Chapter 246: Cosplay

Kalon sat with the idea for a long time before he did anything with it.

Starting an organisation sounded cool when it was only a line in his head. In practice it needed more than his name and a win over a Dragon.

It needed fighters. People who could take matches, fill cards, and make the whole thing look like a real group instead of one man with money and attention.

He could try to recruit from Earth. That was the normal route. It was also slow, political, and full of the same nonsense he was already dealing with under Atlas.

Then he thought about the women he already knew off-world.

Josinia could fight. She had training, real experience, and enough control now to stand in serious company.

Sifa was getting stronger.

Others could be raised the same way if he took his time.

But the problem with that idea was obvious.

None of them looked human. Purple skin. Ice bodies. Leaf skin. If he brought them into a British arena as they were, the country would lose its mind. Everything would crumble before it even started, and Kalon might accidentally start an intergalactic war with his own planet.

So, they would have to be disguised.

It wouldn’t have to be perfect. Just well enough for public places and, later, for work under human cover names.

Things like clothes, makeup, careful lighting. If that worked, the rest of the plan might be able to fall into place.

Luckily, he wasn’t in any rush. Today, he planned to bring one of his alien women’s to earth and test something out.

And of course for this, he chose Josinia.

...

Venduros was warm when he arrived.

Josinia was near her place, and she lit up as soon as she saw him. White hair loose. Pink eyes bright. She started to ask about the fight, then stopped when she got a proper look at his face.

"You have that look," she said. "You already decided something."

"I want to take you somewhere."

"Where?"

"My world, but not just the rooftop this time. A public place with a lot of people. I need to know if you can walk through it comfortably."

Josinia grabbed his wrist before she even finished nodding. "Yes. Can we go now?"

She had no other questions about how this might possibly work. She was just desperate.

"Yeah, we can."

He linked her to the travel and brought her straight into his high-rise apartment.

...

Earth hit her with the usual short lag while the system finished adapting her body.

Kalon kept a hand on her back until her breathing evened out.

She looked around the apartment with wide eyes, still excited, still a little unsteady on the new floor.

"Is this your home Kalon?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it is. Though I probably didn’t need to buy one so... fancy."

He took her into the bedroom and opened the wardrobe.

He had already put clothes aside for what he had planned.

The outfit did not attempt to cover up her unique features, such as her purple skin and pointy ears. Instead, it made it seemed like it was apart of a cosplay.

She wore an oriental style dress that clung tight to her body, making it look like she was from some sort of fantasy story inspired by Asian culture.

Josinia stood still while he worked and watched everything in the mirror.

"This is so cool... You really planned all of this, didn’t you?" she said.

Kalon nodded his head and smiled whilst admiring the way her curves looked in the outfit.

When he finished, it was not perfect. Up close, someone really searching might still think it was a bit too realistic.

From normal distance, under busy indoor lighting, she looked like a person in heavy cosplay.

Josinia turned her head left and right.

"I look so cool."

"You look beautiful."

...

The gaming convention filled a full exhibition centre across the city.

Kalon took her in through the main doors with the afternoon crowd.

The lobby was already loud. People in armour. People in wigs. Painted faces. Fake weapons being checked by security.

A girl walked past with bright silver arms and a tail.

A man in full plate stood for a photo while his friend adjusted a helmet.

Another was dressed in an entire fursuit.

Josinia stopped just inside and stared.

"They are all dressed up," she whispered.

"That is why we came here. In a place like this, you do not stand out the way you would on a normal street."

He walked her further in. The main hall was packed with booths, stages, merchandise lines, and demo stations. Crowds moved in thick slow streams between displays. Screens showed game trailers. Staff in event shirts directed people toward photo areas and panel rooms.

No one screamed at Josinia.

No one pointed at her skin.

A pair of teenagers looked at her for a moment, clearly liked the effort put into her costume and makeup, and walked on.

A photographer near a backdrop asked if she was taking pictures. Kalon said no and steered her toward a quieter aisle between two large merchandise stands.

Josinia kept hold of his sleeve the whole time. Her pink eyes moved from costume to costume, from human face to human face, like she was afraid someone might say something to her.

"I am walking among them," she said under her breath. "Actual humans."

"How does it feel?"

She needed a second.

"I cannot believe it. I am in your world and nobody is running. Nobody is calling me wrong. They think I am playing dress-up. They think this is all fake on purpose." Her gloved hand tightened on his sleeve. "Kalon, I can walk here. I can actually be here with you!"

A group in matching jackets passed them without a second look. Somewhere deeper in the hall a panel audience started cheering.

Josinia watched all of it with her mouth slightly open, still pressed close to his side, still waiting for someone to notice what she really was.

Nobody did.

Kalon watched the crowd accept her and felt the larger plan settle into place.

If Josinia could do this, then the rest became possible.

He would just have to design his organisation in a way that encouraged cosplay...