Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 05:37:56 am
Chapter 0 - Overture (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7382622#msg7382622)
Chapter 1 - A Chance of Thunder (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7401543#msg7401543)
Chapter 2 - Contacts and Conspiracies (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7518601#msg7518601)
Tutorial 1 - Conserving Alterations (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163074.msg7554414#msg7554414)
Chapter 3 - Seek and Destroy (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7645411#msg7645411)
Chapter 4 - Breach and Clear (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7786393#msg7786393)
Chapter 5 - Man of Steel (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7807252#msg7807252)
Chapter 6 - Harems, Duels, and the Doki Doki Non-Proliferation Treaty (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7845656#msg7845656)
Optional Battle 1 - Six-Chambered Circle (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7854850#msg7854850)
Optional Battle 2 - Ripples in the Darkness (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7864684#msg7864684)
Chapter 7 - Aethertide (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7891817#msg7891817)
Optional Battle 3 - Frozen Skies (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg8068940#msg8068940)
Chapter 8 - The Eight-Headed Serpent (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg8196427#msg8196427)
Optional Battle 4 - Ghosts of Wonderland (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg8270693#msg8270693)
Chapter G1 - Polyphony (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=179805.msg8371674#msg8371674)
OOC Thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163074.0)
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 05:38:18 am
Yuki, Noriko, and Faith
The three of you are in a maid cafe, a pretty damn classy one at that, well, as classy as a cafe where the waitresses are dressed like maids and pretend to be anime characters can be at least. Noriko, Yuki, you're working. Faith, you're just visiting. It's a busy day as always, location's good and the entertainment district's always bustling, especially at this hour with school out for the day.
It's, not too bad. Awkward maybe, embarrassing probably, but it pays well enough and hey the interior design ain't half bad. It's pretty comfy actually. Noriko's on the clock, that means she's in-character right now. Yuki? She never got off the clock.
((Still going to need a name for the cafe :P))
Minato, Shef, and Yoake
It is 4pm on a Tuesday. Lots of people in the entertainment district. It'd be pretty nice on most days. Today isn't most days. You guys are on stakeout duty basically. Winter's divined that there should be some awakenings in this part of the district soon, and a freshly awakened Godslayer with no Artifical Regalia and no idea what the fuck is happening, is a tempting target. The good news is that it's the entertainment district, you can have all your gear out and so long as it doesn't look like an actual gun or anything, no one will bat an eye. The bad news is, there could be mononoke masquerading as cosplayers. That person in the left shark suit? Outside that arcade? For all you know, they could be trying to take a bite out of your squishy parts in five minute's time.
So, you three are on the look out for anyone collapsing and tripping serious balls. You'll be extracting them and taking them to the weapons cache, get them armed, give everything else second thoughts about trying to nom on them. So, right now, where are you and what are you doing?
((You three don't have to be in the same place.))
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 05:58:06 am
So, not much to his chagrin, his visit here was for business.
He takes a look at the waitress closest to him; she was pretty cute, bright blue eyes, silky black hair and all. The maid outfit helped, of course; he had a thing, so to speak, for maids. But then again, he had a thing for all women. Granted, they didn't have a thing for him back, but such was life.
His eye drifts over to Yuki and Noriko, the two of them in maid outfits. Yuki, he thought, was pretty cute. Hyper, bouncing off walls like a squirrel on a sugar high with a death wish, but cute enough. He liked her, anyway; she seemed to emit an aura of happiness. Noriko was also pretty cute, though he was a little worried that people might pick on her for being 'weird'. Then there was that third girl he'd picked up on; blonde, blue-eyed, busty and big. Definitely American; Minato saw a lot more of them around here now, which made sense. Sendo City was the Silicon Valley of Japan, after all, and that meant more foreigners. She looked familiar too, but he couldn't quite place where or how.
Minato takes another sip. The Awakened were around here somewhere, and the Aramitama would come just as quick. He was here for three reasons.
One, to escort the Awakened to safety. Two, to get his friends out of the way; Aramitama could cause serious collateral damage and Minato wasn't about to leave people he knew in the way. Three, for the cute girls; why else would he come to the maid cafe? Not that the food was bad at all.
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 06:09:11 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 06:12:49 am
Well, as long as I'm in the area.....
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 06:15:23 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 06:24:27 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 06:31:32 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 06:38:23 am
Today her hyper-ness was more overstated than usual, because she had a particular "young miss" in mind, and was trying to spend as much time over there as she could while working. She noticed Minato of course, and waved enthusiastically (highly unprofessional for a maid cafe but completely "in-character" for her). She'd have a chat with him later but most customers, unless they came in a group, had to sit alone (not counting the waitress-maid that goes to that table), and she was more interested in the american girl right now.
She was almost running to the girl (who looked very uncomfortable. Culture shock?) to the point it was impressive she didn't drop the tray of coffee, tea, and various snack foods she'd bought (it was her monthly "luxury" expense! And she got a discount anyway because she worked there). She carefully placed the tray down, and sat across from the girl, smiling all the while. "Heyyyy! You made it! Sorry to make you see me during work, but Sunday's got a bunch of homework this week and I think I'd be reaaaallly distracted by hanging out with you. It's a nice place, isn't it? Kinda weird I know but they pay pretty good and give you a free cute outfit!" she says. She speaks with something of a motor-mouth, one thought beginning almost before the last has ended, and yet somehow not tripping over her words.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 07:10:24 am
And I'm to understand you and Enn's mating calls on missions are professional?
He waves back at Yuki with a smile. She really did look cute.
Then his eyes follow her as she sits next to the American. Now things got interesting; so Yuki knew her somehow?
Perhaps she wasn't so distant after all.
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 07:16:50 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 07:20:31 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 07:25:35 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2017, 08:00:08 am
Every so often, Shef would glance up into some of the surrounding shops, attempting to hide his glances into the maid cafe by taking an innocuous panorama of his surroundings. He may have been paranoid; after all, people wouldn't be surprised to see a decently young man's eyes always being drawn back to the cafe. However, he took caution all the same, and Minato needed someone watching his back. He could be courageous, and honorable, but especially when surrounded by so many girls, well, Shef doubted he had much capacity for prudence.
At almost precisely four o'clock--Shef had gained that useful ability to measure time in his head with uncanny precision--he consulted the watch on his right wrist. Two minutes off. Not up to my usual. Must be the crowd...
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and sent off a quick text.
To Yoake, he wrote:
Quote
Checking in. What's your current location? Anything suspicious?He sent nothing more for now; Minato already seemed somewhat distracted, and if Enn or Winter had any more information, they'd initiate contact.
"Good afternoon," he murmured as a couple relaxed onto the bench beside him.
Post by: TheBiggerFish on March 06, 2017, 08:56:04 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 06, 2017, 11:22:03 am
Post by: Powder Miner on March 06, 2017, 11:24:59 am
Speaking of her half-sister, here she was! As uncomfortable as Faith probably looked despite her best efforts, she put on a wide and confident smile when Yuki showed up, and spoke up rather boisterously (read: kinda loudly) in her American-accented Japanese. "Hiya Yuki! Don't worry about this, eheh, I've been kinda busy too taking care of a thing or two left over from the move, so it wouldn't be fair if I wasn't willing to work around your schedule! As for this place, well, you know, it's just something new, and I wouldn't be a very courageous person if I didn't check out new things!"
Post by: spümpkin on March 06, 2017, 01:09:54 pm
She never dropped the habit of always wearing a swimsuit, though.
A few more people passed by, before Yoake receieved a text from Shef. Oh bother. This whole stakeout business was really taking timenaway from her throwing pamhplets at people. She replied soon enough, with a text that read:
Quote
"Still just at the arcade~ Nothing much happening here -_-"
After she placed her phone back in her swimsuit pocket, she watched the passers-by for anything suspicious, and... nothing happened. God, this is boring!
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 01:22:17 pm
Faith kicked her legs awkwardly under the table as she waited for her half-sister at the maid café. She didn't want to say anything rude about it, but the whole "maid café" thing was still more than a little weird to her American sensibilities! Something about teenage girls (and she was pretty sure that one of the other maid-dressed girls she saw wandering around was her classmate) acting the way they did for customers kinda creeped her out -- but she guessed that that was just kind of a normal thing here, so she wasn't going to be hostile about it! Besides, Yuki seemed fine with it, and Faith supposed that was all that mattered! Plus the half-Japanese girl didn't want to wander in and be the ignorant foreigner! If she was going to end up hitting any of the stereotypes, it was certainly better it be the positive ones than thr negative ones.((Assuming you mean American-accented Japanese... [although I'm sure Yuki's doing well in her English class] :P ))
Speaking of her half-sister, here she was! As uncomfortable as Faith probably looked despite her best efforts, she put on a wide and confident smile when Yuki showed up, and spoke up rather boisterously (read: kinda loudly) in her American-accented English. "Hiya Yuki! Don't worry about this, eheh, I've been kinda busy too taking care of a thing or two left over from the move, so it wouldn't be fair if I wasn't willing to work around your schedule! As for this place, well, you know, it's just something new, and I wouldn't be a very courageous person if I didn't check out new things!"
Yuki nodded. She saw Faith seemed uncomfortable, but the American girl had seemed uncomfortable since they met. She would ask about it later. For now, snacks! "It's my break-time, so I bought something to eat! I wasn't sure if you were a coffee-person or a tea-person, so I got both, and a bunch of snacks too. Don't worry about the cost, I get an employee discount!" Yuki said, ever cheerful.
"Well, big-sister time! How are you doing, since you came here? Adjusting well enough? I know Japan is probably really different from America. Unless you lived in an ethnic community or something like that Chinatown place I've heard they had in New York. But for Japanese people, not Chinese people. And not in New York or there'd be a bunch more superheroes and dark supernatural forces and stuff.. But I think you'd have mentioned it if you did sooooo I'm assuming not. So yeah, how are you doing with adjusting? School alright?" Yuki says, in her normal rapid-fire rambling.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 04:54:22 pm
She was pretty cute. Blonde, blue-eyed and busty; just like she stepped out from an anime's version of America. The girl was pretty tall; Minato wagered that she was about as tall as he was, give or take a few centimetres. Nice clothes, too; most likely Western brands, from the look of things, or otherwise some of the better Eastern brands. Of course, he wasn't only looking at her body, but paying attention to her face.
She looked fresh-faced and new around here; her eyes seemed awkward. Minato estimated she'd be about a year his junior, give or take, and he'd never seen her around here before, so she had to be new, had to be less than a year around here and a junior to boot. There were only a few schools in Sendo- Sendo being a business area and not a residential area- so he wagered that she'd either be in one of the private schools or his school, the best state school in the area. She certainly looked uncomfortable here, despite her wide grin. Minato fully understood why; maid cafes weren't exactly mainstream outside.
Right here was a girl who seemed completely out of her element. Then and there, his chivalry preceded everything else.
Well. Might as well come over and say hi, hm?
Taking one more sip of his tea, Minato strolls over to Yuki and Faith, trying to put a little swagger in his step. He smiles confidently at the two girls.
"Hello, Yuki and hello, Yuki's friend. Is there anything I can do for you lovely ladies?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2017, 05:10:35 pm
Hopefully she was taking her job seriously, though that was highly doubtful. Likely putting on a demonstration or something. Probably going to get herself arrested for indecent exposure.
He deliberately turned the page of his book, and pulled off his glasses to polish them, taking a few glances at Minato. He was moving. Shef twitched slightly as he prepared to get up, but relaxed as he saw Minato approaching his "targets". He was by no means surprised, though he was slightly disgruntled. He really should be taking this less frivolously. He's not always going to have someone watching over him.
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 05:42:11 pm
Another message pops up, this time from Enn. How are things?
Noriko
A uniformed boy chatters about something to a friend, his wide expressive arm gestures succeeding in sweeping his cup off the table, shattering it. He begins apologizing profusely.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 06, 2017, 05:45:33 pm
Then a red-headed boy walked over to their table and greeted them -- swagger in his step, slightly unkempt here, it was pretty clear the kind of air he was trying to give off but to his credit it wasn't like he was failing at it. And then he greeted them as "lovely ladies" -- a compliment which clearly tickled Faith pink, as she blushed ever-so-slightly and put a hand to her cheek, smiling at him. "Oh wow. Is he a friend of yours, Yuki?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 06, 2017, 06:37:25 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 06:41:28 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 06:46:18 pm
Of course, it was hard to reconcile courtesy with flirtation, but Minato got by somehow. Not that it always worked, but he was a work in progress.
He puts on a smile for her, nodding to Yuki to acknowledge what she'd said about Noriko.
"My, my, you've kept such a treasure hidden from me, haven't you, Yuki? It's an honor to meet you, Faith."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 06:55:14 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 06:57:23 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 06:59:55 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 07:01:12 pm
Okay, so, you go around back, grab the broom, pass the fuck out on top of said broom, and start tripping some serious balls. Like, Natterer-grade shit. You see eye of judgement, its burning gaze piercing your very soul. Countless scenes flash before your eyes, too many to remember, too many to know. You try, you try to hold onto at least one, the memories of a forgotten god, and yet, and yet, you fumble, it slips out of your grasp. You know you saw that grand phantasmagoria, but, what was in it, you cannot recall.
You struggle to remember. And then, something comes to you. A name.
Fuuri Noriko.
You remember a girl, with bright blue hair, who- wait, no. You -are- that girl. You -are- Fuuri Noriko.
There was so much information, so much coursing through your head, sometime in that time, you had forgotten who your were. You had forgotten your own existence.
Your name is Fuuri Noriko, and you are currently collapsed on a broom.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 07:04:05 pm
The boy returns to being all smiles and charm, turning back to face both girls.
"Well, half-sisters, hm? Well, looks seem to run in your family, I can tell you that. Now, back to my earlier question. Is there anything I can do for you girls at all?"
Post by: Powder Miner on March 06, 2017, 07:09:02 pm
He gives out his third flirt of the encounter, and Faith giggles a bit.
"Oh gosh, haha. I guesss I'm kind of at a loss as for anything I would neeed, except that I'm always glad to meet new people!"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 07:13:33 pm
I can't think of anything particular! Although, you're a customer right now, right Minato? Do you want to order something?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 06, 2017, 07:14:10 pm
All the while, Minato was keeping an eye on anyone who might be the potential Awakened. Shef, he knew, had outside handled, as did Yoake. Considering that the cafe was rather busy today and that his friends were in here, Minato chose to take on the cafe himself.
Still, he might as well enjoy himself a little. And Faith really was cute.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 06, 2017, 07:23:17 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 07:42:52 pm
"Hey, Noriko, are you feeling alright? You look a bit... unsteady."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 06, 2017, 08:06:23 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 08:14:30 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 06, 2017, 08:24:18 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 08:33:35 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 08:35:56 pm
There's a bit of curiosity and concern as they respond, and they end up insisting to pay for it, it was their fault after all, though how well you can insist to a motor-mouthed chuuni is rather hard to say.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 08:41:11 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2017, 09:18:25 pm
Quote
Someone suspicious in cafe. Might be awakened. Should I go in? Not sure if Minato knows.
Shef glanced at the folk next to him. They were sufficiently distracted. He stood up, pocketing his book, and stretched. He would slowly wander down the street staring at his phone, glancing up into shops occasionally, waiting for a response. This way, he would be close enough to assist if necessary, while appearing to be some young adult immersed in his phone.
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 09:26:33 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 06, 2017, 09:41:58 pm
"Uh, hi Noriko. I'm just here because Yuki is actually my half sister."
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2017, 09:51:07 pm
Quote
Probably know this already, but awakened sat down next to you. I'll be out here for now. Nod twice if you need me.
Minato checking his phone wouldn't be considered odd, and hopefully he would have the wherewithal to keep the message hidden from the girls at the table. The maid might have been dizzy for reasons other than an awakening, but caution was best. Minato had chosen to watch the maid cafe rather than the numerous other bustling shops and restaurants. He seemed fairly versed in the ways of magic; perhaps he knew something about where an Awakening could occur? Doubtful. Probably just went in to stare at the maids...still... Shef leaned up against a wall across the street. Every so often he would, as unabashedly as possible, look up from his phone and peer into the cafe.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 06, 2017, 09:51:47 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 06, 2017, 10:02:55 pm
Having something to talk about kind of puffed Faith back up again, meaning she was sitting straighter and being less awkward. She still wasn't going to judge Noriko though: that would mean she would have to think the same of her new half-sister, but also the only reason that she knew this is because she was, herself, in the maid café.
Post by: spümpkin on March 06, 2017, 10:05:37 pm
Oh! It's just Enn. Well, she may as well update them on how boring this is.
Quote
"Hey! Nothing much is going on around here =_=; SUPER BORED!!!
Aaaand sent. Hopefully Enn has some good news for her. In the meantime, maybe she should meet up with Shef? Or, how would he say it, 'rendezvous'?
Who cares.
Yoake stands, and makes her way over to Shef's location, arriving fairly quickly as she was merely down the road. She sees him engrossed in his phone, and speaks quite loudly to get his attention.
"HEY! Howsit goin'?"
Her idle movements emphasize her body quite a bit, as she is wearing her normal attire of a one-piece swimsuit.
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2017, 10:10:33 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2017, 10:28:11 pm
"You really shouldn't be here. Unless all the awakenings happen in the cafe, we're going to miss something." Shef sighed. It was obvious that she hadn't come to report; she would have texted if need be, in order to stay near her target. Judging from the idle slang and her tone, she had simply been bored. Kid isn't fit for a stakeout...going to draw attention to us too, wandering around dressed like that.
Shifting his focus away from her and back towards the cafe, Shef replied to her inquiry.
"We've got someone who might be awakened. Don't look immediately, but it's the girl next to Minato. Not the blond, the other one. Blue hair. She came out from the back a minute ago, off-balance, and was relieved of her shift. I'm not sure if Minato knows. I sent him a text just in case."
Post by: spümpkin on March 06, 2017, 10:36:05 pm
"Do you not wannna see me that much? Anyways, 'snot like anythin' was happening over there." She looks towards the maid cafe, and her eyes light up.
"Oooo, that place looks fun! I didn't see it earlier, but we should go in! We could all be a team! Like.. like... a spy team! Of spies!" Her struggle for a decent comparison makes her face scrunch up, before she finishes, and heads towards the maid cafe in high spirits.
She waits at the door, expecting Shef to follow.
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2017, 10:43:36 pm
"We won't sit right next to Minato. Too suspicious. One table over at least, and I'll remain seated if you need to talk to him," he hissed out of the corner of his mouth as he entered.
Post by: spümpkin on March 06, 2017, 10:45:00 pm
This is clearly visible.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 10:49:40 pm
Post by: spümpkin on March 06, 2017, 10:54:45 pm
"Whaaaaaaaat? Secret hand signaaaals? I dunno what you're taaaaalkin' aboooout..."
She quickly sits back up, and puts on her best 'incognito face'. Her normal expression.
"Hmm... yes... I would like...." Her eyes look around the table, and at Yuki.
"... a menu."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2017, 10:59:18 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2017, 11:00:40 pm
"Drinks would be wonderful, miss...? I'd simply like ice water for now...I'm unfamiliar with this type of establishment. Is there anything I should be aware of?"
Post by: spümpkin on March 06, 2017, 11:03:08 pm
"Ahem, I.. would like...... a 'hot choc-o-late', thank you." Her face is locked into a forced-neutral expression as she says this.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 01:04:15 am
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 01:49:04 am
"Hi there! What's your name?" She asks loudly enough to hear across the cafe, whilst also analyzing Faith's... body.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 01:55:38 am
And considering that Yuki, her sister and Noriko were still in here, he'd prefer they weren't here.
He sips his tea.
He hasn't noticed Yoake's hand signals, being that he was after all looking at his phone. Instead, he texts Shef.
If the Awakened is here, we need to empty the place. If the Mononoke or the Aramitama gets here with everyone still inside, it'll be carnage. Can you do it?
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 02:07:58 am
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 02:21:36 am
"Hey there, Faith! My name's Yoake! You sure are in good shape!"
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 02:39:23 am
"Ah, well, uh... I-I don't know about that, unless..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 02:57:33 am
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 02:58:02 am
"Oh, believe me. I'm an expert in anatomy. If you haven't been trainin' to get that form... Well shucks, I'd sure love to be you!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 03:00:32 am
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 03:12:25 am
"And yet I'd probably get slapped if I say I'm an expert on anatomy."Yoake looks up at Minato, confused.
"Well, that's rude of people. I think anyone should be 'llowed to study anatomy. 'S only fair."
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 03:24:40 am
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 03:45:45 am
"Hmm? Whaddya mean? I thought we were just havin' a good chat!"
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 03:49:40 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 04:05:04 am
"The lovely lady here doesn't appreciate you staring at her chest too closely."
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 04:08:08 am
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 04:30:32 am
"O-Oh, u-u-uh, sorry, sorry, I-I'm not... super good with... u-uh, y-y'know. B-Boundaries."
If she could hide in her swimsuit, she could. Yet she still seems to try, pointlessly.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 04:33:59 am
"Well, you'll learn. I know I have. A lot. People can slap quite strongly."
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 04:35:06 am
"I'm... sorry, I..."
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 04:58:05 am
"N-no, 'sfine... I... I overstepped. Sorry."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 06:11:10 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 06:18:31 am
Quote
Minato. Don't lose her in the crowd.
"Do any of you happen to know where the restroom might be in this place?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 06:20:38 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 06:34:56 am
"There was a slight misunderstanding. That can be sorted later."
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 06:39:11 am
To the first person who asked him what he was doing in there, he stated "I'm with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. This is simply a routine inspection, and should only take about fifteen minutes."
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 06:42:26 am
It's one of the kitchen staff who asks the question and receives your reply. "Oh, could I see some identification please?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 06:52:29 am
Quote
Could you send a digital i.d. for the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare? Can be completely fake as long as looks real."I'm sorry, these take a bit of time to access."
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 06:56:09 am
They pause and nod. Done
The card looks official, official enough for them to not raise any objections at least.
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 07:10:05 am
"Attention please! This is simply a routine drill, part of the inspection. You will leave the building in a calm manner, and forget about me." Shef adjusted his glasses as he stared at them. It wasn't long before the kitchen was empty. He couldn't erase there memories or anything so powerful, but hopefully this way they would simply not think much about him.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 07:14:01 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 07:16:28 am
Minato stands up, looking around as the people begin to pile out. He tries not to lose sight of Noriko as he nods to Faith.
"Stay with me. I just need to make sure that Noriko's alright."
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 07:21:07 am
"You are either very brave, or abysmally foolish. There's no fire, lucky for you. Simply a drill. We do need to leave though."
He began to walk out to the main area of the cafe.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 07:27:41 am
She... saw things. Things that scared the crap out of her and things she could not explain. Memories that didn't belong to her, it seemed. Who was that person? Some girl she was sure. White hair in way-too-long twintails. Like seriously, did she walk out of an anime or somethin- oh wait, that was Yuki Tatsumaki. Herself. Damn, she has way too long hair.
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 07:37:57 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 07:39:35 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 09:36:35 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 09:38:49 am
"Noriko, there is no time to explain right now; I promise, as soon as we've gotten you out of here, I will explain everything. But for now, we have to go. Is your head still hurting? Are you still dizzy?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 09:46:16 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 09:48:21 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 09:49:31 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 09:55:57 am
"No matter what, we need to leave now. The fire department will be here shortly, and I don't feel like trying to explain this to them." He began to push his way through the chairs that had been overturned in the hasty exodus, still carrying the small white haired girl over his shoulder. Shef nearly tripped at Minato's last remark.
Well, Minato, now how are we going to explain this to the civilian? Could have just said that they were fainting and would be in danger if they didn't get attention quickly. Would have needed some more explanation, but now we've got a civilian being told that magic and demons and whatnot are real...
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 09:59:02 am
He knew how it worked already. His family had disguised the exploits of Kumon clan members long past as fairy tales he'd been told; in hindsight, it wasn't that they were lying to him, but they were trying to make such an idea acceptable, or at the very least plausible.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 10:38:00 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 10:45:58 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 10:51:12 am
"Alright. Tell me if I'm wrong. Did you forget who you were? Did you leave your body? Did you collapse?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 10:59:05 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 11:04:26 am
A pause. He smiles flirtatiously.
"You might say we're your knights in shining armor."
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 11:12:43 am
"...knight in glistening swimsuit?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 11:18:16 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 11:19:18 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 11:29:33 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 11:46:41 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 11:53:54 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 11:58:27 am
Upon being placed on the ground, she dusts herself off, and attempts to stand straight. She is still very clearly unsteady. "Ha! I'm not crazy, just right- ow, ow, headache... uh... Faith is right here, maybe include her on the conversation?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 12:05:27 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 12:18:42 pm
The universe must have been messing with them, because the reason that Faith was trailing off was the same reason that she rapidly went from a standing position to a much more horizontal one across the seat; she was abruptly passing out.
Eye of judgement (is it God...?) and thing after thing after impossible glimpse passed through her mind, she couldn't process-- too fast-- what is this? What is this? How was this? Why was this? ...who was this? Thinking? Beyond all the sudden input, she... oh, she was the blonde one. Big chest. Uh... Faith. Faith Ai Tatsumaki, the American... right...
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 12:25:46 pm
"Well...nevermind that then. Minato, Yoake, can you carry her? The other two should be able to walk."
"I'm going to have some questions for you later, Minato."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 12:33:36 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 12:58:32 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 01:13:32 pm
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 01:21:46 pm
"Don't worry, citizens! We shall be out of this burning building in no time!"
She rushes out the building with Faith.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 02:54:12 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 03:06:04 pm
Quote
Got all three. En route to safe house.
Now was likely the most dangerous part. They would be exposed in the street, trying to keep three woozy teenagers safe. They couldn't appear to be in too much of a hurry, but they couldn't afford to be slow either...
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 03:32:40 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 03:39:06 pm
Hmm...both employees...perhaps they're related?
Shef gestured to the blue-haired girl. "Is she your sister?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 03:42:55 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 03:43:13 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 03:55:04 pm
"We're going to be taking you to a safe house eventually, first you'll be needing weapons. It'll be a few blocks, so stay vigilant." As if to set an example, Shef's eyes were constantly darting about, never lingering more than a moment on anything. He scanned rooftops and looked for suspicious figures in the crowd.
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 03:55:40 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 03:56:59 pm
Understood
Everyone
You all leave that cafe, one way or another. Rooftops look clear. The ground? Too many people to tell. And every fifth person looks suspicious in one way or another be it their mannerisms or their attire. Nothing's pulling a weapon on you just yet at least. The alleys though, those pose a problem.
The weapon's cache is located several minutes away in an alleyway, deeper into the heart of the district. In the opposite direction, the direction of the high school, is one of the many shopping districts, the safehouse within.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 05:56:32 pm
"And if you see anyone weird coming straight for us, you tell us right away, ladies."
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 06:02:01 pm
"Right. We're here. I'll stand out here as a precaution. Get your Regalias as quickly as possible."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 06:08:43 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2017, 06:12:16 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 06:53:32 pm
After all, it doesn't take the keenest observer to realize that trailing some distance behind you, is what appears to be a refrigerator. Though unless that has come alone, you can't see the other tails. They shouldn't be able to see you, but the freshly awakened have a signature of sorts, one that certain beings can track.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 07:43:06 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 09:03:58 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 09:04:28 pm
Winter's voice comes through your earpieces "Not dead yet I hope?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 09:20:14 pm
After confirming that the fridge was indeed approaching, he spoke up, loud enough for the group to catch his words.
"I think I've found one of our tails. There's a fridge about fifteen to twenty meters away in the crowd, and it seems to have been following us. It might be wise to hurry up."
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 09:24:07 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 09:24:54 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2017, 09:29:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 09:59:29 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 10:31:17 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2017, 10:32:40 pm
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 10:34:09 pm
"Oh man, I love my regalia! It's so shiny, and cool! I can't wait to see the new ones!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 07, 2017, 10:43:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2017, 11:14:58 pm
Pushing through the pedestrians, out into view emerge four figures. Mononoke. They have microwave ovens for heads. Their bodies are distinctively robotic in that kind of restro sci-fi style. And each wields a chrome baseball bat with what appears to be an oversized earphone chord with a sharpened jack coiled around their off hand.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on March 07, 2017, 11:21:07 pm
She reaches out to the cache and grabs the first box she sees, opening it up -- it's a set of thin, parallelogram and triangle plates, red and blue. Faith stares at it for a bit and then grabs one, at which point the entire set flows up her sleeve, spreading under her shirt. Visible by the shapes under her shirt is the fact that they seem to have formed an armor layer -- Faith raps her knuckles on her shirt and a hard sound is made. "...whoa. Nice."
Then a bunch of microwave-headed robots begin to approach, and Faith looks to the more experienced three. "...uh... are those really demons? Uh... what do we do??"
Post by: spümpkin on March 07, 2017, 11:54:56 pm
This one is emblazoned with the stars, and seems to be a window into space. It also provides a window to many other things.
She looks at Noriko and Faith. "Uhmm.... Basically, we gotta fight these things, an' we get awesome magical powers! That's all that matters, really. Now, how 'bout we get to the point?"
Yoake stands ready for combat, and rushes towards one of the robots. When she gets into melee range, she places her hands underneath her breasts, and-
"RAAAAAAAAGING BREAST FIIIIIIIIIIST!"
She begins to pummel one of the robots on the side of the group rapidly with her breasts.
[First {4} used from World Line]
[ 4 5 3 2 3 6 4 6 4 3 ]
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 08, 2017, 01:38:53 am
"Yare, yare. You ladies just follow our lead."
Opening them, they suddenly have a determined, audacious gleam to them. He unbuttons his blazer, revealing the silver contraption around his waist, a green crystal set into the middle of the buckle and a lever to the right side. Placing two fingers in front of his face with his left hand, he puts his right hand on the lever.
"Henshin!"
He pulls the lever. The contraption speaks, in a calm, robotic voice.
"Driver On. Gaia Link Activated."
Minato extends his arms out to his sides as golden outlines of armor form around his body, magical energy rushing through them before solidifying into a silver armor and blue undersuit. His head is the last to be covered, with the green eyepieces glowing as the transformation concludes. Anyone that had kept up with the rumour mill of Sendo would instantly recognise this form.
This was the semi-mythical Masked Knight Gaia, the mysterious saviour in the dark that prowled the streets of Sendo.
Minato strikes a pose, seemingly taunting the robots.
"Ara ara, won't you let me string you along?"
Instead of waiting for an answer, he begins to run at them, extending his hand out to the side as the golden outlines of a sword form in his hand, magic surging through it to materialise it just as it had with his armor.
"Trace Replica: Durandal."
As the sword materialises, Minato leaps at the robot nearest the group with his sword, placing him in the way of any potential ranged attacks.
Perfected Regalia Replication: Durandal.
[World Line: (3) 2 5 2 4 2 6 4 4 1]
Post by: Strider03 on March 08, 2017, 06:46:48 am
Shef reached into his pocket, withdrawing a heavy matte black pistol from his pocket. He gave it a twist with his right hand, locking it onto the exoskeleton with a satisfying click. After cocking it he took careful aim, while sending of a brief message to Winter with his right hand.
Quote
4-5 Mononoke, entering battle.
After he had finished this, he chose a robot, took aim, and fired two shots at each of its arms.
[Worldline: (6) 4 4 4 1 6 6 1 4 3]
Post by: Twinwolf on March 08, 2017, 06:52:17 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 08, 2017, 12:41:39 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 08, 2017, 05:51:20 pm
Hit one of the Mononoke with a Freedom Beam hyper, powered by the first 4 of Faith's worldline!
World Line:
Post by: Empiricist on March 08, 2017, 06:54:15 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Yoake is the quicker of the three, and rushes forth, assaulting Microwave A with her tits of fury. It attempts to block with its bat, fails horribly, and leaps backwards, trying to stay out of range, but the keijo practitioner proves to be too swift, closing in and continuing her onslaught, her foe repeatedly pummeled as it attempts to block her attacks with only limited success.
With one foe broken out of formation, Minato and Shef commence their attacks. Minato lunging forth while Shef tries to cap his foe. Two two-round bursts strike each of C's arms, breaching the casing with a shower of electrical sparks, as it staggers backwards from the impact, Durandal swings forwards, clashing with B's bat. Now, B isn't just going let some punk run up and slash it, but Minato's enhanced strength allows him to begin overpowering it, weakening its guard with each clash before locking blades and pivoting Durandal closer and closer, slashing it across the chest... and then the microwave door opens.
Not just B's, all of them.
Large beams of fuck you proceed to erupt from their faces. Now Yoake, she doesn't give fuck, the beam erupts, she ducks, and before you know it, her breasts are hammering A from behind, the beam having hit no one at all. Shef actually manages to dodge out of the way in time by slamming his head against a telegraph pole. And Minato just gets plain fucked.
Now, B's beam goes off at a bad angle and really only clips Minato. C and D's however hit him straight on, and send him tumbling backwards as they continue into the alleyway.
In the tight confines, there's nowhere to run, Yuki gets nailed, Noriko gets nailed, and Faith, well... her defenses are low and her armor isn't too good against energy attacks.
But Faith ain't no bitch.
"FREEDOM BEAM!"
Just before the beam hits her, she brings out her hand to meet it, the beam splitting apart and scattering, striking the nearby walls as Faith's own beam crashes against it, and begins to overpower it. The beam tears through D's beam, scattering it and blasting straight into D's head, blasting it backwards and leaving the microwave buckled and smoking. Rushing out from the blast, Noriko stabs it in the chest, leaving a small sparking gash.
So Faith's out of breath from pushing her magic, Yuki's a bit singed and a bit sore, Noriko slightly more so, but they're both otherwise fine thanks to Minato tanking the beams with his face. Minato himself is sprawled on the ground, hurt but in that anime "worn out but not actually injured and about to get back up and continue fighting" sort of way. Shef is just dazed.
A spins around trying to catch Yoake in the stomach and following it up with a stab from its jack and a series of swings to her head. B twirls its bat which crackles to life with electricity as its face swings open again. C reopens its face as well. D charges its bat with electricity and moves into a guarding stance between B and C.
The fridge arrives onto the scene, and from the other side comes a washing machine. As in literally the appliances, not even robots with weird heads.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 08, 2017, 07:59:34 pm
There were more enemies joining the fight. The fridge from earlier, and a washing machine or a dryer. He didn't care enough to determine which.
Shef stretched out his hand, and concentrated. It was always fairly simple; he probably didn't have to even raise his arm. It seemed to help a little with accuracy, though. A sort of pulse built up in his mind, until suddenly, it would die, as a hole opened in the world.
Satisfied with his newly created wormhole, Shef fired a shot at the 'head' of the microwave that had moved to guard.
Shef uses "Hey look over there![3]" to drop Microwave C in front of Microwave B. Fire at Microwave D ('head')
4 4 4 1 6 6 1 4 3 1
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 08, 2017, 08:03:53 pm
An action and a phrase came unbidden to her mind as she prepared to strike. She took one more step backward, and raised her spear above her head in preparation to throw. A wind rose out of nowhere, blasting from behind her, clearing a path straight toward the malevolent kitchen appliance. She leapt forward into it, flying through the air, and hurled her weapon ahead of her with a shout, aimed at about where the head would be if the fridge was humanoid: "MANAVASTRA!" After it landed, she planned - well, 'planned' might not be quite the right word - to land with her full momentum on the thing, driving the weapon in further.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 08, 2017, 09:29:03 pm
She then did something rather less than intelligent and charged the opponents (attempting to duck to the side if they fire again), and brings her chainsaw to bear upon the clothing cleaning appliance. Magic chainsaw hopefully beats demon possessed appliances.
Post by: spümpkin on March 08, 2017, 09:58:03 pm
She stamps her feet, annoyed, and prepares another attack. This time silent, she lunges at Microwave A, now with her butt.
While she does this, the combatants all notice the ground shifting beneath their feet. Soon, they stand on some sort of floating object in a middle of a giant lake of water, only just big enough for everyone to still be standing on something.
They had been transported onto a Land.
[Requiem Activated]
[3 2 3 6 4 6 4 3 5 3]
Post by: Powder Miner on March 09, 2017, 12:24:51 am
She was still definitely out of breath though. "Huff... Freedom Beam, again!"
Blow another Freedom Beam on one of the bots still able to fire their hypers -- C, let's say, blowing the 4 most on the left.
World Line: 5 6 1
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 09, 2017, 01:21:42 am
He places himself between Faith and the robots, being careful to avoid being hit by her lasers. Instead of tanking it to the face, he holds Durandal up in front of him. He knew the drill; replicas of Regalia were, while strong, nowhere near the strength of the real thing. Still, between his ability to make more and his knowledge of Durandal, it wasn't as if he'd be missing it.
Destroy Durandal to cancel any bot attack that would hit him or Faith.
[Requiem Activated]
Post by: Empiricist on March 09, 2017, 03:48:43 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
So, Yuki's "field" kicks in, the beams healing and shielding everyone completely with sheer chuuniness. Simultaneously, the world around them shifts bringing them into a keijo arena, freeing Yuki and Minato from the confines of the alleyway. Distracted by the sudden change in scenery, C finds itself falling down a portal in front of B, stalling both of their beams while D catches a bullet to the head. It's not a clean hit, it managed to duck away, but its door has now been shattered and its microwave is sparking and smoking even more now. The Freedom Beam striking B proves to be more effective, causing its microwave to start smoking, though dealing decidedly less damage that her first attack.
Yoake, evades the strike to her stomach by bringing her ass towards her A, who, quickly stepping backwards, brings their bat in a baseball swing against her butt, and this time, it is A who comes out on top, the electrified bat shocking Yoake as it slams her away. She's off balance but not too hurt thanks to Yuki's shielding and having softened her ass during impact. Her foe backsteps and swings its uncoiling chord at her, trying to ensnare her with it while staying out of reach.
Noriko's attempts at harpooning a bitch doesn't work too well as spear barely penetrates into the fridge. Her impact however, proves to be a bit more effective, driving it deeper with a shower of sparks, though it proves to be quite resilient, quickly skidding backwards to dislodge her weapon as it prepares for a dropkick.
The incredibly slow moving dishwasher as it turns out, isn't too good against chainsaw-wielding maids. It manages to do something resembling a dodge that leaves it off-balance before Yuki just saws deep into it. Geysers begin erupting around the sparking, smoking appliance in as it attempts to force her back so it may strike her with a barrage of watery tendrils.
B and C finally fire their beams, B's beam is actually even more intense, though its head has spontaneously combusted in the process. The two beams rush towards the exhausted mage, enveloping her visage in a radiant explosion. Standing in front of her, the shattered remains of Durandal crumbling and fading away in his hands, is Minato.
Brandishing their bats, B and D, having decided Minato is to pimp to dare attack, charge at Shef, trying to knock him down so that they may club him like a baby seal.
And in all this commotion, moving with such speed it appears to teleport forth from behind where a building once stood, a new figure arrives, standing at the far edge of the platform. It wears a dark ragged cloak, wreathed in shadows that conceal what lies beneath. In its left hand, distorted and veiled in darkness, is a revolver. It raises it, taking aim such that both Faith and Minato were in its line of fire.
And then it pulls the trigger.
With a thunderous roar, a beam of light crashes forth from the barrel. Man in their arrogance had forgotten. They have forgotten the old ways. That of fear and reverence. When the skies held their fate in its hands. When they feared the dark clouds and the flash of lightning. Man thought they had conquered the world in which they were born, that they were its conservators, its custodians. It was in the most fleeting of vicissitudes that the heavens made man. And it is in the most fleeting of vicissitudes that they unmake man.
That beam, that bullet was a reminder of that.
C turns to face it, its door opening once more.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 09, 2017, 04:10:29 am
He sees Faith behind him. He hasn't got time to do much. He needs to think.
Summoning Durandal again would not help much. He could sense there was power behind this shot. Tanking it might not kill him, but it would certainly put him out of action and put Faith in danger.
He wouldn't let it happen.
The boy concentrates, feeling the power of the leylines run through him, filtered by the Gaia Core. He focuses on one Regalia, one that he had studied through his education as a Godslayer, a Regalia that had seemed lost to time.
Rho Aias, the Shield of Ajax, famed to be impenetrable by any weapon save Durindara, the Spear of Hector that became Durandal. The immovable object to Durandal's unstoppable force. Ajax needed no help from the gods in his war upon Troy, and Minato needed no help from the gods to save his friend.
Only his spirit and a little bit of good memory.
He yanks Faith to his side and raises his hand towards the bullet, as golden rings of energy appear from his palm, seven in number, glowing with the power of Heaven itself.
"Trace Replica: Rho Aias."
"Not on my watch!"
Resolve Hyper: True Regalia Replication: Rho Aias.
[Alteration Used]
[2 [4] 2 6 4 4 1 3 4 4]
Post by: spümpkin on March 09, 2017, 04:11:01 am
But, she had a score to settle!
Using all her power, she spins around with her butt out, towards Microwave A, hoping to knock it off the edge.
[Alteration Used]
[2 3 6 4 6 4 3 5 3 1]
Post by: Powder Miner on March 09, 2017, 04:25:49 am
Resolve Hyper: A Hit for Hope! on the Aramitama!
World Line: 6 1 6 1 5 2 4 6 3 6
Post by: Strider03 on March 09, 2017, 03:59:35 pm
Attempt to punch Microwave D into Microwave B, then shoot three rounds into the combined mass.
(4) 4 1 6 6 1 4 1 2 1
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 09, 2017, 04:36:31 pm
(Using her Requiem to assist)
Post by: Twinwolf on March 09, 2017, 05:45:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 09, 2017, 05:54:29 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
As the round impacts, Rho Aias contracts with a mechanical shriek, the seven rings becoming something resembling a riot shield. The first layer shatters and the bullet explodes, forcing Minato backwards but failing to break the second layer. As the Aramitama sidesteps the beam, Faith's spell roars towards it. She had put so much power into it, so much that the backlash sent her tumbling backwards winded and badly hurt even with its healing effects and Yuki's shielding. It was a ball shining like a miniature sun, born of Faith's burning resolve, its surface erupting with gouts of radiance, the energy within held only by determination and purpose.
The Aramitama sidesteps that as well.
Yeah I know, real anticlimactic, but it's a single projectile with nothing to help it hit, in an open area with plenty of places to run. It completely fails to hit its mark and just slams into the floor beside it.
Good thing it's highly explosive isn't it?
The radiant blast rocks the platform and envelops the false god, a spear darting through and impaling it through the chest before the blast had even cleared.
Its thrower, Noriko was levitating about a meter or so off the ground. There was nothing wrong with her leap, in fact, she had executed it perfectly, but that damned chill that slowed her, robbed her of momentum, it had stilled the air to prevent escape. It had also stuck the refrigerator in place, still halfway through trying to execute a dropkick and now struggling to free itself from its own ice.
However, for some that just took an explosion and impalement, the Aramitama seems to take it all quite well. Unflinchingly even. Though with its cloak and shadows its hard to tell how injured it is if at all. It simply rips out the spear and tosses it aside. And in the next moment, it is in the skies, revolver pointed at Noriko and the fridge, it fires and intending to perform another long range quickstep for a melee followup with the blade it now brandishes in its right hand.
Yoake's attack is interrupted as the chord intercepts her, ensnaring her. She finds herself throw by the appendage up into the air as A's door opens, the mononoke readying to try and stab her from afar with the chord after firing.
B unfortunately isn't having any more of Shef's shit, it parries his punch with its bat while D smashes him with its electrified weapon, the hit knocking him off balance but dealing very little damage courtesy of Yuki's shielding. B's ensuing flying kick, delivered while pivoting off its bat, hurts more and sends Sheft staggering backwards, the two robots rushing forth to try and beat him down and continue beating him.
Yuki having decided to keep on attacking proceeds to get blown sky high. And then falls on the tendrils which have turned into an impromptu spike bed. Needless to say, she is very hurt by this even with her shielding. She does however, at least makes sure she lands chainsaw first on top of the appliance, her momentum letting her to cleave it in twain.
C, its head now aflame opens its door again in Yuki's direction.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 09, 2017, 06:06:47 pm
Alteration: Use first 6 for turn roll. Shef uses Rapid Fire[4] with the far right four on microwaves B and D.
4 1 (6) 6 1 (4) 1 2 1 1
Post by: Twinwolf on March 09, 2017, 06:13:20 pm
Alteration: Use a 5 from the worldline rather than a 3. Also use another point of Resolve for another Healing Field.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 09, 2017, 06:36:06 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 09, 2017, 07:17:50 pm
The cloaked thing was coming in for an attack, and she couldn't dodge correctly at the moment, though she still did her damnedest to force herself down and to the side. As she did so, she made a sort of backward throwing motion, directing the air to pick up the spear, spin it around, and drive it straight into the thing's back, trying to time it so that it would actually be on the ground when she did this. Failing that, hopefully the momentum would keep it going past Noriko herself and straight into the entrapped refrigerator.
(Use the 5 at the end of the line)
Post by: Powder Miner on March 09, 2017, 07:26:50 pm
Faith fires a Freedom Beam at Microwave C, burning her only remaining 4 and using an alteration to use her rightmost six with the attack.
World Line: 1 6 1 5 2
Post by: spümpkin on March 09, 2017, 10:33:09 pm
Remembering her training, Yoake twisted her hip. Once. Twice. A third time. She twisted it violently, before moving into a full spin.
"VACUUM BUTT CANNOOOOON!"
A tumultuous blast of wind and force hits Microwave A, and potentially others nearby.
[Alteration used ((5) instead of (2))]
[Last {6} used from World Line for Hyper]
[2 3 6 6 4 3 (5) 3 1 {6}]
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 10, 2017, 04:21:37 am
Hyper Activated
[2 2 6 4 4 1 [3] 4 4 3]
Post by: Empiricist on March 10, 2017, 06:13:45 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Yuki heals the party as she tries to roll out of the impending beam's path. At the same time, Faith's attack lances out at her attacker, trying to stop it, to interrupt if not halt its attack. The only thing that comes out however is an explosion. Its head just explodes and then it gets nailed by Faith's beam, pure freedom blasting through its head, killing it. Yuki then begins retreating towards Minato, he'll probably need a helping hand - Faith fainted after casting the spell.
Noriko meanwhile simply cannot move out of the bullet's path in time, the air stilled by the fridge's presence. The round explodes into her chest slamming her back into the fridge, freeing it the ice. She's hurt, but not too hurt, the double serving of chuuni shielding doing its work. Beckoning her weapon to move, she tries to strike her foe from behind, to catch it in the instant before it strikes. Turns out it's a lot easier than she thought, namely because it seems to have misjudged the distance and instead just crashes into her, sending the trio tumbling across the platform. She's a bit more hurt from it, but she also managed to stab it in the back during all that.
The three disentangle, the Aramitama already preparing to dash forwards and cleave, the refrigerator opposite it now readying a dropkick. Noriko's sort of the just in the middle between the two beings with mutual murderboners.
A's microwave beam surges towards Yoake. With no real way to maneuver out of the way or block the attack, it looks like taking the viscous combo would be inevitable, but(t)... Kicking off the chord as it releases, the girl sends herself spinning, using the rotations to violently twist her hip as spirit energy gathers, her rare end beginning to glow.
Vacuum Butt Cannon, one of the forbidden techniques. An attack that places so much strain on its own user that injury is inevitable. But of course, for an Awakened, injuries heal mend easily.
She thrusts out her butt, quickly, violently, so much that cutting shockwaves and hard vacuum arose from its wake, crashing into the beam and blasting it apart before severing the chord and enveloping A. Its casing, already weakened from previous damage gives way and leaves it sparking and collapsed. while Yoake herself lands gracefully, temporarily immobilized from her attack but otherwise fine.
Shef unleashes a wild spray of fire, managing to fell D with the barrage, blast its corpse repeatedly before it falls, and break his own shielding with ricochets in the excitement before B bats his arm out of the way and sends him toppling onto the ground with a swift strike to the head. Minato charges towards it, aiming to smash it out of the way, but his armor proves to slow him too much to make it in time as B repeatedly clubs Shef, managing to land a few faster blows through his guard before beginning to retreat.
The world twists and shifts once more, returning everyone to the entertainment district. Minato, Shef, and Yoake head Winter again through their earpieces "Everyone staying safe and unmurdered today?".
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 10, 2017, 07:37:05 am
"Get back here, you bastard. You don't start clubbing someone to death, and run without finishing the job." A hint of menace crossed his face as Shef turned his gun towards the retreating figure. He fired one bullet toward the possessed machine. It sped onward, following its course in space as momentum and gravity dictated...until it didn't. It was gone for a moment, only to reappear directly above the metal monster, intent on delivering its formidable energy straight down through the Mononoke. For good measure, he fired another shot towards the Aramitama near Noriko, sending it through a flash of portals. He waited, of course, until she was somewhat out of the way before firing.
Shef uses Tracer[R] twice, once on Microwave B, and once on the Aramitama, burning three Resolve (extra used for two Hypers in a turn).
(4) 1 6 1 1 2 1 1 1 3
((OOC, I don't quite know how far the Aramitama currently is from Noriko. Once I have that knowledge, I may edit this turn.))
Post by: spümpkin on March 10, 2017, 05:01:53 pm
Taking care to not hurt anything more, she regains her movement, and dashes towards Microwave A. Then, picks it up and tosses it in the direction of the closest enemy.
[Alteration used, ((4) instead of (2))]
[2 3 6 6 (4) 3 3 1 2 5]
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 11, 2017, 03:20:04 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 12, 2017, 02:32:32 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 12, 2017, 02:59:18 am
Aside from flirting, of course.
He thrusts Durandal into Microwave B with a roar. True, he should probably attempt to wake Faith, but between the Mononoke and the fact that if he did take the time they'd both be vulnerable, that could wait until the closest threat was eliminated.
Alteration Used
[2 6 [4] 4 1 4 4 3 2 1]
Post by: Twinwolf on March 12, 2017, 06:53:41 am
Yeah, just getting behind Minato and waking up Faith.
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2017, 06:21:59 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"In or out of your body?"
Before Minato can run up and shank a bitch, said bitch proceeds to detonate. Violently. There's no heat, no light, the bullet strikes it there's a bang, and its pieces are now scattered across the street.
Noriko manages to throw herself out of the way of the clash, the frost slowing her no longer, seems that the fridge has other priorities now. Before the fridge can attack, it finds itself run through with the Aramitama's blade. And then the tracer hits. There's a bang, the air ripples violently, and the fridge is sent flying backwards, its front blasted open, Noriko's tear having been ripped further open and its front caved in. But it's still moving, now charging towards Shef. The Aramitama on the other hand doesn't even flinch, it just raises its revolver at Shef and, after a pause, lowers it and vanishes in a plume of darkness.
Yoake, steadying herself, chases after A and, despite its best efforts grabs it and throws it at the fridge, it's too far away to hit though so A just skids along the ground, its casing cracking and buckling, littering the ground with its pieces. It tries getting back up but its clearly quite damaged.
Faith is beginning to stir.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on March 12, 2017, 07:58:07 pm
Faith will lob a basic ranged attack at Microwave A, using an Alteration to turn the roll to a 5.
World Line: 6 1 5 2 3 6 1 1 4 1
Post by: Strider03 on March 12, 2017, 08:32:41 pm
Alteration used
Shef tries to keep out of fridge range, and fire three shots from his pistol at its base.
1 (6) 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 6
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 12, 2017, 09:10:18 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 13, 2017, 01:26:27 am
"You know, I'd usually love it if a cute girl would fall asleep on me, but the middle of a fight isn't ideal. Be careful next time, okay?"
His actions don't match his tone as he places himself between the Microwave and Faith again to take hits with Rho Aias.
Alteration Used
[2 6 [4] 1 4 4 3 2 1 5]
Post by: spümpkin on March 13, 2017, 02:17:04 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 13, 2017, 04:31:44 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 13, 2017, 06:26:31 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"Understood. How was your first fight against of them?"
Yoake has a seat wit Yuki and they watch Faith cap A.
The fridge, while steadily building up momentum, isn't exactly agile and the giant spear crashing down onto it, while still failing to halt it despite the spear jammed most of the way down its form, is enough to cause it to lose speed, allowing Shef to continue backing away, three round tearing more holes into the fridge as he slams his head into yet another pole.
Let's just say that you guys finish it off however you saw fit, it's, not particularly agile, and despite its defenses has been heavily damaged.
Post by: Strider03 on March 13, 2017, 07:12:19 am
"We'll be heading to the safe house now. It wouldn't be wise to remain here for too long. Feel free to enjoy the complementary praises which Minato will sing your skills and appearances while we walk." He turned, and set off in the direction of the safe house, keeping as decent a pace as he could sustain.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 13, 2017, 07:26:35 am
Minato pulls the lever along the side of his belt, his armor disappearing in golden sparkles and Rho Aias dissipating in a haze of spirit energy. Apart from sweating slightly and looking a bit more unkempt, Minato seems totally fine. He smiles roguishly.
"To the safe house. Our associates'll debrief you on what happens next. Then perhaps you'd like to join me in a nice dinner date, ladies?"
Post by: Powder Miner on March 13, 2017, 08:15:46 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 13, 2017, 10:14:18 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 13, 2017, 02:01:32 pm
"You didn't take the time to change into that." He noted flatly.
"I expect that you're capable of removing it in the same way you put it on. The spear, however, may be more difficult." On further reflection, it had come from the cache, so it was quite possible that Winter could enlighten them. Worth a try.
"Winter? Any info on the dress-spear regalia, and what to do with it out of battle?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 13, 2017, 04:31:09 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 13, 2017, 04:54:38 pm
"Understood. We'll be waiting for you."
Shef
"The dress acts as a magical focus while the spear adapts to the user's capabilities. And you could just do what you always do, stash it away or pretend to be a cosplayer."
Post by: Strider03 on March 13, 2017, 08:18:30 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 13, 2017, 08:26:55 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 14, 2017, 02:58:22 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 14, 2017, 03:43:47 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 14, 2017, 03:39:17 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 14, 2017, 03:52:47 pm
Hopefully, it wouldn't be a problem. The agency had great resources, and it seemed that the girl hadn't actually done anything punishable. In the worst possible scenario, they might be looking for Shef himself. In the best case scenario, the staff would have returned, confused, but unaware of anything that had occurred.
Post by: Empiricist on March 14, 2017, 08:09:27 pm
You come to an intersection on the main street.
In the corner, sleek and futuristic is Mirai Systems. Plastic white and obsidian black juxtaposed, decorative lights adding a splash of color. If you went off the name and logo, you'd think it's a tech company, and it is, technically. The white section is a fast food outlet popular for its "spring rolls", and while it does serve traditional spring rolls, most of its menu consist of dishes miniaturized into the form of wraps of similar size and appearance, the most popular ones being the kebab, the peking duck, the curry & naan, and the burrito. Unsurprisingly, its convenience makes it very popular amongst students, businesspeople, and anyone else eating lunch in a hurry. The black section is a substantially classier bar, priding itself on personalized service with each booth having its own entertainment screen and served by its own "technician", a bartender of sorts who mixes up a variety of sample "tasters" and custom drinks from a variety of synthesized fluids which offer a lot more freedom and control over what they can make, the computation required to devise said fluids apparently being quite hefty. It also offers more expensive private rooms with their own music and karaoke if anyone's up for it.
Now all of this, as one may imagine would be prohibitively expensive. Would be, were it not subsidized. The takeaway containers, the entertainment screens, the monitors lining where people queue up, they've all got ads. And the more they subsidize the costs, the more they cheapen everything, the more people come, and the more people come, the more they rake in from selling those ad slots. Add to that close ties and friendly relations with many of the startups here, ties and relations that pay in mutual discounts and benefits, and you start getting an idea of how it makes its profit.
And of course, magic. They have connections to the Awakened community after all, and while magic isn't something they count on, it certainly doesn't hurt their profit margins. As such it isn't too bad a place to meet with contacts or hear of recent happenings.
Down the street from Mirai Systems is the safehouse. Strictly speaking it isn't yours. It's a facility under the control of some particularly vicious Godslayer-affiliated Mononoke. You're more tenants, guests under their protection because the owners owe Winter for services rendered. Like most safehouses it manifests as a pocket dimension entered by walking down the street and accessing it through spirit energy manipulation. To an outside observer, you'll have just vanished into the crowds.
This one in particular takes the form of the upper floors of several shopping buildings which are in surprisingly pristine condition seeing as plants are growing over them in parts, with vines crawling up signs and trees sprouting from parts of the floor. The outer windows have been replaced with walkways over the crystal clear water below, unshielded from the clear sky above, and the soft breeze. The water may look startlingly deep, but, anyone going for a swim will find that it naturally raises them back up to the surface, so drowning isn't much of an issue.
