Chapter 8 - The Eight-Headed SerpentMinato: 5 Hyper[5]
Hunter Tactical A: 4
Hunter Tactical B: 6
You sprint out of the alleyway, rounding the corner and what do you see? Another windowless van crashing right into your face.
You catch the bumper with your hands keeping yourself from slipping under the wheels. Three Regalia sink to the ground. Two spears and Luin. You dig your heels into the ground as the driver guns the engines driving you backwards, one hand on the wheel the other leveling a handgun at your head.
The first forgery detonates right under the rear wheel
lifting the van as you lift and pivot suplexing the vehicle and slamming it front-first into the pavement. Your second spear pierces the engine block. Luin pierces the driver. You leap up bracing a shield against the vehicle as your sacrifice the forged spear to reignite Luin, setting it ablaze and sending it screaming right into the fuel tank. You blow it as soon as it hits, blowing your shield too for an added boost as you launch forwards arcing towards your target - a second windowless white van.
The missing kid's in there. The missing kids and a bunch of assholes intent on keeping them missing. Same type as the ones with Sakurako. Red and white stripes. Four of them lean out of the van and open fire with arcane assault rifles, trying to get you off their tail. Rho Aias should hold well enough against that. It'll take two more forgeries to run down and catch the van. Main question now is how to stop it without hurting the kid.
Minato
Status: Slightly hurt, Rho Aias (slightly damaged), 5 stockpiled units
World Line: 5 2 5 4 1 4 6 3 2 1 6 5
Alterations: 5.0
Resolve: 3
Hunter Tactical A
Loadout: Assault Rifle
Status: Fine
Details: Driving the van with the missing kid, firing at Minato
Hunter Tactical B
Loadout: N/A
Status: Really fucking dead
Hunter Neophyte F
Loadout: Assault Rifle
Status: In the van with the missing kid, firing at Minato
Hunter Neophyte G
Loadout: Assault Rifle
Status: In the van with the missing kid, firing at Minato
Hunter Neophyte H
Loadout: Assault Rifle
Status: In the van with the missing kid, firing at Minato
Minato studies his options.
If the kid hadn't been in the van, this would be easier; stick Luin into the van's engine, explode it and pick off the survivors. Easier done than said. Minato had been practicing with Gandiva enough to get the aim down, even if it did have a bad habit of sticking him in increasingly ridiculous costumes. However, the kid made things....slightly more complicated.
He couldn't flip the van or use any of his more powerful Regalia, lest the van get damaged with the kid inside. Luin Celtchar would get rid of his targets, the kid might get caught in the collateral damage. He had to stop the van without blowing it up or crashing it.
And he knew exactly how, but first....he'd need to get ahead. And he knew exactly how.
After all, he'd already tried it once.
5 2 5 4 1 4 6 [3] 2 1 6 5
[R] Minato uses a Resolve point to summon Vimana, the flying chariot of Lord Kubera, in motorcycle form, using his intact Rho Aias to protect himself from attack, and mounts it to get alongside (and hopefully ahead of) the van. Summon Durandal to prepare to swat the hunters out of the van.
Minato: 5, Hyper[3]
Hunter Tactical A: 5
Hunter Neophyte F: 6
Hunter Neophyte G: 3
Hunter Neophyte H: 3
Deciding that crushing the engine block with a dive would be a bit too dangerous you just fall, arcane bolts slamming ineffectually against Rho Aias. You summon Vimana in mid-air, revving the engines. The wheels hit the ground with a squeal and you're off.
You approach from the passenger side, Neophytes G and H aiming for your tires but to no avail as you block their shots. Durandal flashes in your hand, claiming both their heads.
You don't see the kid. You're guessing it's in the rear section which has been section off. Good to now. The driver (Tactical A) swinging the van trying to ram you with it. Neophyte F meanwhile tries to shoot you from inside the van.
