
Because balance is overrated.
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Preshow 12/30: FF7 Disc 1 - Building Steam
28 Dec 2023 - XSYS Team
Open backstage at the arena. Literally backstage– they’ve constructed a proper stage out of welded-together shipping containers, draped with colorful cloth. Magus is gathered with the rest of the cast: we see Loa dressed up as some kind of Avalanche member, Exime and Massime lifting some kind of banner over the stage… and Dr. Okazaki hastily sweeping their long hair out of their eyes, reading the script one last time.
- DR OKAZAKI: Uh, Magus?
- MAGUS: [clearly more focused on the banner] A little to the left! …Yeppers?
- DR OKAZAKI: This is supposed to be an adaptation of Final Fantasy VII, right? There’s… a lot that’s kinda… wacky here.
- MAGUS: Yeah, well, I mean, I never actually played the game.
- DR OKAZAKI: …What do you mean you never played it?
- MAGUS: Well, yeah, but like, I played Crisis Core and watched Advent Children and all of that. [shrug] It’s not hard to guess what happens.
- DR OKAZAKI: Hm. I… suppose that’s one way to do it. Anyway, about these lines…
- MAGUS: Okay, you’re good, nail it down there!
- Magus turns to Dr. Okazaki, looking thoughtfully at them.
- MAGUS: You just wanna put on a good show, right? Something big and dramatic, even if you gotta take a backseat yourself?
- DR OKAZAKI: [thoughtful pause] …Of course.
- MAGUS: Great. Then do whatever you want with the role, honestly. All right, people– er, synths– let’s get to work!
Magus races off, leaving Dr. Okazaki with the script in hand. They glance down and start tapping a pen against their cheek…
With the house full and the lights dim… a banner unfurls over the stage.
Magus steps onto a balcony to the left of the stage, his face obscured by a featureless white mask.
- MAGUS: [as narrator] Year 557 of the Universal Calendar! In this world, technology and magic are equally commonplace. Both are powered by mako, a brilliant energy that leaks from the cracks of the earth.
Smoke fills the stage, blue-green light casting up through it.
- MAGUS: But the Shin-Ra Power Company discovered that splitting those cracks deeper could release even more… and so it became the Shin-Ra Corporation, pioneering new heights of power and control.
A red diamond rises behind the fog.
- MAGUS: Their headquarters, atop a majestic-looking floating island, the city of Midgard. Those who live there know it as a miserable place where everyone works for the decadence of the Shin-Ra executives who think themselves rulers of the world. But they can only oppress the people for so long.
White lights strike a beam through the center of the diamond.
- MAGUS: The spirit of freedom lives in a band of ecoterrorist rebels, calling themselves Avalanche.
- MAGUS: And there our story begins… with a stolen train barreling towards the headquarters of Shin-Ra, roaring towards the center of the city.
Massime shoves a giant prop train car onto the stage, having to grab it and yank it back to keep it from rolling too far. Loa pops the top of the train car and vaults up onto it; he’s had a wig with a ponytail glued to his plating, but it’s not very convincing. He flicks out a yoyo and swings it around to catch it beside his head; apparenly it’s also some kind of communicator?
- LOA as YOKO: Cloud Squadron reporting in. Squall Squadron did their job perfectly. We’ve armed their device; when we pull into the station, this thing should be powerful enough to blow the whole Shin-Ra headquarters sky-high! Lightning Squadron, have you secured control of the engine?
Someone steps onto the balcony across from Magus, in front of a projected holographic moon; the moonlight silhouettes them, and they’re facing away from the audience, wearing a leather jacket.
- ??? as AVALANCHE COMMANDER: We’re workin’ on it. These hired guns are tougher than I expected. Barett, gimme a hand up here! …W-wait, what the hell is–
*The sound of a gunshot rings out, and the commander ducks back behind the balcony.
- LOA as YOKO: Lightning Squadron? What’s wrong? Commander?!
As Yoko hops back down into the train car, the side falls away, revealing the team of heroes ready to fight!
- LOA as YOKO: All right, Cloud Squadron! I’ll stay back here and guard the payload– you all, push forward and make sure the commander’s all right!
Tonight’s battle will be a Rush Battle! Instead of a conventional single boss, waves of enemies (specifically, the class “Genome SOLDIER”) will appear as you progress through the narrative. Clear them out as quickly as possible, to give yourself as much time as you can for the climactic final fight!
Some skills may not have their effects revealed until they’re used in battle, so you’ll have to be able to adapt on the fly. But I have faith in all of you!
The battle starts 12/30 at 7 PM Central! Buckle your seatbelts, just in case– this one might go off the rails! Heh, you get it? Like a trai–