Not too hard on the eyes. Especially not those of anyone on guard duty. Shopping center means cameras, potential ambush locations, rallying points. The clear skies and clear water means nowhere to hide. The plants are wards and sensors, and the breeze is strong enough to carry scents and weak enough as to not steal away sounds. Deep, deep below in the submerged depths lies the control center. You do not have access to it. That is why the water brings you back.
You have access to the upper floors, the few above the water's surface. You've a few rooms to stay in if you wish, fully furnished, the separated from the rest of the facility with heavy warding. You've got company in the form of the Mononoke, though unless you like listening to a bunch of plushies squeek out "KILL.", you'd best bring your own.
Enn and Winter are waiting for you in the allocated rooms.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 15, 2017, 12:05:24 am
"So where are these associates at, anyway? And are we going to be staying here?"
Post by: Powder Miner on March 15, 2017, 12:08:57 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 15, 2017, 06:35:19 am
"Our superiors are a few floors up. And no, I doubt you'll be staying here. There are rooms for each of yo available, should you need them though.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 15, 2017, 06:39:09 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 15, 2017, 07:43:25 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 15, 2017, 07:47:34 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 15, 2017, 09:21:04 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 15, 2017, 10:46:20 pm
The entire top floor is the safehouse, the stores stripped and refurnished with an almost cozy, homely feel. The only plants here are in the pots rather than erupting from the floor or climbing the walls, in there place are things more distinctively electronic. Cameras, sensors, and projectors, soft lights emanating from each to show that they're still on.
Two figures flicker into view, projected from the ceiling-mounted array. One is dressed in casual clothing, her pale blue hair done up in a ponytail, the other is clad in a suit complete with stylish sunglasses, her golden locks cut short.
The latter speaks first, her voice leveled and professional "Welcome you must have many questions and we'll try to answer them, but first, what do you know so far?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 15, 2017, 11:23:37 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 15, 2017, 11:43:51 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 12:15:38 am
She nods and symbol apparates, a diamond like the ones you'd find on a playing card. A label appears above it, Shard. "Awakened are just beings who possess Shards, they're things that let you use the supernatural powers."
A dotted line traces beneath the diamond, faint line pointing down from it, labeling what lies beneath as Awakened. A more solid arrow labeled Enters an object traces across the line over to a stick figure labeled Mononoke. "When a Shard enters an object, it Awakens them, turning them into Mononoke. If it didn't have a soul already, it gains one to store its Shard. Though the term's a bit outdated since everyone here is actually one."
A smaller arrow traces from the stick figure to a second stick figure labeled Godslayer. "You're just a special case, you're called Godslayers.
Another arrow appears from the diamond, this one labeled Corrupts into, this too crosses the line, pointing over to a generic ghost symbol labeled Aramitama. "Some Shards are stained, corrupted. They gain souls of their own becoming Aramitama, False Gods. They're the things you're meant to kill. They devour souls to try and gain enough power and end the world as an Avatar of Ruin."
Another arrow appears tracing over to a large warning sign, one which quickly spouts smaller signs around it and the label of Avatar of Ruin. "In the meantime they try to consolidate their position and become harder to kill by-"
"Names."
"w-What?"
"You never asked them for their names. Or given Minato time to gloat."
She nods to the newcomers "We're not in much of a hurry, and they-" she gestures at Minato, Shef and Yoake "can fill you in on the details. So let's get introductions out of the way first, shall we?"
Post by: spümpkin on March 16, 2017, 03:53:45 am
It makes Keijo practice so much easier!
But now she should probably listen to this dang spiel again, with all the "Shard" business. Boring.
"Boooooriiiiiing. I don't wanna have to teach people boring dumb history lessons." Yoake yawns exaggeratedly, to prove her point.
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 04:04:45 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 16, 2017, 04:12:57 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 04:29:48 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2017, 06:28:59 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 16, 2017, 06:42:39 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 07:23:11 am
"Nothing's coming up on our watch list, I'll have to look through the incident reports." After the briefest of moments her expression shifts to a quizzical one "How did it flee? Did it do anything odd?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2017, 07:37:45 am
Post by: Powder Miner on March 16, 2017, 11:15:18 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 16, 2017, 11:53:10 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 04:31:25 pm
Winter turns to Faith "Functional forms of communism, a cure for idiocy, and human decency to name a few."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 04:58:46 pm
So, what, it's our job to hunt these things now or something? That Aramitama didn't seem to be on board with the whole idea of dying when it's killed."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 16, 2017, 05:00:43 pm
However, occasionally, we might need a little help. We'll be checking in on a few contacts, see what they know."
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2017, 05:01:38 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 05:10:08 pm
"We won't force you to, but if you're signing up, then yeah, that's the gist of it."
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2017, 07:09:53 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 07:18:56 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2017, 07:25:50 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 07:41:50 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 08:01:35 pm
"All right, then. I'm Fuuri Noriko, and I'll help you with your Aramitama problems. Just let me know what I need to and I'll do my best. I did have one thing to ask, though."
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 08:21:55 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 08:25:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 08:26:14 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 08:38:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 08:47:44 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 08:52:35 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 09:10:08 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 09:12:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 09:17:19 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 09:19:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 09:27:34 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 16, 2017, 09:40:49 pm
Oh, I don't think I'll be needing to stay here. Home life is fine."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2017, 11:34:32 pm
Are we stuck here, by the way? I'm not actually sure how dangerous it is for me to be walking around alone." Funny how gaining super speed and strength could make it more risky to wander around by yourself.
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2017, 11:49:19 pm
"And even then, unless something knows how recently you Awakened, they probably won't try to kill you just for your soul. Humans don't provide as much power, but they make for far easier prey."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 03:02:26 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 17, 2017, 03:21:49 am
- Pervert
- Family has ties to Foundry and the Demon Hunter Society
- Thinks he's a superhero
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 03:36:05 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 17, 2017, 05:42:04 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 05:45:02 am
I always thought they were fairy tales riiiiiight until a giant spider demon broke into my house and tried to kill me. And that's how I became a superhero."
Post by: spümpkin on March 17, 2017, 05:54:36 am
"Really Minato, I don't think we need a maid. We're doing just fine cleaning up ourselves!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 06:00:26 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 17, 2017, 06:24:47 am
"How's the clean-up going?"
Post by: Empiricist on March 17, 2017, 07:16:59 am
"Hiring with that as the end goal? How absolutely scandalous."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 08:07:12 am
Post by: Powder Miner on March 17, 2017, 10:22:10 am
Then there's a pause as another one of the things that he said clicks. "Wait, your family killed Hitler?!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 10:24:08 am
Post by: Powder Miner on March 17, 2017, 10:28:52 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 10:30:43 am
Post by: Powder Miner on March 17, 2017, 10:40:15 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 10:58:17 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 17, 2017, 03:05:39 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 03:07:37 pm
"My, my. Like you didn't expect it. And....well, that's what they'd like you to think."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 17, 2017, 03:20:01 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 17, 2017, 03:20:25 pm
Turns out Hitler made such a pact. Faked his death and, retreated to the moon."
"I assure you it isn't as stupid as it sounds; it was far dumber."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 17, 2017, 03:38:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 17, 2017, 03:43:31 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 17, 2017, 04:19:07 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2017, 04:20:23 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 24, 2017, 07:49:13 pm
Yuki
You get your paycheck. The manager's either too confused about what the hell happened today to question why you left in the commotion to, break a washing machine or something(?) or just simply doesn't want to know.
Noriko
Your ass also remains unfired. Also in the evening a courier comes over to your apartment. Said her name was 'Satoshi Nakamoto' and that she had something for Kouta. That something as it turned out was a necklace that gave him a means to access the safehouse without being Awakened. You two were also offered a lift there wasn't much to pack.
Yoake
You get a good deal of return calls today thanks to having actually fought in public for a bit, though most of them were duds, even more so than usual thanks to you being in the entertainment district so most people thought it was a promotion for something or other than actually about a proper martial art.
Everyone
It is now Wednesday morning.
Faith and Noriko
You two are currently at homeroom, waiting for Mr. Honda to show up. Through the windows you can see a few late students sprinting past the obligatory cherry blossom trees on the way from the bus and train stations right outside the school gates.
Minato and Yuki
You two are currently at homeroom, waiting for Mrs. Tanaka to show up. You are one floor above the other two, so you can see everything the other two see, but with a bit less hayfever and not recognizing as many of the sprinting figures.
Shef and Yoake
You, are somewhere. Where is that somewhere and why the fuck are you there? Shopping? Sipping drinks at a bar? Looking for a place to set up a dojo? In the safehouse pirating everything ever on someone else's dime? You two don't need to be together either just to be clear.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 24, 2017, 08:10:19 pm
"...I don't think that I'm gonna be able to focus on school today after learning all of that and, you know, the thing with the microwaves and stuff. How about you?"
Post by: spümpkin on March 24, 2017, 08:12:47 pm
Well, she supposed that's why she was doing what she was doing now. Heading to the school where the other Awakened (who still went to school) to teach P.E. under her new fake identity, of Yūgure Oppai.
She felt like a master of subtlety, what with her excellent disguise of a cap, glasses and ID card strapped around her neck.
Walking into the school, she headed to her classroom (the school gym, which has a desk), being given the permission to relieve for this one class. As far as she saw it, it was a pretty relaxing day as she sat at the desk, waiting for a class to turn up.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 24, 2017, 08:36:56 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 24, 2017, 08:58:57 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 24, 2017, 09:08:47 pm
"You know... I never was one of the ones to talk about you behind your back, uh, if that means anything."
Post by: Empiricist on March 24, 2017, 09:09:10 pm
You as usual get people staring and ogling you for your choice of attire and general mannerisms which aren't entirely standard for a PE teacher. What they do not do however, is question whether or not you are a PE teacher or your presence here. As far as they're concerned, you should be here, even though they have not met you before. The classroom is quiet for now, the hallways outside it however, are not, with plenty of students walking or running to homeroom, a few who pause to peek into the classroom, and a few who trip over when skidding to make a glance, or trip over the ones who already tripped. You've got a bit of time to kill before your lesson begins.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 24, 2017, 09:20:18 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 24, 2017, 09:22:48 pm
He peered out into the hallway, garnering some quick meaningless glances from passersby. As soon as the hallway emptied, he would begin his duties.
...My talents are wasted here.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 24, 2017, 09:30:42 pm
"Right, haha... I'll be careful, huh."
Post by: spümpkin on March 24, 2017, 09:46:34 pm
Hmm... She cooould wait here and do some work or something, oooor... she could try find Shef and see if he wants to do anything! She knew he was here, but he didn't know where.
Stepping out into the halls answered this for her, as she burst into laughter at Shef cleaning the floor.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 25, 2017, 03:31:02 am
Yuki, for her part, seems almost as if the last day had not happened. She doesn't act any different than she normally does besides not being a zombie in the morning. But then, that may be because she fucking called it all and so she'd not stayed up all night thinking about it. She wanders over to Minato soon after arriving. "Heeeyyy, good morning!" she declares in her normal way.Minato smiles suavely at her.
"Hey, Yuki. Sleep well?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 25, 2017, 06:08:37 am
At the burst of raucous laughter, Shef slowly turned to face Yoake, leaning casually on his mop.
With a slight scowl, he said in a pointedly quiet manner, "Don't you have a class to teach? Or at least, prepare for or something?"
Shef quickly glanced up and down the hallway. Mostly empty. He gave a small sigh. "Nice uniform. I suppose this is the perfect chance to secretly indoctrinate students in the way of Keijo?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 25, 2017, 05:59:04 pm
Yuki nods vigorously. "Slept great! I was suuuuper tired after last night. Could barely walk home! Buut then again I've noticed "super tired" for me tends to be a lot more energetic than other people anyway. But that's just a me thing I think. Uh... you?"Yuki, for her part, seems almost as if the last day had not happened. She doesn't act any different than she normally does besides not being a zombie in the morning. But then, that may be because she fucking called it all and so she'd not stayed up all night thinking about it. She wanders over to Minato soon after arriving. "Heeeyyy, good morning!" she declares in her normal way.Minato smiles suavely at her.
"Hey, Yuki. Sleep well?"
Post by: Empiricist on March 25, 2017, 11:33:31 pm
Mrs. Tanaka walks in and the chatter begins to die down in volume though not stopping. The third year teachers tend to be fairly chill since it's generally expected that by this point students will take charge of their own studies and have a certain minimum level of maturity. Well, some simulacrum thereof at least.
Faith and Noriko
So the door swings open and bam! Mr. Honda fucking slams into the wall. Stab wound right through the chest. Pretty big one as well. Still alive, for now, but probably doesn't have much time left. So there's blood everywhere, everyone's screaming and in walks that Aramitama from yesterday. Motherfucker don't give a damn, it just walks in, swings its arm out, and its revolver is now pressed against some girl's head. Her name's Sakurako Matsumoto by the way, sits in the frontmost rightmost seat, and in about a second or so, her brains are gonna be splattered all across that wall over there. Unless you do something about that of course.
Meanwhile, the Aramitama doesn't even stop and look to see who it's capping, it's just walking forwards as it pulls the trigger. Stone cold. Stone fucking cold.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 25, 2017, 11:46:49 pm
Use 1 Resolve, 1 Alteration, burn the 3 and 4 at the end of the line, use the alteration to use the last 5 as well
Post by: Powder Miner on March 26, 2017, 01:28:56 am
Shield of Courage, burning the rightmost 3 and using an Alteration to use the rightmost 5 as the result!
1 6 1 5 4 3 5 3 4
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 26, 2017, 04:18:15 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 26, 2017, 06:44:34 am
Back to the matter at hand. Need to find the anomaly... Shef, waiting until Noriko had completed her charge, whipped out his pistol and fired three shots at the Aramitama's head. He didn't expect it to do much, but that was fine. It was simply a test, to see whether the Aramitama's Anomaly heart thing had been moved since the previous day.
Shef fires three shots at the Aramitama's head using an alteration to use the leftmost 4.
World Line: 6 5 3 1 2 5 4 (4) 2 1
Post by: Twinwolf on March 26, 2017, 05:21:46 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 26, 2017, 05:25:53 pm
He needed everyone out of the room, quickly, and to safety. Preferably away from whatever was going on downstairs.
He spies a dirty rag in the corner. The smoke detectors in this part of the building weren't that great at telling dust and smoke apart, and so they'd start ringing at the touch of a single fleck. Which, fortunately for him, was exactly what he needed as a distraction.
Picking up the rag and relying on everyone being distracted by Yuki climbing out of the window and the gunshot, he flicks dirt into the smoke detector, hoping to trigger it and thus a general fire alarm to get as many students out of the building as possible.
Post by: Empiricist on March 27, 2017, 06:19:47 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
There is a great crash, a thunderous gunshot, and then the shrill shriek of a fire alarm. The three together give the students a pretty good incentive to start getting the hell out of dodge.
So Yuki swings in through the window, and here's what she sees - Mr. Honda's bleeding out on the floor, Faith and Sakurako are just fucking laid out on the desks, there's an Aramitama at the front of the damn class, and there is this great big fucking spear impaling it thanks to Noriko.
Thankfully, Faith, while hurt, can still fight. Through the surprise impalement jostling its aim, and her own shield, she didn't get completely ruined by the shot, though it still broke through her shield and blasted her backwards with its impact.
It is at this moment that Shef and Yoake rock up at the door, the former putting three rounds right into the false god's head.
The Aramitama looks around and no, it still can't find any fresh fucks to give. It fucking dashes forwards running itself through further as it attempts to grab Noriko, slam her into the wall, hurl her out the fucking window, and do another lightning fast dash to slash at the two godslayers at the door.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 27, 2017, 06:41:53 am
Shef creates a portal in front of the charging Aramitama to cause it to find itself charging the opposite direction, a few feet in the air.
(6) 5 3 1 2 5 4 2 1 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 27, 2017, 04:00:02 pm
"Here goes nothing!"
Summon the Perfected Replica Durandal and then use Durandal to cut a chunk out of the floor to collapse it onto the Aramitama.
Alteration Used
[ 2 [3] [5] 3 5 3 1 4 1 4]
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 27, 2017, 10:19:31 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 27, 2017, 11:08:05 pm
FREEDOM BEAM the Aramitama, using the rightmost 4 and using an alteration to use the 6.
World Line: 1 6 1 5 4 3 3 4
Post by: spümpkin on March 27, 2017, 11:41:05 pm
Quickly shifting into her regalia, she dashes around the Aramitama, and transforms the area into a Land, before slamming her butt into the Aramitama.
[4 5 3 2 3 5 6 4 6 5]
Post by: Twinwolf on March 28, 2017, 06:46:04 am
Alteration to take the 5 in the second-to-last position, use SALVATION OF THE GODDESS with the 4 in the third to last position on Mr. Honda.
Post by: Empiricist on March 28, 2017, 06:58:05 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Yuki keeps the students out of the way of the fight, which, isn't too hard seeing as they're staying the fuck away from it, she also manages to stabilise Hr. Honda. The reduced effects of her healing on those who are not Awakened doesn't help but while the wound doesn't fully heal, the bleeding slows and she sees a flicker of consciousness return to him as a pair of students work on stopping the bleeding.
Meanwhile...
With blinding speed, the Aramitama moves... straight into through Shef's open portal and out the other end, slamming into the floor. The ceiling drops down, Minato riding it down, but the figure dashes out of the way into Faith's beam. The beam was only a grazing hit however as, in her attempts to minimise damage, Faith had managed to somehow curve the beam back around and trick shot it through the window Yuki came in through, which while miraculously causing no property damage, gave the Aramitama a hole to rush through.
It catches Shef with its blade, the heavy upwards strike sending him flying. Before he can collide with a wall, the classroom shifts, becoming a familiar arena as he skips across the water that encircled the platform, stopping several meters out from it. While it was striking Shef, Yoake was striking the Aramitama, her butt impacting it, and while she's certain she's caused some damage to it, it still refuses to even flinch. It's not like she's striking a rock or something, not that even rocks can withstand her attacks of course, but she does feel that there's something like flesh beneath, she can feel some bare flesh even, bare but with some kind of harness(?) muscular as well. Definitely muscular.
Now without the building in the way, two more figures come into view above the arena. They must've been positioned on the roof.
They are formed of liquid glass with crystalline plates of black metal covering just about everything save for their heads, giving their body a predatory and mechanical appearance. Their heads are hollow with a large hole open where their face should be, inside resides a dim mote of like. Those points of light flare and arc, kugelblitzes crackling to life within their heads, tendrils of lightning striking the insides of their heads. With that, the pair begin to move.
One of them, the one with 02 inscribed upon its pauldrons in grey halts in mid-air, a dull silver great sword twirling in its talons. A great beam of energy, the color of a dying star wreaths it and erupts forwards, coincident to the length of the blade. With a swift stroke, it sweeps it down the centre of the platform, and further into the water. In its path are Minato, Yoake, the Aramitama, and Shef. And when the beam halts, explosions race down where the beam traced along the the ground and water. Before the explosions will have even run their course it would aim a second sweep across the platform aiming at Yuki, and third aimed at Faith before it slowly begins to descend.
The other, marked 01, accelerates down with a burst of speed, aiming to slam its gatling gun into Noriko before making another burst through 02's explosions as they clear to try and catch Minato with a flying spinning kick and follow it up with a spray of rounds at near point-blank range.
The Aramitama finally, makes another instant dash out of the beam's path, readying its revolver to blast anyone trying to halt 01's attack on Minato.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 28, 2017, 07:17:54 am
"Hit them from behind, I got this! Rho Aias!"
Perfected False Replica: Rho Aias and block all incoming attacks.
Alteration Used.
[2 3 5 3 1 [4] 1 4 4 [6]]
Post by: Strider03 on March 28, 2017, 08:01:55 am
After trying to move a few feet to escape the oncoming beam, Shef took his own pistol, and fired a shot at the Aramitama's gun, attempting to either knock the pistol from its hand, or at least prevent its shots from hitting. He then created a portal to drop the enemy marked 01 into the path of 02's beam.
Shef shoots at the Aramitama's gun, and then uses "Hey look over there!" (using the 3) to drop 01 into the path of 02's attack.
(5) (3) 1 2 5 4 2 1 5 2
Post by: spümpkin on March 28, 2017, 01:45:54 pm
Crouching, Yoake's eyes glint as she leaps into the air, briefly fading into a pocket of space, before coming out on the other side right next to 02. She slams her butt against it with the added momentum from gravity.
[Resolve Hyper used, Resolve -1]
[5 3 2 3 5 6 4 6 5 3]
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 28, 2017, 11:41:44 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 29, 2017, 12:10:15 am
Faith uses A Hit For Hope on Storm Mind 01, burning her last alteration to use a 5!
1 1 5 4 3 3 3 5 3 2
Post by: Twinwolf on March 29, 2017, 09:58:55 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 29, 2017, 11:27:58 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
From behind Rho Aias, Faith unleashes her ball of energy, the singes fading from her as it, the projectile rushing forwards as the Aramitama's round shatters Rho Aias, forcing Minato backwards. Faith's ball meanwhile plows into 01, blasting it backwards, fragments of broken armor scattering, guiding Noriko to her target. Its limbs have taken some damage and its torso had its amor blasted clean off, revealing the liquid glass beneath, and the black roiling clouds that bleed from its wounded form. However, it had placed its weapon between itself and the blast, avoiding a direct hit and use a speed burst minimise exposure to the blast and now that it was sailing backwards, Noriko no longer could use its momentum against it. So as she rushed through the blast she finds her spear clashing with its gatling, the two trying to manoeuvre their locked weapons in midair as they fall, her aiming the tip of her spear, it trying to bring the roaring barrels to bear upon her. And like that, in another instant, they disengaged, Noriko flying backwards as she hurls her spear, 01 bursting back towards the ground only to be caught by Shef's portal.
Meanwhile 02 finds itself crashing back down to the platform after Yoake seemingly teleported above it and impacted onto it at ludicrous velocities. The kugelblitz within its head flares and with a horrific shriek, it swings its weapon still, managing to still perform the first beam sweep even as it is impaled by Noriko's spear and crashes down onto the platform, the force so great the entire platform shakes and tilts. Its amor is basically gone and from the shifting fissures now running across its liquid form and the hole in its chest, it bleeds storm clouds.
01 is portaled over into the way of the second sweep, but there is no second sweep for 02 just ate shit courtesy of a certain "PE teacher". Minato and Faith meanwhile get caught in edge of the first sweep, sending them tumbling backwards, both somewhat hurt. Minato had taken the brunt of the hit, having placed himself between the beam and Faith as it exploded down upon them. They land in a tangle with Minato onto of Faith, his hand on her breast. Thankfully, while her clothes have been blasted and torn by the attack, there was still her armor-like Regalia in the way.
Shef meanwhile is unharmed, he managed to swim out of the way in time to avoid the beam. He however never did get his shot off, the Aramitama having fired while he was still swimming. And now since its gun isn't being aimed he lacks a clear shot at it.
And while all of this carnage just unfolds around her, Yuki kind just stands there. She had been meaning to take shelter behind Minato's shield, but his shield was destroyed near-immediately and the attack aimed at her didn't end up actually happening. So, yay for her?
01 moves with another burst of speed, tackling 02 in an attempt to keep it out of the way of incoming attacks as it sweeps its blade downwards as cover its rescue with explosions, apparently subscribing to the Michael Bay school of camouflage, if one were to look closely, they would see that as they do that, 01 takes possession of the greatsword. The Aramitama meanwhile, points its gun out at Shef in the distance. It will pull the trigger, and whoever tries to intercept the bullet or stop it is going to find it dashing right over to them and assaulting them with a series of swift blade strikes.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 29, 2017, 07:23:21 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 30, 2017, 10:01:40 pm
Faith just gets out of her little tangle
1 1 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 31, 2017, 12:15:51 am
"And I haven't even taken you out to dinner yet."
He does try to get off of her and pull her to his feet while shielding himself.
[[2] 3 5 3 1 1 4 4 4 2]
Post by: spümpkin on March 31, 2017, 03:29:15 am
Ooooor, she could finish these damn things off! Propelling herself by spinning in mid-air, Yoake somehow manages to chase after the Storm Minds huddled together and smash into them with her butt (which had gathered speed by spinning).
[Alteration used; 4 instead of 3.]
[3 2 3 5 6 4 6 5 3 1]
Post by: Strider03 on March 31, 2017, 06:11:36 am
Shef uses tracer shot by burning resolve, and attempts to capture the Aramitama's bullet in his portals to redirect it back. Use alteration to take the rightmost 5.
1 2 5 4 2 1 (5) 2 4 4
Post by: Twinwolf on March 31, 2017, 06:15:31 am
HEALING FIELD
Post by: Empiricist on March 31, 2017, 07:46:22 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Yuki gets to work healing everyone, Shef finds pain of the blade striking washing away, his hand steadying as he pulls the trigger. Minato and Faith meanwhile are sore no longer. Well, until one of them proposes anal or something. Everyone else just gets shielded.
Minato and Faith try to get back up, but the platform, still bobbing from the 02's impact and now a bit slick around the edges cause both of them to fail completely. And repeatedly. And make a series of groans and grunts that, while not too bad by themselves, when heard mixed in the sound of bullets and explosions, can be easily mistaken for something a lot less wholesome. The general movements they end up making do not help.
Yoake meanwhile spins like the homicidal offspring of a bloodthirsty children's top and a blender from hell. As soon as she lands, she kicks off and continues to spin, her swift movement driving her closer to the pair of mononoke in a curving trajectory while the ground explodes behind her. She draws near but doesn't close the gap quickly enough to a solid hit in just yet, at least, not yet. The already severely damaged 02 unit however does take a glancing blow, and that, is all that it takes. The fractures along its body spread and connect with one another as it solidifies. For a moment, it looks like it's going to shatter, but instead, it just halts, the kugelblitz in its head dissipating in a flash, clouds billowing forth no longer.
01 tosses 02's limp form onto the ground in Yoake's path as its new great sword wreaths itself in energy once more. Before the body even touches the ground, it's slashing at her, but it doesn't even wait to to see her reaction, it immediately rushes forth in a burst of speed, seeking to either exit her ranged before she can perform her counter, or, should she fail to dodge, slam into her and keep on going. And it is heading towards Faith and Minato. If it succeeds in closing in, it will wait for Faith to attack and burst at an angle to avoid it while simultaneously striking the pair with a close range sweep, follows it up with a kick, a gatling slam, and then a wild frenzy of close range fire and blade strikes which aren't so much targeting them, so much as it's just targeting everything that happens to be near the Storm Mind.
When Noriko closed in, the Aramitama simply fired and performed an extended dash up into the air delaying their engagement and bringing the battle into the air, it then proceeds to get nailed by its own attack and the Tracer round and stabbed yet again by Noriko. It again dissipates in a puff of shadowy smoke and anticlimax even inside the world of Yoake's Requiem with a spear inside it. Noriko is left holding her spear, not even a single stain on it. Wow, what a cowardly little bitch.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 31, 2017, 09:37:43 pm
((OOC: I presume that this is a decently long swim, and will probably take up a turn.))
(1) 2 5 4 2 1 2 4 4 2
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 01, 2017, 12:35:29 am
Post by: Twinwolf on April 01, 2017, 09:54:21 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 02, 2017, 02:05:32 am
But now the two of them, humiliating position and all, were actually being attacked, so the mortified half-American girl focused all of the courageous energy she could into making a shield.
Faith will use her 3 hyper!
World Line: 1 5 4 3 3 3
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 02, 2017, 02:12:01 am
"The rest of you, get over here and behind me! And her."
Alteration Used
[ 3 [5] 3 1 1 [4] 4 4 2 3]
Post by: spümpkin on April 02, 2017, 03:36:04 am
Sticking out her butt to face the sword, she prepares it to be engaged by the sword, catching it within her cheeks. If she is successful, she wrenches it out of the Storm Mind's grasp, and brings it slamming down onto the Storm Mind.
[Resolve used]
[Alteration used, 6 instead of 3]
[3 2 3 5 6 6 5 3 1 5]
Post by: Empiricist on April 02, 2017, 04:46:41 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Shef begins swimming back to the Land, his thoughts on his target and how to eliminate. But then, he feels, something, it's hard to describe. A sixth sense of sorts. All Awakened have it to an extent, something tugging at them, at their very soul, as if their own Fate was calling them. And Shef, knew it better than anyone else here, he had, spent so long ignoring it after all. It is, what allows the Awakened to have a sense of how well their actions will go, but also a means to alter those outcomes, for whatever is tugging at them is not absolute and they too could tug back. This wasn't that. This was something similar, the feeling he has when he uses his magic. A kind of natural sensitivity portal magic, what affords him such precision that he can make a bewitched bullet capture and redirect lighting fast rounds mid-flight.
Someone, was using portal magic, and on a scale he had never seen.
A blade burning with the light of dying stars swings forth, and vanishes. Banished, to the abyss of deep space. Rent just in front of Yoake's backside was a portal. It was, something similar to the teleportation effects of Interstellar Butt, something that arose from the same principles, twisted and improvised to entrap the weapon... and to bring it to bear against its former wielder.
As the two collide, the girl swings her hips. There is a pause, a brief one, but one long enough for her to have made a one-liner had she felt like it. And then, an explosion. Yoake tumbles away, the blade still trapped by her portal, the hilt protruding from her butt like the world's least practical buttplug. She's, hurt, but not too hurt, she had the Yuki's shield to bear the brunt of the blast, and had made sure to disengage after the attack, not like she could've held on anyway.
Coming to a rest beside her, is 01's blasted and severed arm.
Somehow, 01 continues moving, storm clouds blowing from what's left of its arm, and the slash that had half-burnt half-exploded its way diagonally across almost the entire width of its torso. Noriko descends, and brings out her spear, it slams into her with an electrical screech and continues going, be it from what energy it has left or just simple the momentum of its dying form, she can't tell. The pair careens back, Noriko skidding upon howling winds to counteract its movement. It's slowing, but not fast enough. She passes through a barrier, Rho Aias. A split second later, 01's gatling slams against the same barrier.
For a moment, nothing happens. They seem to have come to a dead stop. But then, cracks race across the shield's surface. Then it shatters, the weapon slamming into Faith's barrier behind it but failing to go any further. Before it can do anything, if it was even capable of doing anything even, the roar of a chainsaw signals its demise. The Storm Mind expires upon Noriko's spear, cleaved in half by Yuki.
Soon enough, the world returns to normal, and everyone finds themselves standing in or around the classroom once more. Mr. Honda has been stabilized and you can hear the ambulances approaching. Outside, you can see students gathering semi-orderly as per the protocol for fire evacuation.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 02, 2017, 08:02:37 am
"......well then."
He looks around for the corpses of the Storm Minds. Should he find any, he goes over to Noriko and Yuki.
".....do you two mind helping me get this thing up?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 02, 2017, 03:54:49 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 02, 2017, 03:57:38 pm
"Normally, we'd just cart these off to be disposed of. Even with the masquerade, corpses tend to make messes that people have to clean up. Of course, seeing as that's the second time we've seen that Aramitama, we know he means business. Luckily for you, I happen to know a guy who'll help us find them. We're taking the corpses to them for analysis."
Post by: Strider03 on April 02, 2017, 04:18:47 pm
"So what can you tell us about your friend, Minato?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 02, 2017, 04:23:12 pm
Minato pats the device strapped around his waist before taking out his phone..
"I'll get us a ride and tell them we're coming. You guys get this thing ready for transport."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 02, 2017, 04:35:52 pm
Standing up and letting out a slightly shaky sigh, she addressed the others.
"Th-thanks a lot, Yuki, Noriko, Minato. That... probably would have been bad."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 02, 2017, 04:46:00 pm
"Don't worry about it. It's what we're here for."
Post by: Strider03 on April 03, 2017, 06:07:18 am
Post by: Twinwolf on April 03, 2017, 06:15:38 am
Watching that thing continue implacably towards her, despite Noriko's attack, through Minato's shield, and then watching its massive Gatling gun tap against a shield that she knew wouldn't be all that strong, mere inches from her face, well... it had actually been very scary, and she had been glad when her half-sister's chainsaw had cut it in two.Yuki dramatically raises the chainsaw in the air. "Nobody tries to hurt my sister and gets away with it!" she dramatically declares... before making the "I'm watching you" gesture at Minato.
Standing up and letting out a slightly shaky sigh, she addressed the others.
"Th-thanks a lot, Yuki, Noriko, Minato. That... probably would have been bad."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 03, 2017, 06:16:55 am
Minato raises an eyebrow at Yuki.
"Hm?"
Post by: Strider03 on April 03, 2017, 06:30:15 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 03, 2017, 06:40:53 am
One was to the family chauffeur. He was a good man; he was read into the supernatural
and had also been Awakened himself, as Minato found out when the man burst into the house after the Tsukumogami had attacked with a gun he'd later found out was his Regalia. They needed a ride.
First things first, however, as to his friend of sorts. He pulls up his phone, dialling their number in.
"Kurosaki-san? Hello, it's Minato. Listen- yes, yes sorry, I know you said not to call you that but it's a business call. There's a few things I need to speak to you about...."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 03, 2017, 01:11:19 pm
"Thanks, Yuki. That means a lot!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 03, 2017, 01:50:47 pm
"D'aww. That's adorable."
Post by: spümpkin on April 04, 2017, 04:43:36 am
"Did ya' see that?! I basically took out both of 'em! Surely I deserve a huuuug..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 04, 2017, 04:48:26 am
Post by: spümpkin on April 04, 2017, 04:58:42 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 04, 2017, 05:12:24 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 04, 2017, 03:21:16 pm
Quote
Just fought Aramitama+2 creatures at girls' school. Aramitama fled again; we're taking creature bodies to Minato's contact.
Shef looked over his message, then pressed the button to send it to Enn.
"How long until our ride gets here?" Shef asked Minato.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 04, 2017, 03:58:13 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 04, 2017, 07:38:26 pm
Post by: Strider03 on April 04, 2017, 08:10:52 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on April 04, 2017, 08:48:00 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 04, 2017, 09:55:50 pm
Minato's school? Same one? Did it use a Sanctuary?
Post by: Powder Miner on April 04, 2017, 10:17:07 pm
"Do we have any way of knowing where this thing is...? Like, any special tools you have, Minato?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2017, 12:13:09 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2017, 01:46:15 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2017, 02:13:38 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2017, 02:28:08 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2017, 02:57:17 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2017, 03:23:22 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2017, 03:39:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2017, 03:43:45 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2017, 03:44:50 am
Granted, she spent most of the last battle with her body pressed up against him, but Minato could settle for that as his reward for helping out.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2017, 03:47:52 am
Post by: spümpkin on April 05, 2017, 04:53:59 am
"You guuuuuys, can we gooooo? I wanna find out where this spooky guy is!"
Post by: Strider03 on April 05, 2017, 05:34:39 am
Quote
Not sure. Disappeared in a puff of smoke; I didn't feel any portal.
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2017, 06:53:29 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2017, 04:41:04 pm
It would be difficult to tell that this man worked for Yukari Kumon herself and is as much a legend among the Japanese supernatural community as she was. He was her partner- nobody in the family quite knew where Yukari had picked him up and nobody cared after realising how competent of a driver, bodyguard and general manservant he was. Despite the best efforts of the Society, however, to discern his origins, all that could be known about him was that he came from the Osaka area and nothing more. That hardly explained the feats he pulled off in service of the Kumon family.
However, that is a story for another time. For now, he is merely a driver.
With a silent nod, he gestures his young master towards the car; a rather fine model of car, a Bentley limousine from abroad with all the works; an interior fridge, excellent and genuine upholstery, cup holders, bulletproof glass, orichalcum plating to ward off supernatural assault, various charms hidden with invisible ink within the paint job to ward off Aramitama. Everything a supernatural-fighting family needs to travel around in style. As soon as the party is inside, he drives off and through the Sendo district. The trip takes most of an hour; Minato doesn't really say much except to say 'the usual place, please' and the driver seems to know where they're going. They passed the border into Setagaya ward a few minutes back; that much is obvious about their location.
Regardless, they stop outside a small house in a residential part of the ward. It doesn't look like much; indeed, the paint seems to fading a little and there are cobwebs outside the second story windows. The house is inside a walled area, with a small gate opening into it with two doorbells, one for 'Kurosaki' and one for 'Suzumiya'. Minato presses the top one for 'Kurosaki' and waits about, hands in pockets, on the sidewalk.
The area doesn't seem to have much except houses, with one convenience store nearby with a strange, marshmallow-like mascot flailing about. It is about lunchtime, and the weather is good.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2017, 05:02:48 pm
"...whoa, that limo was something. Minato, are you, like... some sort of millionaire or something??"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2017, 05:10:03 pm
Minato shrugs as if it's nothing. He carefully pats the box they've put the corpses in, waiting for his contact to answer the door.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2017, 06:07:04 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2017, 06:24:40 pm
The door swings open just as Minato says that, and he snaps forward. Taking one end of the box, he starts pulling it inside, motioning for everyone to come in.
He manages to pull it into the house, which seems to be a maisonette, with the Suzumiya house being below and the Kurosaki house being above on a flight of stairs through a thin corridor which the group has to file almost single file within. The boy pulls it up the stairs and towards a door, which he slides open without waiting for someone to open it.
The interior of the house can be summarised in a word; messy. There seem to be three divisions in the apartment; one kitchen area, with an old oven and fridge alongside a faded counter, a living room area with a kotatsu in the middle of the room directly in front of them and another old TV with one or two armchairs and a dining room area with a plastic table and a pair of old chairs within, with a few decorations on the walls consisting of paintings from bargain bins and a few posters for various anime. Two doors lead from the dining room area, one to the bathroom with a visible medicine cabinet and mirror, and the other presumably to a bedroom, the only unseen room.
What really messes it up are the assortment of papers scattered throughout the place; on the kotatsu, counter and dining table, papers of all sorts can be seen. They seem to be mostly about high-level academic stuff pertaining to the supernatural; even Shef can't seem to make heads or tails from the small glances they can catch. There also seems to be rather advanced machinery placed haphazardly around, with gadgets the group couldn't possibly name or identify the functions of, and a large computer server cabinet is wedged onto the corner of the dining room portion, the server's blinking lights shining light on the young lady (http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harler.png) sitting next to it on a sleek, advanced laptop, the only other high-tech piece of equipment in the room. She looks rather young- not much older than Yuki or Noriko, twenty at most-, and her rather revealing attire doesn't help matters. She looks up from her work, a smile gracing her face.
"Oooh. You brought guests. Never seen them before. Who are you all?"
"Guys, this is Professor Tsukasa Kurosaki, top researcher at Foundry, one of the organisations in charge of helping fight Aramitama. Foundry works on research and development; weapons, biology, vehicles, you name it, that's their job. And she's possibly one of the best in all of Japan at it."
Tsukasa frowns, pouting childishly.
"Aww. Didn't I say not to call me 'Professor'? It makes me feel old, and they say you're only as young as you feel. And call me Tsukasa. We're friends, aren't we? Now.....oooh."
Her eye catches on to Shef. An appreciative smirk grows on her face as her eyes pore over him.
"Oooh, guests indeed. Nice-looking exoskeleton on him, too. Almost as good as something I could make. Mind if I talk with him a little?"
"Business call, Kurosaki-san. You can flirt with him.....actually, feel free to flirt with him while we work. He looks like he needs to loosen up a bit."
Tsukasa looks a little disappointed, but acquiesces.
"Oh, alright. Very well, what're you here for? Minato said you had something for me."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2017, 06:51:17 pm
Post by: Strider03 on April 05, 2017, 10:27:26 pm
"We've encountered an Aramitama twice in two days, and it escaped both times. Back at the school, it had these helping it. The seemed to live on lightning, and Minato said you could analyze them." Shef was somewhat curious as to what type of analysis could be performed on the dead body.
"...Does that 'outfit' serve any purpose other than to show off?"
Post by: spümpkin on April 05, 2017, 11:16:04 pm
Anyone with half a brain could tell she has no idea what any of the stuff was.
She does, however, notice the kotatsu, and immediately rushes to sit underneath it, purring.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 06, 2017, 12:18:50 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2017, 01:11:54 am
"Why? Do you enjoy the view~?"
Having flirted, with a little giggle she turns back to business.
"Alright, corpses, you say? Well.....I'm no coroner, but this is still my area of expertise. I'll see what I can do."
Standing up and putting her laptop aside, Tsukasa grabs the box and pulls it over to the dining table, carefully taking off the papers on it and making space for the Mononoke corpses, before almost effortlessly lifting the corpses up onto the table. She examines them closely, frowning.
"......and you said you encountered these at school?"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 06, 2017, 01:16:12 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2017, 01:20:11 am
"Well, I'd have to cut them open to be sure of it, but I can tell you, right now, these things were made in a factory. Someone's been making these, and a lot of 'em. Not very high quality- of course, they weren't exactly craftsman-made-, but when you've got power like this, it doesn't matter. So first off, you'll want to look for a factory with the facilities for this. Probably a Sanctuary."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 06, 2017, 01:42:44 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 06, 2017, 01:45:12 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2017, 02:30:06 am
As for the factory....well, yes. There's people crazy enough to do it, and the Aramitama can make their own."
Post by: spümpkin on April 06, 2017, 05:52:51 am
"Faiiith! You forgot to mention the part where I saved the day by catching that sword with my butt! It was so awesome, and everyone should've praised me more for it."
Slowly extending out of the kotatsu like a snake, she stands and stretches. "Anyway, I think the best course of action we can take is to find wherever this Arimitama's sanctuary is... and kill it! So we can fight the guy, head on! Also, taking out the factory would be pretty handy. But for you newbies..."
Yoake slowly thinks, creeping far too close to Faith, her side pressing against Faith's arm. "I could teach you guys a few things, if you'd liiike~ But it'd be best if we did that back at school! I still have a class to run!"
Post by: Strider03 on April 06, 2017, 06:03:21 am
"Any idea where this factory might be? Searching the city for a sanctuary with nothing else to go on seems...tedious. Yoake, I don't think there's a need for any of your teaching." A single day after meeting, both Yoake and Minato appeared to be focusing their attentions onto Faith. Odd. Would've thought that Minato would've gone for one of the maids.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2017, 07:25:33 am
"Well, I'll see what I can tell you from cutting these things up. Why don't you all sit down for a moment while I try to remember where my scalpel is?"
With that, Tsukasa wanders off into her bedroom for a few moments, dragging a curtain across the division between the living room and dining room.
After a few moments, the sounds of a knife cutting through something can be heard, followed by Tsukasa's grunts as she examines the parts. Given about twenty or thirty minutes, the curtain is swept aside, and Tsukasa, now wearing an apron over most of her clothes which seems to be stained with some odd iridescent fluid, emerges, her hair slightly mussed but otherwise none the worse for wear.
"Well. I say......for a bunch of newbies- and Minato- you're either lucky or way better than I thought you'd be."
Post by: Strider03 on April 06, 2017, 07:40:51 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2017, 08:06:05 am
"Well, they look modular. They look like they've been built from pre-made schematics and just kludged together carefully. Not elegant, but it works for what it's made for. The armor's ablative, designed to take hits well but chip off bit by bit. The weapons are powerful, but heavily damaged; seems like whoever made these didn't expect them to come back after killing you. They're pretty powerful but hard to repair; I could repair 'em, but it'd just get broken in about, say, a few minutes of operations. There's a little room for expansion; expected, given that these things were more or less built like LEGO bricks. Which brings me to the insides.
Most of the components were pretty badly damaged from overheating, but as far as I could tell, these things have souls or something similar. They used their souls as some sort of battery; it works, most Awakened like you and I could do the same, but the difference is that we can recover from it, even if we were to do the same thing in a small period of time and they can't. These things were more or less designed as bombs; blow you up and not get out alive. They're designed to use up their soul batteries and then pretty much just die.
Now, you were attacked by two, right? One of them's fast, made for hitting hard and hitting quickly, but no guns; it'll beat you about, so keep it away from you unless you have some way of stopping it from smacking you. The second one's the opposite; it'll toss out more shots than a gamer on a losing streak, but it'll miss most of 'em and it's hopeless at close range. Both of them are pretty durable, but as long as you hit it with something hard and up close, you should be fine.
So, you're being hunted by an Aramitama who can afford to send expendable drones at you, has the resources to make lots of them without having to repair them after fighting, and intends to make better ones."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 06, 2017, 09:48:31 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 06, 2017, 10:53:56 am
"What are the primary materials which would be needed to make a lot of these? Might be able to find the Sanctuary by tracing shipments into the the city."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 07, 2017, 02:41:14 am
"That won't help too much. You'll need to track Mononoke sightings and Awakenings. That's where they're getting the souls from; they take the shards from those. That's where the batteries come from. You find a Mononoke being attacked, you follow the attacker back and chances are you'll find the Sanctuary."
Post by: Strider03 on April 07, 2017, 06:37:34 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 07, 2017, 06:56:03 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 07, 2017, 07:02:51 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 07, 2017, 07:52:09 am
"Already at this stage? We haven't even had dinner yet and you're trusting me with this. I like it~
More seriously though, if you want everyone to have a tracer, it'll take a few days. You might as well take a rest and suit up before I call you back here."
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 07, 2017, 10:22:32 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 07, 2017, 10:27:05 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 07, 2017, 10:34:08 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 07, 2017, 10:36:24 am
"In a word, yes. I'm sorry I can't do anything more for you, but Foundry has me on overtime trying to get stuff ready as it is."
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 07, 2017, 10:45:56 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 07, 2017, 11:55:06 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 07, 2017, 11:56:24 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 08, 2017, 01:42:00 am
"Oh, that's not great, though I understand. I guess we've just got to keep alert until then."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 08, 2017, 06:13:53 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 08, 2017, 06:35:49 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 09, 2017, 07:19:10 pm
During the drive back, Enn called back to say that chances are, whoever's manufacturing this Mononoke probably have better things to do than harassing you lot. So, there's an unknown party now. Lovely. Winter came back with Anomaly analysis, unfortunately chances are it shouldn't actually have enough range to cover both the alley AND the school, so that's a thing.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 10, 2017, 02:30:01 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 10, 2017, 02:32:16 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 10, 2017, 02:42:51 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 10, 2017, 02:48:54 am
"But, well, welcome to stakeout. I've done this before, and it's not quite as fun as the movies make it look."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 10, 2017, 02:54:08 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 10, 2017, 02:55:21 am
"Oh, don't worry. I was kidding. You seemed kinda out of it, so I was hoping that'd cheer you up a little."
He frowns after realising what he did.
"Sorry about that. Should I go?"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 10, 2017, 03:22:32 am
Faith reacts a bit too quickly when he makes his latter suggestion, her eyes widening. "N-no! Er... um, don't feel bad, it was just a joke, you don't have to go if you don't feel like it."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 10, 2017, 03:33:41 am
Post by: Twinwolf on April 10, 2017, 07:48:03 am
"Hey! Your stuff is on the house this time - for a job well done!" says the convenient distraction.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 10, 2017, 08:35:28 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 10, 2017, 09:41:13 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 10, 2017, 09:42:56 am
Post by: Twinwolf on April 10, 2017, 09:46:42 am
Faith notices that the cake is actually rather good - at this point it's probably clear that not everyone who comes here comes for the maids.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 10, 2017, 11:10:08 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 11, 2017, 02:32:28 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 11, 2017, 02:33:44 am
"Good grief, you really must be hungry."
Post by: spümpkin on April 11, 2017, 02:39:30 am
"Uggggggh! I haaate stakeoooouts, they're so boooriiiiing!"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 11, 2017, 02:45:58 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 11, 2017, 02:52:03 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2017, 03:37:42 am
A girl plops down next to Yoake. She looks to be in her late teens to early twenties, dressed in a black jacket and red scarf. Her smile is one of mischief. She taps Noriko as she passes by, ordering a cake.
Noriko should recognize her as the courier from yesterday, who offered her ride and candy, as sketchy as it may sound, not helped by her similarly sketchy name of 'Satoshi Nakamoto'.
Post by: spümpkin on April 11, 2017, 04:56:30 am
"Wanna talk about about it?"Yoake looks a little confused at the person randomly approaching her, but simply sighs again.
A girl plops down next to Yoake. She looks to be in her late teens to early twenties, dressed in a black jacket and red scarf. Her smile is one of mischief. She taps Noriko as she passes by, ordering a cake.
Noriko should recognize her as the courier from yesterday, who offered her ride and candy, as sketchy as it may sound, not helped by her similarly sketchy name of 'Satoshi Nakamoto'.
"I wish I could tell ya', but I don't think I'm allowed to. 'S not like you'd believe me anyway."
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2017, 05:00:59 am
She pulls out a bag of konpeito and begins eating from it, offering it to Shef and Yoake.
Post by: spümpkin on April 11, 2017, 05:35:56 am
"I'm fine, thanks. Also Shef here would kill me if he saw me takin' candy from strangers! Hehe! Anyway,
I really don't see the point in tellin' ya'. It's honestly pretty boring, and we're just waitin' for this guy to show up anyway."
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2017, 05:46:38 am
She glances at the ID tag, giggling to herself.
"Yūgure Oppai. Oh my, what a name. Sorry, sorry, better get down to business..."
She slides over a bent and crease marked flier, one of Yoake's ones to be precise.
"Got one of your fliers from a friend, and I was just thinking about signing up when I saw you here, so I figured, why not do it in person?"
Post by: spümpkin on April 11, 2017, 05:54:59 am
"Oh and here I was thinking it'd be something more exciting, Miss..."Yoake blinks at the flier, and then at Satoshi. Reining in her excitement, she puts on a blank expression. Something wasn't right... People didn't approach her about her fliers... They didn't even keep them when she shoved them in their faces!
She glances at the ID tag, giggling to herself.
"Yūgure Oppai. Oh my, what a name. Sorry, sorry, better get down to business..."
She slides over a bent and crease marked flier, one of Yoake's ones to be precise.
"Got one of your fliers from a friend, and I was just thinking about signing up when I saw you here, so I figured, why not do it in person?"
"Uhh, I can see where you went wrong, but that's not me. As you can see from my-" Yoake holds her ID card up to show "-ID card, I am not this 'Yoake' you speak of. I must admit we look similar,
and she has a very excellent figure, but I ain't seen her before in my life."
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2017, 06:01:52 am
She taps her head, making a silly expression for a moment.
"And def~initely not because I can see through your cover."
Post by: spümpkin on April 11, 2017, 06:03:29 am
"What do you mean, 'cover'?"
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2017, 06:07:01 am
Post by: spümpkin on April 11, 2017, 06:09:55 am
"......Well, this was fuuuun, but I gotta get back to... waiting. For.... my date!"
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2017, 06:15:06 am
She proceeds to stand up and... sit back down at the next table over.
Post by: spümpkin on April 11, 2017, 06:19:23 am
Quote
"What's up with her? She's actin' pretty suspicious."
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 11, 2017, 06:18:35 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 11, 2017, 11:29:05 pm
"Do you know what's going on...?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 01:54:28 am
".....a little miscommunication."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 01:57:07 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 01:59:51 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:07:15 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 02:08:26 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:24:06 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 02:25:58 am
"Hit on Tsukasa? We're good friends. She is, however, ten years older than me, so I don't think it'd work out. If anything, she pretty clearly wants Shef, anyway."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:31:59 am
"No, I meant like, Tsukasa was hitting on Shef, is Satoshi here to hit on someone?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 02:34:12 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:36:13 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 02:38:44 am
"I live for the spotlight, one might say. But enough about me. How are you finding Japan? You really must be new around here, so I was wondering if you were getting on alright."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:41:52 am
"I really like it here, actually! You know, even with the evil spirits. I've been having a lot of fun here and I like to think I'm starting to find a group to fit in with. I mean, it's not like things aren't different, and it's definitely been giving my Japanese some real good practice, but even though things have been a little crazy I think I've been settling in."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 02:46:01 am
"That's good to hear. Nice to know you're getting used to Japan."
Then, a bit more seriously.
"If you do have any problems at like school or whatever, you can come find me. I'm in the year above you and I've been there a long time. Hell, even if it's not a school problem, feel free."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:48:20 am
"Ahaha, wellll, I guess I'll keep that in mind. I don't think I'm going to have to worry about coming to you, though, since the whole Aramitama and Mononoke kinds of things are probably gonna have us teaming up all the time anyway, y'know?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 02:50:59 am
"True, true."
He thinks for a little bit.
".....you dealing with the Aramitama alright? Sorry, you just seemed a little worried back at Tsukasa's house, is all."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:55:15 am
"Oh, ahaha, don't you worry about me!"
Her tapping slows, and she frowns a little bit.
"I mean, it may be, you know... a little worrying, but... we've been fine so far, right? Especially because you've had your shield protecting me, hehe."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 02:56:31 am
"Sorry. Can't help worrying about friends, you know. It's just how I am. Especially since I.....well, really did this whole thing on my own until about a few months ago."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 02:58:55 am
"Ah, well, I guess I'm perfectly glad to provide you some backup then! Has to be better to fight alongside people, right?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 03:01:41 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 03:07:50 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 03:11:29 am
"I always fancied myself more of a Kamen Rider type, personally. Batman, I find, didn't have the same taste of.....style I've got."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 03:13:39 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 03:14:46 am
"You do a better Batman than I could, really. Besides, I prefer being the knight in shining armor. Makes for more admirers."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 03:18:29 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 03:20:00 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 03:21:31 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 03:24:43 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 03:30:06 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 03:31:37 am
"Such is life. Oh well. Least I get surrounded by cute girls anyway. Especially you."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 03:33:38 am
"Ahahahaha, w-well, I dunno about that, haha."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 03:35:15 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 04:36:41 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 04:37:31 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 04:40:41 am
"Hmmm, really? That is a coincidence. Do you know much about the place?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 04:47:34 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 05:01:38 am
"Wellll, will you know enough to guide me around then?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 05:13:01 am
Post by: Twinwolf on April 12, 2017, 04:18:13 pm
"Hey, got your order!" she cheerfully announces as she places the requested cake on the table. "Sorry for working during this, but the overtime money is helpful."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 04:22:51 pm
"Cheers. Time to see if the cake's really good enough to inhale."
Post by: Twinwolf on April 12, 2017, 04:34:56 pm
"You mentioned showing Faith around? That sounds like a great idea!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 04:37:14 pm
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2017, 06:54:35 pm
Shef frowned. he had beena little out of it for the last few hours, as things had seemed to move in a blur. That wasn't good, not in his profession where one minute of inattention could be crucial. Shef shook himself after the strange girl had left and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He read it, and stared at Yoake for a moment.
"She knows who we are. No need for the charade. And since she seems quite content to let us keep our 'cover', if you could call it that, I suppose she's on our side in a sense." He was a little baffled at how this hadn't been obvious, and was not surprised when Noriko spoke a moment later.
((OOC: Yay!))
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 07:03:17 pm
"Oh! Right, Tsukasa just had me pick these up as we went in. Shef, here's your gun and your tracker bullets."
He hands Shef a box with his gun and a pair of magazines marked with red tape.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2017, 07:40:19 pm
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2017, 07:43:54 pm
"Thanks. I thought you'd forgotten my birthday." He said this quietly, so as to only be heard by anyone who might be actively eavesdropping.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 07:47:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 08:12:17 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2017, 08:17:40 pm
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2017, 08:19:24 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 12, 2017, 08:22:52 pm
Or she might have said that to have an excuse to keep seeing you. I can't always tell with her."
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 08:25:31 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2017, 08:28:57 pm
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2017, 08:40:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 08:41:59 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2017, 08:49:00 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 08:54:32 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2017, 08:57:33 pm
Post by: spümpkin on April 12, 2017, 08:57:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 09:09:09 pm
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2017, 09:11:14 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2017, 09:21:55 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 09:28:59 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2017, 10:17:54 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 11:10:50 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2017, 11:33:47 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2017, 11:59:44 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 12:11:45 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 12:30:19 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 12:40:39 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 12:45:21 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 12:47:58 am
Faith pulls out her phone.
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 12:56:18 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 01:05:51 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 01:10:43 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 01:14:00 am
"Uhhhh thanks I think?" Faith lets out, her voice getting higher with the confused question in her tone, the girl still blushing.
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 01:25:34 am
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 01:31:54 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 01:40:25 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 01:46:15 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 01:54:06 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 01:59:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 02:04:24 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2017, 02:10:46 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2017, 02:16:00 am
Post by: spümpkin on April 13, 2017, 03:09:29 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 13, 2017, 05:26:22 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 13, 2017, 05:27:35 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 15, 2017, 02:07:47 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 15, 2017, 04:15:39 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 16, 2017, 12:21:58 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 16, 2017, 06:20:41 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 17, 2017, 12:10:12 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 17, 2017, 06:03:21 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 19, 2017, 08:05:40 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 19, 2017, 10:21:22 am
"<O-oh sh--> er, I mean, oh, you're right Shef! Let's go!"