Minato
Status: Slightly hurt, Durandal, Rho Aias (somewhat damaged), Vimana (Motorcycle Forgery), 5 stockpiled units
World Line: 2 5 4 1 4 6 2 1 6 5 4 3
Alterations: 5.0
Resolve: 3
Hunter Tactical A
Loadout: Assault Rifle
Status: Fine
Details: Driving the van with the missing kid, trying to ram Minato with the van
Hunter Neophyte F
Loadout: Assault Rifle
Status: In the van with the missing kid, firing at Minato
Hunter Neophyte G
Loadout: N/A
Status: Decapitated
Hunter Neophyte H
Loadout: N/A
Status: Decapitated
Ramming. Not something Minato didn't see coming.
A van was, all told, far heavier than a motorcycle, even one that was actually the form of a mythical chariot ridden by a god. However, it was an average van (or, at least, not outwardly modified; whatever supernatural modifications it had, they were unknown to Minato), and Vimana had both speed and power over it.
Plus, Minato had them right where he wanted them.
2 [4] [5] 4 1 4 6 2 1 6 5 4 3
Alter to 4, summon Gleipnir. Use two forgeries to boost Minato forwards and away from the van and to get in front of it, then imbue two more forgeries into Gleipnir to slip it under the van's wheels and use the forgeries as an improvised spike strip to slow the van down.
Minato: 4, Hyper[5]
Hunter Tactical A: 6
Hunter Neophyte F: 3
You throttle the engines, accelerating and... immediately get rammed. Your armor dampens most of the impact but it's still enough to topple Vimana, sending you and the bike skidding across the asphalt. Doesn't matter, you sacrifice two forgeries and summon gleipnir in the a spikier-than-usual format, tethering the front of the van and sweeping the chain under the wheels, popping them one by one.
The van spins out. A and F roll out of the sides. The rear doors breach open and two more Neophytes come out, the missing boy in tow. If it weren't for the the boy you could you blow the chain take two off them out from the get go. But no, gotta do this the old fashioned way.
A crowd is gathering. To them, it must look like a you're filing a movie or something. For once you're thankful these assholes have good aim - if they were all spray and pray you'd have a lot of more to worry about.
"You punks must real dumb"A sharply dressed man emerges from the crowd.
"To think you can pull this shit on our turf."He cracks his knuckles glancing over to you.
"Your ID's off."ID?
Minato pulls himself to his feet, shaking his head and holding Rho Aias in front of him to avoid being shot at.
The kid was right there. Maybe another Gleipnir shot using Gandiva, use it as a makeshift pair of bolas, stop them in their tracks.
Then the sharply-dressed man appears. Minato immediately clocks something off; most normal people couldn't see what was going on properly. Most normal people didn't come up to other people and start threatening them. He either was incredibly belligerent, and Minato would need to handle this delicately because a normal human getting pasted by an Awakened was bad karma, or he was an Awakened, and Minato would still need to handle this delicately because he didn't know his abilities or his alleigiance.
Minato simply starts shifting towards his original targets.
"Man, I'm here resolving a kidnapping. I haven't got time for paperwork. You want my ID, google Masked Knight Gaia."
"What?"He looks at you as if you just spoke Latin.
"Shit, I thought you were one of us."He looks back to the Hunters.
"Oh whatever, let's teach these dipshits a lesson."The four dipshits, have other plans in mind however, each pulling out what appears to be a cross between an autoinjector and an overgrown USB stick.
They jab themselves and you hear a mechanical voice call out
`"Hyperspace!"`
Their bodies glow with light and new details precipitate out of the luminescene. Angular armor, veiled with blueshifted space and psychedelic visuals. They look almost like the constructs that the Man of Steel used.
Rename: Hunter Tactical A -Hyperspace Dopant ARename: Hunter Neophyte F -Hyperspace Dopant FRename: Hunter Neophyte I -Hyperspace Dopant IRename: Hunter Neophyte J -Hyperspace Dopant JDopant A, the more advanced of three holds out of their palm firing out a large roiling plume of psychedelic neon smoke to cover their allies (probably wanna stay out of it if possible). Dopant F and Dopant I drop their rifles and draw combat knifes, a sigil appears before them in the shape of a stained glass chrysanthemum and their forms seem to compress and stretch half charging half beaming towards you. Dopant J does the same but aiming for the sharply dressed man.
