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It had begun.

After three glorious months of freedom, it was inevitable that school would be starting up again, and if there was one thing that Gwendolyn Caspian despised more than the Negaverse and tapioca pudding combined, it was school. Not just any school, but St. Magdalena's Seminary, a school filled with nuns, and a wide variety of 'troubled' young girls like herself, though some with a bigger track record than most criminals. Some of these girls made her ordeals with the Negaverse officers seem like a walk in the park (well, except for her run in with Painite, but it wouldn't have surprised Gwen if the spear wielding, stab happy general had made her start here at St. Mag's), as at least she could punch them and get away with it. Well, more or less.

It was a few minutes before opening bell, and though Gwen had lived across the street from the school, she had been taking her sweet time getting herself there. And it wasn't from her injuries from her recent fights that were slowing her down, but just the fact of the matter that Gwen did not want to be there. School was a waste of time for someone who really had no clue what she wanted to be when she 'grew up' and had more or less accepted her Senshi persona to be her true self and her boring civilian side to be her secret identity. What was in those walls that were more important than keeping Destiny City safe?

That's the thought that was preoccupying her mind at the moment, and she leaned against the walls leading into school grounds, arms crossed and looking around for any teachers that might have prevented what she was planning. 'I'm going to blow this place one day.'

For someone who could sense a youma or Chaos lingering about, at least in her Senshi form, Gwen was taken completely off guard by the sudden appearance of Theodora. A blur of red, black and long white hair had caused her attention to snap from her own troubles and her own world, and before she had the chance to take in her words and the situation, she had grabbed her hand and was pulled into a run, and what choice did Gwen have but to follow along?

It wasn't until she realized that they were running away from the school that it dawned on Gwen just what was happening, and once she did, any bit of resistance that Theodora might have been feeling was long since gone, as Gwen has managed to maneuver her good wrist around and returned the gesture, no longer being pulled along but running side by side with her. It was a jailbreak, and this time, Gwen had an accomplice, not to mention a scapegoat if they were caught.

'Oh, forgive me, officer! I was kidnapped, I swear!'

One couldn't really kidnap or abduct the willing, Gwen thought, and she shot a question to the one that had more or less freed her and given her the best opening that she could think of. "You must be the angel of Truancy, coming from above to save school girls like me from school. My name's Gwendolyn. What's yours, oh angel?"

Gwen may have been eager for skipping class, but not so much that she was willing to strip her garments right there in the middle of the streets, though she had seen the wisdom in her actions. It wasn't long before she lost her necktie and vest as well, shoving them in her book sack as Theodora pulled out her shirt and unbuttoned her blouse, and Gwen thought little of it even as she was exposing some cleavage. Gwen, of course, had no intentions of going that far, though it was more likely due to her rather pathetic B cup that she was 'blessed' with (and that was being generous to herself, with some over exaggeration). "Ah, blending in with the crowd. You must be a pro at this, Theodora if you think that far ahead."

She felt that she could have learned a thing or two from this girl, and in the far distance, one could hear the opening bell ringing, letting them know that they had made their getaway just in the nick of time. But they weren't in the clear just yet, and at her partner in crime's prompt, Gwen immediately thought of a million things that the two of them could do together, despite the possibility their definition of fun being two completely different things. That was okay with Gwen; she was willing to try anything once, and she prided herself with that. First order of business, figure out that interesting accent of Theodora. "So, where you from? And what do you feel like doing today?"

That was quite a mouthful, and Gwen wasn't even sure she heard it right. And if there was one thing about Gwen that was apparent, even at first glance, it was that had a terrible poker face. An eyebrow arched and her mouth shaped into a lopsided grin, and like the dope that she was, she actually tried to pronounce it. "Thessalo... Thesslonaki? That's an interesting place... European, right?"

Gwen wasn't that knowledge, probably a little ignorant, though it didn't help that she was constantly skipping class. Had she spent more time in World Geography, she'd likely have known where that was, but nevertheless, all she needed to know was that her new friend was from somewhere across the sea, and that she was as mischievous, perhaps more so, than herself. "I'm not from around here myself, but my home's in the boring ol' United States... though, it must be exciting for you to be in a new country all together!"