And the American girl scurries out of the café.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 19, 2017, 10:32:35 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 19, 2017, 11:28:01 pm
Faith waves Minato, and any others who follows them out, towards the alley she and the two maids found themselves fighting in when Awakening, and begins walking towards it herself.
Post by: Empiricist on April 20, 2017, 01:15:03 am
Okay so you're all back at the alley. You can hear the trains and the traffic and indecipherable noise born from the countless mutually interfering conversations going on right outside. What do you guys wanna look for? Trails to shadowy lairs? Pocket dimensions hidden in the walls? Used condoms to repackage and resell?
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 20, 2017, 03:00:58 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2017, 01:36:29 am
There's a lot of debris left, mostly just small pieces, the ones that are too much of a pain to thoroughly sweep up, probably blasted off the Mononoke thanks to Shef's Tracers or torn out by Yuki's chainsaw. There's a few bits and pieces of appliance casing as well, but there's nothing really connect to the Aramitama, that is, nothing save for a scrap of darkness, caught on the twisted edge of a small piece of warped metal. The concealing effects of the darkness probably meant that the cleaners missed amidst the shadows of the alleyway.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 21, 2017, 01:40:48 am
"Huh? What's this?"
Post by: Strider03 on April 21, 2017, 06:01:33 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 21, 2017, 06:06:15 am
".....seems to be some kind of.....well, darkness, obviously."
He pulls out his phone with his free hand as he holds it to the light.
Winter, Enn, found something odd in the alleyway from yesterday. Some sort of darkness glob. Might need to send it to Tsukasa for analysis but do either of you have any idea what it could be?
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2017, 08:01:31 am
No enemies as far as you can tell, a few people are giving you guys weird looks, but they carry on without a word.
Minato
"Could be a piece of its cloak. Must've been torn off by debris when Shef destroyed the fridge."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 21, 2017, 10:08:48 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2017, 05:56:53 pm
"Yes, a cloak. You said it wore a shadowy cloak, remember? Or do you forget everything that isn't dressed like a maid? This looks like it came off of it."
"There are reports of similar materials. The two that are relevant are recent and pertain to the aftermath of incidents not involving Godslayers."
You receive a text giving you the details, one of them is in Tokyo, another isn't too far away from where you are now, though both by this time won't have any clues left - they've been cleaned up and the reports filed afterwards just say that something destroyed weaker Mononoke and took their shards.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 21, 2017, 06:20:07 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2017, 06:51:27 pm
"Those incidents happened before this week. Missing persons? There always are, but none that can be traced back to this one. May have been keeping to Mononoke, guess things are changing now though."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 22, 2017, 05:30:21 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 22, 2017, 06:19:53 pm
"No, they just won't recieve their benefits."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 22, 2017, 06:21:09 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 22, 2017, 06:23:26 pm
"Doesn't seem to be. Might've been hunting those down and you lot just got caught up in it."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 22, 2017, 06:26:53 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 22, 2017, 06:27:08 pm
"It's super frustrating trying to find anything out about this thing!'
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 22, 2017, 06:31:33 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on April 22, 2017, 06:33:56 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 22, 2017, 06:36:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 22, 2017, 06:40:50 pm
"Hit it with a tracker and see if it's still moving when it escapes. Or just be on the lookout for suspicious vehicles, it'd have to be one of those self driving ones or driven by an associate - there'd be an awful lot of screaming otherwise if it just popped into someone's car."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 25, 2017, 03:42:42 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 25, 2017, 05:02:47 am
You have the feeling you're being watched, and as you scan your gaze over the crowd and above, you see it. A living silhouette, it looks almost angelic, with wings that formed of rifles and circular cross-hairs for a halo, the burning red light at the centre the only color in their form. It is observing you from the seventh story window of the adult goods store across the street.
Post by: Strider03 on April 25, 2017, 05:16:34 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 25, 2017, 08:09:08 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 25, 2017, 10:03:52 pm
It looks like a shadow of a person, projected onto thin air with cross-hairs entered on its head and wings of what appear to be shadowy rifles.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 25, 2017, 10:10:53 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 26, 2017, 01:00:23 am
"I dunno, but we should at least figure out what it's doing here."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 26, 2017, 01:49:47 am
"Uh, Minato...? If this is a dangerous spot, aren't you in a lot of trouble without your armor of it shoots you...? I've got my regalia which I can put on undetected, at least."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 26, 2017, 01:53:48 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 26, 2017, 02:54:27 am
As you get ready for a firefight, the shadow reacts. Namely, it reacts by leaving the window, probably planning on fleeing the area.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 26, 2017, 03:17:41 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 27, 2017, 07:15:47 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 30, 2017, 02:27:36 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 01, 2017, 02:50:44 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 01, 2017, 03:29:53 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 01, 2017, 03:44:41 am
"O-oh gosh um I guess it is the best excuse I can think of."
Post by: Empiricist on May 01, 2017, 03:51:17 am
Well, you two walk over to the building's backdoor, hoping that no one recognises either of you. A few moments after you get into a position, the door swings open, a flustered man with "too sober for this shit" written all over his face stumbles out the door waving his arms "Woah woah woah! What are you two doing out here?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 01, 2017, 03:52:40 am
"Well, me and my lovely girlfriend here were looking for the entrance into the store and, well, we got a little lost. Any chance you can help us out here?"
Post by: Empiricist on May 01, 2017, 03:57:37 am
The man looks you up and down staring at your uniform, your school uniform, his expression shifting to "Jesus Fucking Christ" as he does so. "Aren't you a little young?"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 01, 2017, 04:01:16 am
She whips out her phone and, still blushing like a tomato, proceeds to text Winter with trembling fingers and absolutely frenetic speed, in English.
Minato and I are trying to get into this adult shop where there's a Mononoke and someone is asking us why we're trying to get in and Minatos in his school uniform but Minato is saying that I'm his girlfriend as an excuse but it isn't working and I might actually faint pls help
Post by: Empiricist on May 01, 2017, 04:06:27 am
Run. In or out, doesn't matter. If you run out, I can have Enn set up a cover for you two. Oh and, keep Minato away from the maid-related products.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 01, 2017, 04:07:16 am
Minato shows him an ID with his correct age and date of birth on it. It appears to be Minato's actual driver's license.
Post by: Empiricist on May 01, 2017, 04:25:43 am
"Hmm... right, well front door's right in, front." He gestures to the front of the store. "Sorry, just a bit jumpy, since some people get a bit too excited and well, you know. It's not something we wanna deal with."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 01, 2017, 04:27:30 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 01, 2017, 04:40:28 am
"Eugh... okay, but I'll keep an eye on you two, you know how it is."
You hear a loud -thump- come from within.
Post by: Strider03 on May 01, 2017, 06:39:17 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 01, 2017, 01:47:24 pm
"Worked without a hitch. Alright."
He starts texting Shef.
In position, but we can't get inside. Do you have a lock on the Mononoke?
Post by: Powder Miner on May 02, 2017, 12:00:32 am
All of a sudden Faith seems to realize something -- she takes her hands off of her face, suddenly looking vaguely horrified before texting Winter again.
oh no I just realized
there's some sort of cover thing so people don't realize magic things happened right
what are people going to see if we fight this thing in... here
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2017, 12:07:46 am
"Not an orgy. If that's what you're worried about."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 02, 2017, 12:16:10 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2017, 12:18:52 am
Depending on your definition of 'good' and 'reason'. My guess is, it will look like you just barged into a sex shop to fist fight a cosplayer or something and everyone with forget about it soon enough.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 02, 2017, 12:21:52 am
so i don't have to worry about it being a big deal later then?
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 02, 2017, 12:26:56 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2017, 12:31:53 am
Not unless someone who knows you is in there.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 02, 2017, 12:32:40 am
"What, is that something that actually happened to you?"
Faith put her phone away once getting her reply -- it seemed she was satisfied.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 02, 2017, 01:11:36 am
Post by: Twinwolf on May 02, 2017, 05:23:57 am
"Great. We'll need to go in. How old are you?" Shef had hoped that they would be able to simply cover the exits, in anticipation of the Mononoke's (or whatever it was) exit, at which time they would be able to engage it on closer to equal footing. Now it appeared that they would need to enter the store, as there had been no sign of the Mononoke, and Shef had just heard a loud sound.Assuming that this was to her (or at least something she could respond to) Yuki responds. "I'm the same age as Minato, 18."
Post by: Strider03 on May 02, 2017, 05:37:16 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2017, 06:58:16 am
You two enter through the front, attracting a few glances, though no words are spoken. The racket seems to be coming from above, consistent with the civilians leisurely moving back downstairs at a rather relaxed pace. Pushing through the crowds, you two reach the third floor.
Absolute. Fucking. Chaos.
Right off the bat, two storm minds activate as you enter. One of them lunges, brandishing a familiar gatling gun, with a horrid mechanical shriek, the weapon swiftly pinned against a wall by a fire axe, the toaster-headed Mononoke that was wielding it bringing the other to bear. The Automaton ducks the blow, abandoning its weapon. With a swing of its arm, it grabs the nearest implement - a twelve-inch monster of a marital aid, and holding it as if it were a rapier, parries the next swing. The weapons trace brilliant arcs from each swing to each cataclysmic clash, the resonating impacts echoing through the store amidst the shockwaves unleashed by their raw power.
The other storm mind too finds itself swiftly disarmed, this time from when its sword connects mid-swing with the electrified bat of the microwave-headed Mononoke, sending both weapons flying off and embedding into the walls. The microwave grabs a nearby whip, testing it with a swift lash before swinging it at the retreating construct, this time the weapon wreathing in a blinding corona of lightning. The storm mind dives behind a container full of sqweels - some manner of ridiculous contraption that amounts a motorized wheel with soft 'tongues' before leaping up and hurling said devices out like a storm of shuriken. The sqweels activate, sawing their way along surfaces before ricocheting back into the air like a swarm of infernal buzzsaws.
One of the living shadows conjures a combat shotgun out of darkness, cocking it with a single hand before opening fire, shadowy bolts erupting in eerie silence towards, a bulky-looking though unarmed Monoke with an old fashioned cathode ray tube television for a head. Diving out from cover, another Mononoke, this one looking more in line with the microwave and toaster, albeit in having a fan for a head, opens up a black umbrella, the shots splashing and breaking apart across the surface of its barrier, the chaotic abyssal energies roiling and crashing into their surroundings with unpredictable curving trajectories. The other living shadow swings its arm, conjuring a halberd to cleave apart the mannequin the television just threw at it.
Spoiler: Arrival Times (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 02, 2017, 08:56:15 pm
"I think we should let them settle their spat. We'll wait outside, fight the survivors."
He sent off a quick text to Yoake:
Quote
Get over to the large adult goods store near battle yesterday. Large battle occurring. Bring Noriko
Post by: spümpkin on May 02, 2017, 11:48:34 pm
Having just been training for Keijo, She leaves the hub, and hops into her boat-with-wheels. Flooring it into the distance, she heads in the direction of the maid cafe.
While driving, she texts Shef and Noriko.
To Shef, she says:
Quote
>:((( fiiiiine, but you better make it up to me when we get baaack!!!! ):
And to Noriko:
Quote
heyyy!!! coming to maid cafe now in boat, prepare for pick-up (others got into trouble :v)
When she arrives at the maid cafe, Yoake activates her Requiem, turning the land into water and dragging Noriko into the boat, before heading in the direction of the adult store.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 03, 2017, 01:09:53 am
"Looks like our cue."
He reveals his Driver and does the requisite transforming, before heading in to join the fight!
Post by: Empiricist on May 03, 2017, 05:00:26 am
((Arriving at the Maid Cafe in 1 Turn. Going to the store from there using your Requiem will not take long and you two will be able to act that turn - there's only going to be a short delay before your combat actions kick in.))
Minato
What you must understand Mister Masked Knight, is that you are a myth, a legend. Not too big of one, like say, Hercules, or Bigfoot, or Scientology, but a myth nonetheless. The kind of thing kids might talk about, that bored teens might gossip about not really believing, so when you fucking barge into an adult goods store of all places like the fucking Kool-Aid man, you are literally one of the last things the shoppers expect. Moving through the bewildered customers, the veritable cornucopia of questionable magazines, and of course a few maid outfits, you link up with Shef, ducking a flying squeel as you move on over.
You guys have about thirty seconds before one of the murderous Mononoke here realize that you lot are people they would like to murder the fuck out of. What do you do?
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 03, 2017, 09:38:47 pm
Post by: spümpkin on May 03, 2017, 10:54:38 pm
"Others need help, somethin' about bein' attacked at an 'adult' store? Shef didn't say much."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 06, 2017, 12:31:58 am
"Hey hey hey Minato slow down a little--"
She stops and gapes when she spots the scene of the fight.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 06, 2017, 02:29:55 am
Minato prepares to summon Rho Aias.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 06, 2017, 04:13:23 am
Post by: Twinwolf on May 06, 2017, 09:11:19 am
Post by: Strider03 on May 06, 2017, 10:39:26 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2017, 06:58:23 am
Yoake and Noriko
The two of you speed across the arena which is practically just open water with some pieces of rope marking the outline of the streets and roads, jungle-gyms replicating the structure of passing buildings as if wireframes. You'll be arriving soon enough, so if you wanna start playing I'm On a Boat or something, now's your chance.
The people inside the store
So it is now, that the murder happy mononoke realize that you lot are people they probably would want to murder.
Storm Mind 05 (the one with the marital aid) and the Toaster sorta just go "meh" and continue fighting each other, the former going for a vicious thrust while the latter tries to pin their weapon to the wall with its remaining axe.
Black Halo A (the one with the shotgun) meanwhile hunkers down while B (the one with the halberd) rushes in at high speed, its halberd wreathing itself in burning shadows. It spins and swings its weapon a full three-hundred-and-sixty degrees and then just a little bit more, the tips of its wings seemingly sprouting bayonets during the attack. All four of you, plus the Television and the Fan are in its path.
The Television tries to push the Fan out of the way and protect it using its own body which begins to congeal with a thick layer of slag. The Microwave swings its jack chord, trying to trip 05. And 06 is just fucking tossing out sqweels everywhere, aiming at basically everything that isn't one of its own allies.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2017, 08:23:46 pm
Shef tries to deflect the Halberd blow with his Exo-arm.
[3] 4 1 4 6 1 1 6 3 2
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 10, 2017, 05:19:10 pm
Rho Aias, as he was already preparing one, and pull Faith down behind it.
[6 2 1 3 1 3 [4] 2 5 5]
Post by: Twinwolf on May 11, 2017, 09:43:26 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on May 11, 2017, 10:45:26 pm
Freedom Beam the Mononoke with the shotgun, then hide behind Minato.
World Line: 6 6 6 6 3 6 4 4 5
Post by: Empiricist on May 12, 2017, 06:01:27 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Inside the store
Faith's beam lances forwards, and the girl finds herself hurtling backward, spraying her beam like a loose firehose. The beam tears through A's cover, and through A, killing it instantly. Faith on the other hand finds herself being thrown down the stairs.
The red dot at the center of B's head flares crimson as it swings, a burning star amidst a storm of darkness, a formless abyss reaching forth with blade and bayonet.
The Television shoves its comrade out of the way as the weapons tear into its armor, a few sparks fly as it halberd cleaves through, but only barely, leaving it lightly damaged and its armor compromised. Minato meanwhile, manages to take the hit for most of you, the blades slicing cleaning across the shield, sending cracks racing across its surface. It holds, barely, but it still holds. Minato himself, while unharmed finds himself being thrown backwards by the force of the strike, tumbling behind Faith.
The two land in a heap, with Minato on top of Faith. Somewhere, somehow during all of this, they crashed through a mannequin, leaving Faith in a maid outfit, her casual clothes strewn behind them. B launches itself after them, its essence congealing back into a humanoid form, its glaive-turned-scythe igniting once more.
Yuki gets struck by a few sqweels, which do not feel nearly as good as what their manufacturers would say, she presses on regardless, charging in and bring her chainsaw down upon 06. Sparks fly as the two clash over and over again, the construct doing an admirable job of parrying its assailant's strikes with a sqweel, though Yuki's swings are beginning to find their mark, ripping away at its armor and forcing it towards a corner. All it really can do is stay on the defensive.
With a burst of speed and horrid mechanical shriek, 05 runs the Toaster through with a vicious riposte, completely evading the Microwave's attack. As its victim staggers backwards its spins, trying to drive its heel into their head, and their head against the wall before it makes another explosive burst of speed as it tries to run Yuki through.
The Microwave just turns and sweeps its beam towards the Yuki sandwich.
Shef just catches a stray sqweel, which, while irritating, fails to do any appreciable damage to him, especially not with his exoskeletal arm in the way. The Television and Fan advancing towards him may prove to be more of a threat however, though the fact that the two of them are moving with the pace of a leisurely walk kinda diminishes it all. The Television is going to try and punch him in the gut, relying on the Fan to block his shots.
Meanwhile... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avaSdC0QOUM)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 12, 2017, 06:18:14 am
"The hell did she do that!?" Shef muttered incredulously in response to Faith's rather changed situation. Turning back to the two enemies ahead of him, Shef settled on the old favorite. He backed away slowly, keeping an even distance. If, of course, they broke into a run, he would attempt to match their speed. He conjured up a portal under the fan in order to drop it on the Television.
Use "Hey, look over there!" to drop Fan on TV.
[4] 1 4 6 1 1 6 (3) 2 4
Post by: spümpkin on May 12, 2017, 06:21:34 am
Standing up tall, she grabs the boat steering, and using her Requiem, forms a ramp in between her and the adult stores wall. The boat hits the ramp, and, just then she deactivates her Requiem, sending the boat flying through the building.
"This boat is coming into port, motherf-" Yoake is stopped from finishing her sentence as she crashes into the wall with her boat.
[Alteration used: 5 instead of 6.]
[6 4 5 1 6 5 5 6 5 2]
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 12, 2017, 11:07:57 pm
Engage Regalia, try to stab anything convenient once I've recovered from Koolaid-manning
Post by: Powder Miner on May 13, 2017, 11:32:45 pm
Blushing redly, Faith looks at what she is now evidently wearing, and her scattered clothing, lets out an embarrassed little wail, and takes off/tears off some of the frillier bits of her costume for a couple of seconds, leaving her without the little head thing, and with a costume that, if butchered and a lot more simple (and, perhaps, tasteful), is still recognizable as a maid costume anyway..
Then she shoots a big fuckoff laser at the Mononoke that followed them down.
Destroy the costume a bit into being a bit less embarrassing... and then shoot a Freedom Beam at Black Halo B!
6 6 6 3 6
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 14, 2017, 02:19:40 am
Faith in a maid costume.
For but a brief moment, Minato is enraptured by the sight of the most beautiful girl he'd ever met- and that wasn't without a lot of competition- in the best set of clothing that mankind had invented since the bikini. Truly, the cute, busty American girl in a maid costume was something straight out of Minato's wildest fantasies. Probably literally. In that moment, Minato even thought she'd keep it on.
Then she began tearing at it.
And a fire began burning in his heart. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ErwgLxBNL0)
Perfection was utterly ruined. Perfection. Then the Mononoke arrived. Big mistake on its part, really.
As soon as the laser dissipates, Minato charges at it with a frenzied yell!
Charge at the Mononoke, destroy Rho Aias to damage it, summon Durandal and then while it's dazed from the impact of Rho Aias, stab Durandal into it!
Alteration: 5
[2 1 [3] 1 3 2 [5] 5 1 3]
Post by: Twinwolf on May 14, 2017, 06:08:34 am
Do above. Alteration to the last six in the line.
Post by: Empiricist on May 14, 2017, 06:47:19 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Inside the store
As Shef slowly backed away, he hears Winter though his earpiece. "The cavalry will be arriving shortly. And by arriving, I mean crashing. If I were you, I'd stay away from that window." So of course, he drops the Fan on the Television. In front of the window. Little more than a nuisance, but it does delay them long enough for what happens next...
Meanwhile 05, after unsuccessfully trying to finish off the Toaster, charges at Yuki. But but then she was gone, she had leaped over 06, and was now introducing her weapon to its spine. 05 cancels its attack, but can't really target Yuki too well thanks to her using its ally as a shield. And then comes the beam. All three are caught in the blast, with Yuki unable to escape due to being busy chainsawing a bitch. So 06 is severely damaged, 05 has lost the plating on its right side, and Yuki herself is hurt, which considering her healing powers, doesn't really mean that much. What matters more however, is that her uniform is now looking a lot worse for wear, and unlike her sister, she doesn't have the benefit of having armor beneath it.
A great beam of energy erupts from Faith's hands and roars towards the Black Halo, punctuated by the Rho Aias detonating. Amidst the chaos, two blades trace through the air, one of light, one of darkness.
Faith's costume seems to have gotten burnt in the process, the raw power searing away the unwanted details, carving out a more modest outfit from it all. Everything seems to have turned out perfectly! Well, perfectly for however long it takes the girl to realize that her clothes left the way she tumbled, the way she just blasted with a wide-aperture beam of destruction.
Minato on the other hand notices what went on his end a lot faster. Namely in that it feels like he got slashed in the back, which is probably because that is precisely what happened. That Mononoke... it's fast, really damn fast. It dodged the blast and slashed him before he could even swing, and by the time he did, it was already out of the way. How troublesome.
It is currently standing at between him and the window, preparing to slash him again with its burning weapon, and, should he dare to charge, attempt to defenestrate him in the process.
Another Place; Another Time; Racing Towards the Present
In the beginning, there was nothing.
No light.
No darkness.
No time.
No space.
Emptiness.
So absolute, so profound, it too did not exist.
Nothing came before, and nothing would come after.
A perfect nonexistence stretching forward and back for all eternity.
Yet, that soon would come to an end.
In physics, there is a phenomenon known as quantum tunneling, which allows particles to pierce barriers they cannot cross. It is because of this, the stars may shine. What happened was not tunnelling, but it was something similar.
In a mere instant, it had pierced the barrier called eternity, and crossed through to the other side.
Nothing became Something.
In that instant, the world became a world.
And in that instant, God entered it.
Because they willed it to be, then so it was.
When they hurled themself to the void, the void became their domain.
It was a world with light and darkness, with space and time. A world of air and water, a world that stretched to the horizon and beyond. A world that held infinity, a world which would exist for eternity. The beginning, the nothingness so distant, so far gone, it could be said to have never existed.
But soon, soon, that too would come to an end, for the world came from nothing, and to nothing it shall return.
All God did, was hasten that.
Beyond the edge of the world, beyond the infinite, the impossible, the inconceivable, lay the boundary between it, and our own.
And yet, they reached it, and they crossed it.
Eternity screamed past in an instant.
Infinity compressed to naught.
And the world was no more.
Through the breach it flew.
The dying flames of genesis.
The fading ash of the eschaton.
The Timeless.
The Infinite.
Fading by the second.
And so it is here that God revealed Herself.
Within that world, she was God. But here, outside of it, her name was Yoake o-Shiri.
That was unimportant.
She was a Godslayer.
That too was unimportant.
But what was important, was that she had a motherfucking boat.
And by God, was she going to use it.
Back inside the store
So this fucking boat just flies in out of nowhere, propelled by the death throes of an entire reality and wreathed in a fucking cornucopia of metaphysical wankery. You see Yoake standing on bow, shades on, arms folded like a boss. You see Noriko on the stern, clinging on for dear life. The next moment, that boat is crashing through the third floor of a building, your building.
Now Noriko, she's not too sold on this whole Kool-Aid Man gig, so she just leaps off into the air. Yoake meanwhile fucking backflips off the split second before impact, flying in behind her boat.
There's this big horrible mechanical groan, an explosion, and the room fills with dust and debris.
Okay so the boat's just obliterated, pieces of it everywhere, half of it crushed the Toaster and just ruined it, the other half shattered the Televison's armor and left it looking far worse for where. The Microwave's seen better days too.
The Fan? It is standing right where it was when the boat crashed in... which was right in front of the damn boat. Its umbrella is out, and open. Not a scratch. NOT A FUCKING SCRATCH. This motherfucker just blocked an entire fucking boat. With a fucking umbrella. It closes the umbrella, sweeps it sending a few bolts of force Shef's way, and just keeps on walking, fully ready to block whatever hell gets thrown at it next and answer it all with a few swings of its own.
05 dashes towards Yoake, trying to run her through with a series of swift thrusts, and 06 seems to have just given up on not getting chainsawed.
As the Microwave starts getting back up, it sees a glint of light and a flash of silver. One that soon eclipses its entire world. Noriko, transformed though still slightly shaken slams into it, driving her spear through its head and destroying it. The Television begins reforming its slag armor and tries to punch her in the face. Bad idea.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on May 14, 2017, 07:23:28 am
She maneuvers around 05, dodging it's swipes before attempting to bash it hard with her butt. Attempt to aim for the right side of it, in it's missing plating. A weak point, hopefully.
[ 6 4 1 6 5 5 6 5 2 6 ]
Post by: Strider03 on May 14, 2017, 07:42:09 am
". . ."
Shef attempts to block.
(1) 4 6 1 1 6 2 4 5 2
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 16, 2017, 03:33:41 am
Big mistake. Very big mistake.
For it, that is.
"Exactly where I wanted you to be! Dai-Henshin!"
Minato grunts as his free hand drifts to his belt quickly, pulling the lever once more.
"Limiter Off."
A golden energy begins to course along his body as the leylines beneath the store supply him with more energy than explicitly necessary. True, Minato would probably hurt a little from being exposed to the energies of the leylines directly....
....but then he remembered the torn maid costume and immediately steeled his resolve. The extra boost of speed would buy him a few seconds, possibly boosted by the element of surprise. Those seconds would be enough.
He whirls around quickly and kicks a nearby display case at the Mononoke, forcing it to dodge away from the obstacle to avoid being hit. Wherever it dodges, he immediately rushes it while it's open with a roar, summoning another sword- it didn't matter which- into his free hand!
"Eat THIS!"
The boy then impales the Mononoke with both swords, imploding both swords to seal the deal!
Dai-Henshin, then kick a case at the Mononoke while rushing at it, changing course to charge it where it dodges, summon another sword and then stab the Mononoke before detonating both swords to damage it further and finish it off!
Consume Resolve Point, alter to 5 instead of 2
[2 1 1 3 2 [5] 1 3 [6] 1]
Post by: Powder Miner on May 20, 2017, 02:22:52 am
But it did also mean that she was immediately letting the power of her magic flor to her hands for yet another beam, the girl now rather frustrated with these damn Mononoke. <"Just DIE already!">
Freedom Beam the Black Halo when Minato's not in range to be hit too.
World Line: 6 6 3 6
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 20, 2017, 04:03:13 am
Post by: Twinwolf on May 20, 2017, 08:35:14 pm
Do above. The heal is SALVATION OF THE GODDESS
Post by: Empiricist on May 21, 2017, 04:38:41 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The room shudders with great and terrible power, and Minato begins with burn with a corona that shines a brilliant gold. He spins, the aura twisting into a vortex of light as he kicks a display case, he foot tearing straight through it and basically exploding it apart. Perhaps trying to execute a ranged attack when your Ranged stat is 0 isn't the best idea. Not that it matters much in the long run, a beam of energy lances out from Faith's hand, forcing the Black Halo to dodge.
The rest? Clockwork. Like bloody clockwork.
There is an explosion, or at least, something that resembles one, a plume of debris blasting upwards from the impact of Minato's boot. Before the living shadow can even react it is pierced by a pair of swords. Now that, is enough to kill it. Really, the impact alone would be able to kill it, but Minato does a little bit extra, just to be sure.
See by the time blades impacted, they weren't really made out of matter. They weren't really anything at all. They were raw concepts, things unlike anything else, indescribable as anything save for what they were, and what they were was death. Death, blades, swords, and all that followed. Naked ontologies free of the veil we call reality, regions of nothingness more substantial than what existed. They pierce the Mononoke, and detonate.
It's gone. It's just fucking gone. Minato just fucking erased it. It is dead, like, really fucking dead. Like if you found scattered remains of the first thing that ever died, annihilated them with antimatter, cut whatever spawned from the energy with cocaine and had each grain of it snorted by a different llama and then threw each llama into a different blackhole each so far apart none were even in the same super cluster, it still wouldn't be as dead as Black Halo B.
And then the fucking Aramitama dashes into view. It's floating outside the window aiming a revolver at Faith (who, thanks to her spell backlash finds her dress uncomfortably short). Now neither of you two are detectives, but you're pretty sure it's planning on pulling the trigger. Think fast.
Yoake, its thrusts don't phase you, not at all, and thank God they don't because you're coming at it ass first and it's literally trying to shank you with a dildo. Like holy hell, if it actually connected like that I'd have to lock the damn thread. ...Anyway, so you evade and try to slam your rear into its side only for it to block with its weapon. The impact releases a shockwave that ripples outwards, sending dust and debris flying before the next second you find yourself being launched back from the clash tumbling through a pile of clothes as your foe staggers back themselves for a bit.
Well congratulations. Congratu-fucking-lations. Look around you. Look the fuck around you. There's an iron throne made out of dildos, fifty different body pillows, and condoms in favours you didn't even know existed, and out of all the fucking outfits you could have landed in, you landed in a tux. Literally a high class tuxedo complete with leather shoes and bowtie. And by high-class I mean high-class, classiest damn tux you can imagine, but classier even. Like I don't even know why they have that in here, but you're in it. Your foe kicks off the wall, lunging forwards with one last desperate thrust, an all-or-nothing attack.
Yuki, you tear out your chainsaw with such force the Storm Mind just shatters. And now you're completely healed and shielded so you're ready to do that shit all over again.
Noriko, you know what a race condition attack is? It's this thing in IT security where you attack a system by performing an operation during a vulnerable time window between other operations. You basically just race conditioned the television. Just fucking stabbed it in the face and tore off the head before it could even punch, before its slag armor could actually harden.
Good job, just, one slight problem... it doesn't seem to be dead yet. Yeah it's head's gone, but er, well...
The headless Mononoke contorts and compresses, its now-levitating body imploding in on itself. Assorted objects fly into it, attracted by some unseen force. It compresses further, crushing down in turbulent mass of metal and energy. Amongst the things you see fly in are a bunch of marital aids, a bunch of condoms, a gimp suit, all the squeals, the remains of Black Halo A, the remains of Storm Mind 06, most of Yoake's boat, assorted debris, the gatling gun, the great sword, the axes, and all the dead appliance Mononoke.
The Fan having sent Shef sprawling on the floor, its force bolts turning out to be, while not particularly damaging, very good blasting foes out of stance, simply stares at the vortex. Without a word, not that it's been particularly talkative, it raises its umbrella, and runs itself through, its impaled corpse toppling, rolling, and then flying into what was once the Television.
After the Black Halo went in, the vortex seems to darken and soon enough all that remains is a perfect sphere, so dark you can no longer perceive its depth.
A howl of wind crashes outwards, and the world begins to twist, space distorting, stretching, as the four walls rush away as if fleeing the cry, leaving this twisted floor far more spacious than it ought to be.
And then, the black sphere falls.
It splashes on the ground as if it were liquid. It ripples outward as smaller orb of water flies back up, as water does (http://images.all-free-download.com/images/graphicthumb/water_droplets_ripple_hd_picture_3_165559.jpg) and around that, the remaining fluid twists up towards in two great helices. It begins to congeal, and out of the depthless darkness, metallic features precipitate.
It's vaguely humanoid and sightly hunched over, segmented metal plating forming along its back tracing where the spine should be, and from the centre of each hexagonal plate, a curved pylon arises, crackling with crimson energy. Its physique growing more muscular, still lean, but now with a sort of strength hiding behind it, energy all coiled up like a spring. More plates arise all over its body, soon linking together with metal and from them holographic magic circles project in the same energy as at that crackling along its spine.
It roars, the sound twisted and mechanical, like countless motors and actuators roaring away inside a semi-soundproof gimpsuit, which probably is the case. The cybergimp straightens itself out and across its chest forms a bandolier of steely condoms. Its flicks its wrists, and crackling into existence come, okay let's not mince words, they're dildos. Irresponsibly big, red, dildos, which hum menacingly and glow with radiant light. You're pretty sure, judging by how they're vaporizing whatever dust lands on them that they also double as lightsabers.
It will lunge forwards with a vicious swipe at Noriko, kick off into a sideways leap that leaves it spinning, body parallel to the ground as it spins, slashing at Shef, before seemingly ricocheting away for a swift slash at Yuki, and deflecting away, discarding its sabers in the process as it spins back to the centre of the room like a black tornado, saturating the air with energized, weaponized, sqweels.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on May 21, 2017, 05:55:29 am
Annoyed, she flips around and faces the Storm Mind with her butt. She readies herself, prepared to take in the strike and use it to swing the Storm Mind into the ground, or anywhere else it would break.
[Alteration used, 5 instead of 4]
[4 1 6 5 5 6 5 2 6 3]
Post by: Strider03 on May 21, 2017, 07:05:07 am
Shef rolls away from where the Amalgam is slashing, and uses Rapid Fire against the Aramitama, and pretty much any Mononoke that might be in that general vicinity.
World Line: [4] (6) 1 1 6 2 4 5 2 2
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 21, 2017, 05:20:35 pm
Getting down to tactics, the thing had made a critical error. Yes, the creature they were fighting was now stronger and a bit more intimidating relative to its sheer ridiculousness, but it was one creature. It was outnumbered. And more importantly, the telltale motion of its limbs indicated that it was lunging at her. Impaling with extreme prejudice had worked previously, and there was no reason to believe it wouldn't work now.
"KURAE! VASAVI SHAKTI!" She lunged forward herself, thrusting her weapon right into the thing's path as it attacked. She prepared to just let the spear fly forward on the wind if it wasn't practical to land the attack with it in her hands; there wasn't a lot of real difference between those two conditions anyway.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 22, 2017, 04:09:05 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 25, 2017, 03:29:22 am
"I-it's the Aramitama!" With a loud warning shot, Faith threw herself backwards, and coalesced her magic into a shield in front of herself, shimmering blue forming a surface in front of her.
Use Shield of Courage, and block the Aramitama's shot with it!
6
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 25, 2017, 02:22:09 pm
With a wounded roar, Minato wrenches the lever on his belt open, running towards Faith with the last dregs of the energy of the leylines, his hand extended to spawn a copy of Rho Aias to protect her from the Aramitama.
Run towards Faith and use True Regalia Replication to get a True Rho Aias up and block the shot!
Alteration: 5 instead of 6
[6 1 [5] 4 1 1 2 4 5 3]
Post by: Twinwolf on May 26, 2017, 10:16:52 pm
And Yuki was loving every second of it.
Laughing either like a maniac, or a girl who just met her favorite member of a boy band, she dodges to the left of the mini-boss thing's swing, and uses the momentum for spin-attacking her chainsaw into the thing's side. She follows through, until either the thing moves on or gets cut in half, whichever comes first, and then raises her chainsaw in the air one-handed and shouting a thing that's unintelligible over the wood cutting instrument's roar, except people get healed so it's easy to guess.
Alteration to a 5. Burn a resolve for healing field. Burn a resolve to use a second hyper and a 4 for a surprise attack like above
Post by: Empiricist on May 27, 2017, 01:09:35 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Rules of Nature (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3472Q6kvg0) | ] |
A lot happens in the next few moments.
First, 05 makes one final stab at well, stabbing Yoake as she charges at it ass first and ██████████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████████████ ██████ ██████ ██████████ ██ ██ █████ ███ ███ ████ █ █████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████████ ███ ██ ████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ███ ████ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ███████ █████ ██████ ███ █████ █████ ███ ███ ██ ███████████ ███████ ███████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ████ ██████████████ █████ ███████ ███████ ██████ ██ the bear watches on with confused excitement ████████ ██████ █████████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ███████████ ████████ █████ ████████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████ ██████ ███████ ███ █████████ ███ █ ██████████ as was said by Paracelsus █████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ██ ███████ ██ ████ █ ████ ████ █ ███████████ ████████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██████ ██████ █████ ████ ████████████ █████████ yellow cake uranium ██ █ █████ ████ ████████ ████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ██ █████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ██████ ██ █ █████████ █████████ ███████
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Downstairs, Minato hurls himself in front of Faith, in his hands a great shield forms. It is a simple shield, forged of bronze and cowhide, unremarkable in all save for its size, and yet, and yet, it seems to hold a stalwart authority, an unyielding presence, for heroes are forged not by sparkling gold nor sterling silver, but simple steel. And what the boy could call upon were Godforged Regalia, sacred treasures revered throughout the ages not for not their materials, but their accomplishments, a far truer measure of merit. So this, was only natural.
The round slams into the shield, and detonates. Fractures tear across the shield's surface and something shatters, but the damage was, strange, displaced somehow. There was no denying that it happened, but whatever cracked and broke, was not Rho Aias. It was something else, something strange, something ineffable, for the shield remains where it was before, held in pristine condition.
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Noriko's enlarged spear crashes towards the Cybergimp, the tip jamming into its sternum, the wound already beginning to ooze with a thick black ichor but before it can penetrate any deeper, the Mononoke discards its weapons and grabs onto it, pushing against it. Try as it might, it can't get any traction, there's just simply too much lube on the floor. Yuki, seeing the pair slide towards her seizes her chance, leaping over the speedboat sleigh, she spins in the air, bringing her chainsaw horizontally against the Cybergimp's spine at a downwards angle. It tears inwards amidst a shower of sparks and then, the ground ignites. Damn it! They must've cut the lube with napalm!
As everything ignites, Yuki raises her chainsaw, blocking a counterattack from the Monoke's newly conjured dildo and shouts, the sheer chuuniness elevating her mere words to something equal to the grand incantations of old. The healing field explodes outwards, soothing her allies and shielding them, the flames blowing back, away from herself and Noriko. The Cybergimp sweeps at her again before trying to vault onto Noriko's spear and blitz forwards with a burst of speed in an attempt to bring its metallic fist against her face.
Shef leans out where the window once was and unloads at the Aramitama, but at the last moment, it executes a dash that sends it upwards and backwards. So, Shef just sweeps his aim up and continues, the latter half of his barrage spraying towards the Aramitama. Few hit, even without dashing as it could still execute very short but very fast dodges, but of course, Shef only needed one. One round crashes into its shoulder, and a couple more into its chest. As they impact, the rounds shatter. The debris spray out within the cloaked figure, stopping, lodging, and then, beginning to transmit. Each shard a microtransmitter, broadcasting with both magic and mundane signal.
"Impacts confirmed. Good job, Shef."
"There's still a fight to win, don't celebrate just yet. ...Not you ever celebrate. Wow, you must really be fun at parties."
The slap of a paper fan registers through the comms.
The Aramitama, now at eye-level with him raises its gun, points it at his chest, and pulls the trigger.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 27, 2017, 02:15:37 am
So Noriko dropped her spear. The creature could jump on it if it really wanted to; she'd just yank the bottom out as soon as it tried to put any weight down. Simultaneously, she dashed forward almost directly at the creature, her trajectory angled so that she'd leap over it. Ideally, she'd fly past, and then jump at the Aramitama in an attempt to throw off its aim.
Post by: Strider03 on May 27, 2017, 06:32:35 am
Shef uses Portal Shield. Use an alteration to take a 4.
1 1 (6) 2 [4] 5 2 2 1 4
Post by: Powder Miner on May 29, 2017, 12:38:53 am
"Come on Minato, let's go, we gotta go help!"
And she immediately went charging up the stairs; it was when she got halfway up that she abruptly realized: A. she'd destroyed her previous clothes, and B: her current clothing was rather less modest than she would have preferred. So the blonde girl promptly turned rather red, and the rest of her ascent of the stairs was very much embarrassed.
Faith goes upstairs to rejoin the battle, using an alteration to make this roll a 1!
World Line: 6 5 2 1 3 6 4 5 1 1
Post by: spümpkin on May 29, 2017, 02:59:28 am
She regains her composure, and, seeing the chaos in front of her, simply uses Dump Butt Roll, preparing her next butt attack.
[3] Hyper used: Dump Butt Roll
[4 1 6 5 6 5 2 6 3 6]
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 30, 2017, 03:14:18 am
Of course, they were in the middle of a fight, she was clearly embarrassed and it would be rather rude of him.
So he averts his gaze and nods.
"Right, gotcha!"
Keep Faith covered with True Rho Aias
[[6] 1 4 1 1 2 4 5 3 5]
Post by: Twinwolf on May 31, 2017, 10:20:07 pm
All of these were great questions that she should really answer or get tested for but first, killing a gimp-looking thingy... was it enjoying this, if it was a gimp? Wait, focus on the killy parts.
"Ohhh no you don't!" Yuki says, grinning, before she intercepts with the chainsaw - aiming to cut right through the offending limb, and then following through to it's gut and rushing it into the fire - her shield would protect her!
Do above
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2017, 12:38:31 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Rules of Nature (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3472Q6kvg0) | ] |
The Cybergimp's weapon rends crimson, slicing through the air and into Yuki. The girl simply lacked the finesse to counter it. What she didn't lack however, was raw power, and as the weapon cut into her, her chainsaw cleaves through the arm that held it, severing it in a spray of sparks and black ichor. Before her weapon could continue however, her quarry dashes forwards toward Noriko, its remaining hand clenched into a fist as the girl drops and yanks her spear, soon to pass it completely.
Its fist slams into her gut.
It wasn't a clean hit, being made at an awkward angle and glancing away from her dress-like armor before it could deal as much damage as it should have, but it was powerful nonetheless. Yuki stumbles back into the flames, Noriko finds herself launched away from the clash, sore and now lacking her shielding, meanwhile the Cybergimp hurtles away into the lube inferno, spinning in mid-air to hurl now-ignited sqweels at the two maids.
The Aramitama's shot explodes outwards and... straight into Shef's waiting portal. That's it. There's not really any tension in it either, the shot wasn't exactly a surprise after all. Portal goes up, bullet goes in, bullet goes out, Aramitama achieves fuck all. What follows is a few seconds of just awkward staring followed by the Aramitama up and leaving. Just fucking pulling the disappearing act again.
Minato and Faith move up the stairs to utter fucking chaos, with the main highlights being some kind of cyber gimp dueling Yuki in a puddle of burning lube and a tuxedo-clad Yoake sharpening her rear end.
"Tracked down your mystery Aramitama. It's currently on the Sendo-Tokyo Express. Correlated its appearances with the timetable and it's a match, the heart of the Anomaly is somewhere on that train. If I were you, I'd just go for the Aramitama themselves, not like the Anomaly will do much good for it if it's right next to them."
"We've dispatched cleaners to your location, do you have any plans for how to catch up to it?"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 01, 2017, 06:50:56 am
Portal Yuki behind the gimp. Use an alteration to take a 5.
1 1 2 5 2 2 1 [4] 2 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 01, 2017, 08:54:21 pm
Use Alteration to take a 6, activate Vasavi Shakti again
Post by: Powder Miner on June 02, 2017, 01:37:45 am
Freedom Beam the enemy btw
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 02, 2017, 01:46:41 am
Minato turns on the communications in his suit. It was a useful feature; Tsukasa had it installed after he had ended up in a love hotel on the other side of Tokyo without his phone and had to drag himself to a nearby library to get someone to pick him up, back when they were still working out what worked with the suit and what didn't.
The days of working out all the kinks with the Gaia Driver were not fun days.
He contacts the Kumon family driver. Minato may have had a driver's license, but he knew enough about their family driver to know he was probably better at catching up to a speeding Aramitama.
Post by: Twinwolf on June 04, 2017, 07:35:12 pm
Alteration to 6
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2017, 12:02:38 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Rules of Nature (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3472Q6kvg0) | ] |
A crash. A flash of light piercing a plume of debris, and then, silence.
Noriko's spear had hurled itself and expanded with explosive force. It tore into the Cybergimp as it tried to dodge, half-piercing, half-pulverizing its way through one of its legs, severing the limb at just below the pelvis, and before it could even react it finds Yuki's chainsaw revving up to finish what it had started, and Faith's beam engulfing its head.
There really isn't much of it left.
The room collapses back into more mundane dimensions and in the moments after, Minato and Yoake would find that Faith and Yuki are looking awfully distracting right now.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2017, 03:08:30 am
"Whyyy? And why here of all the lousy, rotten places? Oh nooooo..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2017, 03:20:30 am
"Here you go. I don't have anything else for you to wear, but this might kinda help. For now."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 05, 2017, 03:47:36 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2017, 03:50:38 am
Post by: Strider03 on June 05, 2017, 05:25:40 am
Post by: Twinwolf on June 05, 2017, 05:36:56 am
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2017, 03:05:26 pm
Faith proceeds to untie the blazer from around her waist (with an embarrassed flush, because this is all very ridiculous), and drape it around her half-sister instead.
Post by: spümpkin on June 06, 2017, 07:27:03 am
"Frickin' suit, why's it in a sex store anyway, razza frazzin' robots bein' stupid...."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 06, 2017, 02:20:30 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 06, 2017, 02:22:58 pm
"Oh? Come over to the dark side, have we, Noriko? Do you finally see the light~?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 06, 2017, 02:26:07 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 06, 2017, 02:32:38 pm
"W-what are you even talking about? Half of our team is walking around with no clothes on, of course I'm embarrassed for them.""Half our team are cute girls, you included, Noriko. It's okay if you're looking, I won't judge. 'Sides, I learned to appreciate the female body a LOOOOONG time ago."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 06, 2017, 02:36:04 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 06, 2017, 02:38:42 pm
"I didn't say you were ogling them. My, my, no need to get embarrassed."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 06, 2017, 02:38:46 pm
Faith mutters in English.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 06, 2017, 02:45:04 pm
Don't worry, I had my driver bring up some clothes for you guys; we sometimes have cousins over, around your age, so we keep clothes around for 'em because they usually forget to pack any."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 06, 2017, 02:46:18 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 06, 2017, 02:47:26 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on June 06, 2017, 02:53:55 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 06, 2017, 02:55:15 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on June 06, 2017, 02:56:57 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 06, 2017, 02:59:31 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on June 06, 2017, 03:05:24 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on June 06, 2017, 03:06:02 pm
"I-- what-- no, I didn't... mean it literally...?"
Post by: Twinwolf on June 06, 2017, 03:13:16 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 06, 2017, 04:45:34 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 06, 2017, 08:39:56 pm
Said destination being the station the train is now arriving at. Not that you see it for long. No, you know what you are looking for, and so you find it, an unmistakable feeling in the air, the presence of a Sanctuary, only unlike your warehouse, this feels awfully foreboding, soul-eating monsters aren't particularly known for their tact and interior design skills after all.
The station while not crowded, was still bustling, salarymen and tourists meandering beneath florescent lights, the hum of the maglev beneath countless voices, vibrations rumbling along the ground and through the dusty air. But you are not at the station, not anymore.
You are in an octagonal plaza illuminated by a cloudless night sky, the brickwork forming concentric circles all around the centerpiece. It was a shrine. It was every shrine, and it was no shrine. A shrine to no faith you recognise, but every faith there was, a strangely functional amalgamation of the all faiths, both modern and forgotten, converted to a gallows. The statues are alabaster, the henges are white marble, and the shimenawa are nooses.
In each of the eight directions, rows of great myōjin toriis stretch out into the forest beyond, the night breeze flowing in from each, bringing with it an unnatural chill and earthly scents of soil.
Standing before you, between you and the gallows, is the Aramitama. In the first three battles, you have seen it dash, dash so quickly it seemingly teleports, you have seen it step, make short quick steps as to evade, but you have not seen it run, and now it runs, straight towards you, leaning forwards, arms trailing back, its form obscured by the billowing cloak of shadows. You have mere seconds before it is in your midst.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 06, 2017, 08:59:19 pm
Use Alteration->6, burn my 3
Post by: Strider03 on June 07, 2017, 05:59:34 am
Shef shoots on ether side of Noriko so that any of the Aramitama's attempts to dodge left or right will be countered.
[4] 6 3 5 5 6 6 2 2 5
Post by: Twinwolf on June 07, 2017, 10:11:29 pm
Alteration to last 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 09, 2017, 12:57:12 am
He manages one petal of Rho Aias, of course.
But he figured he'd split the difference.
Summon Rho Aias and seven other random shields. With the exception of Rho Aias, plant each shield down into the ground as hard as possible. If the Aramitama draws near any of them, whether while Minato is planting them or after, detonate them.
Alteration to 5.
[1 3 [5] 6 [4] 6 3 5 2 6]
Post by: Powder Miner on June 09, 2017, 11:03:41 pm
Freedom Beam the Aramitama!
World Line:
Post by: spümpkin on June 14, 2017, 12:31:51 am
She steps onto one of Minato's shields, and uses it as a springboard to leap high into the air, before directing her butt back to the ground, where the Aramitama would hopefully be hit by Noriko's attack.
[5 1 5 4 3 1 2 5 4 2]
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2017, 12:33:55 am
Light.
You see light.
It is a cold light, a dead light. It is not a bright light. It is not an unearthly light. It is not the radiance of heaven. It is not the smouldering of hell. It is the unfeeling, uncaring light of red LEDs rigged to several dozen pounds of plastic explosives. You have a split second to react before it goes off. Before the entire area is saturated with shrapnel. It is too late to stop the detonation, too late to destroy the explosives, but there is still time to protect yourself.
The Aramitama, is nowhere in sight.
((You may now alter your action. Shef has already fired. Yoake has already leaped. Noriko has already enlarged her spear. Minato has already summoned Rho Aias. You cannot change what has already happened, but you can alter what you have yet to execute. Your rolls have not been consumed yet, they will with the coming turn.))
Post by: spümpkin on June 14, 2017, 12:55:24 am
Yoake activates her requiem: Ancient Art.
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2017, 12:57:24 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2017, 01:29:12 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The explosives detonate, a hellish spray of white hot metal racing forth only to meet nothing as Yoake drags her comrades to another world. The world changes, yet the night sky remains the same, an intersection of the Sanctuary and the girl's Requiem.
You look up.
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
Magic circles, innumerable in number, cover the skies, bathing the ground in their radiant light, and floating at the center of their formation is the Aramitama. This is the first time you have seen him without his cloak, and though it is dark, though he is far above, you can see every last detail for his presence was one that demanded attention, and that attention could not be denied. What you all are staring down right now, is The Humungus. The LORD Humungus. The Warrior of the Wasteland. The Ayatollah, of Rock and Rolla... -crossed... with Jason fucking Voorhees. He's this big, ripped motherfucker in a hockey mask and leather harness, a Smith & Wesson in his left hand, a machete in his right. He speaks, his voice low yet loud, rumbling like distant thunder with the promise of the coming storm.
"MY NAME IS JASON HUMUNGUS, HIGH EXECUTIONER OF THE OLD LORDS. BE YOU MY HANGMAN, OR MY PREY?"
In Minato's hands, a second shield apparates.
Beams of lightning crash down upon the battlefield like rain, the platform rumbling, shaking, and tilting beneath the onslaught. The barrage overwhelming in both power and volume, but not particularly aimed, relying more on sheer quantity to land a hit, and above that all, the Aramitama aims his revolver, looking for someone to shoot. He shall shoot in order: whoever tries to close in on his aerial position, whoever looks vulnerable, whoever looks to need softening up.
Then when the barrage has ended, he shall crash down onto the battlefield, wreathed in lightning atop whoever looks the least likely to dodge.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 14, 2017, 05:50:38 am
Shef shoots a few shots, and prepares to summon a portal, which would use the second 6.
[6] 3 5 5 (6) 6 2 2 5 3
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2017, 06:07:17 am
For a brief moment, he makes eye contact. For a brief moment, he too raises he gun levelling it towards you. And then, he lowers it, a few of the circles reorientating to point your way.
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 14, 2017, 05:34:39 pm
Continue using Vasavi Shakti, Alteration to 5
Post by: Powder Miner on June 16, 2017, 01:17:06 am
"W-well... there's only one thing to do, I guess!" And to compensate for being unnerved like that, Faith raised her hand and immediately went on the offensive, shooting a(nother) Freedom Beam as well as her previous at the Aramitama when she wouldn't hit Noriko doing so!
World Line: 6 6 3 3 3
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 17, 2017, 01:02:37 am
Alteration to 5
[1 3 6 6 3 [5] 2 6 5 6]
Post by: Twinwolf on June 17, 2017, 09:07:32 pm
Post by: spümpkin on June 20, 2017, 04:41:40 am
So, she directed her fall once more towards Minato's shields, using them as a platform to bounce towards the Aramitama, and once there, using her butt to keep him in one place.
[Alteration used 1-->5]
[1 5 4 3 1 2 5 4 2 3]
Post by: Empiricist on June 20, 2017, 08:09:12 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
Okay, so y'all open fire and shit, and a lot of stuff happens. Let's start with how Jason takes it - the first beam he already expected, dashing straight out of the way and putting a little more distance between himself and Noriko's spear, now the thing with that dash trick is that it makes his movement really predictable, so right before it comes to a halt, Shef's bullets find their mark, peppering his torso a split second before Faith's beam strikes.
Now, she doesn't quite nail him - he seems to have gotten a bit more agile now performing some quick steps to avoid a direct hit, and with the chaotically rocking platform, Faith barely fails to track him. It's probably around here where it becomes apparent that when he previously failed to respond to damage, it not because of the cloak, the only thing the cloak did was be absorbent, no it's because Jason Humungus is one tough son of a bitch with more poise than most mountains. You clearly see the black ichor erupting out as the bullets land, and a greater deluge when the beam basically detonates them inside him, leaving him with some scorch marks over his front. Doesn't flinch. Doesn't even fucking pause and continues returning fire right up until the spear catches back up with him.
Now during all of this, you guys are all getting kinda fucked. Not proper fucked, but still fucked. Those shots Shef landed? He made those tumbling through the air somewhere between the beam that swept him off his feet, and the beam that slammed him back into the ground, that final impact winding him and causing him to cough up blood. Yuki hasn't been nailed by as many beams... but there were still quite a few and she wouldn't be looking nearly as good if it wasn't for healing herself halfway through. Yoake... got shot on the way up. And then beamed on the way back down, she's, not getting back up easily.
Faith is pretty hurt, not as badly - but also not in the same way either: she's more hurt from the exhaustion of overloading both her beams and then Minato being smashed into her when she was catching her breath. Minato... has seen better days. Rho Aias stopped one beam, was pierced by a second, and the third just added insult to injury but he did soak all that damage for his waifu so yay?
And Noriko would probably be pointing at laughing at everyone if it wasn't for the fact that she isn't a fucking psychopath: turns out being highly agile helps a lot in these circumstances. She's slightly hurt, but only slightly hurt, and only from being grazed by a few close calls.
Parrying and clashing with Noriko's animated spear, the false god dashes backwards, steels his blade, and crashes towards Minato and Faith... only to underestimate the agility of said spear and get speared down onto the platform.
Jason Humungus stands back up as a whirlwind of crackling electricity erupt from around him as to cover him as he gets back to his feet. Honestly, the whole thing's kinda anaemic actually, serving really only to somewhat inconvenience attacks on him before he flips backwards, giant executioner's swords appearing out of portals and firing themselves away from him, everyone else, and the platform as a whole before doing... fuck all apparently?
He uh, kinda just summons the whole whirlwind thing, stands behind it, and conjures the swords, readying to dodge and lock blades with any would-be assailant. Currently, the giant swords are just, slowly flying away from the platform and everyone on it, they aren't even in your way or anything.
The edges of the arena are now slick with water.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on June 21, 2017, 01:37:32 am
Stuck under Minato and suddenly aware of the power of her enemy, Faith moved her hands to her head, and then willed yet more magic through her body, to pop up a (frankly, rather weak) shield near her and Minato.
Shield of Courage! Faith tries to expand it to also cover Minato if she can. Alteration to a 3.
World Line: 6 3 3 3 5 4 3 2 4
Post by: Strider03 on June 22, 2017, 08:08:51 am
Give Yuki Resolve, and use Hey, Look over there! to portal some swords at this thing, using the first 3.
(3) [5] 5 6 6 2 2 5 3 1
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 22, 2017, 04:44:36 pm
Alteration: 5
[1 3 6 6 3 2 6 [5] 6 6]
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 22, 2017, 05:50:25 pm
Manavastra and shank a bitch. If he dodges, burn Resolve to Manavastra at him again. Attempt to interrupt, shove him into the water, and just generally fuck him up in that order.