The man meanwhile grabs his collar. With a shout of
"Xipe Totec!" he tears off his shirt and jacket in a single fluid motion, the world around him erupting with blue flames. A figure rises at his side taking the form of a shirtless man, his raw pneumatic muscles exposed by his utter lack of skin. He catches the jacket, draping it over himself and as he does so, the air shimmers around a nearby bicycle, verdant winds throwing it into the sharply dressed man's hands.
As he leaps up to meet J's charge you see a tattoo on his back depicting the 0th Tarot Card - The Fool.
Minato
Status: Somewhat hurt, Durandal, Rho Aias (somewhat damaged), Vimana (Motorcycle Forgery), Gleipnir (spiky, 2 sacrifices), 4 stockpiled units
World Line: 4 1 4 6 2 1 6 5 4 3 3 1
Alterations: 3.5
Resolve: 3
Sharply Dressed Man
Status: Fine, Persona: Xipe Totec, Weapon: Bicycle
Details: Meeting Dopant J's charge with a bicycle
Hyperspace Dopant A
Loadout: Assault Rifle, Pistol, Combat Knife
Status: Fine
Details: Firing psychedelic smoke to cover Dopants F, I, and J's charge
Hyperspace Dopant F
Loadout: Combat knife
Status: Doing a magical charge on Minato
Hyperspace Dopant I
Loadout: Combat knife
Status: Doing a magical charge on Minato
Hyperspace Dopant J
Loadout: Combat knife
Status: Doing a magical charge on the sharply dressed man
F didn't get to fire at you since when you slid around and popped the tires they lost their firing angle on you.
Sharply Dressed Man
A summoner who prefers brutalizing foes at close range with his own two hands. His choice of active summon determines his fighting style and what magical techniques he has available.
Minato blinks.
Then, using Vimana to steady himself and stabbing Durandal into the ground to keep it near, he wrenches Gleipnir from the tires of the van he'd just stopped with it, before using it as a whip to intercept his attackers.
[[4] 1 4 6 2 1 6 5 4 3 3 1]
Use Gleipnir like a spiked scourge to intercept the chargers.
Minato: 4
Hyperspace Dopant A: 3 Hyper[3]
Hyperspace Dopant F: 4 Hyper[4]
Hyperspace Dopant I: 6 Hyper[4]
Hyperspace Dopant J: 5 Hyper[4]
You yank Gleipnir back into your grasp and swing it at the your assailants as their forms stretch and fire forward towards you, the chain passing harmlessly through them. Must be a phasing effect. Gleipnir should be an effective jammer, but innately it lacks any way to stop them once they've already phased out. In that case...
You array your four forgeries in front of you. They might not be about hit them, but they'll make sure they can't safely dephase. Sure enough they wind up beaming
through you and your forgeries, appearing in your rear flanks seemingly kicking off thin air to strike from behind, knives readied to Caesar your ass. Course, you're ready too, you follow through on your chain sweep, using it to spin around and ensnare F's arm. In the same motion you conjure Ruyi Jingu Bang, a forgery of it anyways, Gleipnir wrapped around one of its ends. You swing it to meet I's knife. They've come in too fast for you to deflect it fully, but you do enough, spoiling the angle and feeling the blade glance off your armor. You kick out your leg trying to trip them as their momentum carries them past you but they deftly sidestep, using the motion to pivot and go for a roundhouse. You turn, blocking it with your staff, simultaneously pulling F towards them keeping them. Wouldn't want them in your blind spot, would you?