'Of all of the US you came to, you came to the ONE CITY filled with youma and crazy people in Senshi suits... what luck!' Gwen thought to herself, gathering her surroundings and trying to figure out a place for her new friend and her could hang out. Theodora's definition of fun may have been different from hers, or, maybe not, since both of them had the same idea as her. "You like video games? I think I know an arcade somewhere near by, and if we have enough change, we can bribe the manager to not call the truancy officer on us. That sound like fun to you?"

For someone her size, Gwen liked to think of herself as being strong and hardy, but Theodora's 'slap' had managed to take her by surprise, both in its coming and just how much strength she put behind that motion. Gwen bit her bottom lip to prevent her grunt and she was able to catch herself before falling forward, and it took every amount of her considerable will power to not turn around and retaliate with a heated, verbal response. No, she certainly didn't mean for it to be that strong, Gwen told herself, and she had managed to force a smile to her face by the time she turned around to face her.

At least she seemed keen on the idea of going to the arcade, so that alone was enough for Gwen to let bygones by bygones. She motioned for Theodora to follow, only taking a moment to find her bearings again and moving in the direction of the arcade that she had discovered during the short summer. "Great! I know a lot of fun fighting and racing games, if you're into that sort of thing."

It wasn't a long trip, though Gwen exercised her usual caution when it came to skipping school. Sure, it made her look a little paranoid to be moving her head from side to side, but she always had to keep a look out for police officers or others that might have ratted them out. It wasn't until they made it into One Life Left Arcades that she felt that they were in the clear, and she pulled her wallet out to count her change, as she addressed Theodora. "His usual bribes run about $5 to $10, depending no how long we're going to be. I got enough to cover three hours at least. What about you?"

Gwen was pleased as pie, recounting the money from both ends just in case either one had made a mistake, and she moved to the employee without a moment's hesitation. The young man looked to her and gave a barely noticeable tilt of his head, before accepting the money and throwing it in a jar beneath the counter, before glancing away. Gwen was likely one of his more frequent customers, despite very little being spoken between the two. Now that Gwen thought about it, she didn't even know his name... and that was a shame.

And would continue to be one, as her eyes caught sight of the Marvel vs Capcom 2 kiosk and she beamed. Normally when she came there were always these rather tough looking brutes that wouldn't let her play, but now it was open. "Theodora, you like fighting games? We should play this one. I'll pay the first round!"

She grabbed the spare tokens from her last visit and motioned for Theodora to follow her. She had no idea what her playing skills were; she might have even creamed her, but Gwen was simply too excited to get her chance on the machine to care if she won or lost. Anything that wasn't being dragged back to school by an angry nun or truancy officer.

"Oh, eager for a beatdown, are we?" Gwen said smugly, counting her tokens and wasting no time in placing them into the slot. It sprung to life and she slammed a hands down on both of the start buttons on each side, before stepping to the left. She always played these kind of games better on the left side, for whatever reason; maybe it was her lucky side? "Very well, you take the right, then. Choose your characters wisely!"

She snickered, taking little time to select her own and periodically glancing over to her new friend to see who she would chose. She wasn't too concerned with who Theodora chose- she'd simply have to find a way to win, regardless of what tier she played in.

When she had made her selection, she stood poised and ready, one hand over the analog and the other hovering anxiously over the buttons. She gave her fingers a flex, as she playfully goaded Theodora on. "Alright, let's do this!"

Gwen knew a few of the combos; maybe not every single one of them, but most fighting games had a similar set up from each other. So Gwen was pretty confident that she had most of it figured out... though that didn't save her from being the victim of what Gwen suspected was a frantic button masher. A lucky frantic button masher... that was making it extremely hard to hit and therefor the chance of pulling off a successful combo with her near impossible.

It didn't take long for Theodora to wipe the floor with Gwen, and she tried to mask her annoyance with a grin, trying to play off the defeat as though it didn't bother her, though it did dig just under her skin a little. "Those are some fine moves you have, Theodora... can I call you Theo, or Dora?"

She had a few more coins left before she'd need to go to the token dispenser, though she wondered if she should try her luck with a second round against this girl. 'Maybe she isn't button mashing? Maybe she's a video game virtuoso?'

"Another round?" She held up the tokens for Theodora to see, eager to see if she could pull off the same trick twice. "Loser pays for the next one?"