Post by: Twinwolf on June 23, 2017, 09:46:00 pm
Using the group-heal thing
Post by: spümpkin on June 24, 2017, 01:38:33 am
Not seeing any use of fighting again until she's healed, or has a more open shot, Yoake simply stays behind Minato and tries to keep as safe as possible.
[1 5 4 3 1 2 4 2 3 6]
Post by: Empiricist on June 24, 2017, 05:13:28 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
Yuki's weapon glows blue and pillars of light rise from the party, soothing their wounds and filling them with renewed vigor. Lord knew Noriko would it, and as she muttered her request, a voice answers her "Oh please you haven't paid your rent yet, so you better come back alive!"
As she dashes forth, propelled by supernatural winds, she could see Faith and Minato erecting their bulwarks, she could see Yoake and Shef getting back on their feet, and she could see the whirlwind she was charging into.
It may not be particularly but there was no clear path through, no gap which would allow her to path through unscathed. She charges forth regardless, her spear streaking through the arcing discharges, followed by the girl herself. The impact was weak, anaemic even before the shield blunted it further, but it becomes apparent that Jason had not used it for power. Rather, as Noriko finds herself momentarily paralyzed as the current courses through her body, dealing little damage but rendering it impossible to charge her course in time as the false god sidesteps her assault and as she passes, she finds the barrel of his revolver mere inches from her head.
There is a blur of motion and then a crash.
Buried into the arena was one of the great executioner's swords, now fading to naught. It had come from a portal above aimed as to skewer her quarry before he could pull the trigger, forcing him to dodge. Calling her spear back into her grasp, she launches herself again, slamming into Jason spear-first, the tip just barely missing his mask - parried by machete. He sweeps the weapon low for a counterattack only to meet the shaft of spear, the weapons clashing swiftly in a brief but violent exchange.
It is quickly apparent that Jason is making no attempt to bypass Noriko's defences, rather he is attacking her head-on, striking with such force that each clash forces the girl further and further on the defensive. If this continues, he will soon crush her guard.
The three remaining swords shatter like glass as if having struck an invisible barrier, their shards sent flying back towards the arena, towards Jason, towards Noriko as a relatively slow swarm of electrified metal. It'd be fairly dense covering fire normally, but here it's a lot sparser than it ought to be courtesy of Shef.
Should Noriko fails to disengage: Jason will attempt to overpower her and strike her with a series of slashes, terminating with a wide and dense spread of weak, slow moving arcs and more intense, but similarly slow homing ball of lightning regardless of whether or not he lands the slashes.
If Noriko does back away however, he will fire another set of executioner's swords upwards, and the ball lightning forwards. His body will briefly flare with St Elmo's fire and he will make a series of rapid unpredictable dashes that propels him towards Yoake, for a powerful spinning slash that rends itself into the air causing it to persist for a moment and striking everything around him. A powerful attack with quite a bit of reach, but one that will leave him vulnerable to attack for a while after its execution. To cover this, he will also be timing it such that the shard barrage arrives just before him, such that attempts to exploit his moment of vulnerability will be disrupted by the electrified metal.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 30, 2017, 04:13:59 pm
also use an alteration to that 5
Post by: spümpkin on July 05, 2017, 03:28:24 am
She follows this up with a standard butt defense, slowly making her way in to slam Jason.
[ 5 4 3 1 2 4 2 3 6 1 ]
Post by: Strider03 on July 05, 2017, 07:15:01 am
Shef sits around resting using an alteration to a 2. Give Minato 1 Resolve.
5 6 6 (2) 2 5 3 1 2 2
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 05, 2017, 07:57:11 pm
If this was the Aramitama that they'd been chasing, then he'd know about Rho Aias. Rho Aias was relatively easy to get past; just go around it. This was part of the reason Minato had mastered the art of getting in the way shortly before the projectile hit; no time to evade the shield, no way of protecting against it.
This Aramitama was deadly and fast, almost blindingly so. It'd go too quick for Minato to just pull his usual 'get in the way shortly before' stunt, and it had enough projectiles that defending from one direction was untenable, not without enough shields. And taking him face on was also untenable; Minato had skill and power on his side, but this Aramitama was deft and faster. It would be like a stone wall fighting a hurricane.
So time to even the odds.
The Aramitama would know Rho Aias and expect it, possibly even attempt to pierce it. Good enough. Perfect. That would place him right on level with Aegis.
Aegis; the shield of Zeus himself, second only to Rho Aias in the world. Tough enough, should his plan backfire, to take a blow. Of course, that wasn't why he was using it; that would be the face of the Gorgon branded directly into the middle of the shield. Gorgons were fearsome creatures, known for slaying people with a glance by turning them to stone, so much so that even their severed heads contained such power.
Their visage, embossed into the shield, possessed weaker power, merely paralysing those who saw it in fear rather than turning them to stone. Here, that would be enough.
Minato arranges himself to launch between Jason and Noriko, summoning Aegis through True Regalia Replication to stun Jason through supernaturally induced fear. If Jason begins to avert his eyes, use your superior melee speed to smash it into his head and stagger him instead.
Alteration to 5
Use Resolve Point
[3 6 6 3 2 6 [5] 6 6 6]
Post by: Powder Miner on July 07, 2017, 04:47:19 am
Freedom Beam Jason when he's doing the attack with the slow arcs, using the leftmost 4 and rightmost 5 w/ an alteration
Post by: Twinwolf on July 07, 2017, 07:48:32 am
Alteration to rightmost 6, heal Noriko (I've only got one 4 left, guess which I'm using? :P ), ATTACK (at the right time so I don't get shanked or friendly fired)
Post by: Empiricist on July 07, 2017, 08:56:36 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
Noriko clashes one last time, her weapon flying out her grasp amidst an explosion of light and the Aramitama thrusts. It thrusts hard, it thrusts fast, it thrusts with far more technical skill and finesse than it had displayed in the clash before, but joke's on it because Noriko ain't there. She's behind him, bringing her heel against his spine and her spear through its chest. Which is great and all, but, well, remember the swarm of electrified metal heading your way? Yeah, you're getting zapped by it right now. And again it doesn't hurt too much but it's got quite a bit of hitstun on it.
Before Jason can capitalize on this opportunity however a beam crashes through the swarm. Real talk, it's a pretty shitty beam, at least compared to what Faith's done before, and having to blast away all the metal in the way does not help, but considering that Faith's fighting style is basically a unix tool, albeit with less orgies of one-liners (https://youtu.be/S0mviKhVmBI?t=4m45s) than Minato would be hoping for... it's still not exactly a weak bitch beam either, and as Jason dashes back to avoid it, something, or rather someone, crashes down between him and Noriko.
Take goatse, multiply by 2girls1cup, and raise to the power of cancer. That should give you some idea of just what he now finds himself staring at. A mug so damn ugly it turns people to stone. He freezes, shuddering and struggling as his body locks up, veins of stone beginning to trace across his mask and onto his body. A speeding butt slams into his side, a chainsaw cleaves down from his shoulder, Yoake and Yuki's attacks finding their mark.
He shudders more and more as the onslaught continues, and then the world around him flares with burning shadows. He thunders forwards, breaking free for an instant and bringing his blade upwards in a ferocious uppercut at Minato, aiming to force his shield upwards. He's probably going to try and destroy or remove the shield and blast the entire area in one fell swoop.
The world returns to that of the shrine-turned-scaffolds and the last vestiges of the metal swarm continue slowly flying forwards, with Minato, Yuki, Noriko, and Yoake in their path.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on July 07, 2017, 09:26:33 pm
Create a portal to redirect the swarm of shards directly into the ground. Hopefully they'll get stuck in the dirt or something, but if they don't, it should still buy valuable time. Alteration to use a 6.
5 (6) 6 2 5 3 1 2 2 4
Post by: spümpkin on July 08, 2017, 05:19:12 pm
Vacuum Butt Cannon, aimed directly at Jason.
[ 4 3 1 2 4 2 3 6 1 1 ]
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 08, 2017, 11:40:45 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on July 10, 2017, 12:37:21 am
Blast the Aramitama with yet another beam, trying to hit before he can hit Minato! Alteration to 5.
World Line: 3 3 5 3 2
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 10, 2017, 05:55:57 pm
Minato saw this coming. Indeed, it generally tended to be the case with these Aramitama that they would try to break his shields; his shields, after all, were his greatest asset. Swords, spears, hammers he could summon to a fight, but most Aramitama could hit harder than anything Minato could bring out, bar him bringing out something like True Durandal or True Excalibur. But his shields were unrivalled, drawn from the very fabric of myth and capable of withstanding the very wrath of Heaven itself.
So Aramitama, after figuring out he had shields, usually tried to break their way past them. But he'd learned.
Out from the corner of his eye, he could see Faith readying up a beam and Yoake preparing another attack. As for Jason, he was quick, but with quickness came the issue of inertia. He could hit hard and hit quick, but if his target moved, even with his supernatural movement it'd take him a few precious seconds to change course.
Minato knew he'd be outsped in a test of speed, but not in a test of agility; the armor slowed him down in a sprint, but he was very, very nimble at such close range, and knew how to fight well enough. He didn't need to step out of Jason's way; he just needed Jason open for a few short seconds.
Time to pull a page from good old Son Goku's book. Or rather, his staff.
Minato attempts to move backwards just enough to evade Jason's blow or force it to clip his shield instead of taking the full brunt of the impact, then summon Ruyi Jingu Bang, Wukong's extending staff, extending it into Jason's body, which should be exposed from his uppercut attempt, to shove him directly into Yoake and Faith's line of fire.
[[3] 6 6 3 2 6 6 6 6 4]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 10, 2017, 08:19:16 pm
This mental rant was going through Yuki's mind as she acted, charging forth to follow up on the other's attacks and hopefully not get hit by them, because she doubted Minato's butler had another set of clothing her size. She'd aim for the head if it was possible. Of course, this assumes the Aramitama wasn't vaporized by the other's attacks first.
^, alteration to a 5.
Post by: Empiricist on July 10, 2017, 11:06:07 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
Yeah so Jason isn't even trying to dodge this time, he just fucking lunges at Minato and slashes upwards even as Faith's beam crashes into him. His blade catches the shield and a spear catches him, as does a butt and a chainsaw. There is a flash of lightning, a crash of thunder, and the Aegis, raised upwards by the slash is crushed, shattered by the blade of a guillotine, slamming Minato to the ground. It stays there, motionless for a split second, and then everything explodes with electricity.
Minato, Yoake, and Yuki find themselves immediately zapped by the crackling sparks. It, isn't too damaging, but they have a fair amount of stun to them, and their sheer quantity means that even after it wears off, doing anything other than just focusing on blocking or dodging them will be rewarded with another round of zapping.
Oh and Jason's being a dick and just fucking slashing and shooting at everyone in there, which really isn't helping things. Especially not when he's conjuring another fucking whirlwind of electricity, this one denser and more potent than the one he used earlier, which is just going to turn this entire area into a clusterfuck of poor visibility and hitstun even with most of the shards portaged away thanks to Shef.
"Picking up some weird readings here. By the looks of it, he's destabilizing his own Sanctuary, it won't hold up for much longer."
"Oh no! Noriko! Get down from there!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 11, 2017, 12:51:52 am
Noriko more or less slams downward on the end of her spear, keeping it enlarged, and aiming to drive it all the way down into the ground and pin Jason there with it.
Post by: Strider03 on July 11, 2017, 08:17:48 am
Shef uses Portal Shot [R] on Jason, hoping to blow up his head.
(5) 6 2 5 3 1 2 2 4 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 11, 2017, 12:16:48 pm
[[6] 6 3 2 6 6 6 6 4 4]
Post by: Powder Miner on July 13, 2017, 03:22:54 am
Use a raw bravery magic blast, but spread as widely and thinly as possible so to burn away some of the shards without hurting Faith's teammates. Alteration this to a 5.
World Line: 3 3 5 3 2 3 2 2 3 1
Post by: Twinwolf on July 13, 2017, 09:45:08 pm
Alteration to a 6.
Post by: spümpkin on July 15, 2017, 03:25:40 am
However, she could still defend herself from the electric metal as much as possible, and maybe sneak in a small attack on Jason if he wasn't already dead by the time the others acted.
[Alteration used, 4 instead of 3]
[3 1 2 4 2 3 1 1 2 3]
Post by: Empiricist on July 15, 2017, 05:23:40 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
As the whirlwind blooms, you hear something a noise. It sounds like glass breaking, and while not particularly loud it seems to drown everything else out, the Sanctuary shatters. You are now on a bullet train bound for Tokyo, one is entering a tunnel, and Noriko's head is currently speeding towards the tunnel entrance at three-hundred-and-twenty kilometers per hour.
Faced with a choice between getting shocked and having her face mate with a mass of cement, Noriko just says fuck it and dives right down, nailing Jason's sorry ass against the roof of the train. Unfortunately, there's an awful lock of electricity between him and her, and while her momentum carries her through, and arcs don't hurt that much, the bullet to the head she receives for her troubles certainly does.
She's flung upwards, slams against the roof of the tunnel and falls back down onto the train a short distance from the electrical storm. Okay yeah, it hurts like a bitch, but still not nearly as much as you'd think a bullet to the head would feel like.
Seeing her flung away, and perhaps importantly, flung safely out of his range, Shef pulls the trigger. Motherfucker looks at all this supernatural bullshit going on around him and just goes "Fuck it, I'mma cap a bitch", and it works. The bullet skims along, mere milimeters above the ground, sparks striking it over and over again, but as Shef's correctly reduced the bullet doesn't give a shit. With one final portal it streaks upwards, through the jaw, up the roof of the mouth, and detonates.
But that doesn't stop the Executioner. A bullet slams into Yoake as she's pinned by the clusterfuck, a machete swing shatters the already-damaged Rho Aias. He fights on still, and it becoming abundantly clear that though he may be pinned, wounded, and outnumbered, so long as this storm is up, it is he who has the advantage.
Yuki and Minato intend to put an end to that. With the covering fire of the shards cleared courtesy of Faith, the boy sprints forwards, shield melting to slag as he forces it through the storm towards his quarry. Yuki meanwhile lunges forwards, lacking a shield like her ally, she relies on sheer momentum to drive her and her weapon forwards even as she finds herself near paralyzed by the electricity.
You're close. Oh so close. Close to see that the revolver's cylinder is still rotating, still rotating to the next chamber. He won't have the time for another shot. There's an impact, and then an explosion.
The storm is fading now, dying away. And at its center stands Minato stands alone. Mainly because Yuki kinda fell over from the stun after her attack. More importantly, the Aramitama isn't there. At the last minute, he had dashed out along the spear, freeing himself from the pin. Judging by the blood splattering the ground, it wasn't a clean escape.
He's in the air now but it isn't like before. Before when he dashed it was as if he had teleported, as if in an instant, he had moved without moving. Here he's off-balance, tumbling through the air, more as if someone had thrown a ragdoll. His body has basically been blasted apart, no longer one of flesh but of grim curses and dark portents, twisting and shifting in a vaguely humanoid form, a broken hockey mask over a faceless face, a dying star pulsating in his chest as if a heart.
And yet, he continues. He dashes again, this time at Faith, tumbling towards her. He can't be trying to strike, can he? There's no way for him to slash while tumbling, let alone aim with a gun, and with a single step, she could evade him and let him slam into the train roof at her feet. No, he can't be. He's about to cast another spell. Another whirlwind, another storm. Something like that. Something he won't need to aim.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 17, 2017, 01:47:15 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on July 17, 2017, 10:24:18 pm
Faith uses a Shield of Courage... and then uses a Resolve to reset her world line!
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 17, 2017, 11:15:26 pm
Minato Dai-Henshins, attempting to put himself between Faith and the Aramitama!
Alteration to 6
[[6] 3 2 [6] 6 6 6 4 4 3]
Post by: Strider03 on July 18, 2017, 09:07:35 pm
Shef watches the battle while twiddling his thumbs. Alter to use a 1.
6 2 5 3 (1) 2 2 4 5 4
Post by: spümpkin on July 18, 2017, 09:17:32 pm
Instead, she made an effort to get as far away from Jason as possible.
[3 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 3 2]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 18, 2017, 09:37:56 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 18, 2017, 10:23:04 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
"...Are you feeling okay Shef?"
Faith takes a step back and where she once stood a guillotine slams down, exploding with lightning. Her shield shatters on the initial storm of electricity, protecting her, but then Jason crashes into the ground and collide into her, shoving her through the densely packed arcs, shocking her over and over again. With her poor defences, Faith is not looking too good.
As he tumbles, the wounded Aramitama tosses aside his revolver, and brings his machete up in an arc, parrying Noriko's spear. With that same motion he grasps the shaft of the weapon with his now-free hand and jams it through the roof of the train trying to restrain it, trying to by himself more time as a suit of armor, burning with lightning and leyline alike explodes towards him.
For the briefest of moments, he looks down at the spear, at the train, once-steady hands almost shaking as he recites something, a mantra of some sort, but the words never reach his foes, the words stolen by the thunder. Brandishing his blade, he spins around bringing it to bear as to blunt and counter the boy's imminent attack. Sparks traced by his movement rise and multiply forming another whirlwind one so powerful it almost rivals the guillotine's aftermath.
"Quick! While he's distracted! Blast a path out and run!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on July 18, 2017, 11:15:07 pm
She began shouting in English, her words laced with frustration and anger and pain. <"F-fuck you, fuck you, enough is enough, fucking chasing and attacking us again and again, and trying to kill people, and now this, I won't TAKE this any more, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"> Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as she shouted and made her attack -- that switch of emotional magic within her had finally had enough stress and anguish to flip, and in that moment trying to act all brave and cheerful through the pain really wasn't looking as attractive.
Faith blasts the Aramitama with Desperation Break, hopefully hitting his whirlwind of magic (but not Minato)
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 19, 2017, 01:09:43 am
The wind began to pick up, howling to drown out even more sound than it had been previously. This wind, though, wasn't whirling around the Aramitama; it came from behind Noriko and where she still clung to the train in a position vaguely resembling a sprinter preparing for a race. It only brushed against her allies, seeming to push the gale coming from the false god back and replacing it with a gentle caress. For Jason, however, it became a cruel razor, slashing at him and aiming to blow him off his feet, cutting away at the forces he tried to veil himself with.
Vayvayastra focused on getting rid of Jason's whirlwind, alteration to 4, gib resolve to our healer
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 19, 2017, 01:30:55 am
Faith was in danger.
Faith was hurt.
He'd screwed up. He'd let the Aramitama get to her.
He'd failed.
The boy clenches his fist, pulling himself to his feet with sheer will, lowering his hand towards his belt again. Her screams ripped through the air, keener than the grunts and moans of the rest of the group.
For some reason, Faith's pain enraged Minato, suffusing his being with fury. His blood boiled, his mind rushing at light speed.
Then clarity, and then reason.
Perhaps it was because, at the heart of it, Faith and the Aramitama were playing out a tale as old as time, one that Minato had seen many times before.
The strong beating around the weak. Schoolyard bullies and weaker students or Aramitama on unawakened Godslayers; it didn't matter to Minato, both were fundamentally the same, and both enraged him. The strong had no right to oppress the weak; the weak had the right to live untouched and unharmed. His family had taught him this much; to do the right thing, to protect those who need to be protected from those who would do them harm.
This was why he'd become a hero. To protect the little guy. To hunt the hunters. To do the right thing.
The Aramitama were for the most part nothing but glorified bullies, preying upon those unfortunate enough to be weak and stumble upon their hidden world. And so Minato became the Masked Knight to protect them and humanity from their predators.
Faith was still alive; hurt, but alive, and the Aramitama was rounding on her to try to finish her and everyone else.
Not on my watch.
Minato pulls himself to his feet, wrenching his belt open once more, gathering what little energy he had left to try and resist the leylines for just a moment longer. Just enough to finish the job.
Just enough to protect Faith.
"Didn't....didn't you pay attention? I'm your opponent, you bastard, so fight....with....ME!"
Minato Dai-Henshins once more, spawning a shield in front of him to take out the blade by first parrying the blade and then exploding it out of the way with his shield, using the combination of the explosion temporarily moving the sword away and his momentum to get into a vulnerable spot, before summoning another sword to drive it deep into his vulnerable side with all his might.
Alteration to 6
[3 2 [6] [6] 6 4 4 3 3 5]
Post by: spümpkin on July 19, 2017, 04:59:55 am
Running towards Jason, Yoake shouts "I think... we could all benefit.. from a little space!", as she leaps into a spin, and performs Interstellar Butt, aiming to end up right next to Jason, slamming into him.
[Resolve Hyper used]
[Alteration used, 5 instead of 1]
[1 2 2 3 1 1 2 3 2 5]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 19, 2017, 07:37:36 am
Gib Yoake heal so she doesn't f-ing die. Unless Noriko gives a Resolve point, in which case heal everyone. And then abuse the shield to charge in after the aoe has thinned and CHAINSAW DAT BASTARD IN THE FUCKING FACE
Post by: Strider03 on July 19, 2017, 07:47:19 am
Back away a bit, and twiddle fingers.
(6) 2 5 3 2 2 4 5 4 4
Post by: Empiricist on July 19, 2017, 07:43:23 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Brothers in Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo) | ] |
The storm twists and expands, assailed with cutting wind in front, and burning sorceries from behind, a bubble of blinding light being crushed in a vice. Humungus by himself may be stronger, may be faster, may be tougher, but there was no doubt, not even for a second, who the superior mage was. And in the split second before the bubble crumbled, the mere moments before it was consumed, Minato and Jason clashed.
The shield, cracked even now was raised and forced forwards, its edge striking the bottom of the blade, just above its wielder's hand and detonating. And for the first time this fight, the Aramitama staggers backwards, reeling from the blast. Seeing a chance, Minato rushes in for the kill when catches his throat. Jason's right hand, holding a machete no longer slams into the boy's throat, the momentum lifting him upwards as lightning explodes out from the false god's hand, coursing through his body.
There is a moment after the hit, where your mind is still reeling. You may be trained in combat, you may carry your weapons and hold your pride, but you are nothing more than an ape, a very clever ape perhaps, but an ape nonetheless. In that moment, in the pain and shock, instinct kicks in. Instinct tells you to block, to break stance, to move away from the pain, just like any animal. You're disoriented, still paralyzed from the blow, and so you obey. You backpedal, you block, and they see weakness. They chase you down, you fall, and then, they destroy you. That moment, between the hit landing and your mind recovering, can decide a fight.
That, does not happen here.
| [Now Playing: | Seigi Shikkou (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsYdLeeHiu0) | ] |
A smile.
A hand closes around Jason's arm.
Another drives a sword through his heart.
And where the rippling air and purple blast met, a flash of golden light joined them.
Jason dashes. He can't escape the the attacks, but he can minimize their damage, escape the worst of it, try and regain his momentum from there. He may be unsteady on his feet, he may not be able to stop his dash too well, but he can still dash.
He moves quickly, with such speed that he seemingly teleports... five inches.
There was something blocking his sight. Some sort of obstacle, something that wasn't there before.
It was a butt.
He may have been fast, but Yoake was faster, and she had read him like a book.
You know in anime there's just these massive explosions and when the smoke clears the guy's still standing?
Well fuck that shit, Yuki just charges straight through it chainsaw swinging wildly, and as she came out the other end, she was sure she hit something.
As the train exits the tunnel, a great tempest blooms. Beams of lightning not unlike that of Jason's initial assault erupt from the ground, spiralling outwards, great arcs of electricity lash out indiscriminately, sparks saturate the air, and ball lightning begins to spontaneously precipitate. The entire train is illuminated with St. Elmo's fire as the tempest blooms.
And it, is expanding.
In its center you see Jason, he's well, he's certainly not standing. He's collapsed on the ground, his legs are broken, he's missing an arm, and not much of that mask remains, but he's still alive, still fighting.
How persistent. Pointless, but persistent.
"Nothing I can foresee. Why? Planning on having some 'me' time?"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on July 19, 2017, 08:49:05 pm
Shoot at the Aramitama, with a 2.
(2) 5 3 2 2 4 5 4 4 6
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 19, 2017, 09:09:48 pm
Vasavi Shakti, alteration to 5.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 20, 2017, 12:51:04 am
[[3] 2 6 4 4 3 3 5 3 3]
Post by: Powder Miner on July 20, 2017, 02:03:26 am
<"So much, there is so much, so much that happens to me! There's Dad, and then there's the assholes at school, and then I finally get a chance to fucking escape, FINALLY it looks like I might have things under control, AND THEN THIS ALL HAPPENS! THEN YOU SHOW UP and IT'S THE FINAL STRAW! GO TO HELL AND DIE!">
A purple, needle-like spear of negative emotion magic coalesced in Faith's hand, rather packed with powerful energy, and Faith takes a bound towards the Aramitama to ensure she doesn't miss before hurling it at him!
Piercing Insecurities! Alteration to a 5! It would be optimal if it hit before Vasavi Shakti!
Post by: Twinwolf on July 21, 2017, 06:52:04 am
Post by: spümpkin on July 23, 2017, 04:05:57 am
Yuki, idle.
[ 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 3 2 6 ]
Post by: Empiricist on July 23, 2017, 09:06:53 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Seigi Shikkou (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsYdLeeHiu0) | ] |
"Consider it done."
With a furious yell, Faith lunges into the tempest unleashing her spear of energy, the clusterfuck of lightning parting in its wake as it pierces Jason's heart. The wound glows with the same angry purple as her spell, bright lines tracing out from the wound, all across his body, or at least, what remained of it illuminating it for an instant. Gunshots ring out, Shef's bullets punching holes in the false god's head and torso, and then comes Noriko's spear.
Needless to say it proves to be fatal.
Light shines from his breaking core, radiant rays ripping outwards, dispelling his broken form. You hear something shatter. And then, he's gone, his storm with him.
All that remains are shards, fragments of some ineffable thing, that float and scatter to each of you.
Spoiler: Level Up! (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 23, 2017, 09:44:01 pm
He looks around at his allies, leaning on a nearby seat, his gaze specifically focusing on Faith.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 23, 2017, 10:41:43 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 23, 2017, 10:47:33 pm
The solution was blindingly obvious, even to him.
The wounded boy limps a little closer to her, keeping his distance; he wasn't sure if she wanted anyone close to her or if she needed close contact. He needed to test the waters, and make sure he wasn't making the situation worse.
"Hey....you okay?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 23, 2017, 10:53:43 pm
It occurred to her that it might be easier to relax somewhere other than atop a train.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 23, 2017, 11:17:28 pm
Post by: spümpkin on July 23, 2017, 11:25:32 pm
She smiled, but not as extravagantly as one would expect from her. "Hey. You're not lookin' too great! Do you want Yuki to heal you? Or we could go back to base, or something."
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 23, 2017, 11:31:03 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 23, 2017, 11:34:51 pm
There was also the matter of being electrocuted, choked, shot, stabbed and generally thrown about like a rag-doll. He, of course, could walk it off; he'd been doing this for a long while, alone, with no help as the lone defender of Sendo, so he'd gotten used to walking off wounds, at worst going to Tsukasa or the family doctor to patch himself up. Faith wasn't faring so well, however. She'd taken quite an intense hit; Noriko had been hurt too, and everyone bar Yuki, really, himself included, but Faith was taking it the hardest. So it was with Faith he concerned himself with for the moment.
He pulls out his phone for a moment, quickly tapping away with a message for their handlers.
We'll need a ride at the next station and a clean-up crew. Definitely some medical personnel. Possible collateral damage; prep a cover-up.
He was praying that nobody had been beneath them in that fight; right now, though, his current priority was one of his ailing allies. At least that, he could do something about.
The boy exhales deeply.
"That's.....taken care of. I'll....be here, if you need anything until then. Right here, next to you."
Post by: Powder Miner on July 23, 2017, 11:55:50 pm
She did kind of appreciate that Minato was there, though, and she leaned just a little closer to him, before suddenly pulling back again, a nervous expression on her face. "Oh God, y-you know English, right...? ...I'm sorry, I-I got a little crazy there. I didn't-- did-- I didn't weird you out, did I...?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 23, 2017, 11:57:33 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on July 24, 2017, 12:07:30 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 24, 2017, 12:12:54 am
Post by: Powder Miner on July 24, 2017, 12:22:36 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 24, 2017, 12:26:30 am
Post by: spümpkin on July 24, 2017, 12:33:40 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 24, 2017, 01:15:15 am
Post by: spümpkin on July 24, 2017, 04:01:41 am
Post by: Twinwolf on July 24, 2017, 06:46:35 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 24, 2017, 06:56:59 am
Everyone
You're now all back at the safehouse having taken another high-speed train back to Sendo. As luck would have it, your little scuffle atop the roof, while irking the passengers, did little more than give out a few headaches, and as Winter was quick to remind Minato, witnesses do not matter - you are not superheros fighting some sort of shadow war, the lack of public recognition is not something that was chosen, rather it is something that is. And in that vein, the "clean-up crew and medical personnel" consisted of this bored-looking dude and some magical first aid kits. Told Noriko that she should feel better within the hour, supernatural recovery/durability and all that.
So here you are now in the saferoom, with no new leads into the constructs, and no action forecast for the remainder of the week.
"Well that was a rough affair. Normally doesn't happen quite like this. Lucky you."
"Still, you guys did well and we're glad you're back okay. It gets easier, I promise. Like riding a bike."
"Except the bike is a soul-devouring monstrosity that typically wants to murder you and everyone you've ever known."
"Winter!"
"What? A bike's kinda underselling it, they should be proud of what they've done."
"Okay, but could you at least word that a bit differently?!"
Post by: Strider03 on July 24, 2017, 07:31:22 am
"When is my appointment?"
Post by: Empiricist on July 24, 2017, 08:16:22 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 24, 2017, 03:02:52 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 24, 2017, 03:39:57 pm
"Do we know if that one was working alone, or do we have a larger ring to worry about?"
Post by: Empiricist on July 24, 2017, 05:26:09 pm
I'm going to go out on a limb and say, no, they definitely weren't alone - someone else had to produce those constructs."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 24, 2017, 05:44:22 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 24, 2017, 05:59:37 pm
"We'll be looking out for more information about them, in the meantime you could try your own contacts if you want, though you all look like you could use some rest first."
Post by: Powder Miner on July 24, 2017, 06:35:18 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 24, 2017, 07:41:54 pm
Post by: Strider03 on July 25, 2017, 03:20:45 pm
Post by: spümpkin on July 26, 2017, 03:35:49 am
She dressed in her most professional outfit available (a swim-suit. As in, a one-piece which is designed to look like a suit. But not just with a pattern, or anything. Full-blown shoulderpads, but no sleeves, and a tie which tucks in to an actual suit jacket. Of course, her legs are still completely exposed.), with business-style makeup applied, so she was ready to handle anything. Her hair was even tied up.
Before she made her exit, she entered the room with the others, holding a clipboard and a bag of... swimsuits? "Hey, guys! Whatever you're doin' I'm not gonna. I got bigger fish ta' fry! A fully-fledged keijo class! Wish me luck~." She barely gives anyone time to respond, as she darts out the room again.
Heading downstairs, she hops into her Business Car, and drives off towards the Keijo gym.
Post by: Empiricist on July 26, 2017, 07:12:10 am
As it's still the afternoon, most of your students for this first lesson are well, students. School's out for the day, but the work day hasn't finished yet. Indeed, like fifty percent of the students you've seen at the school prior. You know, now that you think about it, if this works out you could probably just keep your cover up and use that to try and make some sort of Keijo Club at the school. Now, impersonating a member of staff for the purpose of promoting your own craft might not exactly be a shining example of professional ethics, but hey! It's not like you're collecting a paycheck or anything! It could be like a public service!
Of the remaining participants, it's likely a mix of those you didn't see, those from different schools, oh and Satoshi. Guess she actually was interested in learning.
There's also a fair amount of spectators, and they're probably here to watch something other than the martial arts. Except for maybe the guy with the clipboard, and that shrine maiden.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 27, 2017, 07:51:35 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 27, 2017, 09:15:10 am
You're almost there when you notice two figures, a man and a girl, sitting outside a cafe near your workplace. Now, all this supernatural world stuff is quite new to you, and as far as you can tell the man isn't particularly noteworthy. He's a monochrome figure wreathed in several layers of grey, which with his metallic visor and gauntlets hide all traces of the person beneath. Not exactly normal attire, but there's plenty of cosplayers here, fairly dedicated ones at that, and he isn't exactly casting spells or anything. The girl on the other hand, that's another matter. She looks young, very young, twelve years old maybe? She's dressed in a mage's outfit looking like something out of an RPG, the cloak and hat a deep purple matching her hair and eyes, and most importantly, she's smoking a cigar. You're pretty sure a little girls normally don't go around smoking cigars. As your draw closer you begin to hear snippets of their conversation through the noise around you.
"Lady behind me. Red dress. High heels."
"Dark rings under her eyes?"
"Maybe. Can't see."
"Well-to-do, single, thinks she cares about her appearance but is only just going through the motions, hasn't been sleeping well."
"Right-handed. Looks fit but hasn't exercised in a while. New arrival?"
"Ja. Girl heading towards us. White hair. Twintails."
"Energetic. Not too alert of her surroundings. Involved in theatre or the like - she's got her bag but not her uniform. She's looking our way."
Post by: Twinwolf on July 27, 2017, 04:32:46 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 07:25:05 pm
That seemed to be what was needed to kick Faith out of moping around and doing nothing: after Yuki leaves, Faith sits up, tapping her fingers on the floor for a while. She seems like she wants to say something, but takes a little while for her to actually do so. "...umm... Minato, you said we could talk if I needed to, right...?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 27, 2017, 07:26:35 pm
"Of course. You want to talk now?"
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 07:31:18 pm
It's kind of a weak giggle that punctuates the end of that sentence, and Faith just kind of ends up sighing and shrugging.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 27, 2017, 07:41:34 pm
"Come on, let's talk outside, get a little bit of privacy."
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 27, 2017, 07:43:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 27, 2017, 07:48:22 pm
"Thanks." The voice is metallic and slightly distorted, though not as much as you'd expect and there's a definite suaveness to it.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 07:51:46 pm
"No, I-- I, uh, I did mean us leaving."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 27, 2017, 07:52:54 pm
"So, uh, what's up?"
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 07:55:51 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 27, 2017, 07:57:08 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 08:05:15 pm
She stands up from where she was sitting down, and moves towards the door.
"Oh, you should lead the way, shouldn't you...?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 27, 2017, 09:27:17 pm
"Ladies first."
Post by: Twinwolf on July 27, 2017, 10:18:20 pm
Yuki"Your psychoanalysis thingy is wrong by the way. I don't do theater (although come to think of it that'd be really cool). After some magic stuff happened yesterday (I think? I've been losing track of time) my job is saving people from magical murder spirits that only a few people can see. And working at that cafe over there. Only one of them pays - actually I should ask the French guy (I think he was French? His names Ship or Sheep or Shef or something) if he gets paid, I don't know what other job he'd do." Yuki says all this in her normal tone as if it's the most mundane thing in the world. To be fair, it's not that different from other things she's said.
"Thanks." The voice is metallic and slightly distorted, though not as much as you'd expect and there's a definite suaveness to it.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 10:21:55 pm
"Well, uh, c'mon Minato, I do have to follow you."
Post by: Empiricist on July 27, 2017, 10:23:51 pm
"I ain't a shrink, that's Freida's-"
"I'm retired now."
"-job. Me? I'm work with SpecProv. And Shef. Who gets paid for this."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 27, 2017, 10:50:54 pm
Faith lets out a very brief, but more sincere "Eheh" of a giggle, and then walks out the door as Minato so charmingly indicates.So Minato leads the way. They eventually find a small green space; nothing much, large enough to be noticeable, small enough to be ignored, a few benches here and there and generally modelled on a Western park to go with Sendo's westward aesthetic.
"Well, uh, c'mon Minato, I do have to follow you."
Minato lets Faith sit down first.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 11:12:41 pm
"Do you have that kind of battle a lot? You know... doing this? How did... how did you get used to it?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 27, 2017, 11:21:54 pm
As to....how I got used to it...well....you don't, really. You kinda just go along with it, but you're never quite, y'know, used to it."
Post by: Powder Miner on July 27, 2017, 11:44:39 pm
"Y-yeah, but I mean, you're-- you're doing your, like dashing and confident routine, for almost these..." she paused, in thought for a little moment. "...gosh, four days, it's seemed kinda longer what with all that's gone on. But, uh, you've been acting all... brave and all, and, back there I..." She gesticulated for a moment. "I mean, I remember that you speak English."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 28, 2017, 12:13:18 am
"Well, I had two years of practice. You've had four days. And I'd rather you were honest, and afraid, than pretending to be brave."
Post by: Powder Miner on July 28, 2017, 12:22:54 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 28, 2017, 12:30:41 am
But....on the other hand, my grandma died doing this. She died trying to kill an Aramitama, who then tried to kill me years later, and I didn't even know that's how she died until I fought the bastard off. If you didn't know how I got awakened, that's how."
Post by: Powder Miner on July 28, 2017, 12:51:56 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 28, 2017, 01:12:32 am
That's not the best example, I have to admit, but....it's a way for me to say that this line of work isn't always a bed of roses. Of course it isn't; of course things like that can happen sometimes. I've heard enough from my family and had enough experience to know. And how you reacted was natural. I can't blame you for panicking and losing composure like you did. I wouldn't.
But you can also do something nobody else can. You can fight back.
You can protect people from the monsters who would do that. Yes, it's dangerous, but unlike ninety-nine percent of the world, you can fight back. Like they said in that one movie, if the Aramitama are the ones who go 'bump' in the night, we are the ones who bump back. We're the superheroes, and even superheroes have weaknesses and low points.
And when that comes, you've got us; Yuki, Yoake, Noriko and me. Shef.....less so, but he's kinda there too. Just....far off in the corner.
So you don't have to worry about a thing, Faith. If you're feeling down, I've got your back. As long as we're fighting together, I'll watch over you. So will the rest of us. As long as you're here, you can count on us, on me. You got that?"
Post by: Powder Miner on July 28, 2017, 01:40:31 am
But Minato kept talking, and what he said next helped because he was right; she just hadn't put all of the support she'd gotten from everyone together. Her sister, the others, Minato... yeah. They were here for her... it felt like a long time since she'd really had people behind her like this... but in these last four days, she'd met potential friends, a half-sister who seemed to care for her quite a bit, and now one of them was out here doing his best to reassure her. That did a whole lot more to reassure her than talk of superheroes, and she managed a smile, which she directed at Minato. It was nice to have Minato looking out for her.
"Yeah... thanks, Minato. I appreciate it. I really do. Thanks for having my back, Mr. Superhero."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 28, 2017, 01:48:00 am
Post by: Twinwolf on July 28, 2017, 07:32:46 am
Yuki"Ooooh, you know Shef? ...I should bug him about how he gets paid, I really need the money, heh. So who are you two and why are you figuring people out and why does she have a cigar? That's really unhealthy, although I guess there could be some psychological issues or something or maybe just daddy issues, is your dad a smoker? He really shouldn't do it around someone so young, that's how you get lung cancer and second-hand smoking and freudian reasons for it."
"I ain't a shrink, that's Freida's-"
"I'm retired now."
"-job. Me? I'm work with SpecProv. And Shef. Who gets paid for this."
Post by: Empiricist on July 28, 2017, 07:54:02 am
"Yes, I happen to be his handler. Rosario's the name. And that, would make you Yuki Tatsumaki. If you wanna talk about payments, I'm all ears, it ain't my forte but I could always help you out with it."
"Just something to pass the time. Such vices matter little to a Godslayer. Heroes rarely die of illness and lifestyle disease, ja? As for Freud, his theories are used no longer. Good riddance."
Post by: Strider03 on July 28, 2017, 09:18:01 pm
His eyes drifted across the walls, following the contours of shadows, when a small thought popped into his head. He wasn't at all certain, but he thought Minato had only met Faith when she awakened? He could be wrong of course, but he was fairly confident in his analysis: "Young people move quick these days. . . Liable to cause problems. Friction between friends, and misaligned priorities. Not that he cared.
It was at this point that Shef realized that he had been staring at a wall for the past three minutes cynically ruminating over the small bit of happiness that these kids could experience. He stood up, and went over to the door through which Noriko had passed. He wasn't sure what he'd do--meet this Kouta, take his leave, or something else entirely--the future would tell that. So, he knocked, four times in quick succession, and then twice slower, a small pattern from his past.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 28, 2017, 09:58:28 pm
"Yes, I happen to be his handler. Rosario's the name. And that, would make you Yuki Tatsumaki. If you wanna talk about payments, I'm all ears, it ain't my forte but I could always help you out with it.""Ooooh, how'd you know my name? Did Shef tell you already? Or are you just some kinda super-spy (I think Shef may be one. Or thinks he is, he acts like one of those sometimes, or sometimes just one of those hard-boiled types you know?). Buuuut yes, how do you get paid for this? I was gonna do it anyway, the pay is just making it even cooler!
"Just something to pass the time. Such vices matter little to a Godslayer. Heroes rarely die of illness and lifestyle disease, ja? As for Freud, his theories are used no longer. Good riddance."
...Oh yeah, one of them did mention supernatural durability during one of those explanations. I guess that means you're not gonna get sick from smoking. Proooobably still shouldn't do drugs though, just a suggestion, not being in total control of yourself sucks."
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 28, 2017, 10:04:34 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 28, 2017, 10:24:08 pm
"I'll be fine."
"Enn told me, gotta keep tabs on Shef and all that. The pay you can get by lodging a claim with SpecProv, there's all this proof of activity stuff to make sure that you aren't defrauding the government, but it should be easy for you since the AI can vouch for you. The pay's okay, nothing special. Gets higher if you're doing it full-time, but not too many people freelance full-time, you start to quickly miss mundanity and the simple things. Well, most people anyway."
Post by: Strider03 on July 28, 2017, 10:27:01 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 29, 2017, 07:45:45 am
"Hi." His voice was somewhat higher pitched than what one might expect out of a thirteen-year-old boy - but then, he was small for his age anyway, so it wasn't all that jarring. "Th-thank you for helping us out."
Post by: Strider03 on July 29, 2017, 08:40:28 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 29, 2017, 09:39:24 am
Post by: Twinwolf on July 29, 2017, 09:40:17 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2017, 09:45:18 am
"I'm just making sure there's no more mononoke marauding here."
"I was just in the neighbourhood and ran into Freida here."
Post by: Strider03 on July 29, 2017, 10:13:19 am
"So, you made a living in the Maid Cafe then? I guess they pay well for that type of thing. . ." he trailed off, then redirected what he was saying to a new theme. "You're not eighteen, right? I can tell ages pretty well. How'd you get away with renting a place prior to this, and taking care of Kouta?" It didn't make sense for her to be his guardian, and both of them could see things that others couldn't. Seemed like a sure way to be placed in an orphanage or a mental institute. But this was apparently not the case, as the girl's statement seemed to imply that she was in the habit of paying rent.
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 29, 2017, 05:45:01 pm
Kouta, for his part, seemed to be slowly sliding back in the direction of the television and associated game console.
Post by: Strider03 on July 29, 2017, 07:31:35 pm
"Did he go to school? And will he now?"
Post by: Twinwolf on July 29, 2017, 07:49:40 pm
"I'm just making sure there's no more mononoke marauding here.""Well, the cafe over there has nice service if you want some food or something. I should know, I work there!" Yuki says, pointing to the cafe. "And you could probably psycho-analyze the staff or something, I'm sure there's some pretty interesting ones there."
"I was just in the neighbourhood and ran into Freida here."
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2017, 08:25:56 pm
"I'll pass, not my cup of tea."
"Well if you insist!"
Post by: Powder Miner on July 29, 2017, 09:47:54 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 29, 2017, 10:48:38 pm
"Does that mean you'd not be averse to dinner with a superhero then?"
Post by: Powder Miner on July 29, 2017, 11:38:05 pm
Then, she raises a finger, suddenly embarrassed and blushing. "Uhh, uhhh, gosh, do you really mean it?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 30, 2017, 12:24:09 am
"Hm? .....well, of course, why wouldn't I? You're nice enough."
Post by: Powder Miner on July 30, 2017, 12:27:18 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 30, 2017, 01:07:05 am
"I....well....I suppose we could go anytime you're free, if you'd like."
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 30, 2017, 01:08:02 am
Post by: Powder Miner on July 30, 2017, 02:31:42 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 30, 2017, 03:13:13 am
Post by: Powder Miner on July 30, 2017, 03:35:43 am
Post by: Strider03 on July 30, 2017, 09:01:41 am
Though Shef didn't note the narrowing of the eyes, he could feel that the tone of the conversation had changed somewhat. And of course, Kouta's actions seeded some suspicion as well. But. . . it isn't my place to pry. . .
"Please tell me if I should go. Don't want to intrude in other people's homes if I'm not wanted. Simply came over to make sure you were alright, and to meet Kouta."
Post by: Twinwolf on July 30, 2017, 09:54:01 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 30, 2017, 07:41:09 pm
Freida nods as she follows, extinguishing the cigar and throwing it in a bin.
"I suppose I'll see you around, ja?"
"Yeah, I suppose so. Take care."
With that, Rosario too takes his leave, walking away and fading into the crowds.
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 30, 2017, 09:18:39 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 30, 2017, 11:11:13 pm
"Uh... yeah, I guess that works! I really don't see any reason why not, heheh." Faith puts her hands to her cheeks, presently just as pleased as punch."Well....that's a thing, I suppose. Yeah."
Minato seems half-surprised and half-pleased.
Post by: Strider03 on July 31, 2017, 07:49:35 am
"So, are you alright?" He wasn't asking out of pure concern, instead he posed it somewhat out of necessity for their working together going forward. Though, the question was not entirely devoid of concern. "The getting shot in the head thing, and Minato? And Aramitama hunting in general, since you mentioned it."
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 01, 2017, 01:34:10 am
Post by: spümpkin on August 01, 2017, 02:35:48 am
She runs through some basic exercise and stretches, before she gets to training them on the more particular moves. She has to be careful though, as her butt is that of a highly trained professional, and one wrong move could break these beginners. She trains them in rudimentary butt and breast fighting techniques, and after a while, they wrap up and the students begin to leave. "Phew. What a day. This sure is great."
Yoake stays until everyone else is finished, in case anyone approaches her.
Post by: Empiricist on August 01, 2017, 04:04:16 am
The lesson was, rocky. Could've gone better, could've gone worse. The main bump in the road hit when you started going into the actual fighting techniques. Now the people here definitely had some idea of what they were getting themselves into. The ones not dragged here by mischievous friends at least. But when the actual techniques started coming out there was this "Oh shit, we're really going there" moment, especially amongst those who weren't in your earlier classes. It's not just that of course, there is a learning process for every martial art, a kind of acclimatization process required to perform techniques without straining yourself, and when the techniques in question carry the risk of accidental headbutts for the, less well-endowed, or simply falling over while trying to spin around. It will take some time. It always does. But there's potential at least, and as long as they continue striving, you're confident you can mold them into something great.
As for the questions, first question you've got was at length, "Do we have to wear them in swimsuits? Or can we use it for self-defense in normal clothes?"
Post by: spümpkin on August 01, 2017, 04:32:07 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 01, 2017, 04:40:47 am
"Oh... right..." the girl seems to deflate "um A-are there any brands you recommend for two-pieces?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 01, 2017, 07:34:55 am
Post by: Twinwolf on August 01, 2017, 10:03:36 pm
Freida nods as she follows, extinguishing the cigar and throwing it in a bin.Yuki waves to Rosario as they leave, and then leads Freida towards the cafe. Upon entering, they are greeted by one of the workers with the standard "Welcome mistress'" thing they do for the female guests, before Yuki talks. "Heeeey Kizuna! Sorry for dropping in without warning, I need to get a new uniform. It kinda got destroyed by supernatural monster things trying to kill me. I think Noriko's did too, I need to get her a spare..."
"I suppose I'll see you around, ja?"
"Yeah, I suppose so. Take care."
With that, Rosario too takes his leave, walking away and fading into the crowds.
If the maid - Kizuna - saw something weird about Yuki's statement, she didn't comment on it. She did, however, drop the "polite meido" routine and speak in something of a coarse tone, and with a distinct accent. "Alrighty then, Yuki. The boss'll be in the back, same as always, should have a spare or two if ya ask. Who's your friend? New hire or just going with you?"
Post by: spümpkin on August 02, 2017, 02:19:15 am
"Why I sure do! If you'll take a look at this display, you will see only the finest in garments for the prospective Keijo player, all produced by my company, O shiri no fuku, which produces an amazing selection of swimsuits. Spanning many countries and earning millions of dollars, we use this profit to produce even higher quality swimsuits for the world to revel in. We have options for every body type, weight, asset size, income level, skin tone, favorite color, and skimpiness level. Since you are all my students, this rack is for you to peruse and select your own swimsuit, for free!"
Yoake is positively beaming, and any students who investigate the rack find a lot of outfits that look like something Yoake would wear, along with some less showing ones. There are only female swimsuits available, of course.
Post by: Empiricist on August 02, 2017, 02:47:02 am
Well uh, this is around the time where you get all manner of expressions in your students. Mostly of the indecisive "I just simultaneously learned a weird fact, won the lotto, and saw a basket full of puppies fall into a woodchipper" variety. It's, taking a while for them to process everything. I mean, some of them were still wrapping around the fact that keijo is simultaneously far more and far less practical than what they expected, and some clearly didn't expect much and then you just dropped your fucking credentials on them, and before they really recovered you started offering them free stuff. Some of them are enthusiastic, some handle the wares looking like they half expect them to be made out of dynamite. Except instead of clay, it's anthrax, like some kind of nitroglycerin-laden bioweapon paper mâché. Nonetheless most eventually take one, possibly out of some morbid curiosity. A few of them don't, Satoshi included.
The next question you get is something along the lines of "I was wondering how you know Miss Oppai."
Post by: spümpkin on August 02, 2017, 03:05:09 am
She keeps her cool however, as she responds. "Oh, she's an old friend."
Post by: Empiricist on August 02, 2017, 03:27:24 am
"Oh, how did you two meet? Did you two train together or something? She seems to be really good herself!"
Noriko
A flicker. A projected avatar. It's their whole "can I start looking" routine, a warning that they'd turned on the sound sensors. You get one flicker if you're together, three if you're alone, a sort of "about to turn on audio sensors" sort of deal. "Hey uh..." You know it's Enn before you even hear her, she's always got a slight delay to her voice, barely a split second, barely noticeable, but it's there. "Is everything alright in there? Can I come in?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 03, 2017, 02:01:27 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 03, 2017, 02:21:55 am
"S-sorry! You just seemed kinda upset earlier and a lot's been happening lately, especially with the Aramitama and everything..."
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 03, 2017, 02:48:03 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 03, 2017, 03:13:42 am
"You could've." A nod. "You could've. Even before now. Accidents, happen. Car crashes, fires, life is fragile. More fragile than we really care to admit. But we're still alive now right? We're still standing right? We're still here. Same thing for this line of work, just the hazards are different, have different names. Someone could've died, someone could've died but no one did. Someone could die, but they won't. Smile. Hold your head up high. You've already saved two people this life. You're a hero. And heroes don't die that easily." An awkward pause. "I swear that sounded better in my head!"
Post by: Twinwolf on August 03, 2017, 08:55:03 pm
"Nah, she can't. Employee discount." Kizuna said. "Can give her preferred service though, since she's a friend 'n all. Or you could just serve her yourself, your shift's comin' up anyways."
"...Huh, completely slipped my mind. I should call Noriko, she probably forgot too with all the magical monster slaying. Be right back, Freida!" Yuki says, before bolting towards the back to meet with the owner.
"...Well, she's a handful sometimes. Wanna be by the window, or just in the aisle?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 03, 2017, 11:55:21 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 04, 2017, 10:34:57 pm
"Ja, that I can tell. I take it she's always like this? Seating I do not mind, whatever is most convenient."
Noriko
"Right ah, I better leave you guys to it then.
Oh and Kouta, don't worry, Noriko's a natural at this."
Post by: Twinwolf on August 06, 2017, 09:54:12 pm
--
Noriko would feel her phone buzz. When she got around to looking, it was a text from Yuki. Boss asked if u r coming for your shift. read the hastily-written text.
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 06, 2017, 11:14:45 pm
Will be there soon. Forgot because of today.
"Sorry, Kouta, I'll play with you tonight. I'll ask the boss if I can step back my hours some, okay?" The boy made a disappointed face, alleviated somewhat by the hug Noriko pulled him into. "I know. But it's getting better now, promise."
With that, she headed off and out of the building after gathering up her uniform. One she was outside, she pondered for a moment. If normal people would think up some mundane explanation. . . She leapt up to the rooftops, being careful not to catch any of her various frills on anything, and started to run at top speed toward the cafe, as she was rather lacking in a ride at the moment.
Post by: Empiricist on August 08, 2017, 07:12:52 am
Freida suppresses a chuckle "I'll have tea, chrysanthemum if you have it, earl grey otherwise. Oh and a cake, I've heard the cakes here are good."
Noriko
The trip is an uneventful one, you do draw some gazes but as expected people are surprisingly indifferent to a flying girl. Well not too surprising perhaps, all your life you been told the things you've seen aren't real, and for now, you're one of those things.
Kouta
Another flicker, Winter appears next to Kouta, her smile apologetic, which is to say ill-suited to its wearer.
"I could play with you if you wish."
Post by: Strider03 on August 08, 2017, 07:22:16 am
Post by: Twinwolf on August 08, 2017, 01:31:24 pm
A few minutes later, Yuki comes to the table with a tray. "Sorry for taking a while, my spare was sorta buried in the back. Anyway, chrysanthemum tea, and one of our specialty cakes! I hope you enjoy!"
Post by: Empiricist on August 09, 2017, 12:22:33 am
"Thank you, I will." She takes a sip of the tea, apparently not minding the temperature.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 11, 2017, 02:30:51 am
...she was walking normally, however, not traveling by parkour.
Post by: spümpkin on August 11, 2017, 07:19:39 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 11, 2017, 07:30:40 am
"How do you recommend dealing against someone with a knife?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 11, 2017, 02:44:20 pm
Noriko dropped down to street level and took a moment to catch her breath before walking into the cafe. She opened her mouth, and then shook her head, remembering that she had to get into character. "S-sorry I'm late, my little brother needed something. . ."
Post by: Empiricist on August 11, 2017, 06:56:55 pm
"There should be a cable somewhere around here, the end looks like it's for a controller. Plug that in,
I'd do it myself, but surprise surprise, I can't touch it."
Post by: Powder Miner on August 11, 2017, 07:06:27 pm
"O-oh, um, hi Noriko. Do you know if my sister is working right now?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 11, 2017, 07:26:04 pm
Noriko nodded somewhat shyly, the act even extending to her mannerisms. "She messaged me from here."
Post by: Empiricist on August 11, 2017, 08:59:38 pm
"You realise my eyes aren't actually here right? This is a projected image. I can leave if you want, no hard feelings or anything."
Post by: Powder Miner on August 11, 2017, 09:02:43 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 12, 2017, 12:32:43 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 12, 2017, 12:52:03 am
"...What?"
"Oh! Oh! Could you give us a demonstration?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 12, 2017, 01:48:08 am
"N-no, it's fine. It would be weirder if you weren't here. . ."
Post by: Powder Miner on August 12, 2017, 02:05:14 am
Post by: spümpkin on August 12, 2017, 04:50:35 am
YoakeShe grins. "Sure thing! Would anyone like to try and stab me?"
"...What?"
"Oh! Oh! Could you give us a demonstration?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 12, 2017, 05:26:37 am
As soon as the words leave your lips you find Satoshi enthusiastically thrusting a switchblade towards your chest. You're not entirely sure where she got it from, or why she has it, but it's there. Not that it matters much of course, in fencing, when one aims to score a point, a strike is made at one's foe, not their weapon, and it just so happens in Keijo, one's weapons are rather conventionally positioned.
Post by: Twinwolf on August 12, 2017, 08:01:11 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 13, 2017, 03:44:10 am
"No thank you, no need to sweeten the tea if the cake is already sweet, ja?"
Shef
You hear the click of a key, and then the forceful rattle of a door handle. Someone is trying to enter. You were not followed, you're sure of that. No suspicious people tailing you, no faces seen one too many times, but still, someone is there outside your door, trying to force it open, rather inexpertly for that matter.