The sharply dressed man, he doesn't notice the phasing in time and just gets fucking stabbed in gut as Dopant J phases through his strike. His grasp springs open in surprise, the bike flying out of his grasp as he ...uses his now freed hand to grab hold of the fucker's wrist and headbutt
hard. He tears the knife out (ouch) as he grabs the staggered Dopant by the head, spinning around to slam it against a nearby wall, Reinforcement flaring out across the concrete to ensure all the damage was to his foe and not the building.
Dopant A's plume of psychedelic smoke is now rushing towards your position, something you suspect you wouldn't wanna be in. Through the roiling haze you think you see them raise their rifle, taking aim at the sharply dressed man.
Dopant F seems to be flicker, trying to phase out of the Gleipnir, but finds itself unable to and instead rushes towards the incoming plume, trying to yank you in or at least pull you off balance as Dopant I moves low trying to sweep out your legs from under you.
Dopant J kinda just continues getting bashed against the wall.
Minato
Status: Somewhat hurt, Durandal, Rho Aias (somewhat damaged), Vimana (Motorcycle Forgery), Gleipnir (spiky, 2 sacrifices), 5 stockpiled units
World Line: 1 4 6 2 1 6 5 4 3 3 1 2
Alterations: 4.0
Resolve: 3
Sharply Dressed Man
Status: Hurt, Persona: Xipe Totec, Weapon: N/A
Details: Beating Dopant J against a wall
Hyperspace Dopant A
Loadout: Assault Rifle, Pistol, Combat Knife
Status: Fine
Details: Firing at the sharply dressed man
Hyperspace Dopant F
Loadout: Combat knife
Status: Fine, off-balance, chained by Gleipnir
Defails: Trying to yank Minto off balance and into Dopant A's plume
Hyperspace Dopant I
Loadout: Combat knife
Status: Fine
Details: Trying to sweep Minato's legs out from under him
Hyperspace Dopant J
Loadout: Combat knife
Details: Wounded, staggered
Status: Getting their ass beat
Tried auto'ing some of Minato's defensive skill and whatnot so it's not them phasing through his gleipnir only for F to get tagged on re-entry.
Sharply Dressed Man
A summoner who prefers brutalizing foes at close range with his own two hands. His choice of active summon determines his fighting style and what magical techniques he has available.
[1 [4] 4 6 2 1 6 5 4 3 3 1 2]
Alter 1 to 4, smash one end of Ruyi Jingu Bang into the ground to keep Dopant F where it is, pick up Durandal and intercept Dopant I with a Durandal to the face.
Minato: 4
Hyperspace Dopant A: 6
Hyperspace Dopant F: 5
Hyperspace Dopant I: 5
Hyperspace Dopant J: 6
Deciding to work smarter not harder, you just jam Ruyi Jingu Bang down into the ground, catching I's leg as they go for the sweep and slamming their back into the ground before driving Durandal through their visor. The cloud flows over you and neon light begins streaking off your armor as you feel your existence begins to erode like a meteorite burning up in atmosphere. A rather novel kind of pain that Dopant F seems eager moving to conjure a pinpoint blast in your chest.
Oh great, the entire cloud's about to blow isn't it? Just like with Faith.
You can't really see what's going on outside of the cloud right now. Just gotta trust the other man to hold his own.
Minato
Status: Hurt, Durandal, Rho Aias (somewhat damaged), Vimana (Motorcycle Forgery), Gleipnir (spiky, 2 sacrifices), 6 stockpiled units
World Line: 4 6 2 1 6 5 4 3 3 1 2 3
Alterations: 1.5
Resolve: 3
Sharply Dressed Man
Status: Unknown
Details: Unknown
Hyperspace Dopant A
Loadout: Assault Rifle, Pistol, Combat Knife
Status: Unknown
Details: Unknown
Hyperspace Dopant F
Loadout: Combat knife
Status: Fine, chained by Gleipnir to a pole that's been jammed into the ground
Defails: Targeting Minato with a pinpoint blast in an attempt to detonate Dopant A's plume
Hyperspace Dopant I
Status: Dead
Details: N/A
Hyperspace Dopant J
Loadout: Combat knife
Details: Unknown
Status: Unknown
Sharply Dressed Man
A summoner who prefers brutalizing foes at close range with his own two hands. His choice of active summon determines his fighting style and what magical techniques he has available.
