Civilians ran down the street in a mad panic, doing anything they could to escape the clanking metal army that was marching along Main Street. A menacing figure followed the robots, her steps filled with a sinister purpose.

“Ruby city! Meet your new Queen!” She shouted, her cape fluttering behind her. “Submit to Mechanica or meet your end!” She boasted as her robot army continued to march down the road.

“Not going to happen!” Came a voice from an alleyway.

“Yes, we request you leave Earth right this second,” added another voice.

“You,” growled Mechanica, watching as a group of girls walked out in front of her. Mechanica’s robots stopped in their tracks and raised their weapons. “You think you can stop me?”

“We will,” nodded the middle girl. “Ready girls?”

“Yes!” They shouted in unison. Each girl fiddled with something on their wrist as a blinding flash radiated out of them. Mechanica stumbled back a little, disoriented by the bright light. When she looked up again the girls looked totally different.

Each girl was clad head to toe in shiny metal armor that shimmered in the sun. In one flowing movement each girl took on a theatrical pose and stared down Mechanica’s robots.

“Prepare to meet the fantastic feline fighter!” Shouted the girl at the far end of the line as she posed, making paw motions with her hands. Her armor was a bright silver bodysuit, with two cat ears on top of an equally shiny helmet. “Space Kitty!”

“Please stand behind the yellow line!” Started the girl in yellow armor, two large vents emitting steam as she moved, her helmet resembling the front of a Bullet Train. “Express Knight Ulla is here!”

The next girl in line just mashed her large gauntlet into the palm of her other hand, sending out a large shockwave that threw up dust all around her. “The Crushing Countess! Lady Aria!” She declared.

The next girl spun on her heel. Her armor was in two parts, she was clad in a golden body suit, but it was topped off with a short dress made of various shards of metal that seemed to ripple and move with her body. “Quiet on the set please!” She shouted as she posed. “The Ace Actress! Starlit Knight Gaim! Ready for your close up?”

“This city will be mine! Regardless of what you sniveling creatures think you can do!” Shouted Mechanica.

“And I think we are going to pin that here,” said Beth with a smile. “As we are about to run out of time.” She added as a series of whines rang out from around the table.

“I’m going to be hyped all week, I can’t wait to punch this lady right in the face!” Grinned Karen as she started to drop her dice into a bag.

“Makes me wonder how much health she has, considering we still have ten minutes,” added Lucy, raising up a little as if trying to look over the cardboard screen in front of Beth.

“You’ll find out next time!” Giggled Beth, putting a hand over Lucy’s eyes and pushing her back down into her chair.

“Will we be doing a session next week? “Asked Kim as she put her stuff away. “What with us going to the cabin and everything?”

“Right, about that actually,” grinned Beth. “I thought as it’s a big fight, we would do a longer session at the cabin! It will be fun and we can add a twist!”

“A twist?” Said all four girls in unison.

“You know she has been waiting to reveal this all session,” grinned Zoey, bouncing a little in her seat.

“Well, I was thinking you could all dress up as your hero, to get into character!” Smiled Beth. “Like, you don’t need the full armor! Just something you think is evocative of them!”

“Okay, I was about to point out that finding train parts would be really hard,” laughed Zoey. “But I like the idea.”

“And proves this lady has a lot of health!” Nodded Lucy.

“Well, then it's settled! I look forward to seeing what you have all made,” nodded Beth as the girls stood up and started to leave.

The week went quickly for everyone and the mixture of packing and costume preparation meant that the girls didn’t get much time to talk with each other before they met at Beth’s car on Thursday evening.

“Ready to go girls?” Smiled Beth as she threw a water bottle at Kim.

“All packed and ready!” Nodded Karen as she closed the trunk of the car.

“I can’t wait to see what costumes you’ve all made,” smiled Beth as she climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled herself in.

“Well we were talking while you were getting stuff,” exclaimed Karen. “And we’ve decided we are not going to show each other our costumes until we start the game, so it is a surprise for everyone!”

“That sounds wonderful!” Grinned Beth as she revved her car and pulled out of her parking spot, 1980s hair metal blasting out of her speakers as she started to drive.

The cabin itself was deep in the woods. While it had been advertised as “lake-side” it was actually a good fifteen minutes away from the lake and even further away from other people.

As the girls pulled up they admired the place, each getting even more excited than they had been earlier. Beth stepped out of the car and started to fiddle with the key she had been given as the other girls dived out of the car and started to unload.

Beth smiled as she saw the inside of the cabin, it was totally perfect, a little rustic haven far away from civilization. It also meant she didn’t have to worry about the police turning up if things got a little noisy.

As the other girls started to move their clothes and food into the cabin, Beth snuck out to the car and pulled out a second suitcase, quickly dashing it inside and throwing it under one of the beds before going to get her actual suitcase.

The girls spent the rest of the night exploring the cabin and eating, all of them too tired from the drive to do anything very demanding or energetic. However, once everyone else had fallen into bed Beth went and grabbed the second suitcase and started to unpack it, hiding several small packages around the cabin.