Post by: Strider03 on August 13, 2017, 09:10:35 am
Quote
Could you pick up some things for me? I need a form of voice modulation software for my work phone, a FN Herstal 5.7 MkII pistol or similar, and rubber bullets in that caliber and in 50 cal. for the RAM. Keep the number of grains for the 50 cal. decently low.With a button press, he sent off the message, and resumed eating, every so often scratching something down on the list. Until he heard a sound. A key? Either someone had a copy, or they were attempting to pick the lock. No knock, so they want to force their way in. Either a complete amateur, or they didn't expect me to be around. But. . . what do I even have here that they would want if I wasn't around? Couldn't bug the place, would be the obvious thing to check from the break-in. . .
Shef carefully and quietly picked up the gun sitting on the table. Unloaded. . . It sounded to him like the person at the door would be at least a few more seconds. Therefore, he grabbed a magazine, and carefully stepped over to the couch. The floors wouldn't creak, that was something he had made sure of when he moved in. He inserted the magazine into the gun under a pillow, to muffle the click. After this was done and he had flicked the safety off, Shef went into a quick analysis of his next action. No using the peephole. Door isn't bullet proof, and the might see the shadow when I look out. The balcony's out of the question, if I were out to get me, I'd set up a sniper covering that before sending someone to break down the door. Hmm. It briefly occurred to Shef that he might be overreacting, but he pushed that thought aside. That was the way to get killed. For now, Shef kept himself out of the way of the window to the balcony, and knelt down to look at the intruder's feet under the door. He did of course check first to see how close this person seemed to breaking in.
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 13, 2017, 04:48:07 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on August 13, 2017, 07:26:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 13, 2017, 07:34:54 pm
They, don't seem to be making any progress. At all. Could be incompetent. Could be innocent. Could be a ruse. But if it's a ruse, it's a complicated one, a pointless one. You glance down, looking through the gap below the door. Well, you don't see any gas or powder being blown through, not that it'll do much to you, not if the person behind the door is mundane at least. There's one person, one pair of shoes behind the door, at least from what you can see. Women's office shoes.
Got it. Where do you want it delivered?
Post by: Strider03 on August 13, 2017, 07:56:57 pm
And then came the chime of an incoming text. In a moment, any chance of pretending he wasn't home was gone. He grabbed the handle of the door and turned it, this action automatically unlocking the door, before swinging his left fist into the now open doorway at the intruder's face.
Post by: Empiricist on August 13, 2017, 09:31:02 pm
By the time the door swung open, your fist was well on its way. You're a better marksman than a brawler, a betterment mage than a fighter, and while you did just take Rosario up on his offer, you haven't even had your first lesson yet. Point is you lack skill, but what you do have, is plenty of force, and that metallic fist of yours slamming into someone, is going to cause a lot of damage. The RAM you have readied for the follow up even more so. Assuming of course, your foe wasn't Awakened. If they were, then all bets were off, but at least you'll b th one striking first here, not a bad start.
"EEEEEEEP!"
Unfortunately what you find your fist now hurtling towards is a terrified office lady, stumbling backwards. You're probably going to be able to stop your punch in time, unless of course it's a disguise. As you've learned by now, some Awakened need not carry visible armaments.
...Though if they are just a civilian, there's going to be a lot of explaining to do, from both you and her.
Post by: Strider03 on August 13, 2017, 09:42:42 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 13, 2017, 09:49:30 pm
"I'msosorrypleasedonthurtmeIdon'twannadietakeanythingyouwantIpromiseIwon'ttellanyoneIswear!"
The lady is still standing. She's also speaking, frantically at that, and saying a whole lot more than you'd expect her to seeing as you just out your fist straight through her head. She also appears to be completely uninjured from the experience as well for that matter.
There's a few moments of stunned silence as she realizes you exoskeleton is now somehow occupying the same space as her head. It is only after appreciating that that she starts screaming.
Post by: Strider03 on August 13, 2017, 10:03:16 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on August 13, 2017, 10:05:34 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 13, 2017, 10:24:42 pm
"Wait your apartment? I thought this was my apartment!"
She slowly glances at the number at the door.
"This is my apartment! ...Right?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 13, 2017, 10:33:53 pm
"I'm going to need your name. And date of birth if possible. Something strange is going on, we both know that, and to figure it out, I'm going to need you to tell me those things, and what you know. Like, the time you last left the apartment, what happened while you were out, and the like. Need to see your key too." Shef maintained his distance from the woman for now, and would continue to do so.
Post by: spümpkin on August 13, 2017, 11:01:21 pm
YoakeIn an instant, Yoake flips around and bats the knife out of Satoshi's hand with a smack from her buttocks. Her reflexes were on point. "Of course, I'm fairly experienced. So I recommend you all obtain some other countermeasure to stabbings whilst learning Keijo."
As soon as the words leave your lips you find Satoshi enthusiastically thrusting a switchblade towards your chest. You're not entirely sure where she got it from, or why she has it, but it's there. Not that it matters much of course, in fencing, when one aims to score a point, a strike is made at one's foe, not their weapon, and it just so happens in Keijo, one's weapons are rather conventionally positioned.
Post by: Empiricist on August 13, 2017, 11:24:34 pm
"H-hanako Kawaguchi, birthday's fifth of June 199X." She gingerly hands you her key. "I-I left here this morning and took the train to work - b-but o-on the way there t-there was this fight outside, t-there were these people, they w-were dressed like luchadores and fighting this guy in a motorcycle helmet. I spent the whole day answering questions from the police, they said it was probably gang related and t-then I got b-back here and and my key didn't work and then you opened the door."
Yoake
"Aww... and here I was hoping you'd use your chest." She picks the weapon back up and retracts the blade.
Another student raises her hand "Any recommendations then? Like another martial art or pepper spray?"
Post by: spümpkin on August 14, 2017, 05:08:11 am
Turning to the student, she brought out a can of pepper spray. "I recommend pepper spray, because studyin' another martial art would take away valuable keijo practice time!
In fact, I recommend O'Shiri Brand Pepper Spray: For Beginner Keijo Stars. It's widely selling all across the globe, and is known as one of the best self-defense options out there! It also comes as another free benefit of training in this Keijo Dojo. Of course, once your training is complete, you will no longer need or be able to keep it."
She brings out a few large trays of the pepper spray. Enough for everyone, really.
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 05:39:13 am
Satoshi grins back "Noted for future reference!"
Meanwhile...
"...'100% Capsaicin Free'?"
"It's 'Keijo-Enhanced'?"
"...Um, are you sure this is pepper spray?"
The class is beginning to dwindle in numbers now, people probably needing to go to other commitments or get some rest. Or maybe they're just worried that by the end of the question session they'd have more free march than they can carry, which might honestly be a risk here, all things considered.
The man with the clipboard jots down a few more notes before placing it away, meanwhile the shrine maiden is just tapping away at a phone, having stopped watching after the lesson started winding down.
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 06:56:02 am
After investigating the key, Shef stared curiously at the woman. "Tell me, what's the date today? If you'd like, we can go see the landlord in a little, and see if he can tell us something. But I'd like to hear a little more about this bit of gang violence though, it seems odd."
((OOC: Can I get the real date for today, if it's different?))
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 07:10:13 am
The keys are fairly different actually, vaguely the same type, but hers is very clearly for a different lock.
"Thanks? It's the ██, isn't it?"
...That is not the date. She's like a week off, assuming she's even talking about the same month.
"There were six of them, they dressed like luchadores I don't really know what why. They were on the train platform and this man in this leather outfit, like a biker outfit with the helmet and everything walked up to them. One of them immediately tackled him and he pulled out some sort of sword, I didn't get a very good view of him what happened next. Sorry uh, was that important?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 07:20:00 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 07:27:54 am
"Um, okay... sorry it's just really weird and... Wait you're not like a criminal or anything right? With your gun and... nevermindpleasepretendIdidn'tjustsaythat!" She gingerly holds out her hands, they feel solid. You can feel her body temperature, her pulse.
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 07:42:49 am
While in the kitchen, Shef took out his phone from his pocket to answer the text that had surprised him. He also silenced the phone.
Quote
Delivery to the safehouse would be best, and then I'll pick them up. Additionally, can you find me info on one Hanako Kawaguchi? Born 199X, should have presence in police records as a witness.
After sending off the text, he dialed the number of his landlord, exchanged a few brief pleasantries, and then inquired about whether the landlord knew this woman.
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 07:57:16 am
"Um okay. If it's not too much trouble I mean."
Understood. Sending a request now.
"K-Kawaguchi?" There's silence on the line for a few moments and when the man on the other end he sounds a bit more solemn than usual "Yes... she used to live here, she went missing two years ago, they never found her. She was a sweet girl, I, I hope she's okay, I ho- *sigh* sorry never mind this old bastard's rambling. What begs the question? Disappearances like this, everyone forgets about them soon enough, the police, the newspapers, it's just family that's left to remember, can't say I'm that, but you get the point, it's bewildering to hear about it from someone else."
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 08:05:41 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 08:14:43 am
"W-what? That can't be- it- I'll be right on over. Give me five minutes." He hangs up.
"Oh, Mister Koizumi... he was always nice... and I don't think so? It was uneventful until I tried coming here, but my key didn't work." She shifts around in awkward silence for a bit.
The next time you check your phone, you would find a new message.
Hanako Kawaguchi is dead. She died two years ago. She must have come back somehow or something is impersonating her. We have a witness testimony attributed to her from this morning. Do you require back up?
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 08:25:30 am
Quote
No. Things are currently under control, and I'm keeping an eye on her. I'll give an update every five minutes. Send back-up if I don't. Need some more info on that testimony. Add. info: Hand went through her head when punching, but seems to have physical presence now. Apparently no memory of dying. Story is: set out for work this morning, saw fight, gave testimony, returned. How did she die?
Shef kept his face unchanging as he watched the woman. If she was an imposter, was she waiting for something? Him to turn away? "So, a few more questions: Where do you work? And were there any other witnesses to thi fight you saw?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 08:34:34 am
Understood. An Aramitama killed her using a field of twisted reality. Body was torn apart instantly.
"TJD Group, I'm an actuary, and yeah, everyone on the platform saw."
Soon enough you hear a knock on the door. "Hey Alex! It's me! Can I come in?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 08:58:20 am
In response to the knocking by the landlord, Shef said, "Oh, just a moment." He made his way over, and opened he door for the man. "Come on in, make yourself comfortable. "
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 05:12:08 pm
"Wait what? It, isn't?" She pauses for a few minutes mulling over it in silence "There were other witnesses, people testifying, why? I-I'm not going crazy am I?"
You landlord, practically barges in as you open the door, a fairly impressive feat for a man needing to a cane. He swiftly catches the lady in a tight embrace like a parent hugging a crying child, though usually in that situation the parent isn't the one to crying. "Hanako! Oh my God! Is-is that really you? Oh my God, oh my God, what happened to you? We were so worried? Are you okay?"
"M-Mister Koizumi? W-what do you mean?"
"Hanako, you've been missing for two years, didn't Alex tell you?"
"WHAT?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 08:30:01 pm
"So, Hanako, I want you to tell me if there's anything weird that you remember. We know that you were in the current time today when the gang fight happened, so something must have happened earlier to . . . transport you to this time. Any gaps in memory? And Mr. Koizumi, do you remember when you personally last saw Hanako?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 08:44:19 pm
They spoke at length over tea, the initially awkwardness and shock now beginning to fade. The general gist of their answers being that Hanako didn't have any weird experiences save for finding that her apartment was now occupied by a gun wielding man with a mechanical fist, the latter detail she thankfully keeps to herself, and that Koizumi had last seen her earlier the week she died, or as far as he knew, went missing, passing by in the hallways oblivious as to what would happen next.
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2017, 09:11:53 pm
Quote
Checking in. No danger thus far. Ideas why she would be solid except when I punched her? Currently seems to have no recollection of her death, or any gaps in memory to account for it. Please send important things to watch for if an impersonation?
"So. . ." Shef wasn't exactly certain what he could say now. Couldn't tell someone that you think she's a ghost, especially when she seemed able to touch things for the most part. . . Maybe not a ghost? Multiple timelines might explain it, having her exist in one where she was fine, and then being transferred over? I've got no mechanism that would cause any of these possibilities to occur though. . .In the end, he settled on something other than more questioning. A little abashedly, he said, "Sorry about scaring you earlier. I thought you were trying to break in, and that must have been incredibly frightening."
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2017, 10:05:09 pm
Could be an Awakened ability activated on instinct. It's not uncommon for some Awakened to be able to phase out of reality to avoid harm. Impersonation is rarely perfect against Godslayers, there should be errors or some sort of noticeable power supply to keep everything running.
"Oh right uh, Hanako, this is Alex, he's the current tenant..."
"I-it's okay, I understand, if I were in your place, I probably would've lost my cool as well."
Post by: spümpkin on August 15, 2017, 12:51:21 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 15, 2017, 12:56:07 am
Post by: Powder Miner on August 15, 2017, 02:00:54 am
Post by: Strider03 on August 15, 2017, 06:35:43 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 15, 2017, 09:04:11 am
"Huh? Oh, nothing like that! I hadn't even heard of it til today, someone left a flyer at the church and I got curious, that's all. Never been too good with martial arts, I prefer mahjong." Her phone vanishes and out come several amulets. Sleight of hand you note, as opposed to conjuration. Sure enough they do look sorta like large mahjong tiles. "The name's Aiko by the way, Aiko Matsuda. I've heard an awful lot about you."
Shef
"No, no no, I can't allow that! You've done enough. Hmm, there's no vacancies, but there should be some hotels nearby, I can cover the expenses."
"Thanks but I can't possib-"
"Now listen here lass, I've spent the last year thinking you were dead, lemme have this one."
"I don't see how-"
"Now now, there's no reason to be courteous, you've a lot to catch up on, save your energy for that."
"R-right."
She doesn't seem to have anything that jumps out as a power source. She's got a necklace and pendant, but you've a feeling that something that tiny is probably not going to be supply enough power to keep that up, not without it being noticeable at least.
Post by: Strider03 on August 15, 2017, 06:44:50 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 16, 2017, 07:12:41 am
"R-right..." she pauses for a moment "You don't have to do this for me you know... I mean, we barely even know each other, and I'll manage, I-I'm sure of it!" "Now now, I'm sure Alex has his reasons, you know, you never struck me as the good samaritan type, not sure why." He slaps you on the back with a slight stumble before escorting Hanako out the door.
Post by: Strider03 on August 16, 2017, 08:34:36 am
"I'm sure you'll manage, but things will be a lot easier if you let me and Mr. Koizumi assist. I'll only be able to do a bit, as I have an appointment later this evening. First things first, you'll need a suitcase or a backpack to hold stuff in, depending on how much you need." Shef followed along with them, heading to whichever store nearby might have suitcases. (Are there Japanese Walmarts or equivalents in the area?)
Post by: Empiricist on August 16, 2017, 08:54:44 am
"O-of course, but do I still have anything, I kept everything in here and..."
Koizumi shakes his head sadly "Your family got rid of it all, couldn't bear keeping it around, coping with the grief and everything. We'd best contact them soon then once we find you a place, get cash from them as well and if all else fails crash there."
She nods and heads the the lift and as she do so your landlord quickly turns, whispering a question to your ear "We've gotta get her to a doctor soon right? Missing all that memory can't be a good sign."
Post by: Strider03 on August 16, 2017, 10:03:04 am
"Have they shut down Hanako's accounts? Seems likely, but there's a possibility that it didn't happen." Shef also took a moment, after they stepped out onto the sidewalk, to write up a text to Enn.
Quote
Did they ever find Hanako's body? And what was done with it? Currently trying to get her back on her feet without attracting attention, since that will be necessary if just awakened. If an imposter, shouldn't be a big problem. Basically shopping. Also: Know a discreet Dr. who we can take her to?
Post by: Empiricist on August 16, 2017, 05:57:44 pm
"I-I see, well she's safe for now at least, not sure 'bout the accounts but I suspect that's the case."
Yes, it was cremated, it wasn't in much of a state for much else. I'll send over their address now.
Do you need a real doctor or just someone who appears as one?
Post by: Strider03 on August 16, 2017, 08:42:26 pm
Quote
Preferably a real doctor, with knowledge of Awakened. Preferably discreet, to pass off as an ordinary doctor, but still give some more info to me. Can someone awaken after death? How was the body identified?
Post by: Empiricist on August 16, 2017, 08:57:47 pm
It's not unheard of. There's three active reincarnations of King Arthur and that's just the ones I've heard of. The body was identified from its possessions,
dental records, and DNA testing. If it's a fake, then whoever made it has done a very thorough job.
Post by: spümpkin on August 17, 2017, 07:19:40 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 17, 2017, 08:39:51 pm
"Recently? The time you ramped a boat into a building. I must say, I'm impressed, I didn't know anyone else here did such things." The shrine maiden speaks with a certain measured calmness in her voice, perhaps befitting of appearances.
Post by: Twinwolf on August 17, 2017, 10:17:33 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 18, 2017, 04:58:53 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 20, 2017, 12:49:27 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2017, 01:19:53 am
"Not myself, no, but a squadmate of mine uses similar such tactics albeit with a car instead."
Post by: spümpkin on August 20, 2017, 01:36:55 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2017, 07:57:22 am
"Teammate; ally; the people I fight alongside. Everyone needs some backup right?"
Shef
Doctor Idowu's clinic is a humble affair, neatly tucked away somewhere along the blurry boundary between the business and residential districts, its interior is warm, for a clinic at least, with its spectrum of soft inoffensive colors and its cushioned comfortable-but-not-too-comfortable seats, it feels almost like an office, betrayed only by the lingering scent of disinfectant, and the awfully study-looking desks, desks that you have no doubt could stop a bullet. You find yourself beckoned inside in short order. The good doctor himself was a measured affable man pushing into his late thirties with a white coat and an air of professional non-chalance.
"What seems to be the problem today?"
He knows damn well what the problem was. Enn already relayed that to him. The question wasn't for his benefit, more yours and of the two clueless saps you've ushered in here with you.
Post by: Strider03 on August 20, 2017, 09:12:39 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 20, 2017, 12:00:44 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 20, 2017, 02:01:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2017, 05:34:35 pm
"And when did she first start noticing these, problems?"
The appointment runs its course with predictable questions and predictable answers, the verdict in the end that Hanako requires an MRI scan and a specialist, altogether everything seems perfectly normal, at least until he shakes her hand as you all leave. It's a SwiftKey motion, fast, faster than most people would see, a sleight of hand exploiting everyone's minds being elsewhere. You almost didn't catch it. Almost. When he shook his hand, he attached something to her sleeve. Some kind of tracker most likely. And with that, you leave.
Noriko
"Oh nothing in particular, Miss...?"
Yoake
You get a quizzical expression in turn "Eliminating false gods, is that not your job as well?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 20, 2017, 05:43:20 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 20, 2017, 05:52:39 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 20, 2017, 05:54:48 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 20, 2017, 06:37:05 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2017, 08:00:50 pm
"I'm sure, thank you. Mister Kumon over there certainly looks like he'd some though."
Yoake
"My apologies, I mustn't have made it quite clear. I am a Godslayer much like yourself."
Shef
As it turns out, Rosario is actually there already, sipping drinks at the bar, chatting with a blue-haired man in a white long coat.
Post by: Strider03 on August 20, 2017, 08:09:09 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on August 20, 2017, 08:32:40 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2017, 11:34:14 pm
"...so we're down a Longinus, Maki's getting screened for heart disease, and Akiyama needs therapy. A lot of therapy."
"Well how's the chief going to play it now?"
"Fucked if I know, fucked if I care. I'm gonna need another drink if I have to think about what he has in stall, I swear, the guy hasn't been right since his wife kicked it."
The stranger downs another shot. The man doesn't look quite right he's pale, really pale, looks like he spends all his time indoors, smells like most of that time is with a bottle. Looks about eighteen, sounds about forty. His coat seems to almost bristle at your presence.
"Oh hey, looks like we've got company. Friend of yours?"
"Close enough. Ryouta, this is Shef; Shef, this is Ryouta."
Ryouta offers you his hand.
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 21, 2017, 01:44:12 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 21, 2017, 04:21:19 am
"Oh, kill me, kill me now...."
Post by: Twinwolf on August 21, 2017, 06:56:41 am
Post by: Strider03 on August 21, 2017, 07:57:42 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 21, 2017, 12:15:46 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on August 21, 2017, 12:30:56 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 21, 2017, 12:49:11 pm
He says it in a tone that makes it increasingly clear Minato's....not fond of this cousin.
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 21, 2017, 12:59:55 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 21, 2017, 01:07:47 pm
Also, um....do you mind if we meet up after work? It's nothing, I just.....well, I think we need to talk. Not about the cousin. That, we can deal with when she gets here tomorrow. No....this, I feel, is something better handled sooner than later."
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 21, 2017, 01:20:02 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 21, 2017, 01:24:54 pm
"Sorry. I'll get out of your hair."
Post by: Empiricist on August 21, 2017, 06:21:07 pm
"Long story short, our division is concerned with hunting down some of Foundry's fuck ups. Turns out when you try to extract things from Akasha, what comes out ain't always what you want. Artificial Anomalies they call 'em.
Our quarries.
This time around was a routine mission, which is to a it was a fuck up like all the rest. We had pinned down the Target Fifteen's whereabouts to an office in the east of Tokyo. It was supposed to be a simple assault mission, supposed to be. Turns out it was an ambush. Maki and Akiyama went in, fought their way through, and breached the Sanctuary. But the Fifteen bastard wasn't there on the other side, oh no the Sanctuary extended a hell of a lot further than it should have, they must've hid it from our sensors somehow, and while Maki and Akiyama were kitted out for CQB in that chamber, Fifteen was about half a click away with a sniper rifle. Not a fun time. So Maki got shot in the chest, his Ophanim" he gestures to his own coat, the material seemingly flexing on its own "took the brunt of it, but his vitals started dropping anyway, looked like a was having a heart attack or something. Akiyama tried to close in but, then just, stopped. Just collapsed and started to screaming, Diagnostics says it's some kind of psychic attack.
So we're two down and outranged, needed something that could hit Fifteen hard and far on out. We had something that could do that. A bullet. Single use. Expensive as all hell. They called it a Longinus Round, handed me a gun, handed me the bullet, told me to not miss, no pressure. So I ran in there expecting about two corpses and a lot of suppressive fire, but I dunno, Fifteen just sort if stood there. Maybe it thought it could take the shot, maybe it was glitching out, some AAs do that. Don't know, don't care. Shot that bastard through the chest and that was the end of that.
Maki's in the infirm, we're keeping Akiyama at the facility on watch, just in case, and if it happens again any time soon, we're not going to have another round ready for it. Typical."
Post by: Twinwolf on August 21, 2017, 07:40:12 pm
Yuki's immediate dead-on guess immediately gets Faith sputtering in shock, and it's a few seconds before Faith manages an actual response. "I, uh, wow, uh, I, I guess you actually could guess. But yeah, he did! Oh man, this is so crazy, I really wasn't prepared for this, but now that it's actually happened it's really exciting!""Now as a big sister, I'm supposed to tell you to be careful around boys..." Yuki says, looking grimly serious. "And Minato's a big perv. Buuuuut I know him soooo I'll let this slide. Good luck~!" Yuki says, grinning at her sister.
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 21, 2017, 09:02:53 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 21, 2017, 09:21:23 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 21, 2017, 09:25:25 pm
"WHAAAAAAAT? OH OH WE GOTTA GET YOU TO MEET MY FRIENDS! OH OH OKAY CLASS DISMISSED EVERYONE HAVE A NICE DAY!"
Yoake grabs the woman's hand, bursting out of the dojo and towards the Sanctuary.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 21, 2017, 09:25:32 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 21, 2017, 09:30:53 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 21, 2017, 10:08:46 pm
"Like a bullet. Seems to hit a lot harder, and it pierced Fifteen's defences without much trouble. Not much of a chance getting any though, we only had one and god knows how long till they'll be making another one. If it's exotics you want, there's more options available easier to obtain, isn't that right Rosario?"
"Well, did you have anything in mind Shef?'
Yoake
"Huh? Where are you taking me?"
You basically just drag the protesting shrine maiden all the way to the Sanctuary.
Post by: Strider03 on August 22, 2017, 11:18:45 am
Post by: spümpkin on August 22, 2017, 02:34:11 pm
"To meet my friends, of course! This is our Sanctuary, and our base of operations!
But... it seems like they're not here. Hmm... Oh, they might be at the cafe!"
Yoake begins dragging the maiden again, this time to the cafe.
Post by: Empiricist on August 22, 2017, 05:37:32 pm
"What kinda portal we talkin' bout?"
"Personal. Range limited to near-caster. Teleporting bullets requires a great deal of focus."
"So, that makes you his handler then. Hmph,haven't dealt with portals. Might be able make those portals point elsewhere, depends on how they work. You'd need someone well versed in the eldritch or some shit like that's though, me? I'm just a cop. Any thoughts Rosario?"
"Hmm yes. Wound-cursing rounds. Overpenetration enhancement. Not gonna be easy to come by, but it should let your tracer shots repeatedly strike your foe before exploding, the wounds would then automatically move towards vital organs. Won't be too effective against hard or armored targets though, not going to have them in a stable supply or large quantities either. Might be able to make some blood bullets, make a handful that act as temporary relays for your magic, extend your range. Depends in what you want though, could get some that are only good before impact, if you can time it well. Could have far fewer that persist for a bit. Tickle your fancy?"
Yoake
You continue just dragging Aiko all over town and into the cafe. Looks like everyone's here but Shef. Minato's sporting the expression of someone who mistook a meat mincer for a glory hole, Faith looks like she just walked in on her parents running a meth lab, and Yuki well, Yuki.
"Hey Minato, long time no see... wait why's Freida here?" She gestures towards the little girl dressed in purple.
Post by: Strider03 on August 22, 2017, 06:16:37 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 22, 2017, 07:00:53 pm
"I can get in touch with some of my contacts if you want the cursed overpenetration rounds, it's going to have to by order though. Relay rounds would require visiting a clinic or related facility, could give Eisenberg a shot. The portal fuckery sounds like you'll need a specialist, may have to find your own since they'll need to assess your magic anyway."
"Close enough to one, as for what I am, that's hard to say. The Chief tried to bring his wife back and instead he got stuck with me, or I guess I got stuck with him."
Post by: spümpkin on August 22, 2017, 07:11:11 pm
Yoake energetically gestures up and down while shouting.
Post by: Empiricist on August 22, 2017, 07:27:40 pm
"Well yes, I've ran into him while working before, we're operating in the same area after all. I see that you're acquainted with him as well?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 22, 2017, 10:01:42 pm
"So, some kind of reincarnated being? . . .Care to elaborate?"
Post by: Powder Miner on August 23, 2017, 01:55:09 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 23, 2017, 03:22:54 am
"So y'know how sometimes people come back from the dead? It's that. Except instead of popping back into existence, I was dragged out here. Can't remember who I used to be, if I ever was anyone in the first place. That's uncommon for beings like us, but not rare either. Don't have any identification either, no DNA on any records, no Godforged Regalia. May as well be a ghost. Certainly feel like one some days."
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2017, 06:14:12 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 23, 2017, 07:59:53 am
"Suppose you could put it like that. Can't sync too well with my ophanim so gunplay's what I got. Mind you Akiyama's better in that regard. Was at any rate. But my main skill is that I am expendable. If I die I'll just get dragged out again, not gonna be pleasant, but that's the break right now. A real shame that, I could use the rest."
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2017, 08:14:23 am
Post by: Twinwolf on August 23, 2017, 09:21:45 am
Faith leaned towards her sister again, a somewhat disbelieving expression still on her face. "Do you have any idea what that was about...?"Yuki cheerily answered, "Nope! She seems to be in a really bad mood though."
Post by: spümpkin on August 23, 2017, 06:14:34 pm
"Hey there Minato! Look who I met! She says she knows you! We can all be friends! It'll be great!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2017, 06:15:17 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 23, 2017, 06:19:11 pm
"Heyyyy, what's up? We don't talk heaps, but somethin' seems up. Normally you're plenty pleased to meet new women!"
Post by: Empiricist on August 23, 2017, 06:24:40 pm
"This coat I'm wearing. It helps me fight. Shielding,
strength enhancement, that kinda thing."
Yoake and Minato
"Um, I am already acquainted with him..."
She leans forwards, waving her hand up and down in front of the boy.
"Are you alright Minato?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2017, 06:30:00 pm
Minato looks displeased at the mention of whoever this 'Karen' is.
Post by: Empiricist on August 23, 2017, 06:56:34 pm
"She's visiting so soon?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2017, 06:57:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 23, 2017, 07:04:07 pm
"Have you considering duelling them into submission?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2017, 07:05:11 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 23, 2017, 07:09:37 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2017, 07:12:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 23, 2017, 07:22:49 pm
"Your friends or your cousin?"
Post by: spümpkin on August 23, 2017, 07:28:24 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 23, 2017, 07:56:59 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2017, 08:06:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 23, 2017, 10:00:53 pm
Well, there's the two men occupying one of the booths, one of them looks to be in his forties, dressed comfortably and sitting relaxed, the other looking to be about a decade younger is dressed in a suit with sunglasses folded into his pockets and reclining in quite the leisurely angle, if he reclined much further, he'd be sleeping in the seat.
Shef
"Fucked if I know, the sync's based on psychological compatibility or something."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2017, 02:44:05 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2017, 03:45:23 am
"Noriko?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 24, 2017, 06:12:26 am
Post by: Strider03 on August 24, 2017, 06:21:12 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2017, 06:22:03 am
Yoake and MinatoMinato gestures towards the blue-haired maid girl currently rattling off a spiel at a nearby table.
"Noriko?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2017, 06:33:37 am
The more casually-dressed man answers you first "A double espresso for my friend over there, and an iced tea for the one who'll be joining us shortly."
"And a hot chocolate for the geyser too old for sweets."
"Hey now, not all of us can be running around staying all night. I got responsibilities man!"
"Responsibilities and a bed time."
"It's not my bedtime."
"Keep telling yourself that."
Shef
"Oh the usual... meetings to organise, orders to fill out, ah but today I've had the honor of meeting one of your newfangled allies in person..."
Yoake and Minato
"She looks nice, what happened between you two?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2017, 06:39:29 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2017, 06:51:16 am
"She doesn't look too murderous..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2017, 06:57:16 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2017, 07:12:15 am
"How is she in battle? We could have them settle everything with a duel..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2017, 07:15:43 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2017, 07:24:02 am
"Why not do that then? Let them put their skills to the test against each other."
Post by: Strider03 on August 24, 2017, 07:25:00 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2017, 07:25:31 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 24, 2017, 07:33:04 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2017, 08:42:06 am
"In the Awakened world? I think not! No, most paths here lead to you fighting something, some have even gotten pretty damn tough just from gunfighting the occasional hostile spreadsheet. It was Yuki, seemed awfully enthusiastic, and a bit curious about your income for that matter."
Yoake and Minato
"Can you not keep her and Noriko away from each other?"
Noriko
Well, on one hand the guy in a suit doesn't look yakuza, he looks more like every other Bollywood cop actually... but on the other hand, when you walk back with their drinks you find them joined by a sixty year old man with a black eyepatch wearing way too casual clothing that puts his athletic build and extensive dragon tattoos on display, the sheer sketchiness only amplified by the words I'M NOT YAKUZA emblazoned on his pink t-shirt.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2017, 09:11:05 am
Post by: Strider03 on August 24, 2017, 10:44:55 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2017, 04:31:42 pm
"If bringing her along will jeopardize both your duty and her life, then perhaps that promise isn't too important in the end."
Shef
"Told her the truth, that you get paid for this gig. It's not like it's a secret or anything. Offered to give her a help with the income application form if she needed it."
Post by: Strider03 on August 24, 2017, 05:38:38 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2017, 08:13:03 am
"Oh I've a feeling she will... speaking of these allies of yours, I've looked into the old hires and as I'm sure you'll be absolutely delighted to hear, I must say, you're in good hands. o-Shiri is well-connected in the commercial world and this 'Keijo' business of hers isn't uncommon in the popular world, combined with the fact that she seems to be regarded as some kind of authority on it, she is certainly a valuable contact. The same goes for the heir, but you already know that. The Kumons hold a lot of power in the awakened world here, have held it for quite a while, though they've been less active since Lady Yukari's death, at least until now. They've got quite strong ties to the japanese branch of Foundry amongst other things, that explains his choice in AR at any rate."
Post by: Strider03 on August 25, 2017, 08:24:16 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 25, 2017, 09:45:24 am
Post by: spümpkin on August 25, 2017, 07:33:22 pm
"Oo, oo! I've got an idea! Why don't we set up a fake mission? We could make a big production about us fighting some guy, and bring her along for the ride! But... we make it super dangerous! Like, really really dangerous! So she doesn't want to come on any more missions with us! Huh? How about that?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2017, 08:03:25 pm
"Haven't looked into them yet, nothing's jumping up just from their mention at any rate."
Noriko
"Green tea cake."
"Surprise me."
"Milk tea and a kuzumochi for me."
It's around this time that yet another person joins their table, a bespectacled lady in her mid-to-late twenties, wearing a light pink longcoat and a cattish smile.
"I see you've started without me."
"And so we have, Miyumi, this is Arjuna, Arjuna meet Miyumi."
"A pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine? Care for a cake? We're ordering right now."
He tosses over the ice tea, the drink spinning twice in the air before landing upright.
"A mille-feuille please."
Yoake and Minato
"I know of some people who could be of assistance with that, what sort of deception did you have in mind?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 25, 2017, 08:22:34 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2017, 08:24:28 pm
"Sure, up for going out for some basics now?"
Post by: spümpkin on August 25, 2017, 08:37:06 pm
"Well, y'see... O'Shiri Corporations has been wanting to branch into the film industry for a while now, and we could make a pretty impressive debut with something like this.
I've plenty of funds to make it happen, too."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 25, 2017, 08:41:22 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 25, 2017, 08:51:58 pm
"Listen, Minato. My good buddy Minato. This could make me millions. Even more than I'm already makin'. Plus, it's better than nothin' right?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 25, 2017, 08:54:32 pm
Post by: spümpkin on August 25, 2017, 08:59:08 pm
"Oh, don't worry. She won't know about it. We'll edit her out in post."
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2017, 09:02:20 pm
"But surely you don't intend to bring her into an actual combat situation, do you?"
Post by: spümpkin on August 25, 2017, 09:09:33 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 25, 2017, 09:43:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2017, 09:56:16 pm
"Oh don't you worry, we were just wrapping up here, shall we go?"
-Later that Night-
Shef
((Link.)) (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163074.msg7554414#msg7554414)
Minato and Noriko
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Minato waits around on a nearby street corner, looking at his watch and waiting for Noriko to emerge from the cafe at the end of her shift.
Quote from: KingMurdoc
Noriko exits the building after a few minutes of this, looking a mixture of tired from work and relieved at said work being over.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Minato waves at Noriko. "Hey. Tired, huh?"
Quote from: KingMurdoc
"A bit. Lots of Awakened customers and stuff, and then the normal people that you'd think were Awakened based on sheer sketchiness." She frowned for a moment. "What'd you need?"
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Minato suddenly sobers up a little more. He sighs.
"Noriko, I'll....get to the point. Are you.....mad at me?"
Quote from: KingMurdoc
Noriko sighs as well. ". . . Yeah, you could say that."
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Minato closes his eyes, his suspicions from earlier having been confirmed. "....I understand. I've.....not been a great friend to you, these last few days, huh? That's my fault. I'm sorry. If....you want to slap me or yell at me or something, before anything else, just do it. Take it out on me."
"I'd rather you took it out on me now, so I don't lose you as a friend later."
Quote from: KingMurdoc
"Honestly? It's been more than the last few days, and I just didn't realize it until now. Well, actually, it's gotten worse - because apparently the cute American girl with the big tits is more important than the friend you've had for years." Venom crept into her voice as she spoke. "I know she's your friend - and I guess you're dating now - but would it have killed you to be at least a little concerned when I got shot in the fucking head?"
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"It wouldn't have, no." Minato simply takes the venom in her voice and the remark about dating without comment. "I know it seems like I'm going to try and excuse myself, but....she had a mental breakdown, right there, right then, and I did what I thought I should've. I thought you were mostly fine, and I know, I'm stupid for thinking that. You're perfectly justified in getting mad at me; I should've checked on you too."[/i]
Quote from: KingMurdoc
"I just, I don't even know how to say this. How many years did you watch me, as I went through my life with everyone around me thinking I was completely insane, and you never thought to walk up to me and say 'hey Noriko, you're not batshit crazy or schizophrenic?' You never once thought that MAYBE you should tell me what the hell was going on?"
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Two years, Noriko. Two." Minato breathes in and out. "I thought my family was insane too, when they talked about these things in front of me. I assumed they were insane; had PTSD from the war or whatever. It took until I was attacked, in my house, for something my grandmother did years ago, for me to realise this was real, more real than I could imagine. And then I couldn't tell you."
He pauses for a moment.
"Not just because I wasn't sure. You could've been genuinely mentally ill, and if I told you your hallucinations were real, it would be far worse. But because if I introduced you to this life, the life that's killed a lot of my ancestors, my grandmother included, that nearly killed ME before I even had a chance to fight back, and something happened to you because of me, then it would be truly unforgivable."
Quote from: KingMurdoc
"I could have died anyway. Just walked into an Aramitama by accident, or got jumped by a Mononoke, or, whatever. Hell, if I had known for sure that what I saw was real I would have been a lot more careful. And you could have asked. There's so many things you could have tried and you just stood there and watched. You didn't even bother." Her cheeks were increasingly flushed with emotion, and she was starting to get louder with every single word. "I don't get how you can be so fixated on being the hero, but you never once tried to do anything for the person standing right next to you."
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"I never just stood there and watched." Minato calmly replies. "Never. I kept an eye on you, to see if you were Awakening. I killed any Aramitama there was, or I helped others do it. I know I should've asked, and that's my fault. I can't fix what I did, Noriko. I can only try to be a better man than you think I am."
Quote from: KingMurdoc
Noriko was quiet for a moment or two. "I just. . . My whole life's been people not caring about me or whether I was feeling okay or whether I got to eat that night, and now I'm finding out that the whole reason everything has been so shitty for so long was something one of my only friends never told me." She shook her head a bit, and then stared straight at Minato. "And then there's the fact that you keep showing up at this job when you KNOW I don't like people I know being there, the job I've basically had to work full time all through school because I had to take care of Kouta with no help whatsoever." There was another accusation buried in the sentence, one that Noriko was unwilling to say out loud even now: if you're so rich, why didn't you ever help with that?
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
".....I'm sorry." Minato simply, calmly answers. "I....honestly thought I was....doing right by you. I was wrong. I care about you, of course I do. You're one of my only friends. I did what I did, because if I lost you or Yuki, then I'd never, ever be able to forgive myself. And I always went to the maid cafe, because before six months ago, that was the only way I could help you with Kouta."
"I thought if I tipped high enough, I could bump your salary up. I only had the right to do anything with the money I had six months ago. On my eighteenth birthday."
Quote from: KingMurdoc
". . . I see." Noriko fell silent again for a few moments.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"I've....been asking my parents if....I could hire you and Yuki on. As retainers. It'd be a large salary, we'd handle medical expenses, accomodations, the whole hog. I....was going to tell you later, but....well, as we know now, me keeping things from you won't end well." Minato continues. "They cleared it. A day before you Awakened."
"I understand if you don't want to accept. But....well, I suppose, it's my way of trying to make it up to you."
Quote from: KingMurdoc
"That's. . . I'll have to think about it. I'm, I need time to cool off." Noriko looked down a bit, the heat in her voice fading fairly quickly.
". . . And don't think I don't know about the maid thing."
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Of course you do," Minato replies, smiling. "I'm trying to be a hero. That doesn't mean I'm perfect, and it doesn't mean I'm not human. But I'll try. For you, and Faith and Yuki and the others."
"I won't be able to make up for two years of not being there for you, not in a single night. But.....I'll try. If I didn't, I'd lose one of my best and only friends. And.....I haven't got many to lose."
Yuki ((written by Twinwolf))
As the sun sets on the city, Yuki stands in front of her apartment building, holding her own bag and a grocery store one. The apartment building wasn't in the greatest shape. 5 stories of worn stone walls, a bare minimum of grass - a rusting iron gate the only luxury. It’s an old building - it was here before the place started attracting more people.
Yuki fumbled around in her bag for the keys for a bit. “Come on… don’t tell me they were in the uniform…” she mutters, before finding them under a school book. “Ah-hah! Victory!” she declares, quietly so as not to wake up that old couple that lived in one of the apartments. She triumphantly enters the gate (and closes it behind her, making sure it’s locked) and through into the building proper. She jogs up three flights of the exterior stairs and then heads inside. The interior is in similar disrepair to the outside - exposed pipes and peeling plaster, and a bit of an odd smell.
The young woman comes to her apartment, 4C. She sticks her key in the door, turns it… and hesitates. A couple moments pass. Yuki takes a deep breath, and opens the door into the apartment. “I’m home!” she says in a cheerful tone. There is no response, but for a muffled word from the TV. She kicks off her shoes and puts them in the rack, before going down the short hallway.
The apartment was a small affair. It was only three rooms. One: The bathroom. Two: The sitting room / kitchen. Three: Bedroom. Yuki and her mother had received a good deal on rent from the sympathetic landlord - it was the main reason they could afford more than a one-room. Yuki’s mother sat in the place she always did. In front of the super-old TV on the equally old (and cheap!) couch. “...Hi Mom.” No response.
Yuki sighed, and tossed her bag into the bedroom. As she reentered the main room, she let her hair down and stuffed the ties into her pocket. “I had a good day today, thanks for asking. Super exciting really!” Yuki continued, back to cheeriness. “I got some new clothes from a friend, which is super nice… well they’re letting me borrow them, but I’m gonna ask if I can keep them since they don’t need them anymore.” The TV continued to drone on - it was the news, something about some gas explosion in an adult store earlier that day. “Ooooh, I was there today!” Yuki said, glancing to her mom. Blank.
She continues her conversation. “On the way home I saw some groceries with super-good prices because they wanted them out before they expired, so we can have something fancy tonight instead of another instant meal.” she says, going to the kitchenette and dropping her second bag at her feet. She fumbles around in it for a bit, before taking out some produce. “Hmm. Salad, or some kind of vegetable stew? Which do you think? ...Yeah, salad’s easier to make.”
There is quiet for a while, but for the TV, as Yuki prepares the food. Chop-chop-chop, mixing in the bowl, seasoning… it’s pretty simple, but the girl does her best! And it’s healthier than the normal fair, so bonus! Yuki sets some water to boil as she works - to make tea. In about half an hour, things are ready. Yuki drags out a folding table into the middle of the room, and a couple of chairs. She helps her mom into a seat before taking one across from her. She claps her hand together, “Itadakimasu!” and starts to eat.
Another silence. “...So how is it Mom? Did I do ok?” she asks. Her mother *was* eating, at least, and drinking the tea. She doesn’t respond. “So… I didn’t ask, how was your day? ...That’s a stupid question isn’t it? Same as always, right?” Yuki takes a sip of her tea. More silence.
“...I got a second job, recently. Did I mention that before?” Yuki says. “Apparently it pays alright. It might make things a bit easier for us - we can pay the rent easier now, and have some money left over.” Yuki studied her mother’s face. Nothing. “It’ll let us do more things, since we don’t have to be so stingy. I can treat you to a cake once in a while, or go out with friends. I know that’s a little selfish, but… I am a teenager, right?” Yuki paused. Her mother kept eating. “...It’s a little dangerous though. The job I mean. Like, life threatening. I could die. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” Yuki said, pushing her chair out. “It’s fine, right?” She was standing. “You don’t care, right!?”
Yuki was leaning over the table, right in her mother’s face - she’d raised her voice. Her mother didn't seem to notice. Yuki drew back, and took a trembling breath. “...I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” she said. She didn’t go the bedroom though. She went to the bathroom and locked the door. She would go to bed later.
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2017, 11:12:30 pm
Okay so, all of you have come back to the safehouse to go compare notes, figure out what everyone else has learned. Which, judging by what y'all've been doing yesterday evening, will contain many an insight on how not to punch ghosts in the face, the meaning of suffering, and the flavor of Faith's lips, but probably not too much on what the fuck you guys are actually up against. Whatever, it's not like you're expected to find much in one evening.
Now you know something's up when you get in there, or in Noriko's case, when you walk to the other side of your living room. See, it's not just Enn and Winter standing there, Satoshi and Aiko are there as well, along with utility cart full of, furniture apparently(?) and a flatscreen.
"Okay listen up, we've got some good news, and some news that will lie somewhere on the range between amazing and terrible depending on whether or not your name is Minato, got anything to say or ask before we get into it, or shall we start this now?"
Post by: spümpkin on August 26, 2017, 11:20:55 pm
"Oo, oo, I'm excited! Let's start!"
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2017, 11:52:57 pm
"Take it away."
The shrine maiden nods and begins, talking in her usual serene voice as maps and diagrams project into the air behind her. "Two months ago, we received reports of an old Templar super weapon resurfacing somewhere in Osaka. It appeared to be in a damaged state and was missing some of its components. Try as we might, we were unable to track it down. The weapon was later sighted in Tokyo, been smuggled through covert channels. We have since pinpointed its current location to be in the Appleton Estate here in Sendo." The display behind her shifts to show a frankly irresponsibly large estate and the mansion at the center of it.
"The weapon is located within a Sanctuary somewhere within the groups. Preliminary scans have not revealed its entrance and we suspect that it is sealed and kept hidden by multiple Anomalies hidden in the area. The flow of resources into that area has made us believe that they are trying to restore it to an operational state, but some of these resources don't match the requirements of the weapon, and they appear to be the same ones required to construct the autonomous weapons you have recently encountered.
The more sensitive details of the weapon are not something I am privy to, but I've been given a contact number for someone who has the clearance to divulge them.
We require a team to watch over the estate and find a way to enter the Sanctuary. We do not believe the owners of the estate nor their employees are involved in this, but there may be Awakened activity acting in the shadows, securing the entrance without their knowledge. We were hoping you would be the ones to agree to this."
"A few job opportunities have opened up in the Appleton Estate and we'll be able to insert you into those so you can snoop around without the trespassing charges. Satoshi here has already landed a job as a chauffeur and will be providing you with logistical support."
"Um, unfortunately, all the other job openings are for, domestic servants, maids and butlers basically so uh..."
Winter, Satoshi, and Aiko immediately begin staring at Minato.
Post by: spümpkin on August 27, 2017, 12:14:32 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 01:05:34 am
Post by: spümpkin on August 27, 2017, 01:18:00 am
Post by: Powder Miner on August 27, 2017, 01:28:38 am
"What?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 01:35:57 am
"Would that swimsuit be enough?"
"Yeah, the dress code's pretty loose, she'll draw some stares, but that's about it. Have a feeling she won't mind those stares either."
Post by: spümpkin on August 27, 2017, 01:40:58 am
"I sure won't!"
Post by: Powder Miner on August 27, 2017, 01:43:33 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 01:50:21 am
Enn meanwhile is just doing her damnedest to keep her eyes away from Yoake, granted, she saw via the sensors and not the hologram itself but it's the thought that counts.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 27, 2017, 02:02:24 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 02:07:01 am
Post by: spümpkin on August 27, 2017, 02:11:38 am
"Enn? Eeeeenn! I see you there!"
Post by: Powder Miner on August 27, 2017, 02:12:32 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 02:18:51 am
The first thing everyone notices when Faith opens the latch is the smell, the subtle interwining scents of perfume. The second thing everyone notices is the maid outfit. Not just a maid outfit either, it's a copy of the one she found herself in earlier in that skirmish. Lying neatly on top of it is a neatly folded piece of paper, inscribed with the words From Minato.
Post by: spümpkin on August 27, 2017, 02:24:39 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 02:27:39 am
Post by: Powder Miner on August 27, 2017, 02:28:01 am
"Wowwwwwwww. You, uh... you were really jumping all over this opportunity, weren't you."
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 02:53:25 am
Post by: Twinwolf on August 27, 2017, 06:36:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 06:46:04 am
Post by: Twinwolf on August 27, 2017, 07:26:01 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 07:29:25 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 27, 2017, 07:30:56 am
".....okay, I admit it, I have a maid fetish. But I can say, with absolute certainty, I did NOT buy that."
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 07:32:30 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 27, 2017, 10:25:55 am
Post by: Powder Miner on August 27, 2017, 12:34:07 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 27, 2017, 12:49:28 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2017, 04:30:33 pm
"The entrance itself will likely be indoors so that it's hard for outside surveillance to find, no real policies to cover, and I can give you a copy of the original floor plan."
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 30, 2017, 12:17:32 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 30, 2017, 01:04:30 am
Post by: Strider03 on September 03, 2017, 10:07:21 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 03, 2017, 10:16:11 pm
"Maybe remote sensors and cameras to keep an eye on things?"
"May wanna consider supplies for fortifying positions, there's always the chance of a protected firefight. That's a guess by the way, not a prophecy."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 04, 2017, 10:52:14 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 04, 2017, 10:57:15 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 04, 2017, 11:03:27 pm
She turns to face Faith.
"Are we going to send you there in a literal fetish outfit even though, need I say again, they will be providing their own uniforms for everyone? Gee, I don't know, that almost sounds like a bad idea!"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 04, 2017, 11:19:50 pm
"It's not like this whole Awakened thing has been a whirlwind of normality so far."
Post by: Empiricist on September 04, 2017, 11:33:25 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 04, 2017, 11:37:19 pm
"Well, uh, I more meant that I wouldn't be that surprised if the plan had actually been to stuff me in the... actual fetish outfit."
There's a little pause.
"Plus, at this rate, maybe it'll turn out that there really are lizardmen in the world government."
Post by: Empiricist on September 04, 2017, 11:43:09 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 05, 2017, 02:13:03 am
"Well, maybe our alien overlords are just trying to keep us divided. That or they're not any more prepared for all the stuff that happens than we are, heh heh."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 05, 2017, 03:26:28 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 05, 2017, 03:37:09 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 05, 2017, 04:45:15 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 05, 2017, 05:36:29 am
Atop the burning pile, atop his burning throne, the mad god laughs. His hair was grey, his face wizened by age but not diminished. His suit was white, his jacket leather, his shirt was open, his abs were hard, and his dick was out. On his eyepatch was a circle-A, and in his hand was a molotov, along with a fragment of something, something great, something terrible.
"At last it is mine! A shard of the Orgasmatron! Soon all will bow before the LEAGUE OF EVIL!"
A blast. A crash. Impact.
A contender has come.
A skeleton clad in a jet black spacesuit. Sleek. Militaristic. A hero from an era before this. A hero who marched forward even through betrayal, even through death, a corpse, a spectre, his very existence maintained through willpower, and willpower alone.
He burns, he burns with fire born of will, born of resolve, white hot flames of such intensity, not even the stars themselves can withstand their heat. From within the inferno, empty sockets stare sightlessly upon their mark, at their mark, through therir mark, the terrible gaze alone enough to rend apart a lesser foe.
He draws his rifle.
"Sorry old chap, but I'm going to need to stop you here."
"YOU FOOL! DO YOU REALLY THINK JUSTICE CAN STILL PREVAIL?"
"Right now, I don't care what prevails. Do you know why I am here? Why I've returned? Because I am needed. Last time it was nuclear annihilation. The time before that, Hitler. And before that, the gates of Hell itself. Do you know what summoned me this time? I am here because CAMERON FUCKED A PIG! And then the tossers decided to up and bloody LEAVE THE EUROPEAN UNION WITHOUT EVEN THE FLIMSIEST FUCKING PLAN! I need a damn punching bag. And you'll do nicely."
"IMPERTINENCE. I WILL CRUSH YOU."
"I'd like to see you try."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 06, 2017, 03:03:12 am
"Well, uh. Heh, I guess that is pretty anime. But... why? Why did you have to crossdress as a magical girl?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 06, 2017, 03:24:28 am
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 05:59:18 am
Post by: Twinwolf on September 06, 2017, 07:01:09 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 06, 2017, 12:43:50 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 03:35:47 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 06, 2017, 05:38:38 pm
"I dunno, Shef. Think it might fit you?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 06, 2017, 06:28:58 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 07:38:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 07:51:33 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 07:57:15 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 08:14:57 pm
You hear a dial tone and after three rings, someone answers. "Hello~!" The voice on the other end is, shockingly young, and a definite cut more cheerful than you expected, in fact, they sound kinda like Yuki...
"Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?~✩"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 06, 2017, 08:25:40 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 08:26:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 08:30:26 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 06, 2017, 08:35:14 pm
Post by: spümpkin on September 06, 2017, 08:36:41 pm
"Ahem, yes. I am pleased my associates informed you of my prestigious brand when they informed you of our mission. Information about the artifact would be appreciated quickly and concisely. Thank you."
Yoake's face is completely stern.
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 08:40:01 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 08:48:07 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 08:59:38 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 09:07:54 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 06, 2017, 09:08:16 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 06, 2017, 09:12:23 pm
Winter nods "Calling now.""Heck nope~✩" Yuki answers in an equally cheerful tone, as if to hammer home the similarity.
You hear a dial tone and after three rings, someone answers. "Hello~!" The voice on the other end is, shockingly young, and a definite cut more cheerful than you expected, in fact, they sound kinda like Yuki...
"Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?~✩"
"Yup~! Heaven's Draft! It overrides the will of every mundane human in the area and turns them into a supernaturally army lead by the user~✩ So, yeah it can turn any population centre into an army! An individual person under its effects probably won't be too big a threat, but if it goes off in a city, then it's going to be a blood bath~ We th~ink they're also modifying it to be used as some kinda power source for their own stuff, not sure what though. If it does go off, you should be able to safely knock the people out and they'll be fine when you shut it off. Just take it from the user and hit the off button! Anything else~?""Oooooh, magical superweapon being used to power an even worse super weapon! Do we get to battle the evil overlord guy who probably controls it in a race against the clock to save the city (probably making judicious use of the power of friendship)? Because there's always an evil overlord guy trying to use something like that. Just usually there's less maids involved in taking them out."
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 09:19:17 pm
"Heck nope~✩" Yuki answers in an equally cheerful tone, as if to hammer home the similarity.
"Neither have I~✩"
"It has an intense magical signature so you'd be able to feel it's presence using your instincts,
but its emissions are normally suppressed by its casing so don't rely on that... For what not to do... don't use it as a drink coaster! I got shouted at last time I did that >__<
And probably! Doesn't that sound exciting~?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 09:25:31 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 09:28:25 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 06, 2017, 09:32:01 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 09:37:56 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 06, 2017, 09:54:27 pm
"Oh, I need someone to cover my shifts at the cafe! Do you think you could do that?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2017, 09:57:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2017, 08:53:40 am
It's some time after your shift, work has proven to be as dreary as always, possibly more than ever seeing as the shit you see you can no longer write off as hallucinations.
Still, it pays the bills, what few you have nowadays in between moving to the safehouse and Winter informing you of how you can get a salary of sorts for the whole Godslaying gig. That, and whatever the fuck Minato has in stall for you.
Honestly you're not sure how much longer you'll be sticking around here all things considered, and truth be told, despite what you've said, you'll miss it. Okay that's a lie, but you get the point, things are a changing, you've a new life ahead of you, yadda yadda yadda.
Anyway, right now you've running some errands up until your earpiece started pulsing. "Hey, are you busy? Feel like stabbing someone and getting shot in the head again?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 08, 2017, 09:01:46 pm
"Sure! Where do you work?"Yuki gives the girl a quick rundown of the location. "Oh, and it's a maid cafe too. Sooooo I hope you don't mind that too much."
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2017, 09:21:10 pm
Shef
Your phone rings. It's Watanabe.
Post by: Strider03 on September 08, 2017, 09:28:20 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2017, 09:30:10 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 08, 2017, 09:34:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2017, 09:47:34 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 08, 2017, 09:53:51 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2017, 10:18:13 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 08, 2017, 10:21:14 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2017, 10:32:24 pm
"Sorry about that, but yes, it's not too urgent so you can drop those bags off home."
"Long story short, we've received reports of a malevolent Mononoke hiding in the hospital. It's a weak one, only thing going for it is speed, but may as well nip it in the bud. That's where you come in, we'll give you a cover as a surgeon and have you look through. It'll take half an hour tops. Up for it?"
"It's not going to be dangerous, promise."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 08, 2017, 11:15:42 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2017, 11:17:36 pm
"Eeeh? I didn't mean it like that!"
"Too late. Yeah, we'll fill you in on the target when you're ready."