Minato really, really was going to need a few more hands. A lot more hands.
[[4] 6 2 1 6 [5] 4 3 3 1 2 3]
Minato uses Chou Henshin. Use the tendrils to block off Dopant F's attack while also pulling Minato out of the cloud.
Minato: 4, Hyper[5]
Hyperspace Dopant A: 5, Hyper[3]
Hyperspace Dopant F: 6, Hyper[3]
Hyperspace Dopant J: 1
You convert your Regalia, (the ones not being used to pin a certain asshole) into tendrils sweeping Rho Aias up into position as you skitter backwards. Superluminality and burning neon, a drug trip turned into a fuel-air bomb. The shockwave slams into your shield, cracks tearing across Rho Aias as you tumble backward. You sink your tendrils into the ground stabilizing you motion and skidding backwards to a halt, weapons at the ready.
Dopant F isn't so fortunate - the blast broke Gleipnir and Ruyi Jingu Bang, and when your forgeries fail they often fail explosively. The results aren't pretty, the Dopant was basically just splattered leaving little more than a smear of pigment across the sidewalk.
Dopant A mean is uh... well it's levitating. Not on its free will either, a coil of verdant magic is wrapped around its throat Xipe Totec gesturing at it like he's Darth fucking Vader. The Dopant returns fire on the Xipe's master, but the man quickly spins J around, using them as an improvised shield, an act that costs the already battered Dopant its life.
As A continues trying to fire at him and his Persona the man notices you.
"Catch"With a flick of the hand he magically tosses the Dopant at you.
Minato
Status: Hurt, Durandal, Rho Aias (very damaged), Vimana (Motorcycle Forgery), 6 stockpiled units, Chou Henshin (2 Turns Remaining)
World Line: 6 2 1 6 4 3 3 1 2 3
Alterations: 2.0
Resolve: 3
Sharply Dressed Man
Status: Quite hurt, Persona: Xipe Totec, Weapon: N/A
Details: Tossing Hyperspace Dopant A towards Minato
Hyperspace Dopant A
Loadout: Assault Rifle, Pistol, Combat Knife
Status: Fine, out of breath
Details: Firing at the sharply dressed man
Hyperspace Dopant F
Status: Exploded
Defails: N/A
Hyperspace Dopant J
Details: Ventilated
Status: N/A
Auto optimized to block with Rho Aias instead of tendrils as it protects better against a blast like this.
Given that there's one foe remaining and they're getting thrown at you and you have plenty of explosives. I don't expect this battle to last beyond the next turn. So uh...
Feel The Heat! Sharply Dressed Man
A summoner who prefers brutalizing foes at close range with his own two hands. His choice of active summon determines his fighting style and what magical techniques he has available.
"Much obliged, whoever you are."
[[6] 2 1 6 4 3 3 1 2 3]
Nail the unfortunate Dopant with Durandal in the face and every single Chou Henshin tendril.
Minato: 6
Hyperspace Dopant A: 6, Hyper[3]
The final Dopant swings its rifle aiming for Xipe Totec, the first burst going wide as it find itself hurled towards you. There would be no second burst. You twirl Durandal in your hand, shifting your grip to grasp it by the blade. And then you swing, slamming the crossguard into their visor clotheslining them with a viscous mordhau. Before they can even think of recovering you're already upon then, seven tendrils twisting into fists (a little trick you learned from the Bodhisattva) pummelling them into the pavement before reverting into blades and snapping outwards tearing the unfortunate dopant to pieces.
"Call me, Jiro." The man says slipping a business card into your hands.
"You ever need a hand round these parts, give me a shout." And with that he walks off, pausing only to glance as the now-rescued kid.
"This town's gone to the dogs." he mutters shaking his head.