Julie will face a friend in strip combat

"I heard that here in Toronto, people battle things out in two ways: band competitions-" the camera-man spoke, before being interrupted by Julie.

"That's out! I'm not in a band. I know it's confusing, but I'm like... an event organizer for bands. I don't actually play in one," she shrugged. The others nodded-- much like she was a party organizer who you wouldn't necessarily want at your party, she was also a show director that you wouldn't necessarily want at your show. "What else you got?"

The man kept his face hidden by the camera, holding out a hand with two fingers raised. "Option two! A good old-fashioned brawl! I hear that's how most people solve things around these parts. You can do that, right?"

Julie backed up towards her door, raising her eyebrow. "What the fuck? No, that's just like... Scott and all that bullshit that orbits around him! Him and all the arcade nerds... and the scene girls... and the jocks... you know what? It feels like basically everyone except for me does this. Fuck, even Ramona fought people sometimes. What the hell is going on in Toronto?" she questioned herself for the second time that day. "So, what, I'm supposed to like... fist-fight?"

"Fight however you want to! But don't worry about poofing into change or anything like that. We have something different planned!" The camera man pointed his finger upward again, indicating she should look at the banner once again. "Every time you take damage, you'll lose some of your clothes instead of health points! Plus, even if you get down to zero, you don't lose! As long as you don't give up, you get not only the money we promised, but also, celebrity status!"

"Celebrity status as what?! A cosplayer that gets the shit beaten out of her?" she snapped back, lowering her eyebrows.

"Trust me: endure this humiliation now and you'll be the one calling the shots."

"Humiliation? I mean... I might win."

"Oh. Yeah! Sure! That could definitely happen," the cameraman agreed, flashing her an "okay" sign from behind the camera. As he did, she could see him making a neck-cutting motion with his other hand, a gesture meant for one of his coworkers to show his lack of confidence.

"Fine. I mean, if I get it all even if I lose, then fuck, what do I care if I lose? Not that I'm gonna lose. Bring out the sadsack, I'll kick their ass! If that loser Scott can do it, then I'm sure it's way easier than everyone's making it look," she shrugged, looking around for confirmation. Nobody seemed to be willing to nod along with her. "Uh, who's my opponent, anyway?"

"She's right behind you!"

"She...?" Julie slowly turned around, then jumped backward, knocking a few people out of the way as she braced herself against the wall. "Oh hell no." She recognized her old friend, Ramona Flowers-- a few years older than her, yet always dressing younger than her in all kinds of cosplay shit. Today, she wasn't cosplaying, but instead doing... whatever this was, dressed in an identical effort to Julie's, but pink in color. "Oh, that really goes great with your hair," Julie complimented Ramona, noting that the girl had vibrantly blue hair-dye in today, making her a color contrast nightmare. Apparently, guys went for that.

"Thanks. I really like your kinda... slutty gacha character look, Jules." Ramona was as popular with boys as Julie was struggling to be-- this town loved a hot nerd. The crowd had already started fawning over her as soon as she appeared in the bunny outfit. How had she appeared, anyway? It seemed like she came out of thin air. "So, we're fighting? Do you actually know how to fight?"

"I mean, you know... mash A and B, right? It's not that hard. I've been in an arcade before," Julie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Besides, you'll take it easy on me, right?"

Ramona spun her hammer in one hand, testing its weight. The hammer looked like something Thor, son of Odin would carry, with a huge, stone head that ought to be impossibly heavy for her to carry. "What was that?" she asked, giving it a few test swings.

"Y-You're not gonna fuck me up with that hammer, are you?"

"Oh, well... Yeah. So the way this thing works is we strip instead of taking actual damage, right? I figure this will end it quick," Ramona responded with a smile. "Better for everyone, right? I get a lot of money if I win. Enough to quit my delivery job and start working on something artsy. You understand, right?"

"Yeah, but like... you don't have to win to get the money, right? So you can just like... throw the fight? That way only one of us has to get naked!"

"Jules, sweetie... it's already only one of us that's getting naked," Ramona responded, hefting the hammer to hold it in both hands.

Julie gulped, looking at the camera guy again. "Uh... Maybe she should not swing a big-ass hammer in my apartment, huh? We should go no weapons, right?" she suggested.

"Weapons are okay! You're right about the location, though. It'd be much better to do this somewhere with more room."

Julie stood in the closed off street, looking down the road at her friend, who was approaching her menacingly, dragging her hammer across the ground. Moving the location outside had been good for not losing her down-payment on her apartment, but bad from the perspective that the strip fight was no longer a spectacle just for the party. Everyone in all of the surrounding buildings and even occasionally those driving by on the connected streets found themselves drawn to the spectacle of two bunny-girls fighting it out.

The weather was warm for a day in Toronto at this time of year, but still not especially great for wearing a leotard-style bunny-suit outside. Furthermore, while the ice was well on its way to melting, she was having a hard time just standing in the high heels. She couldn't imagine moving around like she'd seen Ramona do in her fights before. "Oh, I'm fucked," she cursed under her breath, taking a few unsteady steps off the road backwards, adjusting her glasses to make sure she was seeing Ramona clearly, and then... turning to run in the other direction. "Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuck!"

Ramona jumped into the air, raising her hammer high above her head and casting a small, but growing, shadow over her friend.

Julie was beginning to wonder if Ramona really still qualified as her friend at this point. Friends don't threaten to strip friends with a hammer, do they? "H-Hey! Remember that time I introduced you to your lame-ass fuck-face boyfriend?" she begged, falling onto her feet due to the ice and attempting to scamper away on all fours.

"Not helping your case!"

Outfit durability: 28/28 (bunny ear hairband, bowtie, cuffs, high heels, waist apron, bunnysuit, fishnet leggings, glasses)