Post by: Strider03 on September 09, 2017, 06:41:16 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 09, 2017, 06:54:32 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 09, 2017, 10:44:18 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 09, 2017, 07:02:20 pm
Okay so you get home, drop off the groceries and get your cover applied. As far as anyone in the hospital's concerned, you'll be a senior surgeon who won't be too amiss in most places. As for what you're hunting, well, it supposedly looks like a childish crayon squiggle given life, last seen lurking around the emergency wards.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 09, 2017, 09:39:12 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 09, 2017, 10:01:13 pm
Surprise, surprise, all the things go wrong!
So it started off fine with you waltzing in, moving quickly, a few glances go your way none of them lingering for long. Now where everything goes wrong is when you actually enter the emergency ward and one of the nurse rushes up and practically starts dragging you into one of the operating rooms "OH THANK GOD! You gotta get in here Doc! He's gonna die! We need a CABG ASAP!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 09, 2017, 10:13:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 09, 2017, 10:30:18 pm
...Oh God. This guy is gonna die. He's just gonna fucking die and you're going to watch.
Unless...
Unless...
"W-wait! Y-you can't be thinking of doing it, can you?"
Maybe it's the panic, maybe it's the heat of the moment, but for god knows what reason, instinct is beginning to take over. The same instincts that allowed you to wield your magic, to hurl your spear. And what that instinct, that gut feeling is telling you right now, is that you can do it.You can save this man's life. You may be better suited for combat but your powers do have a great deal of precision... and if you can somehow just destroy whatever's clogging his heart... Jesus Christ, what the hell are you even thinking?
Okay you got two options, more or less. You could whip out a scalpel, or wind magic, or a fucking spear and just gouge out the cholesterol and pray that it's actually a better idea than it sounds... or... you could leave this guy to his fate, try and find that damn target, and get the fuck outta dodge, your cover's still active at least.
Post by: spümpkin on September 09, 2017, 11:15:16 pm
She sits up, and wanders around the safehouse. She looks into everyone's room, to no avail, bored out of her mind. However, before long she hears Shef on a call with someone... about... a job? Ooo, oo, there's the ticket! She waits until Shef finishes the call, before bouncing to his side, already dressed in her Regalia.
"Hey Sheeeeeeef..."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 10, 2017, 01:01:41 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 10, 2017, 01:32:45 am
"Cut into their chest, this is normally using an oscillating saw but you should have enough power to use something else, expose the heart. Normally you'd hook them up to a machine graft in a healthy blood vessel from somewhere else to go around the blockage and close everything up... but you're not gonna make it. Best shot you have is to use your spear and magic to physically destroy the blockage and hope you can seal everything back up. You're precise, precise enough you might just be able to pull this off."
"What? That's insane!"
"Open heart surgery with a spear tends to be. But if that's the path we're taking, I don't see any better options. We'll try and guide you through it, but the stabbing, you'll have to figure out how to do that yourself."
Okay, deep breaths, focus, focus. This man is going to die right here, right now if it weren't for you. He's dead either way, so it's not like what you're doing will matter much in the grant scheme of things if it fails. Well, the justice system and board of ethics would probably beg to differ, but hey! You're not a real doctor so this can't be medical malpractice and that makes everything better! Okay probably not, but still, swiggity swaggity time to get stabbity.
You can regret this later, right now, you've an operation to do.
オープン•ハート•サージャリー!
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 10, 2017, 06:50:13 am
Post by: spümpkin on September 10, 2017, 07:04:05 am
"Sheeeeef... I'm so booooored heeeeeere... pleeeeeeeeeeeease pleeeeease please let me come with you on this mission! I promise I'll be helpful! You know I'm good at things!"
Post by: Strider03 on September 10, 2017, 07:14:21 am
Post by: spümpkin on September 10, 2017, 06:16:38 pm
"Yay yay yay!!! I promise you'll be happy you decided to let me come!"
She hops behind Shef down the hall.
Post by: Strider03 on September 10, 2017, 06:23:27 pm
Post by: spümpkin on September 10, 2017, 06:39:59 pm
"You bet I do! I got more than one!"
Grabbing Shef's arm, she runs into her garage within the safehouse, and flicks on a light...
So many cars. A lot with the added functionality of boat, too. Most are some neon color, with the least gaudish one being a fast-looking dark blue speedster with bright bedazzlements covering it. Yoake hovers around a hot pink seaplane, awaiting Shef's choice.
Post by: Strider03 on September 10, 2017, 06:52:59 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 10, 2017, 07:44:14 pm
Well, here goes nothing.
Noriko conjured her spear and slashed the weapon across the man's chest, hoping that her strength and the Regalia's keenness was enough to get a clean cut that wouldn't just rip his chest cavity apart. Assuming it went well, she'd open up his chest while doing her best to avoid retching and grab a scalpel to go after the blockage with, using her Requiem rather than her fingers to control it.
Post by: Empiricist on September 10, 2017, 10:55:50 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
Conjuring your spear you slice the patient's chest open, the cut fast and clean, giving you access to your adversary as your wind ensnares a more suitable weapon to turn upon it. But coronary heart disease isn't just going to take it like a bitch, no, it has its own tricks up its cholesterol-sodden sleeves and it retaliates using Summon Minions!
To a battle cry of "HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" and "I THINK THE DOC'S LOST HER MARBLES!" your new foes enter the fray.
Minion, Nurse A has been summoned!
Minion, Nurse B has been summoned!
Minion, Nurse C has been summoned!
Minion, Nurse D has been summoned!
Nurses A and B just kinda scream a lot, it's pretty annoying but not enough to distract you much from your work. Nurse C on the other hand lunges at you, trying to tackle you away from the patient while Nurse D tries to catch your arms and force you down.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 10, 2017, 11:32:40 pm
The AIs in her ear weren't exactly spared either: "HOW THE FUCK DO I DO THIS AND AVOID GETTING ARRESTED HARDER THAN ANYONE HAS EVER BEEN ARRESTED BEFORE"
In the midst of her shouting, however, she's examining any x-rays or anything else of possible use in the room, and trying to use that as a guide to maneuver her wind-controlled scalpel toward the blockage so that she could cut it out.
"WHY DIDN'T WE SEND THE PERSON THAT CAN ACTUALLY HEAL TO DO THIS?!"
Post by: Empiricist on September 11, 2017, 07:06:44 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
While the nurses fail to really restrain you in any meaningful way, they also refuse to listen to your instructions and kinda just obstruct your sight and generally be quite the nuisance. Might not seem like much now but once you start getting that scalpel in, it could be an issue. Well, Nurse C at least. Nurse D sorta just trips over and almost falls face-first into the damn patient, they're still getting back on their feet right now.
"Your cover's still up, just fly out and discard it. They won't be able to trace it back to you."
"S-sorry! We didn't think this would happen!"
Glancing through the imaging equipment you do however manage to locate the blockage no thanks to the nurses, it's a fairly large one, a fatal one, unless of course you gouge that bastard out.
So yeah, Nurse A is running out the door yelling for help, Nurse C is still just being an all round nuisance, D is trying to get back up, and B is kinda just standing there awkwardly while the coronary heart disease glares at you menacingly. Well as menacingly and glare-ily a mass of cholesterol can manage anyway.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 11, 2017, 08:41:41 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 12, 2017, 02:34:13 am
Minato labours quietly in the kitchen, a bead of sweat forming on his brow as he works on....making a bento box. Behind him, a Kumon Group laptop quietly conducted a search of various international databases, supernatural and civilian, for anything on the residents of the Appleton Estate.
He wasn't a bad cook at all; he wasn't exactly trained how to cook, but between wanting to not have to rely on servants like all those spoiled rich kids in anime and needing to eat a lot more to keep up his Kamen Rider-esque lifestyle, he learned. He could cook and make food well enough to survive and enjoy it, but he was no five-star chef.
Bento, of course, wasn't exactly something he was accustomed to making. After all, he just went out and ate at the maid cafe for lunch or on his way back if he needed to eat, or else just ate at home; he was plenty rich enough to do either. But he knew Faith wouldn't want to eat at the maid cafe; he'd seen the look on her face every time she spied one of the lovely ladies at the cafe or even just at the costume. As disappointed as he was, Minato felt like forcing the issue wouldn't go well.
He could, of course, just invite her out to a date at a nice restaurant, but it felt like he'd just be trying to show off his money. After all, Faith was from America, and she was pretty, well, pretty; most guys probably would've tried dating her and bringing her to nice places. So that was off the table; Minato didn't want to just be another suitor. He wanted to make this the best he could for her, as he did all the other times.
So a garden date with homecooked food it was. Minato insisted on making the food himself against the protests of the family chef; he'd pointed out that, otherwise, there was no point in him not having just invited her to a good restaurant out in Tokyo proper.
That, of course, didn't remove the fact that he was struggling a little with the bento box. He sighs as he flattens another failed rice ball.
".....Good grief."
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2017, 08:39:43 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
So, you shove C out the fucking door. They do a good job of resisting, not good enough though and you eventually manage to force them out. Eventually because Nurse A's screaming had summoned minions in the form of a security guard and two good (if this even counts as "good") samaritans who were trying to get in the same time you were trying to clear the room. Before any of the fallen civilians can get back up you rush over to the patient and engage your foe, trying your weapon into them.
They're wounded now, staggered too, but they're standing their ground and not about to fall yet, plus due to really just amounting to a cholesterol deposit they aren't too vulnerable to stabbing, even with your enhanced strike destroying part of them outright. Still you do have an entry point for a wind magic attack though you'd have to be pretty damn careful with in.
By now B has fainted, D has finally gotten back up and is trying to put you into a bear hug and...
Oh great. So uh, Security A is getting back on their feet with a fucking taser and Samaritan B looks like they're about to try and fucking spear tackle you, which normally wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that you have a fucking open heart surgery going on behind you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Meanwhile...
New Scene: Yuki
Welp, the Sealer's arrived. Elly's the name. Just Elly, no last name apparently. And surprise, surprise, like every other damn Godslayer around here she's dressed like a complete twat. Neat, conservative, monochrome, that's her attire, sort of like what you'd expect from the member of the clergy, without wearing anything you'd actually expect from a member of the clergy, her outfit consisting of a black hoodie with a touch of silver, black gloves, grey pants and a pair of high boots leaving no part of her visible at all, not even her face, framed in impenetrable shadows out from which two vertical bars of silvery light glow, acting as stylised eyes.
Post by: spümpkin on September 13, 2017, 03:08:31 pm
"How'd. What. They let you build a garage into the safehouse? Uh, hmm. Let's take the blue one. Don't want attention, alright?" How rich was this teenager? And getting this built into the safehouse too. . . It occurred to him that having knowing Yoake was could be extremely useful. Annoying maybe, but certainly useful.
"They sure did! It wasn't easy, but I have my ways..." She winks.
"Aww... that one? That's the least cool one. It's still cool because it's one of my designs, but it's just blue. Fiiiiine, we'll take that."
Yoake heads to the deep blue car, and she sits in the drivers seat, putting on a pair of black sunglasses which seem to reflect stars, despite you being inside and it being daytime.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 13, 2017, 03:28:52 pm
Alteration to 6.
Post by: Strider03 on September 13, 2017, 03:45:32 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 14, 2017, 04:25:39 am
In one of the many apartment complexes in Sendo, the blonde American transfer student sat at her desk. She didn't have to do as much work as Minato did preparing for this date, she didn't have to prepare a meal or anything (Minato, dashing image of chivalry that he was, had already offered to make a meal for them), she just had to get herself looking presentable and then go meet Minato at the garden he'd picked out.
Yet Faith still found herself in something of a panic. What if Minato turned out to not be that interested in her? What if she got all depressing and ruined everything? What if Minato was so disappointed by her wearing normal clothes and not a maid outfit that he hated the whole date? Well, alright, that last one was totally ridiculous. But Faith was NOT used to getting this much positive attention, and it was whipping her up into a bit of a tizzy... maybe, she figured, a shower would help.
Faith reflected that she was right as she stepped into the legholes of her pink undergarments in the bathroom. That shower had been relaxing and calming, and though she was obviously still worried, she reflected that if she stood there and hesitated she would miss the date. So she pulled her panties up, put on her bra, and riffled through her dresser looking for things to wear. That shortish but still innocent blue skirt? Perfect. That cute red shirt of hers? Also perfect. Well, she looked presentable now for sure, but she hoped she also looked pretty! Nothing to do about it now but go, though...
Faith headed out the door, making her way to the gardens Minato had pointed out.
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2017, 11:47:57 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
In spite of the magical gale, Samaritan B actually manages to press forwards, they've lost most of their momentum but they're still advancing, you might have to actually have to shove them out of the way... or Guard A could just tase them like an idiot. Wow, you barely had to even had to even mess up their aim because it was so terrible in the first place. Nurse D meanwhile has way more luck and manages to bear hug you. It's well, annoying, but you weren't really doing your surgery using your arms anyway, though they're trying to force you down proves to be fairly distracting.
Goddamn it, this is getting annoying, so much noise so much distraction. You're forcing air in there but you haven't really needed to do anything like this before so it's pretty hard to get the wind blade to manifest without just slicing open the artery or forcing the blockage deeper.
You need more time. You need to focus. A bit of an issue seeing as Security A is dropping his taser and running in to help drag you down. God fucking damn it.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 16, 2017, 10:24:34 am
"Guess it can't be helped. I'll have a look later."
Minato sighs as the search is, seemingly for the moment, unsuccessful. He looks over at the bento boxes he wrapped, one for himself and one for Faith; not exactly artisanal masterpieces, but given Minato wasn't exactly trained in the art of making a good-looking bento box, and given he was in a hurry, not exactly bad-looking either. And the food was decently cooked.
The boy looks at himself in the mirror, adjusting the collar of his jet-black suit. Minato was always into wearing good, tailored suits; his parents had always told him that his grandmother was the same way with dresses, wanting to look always presentable and sharp. In many ways, Minato was very much a mirror of Yukari Kumon, dress sense, appreciation of the opposite sex and treatment of the opposite sex included. This suit, of course, wasn't exactly businesswear; it was specifically eveningwear, falling well across Minato's athletic frame, complete with a red tie to stand out against the black undershirt.
And the way both Kumon scions treated the opposite sex was to look as good for them and treat them as good as possible. Minato also slotted the Gaia Driver into his pocket; though wearing it right now wouldn't be the best idea, Aramitama had a tendency of popping up at the most inconvenient of times.
He pauses. Tsukasa had told him something had changed within the Driver, something due to Minato's overuse of the Dai-Henshin mode, something she'd spoken to him about a few hours ago, when he went to have his Driver checked. Minato rubs his chin in thought, before smiling.
"Well, if I'm going on a date, best go in style, right?"
He holds the Gaia Driver to his waist, as the belt materialises.
"Henshin!"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 20, 2017, 02:08:48 am
Thankfully, having brought out her bike Faith found that she was pretty much okay on that front, and despite her precarious phone-carrying ride she got to the gardens without any scrapes or crashes! When she actually got into the gardens, she was rather immediately pleased with Minato's choice of location for the date. A burbling little brook, bright green grass, and vibrant flowers and bushes... it was a beautiful display of nature, and Faith couldn't help but immediately be assuaged of some her nervousness... if just a little bit. Faith really liked nature -- unassuming, often placid, sometimes energetic, and very frequently beautiful. Yeah, even though she was now just waiting for Minato to show up, Faith had a good feeling about this date.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 20, 2017, 02:34:28 am
Faith can hear the faint sound of fanfare playing nearby as she shows up. The sound of a very loud motorcycle seems to be drawing closer and closer, along with the sound of the fanfare. Before she can wonder what the noise is, however, the source finally rounds the corner towards the gardens.
It's Minato in Masked Knight Gaia form.
On what appears to be a golden motorcycle, green lines running throughout the body's contours with equally verdant headlights and what appear to be green, wing-like fins folded up on the side of the rear wheels. The food is on a bag strapped to the back of the motorcycle, clinging on as Minato speeds towards her, music blaring. He slows down almost instantaneously once he gets close enough to her, the food barely wobbling despite the force of the sudden stop as the boy clambers off his bike, demorphs to remove his armor and catches the food as it falls off the now-disappearing bike, all in one swift, suave motion.
He smirks at Faith as he strolls towards her, adjusting his collar as if he hadn't just shown up the way he did.
"You wait long for me?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 20, 2017, 04:55:51 pm
Alteration to 6, Vayvayastra using the other 6.
Post by: spümpkin on September 22, 2017, 04:31:49 am
"You design cars. As in, just the exterior, or the whole thing?" To be entirely honest, Shef was both already regretting this, and at the same time rapidly becoming infected with curiosity. The girl couldn't be more than twenty, eighteen or nineteen if he had to guess, and yet she apparently taught a sport, designed cars, and was insanely rich. From what he could tell, she wasn't the heir to an illustrious family like Minato, and so Shef was left with many questions desperately in need of answers.Yoake rolls her eyes at him. "Yes, the whole thing. I'm pretty smart, yanno? I got a pretty good understandin' of physics, and I worked with some of my company to produce this whole garage. But yeah, let's get this started!"
Yoake revs the car, obviously excited to do something more than sit around at home.
Post by: Strider03 on September 22, 2017, 06:24:23 am
Post by: Twinwolf on September 22, 2017, 09:49:23 pm
New Scene: Yuki"Heeeey! Yuki says cheerfully to the girl. "You're the one we talked to on the phone, right? Or was that someone else? It wasn't a video call and you haven't talked yet so I don't know."
Welp, the Sealer's arrived. Elly's the name. Just Elly, no last name apparently. And surprise, surprise, like every other damn Godslayer around here she's dressed like a complete twat. Neat, conservative, monochrome, that's her attire, sort of like what you'd expect from the member of the clergy, without wearing anything you'd actually expect from a member of the clergy, her outfit consisting of a black hoodie with a touch of silver, black gloves, grey pants and a pair of high boots leaving no part of her visible at all, not even her face, framed in impenetrable shadows out from which two vertical bars of silvery light glow, acting as stylised eyes.
Post by: Empiricist on September 23, 2017, 02:56:19 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
For an instant, the air stills. For an instant, everything becomes quiet. And then it comes, an unearthly howl. A gale so strong, so forceful, it could easily slice clean through a man, bones and all if you had wished it. You hadn't of course, you're pissed off, not a psychopath. But that just means you don't even need to focus it, hone it to a sharpened, no, you just make it push, and push it does, all that power focused on launching the damn interlopers out of the room.
From the outside, it'd have looked almost cartoonish, a bunch of people trying to run into the room, only to be launched out one by one, landing in an awkward pile, sore and confused, but otherwise unharmed.
Nurse A has been ejected from combat!
Nurse B has been ejected from combat!
Nurse C has been ejected from combat!
Nurse D has been ejected from combat!
Samaritan A has been ejected from combat!
Samaritan B has been ejected from combat!
Security A has been ejected from combat!
On top of that, you've already dealt a heavy blow to the blockage, blasting a good chunk of it out. Still you can't celebrate just yet, that attack may have been effective, but for one it has come at the cost of disabling your wind manipulation for now, and for the other...
WARNING! SUPERMASSIVE AIR EMBOLISM HAS ENTERED THE COMBAT AREA!
Yeah er, you just gave the guy a supermassive air embolism. Do you know what a massive air embolism is? Doesn't matter if you don't, Winter's quickly giving you a brief summary of it. But basically in the context of this surgical operation, it's when a significant quantity of air enters the patient's blood vessels, and as you can tell by the fact that in spite of being a medical term it sounds like a rejected Mad Max villain, it's pretty bad. It's rare, it's often fatal, and it's happening right fucking now.
Sorta.
See, a massive air embolism if left alone will kill a patient through a heart attack or stroke by disrupting the blood flow in one of those organs. But here? With the amount of air that got pumped into this guy? It's a supermassive air embolism, which, isn't even a proper medical term, at least, not yet. And the main difference in outlook between it and the regular version is that you replace the the phrase "disrupting the blood flow in" with "violently detonating". Yeah, it's not gonna be pretty.
And more pressingly, it's gonna kill the guy before you can get your wind manipulation back up and running. So, how do you stop it? Well, as Winter notes, and as Enn points out is absolutely fucking insane... you can stab it out. Fucking take your spear, and stab at the embolism, give it somewhere out to go.
What the fuck is your life right now?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Yuki
"Of course silly~! Who else would I be~?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 23, 2017, 03:29:45 am
Alteration to 4.
Post by: Empiricist on September 23, 2017, 03:51:25 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
There is a sound like a gunshot, a sonic boom as a jet of blood surges out of your incision and sprays all over the ceiling. Okay, that, really isn't too bad, the guy's got plenty of blood, and besides those stains while large were made by a pretty small amount of blood. Thing is, you'll probably find it quite hard to explain that to the nice men now outside the door. The four security guards brandishing batons and tasers, who are currently looking at a seemingly insane surgeon standing over a patient with blood all over the fucking ceiling, brandishing a spear.
Minion, Security B has been summoned!
Minion, Security C has been summoned!
Minion, Security D has been summoned!
Minion, Security E has been summoned!
It gets pretty damn noisy now. Not only are they shouting at you to lower your weapon, with a chittering hiss, a vaguely arachnid phantasm roughly the size of a basketball with body comprised of empty black triangles that seem to phase in and out of reality, skitters out into view. It's currently lunging at the patient's face.
"Damn it, not now... You're target's here, and it's hungry."
Target, Phase Stalker has been summoned!
This is gonna suck.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on September 24, 2017, 02:56:34 am
...Faith wasn't sure whether she should swoon or laugh, really. It was all too much, almost. Well, Faith did manage not only not to laugh, but to keep her face straight (a good thing - the American girl would feel positively awful if she hurt his feelings)... so she ended up just looking a little bit stunned more than anything else. Then he asked if he had kept her waiting.
"Oh, um, uh... not long, no. Uh... I've only been here for around... five or ten minutes, I think?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 24, 2017, 03:02:26 am
"Oh, good. Traffic was pretty bad on the way up here and I didn't really want to keep you waiting. It'd be a bad impression, y'know? First date and all and I'm late for it? That'd be pretty embarrassing. Heh."
He rubs the back of his head a little bit, as if trying to collect his composure a little.
"So, shall we? Sit down and eat, I mean?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 24, 2017, 03:07:32 am
Ouch, a little bit over-eager of a response, there. Uh, well, OK, just had to keep going!
Faith patted the grass next to where she was sitting.
"It was really nice of you to point this place out and bring food and everything, Minato! What did you bring?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 24, 2017, 03:11:47 am
He checked them by opening them ever so slightly. They were mostly intact despite his romp around town on a high-speed bike. He sighs in relief, before looking back to Faith.
"Oh, I just made some bento for us both. It's not much, but I did say I wanted a bit of the personal touch here, hm?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 28, 2017, 02:07:09 am
"Oh, wow! It really does mean a lot that you'd go out of your way to do this, you know."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 28, 2017, 01:32:26 pm
Minato lets Faith pick a place to sit on the mat before sitting to face her.
"So, how's life?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 28, 2017, 01:57:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2017, 10:15:58 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
Security proves to be as easy to deal with as always, your spear throw succeeding in tripping them as they yell and try to fire their tasers in vain. You're not entirely convinced they'd have done much even if they had hit you. The Phase Stalker on the other hand proves to be a little more, troublesome. You drive your spear into it, but unlike the other foes you've fought before, this one doesn't just take it like a slut. Instead it seems to flicker and the next moment, it's racing along your spear, an elongated tendril crystallizing into the air as it attempts to slash you in the face and launch itself backwards with the impact.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on September 30, 2017, 03:28:27 pm
And then, as soon as he is done talking, she exits the garage and drives on, lightning fast down the streets. She is apparently, a pretty good driver. Although she doesn't have much respect for road rules. After some more speedy driving, Yoake parks up next to the appropriate building, and waits at the entrance for Shef.
Post by: Strider03 on October 01, 2017, 08:54:27 am
Post by: Powder Miner on October 02, 2017, 01:03:16 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 02, 2017, 09:55:09 am
"Y-you think so? Heh. Well, I try. Most girls don't tend to appreciate it, but....well, you're....pretty cool too."
Hoo. It seems she's finally caught him off guard with something.
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 04, 2017, 02:09:50 am
At least she got a break from the surgery.
Post by: Empiricist on October 04, 2017, 03:28:37 am
The doorway opens up in a living room, the living room holds a couch, and the couch holds your target. Clean shaven, casual clothes, checking his phone. Unremarkable, middle men often are. Enforcers? Those vary, depends on what they're here to do, and the ones here? They're here to protect, they're here to kill, memorability be damned. Black Halos. Two of them. Ranged models, you can tell by armaments, the armaments they've just conjured in response to your portal. Attentive, unsurprising trait for snipers, though here for the closer quarters they've conjured shotguns. They're backing away, training their weapons at the door. Target's slower to react, a bit of time to notice what his enforcers are doing. They have be built for battle, but he certainly ain't. He scrambles behind a desk, reaching for a gun. That won't help. Not the desk, not the gun. This ain't a Hollywood film, the first won't stop a bullet, the second won't have a chance to fire one. He's lucky you want him alive.
The constructs shouldn't be much trouble, not for yourself, not for your partner, main concern's the noise, Yoake's Requiem can deal with that that but you probably won't have much for cover once that goes off, not that it should be too much of a problem.
Here're World Lines, you're not gonna need them.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Noriko
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
With something that could charitably be called a squeak, the Phase Stalker twists in the air, seeking to evade your strike. It flickers a second time, seemingly glitching out of reality and to the side by mere inches as evade your punch and bringing its tendril clashing against your intercepting spear with a parry that sends it flying backwards. It's intact, mostly. It seems to be missing a chunk of its body, likely from your wind blade. Couldn't have been much more than a graze, but even that seems to deal a fair bit of damage to it.
Security C and D get back on their feet, and aim their tasers back at you.
The patient's vital signs are becoming more erratic now.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 04, 2017, 07:11:58 am
Shef will take a few steps to the left, wait for Yoake to change the setting, and then make a portal to have her hit the Halos from an unexpected direction. He will also fire a few shots of his own at the other Halo.
[4] 3 3 5 3 5 3 4 4 5
Post by: Twinwolf on October 05, 2017, 07:00:51 pm
Yuki"An alien, an assassin, an aramitama..." Yuki began listing off a series of viable (in her mind) alternatives. "Buuut you're probably not any of those."
"Of course silly~! Who else would I be~?"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 06, 2017, 03:06:54 am
"Thanks, and, eheh, 95% of the time you are in fact super cool."
Post by: Empiricist on October 06, 2017, 04:59:31 am
As soon as the words leave your mouth you find yourself being hoisted by the scruff of your neck, a voice booming from behind "A fellow Godslayer! I am in need of your services, will you come with us?"
"Hmm..." Elly pauses for a moment resting her hand against her chin (or at least you think it's her chin, you can't see anything inside the hood) thoughtfully. "Fifty bucks."
"What?"
"Well I'm entitled to some compensation aren't I? I mean I came all the way here to Sendo and now you're dragging away my adorable little tour guide! > _ <"
"That's absurd! You can't just speak for her!"
"Twenty."
Another voice comes from behind you, a quieter voice, relaxed and lacking the intensity of whoever's holding you.
"Wha-? Pia you-"
"That should be more than enough for a cake and a drink while you wait."
"Twenty? That's way too little! I'm a busy girl you know! My time's worth waaay more! ☆"
"Twenty-five."
"Seriously, shouldn't we-"
"Thirty!"
"Thirty it is."
With that, this Pia girl walks forward into your field of vision. She looks remarkably plain. Nothing about her really screams 'Awakened', she isn't sketchy, she isn't absurdly energetic, hell even her hair and eyes are just shades of 'side-character brown'. Okay yeah she is dressed in a maid outfit, but it's not even a super special ninja maid costume with a cherry on top, it's just a cosplay of Joan Higgins III from Studio Alienchair's hit series マグナム・ピー・アイ, which if you had to guess, is mainly so she can carry her around a pump action shotgun, silenced pistol, combat knife, and tomahawk around without her intentions being questioned. And those weapons aren't even glowing! They're just, actual mundane weapons spray painted black with the occasional bit of orange.
That's the general read on her at least, well until you notice something a little odd... this girl, she doesn't have a shadow.
Quote from: Twinwolf
Despite the fact Yuki could in all likelihood (at least in her mind) escape the current harsh grip on her, she stays there. Her legs were tired anyway~ "Oooooh, am I getting dragged off to adventure~?" she cheerfully asks. She didn't particularly comment on being called adorable but was glad for the compliment. "I think I'm worth more than thirty deer, you know. Unless you're like, mega-conservationists. Like those PETA guys who keep getting shown as terrorists in shows and stuff. Why is that anyway...?" she cuts her tangent short.
Alrighty then, enough about deer and things. Being hoisted up, fine. Can chainsaw that if needed. Pia person (oh that's fun, pia person pia person... heh.) is in front now, pulls off the maid outfit well although she totally would look better in a ninja maid costume (oooh, or pirate maid! Yar har master~ She could get a bonus for proposing that theme for a day!). Lots of weapons but none of them are really fancy. Like Shif. Shep. Chef? Whatever. Like him (dang, need to remember the name better). Functional mostly. Annnd no shadow. Ok, what's the betting she uses her missing shadow as a weapon. Or is a demon. Or isn't really there. Not a vampire though, that's reflections. Do ghosts disturb light particles or something? Annnyway probably magic powers going on. Coool. So she just waits for her question to be responded to. The first, not the second.
"Indeed you are! We must retake a leyline before our enemies fortify it further!"
"Fine, I'll cover the difference then!"
Quote from: Twinwolf
"Oooh, magic adventure! I think that's what leylines are anyway, whole lot of different versions but most are magical I think. How's that work, fortifying it anyway?"
"They've erected a Sanctuary over it, if we can get in and destroy what's keeping it up, they'll be forced to retreat."
Quote from: Twinwolf
"Ooooh. Let's go then!" Despite Yuki's enthusiastic declaration, she is still being held up by someone and can't actually get going.
"Let us get going then! Time is of the essence!"
"Bring her back in one piece!"
He drops you, and as you turn around you find yourself face-to-face, or rather, face-to-bare-abs with an utter behemoth of a man, whatever animeness Pia was lacking, this guy more than made up for clad in a gladiator's helm and trousers that are secured by what appears to be a wrestling championship belt. He radiates power, like a star, some sort of hypothetical star oiled-up and subsisting entirely on protein shakes.
Quote from: Twinwolf
"Thank you for putting me down!" Yuki says cheerily, before turning to the one she'd come to meet. "I'll be riiiight back, just a bit of murder first. Heroic murder! Probably! The aramitama's a bad guy so killing them is heroic I think." She turns back to the supremely anime person. "Oh, looking good! You must work out a lot. Let's go, then!" she points in a pretty much random direction since she doesn't know where they're going.
"This isn't the work of an Aramitama, there's some Mononoke behind it."
The leyline as it turns out wasn't too far a walk from where you work, its position overlapping a modest commerical building. As the three of you breach the Sanctuary, the world seems to flicker several dozen times, like the snapping of a camera's shutter, with flicker, part of the world desaturating and being replaced with what lies within.
Where you stand outside now is a featureless platform of pure white, its edges extending far out in every direction, Its edges sheer drops over blocky precipices into the abyss below, the only structure here being a greyscale copy of the commercial building, everything past the first three floors missing more and more chunks, with nothing past what little there is for the fifth. The only color here is in the wood and steel barricades sealing the doors and windows from prying eyes, the barricades blocking the main doors before you.
How do you wanna play this?
Quote from: Twinwolf
Yuki had been sneaking (as well as sneaky as a loud, chuuni maid can be) towards the place where the Sanctuary lay, moving from cover to cover that doesn't actually hide her well and only gets a couple glances from the people who want to see the weirdo cosplayers.
As they come to the door, Yuki looks at the ones with her, gestures to the door, and then to her chainsaw. "Is there any particular reason not to just chainsaw this door down and go in suuuuper loud?" she questions. "Well I guess they might be expecting that. Main doors and all. But then, they might know we know that and instead trap the side doors..." she continued muttering in this string of "we know but they might know we know..." until recieving a response.
"Front and sides will definitely be covered. I can try blasting through a wall but they might have enough time reposition before I'm through."
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
"Is there a way up on the roof? That way in isn't the front or side! And is really cool, besides."
"Maybe, I can both of you up, but if we get spotted, I won't be able to fight unless I let go."
"What if we start on one side and then go around?"
Quote from: Twinwolf
"We can do that! I'm just going to follow your lead on that, I've never been a tactics-y person."
"Okay, when you guys hear the gunshots wait a few seconds, then breach."
She darts off around the corner. A few seconds later you hear the roar of a shotgun soon followed by the chatter of return fire.
Quote from: Twinwolf
Yuki idly counts off on her fingers after the shots. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... been a few seconds! She revs the chainsaw and charges (chainsaw-first) at the wall, trying to break it down (preferably in a way that does not end with debris on her head or structural collapse of the building...).
コンバット•スタート!
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You charge forth and cleave straight through the barricade. Behind it, the entrance opens up into a lobby of sorts, broken glass still reeking of alcohol strewn across the floor and through the air like barbed wire as to slow your advance. Emblazoned across the wall directly in front of you, black on beige, is an eye sigil the words below it reading Nii-chan Is Watching.
From the lobby there are only two real ways to go, left and right, metal barriers giving cover to the defenders with more glass strewn in front to blunt any would-be assaults.
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
It is here, caught between two fortified positions that you find yourself being fired upon, bullets streaking from both sides.
There's four of them, two on each side, beings seemingly formed of paint striped black and purple, wide strips of liquid pigment twisted to into the form of something reminiscent of animated mummy wrappings crossed with hooded cloaks, assaults rifles chattering away with bursts of betwitched munitions as their weilders bark into their comms with voices sharp and low, slurred with alcohol and punctuated with bursts of static.
"Contact! Hostiles breaching main entrance. We need backup bro!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Yuki quickly fires off a heal on herself (because owowow) [Salvation of the Goddess, second 4]. "Hello! We're here to get you off the leyline 'cause we kinda need it I think." she cheerfully states, before charging towards one side of the fortifications (using her chainsaw to chop away anything getting in her way). She avoids the glass mostly by way of just jumping over it and landing between two of them, relying on the shield to take the brunt of their fire. "This is going to hurt you much more than it will hurt me~" she says, before putting out a wide sweep with her weapon.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
Your ally doesn't really charge or take cover or anything, he just fucking stands upright amidst the hail of fire. "You! The vulgarians who seek to become the opressors, the jailed who seek to become the jailors, we have come to halt you! We have come to take back what is rightfully ours! This city, we built it with hopes and our dreams, and sweat and our tears! It is not yours to take. What arrogance, what impertinence is it for you to lay claim upon it? To claim its people, to claim their freedom? We have come for the leyline, nothing more! Stand down and you shall be spared! Fight and there shall be blood! What say you?"
The shooting continues.
"Then blood there shall be."
Healing yourself, cleave apart the glass ensnaring, the sustained fire quickly breaking whittling down your shield, too late though. By then you're already free. Leaping across the room you bring your chainsaw down with a wide sweep, tearing Neophyte B's head clean off in a spray of paint, their hollow body crumpling to the floor. Neophyte A proves to be a little to fast, quickly ducking under the barrier, sparks flying where your weapon connects with the emplacement just above their head.
Beyond here, the hallway turns right with two more wooden barricades sealing the rooms between the emplacement and corner, a machinegun turret with a clear ballistics barrier sits unattended behind another row of glass and, nest of beer cans, its operator having abandoned their post in the earlier commotion.
Neophyte B drops their rifle, drawing a pistol and combat knife as they prepare to counter your next move while
C and D continue firing from the opposite emplacement.
Pia pokes her head out from the main entrance, quickly surveying the situation.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
"Ooooh, good dodge! Iiiiit's not gonna help you though." Yuki says as she darts forth, chainsaw going for a chop as she heals herself (without a hyper this time). Try to have Tamura Assist if possible, and when they get over there heal them too
(So basically, if Yuki can't finish the guy Tahmuras will come here himself to help. Otherwise, after being Yuki-healed, he'll make his way to the other end of the hallway to deal with them Pia can scan these guys.)
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
Raising your weapon high you bring it down on the barrier, the regalia less a chainsaw and more an axeblade at this point as it cleaves down through the emplacement and Neophyte A's shoulder and into where their heart would be, if they had one. Not that it proves to be any less lethal. With its dying breaths the Watcher barks one last time into its comms "Position A's overrun! Send back up!"
Meanwhile in the hallway Pia's doing a little bit of talking of her own as she pulls out her phone, holding it with one hand and firing her handgun at the other Watchers with the other. "Hello? Tech support? ...Yes, I'm having a bit of trouble with one of your products, I'm not sure what the model name is, but they're striped, purple, and appear to be armed with assualt rifles. ...No, I haven't tried turning them off and on, could you tell me how?"
With his lovely assistant providing a bit of suppressive fire, Tahmuras barrels back down the hallway, through the glass and now-blindfired munitions, forcing his way over to the barriers. He brings a fist against the palisade, a deep dent forming as it buckles. "I will break you."
There's a flicker of movement and suddenly there's three more Watchers at your position further down the corridor. They're a little thinner, both in build and paint with glass pylons of amber fluid protruding from their backs. They move fast, impossibly fast, seemingly flickering and teleporting through the air as they rush towards you, bearing paddles studded with blades of obsidian. You're gonna go out on a limb here and guessing they're planning on rushing and paddling you.
From the other hallway something else emerges, another Watcher, this one with the word "wizard" practically written all over it. Its cloak is larger, more pronunced, its hood broodier, drawn over their head, or rather their lack thereof, the shadows beneath the cowl concealing nothing for there is nothing, a single glowing eye sigl projected into the air right in front of it, and around its neck float large runic greek letters. Yeeeep, definitely a mage. With a staff of stacked beer cans it gestures towards the barrier Tahmuras just punched which now begins to shudder with vibrant energies.
"On my mark bros!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
First up:
Suggest that Pia try to cap the mage with her gun. Maybe analyze what he's doing. If neither are feasible, try to help out with the hazeborn.
Also recommend that Tahmuras get out of the way so he doesn't get rekt by that spell.
Since Yuki's on the other end...
"Hey, no paddling! That's rude. And generally something pervs or drunk people would do. But then I'm pretty sure you're all drunk off your butts, and probably evil too sooooo you won't live long enough to get sober!" Yuki says with all cheerfullness. She sends another small heal (non-hyper, just off defense) heal Tahmuras' way to give him a shield, and then pops another of the same sort on herself before jumping to action - ...Buuut not at the Hazeborn. They need to blink - and by the time they do, she's gone.
Annnnd she's right fucking behind the mage, chainsaw whirring as she tries to chop him vertically with a SUPRISE ATTACK (OF JUSTICE)
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
A gunshot, an explosion.
The roar of a regalia, the flash of a blade.
And impact, force and magic clashing in a brief cacophany of light and violence.
With a sonorous boom, the barrier detonates, expanding into a wall of force, the sonic shockwave blowing Tahmuras off his feet, the wall deflecting Pia's incoming fire. On that signal the remaining Neophytes nod to each other and swing back up into a rising position saturating the air with fire from behind the safety of the temporary forcefield.
In that moment, you were where you were no longer, now behind the Tikilord dropping your weapon in a cleaving blow. But something's wrong, you're off balance, your shield's broken, something hit you. A blade of obsidian, swung with killing intent, slicing into your spine the instant before you vanished. But how? The Hazeborn weren't in range yet. You teleported before they could even swing. Unless, unless...
You notice something, past the sonic wall, past Tahmuras, it was the Hazeborn that struck you. It was further out ahead, it was behind where you stood. In an instant it had closed the distance, in an instant it had struck you from behind. It seems you're not the only one with a teleport here.
No matter, you bring down your weapon.
It's, a hit, not the sorta hit you were hoping for, it's a hit. You cleaved into the Tikilord's shoulder before it manages to shift and start blocking with its staff, the wounded mage holding their ground for now. "Fall back back bros!" "Cover him!"
The runes expand and rush out, ringing around around you and soon to bombard you with bolts of energy. At the same time, their master steps backwards to disengage, swinging their staff up as to try and force your weapon out of the way before slamming the now flame-wreathed staff into the ground. During this, the Neophytes look as though they plan to run past you and man the machinegun (it seems that the setup here is identical to the one on the other side).
The Hazeborn continue rushing towards Tahmuras, but you've a feeling he's just a side gig. You're attacking their mage, so they're probably gonna try and gank you, lovely.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Try to brute-force the mage back - don't let their staff reach the ground and try to follow through to attack if possible. Using the current 4 for a hyper-heal, and then prepare for the hazeborn to reach. Have Tahmuras rush the neophytes going for the gun, have Pia continue analysis.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
With staff well on its way onto the ground, it's not exactly easy to stop it now. Charge forwards and they'll just use your weapon as a pivot to slam the butt down, not ideal. And with the staff in motion and runes soon to discharge you're running out of time. Releasing one hand from your regalia you let them force it upwards, using your now-free hand to grab the staff and drive your chainsaw right against the side, shields going up right as the bolts slam against your body, and the mage slams against the wall. You come out of that, well, it could've been worse. Could've been better as well, especially if a certain asshole didn't fucking slash you coming out of the debris. Neophyte B is just gone, splattered across the other wall and Tahmuras is quickly closing on C, chances are it won't be reaching that gun on time. With Pia still just standing at the door way talking to tech support, that just leaves you, off-balance and standing amidst broken glass, a concussed mage, and a meanies with their two friends trailing behind in a soon-to-be clusterfuck.
Now the mage raises their burning staff again, apparently deciding fuck it, they've committed to and may as well keep on trying, Hazeborn A goes for a swing at your head, C goes for a low sweeping swing and B tries to paddle you in the backside.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Alteration to the first 5, use the last 5 for another teleportstab behind the mage. Try to kill them as hard as possible, and then go after the nearest Hazeborn. Dropping a resolve point to make sure this goes well.
Tahmuras can keep doing what he's doing, Pia continue her scan.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
Before the Hazbeorn can strike you're gone, and this time you don't get whacked on the way out. Before they can do anything you've driven your weapon through the mage and are now wrenching it out of their corpse. The remaining Neophyte, seemingly intangible to the glass manages to race over to the emplacement and aim it at Tahmuras, who by then was standing right in front of it, one machine gun to the head later, the watcher is dead and Tahmuras has a gun.
The Hazeborns seem to teleport again, appearing around you in formation readying for a series of wild slashes. On the other side of the hallway in a V-formation, five new figures appear. At its front is a a new kind of Watcher, an Alumnus, the paint that forms their body hardened into a solid carapace of arcane fordite, the black stripes thicker and more pronounced, giving them a more distinctly armored appearance somewhere between knight and insect. Leading the squad's dash for cover, it grabs the machine gun emplacement, firing covering shots with its rifle down the corridor as a shadowy aura pulses out from its body. To its left is a Tikilord its burning staff hurling a lance of fire towards your position, to its right is a Tactical, something sorta like a Neophyte albeit a little bit larger with an appearance that more closely ressembles a ghillie suit and paired with a sniper rifle it's currently taking aim at Pia with. Flanking the trio are a pair of Hazelords, which are yeah, imagine Hazeborns with larger paddles, shotguns, and more beer, those two don't really move, they just sorta stand there, waiting.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on October 07, 2017, 12:15:50 am
Afterwards, she uses Shef's portal to travel behind one of the Halo's, butt-first.
[Alteration Used: 4 instead of 2]
[
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 07, 2017, 12:58:15 am
Also alteration to 5 because I'm not taking a 1 on this.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 07, 2017, 01:03:29 am
Despite the fact that she's somewhat blushing herself, Faith does seem to be rather amused by the sudden breakdown of Minato's cool, if her mischievous grin is any indication. She pokes his nose.Minato rubs the back of his head, clearly trying to collect himself.
"Thanks, and, eheh, 95% of the time you are in fact super cool."
"Heheh.....well, I try. The ladies aren't always so appreciative."
Post by: Empiricist on October 07, 2017, 01:43:54 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
It took you five seconds, probably less. Five seconds, that's all the time the constructs were worth. Requiem went off and before it the scenery was done changing they were aiming, wings lengthening with bayonets, shotguns flaring with black flames, a shame they weren't aiming the right way. Yoake rushes in through the portal, ass-first towards A, which to its credit dodges. It did not dodge her second strike. B immediately spins around bringing its barrel to face her, a swift leap backwards buying it enough time to aim it and enough time for Shef to lock-on. Both were down before they could even fire.
As for your target, he's... oh. Wow, that's kinda pathetic, he's uh, trying to escape. He's trying to swim. The guy's trying to swim, fully dressed, away from you two - a man with a gun, and a lady in a swimsuit, the act made even more futile by the fact that there isn't actually anywhere for him to even swim to.
You may wanna stop him before he tires himself out and drowns.
Noriko
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Big Blast Sonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F577tB8JvOc) | ] |
Now, for reasons that I can't even begin to comprehend, you decide to fucking jam a magical spear into your patient's heart and pole vault off of them. So uh, you do that. Fucking stab him right in the heart and leap. Security C is screaming, Security D is screaming, none of them are even firing, and as you disengage your spear in a spray of arterial blood, you hear the distinct sound of E fainting and thudding on the floor. You careen straight into the wall spear-first missing the Phase Stalker by less than an inch as it flickers just out of the way, your follow-up slash proving move successful, gouging a shallow channel into the wall and splitting the phantasm in two.
In the stunned silence that follows, the only noise is the electronic beeping of the equipment as it slows and steadies.
"Y-you, did it! You saved him!"
"Unless you're planning on earning some extra credit for your medical school application, I'd suggest leaving, the nurses can handle the rest. Enn will need a bit of time to remove your cover, they won't know it was you after that."
The remaining security guards sort of just back away from you shakily, they're still aiming their tasers, though with a lot less certainty than they were a few seconds ago.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Yuki
Quote from: Twinwolf
Alteration to that last 6
Try to avoid the strikes of the hazeborn and slash all around, trying to take as many of them down as possible. Then try to get away from the fire-lance-thing.
Tahmuras should either come to assist with the hazeborn or try to get on the machine gun things if he knows how to use those? don't know if he does
Pia continue scanning, take cover.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
The new arrivals are cloaked in a wall of darkness, bullets tearing blindly out from within, none finding their mark, none save for that which drives itself right into Pia's head, blasting her backwards. It wasn't a clean hit, she was trying to dodge so it didn't hit dead-on, but still even then, she does not seem as phased as you'd think she'd be as she rolls into cover and dusts herself off.
Revving your chainsaw you rend the space around you and that it may contain. Sparks and paint flying in your wake, a burst of machinegun firing coming from close-in as Tahmuras brings his newly requisitioned weapon to bear. Hazeborn C finds itself shredded apart, your weapon gliding effortlessly through its fleeting form, B manages to dodge your swing and the machinegun fire only to be impaled upon the weapon's barrel as it tries to disengage. The final foe proves to be elusive however, seemingly vanishing and reappearing further back, your attacks striking only its afterimage. And then, the fire comes crashing down.
The glass, the glass that smelled so heavily of alcohol, it ignites, the entire section of the hallway catching fire, as tongues of flame reach out, ensnaring the two of you further. Seeing its chance, A rushes forwards, swinging its bladed paddle at your throat. Something inside the darkness flashes brightly. Danger looms.
Pia calls out.
"They're reliant on their cover. We need to break it."
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
First off, alteration to a 6. Second off - I'm giving us a Healing Field with resolve, primarily for the purpose of allowing us to escape mostly unscathed and healing any damage we may incur in doing so. Then! Both the hazeborn, and the flash in the darkness, are bad. That said - priorities. The hazeborn she can probably take a hit from although she'd rather not. She has no idea what sort of thing is being used in the darkness or if she can take it with reasonable not-dying. Thus: Dodge. Yuki would do her best to break out of the fire with the help of Pia's scan and get the f*ck out of the way. Tahmuras should do the same and pour bullets down the hall if he's got any ammo, but the focus is not getting hit by whatever the heck the Tikilord is doing.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
"Duck. Keep your weapons in front."
Radiant beams tear out from within the darkness, spraying out like machinegun fire and punctuated with the occassional sniper round. Tahmuras returns fire but to no avail, the deluge unphased by his reply. The remaining Hazeborn sweeps to the right, bringing its blade towards your side you hold steady and the image fades, replaced with a sharp pain. It was to your right swinging its weapon down onto your leg. Your shield breaks, taking the brunt of the strike, unfortunately, that leaves you unshielded for the sniper round that slams into your side, and the the beams that strike your flank as you reel from the impact. Tahmuras, fares slightly better, if only because the he didn't have a lagstabbing fratboy on his ass, though he still ends up prone from the impacts.
The vestiges of darkness, shredded by gunfire, dissipates, revealing your foes where they were before, crouching behind cover. The Hazeborn seemingly vanishes, teleporting right before Tahmuras and aiming to strike him from behind while the Tactical fires on him from the front. The Alumunus tosses aside the ruined husk of the machinegun and raises its rifle once more opening fire on you. The Tikilord takes a few bottles of vodka, tossing them carelessly on the floor, a new floating expanse of shards beginning to spread out from their position.
"I've got a shot on the mage. I can take it now or make him explode the next time he tries casting."
The fire begins to die.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Alright! First up, first up! Let's have Pia detonate the mage when he tries to cast. The Tikilord is a big problem. Heal self with a non-hyper. Toss Tahmuras a non-hyper heal as well. Next, get out of the line of fire, then Guidance of the Moon! (or whatever the buff was called) on self as well (that used a 4 right?) and then go for any melee enemies that try to take me! Also Alteration to 6.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
"Sure!"
You are standing in an open corridor gunfire streaming towards you. There's cover behind you, it's too far. There's rooms to your right, barricaded. Not the best position to be in. You throw out a heal, your raise a shield, your shield shatters. You need to get the hell outta here, the sooner the better. A bullet slams into your gut, another into your skull, your arm, your chest as you turn to run. No matter, you bring your chainsaw across the barrier and dive through. It looked cooler in your head, but in your head there wasn't a metal emplacement right behind the it either. Behind you, you hear a wet crunch, followed by a heavy crash. Dust and debris fill the air Tahmuras having punched a crater in the floor to give cover to himself, a little one-man spider hole the edge stained with what used to be Hazborn A.
Now this would be all fine and good, but well, the guy can't do much in a hole and he's still pinned. As for you? Well, that metal barrier you crashed into? It's beginning to glow and shudder, it's gonna blow. You hear the Alumunus and the Tactical ready their weapons, you see Pia swinging out of cover, pistol raised, and you see Hazelord A vanish, reappearing behind the girl about to bring its blade down on her neck.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Yeah that's too many 1s and 3s
Reroll
Quote from: Reroll
4 1 5 5 5 1 5 2 1 4
Quote from: Twinwolf
Alright then, first up: Telestabbing Hazelord A. Two people can play the teleport game. "Hey hey! No stabbing the shooty people, that's not fair!". I assume Pia's self preservation should let her evade. Next, drop a heal on myself. And Tahmuras. Again. Non hyper because no resolve to multihyper. Tahmuras should stick in cover if he doesn't think he can make it to the shooters before they turn him into swiss cheese. After the telestab continue to press the attack against the Hazelord. Watch for B to do things.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
Now Pia ain't a fool. She's seen how the Hazeborn teleport everywhere, and those Hazelords look pretty damn similar so when Hazelord A vanishes as she aims she has a pretty good idea of where it went. She pulls the trigger. The Hazelord swings, and, stops, the blade of a combat knife slicing through its chest. Of course, it wasn't there anymore. It was in front of her sweeping at her legs with her paddle. You chainsaw roars through its form. It vanishes again. Another afterimage. It bears down from its side only to meet her heel, cleaves forward from her flank only to be met once again by your regalia. A storm of illusions arising from and returning to naught around the two of you. Finally it finds its mark, a side Pia neglected to cover, a side too far for you to cover, the obsidian blade slamming into her hurling her like a ragdoll. It swoops in jamming the barrel of its shotgun gun agaisnt her temple, as she careened throught he air she twisted her body, responding in kind. An ephemeral stand-off, a balance that exists and will only exist for a mere instant before that inevitable thunderous discharge.
The Watcher position meanwhile is in disarray, when that bullet went through the Tikilord's head it exploded. Literally fucking exploded, sonorous energies and paint blasting forth in the middle of the damn formation. The Alumunus and Tikilord are hurled away by the explosion, paraphernalia-turned-shrapnel having torn through their forms leaving them wounded but alive, while the other Hazelord just stands there, the explosion seemingly failing to even register upon it. Amidst a streak of debris, Tahmuras approaches. He can't assualt their position head-on, but what he can do, what he is doing right now, is expand his trench, strike after empowered strike blasting the crater-turned-gorge extending it forwards with his approach.
Hazelord B readies into a stance, the Alumunus and Tactical readying their weapons in sync as they roll into their landing, training them upon you. "On my mark brah!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
We're altering to the second 5 in the line and consuming the third for Surprise Attacking the enemy going for Pia. Let's try to just get rid of him out the gate - after the telestab, pursue him. Don't let him go if I have the option. Tahmuras should continue his approach with focus on the hazelords - once they're gone, we don't have any more problems. Also, heal everyone I can for the shields. And the heal.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
A thunderous crash, two shotguns discharging in union, soon followed by the chatter of gunfire. Pia, took a shotgun blast to the face and is sent through the wall. The Hazelord on the other hand succeeds in dodging the blast, and the axe Pia threw on her way out, what it does not dodge however is your teleporting strike, your position shifting the moment it vanished again bring your Regalia through its chest, gunfire streaking through where you stood mere moments ago. Still while the Tactical's rate of fire isn't the highest, the Alumunus was a bit more of problem, sweeping their barrel towards you as-
"YUKI! BEHIND YOU!"
A sharp pain pierces your side as an obsidian blade cleaves into your flank. There's a crash, Tahmuras bringing his heel down where your assailant once stood, and then the chatter of gunfire, impact, the droplets sanguine scattering though the air. Blood, your blood. It seems that you weren't the only one planning such an attack, Hazelord B teleports backwards a few feet, shifting into a warding stance. The bullets, weren't too much of a problem, Tahmuras' attack kicked up enough debris that the Alumunus didn't have a clear shot on you, the wound in your side, that's more a problem. You're fairly confident the wound itself won't be a problem, I mean, have you ever seen an anime where the main character just takes a wound and bleeds out like a bitch or something? No, and besides you can heal, like you are doing right now, what's mroe of a concern however, is that it's probably not going to help you with murdering a fool. Guess you're not a full-blown slasher villain just yet, can't shrug everything off.
With your new crater in the way and their cover blown apart, the two ranged Watchers slowly retreat backwards keeping their weapons trained towards its lip, the Alumunus making a quick glance at the combat knife on its vest.
"Yuki! Are you alright?"
"There's no use fighting the one with the paddle, we need to threaten one of the other two, hit it if it comes to their aid."
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Well the obvious thing to start - nom that last 4 in the line for SALVATION OF THE GODDESS on self. Ow, ow ow ow ow. Then drop a non hyper heal on both myself and the others. After that? Not much to do without an alteration and I only have the one. They'll get in cover, which sucks, but running out with a 1 doesn't accomplish much. Pia should get out of the wall and try to join Tahmuras and Yuki, and get undazed. We'll be preparing to charge them down next turn - unless the hazeborn tries to get a cheeky hit in one of us. Then punish them if possible.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
A whole lot of nothing happens. The Tactical and Alumnus retreat further down the hallway and the remaining Hazelord flickers to their side, tearing open one of the wooden barricades to give them access to the room, and cover beyond.
Pia manages to free herself and you seal your wounds, putting on a fresh shield.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Alright, no point just waiting around for something to happen. First, heals all around to apply a second layer of shield. Then, have Tahmuras do the thing he did earlier where he expands the trench - can I help with that and make it go faster? If so, do that - we're trying to close as fast we can to their position, ideally before they can get to new cover. If Pia can do so without getting shot up too badly, she should try to suppress them as best she can - or at least shoot them if they enter her field of fire. On watch for the Hazelord trying his luck teleporting in for a backstab on anybody - if he does, make him realize what a mistake it was, violently.
(The idea is mostly that rushing forward is still going to get us shot up a lot by them. Earlier, it was said that Tahmuras couldn't approach their position directly and it was still the two of them then, and I don't think that's changed much. The shields would help but we'd still get shot up too badly.
I wouldn't be offended if the NPCs had suggestions mind, that might make this go faster :P)
((No dice on helping the trench expansion, Tahmuras does it through striking with explosive force whilst your regalia is more a cleaving/cutting weapon.))
"I can try, but they're probably in cover and have their weapons trained there."
Quote from: Twinwolf
"Well, then you probably shouldn't... was a stupid idea, heh. Maybe just watch for the backstaby one then, or for a chance to take a shot some other way?"
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
"Sure."
Tossing the scrap that was once a shotgun aside, Pia moves into position as Tahmuras continues blasting the the trench forwards, tunneling towards the enemy position, you follow his, weapon readied, and well, hey guess what? By the time y'all dug there, the assholes are already behind cover with their weapons trained on the entryway. Which as it turns out does fuck all for them seeing as thanks to your trench the downward aiming angle is so damn awkward they're stuck blind firing, which while grazing you two a bit, doesn't really achieve much.
Now, all that seperates them and certain death is a metallic barrier and the distance upwards. The Hazelord enters a stance and darkness pulses outward from the Alumunus' wounded form once more.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: Twinwolf
Alteration to 5. We're gonna be trying to finish this ASAP rather than spending four turns in a trench. Heal for Heavenly Aegis++, then we're going to leave the trench, Tahmuras in front since he does more damage the more hurt he is and he's less hurt than Yuki is. Pia should come forward so that she can't get shanked as easily. Tahmuras should try to break the barrier and charge through it along with Yuki - go for the Alumnus, but if the chance presents itself the Hazelord's got to go. Once the Tactical and Alumnus are focused on Tahmuras and Yuki, if they do, she should take some shots at the Tactical. Same orders for switching targets on her.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | All Eyes On Me (https://soundcloud.com/apree-1/nano-all-eyes-on-me) | ] |
Darkness consumes the world as you heal and shield, in the moments before the shadows close in you see Tahmuras lunge forwards bringing his fist against the barrier, you see the Hazelord lunge towards him bringing its blade down like a guillotine, and you see Pia sprint fowards opening fire. Gunfire tears through the air as you leap forwards, there's something that sounds like an explosion, Tahmuras is roaring, Pia gasps in pain, your chainsaw revs. You can't see a damn thing, sound and fury reverberating in your ears, seemingly coming from every direction, and perhaps it was. You don't know where they are, but they couldn't have run far, you charge forwards, blade screeching against the floor, sparks flying behind you as leap forwards and swing. You think you hit something, hopefully it wasn't Tahmuras.
Eventually, after what seems like an eternity, the darkness clears, it's hard to tell what happened but well, they're all dead, the Alumunus, the Tactical, the Hazelord.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on October 07, 2017, 02:02:48 am
"Nice try! You're gonna hafta' be a lil faster than that to beat me though!"
She throws him down on the ground in front of Shef, before disabling her Requiem.
Post by: Empiricist on October 07, 2017, 02:10:09 am
Unless the guy can see supernatural stuff without Awakening, which everything so far points a 'no' to, he doesn't quite perceive you running across the water at him like some sort of coked-up Jesus. Probably for the best.
Soon enough, you're all back in the apartment, the soaked and definitely shaken man scrambling away as quickly as he can while not making any too quick a movement for fear of getting shot.
"Woah woah woah man, you don't have to do this! You don't have to do this!"
Post by: spümpkin on October 07, 2017, 02:25:10 am
"Wait what? I was pretty sure we had to do this. We have to do this, right?"
She is genuinely confused, by the looks of it.
Post by: Strider03 on October 07, 2017, 07:08:40 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 07, 2017, 07:04:42 pm
The man reluctantly moves over to the chair. "Hiroki Kimura."
Post by: Strider03 on October 08, 2017, 06:24:07 am
Post by: spümpkin on October 08, 2017, 06:31:46 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 10, 2017, 08:02:58 pm
"N-no! You got the wrong guy, I just handle the transport, I swear! Wouldn't know a damn thing about what they're putting in 'em."
Yoake
Nothing incriminating if that's what your looking for, but you probably aren't. Well, save for the gun. Television and fridge looking pretty high-end for the apartment, and... there's a bug. Audio bug, hidden right inside the desk lamp, definitely not a cheap one either, it's one of those real high-quality ones, the ones you've sweeped your office for. And right now it's still transmitting.
Post by: spümpkin on October 10, 2017, 08:33:12 pm
"Sheeeef! There's a bug here, it looks like, in this desk lamp! Should I take it?"
Yoake takes the bug, regardless of what Shef says.
Post by: Strider03 on October 11, 2017, 07:45:57 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 11, 2017, 05:57:01 pm
"Look man, I can't tell you. You know how it goes, if I tell you anything they're gonna kill me! And I dunno about you, but you guys don't look like cops or the sorta people who can offer me protection."
Post by: Strider03 on October 12, 2017, 12:00:43 pm
"But it's stupid. You say we don't look like cops? We aren't. Don't even answer to them. Means we don't have to play by the same rules. Could take out a few knee caps, break a few bones, maybe something a little more creative, employer wouldn't even bat an eye if I said it was because you resisted. So the question you really need to ask yourself is whether you want to keep your mouth shut and have a pretty big chance of not leaving here. . . intact to put it mildly, or whether you want to talk, and have a bit of a smaller chance of getting shot up later."
Post by: Empiricist on October 12, 2017, 07:44:43 pm
The man noticeably pales though he isn't cracking just yet either "Hahah. .. Y-you don't get it do you? You don't know what you're dealing with. That bug you lady friend has, I'd it's there, then they heard it all right? They're probably sending guys over now. Not sure what they're plannin' to do it then me, but they'll definitely be here to kill you.
Y-you won't have time to force it outta me. Not before they're here. If I talk now, I'm a dead man."
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 12, 2017, 09:09:21 pm
"The nurses can handle the post-op. I need a fucking coffee."
Post by: Empiricist on October 12, 2017, 10:11:17 pm
Shoving your way past the guards, you exit the theatre. Where to exactly, that didn't matter, so long as it was somewhere reasonably sane and devoid of people in need of surgery, surgery from you at least. The cover comes off, takes a while, but it's discarded soon enough amidst Enn's frantic apologies, she was right, as soon as it went down people stopped bothering you, it was like you were some else, just a girl passing by rather than a surgeon expected to save lives and not stab things with a giant fucking spear.
It's somewhere around this time you come across it, a private room with no number. The door half-open, hospital staff busying to and fro across but never inside it as if it were invisible, and perhaps it was, given what you are, what you can see. As you pass you hear someone talking from within, a tender mix of sweetness and melancholy as closely intertwined as Yoake's ass and your doubts over your own heterosexuality.
"...It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry I haven't dropped by, it's been pretty hectic lately, you know it goes..."
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 12, 2017, 11:37:00 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 12, 2017, 11:41:17 pm
Minato rubs the back of his head, clearly trying to collect himself.Faith smiles at Minato. "Well, to be fair, Minato... most girls haven't immediately come over from a foreign country and then fought evil spirits and things by your side, and that probably counts for something, huh? Makes a little bit of forwardness less of a big deal, you know."
"Heheh.....well, I try. The ladies aren't always so appreciative."
Post by: Empiricist on October 13, 2017, 12:10:45 am
With a blur of motion the figure spins around to face you as you enter and you find yourself face to face with a lady clad in an armored dress. If you had to guess, you'd say she was some manner of paladin or magical girl, but then again you also guessed that you wouldn't need to perform open heart surgery and look where we are now.
"Can I help you?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 13, 2017, 05:37:41 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 13, 2017, 05:54:11 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 14, 2017, 12:25:11 am
"Oh, it's a private ward, a favor from a friend. It, doesn't quite exist so most people don't know it's even here." She pauses. "Say, you don't look too good, is everything okay?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 14, 2017, 12:28:57 am
I'm not a doctor."
Post by: Empiricist on October 14, 2017, 12:39:15 am
"Oh!" A quiet giggle "One of those days I see, I guess you're new to all this then? The name's Ren by the way, Ren Hamilton."
Post by: spümpkin on October 17, 2017, 02:29:03 am
"I did it Shef!"
She runs up to him and the man, looking at him quizzically.
"Really, man, I don't get your problem. We're obviously strong, you've seen that. Why do ya' still wanna work for the bad guys?"
Post by: Strider03 on October 17, 2017, 05:15:56 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2017, 06:28:50 am
"That ain't how this works lady. You guys putting two guys on ice isn't any kind of guarantee. Look, I don't know what beef you guys have with the boss, but if I were you I'd be figuring out how to go into hidin' right now. You do not wanna mess with this guy. D'ya really think guys like me willingly work with people who keep 'em under armed guard? Now listen, he knows you're here, he knows you found the bug, I don't know what kinda hell is about to rain down but it's for the best for all of us if you two get the hell out. Run, and don't ever look back. And well, if a few unidentified scraps of a man wash up on shore a few months down the line, pray for me will ya? If you two aren't on the same boat yourselves I mean."
Shef
Civvies up, civvies down, apartment to the right is vacant at this hour, apartment to the left? Oh dear.
There's four of them. Four black motorcycles in an empty barren room, lined up against the far wall. And more importantly four Storm Minds, numbered 20 through to 24, weapons ready and waiting on standby. New models. Armor's bulkier more militaristic, dotted with thruster outlets and rising up to cover most of their head now too, leaving only a liquid glass visor, the holes in their faces having shrunk to a gap in the shape of circle and downward stripe at the center, vaguely reminiscent of a keyhole in shape. Each is armed with a gatling gun, smaller not by much, but definitely sleeker looking that little bit less grounded and that little bit more fantastic, in close-quarters like these they'll probably shred your little soon-to-be informant in less than a second, not unless you two can protect him.
Post by: Strider03 on October 18, 2017, 01:32:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2017, 03:12:59 pm
The man breaths a sigh of relief and slumps back in not his chair.
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 18, 2017, 04:02:31 pm
Anyway, sorry to just barge in here like this. I figured it was better to check than to just walk past."
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2017, 05:05:09 pm
"That's fine, door mustn't have locked properly." A pause "Well, how are you finding it? Being Awakened I mean."
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 18, 2017, 08:34:00 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 20, 2017, 07:56:33 pm
A glance to the girl in the bed. "Yes. Very much so." Another pause, just that tiny bit longer for awkwardness to set in "It's hard..." she's quieter now, voice still lively but tempered now with the faintest hint of bitterness "accepting that there's things beyond our control. But, there's people we can rely on, people we mightn't even know looking after those we care about, and, as long as we do our part as well, we can keep everyone safe. A policeman can't always watch over his own family."
Post by: Powder Miner on October 21, 2017, 12:42:17 am
"Yeah, well, what can you do, right? I guess I just have to... try to lean on you all for a while while I learn to adjust to this. I hope that's not... too much to ask, I guess."
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 21, 2017, 01:19:30 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 21, 2017, 04:24:26 am
"Hiyee! Can I help you? Are you lost?"
"Your name is Ren Hamilton, fourteen years of age, born thirty-first of August 19XX, is that correct?"
"Yup! Who are you? You're too young to be a nurse."
"And you're too lively to be in that bed."
"I guess, but the doctors said-"
"That it's a miracle and there's so much they're not sure of. That won't be changing anytime soon. Can you walk?"
"I- huh? Um, I guess I can, are we going some-"
"Good. Here, take this get up and-"
"Wha-"
"It's a Regalia you'll be needing it. My name is Mizuki Hashimoto, think of me as your mentor for now. We can talk more later, we're on the clock right now."
Noriko
Just as you're about to leave, she speaks again "...Say, if you're new to this, would you like someone to help guide you? I could mentor you if you'd like."
Post by: spümpkin on October 21, 2017, 05:38:17 am
"You got it! I really dunno what's the best course of action here, so I'll follow along with whatever!"
Post by: Strider03 on October 21, 2017, 08:00:53 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 21, 2017, 07:17:18 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 22, 2017, 02:53:40 am
Faith sighed a little and shrugged, looking at Minato with an expression that was a little bit sour and a little bit resigned.Minato returns to an easy smile. This was a more comfortable position for him; one where he could have someone's back. Dates were hard for him; being a good friend, not so much.
"Yeah, well, what can you do, right? I guess I just have to... try to lean on you all for a while while I learn to adjust to this. I hope that's not... too much to ask, I guess."
Then again, Noriko had proven he could make mistakes there too.
"I'll try my best for you, Faith. Don't worry about it."
Post by: spümpkin on October 22, 2017, 03:12:47 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 22, 2017, 07:27:56 am
"Woah woah woah! Where are you taking me? Are you outta your goddamn minds?" The man struggles against your grasp, trying to break free "If I don't leave with the two guys you just murk'd, I'm dead. I dunno how, but I ain't gonna doubt the boss."
Noriko
"I can tell, here's my number, call me if you need anything. Or just wanna chat, I'm fine with that too!" She offers you a piece of paper.
Post by: spümpkin on October 23, 2017, 04:16:06 am
"Hehe! Silly, you're not dead until we say so!"
Post by: Strider03 on October 24, 2017, 07:16:07 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 24, 2017, 07:34:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 24, 2017, 07:49:11 pm
Standing in his own apartment, held by that humourless man and that giggling girl, staring down the barrel of two guns, one literal the other figurative, it was then that Hiroki Kimura realized that he had fucked up. Whatever the hell he landed himself in, it wasn't just the boss he had to worry about, there were some grade-A psychos caught up in the mix, this wasn't just another job, hell he knew that when he first started, the guy was loco, sometimes they just were. When that happens, you break it off if you can, if not, well you keep your head down and try not to die. It ain't pleasant but it works, and like it or not it's not too rare a story. But this? This was something else entirely, and if he knew then and there that if didn't move now, right now, well, the price of treachery would be the least of his concerns.
So with a shudder, he shut the fuck up and followed.
. . .
The man quietens down, his struggles ceasing. Good, that's one problem outta the way. As for all the rest, well, you're just gonna have to play it by ear. Through the portal you run, the man in tow, and in the moments that follow the crossing of the threshold you hear something, something faint, something muffled.
The sound of rotary cannons cycling up.
| [Now Playing: | The Pretender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ) | ] |
There's a sudden screeching whirr, a distorted roar, and then the rumbling buzz. Bullets tear through the wall, sweeping from the doorway inwards. Next comes the crash. They've breached into Kimura's apartment, soon they've be crashing in here.
Your earpieces spark to life.
"I've picked up energy spikes in your area. Three more further away, the signature matches that class of construct."
Commencing Extraction...
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Noriko
"Sure!"
And with that, you leave.
"Are you okay? Well er, not okay, but y'know..."
"Not teetering on the edge of alcoholism."
Post by: Strider03 on October 24, 2017, 07:59:50 pm
Shef uses Rapid Fire on the Storm Minds.
[5] 4 5 6 5 1 4 4 3 6
Post by: spümpkin on October 24, 2017, 08:01:17 pm
"Now the real fun starts!"
Stepping behind Shef and Kimura to face the constructs entering their current room. Unless Shef tells her to do otherwise, she launches into a Vacuum Butt Cannon, aiming to not only lash the constructs away with the wind, but also to fling the bullets away from them.
[(5) 1 2 6 6 5 6 6 5 6]
Post by: Empiricist on October 24, 2017, 08:44:07 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Pretender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ) | ] |
Shef spins around and begins unloading through the wall, his barrage soon answered by three streams of bullets spraying towards his general position, which in addition to not striking him also allows him to adjust his aim to hit them right at the source. With another crash, Units 22 and 23 crash straight through their wall, weapons readied. Well their weapons may be readied but they sure as hell weren't ready, not for the ass heading straight their way.
The vacuum butt cannon strikes 23 dead-on, catching them mid-dash, their gatling-turned-battering ram was in the way, enough to soak some of the impact, but considering what the impact was, it wasn't enough. Hurled backwards amidst a spray of ablative plating there's a crash and scream as it's hurled all the way through the wall and into someone's living room. 22 was luckier, they were only hit by the shockwave and slammed to the side, damaged and off-balance.
The 20 and 24 burst through what remains of the wall like a pair of murderous gun-toting kool-aid men. They're looking a bit worse for wear, their frontal armor blasted and shattered, though still holding for now. They immediately open on fire on Yoake, seeking to keep a bit of distance while still remaining up close and using their dashes to dodge rather than close in in an uncharacteristic display of caution.
22 rolls away and dashes towards Shef aiming to do a similar routine, while 23 gets back up and starts dashing back towards the fray.
Unit 21 is nowhere in sight.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 24, 2017, 08:54:50 pm
Shef does the same thing again! If you've got a 5 and a 4, why not?
[5] 6 5 1 [4] 4 3 6 1 2
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 25, 2017, 12:32:24 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 25, 2017, 01:10:25 am
"R-right, sorry. We thought more facility access would be better."
Post by: spümpkin on November 02, 2017, 05:48:45 am
[Alteration used: 5 instead of 1]
[1 2 6 5 6 6 5 6 1 (5)]
Post by: Empiricist on November 02, 2017, 07:16:50 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Pretender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ) | ] |
Bullets tear through the air, the roar of gunfire echoing, reverberating. And their impacts hard.
Right so in the moment Yoake is unable to move you both take quite a bit of fire, say what you want about the Storm Minds' accuracy, but when they hit, they hit hard. Though to his credit, Shef hits even harder, rounds tearing into Unit 23, tearing through Unit 23, halting its charge and leaving it barely functioning. 20 and 24 fare better, their haphazard dashes making it hard to hit them consistently even with lock-on, and 22 is a whole other asshole entirely, their quick dashes letting them quickly get outside Shef's cone of fire and right up in his grill with a bit of close range suppressive fire.
Yoake after eating the opening portion of the deluge is able to get the hell outta dodge diving through the portal and finding a screaming Kimura getting assailed by Unit 21 which is currently crashing through the damn wall at him, its armor liquifying and gathering at its front, shuddering in preparation for some sort of directed blast. Which, wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the fact that an absurdly long blade of burning twilight is simultaneously half-burning half-exploding open the room from the outside. If you had to hazard a guess, it'd be that the other three Storm Minds are here and they're pissed.
Shef follows in after her also looking a bit worse for wear, unfortunately, 22 is hot on his heels, the barrels of its weapon wreathing themselves with dark energies and spinning faster, that screeching whir soon to be followed by a spray of fire, not so much aimed at anyone in particular, so much as just spraying at the three of you and everything you stand for. 20 and 24 follow on either side of it, continuing with the new "dash haphazardly and fire" tactic, 20 aiming at Shef, 24 at Yoake.
"Hang in there! We're getting you fire support right now."
"You're not going to like it, Shef."
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 02, 2017, 05:07:12 pm
Post by: Strider03 on November 02, 2017, 07:19:21 pm
Shef will cast a larger than usual portal (using resolve and Hey, Look over there!) to teleport both Yoake and Kumura away from harm preferably into the next room. Meanwhile, he'll simply stay back and brace for impact.
[6] 5 1 4 [3] 6 1 2 2 2
Post by: spümpkin on November 08, 2017, 05:20:34 pm
At any rate, she simply huddles on the ground, ready to be portalled away by Shef, and probably holding Kimura to keep him safe.
[(1) 2 6 5 6 6 5 6 1 6]
Post by: Empiricist on November 08, 2017, 07:59:20 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Pretender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ) | ] |
A new voice enters the comms.
"T-This is Hanako Yamasaki r-reporting for duty! J-just gimme some time to set up!"
Well, hey at least you know she's trustworthy now. Well, for some measure of trustworthy, seeing as she's left her comms on and you can now hear her panickedly fumbling with, something or other.
So Shef opens up the portal and drops Yoake and Kimura into the next room, good thing too 'cause 21's armor basically just explodes outwards like a roided up claymore mine, crystalline shards of its armor tearing right through where the guy was a split second ago. Some of it even goes through the portal, though failing to harm their target. Physically at least, the guy might not be sleeping for a while though.
And then Shef gets shot. At lot. Like, there's three Storm Minds shooting at him, one of them with a greatly increased rate of fire. Holding his exoskeleton in front of him, digging his heels in, he does manage to hold for a while, but in the end, the sheer rate of fire sweeps him off his feet and hurls him through the wall right next to Yoake.
Another blade of energy begins tearing through the outward wall while the melee units... do nothing? Okay yeah, 20 and 24 are firing, but it's more a suppressive fire sorta deal, and the other two are kinda just, standing there behind them, readying to dodge.
"D-done! What do I do?"
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 08, 2017, 09:06:57 pm
"Just take some shots. The melee units. They're planning something."
Shef will use Rapid Fire on the Storm Minds, though a bit focused on 20 and 24.
[5] 1 4 6 1 2 2 2 3 [4]
Post by: Empiricist on November 08, 2017, 10:00:31 pm
"Wonderful isn't it? No, she got caught up in something this morning, had to run an emergency supply op for her oh five minutes ago. What are the odds? Wouldn't be buying any lottery tickets if I were you."
Post by: spümpkin on November 25, 2017, 05:47:21 am
At any rate, Yoake hops up, and dashes over towards the Storm Minds, sliding underneath them and moving into an upward butt strike on Storm Mind 21.
[Alteration Used: 5 instead of 2]
[2 6 5 6 6 [5] 6 1 6 6]
Post by: Empiricist on November 28, 2017, 08:51:46 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Pretender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ) | ] |
Right, so, this should be where shit hits the fan. Bullets are flying everywhere, wall's getting cleaved apart, Kimura's on the floor screaming. Should be, but for god knows what reason your foes aren't moving. They're suppressing, they're holding the line, but they're not attacking. Not yet at least.
Shef, you get to work suppressing the suppressers, another burst of gunfire scattering towards 20 and 24, they swing their barrels to face you and Yoake rushes through the gap. There's an exchange of fire. Five seconds of sound and fury. You're, not looking too hot, but you better see the other guys. 24's crippled, inky clouds roiling out from its wounds, it's, not standing up too well, you're not sure if it can even fire in this state. 20, got crucified, ventilated, stuck right up against the back wall, the lightning in its head extinguishing.
Yoake, you bring your butt up at 21, tries to dodge. Tries to. It's a backwards leap. It's backwards to give it a bit of space. It's a leap to try and leave your range, or at least weaken the blow. Guess what? It does neither. Not only do you land the strike, it time its thrusters so poorly they only fire after you send it flying, jamming its head up into the ceiling like some sort of gravity-defying ostrich.
It's at this point where what appears to be a shock drill, the width of a basket ball tears through the wall. It's not the cleanest shot, but with an unaware victim, it gets the job done, severing 22's leg off at the hip.
The tide's turning, but you're not done yet. The three construct floating outside, with their blades of twilight and armor numbered 25 to 27 twirl their weapons, sending beams of energy tearing towards Kimura, beams that, as experience has taught you, will soon be followed by explosions.
Oh and remaining close quarters Storm Minds er, open fire. Um, yeah uh, two of them can't actually stand and the remaining one is still trying to dislodge their head, but they're still trying to fire. Needless to say, of the two squads, this isn't the one you should be worried about.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 28, 2017, 09:43:20 pm
Shef uses Room to Breath for multiple people (by expending resolve). He will try to create a set of consecutive downward portals that will end up with all three of them outside the front of this apartment building, hopefully near Yoake's car. Alteration to a 6.
1 4 [6] 1 2 2 2 [3] 3 1
Post by: spümpkin on November 29, 2017, 04:41:55 am
She runs, sliding into the portal and into her car, driver's seat.
[(2) 6 5 6 6 6 1 6 6 5]
Post by: Empiricist on November 29, 2017, 05:32:13 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Pretender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ) | ] |
As the whole damn world explodes around you, y'all get the fuck outta dodge, half-falling, half-flying through down to the car. Key goes into the ignition, engine revvs. By the time the DEO model Storm Minds find you again the light in their heads is all but gone. Their movement ceases, and for a moment, they begin to fall.
But guess what? To the surprise of no one involved, they don't just die anticlimactically! Who would've guessed?
From each construct, something flies out. Small pellucid cylinders, empty. They flare back to life, accelerating in free-fall as they twirl their weapons, readying for strafing run.
"So, what's the plan now? Just drive?"
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Support Skills (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 29, 2017, 04:42:44 pm
Shef fires a few shots at the pursuing Storm Minds, probably focusing on #25
[1] 4 1 2 2 2 3 1 3 3
Post by: spümpkin on December 02, 2017, 06:02:22 am
She realized that they would need to knock these bogies off their tail if they were to get out of here safely...
And so, she turned the steering wheel sharply, as a large portal appears in front of them, showing a vista of galaxies. Her swimsuit shines brightly, and it seperates into a two-piece with fluttering yellow ribbons trailing behind her. The car travels through the portal, and when it reappears it will be spinning much faster, and hopefully where the robots are.
[Hyper used: Interstellar Butt (R)]
[Extra Resolve used]
[(6) 5 6 6 6 1 6 6 5 5]
Post by: Empiricist on December 02, 2017, 07:23:38 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Pretender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ) | ] |
You win.
No seriously, you win.
The Storm Minds were expecting a lot of things, this wasn't one of them.
The hot rod tears through the portal and across the an alien sky 'neath constellations unknown, spinning and spinning faster, the world twisting and turning as you fall toward a planet you will never reach, and then crashing, crashing hard, right back to Sendo, right back in the middle of the Storm Mind formation. They didn't even stand a chance.
So you're now all sprawled out on the pavement, the Storm Minds are, well, they're alive, that's about all could be said about them, they're pretty fucked up and in no condition to continue the fight. You? You're both no worse for wear. Kimura? Well uh, he's alive at least, right he's currently on all fours choking as his body tries to scream and retch at the same time.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on December 02, 2017, 07:54:44 am
"Gonna need a fucking drink after this. And I don't drink. God damn it." He muttered this as Yaoke presumable got the car started up again to head home.
Post by: spümpkin on December 02, 2017, 03:38:55 pm
"Man, a bit of a wild one today, huh? Let's go home and eat somethin'."
She puts on a pair of sunglasses from underneath her seat as she put the car on autopilot, letting it drive off to the safehouse.
Post by: Empiricist on December 03, 2017, 06:33:13 am
So you lot start heading back. Not gonna lie, the car's pretty beat-up, the suspension creaks, the windscreen's smashed, you cop quite a few weird glances, though nothing comes out of it. How could it? The car's driven by o-Shiri Industries' jester-cum-CEO, at this point, it's just another part of life in Sendo. The sun rises, the world spins, the tech giant's so-called founder does weird shit.
Into the safehouse you go, and boy are you in for a surprise, it's a box, a big grey box. Gone are the crystal waters and all traces of nature, gone are the store fronts and walkways. You are in a box just wide enough for you to open the doors, a single door in front leading down a long corridor to a bare interrogation room. As you enter the door vanishes behind you. There are no lights here, but there is light everywhere, bright, any brighter and it'd be a nuisance, covering every inch, every surface such that no shadows may exist. The tables, the chairs, they're not so much traditional furniture so much as just outcroppings of the floor. Magic is in the air, dire magic, to seal and crush, imprison and destroy, it permeates the very air, thick, heavy, a humorless seriousness to it all.
"Sorry for the shock, we're not taking any chances," Enn explains "not all Awakened are obvious and if this man's a trojan horse, we're not going to let him compromise the facility. We'll be watching, we've got guards stationed in the walls too, but if you see something we don't, just call out, cut your link, anything really. We'll eject you and dispose of the room. If he's still alive, we've got plenty of contingencies in place."
"Lighten up Shef, the color matches your scowl, why you must feel right at home. Yoake, try not to traumatise the guy, Shef's gotta take a call."
Shef, a new voice enters your earpiece, a forwarded call. There's not proper cell signals in this room after all, so it's been forwarded by the AI to you. Caller ID says Watanabe.
"Shef! The hell happened down there? I'm hearing reports of gunshots, you're not hurt are you?"
Post by: Strider03 on December 03, 2017, 06:56:49 pm
"Hello to you too. Hurt? Sorta. Take more than a little time to walk this off. Basically, we went in to get the guy, and they had an ambush set up for us. Got the warning before it went off, so we're better than we might have been. But fighting six things with gatling guns is no walk in the park."
Post by: Empiricist on December 03, 2017, 07:04:08 pm
"Goddamn, that explains the noise at least. How hurt are talkin'? Battered and bruised, or should I start buying flowers?"
Post by: Strider03 on December 03, 2017, 07:21:56 pm
"Got any more info for me I should know before going in to see the guy?"
Post by: Empiricist on December 03, 2017, 07:27:50 pm
"No, just a reminder my buddies would like him in one piece. That's including his psyche by the way. Catch you later, try and get some rest."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 04, 2017, 01:38:12 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 01:54:56 am
So, a whiles into the gaming the television starts to fill with static. Soon enough the screen goes black in the centre, a perfectly circular region with a ring of shifting white noise at its edges drowning out all the gameplay.
There's a flicker at your side, and then Winter. "Well it looks like someone doesn't know how to use a door. I could've sworn we fixed that problem."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 04, 2017, 02:02:05 am
Kouta, for his parts, looked equal parts frustrated and scared. He'd had an eight kill streak. . .
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 02:15:15 am
"This one talks. Feel free to stab it though."
Darkness spills out from the center, pooling outwards ink staining paper. Striding fourth is a girl, the classical visage of a yurei, raven haired with a deathly pale paler. Y'know it's really not that scary when they have a proper dress and haircut. Even less so when your two AI roommates are berating her before the darkness even dissipates.
"Please move. You're blocking the screen."
"What happened to using a door?"
"What, you expect me to climb up all those stairs?"
"Well we expect a lot of things, but yes, let's start with the stairs."
A childish pout.
"Whatever, you're the ones that called me here."
The girl turns to face you, she's in her early teens with short hair and dressed in a black dress, carrying a silver briefcase that looks too large for her frame. Arsenite-green eyes scanning over you and then Kouta.
"So, you're Noriko and Minato then?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 04, 2017, 02:19:14 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 02:32:57 am
"Wait, you have a brother?"
"Screen. Away."
"Fine, fine, geez, you don't need to scream into my ear like that."
So the little brat finally gets the fuck away from the screen and just keeps on talking.
"So it's just the two of you? Where's all the other people?"
"Something turned up, they should be back soon enough."
"Whatever, I can talk to them. So the Appleton Estate, what are you plans?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 04, 2017, 02:37:49 am
Fortunately for Kouta's kill streak, they'd won the game shortly after the girl's appearance. He quickly canceled the queue for the next match, and started to slowly sidle toward the back room.
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 02:46:48 am
"It's fine, stay."
Enn turns to face the girl.
"if you wouldn't mind."
The girl begins heading out to the main living room area, waiting expectantly for you to follow.
"Slaine O'Leary; I work in Acquisitions, a job like this? Word gets around, in certain groups at least. The Society dispatched me here, wanted me to help organize your gear and all that for the mission."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 04, 2017, 02:55:38 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 05:01:06 am
"Oh hey, who's that little girl?"
Satoshi, who for whatever reason is still just lounging around your living room waves as you come out.
"Maybe. Anyway, do you guys have a plan for how to go about it?"
Post by: spümpkin on December 04, 2017, 05:09:16 am
"So, it's just you and me for now! How're you holdin' up? Sorry if that was a little much for ya'! Even I'm surprised by how intense that got. It was so bad my outfit changed!"
The ribbons on Yoake's outfit flutter about even without a breeze.
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 05:13:48 am
"I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK OKAY!"
Post by: spümpkin on December 04, 2017, 05:15:53 am
"Okay, but we're safe now so there's no need to be so stressed."
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 05:19:31 am
"No need to be stressed?! The fucker sent a whole damn hit squad after me! I'm a fucking dead man if I don't start talkin'! What do you need to know?"
Post by: spümpkin on December 04, 2017, 05:21:49 am
"I'm... not super sure. He would know better than me. Who you work for is probably a good start though."
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2017, 05:40:50 am
"Until a month ago I was working for Big John, smuggling. Then one day this guy comes walkin' in, saying he was the new boss. Didn't catch a name, don't think he ever gave one. Foreigner, wore a suit, didn't look like one of ours, came alone. We said he don't work with anyone other than the boss, said he was the new boss. No one believed him but then, ugh, before we all knew it we were on the ground, some of the guys are still in hospitable after that, the guy must be a black belt in something. Fucking pulled out John's head, his guys came in after, the guys in black you killed. Said either we'd help out or there wouldn't be anything left for the cops to find. Guy was dead serious. Told us we were smuggling meth now, we were doing gold and ivory before. Told him that. The guy said we better start learning, else, yeah." He makes a throat slitting motion. "The product came from him, the muscle too. Don't know where he got it, don't wanna know either."
Post by: Strider03 on December 04, 2017, 06:49:08 am
Post by: Powder Miner on December 05, 2017, 01:46:43 am
Minato returns to an easy smile. This was a more comfortable position for him; one where he could have someone's back. Dates were hard for him; being a good friend, not so much.Faith let out a long sigh, closing her eyes and nodding as she exhaled. Then, silently, she nodded to herself, and it was only after another moment that she opened her eyes, looked directly into Minato’s and gave him a smile that was half sheepish, half poking a bit of fun at him, but that was entirely sincere. ”You really are dedicated to the whole dashing hero shtick, huh? Not that I can really say that I mind of course. It really is nice to have people who look out for me and... eheh, if I’m not being presumptuous here, care for me.” Naturally, that last bit of it was paired up with a slight rosy blush from the half-Japanese girl.
Then again, Noriko had proven he could make mistakes there too.
"I'll try my best for you, Faith. Don't worry about it."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 05, 2017, 02:19:08 am
"Well....it's not that I'm dedicated, but uh....well, you know what they say, with great power comes great responsibility, right?"
Post by: spümpkin on December 07, 2017, 03:53:57 am
"Mmhmm... yes."
Post by: Empiricist on December 07, 2017, 05:01:00 am
Kimura just sorta slowly inches backwards away from you, trying not to stare too much.
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2017, 07:39:40 am
"I'll take it from here. Said you were taking orders from a new guy, foreigner? Where were the pickups and drop offs?"
"I know you've been squealing pretty handily, so thanks for that. Just want to make it clear though, if you're lying, well you'll have bigger things than dying to worry about. Torture can be a lot more. . .interesting when you've got a complete and utter lunatic calling the shots." Shef spoke quietly, and gestured vaguely in Yoake's direction without looking.
Post by: Empiricist on December 07, 2017, 08:04:19 am
"Holy shit man, I told ya already didn't I? The fucker sent people after me. I need you, I'm a fucking dead man otherwise, you think I'm just gonna lie now?" Rubbing his temples he makes a show of glancing around the room, well if you could even call it a room, it's little more than a metallic box really. "There's a small garage in the outskirts, real rundown piece of shit, we drive it in there, and we leave it there. Wait half an hour, we go back in and it's in the car, we drive it out, no questions asked. Dunno what happens in there, don't wanna know. From there we drive out into the woods, dump some there, if you gimme a map I can mark it for ya. Again, don't know what happens, don't know why they have us dumping some of the product there either, you learn real quick not to ask. Last time anyone did he punched the guy 'cross the damn room and it wasn't a small room either."
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2017, 10:45:58 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 07, 2017, 05:11:28 pm
"Just the addresses. We have a squad on standby to assault the facility."
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2017, 10:04:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 07, 2017, 10:51:11 pm
A plushie enters a room, placing down a map of Sendo and three permanent markers. "KILL."
"Not without some remodelling, it's not very ergonomic anyway."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 08, 2017, 03:21:36 am
As for whether we have a plan, we were going to pose as some new staff, from what I remember."
Post by: Empiricist on December 08, 2017, 05:41:52 am
"Oh okay."
"Uh huh, and beyond that? How do you plan on revealing the Sanctuary? I don't think it's going to be waiting open at the front door waiting for you to breach."
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2017, 06:45:08 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 08, 2017, 06:56:29 am
Kimura gets to work quickly, scanning across the map and circling two locations, one in the outskirts which he annotates with an address, the other somewhere just out on the other side of Sendo, towards where the Appleton Estate is you note.
"You haven't mentioned what he's transporting, though if I had to guess I'd say it's something you're getting here in the city but don't want to attract Awakened attention to moving it themselves."
"I'll dispatch the squad now. We'll let you know if there's anything left to find."
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2017, 08:09:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 08, 2017, 09:08:41 pm
"Go ahead."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 08, 2017, 11:38:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 08, 2017, 11:55:43 pm
"Wow, you really are a newbie. I don't know about you but if a group of people who look exactly like the people who killed one of my underlings showed up outside my door, I'd stop ordering deliveries. What you need, is this."
She opens the briefcase revealing the various trinkets inside, none of which appear particularly ergonomic. She gestures to one of them a small silvery pill-shaped device.
"Scryer. Careful with that, they're expensive. If they're using something to cloak or bar the entrance, it's going to need a power supply or something, you can pick it up with this. Be glad they picked a private estate, try using this in any city and you'll just get noise. If Faith is a good enough mage, she'll be able to use it directly, otherwise I can have it rigged to vibrate or something. You want it to be discrete and look like something innocent enough. If you bring in anything like a proper camera or sensor they'll think you're a corporate spy."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 09, 2017, 02:06:33 am
"How do I know that they're not watching for something like this? I doubt that the people we're after care about corporate spies, but they probably care about Godslayers coming to break their things."
Post by: Empiricist on December 09, 2017, 02:10:11 am
"No not whoever's hiding in there, the people living there. If a maid started wandering around the house with some gizmo they'd be pretty worried."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 09, 2017, 02:11:26 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 09, 2017, 02:14:53 am
"Yeah, so? They'd be concerned anyway, what're they gonna do about it? Come out and fight you? Either they try and wait it out or they try to make a break for it, either one works."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 09, 2017, 02:17:40 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 09, 2017, 02:24:03 am
"Wow you really are a dummy, I wasn't talking about subtlety, I was talking about how they're not going to keep on asking for supplies when the enemy's literally at the gates."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 09, 2017, 02:52:45 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 09, 2017, 02:55:40 am
"No, well maybe this" she scrawls down a number and leaves it there "It's my number, call it if you need advice or something. Think of it as my professional obligation." and with that she heads for the door.
"Oh and now you use the door."
"Easier going down than up."
Post by: Powder Miner on December 11, 2017, 02:38:11 am
Minato rubs the back of his head, blushing himself. Aaaaaand right back to embarrassed he goes as Faith stares right into his eyes. Oh well.Faith finds this particularly giggleworthy, grinning at him in a way that is a little bit teasing, but isn't malicious at all.
"Well....it's not that I'm dedicated, but uh....well, you know what they say, with great power comes great responsibility, right?"
"Do you read American comics then, Mr. Spider-Man?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 11, 2017, 03:14:57 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 16, 2017, 07:26:26 am
Everyone
A new week, a new morning, you're now all gathered at the safehouse, uniforms and supplies laid out on the table in front of you. For some of you, namely Minato and Yoake, applying a cover is a must, for everyone else, it's an either or kinda deal. You'll be heading off soon.
So, what the hell is on the table?
((Write-in what supplies you're bringing, things like healing potions, special ammunition and the like, just keep it reasonable. There will be opportunity to resupply during this mission, so just pack what you need from the start or for one or two battles.))
Post by: Strider03 on December 16, 2017, 07:40:11 am
He also grabbed one of the uniforms. Wasn't too bad, fairly formal. And since he usually dressed formal, Shef felt he would be comfortable enough in it.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 18, 2017, 06:22:50 pm
Especially when it was likely all the cute girls would be dressed like maids.
Especially Faith. He was looking forward to Faith.
He also grabs a few healing potions and his Gaia Driver; the benefit of having a portable suit of armor was that it need never be out of range. The thing could disguise itself as his belt buckle anyway, so it was hardly too obvious.
Post by: Twinwolf on December 19, 2017, 07:27:15 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 19, 2017, 07:21:50 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 19, 2017, 11:38:29 pm
"May take a while for them to order a new one, but it shouldn't affect the operation."
Post by: Twinwolf on December 20, 2017, 07:20:03 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 21, 2017, 09:13:33 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on December 22, 2017, 02:45:50 am
(Later)
Faith walked into the safehouse later than everyone else, and when she showed up, she had her backpack on, stuffed full to the point of slightly bulging, but not seemingly that heavy. She didn't mention it, though, as she seemed to be in "game-face" mode -- a kind of serious expression was on her face as she walked up to the desk and took off the backpack... but then that expression did disappear when she picked the maid uniform off of the desk, and proceeded to transfix Minato with a very, very knowing look.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 22, 2017, 11:30:53 pm
"Oh, are you the people my cousin works with?"
Minato's cheeky smirk instantly evaporates, the ghost of an unspoken "Oh no" on his lips.
A young-looking (http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/927/630/798.png) woman in a sharp, black suit (not unlike Minato's usual choice of attire) is leaning by the entrance of the safehouse. At first sight, she seems about as old as Minato is, if not a little older. The smug, irritating grin of a child pampered far too much dances on her lips as she sizes up the members of the team.
Post by: spümpkin on December 23, 2017, 12:07:38 am
She then grabs a large box from underneath the table, and places it on top to sort out the contents.
Inside is: a pocket metal detector, a smoke bomb, a pocket mirror, a shiny comb which seems to flip out into a lockpick, and a pair of dark sunglasses which she puts on.
The rest of the items are stowed away somewhere unseen on her person, and she grabs a couple of health potions while she's at it.
She looks towards the rest of the group, pushes her glasses up her nose and smiles smugly.
"It's time for Secret Agent Himitsu Hoshi to go undercover." Her voice is far deeper than it would normally be, and it is fairly unnerving. That is, until, she removes her glasses, twirls around and puts her hands next to her face in two peace signs.
"As the lovable maid Otome Hoshi~"
Yoake puts the glasses back on, and her cool demeanor has returned.
Post by: Strider03 on December 23, 2017, 09:23:23 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 23, 2017, 10:19:23 am
"Ah. You must be the preparation crew for my cousin's real team and I assume you're setting out their gear for them. How kind."
Minato, for the most part, is trying to make himself as invisible to her as possible.
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 23, 2017, 12:18:14 pm
Let's start over from the beginning. I'm Fuuri Noriko, and Minato, myself, Yoake, Shef, Yuki, and Faith are on a team." At least Minato had warned them about this one, but the fact that she was here and evidently already copping an attitude was not improving her mood.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 23, 2017, 12:48:10 pm
"Oh, are you now? My, my, cousin dearest really does make interesting company. Since you've afforded me the courtesy of an introduction, someone as gracious as myself ought to return it in kind.
My name is Karen Nanami, of the prestigous Nanami clan. My cousin Minato and I are descendants of a long tradition of Aramitama hunting that I'm sure none of you could measure up to. I'm here because my family would like to see how some neophytes measure up to a trained scion of demonslayers."
Minato audibly groans, as if he's heard this speech before.
"Guys, this is Karen. Karen, these are my teammates. And friends, so I'd appreciate it if you quit trashtalking them."
"Trashtalk? I was merely introducing myself, cousin dearest, to the fullest extent to which we are entitled."
Post by: Twinwolf on December 23, 2017, 01:09:52 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 23, 2017, 01:38:09 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 23, 2017, 01:51:11 pm
"No, seriously, Karen, stop."
Post by: Strider03 on December 23, 2017, 02:06:29 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 23, 2017, 02:48:47 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 23, 2017, 02:58:25 pm
'Karen, you say another word or you jeopardise this mission, you're getting booted off the team. Nothing I can do about that. You were briefed, weren't you? You know the rules."
".....tch. Fine. Your team better keep their peace and I'll keep mine."
Post by: Empiricist on December 23, 2017, 05:31:20 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 23, 2017, 06:18:08 pm
Post by: spümpkin on December 23, 2017, 06:27:49 pm
"Hi there! I'm Yoake O-Shiri, nice to meet ya!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 23, 2017, 06:31:58 pm
She also stalks over and grabs a few provisions, mainly potions, some talismans to hold down enemies and some smoke bombs.
Post by: spümpkin on December 24, 2017, 04:01:11 pm
"Y'know, from O-Shiri Corp? You sure you don't know me or anythin'?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 24, 2017, 04:58:49 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 25, 2017, 11:23:54 pm
The ride to the estate was uneventful, boring even, a quiet trip out of Sendo City proper and out into the surrounding countryside, or rather, a patch of suburb about as close as you can really get to countryside without straying too far from the city. Asphalt giving way to a rustic winding road past the electronic gates and into the estate.
Standing at the front door are several figures, servants, your "coworkers" for this assignment, the master of the house noticeably absent, not that it is particularly unusual for a master to wait for their new hires (though it indeed is for Lady Mary Appleton), busy with work you would presume.
It is on this final stretch that the scryer buzzes softly, once, only once, before falling silent.
"Probably a surveillance unit. They know we're here."
Post by: spümpkin on December 27, 2017, 02:34:21 am
"Hello, my name is Otome Hoshi! It is very nice to meet you all, and I hope we can become good friends."
Fools. If only they knew the truth...
Oto Redi faces the ground in despair, her shyness readily apparent. She was not used to these new faces, and...
She continues blushing deeper and deeper as she stands waiting.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 27, 2017, 06:28:07 pm
He was Hayate Shinozaki, new hire and unassuming ordinary boy with a deceased mother and a salaryman father from Osaka come to Sendo for work, for the moment. He was here because the pay was good and nothing else.
He lets Yoake handle this for now; if nothing else, this would be hilarious.
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 27, 2017, 07:58:50 pm
Deciding on the former option, she introduced herself by name. "Fuuri Noriko, at your service."
Post by: Twinwolf on December 29, 2017, 11:01:27 pm
Her false kansai-region accent was... she was laying it on thick. But it would probably pass.
Post by: Empiricist on December 30, 2017, 07:53:07 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 30, 2017, 08:40:49 am
Shef stood around quietly for now. No one had asked for names, and it seemed proper for a butler to speak when spoken to, but generally not otherwise. He turned to glance up at the mansion, peering to see whether anything was visible through any of the windows, and blinked. The contacts he had in were just slightly irritating, but they should do the trick. He had a cover of course, just a name, Linden, but hopefully a name would be all that was necessary. He would be careful with any small talk that occurred, and deflect prying questions. That should be easy enough with a position as a butler.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 03, 2018, 09:56:20 pm
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but is there anywhere we should be to start work?"
Post by: Empiricist on January 03, 2018, 10:49:06 pm
Not much unfortunately, some curtains, some furnishings, nothing really jumping out of you unless you've suddenly developed an interest in interior design.
Minato
"Oh, that eager to start?" he pauses for a moment, examining you before handing you a pager "Hayate, right? There's some guest rooms in need of cleaning, but you'll probably wanna go to your own quarters and unpack. You'll get paged more work when it turns up just, stay away from the mistress' rooms, you'll know them when you see them, part-timers like us aren't allowed in there." Ah yes, that one little problem in your placement, that one niggling little problem that you couldn't fix - you're new, worse you're a part-timer, and a student no-less, second-class doesn't even describe your position, you're lower than that, less than second, less than third. Maybe start at tenth. Maybe lower. You're untrusted, and given the industry you're in, that's a problem, a real damn problem.
For a large enough workplace, a hospital, a firm, it's not too hard to insert a veteran who didn't exist until today, but given something a little smaller, a little more tightly knit, a household for instance, and really this was when it came down to it a de facto household, that becomes out of the question. So you're the new guy. You need to be able to resupply, you need to be able to explain why, explain why you look so young, all questions that could you could slip up on. Not enough to break your cover, it takes a lot to break a cover, but enough to cause issues, uncomfortable questions, more eyes on you. And given the mission, more eyes means more risk, more risk of being thought to be a corporate spy, or something similarly damaging. So that makes you a part-timer, a student. A man with split interests, split focus, and split allegiances, someone still at the cross-roads with the world before you countless paths stretching out to infinity, which is to say a liability.
Perhaps you've spoken to your chauffeur about it, asked about the life he lived, not the supernatural that everyone seems to be so fixated on, but the mundane. This path, this career, it takes sacrifice, dedication. Try having a normal marriage when you're at someone else's beck and call, hell try having even something resembling a typical life, whichever one that is in fashion these days. 40k's the typical starting salary, enough to miss the birth of your child? It better be. Why? Trust, your employer needs to know you're loyal, that when they confide in you, they confide in only you, and when they need something done, they need that something done discretely, even if that something is hiding half a dozen hookers in a yacht the wife is actively searching. A kind of discretion that goes beyond a single principle, because well, let's face it, in this day and age with supply and demand the way it is, it's not hard to switch between them if you so please.
That's, a problem. The trust, not the hookers. You're reasonably certain Lady Appleton isn't so scandalous, or the very least, not married at any rate. Because it doesn't take a genius to guess where the seal would be - somewhere where new servants are not allowed.
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 04, 2018, 09:31:46 pm
Post by: Strider03 on January 04, 2018, 10:00:16 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 04, 2018, 10:42:47 pm
"Sure, I'll lead the way." Handing Shef's pager to him, Hideki leads you through the mansion with practiced grace. The servants quarters are located on the second floor of the west wing, the layout matching the general architectural blueprints, save for the the furnishings, and more worryingly, cameras. They're not too frequent, but frequent enough that whoever's watching them will know when you enter or leave this wing. The other, perhaps more pressing issue, is that these servant's quarters, which honestly are closer to apartment units than anything else, appear to be built to house two each.
Post by: Strider03 on January 05, 2018, 10:16:15 am
Once he had the answer, he glanced into each unclaimed room, one by one, searching out whether there were adjoined closets or bathrooms, checking whether there were visible cameras in the rooms, whether the layout differed at all, and which would have the best window vantage point.
Post by: Empiricist on January 06, 2018, 01:48:17 am
"Those two" he gestures to two of the central ones "the rest are free."
Bathrooms are en suite, closets are walk-in, cameras are thankfully absent. The layout remains the same across all rooms. Vantage point-wise, you'd probably want to settle for one of the ones closer to the beginning of the wing, gives a better view of the mansion's entrance and all that, as well as anyone entering or leaving this wing.
Post by: Strider03 on January 06, 2018, 04:27:22 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 06, 2018, 05:50:10 pm
Post by: spümpkin on January 06, 2018, 06:32:11 pm
She ponders for a moment, but decides to join Noriko in her room. She seemed lonely, and Yoake was always willing to be a friend.
Slowly walking in, she grins as she creeps up behind Noriko and grabs her shoulders in an attempt to frighten her.
"Boo!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 06, 2018, 08:18:58 pm
However, they had no clue he knew any of them and if they did, his cover would be blown, so so much for convenience. Or lewdness.
He takes the other bed that Shef doesn't, unpacking in dead silence.
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 06, 2018, 10:59:50 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on January 07, 2018, 02:08:20 pm
After Yuki had introduced herself, Faith paused for a moment. Well, she wasn't so sure the two of them really needed to come up with cover identities... but then again, what if there was some sort of staff page on the company website? What if other students could just look her name up and find her as some sort of maid?! Oh God, no, she wouldn't ever hear the end of it, it would be terrible. So Faith had decided to introduce herself with a cover name as well: "Uhh... I'm Joan Satou."
Well, everything had worked out, apparently, and now they were heading into bedrooms. Faith's eyebrows raised when she saw Minato head out with Shef; how that boy had resisted his likely urges to barge into one of the girls' rooms Faith wasn't sure (probably hers, huh... whoops, she was trying NOT to blush!), but it was proooooobably for the best. Yoake and Noriko had roomed up too, apparently, and since Faith hardly wanted to end up in a room with some stranger all of a sudden, that made her choice pretty obvious, and actually a pretty nice little coincidence.
Faith grabbed Yuki's sleeve and immediately started to drag her to an empty room. "C'mon sis."
Post by: spümpkin on January 07, 2018, 04:17:17 pm
"Hehe! I just wanted to get us off to a good start, because I'm sure that this mission will end up in us being friends, Noriko. You seem very lonely, which isn't terribly surprising. Shef and me hang out a lot, Minato is busy with Faith and vice versa, and Yuki..."
Yoake scratched her chin. How many times had she even spoken to Yuki? Who knew what was going on with that girl?
She shrugs with an ambivalent face.
Post by: Twinwolf on January 07, 2018, 05:33:27 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on January 07, 2018, 07:15:56 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 07, 2018, 07:40:46 pm
Well, maybe she didn't talk to many people, but that didn't make her lonely. "Uh, I look forward to it, I guess. . . ?"
Post by: Empiricist on January 07, 2018, 07:59:58 pm
You find a pen and notepad on the nightstand, good for you.
Karen
Satoshi walks into the remaining room and begins unpacking.
Post by: Strider03 on January 07, 2018, 08:10:04 pm
"You said your name was Hayate? My name is Linden. Pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand to shake, the small note in his palm. If Minato took it, it would read the following (and hopefully it would be read in a discrete way):
Quote
Going to do a quick bug search. Based on number of cameras in the wing, no doubt they've got some type of surveillance in the rooms. If you need to talk about the mission, just write something in the middle of the notepad, or leave it someplace for me to check. Notes can be disposed of in toilet. If you really need to talk, you can turn on the water in the bathroom, and we can talk there.
Post by: spümpkin on January 09, 2018, 12:33:09 am
"Yay! I can't wait!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 09, 2018, 03:01:07 am
Post by: spümpkin on January 16, 2018, 01:49:36 am
"You lead the way, and I'll follow~"
She is... quite close to Noriko.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 16, 2018, 04:19:18 am
Minato would focus on asking questions where he could instead and doing what he could. He was, admittedly, way out of his element.
Post by: Twinwolf on January 16, 2018, 06:37:16 am
Faith's eyebrow quirked at Yuki's statement... boy, she hoped that Yuki didn't mean anything weird by that. Well, then again, from what she'd seen of her half-sister Faith hadn't seen her be lewd in the slightest, so it was probably fine. "No, Yuki, don't worry, it's fi--" And then Yuki said the bit about making the outfit work, and Faith proceeded to blush scarlet and put her face in her hands. Stupid maid outfit... she bet she was gonna get ogled... and by more people than just Minato (that one was a given)!Yuki walked over and patted Faith on the shoulder. She might not have gotten why Faith was so worried about it, but she could tell what she was embarrassed about.
"Don't worry! The only ones here that can recognize you are friends!" she said this next part more quietly... "And if Minato tries taking pictures I'll break the camera~!"
Post by: Strider03 on January 16, 2018, 07:52:22 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 16, 2018, 09:22:59 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on January 16, 2018, 10:09:15 pm
”Aww... thanks, Yuki. You’re a good sister.”
Faith stepped towards her half-sister and suddenly enveloped her in a hug; it was nice to have someone who cared for her like this.
Post by: Twinwolf on January 16, 2018, 10:57:45 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on January 20, 2018, 10:44:28 pm
"Ehehe... right... uh, hmm, unpacking..." Faith moves over to her things, and when she starts unpacking it reveals that around 90% of what she'd packed was clothes, lots and lots of clothes -- more than one could probably expect in terms of the length they'd be staying here, especially considering the uniforms they were wearing.
Post by: spümpkin on January 22, 2018, 06:12:13 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 23, 2018, 04:03:21 am
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2018, 07:01:57 am
The non-servant's sections appear to be divided into two sections, with cameras monitoring the hallways in and out of them. The closer section you find yourself in seems to be the standard lodgings for you can only presume people with less than sensitive possessions judging by how newly hired maids like yourself have access, a fact that your pager so helpfully displays on a simple color-coded map as you enter. Hmm, this could be problematic, there must be some sort of RFID or the like in these pagers or uniforms with accompanying readers built into the mansion. Not sophisticated enough to display more than general sector than precise location, or at least so you hope - there's the possibility they're a lot more precise than what the pager merely displays, but even then enough to make it a bit harder to sneak into restricted sections.
Some of the bedrooms looking like they could use a bitch of dusting, something the task list on the pager displays, looking like some sort of bizarre cross between an RPG quest tracker and a human resource scheduling system, displaying a list of tasks with estimated workload values, current assignees/volunteers (if any), and a completion bar for your current expected workload this week, one with a notably low target value, a comment listed in the log below it reading Target workload is reduced this week to give you time to familarize yourself. You currently have no assigned tasks other than to familarize yourself with the pager, the mansion, and your fellow co-workers, though it does appear you can also assign work like dusting the bedrooms to yourself... or access the chat room function which is apparently a thing too.
Shef
No bugs, at least as far as you can tell, though the fact that these pagers upon inspection seem to know which general area of the mansion you are in is worrisome, not to mention that one could easily integrate bugs into them.
Post by: Strider03 on January 25, 2018, 08:31:44 am
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2018, 06:23:26 pm
The map displays your current surroundings by default, but may be zoomed in and out, displaying the entire mansion when fully zoomed out. There isn't so much a position marker so as there is a highlighted sector, the current sector of course being the servant's quarters, the highlight not changing until you actually leave the hall and cross the threshold between these quarters and the rest of the mansion.
Post by: Strider03 on January 26, 2018, 07:55:35 am
Post by: Empiricist on January 27, 2018, 05:32:37 am
There's a small lounge between the section's end and your room, and while there are cameras in their general area, they for the most part look out from the lounge rather than into it, there's enough such that each camera has at least another covering its vicinity, presumably to help avoid tampering, but the general interior of the lounge seems fine and within your range requirements.
Post by: Strider03 on January 27, 2018, 10:00:32 am
Post by: Empiricist on January 27, 2018, 06:09:46 pm
Yes.
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 28, 2018, 03:35:59 am
Is there a loading dock or similiar area where goods are brought in? Things the mansion might need in bulk, whatever that may be. If so, go there. If not, just wander around.
Post by: Empiricist on January 28, 2018, 04:14:35 am
Well, the loading zone as it turns out is an enclosed, air-conditioned space monitored by several dozen overlapping cameras featuring a noticeable lack of quest-giving tossers and rampaging dragons, so that's a thing.
That being said, it's not entirely devoid of otherworldly bullshit either. The first thing you notice is the feeling, that indescribable phantom sensation that plagued you on occasion for as known as you remember, the feeling that you now know to be the presence of a Sanctuary. But this, this feels different, muffled somehow, suppressed. This must be the entrance, if the briefing's anything to go by this must mean it's been sealed. No way in, not without breaking the seal somehow. The next thing you notice, and you barely notice, are the shadows, not all of them align with the objects, not all of them are cast. Around the base of each camera is a black disc, shadows without a source.
Post by: spümpkin on January 28, 2018, 05:07:15 am
She begins dusting furiously, in an attempt to prove herself as the best maid, and worthy of entry into private quarters.
Post by: Strider03 on January 28, 2018, 08:29:43 am
In any case, Shef grabbed his pager, and began to wander the mansion, trying to get a feel for its interior layout, as one of the tasks displayed on the pager was apparently to do so.
Post by: Twinwolf on January 28, 2018, 09:20:34 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 28, 2018, 09:26:46 am
And in any case, it was good to familiarize himself with the mansion; how many floors it had, how many exits, how many doors, figuring out if anything didn't quite correspond to the floor plan.
Post by: Empiricist on February 04, 2018, 08:57:51 pm
Aside from the restricted areas which you can't actually check, it seems to match the floor plan perfectly. Makes sense - if there's an Sanctuary located here, they could just place entrances and exits wherever they damn well pleased, any modifications would have to be by Appleton rather than her less-than-welcome guests.
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 05, 2018, 07:31:16 pm
Once she completed her cursory examination of the room, she patted her pocket abruptly as if she'd forgotten something (had to put on a show for the cameras, right?) and then started back toward their quarters.
Post by: Strider03 on February 06, 2018, 08:26:16 am
Post by: Twinwolf on February 07, 2018, 09:00:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 07, 2018, 11:55:27 pm
Cameras are where you'd expect, that is to say in corners and various other inoffensive places that don't spoil the view, well, whatever view a loading zone has going for it anyway, fields of vision overlap and each is in the view of another. You feign forgetfulness and leave. Hmm, well everything isn't suddenly on fire, so hooray for you?
Shef
The basement seems to be dedicated to general storage and maintenance access rather than storing wine it seems, indeed, there doesn't seem to be any wine down here at all. It's sparsely furnished, seemingly in an attempt to make it feel a little less expansive and a little more roomy though there really isn't much a reason anyone would want to stay down here long enough to have use for said furniture. The main rooms are free for you to access, but everything of interest, the utility areas, are labelled with a warning icon. Not quite out of bounds, but you will trigger an alert as soon as you enter them. Still, nothing seems to be amiss here and the scryer remains silent.
Yuki
You go off to look for another maid. Anyone wanna throw in their servant to deal with this, or do I have to actually create another reasonable throwaway character like a real GM? :P
Post by: Strider03 on February 09, 2018, 08:03:59 am
God damn, this mansion was big. Even assuming that what they were searching for wouldn't be in obvious places like the kitchen, it'd probably take hours to search everywhere individually. Hopefully the others were doing their searching.
Post by: Empiricist on February 11, 2018, 12:08:03 am
Hard to rule anything out on account of RFID readers being able to be miniaturized quite a bit and the fact that you can't see inside the rooms and thus whether or not there are cameras inside. That being said, logistically speaking, it's most likely to be built into the door itself, since a pager-based alarm won't work on people with out pagers and a getting a camera to do it is going to be a kit more than finnicky and possibly prone to false alarms depending on what's in the rooms.
Post by: Strider03 on February 11, 2018, 08:16:34 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2018, 06:54:12 am
You come across a maid and a butler sitting down for a cup of tea in one of the lounges. At least, you think it's a maid and a butler? The man wears his blue hair spiked and thick with gel and his suit unbuttoned with the jacket casually resting on his shoulders, the woman, well she's more neatly dressed and would have a far more refined air if it weren't for that fact that she happens to be sprawled across a couch and idly flicking through a manga.
You soon realize that A: it isn't quite a manga, and B: Noriko has just walked in and probably isn't allowed to see the contents of the not-a-manga.
Shef
Portal opened and... yup, definitely a camera, two cameras actually with fields of vision that cover each other, a rather common theme here it seems.
"Soo... whatcha doing?"
There is a girl behind you, late teens by the looks of it, dressed in a maid uniform with her green hair tied into a neat ponytail. Heeled shoes. Part of the uniform perhaps? They didn't make a noise though, and with the time window for her to get here, she would've had to have moved quickly in silence.
Post by: Strider03 on February 15, 2018, 07:41:52 am
"Guess someone was slacking on the job."
Post by: Empiricist on February 16, 2018, 01:38:08 am
You're about halfway through dusting the fourth set of bedrooms before a voice rings out from behind you "What the hell are you doing?"
Shef
"I see, say I haven't seen you around here, are you one of the new hires?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 16, 2018, 02:51:56 am
Post by: Strider03 on February 16, 2018, 08:20:37 am
". . .So, how long have you worked here?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 16, 2018, 10:31:58 pm
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Don't mind her, she's just slacking off, as usual."
"Hey I get everything done eventually don't I?"
"Eventually. The name's Vendelin, and this good-for-nothing maid here is-"
"Fleurette!"
"Everyone just calls her Fleur though. So you're the new hires then? How you findin' the place so far?"
Shef
"Wow you must be fun at parties, I'm Evi, it's nice to meet you regardless. How are liking your stay here?"
Post by: Strider03 on February 17, 2018, 10:07:10 am
"My stay? . . . Last hour has been perfectly satisfactory."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 17, 2018, 10:10:33 am
This really, really wasn't his area of expertise. He couldn't really wait for the moment they could get back to kicking the ass of an Aramitama, an activity Minato was well familiar with.
Post by: Twinwolf on February 17, 2018, 10:19:40 am
"Oh, hey, uh, Aiko, what are you up to?" Her eyes flicked toward the not-a-manga. . . and quickly flicked away. "And, um, you two as well. Sorry, I'm new here."Aiko who- ooooh right, cover stories, Yuki thought. Alrighty then! Be... Aiko... be... Aiko... "Nothin' much. Just finished most of my daily duties is all, so I was wonderin' if ah could get ta know the other workers." Nailed it! Nobody expects the fake accent! Yuki/"Aiko" thought she was doing this country bumpkin schtick pretty well! She should be careful not to go too deep in the cover or she'll start thinking she's really that person like in all those deep-cover spy movies. That was accurate to reality right? Right. She turned on the other servants in the room. "Nice ta meet y'all! Aiko Satou, at yer service. Or well, the boss' service I guess is more accurate." she said cheerfully, doing a... she can't seem to decide between a bow and curtsy, so she sort of does a mixture thereof.
Post by: Empiricist on February 17, 2018, 06:59:13 pm
"Pfft, like Mary cares about that sorta thing! No one even comes here that often anyway. So, where've you been already? Don't tell me you went straight for basement! ...Unless you were hoping for a wine cellar~?"
Minato
There, doesn't seem to be any specific rest area so much as it seems that people just lounge around wherever like it's their own home. The servant nearest to you right now is the butler sitting on one of the couches having a sip of water.
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 17, 2018, 08:40:55 pm
Post by: Strider03 on February 17, 2018, 09:26:23 pm
Yes, I started in the basement. Not looking for a wine cellar though. The instructions about familiarizing ourselves with the place were a bit unclear. Just thought I'd tour the place, starting at the bottom, then working my way up"
Post by: Empiricist on February 17, 2018, 10:24:58 pm
"So you say, well Fuuri, make yourself at home, you'll get into the swing of things eventually, besides I hear you newbies don't have much of a quota this week."
"Lucky."
Shef
"Well I got time, you want a tour or something? Show you the ropes?"
Post by: Strider03 on February 17, 2018, 10:44:07 pm
Shef made ready to follow the maid. He blinked twice, eye itching a bit from the contacts.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 18, 2018, 01:00:47 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 19, 2018, 08:40:51 am
"Say, uh, you new around here? Place is pretty big; even with the map I kinda get lost around here."
Post by: Twinwolf on February 19, 2018, 05:46:15 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 19, 2018, 06:19:08 pm
"Yeah, we're pretty much overstaffed for the job at all times, there's never anyone over here anyway so it's really just to keep Mary company. Anyway, let's head off to the garden first, it's pretty and you like bugs."
Faith
The halls are of decent but not excessive length. Long enough as to not feel claustrophobic, short enough to not feel dauntingly long or like the set of a horror movie at night. If it does come down to a fight, it's best to stay well away from the servant's quarters seeing as they extend across the whole wing, intermingled with various utilities like kitchens and lounges, in other words, collateral damage just waiting to happen. Not just your quarters mind you, the floor above contains more quarters and the one above that is... Mary's bedroom sandwiched in between servants rooms? At least, you think it's a bedroom? It might just be a study or some such seeing as it's actually smaller than the servants rooms, though you've no idea why on would put a study there of all places. Either way it's restricted.
Minato
"Ah, so you're the new hire." he glances at you, inspecting you up and down "Don't be too daunted, most of the work's in that block with your quarters. The rest of the mansion's just for show so there's less work there anyway, though sometimes we use them to hold functions and all that. If you get lost, just say so in the chat room and someone will come get you. Y'know, eventually."
Yuki and Noriko
"Yeah, did the same for me."
"There won't be much work either, Appleton's just a weirdo who hires servants because she doesn't know how to make friends. Don't be an ass, don't try to steal he stuff and you'll be fine."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 19, 2018, 06:24:00 pm
Minato, of course, was lying through his teeth.
"Also, if there's not much work, what ARE we expected to do?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 19, 2018, 06:31:49 pm
"Well, it'd be a bit unusual if Lady Mary just lived in a private apartment would it not? But that is in the end what this building amounts to. The quarters are where everything happens, everywhere else is just extra space and something to maintain. To put it simply, most of us have been hired because the Lady would feel lonely otherwise, the rest are security."
Post by: Strider03 on February 19, 2018, 07:41:13 pm
"No offense, but does Mary get bored without enough variety in domestic servants? Since you're already consistently overstaffed, and I was one of seven or so more hired to work here."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 20, 2018, 06:22:00 am
Faith might run into an even more sullen-looking Karen. She spots Faith, before looking away back down at the pager.
Post by: Empiricist on February 20, 2018, 06:41:21 am
"No, not at all! She's just trying to fill in the rooms, with any luck your batch will be the last ones, until someone leaves of course."
Well the good new is that you aren't immediately bombarded by the deafening mating calls of cicadas, so that's something at least. On the other hand, for all Appleton's eccentricities, her garden is at least somewhat normal, which is a bit of an issue seeing as barren lawns would at least make finding insects a little tricky as opposed to your standard high class european garden. You can already see the damn beetles crawling amongst the plants. You'd probably be in a spot of bother here were it not for the yellow blur and buzzing of a hornet, a hornet flying right at you.
Minato
He mumbles something along the lines of "Wouldn't put it past Fleur..." before taking another sip of water. "There's bodyguards amongst us, well I suppose they're not technically bodyguards, but they've been retrained enough they basically are. Not sure if you know this, but this kind of job attracts a lot of ex-military types. The sort of people used to a certain kind of order. Guess you could say it's therapeutic, easing back into civilian life like this."
Post by: Strider03 on February 20, 2018, 08:25:51 am
Shef noticed the hornet, when it was just a few feet away, and while his first instinct was to attempt to shoe it away, he didn't. It would be unprofessional. So, he continued to walk forward, following the maid, presumably directly on a collision path with the hornet.
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 20, 2018, 09:51:55 am
Post by: spümpkin on February 20, 2018, 04:33:41 pm
"S-Sorry! I was j-j-just cleaning up, there was a d-dusting task available so I decided to do it..."
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2018, 12:44:19 am
It's an open-air, open-spaced garden with a roughly even mix of flowering and non-flowering plants.
"Tell me about it, she's not a bad person or anything, but I guess with who she is, it's hard to have anything like a normal li... Hey is that a-"
The hornet, and it's this big fucking hornet, gets all right up in your grill, almost colliding with you before finally buzzing away.
"-hornet. I think there's a nest somewhere, we've been seeing these a lot recently."
Yuki and Noriko
Another maid walks over to join you guys, waving to you and Yuki.
"Hiyaa~! I haven't seen you guys around, are you the new hires?"
Fleurette and Vendellin just sorta stare blankly at the newcomer for a few moments before speaking
"Mary, what the fuck are you wearing?"
"You look ridiculous in that."
If this were some generic anime, which frankly there seems to be quite the wealth of evidence towards, Shef's existence notwithstanding, this would probably be where you'd be treated to several seconds of a chibified Mary freezing in place with her servant's criticism piercing her chest. Thankfully, your life hasn't gotten that weird. Or perhaps it's sailed far far that point already.
"Eh...?! But I spent all morning preparing and..."
"Yeah, well you just look like a no-good pervert."
"Eh....?!"
"Fleur, you're literally holding a porno mag. Aiko, Noriko, this is Mary, the boss? She's a total weirdo."
"I'm standing right here!"
"In a maid outfit. Like I said, total weirdo.'"
Yoake
"You looked like you were trying to murder the bed!"
Standing in front of you is diminutive lady carrying a stuffed bunny.
"And what was with that pose? It's like you're a completely different person!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 21, 2018, 02:05:08 am
Eventually she elected to go with the formal response. Which she immediately fumbled, by dint of that response being trained into her as a curtsy and her lack of skirts at the moment. "I, uh, yes, good to meet you, Madam Appleton." She glanced over at the two experienced servants. "Maybe she just wanted to know what it was like?" she volunteered. "Although, you probably should have had one of the actual maids dress you, if that was the case. . ."
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2018, 02:21:21 am
"Er, right! It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Noriko! Sorry, I thought maybe I could get to know everyone better if I pretended to just be a maid but..."
"You're not very good at it."
"And anyone who's seen you before would recognize you instantly."
"Ehehe... yeah I guess I really aren't. Sorry, um, I probably should have thought this through more."
"No kiddin', hey Noriko you feelin' okay? Your face looks kinda warm."
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 21, 2018, 03:09:34 am
Post by: Powder Miner on February 21, 2018, 03:21:50 am
...oh right, Karen! Well, Karen didn't look to be very happy, so maybe Faith could be nice to her and extend a bit of an olive branch from the group...? "Er... hey. I'm..." Uh, what had her cover been, stick with the whole cover plan, Karen would catch on just fine, "Joan. Another one of the new trainees, remember? Anyway, uh, what I wanted to say was..." And with the cover maneuvering out of the way: "Are you alright?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 21, 2018, 03:32:34 am
"I'm fine, not that it matters."
"So, what, like black ops operatives become maids and stuff? That only happens in cartoons and terrible movies. No way that happens in real life."
Post by: Powder Miner on February 21, 2018, 03:59:11 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2018, 04:49:34 am
"Really sorry about that! And the uh, uniform thing."
Minato
"Probably not special forces no, but it's not uncommon to find ex-military personnel in such jobs, as I have said, they've the kind of order and discretion that would be familiar to them, not to mention rather generous salaries and high demand. Considering the ill treatment of many veterans face when returning to civilian life, it perhaps isn't a surprise they would choose this kind of job."
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 21, 2018, 05:00:15 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2018, 05:20:02 am
"It's okay, was there anything you wanted to ask about?"
"Like why Mary the way she is?"
"Or why Fleur's reading that mag on a Monday morning?"
Post by: spümpkin on February 21, 2018, 06:14:02 am
Stay cool, Hoshi. Remember your cover.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry~! I d-didn't mean to do it wrong..." Otome exaggerates a frown.
"You see, I'm new here... And I want to make a good impression, but... I need some help..." She poses delicately with the duster, blushing as she looks at the floor. It's unclear whether Yoake is really good at acting, or if she's just fully convinced she is Otome.
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2018, 07:07:28 am
The maid eyes you up and down, raising an eyebrow at your attire though in the end no commend is made.
"Hmph, okay." She glances at her pager "Otome was it? I'll help out." She grabs you by the arm and just sorta drags you around, pointing upwards to the ceiling "Start high, move around, look to see if anything needs dusting." She gestures to ceiling tracing her finger as to point across it corner to corner. "If there's nothing, move further down and repeat." Extending your arm, she gently pivots it, gently guiding your brush strokes "Be gentle otherwise the dust will fly everywhere. I know you want to make a good impression, but haste and passion will only lead to a poorer result, besides Mary is pretty relaxed about this kind of thing." She continues building your motions, moving onto dusting the furniture "Microfibre cloth works best for screens and surfaces, make sure to lift up objects and dust under them. Do you see how some of the dust is falling down? That's why we got top to bottom, and any dust that winds up on the floor can be vacuumed. Do you understand?"
Post by: Strider03 on February 21, 2018, 08:09:55 am
"Suppose it wasn't appropriate to ask earlier, but I am curious, how long you've been here?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2018, 09:36:33 am
"It was a long shot anyway. Guess we'll just have to call an exterminator then, can't really do much gardening with them around." She stretches and thinks for a moment "Two years, I've known Mary for longer though, ex-fiance, it's a long story."
Post by: Strider03 on February 21, 2018, 01:48:02 pm
"Yeah, though, better get an exterminator. It's a beautiful garden, be a shame not to be able to take care of it."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 21, 2018, 03:42:59 pm
So they had wolves among the flock of sheep. Interesting.
Karen lifts an eyebrow at Faith.
"You're my idiot cousin's friend, aren't you?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2018, 11:03:32 pm
"Oh no no no, I've told this story plenty of times, I don't mind. See, my family's also one of those I guess you'd call them blue-blooded types and well..." she speaks at length, the gist of it being that the two of them were placed in an arranged marriage, and that the moral of the story is that before agreeing to an arranged marriage, you should remember to actually ask for the names and gender, and maybe do it while both parties are at least something resembling sober.
Minato
He pauses, giving a quizzical glance "What, pray tell, would you be trying?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 22, 2018, 12:11:27 am
Post by: spümpkin on February 22, 2018, 01:40:34 am
Otome follows along with the maid's movements, doing surprisingly well, almost as though she was lying about not being good at this. She makes sure to stumble a few times, to be safe.
"Thank you so so so much~!! Is there.... anything I could do to repay you...?"
Otome's face shifts, and Yoake's determined glint reappears, sliding up towards the maid, she launches into a quick-fire butt attack, with enough force to knock the maid out without any permanent damage. She also tries to shut the door while doing so.
Once the maid is knocked out, she switches clothes with her, switches pagers with her, and takes her bunny. She almost hesitates for a moment, but decides to take the bunny because the disguise wouldn't be complete otherwise.
She then grabs her pocket mirror and uses any makeup she can find to make herself look as similar as possible to the maid lying on the ground. She then wraps the girl in a blanket from the bed, before tying her up with a bathrobe. Using any furniture she can move without making too much of a noise, she blockades the door, while leaving a little room for her to maneuver out.
With that she smirks, and adopts a more delicate persona. Amai Hoshi hugs her bunny, and walks out of the room, sweeping the fallen maid under the bed. She checks the pager to see what the actual maids name is, though.
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2018, 02:16:08 am
Catching the glint in your air, the maid takes a step back, almost casually with her hand slipping behind the bunny, but it's too late, before she can process anything your fatality attack impacts the front of the jaw. The impact rattles her brain and sure enough, she crumples. No lasting damage, though when she wakes back up she'll probably be quite confused.
Tying her up, you take her bunny, finding a taser and combat knife hidden in a compartment in its back.
"I hope you know what you're doing. They know who she is, if they get suspicious the cover will break."
"Don't mess up."
Makeup applied and cover equipped. Your name is now Iris Fukui. You have access to all areas of the mansion, and apparently a reason to be carrying weapons inside a stuffed rabbit.
Everyone
Winter's voice rings clear into your ears.
"Be aware that Yoake has knocked out a maid and stolen her identity. The maid is currently tied up in one of the guest bedrooms. Her cover is now that of Iris Fukui. If you see her, pretend you haven't met her yet."
Post by: spümpkin on February 22, 2018, 02:22:47 am
She checks if she can garner any information on Iris' personality and/or motives from the pager.
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2018, 02:30:08 am
Nothing that you couldn't already tell. Her workload quota is already quite filled already despite it only being Monday morning so she's evidently quite diligent, and she definitely has some kind of seniority here as well thanks to her unrestricted access. Her last assigned task was assigned by herself and listed under the global task of Help out new servants, with her input comment listed as Teaching Hoshi how to dust. As for why she's carrying weapons on her person, you're still not quite sure, but it probably has something to do with the additional nameless option on pager, one that is password protected.
Post by: spümpkin on February 22, 2018, 02:54:25 am
Try to find Shef, and use Iris' superiority to drag him away somewhere private.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 22, 2018, 03:00:56 am
"Uhmm... yes, I am his friend."
She wasn't gonna go revealing a date left and right! Yuki and Noriko knew, but Yuki was her sister and Noriko overheard.
That's when Winter's voice came into Faith's ears and her expression gradually morphed into a blank one. Faith reached into her uniform, grabbed her phone, and then began to furiously text Winter.
She did WHAT?!
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2018, 03:09:38 am
A problem becomes quickly apparent, right below your own entry is another entry by one Evi Stephanidis, who is currently Giving Linden a tour of the mansion. On one hand this does mean you probably could wait here and he'll come to you, but on the other hand it means he's with another servant, one who may be able to pierce your cover. You could get Enn and Winter to tell him a rendezvous point though, but you won't have any way to know if he'll show up unless he manages to excuse himself long enough to send a message back.
Faith
She knocked out and tied up a maid and has now stolen her identity via cover. It's very fragile and knowing Yoake, will fail spectacularly as soon as she talks to someone. I would recommend pretending not to know her.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 22, 2018, 08:23:23 am
what
Karen blinks as she also receives a text. She doesn't at all seem surprised with what just happened.
".....amateur. How has my cousin survived fighting with this idiot?"
Post by: Strider03 on February 22, 2018, 08:35:55 am
"Fucking. . . Goddammit. Would have been rude as hell to say that. Sorry about that, don't mind me."
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2018, 08:57:26 am
"Considering all she has done, is this honestly a surprise to you? If she cover breaks, we will get her to withdraw. Though looking at your current situation, you may be in hot water too..."
"What was that?"
"I would suggest admitting you're a pervert. It's gotten you this far."
You hear the sound of a paper fan hitting Winter over the earpiece.
Shef
"Oh? Something rude coming from you? I must be doing something right if you're relaxing. Really, we're not too formal here. Funny thing about the maid work actually, I just so happened to need a place to stay in this area, there's some business matters I needed to attend to and Mary was more than happy to let me stay here, still I couldn't just accept her hospitality y'know? I'd feel pretty guilty and since she was looking for new servants I thought, what the hell? I could try my hand at it. Yeah I know, I might be a bit of a weirdo too doing this, but I dunno, it just, didn't feel right just freeloading here for this long without doing something in return."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 22, 2018, 09:00:09 am
Yoake. Goddamnit Yoake.
"Ahem....I meant....what, do you think I'd want to do something? I'd rather not get fired from my first job in the city, y'know? Parents would kill me themselves. Is there anything I should, uh, try NOT to do? Now that I know we got security here I'm a little more concerned."
Post by: Strider03 on February 22, 2018, 09:12:40 am
"I see. I can understand that, don't think it's really weird. Good mindset to have in fact, not something one'd expect from someone part of a self described blue-blood family. Keeps you from having unpaid debts, and if no one's calling in favors, keeps you from feeling like you're taking advantage of someone's kindness, I guess."
The best solution Shef could find right now to prevent himself from freaking out about Yoake--what the actual fuck--was attempts at distracting himself. Hopefully if something happened, he could keep up his cover, and only Yoake would get in trouble and/or fired. And the best way to keep up the cover was continued immersion, hopefully. So, distractions, and continued conversation.
"Out of curiosity, with us new hires included, how many domestic servants are there here, about?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 22, 2018, 10:19:46 am
She hammered out a text in reply in fairly short order. <Why the hell would she do that???>
Post by: Powder Miner on February 22, 2018, 01:10:28 pm
”Uh— I— She— I guess this sort of thing wasn’t a huge problem before because everything was so chaotic before...”
Faith sighed again, looked around to make sure no one else was watching, and then kind of pleadingly looked at Karen.
”Do you know what we do now? Do we... just pretend nothing happened and hope for the best?”
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 22, 2018, 01:59:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2018, 07:22:37 pm
"Thirty one, though some are part-timers and not always here. We're about at capacity now."
Yuki and Noriko
Why would she do anything? She's likely trying to sneak into the restricted areas.
Post by: Twinwolf on February 22, 2018, 07:24:50 pm
Post by: Strider03 on February 22, 2018, 07:40:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2018, 07:58:56 pm
"Well, you see it's becau-"
"She's a weirdo who can't make friends like a normal person."
"Eh....?"
"Yeah pretty much."
"Eh....?"
"Trust me, she has her reasons for this."
Shef
"The cameras picked you up entering the basement, we were worried you got lost. Oh! Mary's out now, let's go meet her"
You two start making your way back inside to the ground floor rooms and towards the Servant's Quarters again. Looks like it'll be a while before you near the guest bedrooms, and with any luck you'll be able to end the tour before you both come across Yoake.
Post by: Strider03 on February 22, 2018, 08:09:12 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 22, 2018, 09:01:43 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on February 22, 2018, 09:49:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2018, 09:56:01 pm
"Thanks..."
"Definitely, we wouldn't want her any other way, isn't that right Fleur?"
"Of course!"
"Aww... thanks"
"Weirdo."
"Hey Noriko, is everything alright? You looked pissed for a moment there."
It's at this point that Shef and Evi walk in on, well... Fleur's calling Mary a weirdo, Yuki's just giving her the thumbs up, and Noriko looks like she's about to put a whole other thing up Yoake's rear when she finds her.
Post by: Strider03 on February 22, 2018, 10:03:33 pm
Post by: spümpkin on February 23, 2018, 06:53:22 pm
She whispers into her mic a private message to Shef, "Shef!!! Come to the bathrooms!!! I need your help!!!!"
Post by: Strider03 on February 23, 2018, 07:00:35 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 23, 2018, 07:41:47 pm
<Found the Sanctuary, by the way.>
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 08:05:44 pm
"Oh uh, nice to meet you! I can explain!"
...You feel something. You hear something. Everyone hears it. A vibration. An incessant buzzing. Still faint enough, but intense enough to be audible. Your scryer is reacting and reacting hard. You've been in this room before, but now something within it is triggering it, releasing massive amounts of spirit energy.
Something has moved into this room. Something intensely magic. Maybe something crept in. Maybe it was brought in, willingly or unwittingly. Or maybe, just maybe, it is one of the people in this room.
Yoake
You head over to the bathrooms of a bath and spa near the Servant's Quarters and wait.
Yuki and Noriko
"Must've been one hell of a message, you looked like you were gonna kill someone for a moment there."
I'm presuming it's sealed?
And then, the buzzing starts. Everyone starts looking around, and it's only a short matter of time before they will realize it's coming from Shef.
"Is that a...?"
Post by: Strider03 on February 23, 2018, 08:13:24 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 08:20:03 pm
Fleur is the first to speak after Shef leaves.
"So... d'you think it was up his ass or...?" (Fleur)
"I honestly thought it was you." (Vendellin)
"What? How could it have been me?" (Fleur)
"Um is that a serious question or...?"
"Yeah I mean I wouldn't put it past you to, y'know?" (Vendellin)
"Okay sure... but don't you think I'd look a bit happier if it was me?" (Fleur)
"Touche." (Vendellin)
"So... we've got two massive perverts now, Evi, you were with him right, did you notice anything or...?" (Vendellin)
"No, he seemed pretty rigid and serious at first-" (Evi)
"Like he had a stick up his ass? Because well I don't wanna jump to conclusions but..." (Vendellin)
"-but he did suddenly react weirdly this one time when I was talking to him so now that I think about it..." (Evi)
"Fleur has a new friend?"
"Fleur has a new friend." (Vendellin)
Post by: Strider03 on February 23, 2018, 08:30:34 pm
He then pocketed the phone, and headed back to the room, making a show angrily changing the ringtone on his phone. He was going to ignore Yoake for now, since it seemed like things would be worse if he left the situation like it was. As soon as he entered, he said, "God, I am so sorry. Extremely unprofessional, and I apologize. I. . . just. . . Sorry." Fuck Enn and Winter and whoever had designed the scryer.
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 23, 2018, 08:34:02 pm
<Yep. Still helpful to know the location though, it's in the loading dock.>
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 08:36:23 pm
As soon as Shef returns, Evi and Vendellin just shove Fleur towards him.
"Welcome back! So... this is Fleur and I think you two will get along super well together!"
"'Sup?" (Fleur)
Noriko
They'll be able to make break for it as soon as the seal is down, assuming this is the primary production facility for those constructs, it should be well within their manufacturing capabilities to cobble together some sort of fast vehicle.
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 23, 2018, 08:40:25 pm
Scryer went off hard in that room, btw. Still watching.>
Post by: spümpkin on February 23, 2018, 08:40:50 pm
She contacts Shef again "Hey!!! Where are you? I asked you to help me like 5 minutes ago! I need help hacking this pager!"
Post by: Strider03 on February 23, 2018, 08:43:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 08:53:05 pm
So we saw.
Yuki, Noriko, and Shef
"The output the scryer picked up far exceeds what could be reasonably attributed to a mere sealing mechanism."
"in other words, either it's doing more than just sealing the entrance, or you're picking up something a lot more dangerous here."
"Eh...?! Sorry! I didn't mean it like t-that and, b-but er..."
Mary suddenly looks a lot more scared and, almost on the verge of tears.
"Our apologies, that might've been a bit out of line, just, give them a moment. I can continue the tour of the mansion if you're still up for it, or d'you wanna shout at your friend a bit more? We won't mind, trust me." (Evi)
Post by: Twinwolf on February 23, 2018, 08:55:41 pm
Post by: spümpkin on February 23, 2018, 08:56:05 pm
"Shef! You can't quit now! We've got a mission to finish, and you're probably one of the most competent people here when it comes to infiltration! Also, I don't know how to work this pager! Please!"
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 09:00:51 pm
Fleur leans over to your ear and quickly whispers "It sounded like a vibrator."
Post by: Twinwolf on February 23, 2018, 09:02:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 09:03:09 pm
"...I can't do this. She's too innocent." (Fleur)
Post by: Strider03 on February 23, 2018, 09:14:03 pm
"More tour would be appreciated, as would just a moment to talk privately with him. Again, I'm sorry." Shef left the room one more time, not going far this time.
While he was out there, he sent out a response to Yoake, covering his mouth with his hand from the cameras, and making a show of being on his phone. "I'm sorry, I'm not coming to meet you in the bathrooms right now. I do not need another instance of that. I can't hack pagers, who do you think I am? All I can say is, they track your location, presumably with a chip inside them. General location mostly. I can't help you with anything else. If you need something, go torture it out of the maid or something, you seem fine with random assault. Please tell me you at least did it out of the cameras." Shef ended his transmission or whatever, and walked back into the room.
Post by: spümpkin on February 23, 2018, 11:03:01 pm
Dragging the real Iris out from under the bed, she places her on top of the bed, and takes a seat on top of her, in a straddling position which would be considerably more sexual were she not fully clothed and also completely oblivious.
She slaps the girl awake. "Hey, wake up Iris!"
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 11:06:04 pm
Iris' eyes flicker open, she stares back at you blankly.
Post by: spümpkin on February 23, 2018, 11:08:55 pm
Quick, what could someone who's been a maid for significant amount of time have to worry about....
"Or I'll photograph this and claim you as the culprit! Don't try to escape either, I've got another butt whoopin' where the last one came from."
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 11:10:09 pm
"..." (Iris)
Iris glances at you up and down as if still in a daze.
Post by: spümpkin on February 23, 2018, 11:11:00 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 11:15:23 pm
"..." (Iris)
Post by: spümpkin on February 23, 2018, 11:41:30 pm
"You're really gonna be like that, huh? I suppose I could just wander around the mansion a bit, but this would really save me a lot of time..."
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2018, 11:43:29 pm
"W-what are you going to do?" (Iris)
((Note: Iris is putting on a pretty fake stutter here, but I'm not sure if Yoake will realize it.))
Post by: spümpkin on February 24, 2018, 12:44:31 am
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know. That information is reserved, for my ears only."
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2018, 12:48:53 am
"That just makes you sound more dangerous! H-how do I know you're not going to hurt Lady Mary?" (Iris)
Post by: spümpkin on February 24, 2018, 01:02:04 am
Yoake's face contorts into a menacing grin.
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2018, 01:08:10 am
Iris' eyes narrow and her voices steadies into a cold calm.
"And how, pray tell, am I to know you can be trusted? You're evidently trained in close quarters combat, that's not something a most thieves or corporate spies would have." (Iris)
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 24, 2018, 01:11:31 am
Post by: spümpkin on February 24, 2018, 03:50:18 am
"Why, I see you've noticed my martial prowess. Yes, I am no ordinary spy, but surely you are in no position to negotiate. I could knock you out again and do the same to your boss right now, and I just might if you refuse to do what I say."
Post by: Powder Miner on February 24, 2018, 03:59:33 am
"Honestly, I don't really know. She was just kind of... there when I Awakened, you know? Me and my sis and Noriko awakened at the same time, and the others were all there."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 24, 2018, 04:00:32 am
If Karen could possibly look less impressed with Faith than she already was, she looks it now.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 24, 2018, 04:08:58 am
"Hey... don't look at me like that. It's not exactly my fault the group is zany, you know. But they're fine anyway."
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2018, 04:19:52 am
"Sure, you guys can come with if you want. Hmm, you guys will probably see most of the places in the quarters sooner or later today, so how about we skip them and head over to the guest bedrooms?" (Evi)
Yoake
"Why the hell would you be asking me then if you could just knock everyone out?" (Iris)
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 24, 2018, 04:39:43 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2018, 04:41:50 am
"So long as you stay away from the restricted areas marked in your pager, there will not be any problems, the environment is quite casual here I assure you. Say, what is your name I don't believe we've introduced ourselves."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 24, 2018, 04:48:01 am
Post by: spümpkin on February 24, 2018, 04:59:14 am
If Iris doesn't do anything soon she will become unconscious.
If she speaks at all, Yoake will lift her breasts, otherwise she will be out cold.
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2018, 05:12:18 am
"Vincent Wood, a pleasure to meet you. So, what brings you here?"
Yoake
"Mmf! Mmf!" (Iris)
Iris tenses for a moment though she does not struggle, but soon enough she talks.
"You what? Fine, I'll give you the password. It's capital c, q, capital k, close bracket (the square kind), tilde, c, caret (the symbol above 6 on a keyboard), capital H, close parentheses, v, caret, w, capital X, 7, hash, greater than. Did you get that? I can type it in myself if you want." (Iris)
Post by: spümpkin on February 24, 2018, 05:20:29 am
"Oh, this is perfect! I'll be sure to thank you later. Bye now!"
Yoake then performs a quick butt jab, knocking out Iris once more, before pushing her under the bed. She also checks the pager and what's been unlocked now that she's got password permissions.
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2018, 05:41:02 am
You now can see which general section of the mansion each servant and Mary herself is in, and have access to all the cameras.
Post by: spümpkin on February 24, 2018, 05:44:51 am
Browse the cameras to see if there's anything interesting.
Post by: Strider03 on February 24, 2018, 07:13:51 am
Post by: Twinwolf on February 24, 2018, 08:24:59 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2018, 08:54:10 am
Honestly there's not much, mainly because the cameras are positioned in either maintainance areas or in the thresholds between sections rather than in any of the rooms people would really stay or gather.
Yuki, Noriko, and Shef
"Probably not, but it's good to learn the routes there, unless you think you can manage on your own?" (Evi)
Post by: Strider03 on February 24, 2018, 03:40:59 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 27, 2018, 07:23:36 am
Like Yoake already had, Minato barely stops himself from adding.
Karen simply gives Faith even more of a disdainful look.
"This is fine to you?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 02, 2018, 10:52:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 03, 2018, 03:07:16 am
"Well okay then, where d'you wanna go first? Kitchens? Baths? Dinning room?" (Evi)
Minato
"I see, though we are a fair way off from Sendo City proper, I hope it is not too inconvenient?" (Vincent)
Post by: Strider03 on March 03, 2018, 08:26:26 pm
"Say, is Mary going to be all right? Seemed a bit. . . well, distraught." They would probably need to figure out how to break it to the owner that they were all leaving at once when the time came without emotionally breaking her.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 04, 2018, 11:52:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 05, 2018, 06:06:00 am
"Give her some time, just bear with it, this kind of thing happens a lot, it's going to be a lot easier on you if you just brush it off." (Evi)
Evi leads you lot to the kitchens, one of them in particular has a bit of a more rustic feel with how the ingredients and utensils are strewn about everywhere disorderly but not entirely messy, sorta the kinda scene you might find on the packaging of prepackaged supermarket food than anything else.
"Vendellin does most of the work here, cooking and clean up, doesn't really like it when people move his stuff so mostly we just leave it to him, though he's fine with you helping out, it makes everything go a lot faster. The other ones are free for your own use, just make sure you know who's cleaning up afterwards, otherwise the stains get harder to remove." (Evi)
Post by: Strider03 on March 05, 2018, 03:03:13 pm
"Is the helping out something we volunteer for, or will it be assigned?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 07, 2018, 07:58:57 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2018, 08:15:04 am
"Oh, did Hideki forget to explain it? There's very little Jon assignment here, everything's on a volunteer basis, and as long as you fill out your quota it's all good. The quota's not too big so it's not going to be a problem unless your procrastinate." (Evi)
Minato
"I see, if you do not mind me asking, is it more a matter of pay, or more a matter of accommodation? If it's the former, I may be able to provide some means of assistance." (Vincent)
"Tsukasa told us that you've got some sensors in the prototype. When you can, there's a lounge we need you to check, something in it was outputting so much spirit energy the scryer became audible."
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2018, 10:13:08 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 08, 2018, 07:30:25 pm
Then, Minato quickly types in a message on his phone in response.
No problem. I'll check it out as soon as possible.
Post by: Empiricist on March 08, 2018, 08:13:24 pm
"Weekly, so you've got a bit of slack, just don't take it for granted like Fleur." (Evi)
Minato
"I see, and what manner of qualifications do you have? I may be able to arrange for you to meet some potential employers if you wish, not to discourage you from this job or anything, merely trying to help." (Vincent)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 09, 2018, 07:00:25 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 09, 2018, 07:10:43 pm
"Take all the time you need." (Vincent)
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2018, 03:56:19 pm
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Having acquired the excuse necessary to leave, Minato bids Vincent a hasty farewell and heads off to find the lounge, texting Winter and Enn quickly back.
"Sensors, huh?"
"You guys know exactly where the lounge is or am I just going to have to trust my belt?"
"It should be just outside the Servant's Quarters."
"There's a lady reading a u-uh, l-l-lewd-"
"Porno-mag. Lady Appleton should be present too assuming Shef hasn't sent her off crying."
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Right. I need to put the suit on to actually use these sensors. Shef sending the two of 'em off crying would be handy."
"Unless you've got a better idea."
"Shef should be done with his tour by now. We'll contact him and see what he can do."
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Right. If he can't do much, I'm going to need a quick distraction of some kind. I'll think of something. For now, just get Shef to lure them away from the lounge. Yoake's already almost blown our covers by accident, I'm not blowing ours on purpose."
".....Karen's probably chewed out one of us by now. Can't give her any reason to be any MORE smug."
Shef
Tour's over by now. Winter contacts you via earpiece.
"Minato has less sensitive sensors on his suit. We can try using that to sweep the lounge but he'll need it to be cleared before he can do. Any chance you can handle it?"
Minato
"Understood. Contacting him now."
Quote from: Strider
". . .sure. How long does he need? And where is Yoake, so I can be sure to not send them that way"
Shef
"Several minutes to be safe. Yoake is currently hiding near your position, in between her camera access and Requiem, she should be able to maintain her cover so long as no one finds the maid she tied up."
Quote from: Strider
"Is it feasible to rope anyone else in to help?" At the same time, shef checks his pager to see whether there's any assignments there that he could feasibly ask for assistance with.
Shef
"Possibly."
Not too much unfortunately, all the jobs are a ways off so it could be hard to justify stringing them along instead of closer servants, especially since Mary is one of the people you need to distract.
Quote from: Strider
"Who's currently in the room?" Options were his requiem, portals, or simply telling that they were needed elsewhere. The choice among these depended on the number in the room. Of course, there were other options, but they were increasingly destructive, and more likely to be founded on an unstable tower of lies.
Shef
"Unknown, though it could still just be the same three people, it's not been too long."
Quote from: Strider
Shef heads over to the room, and tries to find a wall that would be behind most of the chairs or couches from what he remembers. He'll then create a small portal as a peephole to check who's in the room.
Shef
Fleur, Vendellin, and Mary as before.
Quote from: Strider
Shef entered the room, and coughed. "Fleur, and. . .Vendellin, right? I believe Evi wanted to talk to you about something. Last I left them, they were near the kitchens." He twitched slightly, performing his signature glasses flare, without actually having them on. He felt a slight twinge as he did it, a side effect of not having the glasses as a conduit. When he was satisfied that they were heading off, he turned to Mary. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"
Shef
"Fine..." (Fleur)
Fleur closes her book and Vendellin helps her back up the two leaving the room.
"Okay, I um, hope you're still not mad at me.... I do need to do something right now but I won't mind if you join me."
She begins walking off, walking off towards Yoake's location. This, could be problematic.
Quote from: Strider
Shef nodded, and followed. "What do you need to do? Something I can help with? I'm not mad, fact that was what I wanted to talk about."
Shef
"Not much um, I left my jacket somewhere and I can't seem to find it."
Quote from: Strider
"Oh, what does it look like? Anyway, I just wanted to apologize. You did nothing wrong, just lost my temper and overreacted. Completely my fault, and I don't want you to take it hard."
Shef
"S-sorry I must've been out of line... um the jacket's this thin grey hoodie I think I left it on a couch or something, would you mind helping me find it? I, um, can put it towards your work quota and everything if you want."
Yoake
You see an indicator move. You see movement through the cameras. Mary has just entered your section, Shef in tow.
Quote from: Strider
"Barely said anything, how could you be out of line. I'm the one apologizing here." He smiled a bit. She'd probably apologize for saying sorry next.
"And no! You don't need to mark it on the quota. It's not hard, and it's not any trouble. Don't worry about it, let's go find it."
Quote from: spümpkin
Yoake quietly contacts Shef. "Hey, mind moving her somewhere else? I'd rather not incapacitate another but I won't hesitate!"
Quote from: Strider
God damn it. This was like the third time Yoake had contacted him when he had no way to respond whatsoever. So he didn't. He had a solution to the problem if they met up with her, but hopefully she could just find a good hiding space, until they were done. "Where do you remember having this jacket last? And where is that in relation to where we are now?" He set his comms to send out her response to Yoake, perhaps this would give some information on their location and how to remain hidden.
Shef
"I think I left it on a couch somewhere in afternoon, I'm not really sure where it was though. Iris might know, and I think she should be around here somewhere..."
Minato
"You're clear to investigate. We'll alert you if someone approaches."
Yoake
"Keep an eye on the cameras and tell us if anyone enters the Servant's Quarters."
Quote from: spümpkin
"Roger roger!" Yoake put on a silly voice in reply to Winter, as she kept watch on the Servants Quarters. Be on guard for Mary, too, and be prepared to either butt smack or use Requiem if spotted.
Yoake
"Mary's looking for Iris and you have her pager. Be prepared to move."
A few minutes pass, nothing, and then...
"She's moving towards your position, get out of there."
Quote from: spümpkin
"Darn." Alright, Yoake had a mission now. She held tight to the pager and as quietly as possible activated her Requiem, only pulling herself into it.
Shef
You walk into the room, taking point so to speak. Yoake is nowhere to be found.
"Hmm she should be around here somewhere... is her pager broken? Sorry, give me a moment."
She begins typing something on her pager.
Yoake
As you enter your Requiem, your pager's signal dies. Should be fine when you get back out though. You still have AI uplink though, so you're not blind either. Do you want to stay put, or make use of your Requiem to go somewhere else?
Quote from: Strider
"Mind if we search for the jacket while you do that?" Shef will begin to search the different rooms if he gets an answer in the affirmative. For now, he'd have to either get in contact with Yoake, or find the jacket and provide distraction from Mary's current focus. he could achieve the former by splitting off to search, and contacting Winter and Enn, but he was concerned about the nonchalance with which Yoake had talked about taking her out. If her pager had no signal, that implied her requiem, right? Or that she'd broken it in a bid to not be found. In that case, it seemed she was resolved to hide. Thus, Shef would decided that he would split off in search of the coat.
Quote from: spümpkin
Ah. Much better. Yoake twists her Requiem to a path and uses it to transport into a different room, hopefully unoccupied.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Assured of a distraction, Minato begins to make his way towards the Servant's Quarters. In case something unexpected pops up, he looks around the area first before entering the indciated lounge.
Quote from: Empiricist
Yoake
The world within your Requiem twists and turns becoming a jungle gym arena, a sort of mesh framework in the shape of the mansion and what lies within. You quickly hop on over to another room and disengage it.
Your pager quickly restores its signal and camera access is as simple a matter as retyping the password.
There is another servant now entering the section, a butler moving at quite the brisk pace. According to your pager, his name is Arnold Zimmerman, with the recently self-assigned task of Help Mary find her jacket. Due to where he's entering from, there's no risk of him running into Minato.
Shef
"Right, yeah, we probably should."
You begin to search for the jacket.
Minato
The coast of clear and you find yourself in the target lounge room.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Okay, let's go...."
Minato unbuttons his blazer, his belt responding to his intentions as it transforms into its full Driver form. He wrenches the lever along the side gently. No poses or catchphrases this time, Minato didn't want to draw any more attention than necessary.
"Henshin."
Transforming into his armor, Minato looks around, hoping to pick something up. "Right. Let's see where you are...."
Minato
Carefully, you sweep the lounge, each and every corner. It shouldn't be hard to find, shouldn't, but you find nothing. In other words, whatever the source was has either fallen silent or left the area.
"Well, this complicates things."
"There were four other people in the room when the scryer went off: Mary, Fleurette, Vendellin, and Evi. Since Shef was with Evi up until then, we can probably rule her out."
"So, we're looking at something that might be on their person, and let's face it, if they're going to put it on anyone, it'd be the lady of the house. Got a plan Mister Gaia? Or do you want to frisk the maids to be doubly sure?"
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Well, that does complicate things. How are we supposed to explain this? Maybe I could hide in here, have Shef walk them past and my sensors could still pick it up."
Minato
"Hmm... that might be our only bet. Unless... hey uh, what if we wait for her to bathe and..."
"..."
"W-what? I-I was thinking that if her clothes were unattended we could sneak someone in with a portal or Yoake's Requiem and... W-why are you staring at me like that?"
"No reason~"
"R-right... um, it's your call though, we could have Shef and the others do a distraction and hope they don't see you..."
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"if we have to do that, Shef's doing the sneaking. I don't trust Yoake not to do something weird. Let's hope this works."
Minato
"What's the plan?"
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Get Shef to lead them past. If I pick anything up, transmit it to everyone. We'll figure it out from there. If all else fails, we need their clothes."
Minato
"Got it."
Shef
"The lounge is clear, we think it might be on Mary. Can you get her to go into the lounge, Minato will try to hide and scan her."
Quote from: Strider
"Knew it. Fine. Be patient." Shef murmured, hands cupped around his mouth in another room, so as to prevent Mary from hearing. Shef will search two more rooms, then return to Mary. If he's found the jacket, good. If not, he had something that could loosely be called a plan.
Actually. . . Shef also takes a quick note of what Mary is wearing right now.
Shef
No dice. When you return you find Mary talking to a butler.
"Oh hi, this is Arnold, Arnold this is Linden."
"Ah, so you're the one who almost made her cry, haha. Been there done that, I don't suppose you've had much luck with the jacket?" (Arnold)
Mary is currently still dressed in that maid outfit.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Minato, meanwhile, looks around for somewhere to hide.
Minato
Unfortunately the lounge doesn't really have anything that can fully conceal you from sight, the couches don't have enough space under them, and the coffee table while having a bit of space probably can't hide you from all angles either. You, may need to rely on Shef's Requiem or maybe a portal pass-by.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Minato quickly texts Shef something.
I'm going to need a portal. Somewhere to hide.
Quote from: Strider
Before returning to Mary, Shef texted back.QuoteGot it. How exactly? Portal to the under side of a couch, use your sensors through it? Elaborate what you want.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Something that keeps me out of sight, yes.
Quote from: Strider
QuoteMeant what sort of range you need. Portals can be eight feet between entrance and exit. Pick a location, tell me where to put it. Need to go once you answer.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
"Eight feet, get me somewhere down the corridor and under the couch. There's nobody else coming, right?"
Quote from: Strider
QuoteGot it. Should be just us. Going now, be ready to be near portal in corridor leading to back of couch. You'll have ~30 sec, text if done sooner.Shef put his phone away, and headed back, seeing that there was a new arrival. And he'd said that there'd only be him and Mary. Hmm.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Shef shook the man's hand. He grimaced a bit, betraying a small bit of shame at his actions. "No dice. Do you want to stay here and keep looking, and we can go get Mary another jacket? Be pretty surprised if you had this mansion and only one good jacket."
If everyone agrees, Shef will head off with Mary to grab her another coat. If there's disagreement, Shef will use his Requiem to get them to agree.
Now, if there's a route past the lounge in order to get a new coat, they will go that way. If the route to grab a new coat is in the opposite direction of the lounge, use Requiem to get Mary to go to the lounge. Once there, Shef will try to get Mary to sit down on a couch preferably with a wall behind it leading out to the corridor where Minato will be. Then hold a portal open for thirty seconds or until he receives a text.
Quote from: ElfCollaborator
Minato slips out, heading towards the corridor to head to the portal.
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2018, 04:14:21 pm
Well, long story short, you end up having to Requiem both of them. Arnold twice. Mary three times. Didn't need to grab another jacket, didn't need you to accompany her, didn't need to sit down. All three things happened anyway.
Portal opens, Minato scans, portal closes. Done.
Yoake
Three servants are now inbound on Shef and Minato's position: Vendelin Krall, Fleurette Abspoel, and Evi Stephanidis. They're moving at a fairly brisk pace.
Minato
Scan complete. You get results, and that is all you get. Text on a screen, dots on a chart. Meaningless, meaningless to everyone in this entire mansion, everyone but you. There are no answers on the screen and there never will be. And that's okay. You accepted this long ago. The world will not give you answers and it never did; answers are not what you are told, answers are not what you are given, they are what you find, what you find within yourself. It is when you think, when you take all you have learned, all you have experienced, and use it to bring meaning, meaning to words without meaning, that you understand, when you truly have an answer. It was then, when you understood that, that you became a man. It was then, when you understood that, that you knew what it truly meant to be a hero.
It is not enough to have strength. It is not not enough to have willpower. You had to have knowledge. You had to be able to bring meaning, to forge your own answers, and understand the world around you. The principles behind the stroke of a sword, the reason behind a spell, the more you know, the more you understand, and the more you understand, the more you can accomplish.
And it is this, the sum of all your experiences, the wealth of all your knowledge that tells you this seal, is a fucking abomination.
No really, it's bad, it's real bad.
It's well, imagine someone wanted an icebox, but didn't have an icebox, so they used a refrigerator, except they didn't actually have a refrigerator, they just had a bunch of toaster parts jammed together into what can't even be charitably called a refrigerator.
What you're basically looking at is a quasi-curse. Except instead of using false souls, it uses a phantom. And instead of an actual phantom, it's like, half a construct. Like, it's a construct, or rather, a mishmash of constructs, that is completely missing its actual physical body and powered by a shard that you're pretty sure it wasn't built to handle. It's just this tangle of spirit conduits bound to an object.
So, what can it do? Well, it's got shielding, fairly heavy duty shielding, and between that and the sealing, it's still got a lot of power left unaccounted for. Can't figure out what though, the shielding you can tell from the system,leaking, or perhaps more accurately, violently haemorrhaging, but the other components haven't activated yet so right now you can't get much of a read on them.
Okay so that's annoying, but it's not exactly a problem. So, what is the problem then?
Well... y'know how it's bound to an object? Turns out the object in question, is Lady Mary's panties.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 12, 2018, 04:16:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2018, 04:18:11 pm
"Is something wrong?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 12, 2018, 06:31:04 pm
Yes, Minato was a pervert. Yes, he had several fetishes, including maids. Yes, he wouldn't deny that he liked hanging out with women who were easy on the eyes.
But this. This was a step too far.
"Shef, get Yoake, because she's the only one NUTS enough to pull this off. The seal- you're not going to believe this- is in Mary's panties."
Post by: spümpkin on March 12, 2018, 07:22:47 pm
Of course she had to do it, because who else could? She had an incredibly specialist set of skills, one of which was getting flirty with girls.
She made her way to the lounge fairly easily, and once there... Well, she did what she knew.
Dashing at Mary, she launches into a passionate kiss, throwing one of her smoke bombs down and using a free hand (the other still wrapped around Mary) to pull down her panties and pocket them.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 12, 2018, 07:32:24 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2018, 07:57:20 pm
Aight, aight, so here's how it goes down.
First, Minato slips away, armor fading to naught. Next Shef drops a portal, he's gone, gets the hell outta there. So now Mary's just by herself, confused as all hell, and that's when Yoake rushes in.
"Iris! Your pager was- MMMPH!"
It is then, at that precise moment the three servants entered, to see what as far as they could tell, was Iris passionately kissing a furiously blushing Mary. The smoke goes up, Yoake's hand is going for the target, but then, with a sudden rush of speech, Mary seems to wrench right out of her grasp. A split second later, someone crashes against Yoake's face.
It was a butt.
| [Now Playing: | The Battle Is To The Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dmrr3DxUK4) | ] |
It, wasn't the best attack, really, it was amateurish, but in the smoke it was a surprise, and it was made with surprising speed. Yoake finds herself staggering backwards, the attack, didn't hurt much, it's a poor choice to try and strike the master with their own moves, but it was still unexpected.
"EHHH..?!"
By the sounds of, Mary wasn't expecting that either.
Minato
"W-what was that?"
"Minato, what the hell was that? It looked like Mary just tried to hit Yoake with a Keijo attack."
Goddamnit. Those constructs, the Storm Minds, they weren't just disposable soldiers, they were collecting combat data!
Everyone
"A-a-attention all... t-there's been a situation... the seal seems to be in Mary's panties, and it's, using her to attack somehow. It's currently fighting Yoake in the lounge outside the servant's quarters."
"It has failed to pose an actual threat so far, but it may be able to jump to something else. We'll need to establish a perimeter."
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 12, 2018, 08:17:10 pm
Hopefully this wasn't her route.
She headed back toward the lounge, resisting the urge to transform and zip through the air.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 12, 2018, 08:52:26 pm
<“What the fuck?!”> she spat out, her immediate reaction being a shameless English expletive.
Then she sputtered out a bit, and actually responded to the AIs... ”Excuse me, but... what?”
Could she really have heard that correctly? Could there really be some sort of monster in their employer’s underwear?! It took only a second more of thought for Faith to take off sprinting towards the lounge.
Post by: Strider03 on March 12, 2018, 09:21:30 pm
Shef received the message from Minato in his ear, and felt his face rapidly contort into an expression of absolute bewilderment and dread, then into into a resigned look as he heard Yoake's message after. He stood up, turned to Mary, and spoke. "Excuse me. I need to go. Sorry." About what happens next. With that, Shef opened a portal under his feet, saw the confused look on Mary's face before falling into the lower floor with a soft thud. He swiftly closed the portal behind him.
"Yoake, the seal is Mary's panties. Need you to come and get them. Seduce her or some shit, I don't know." He cut the transmission short, then leaned up against the wall for a moment. Things had almost caught up there. Using the Requiem quickly between different people could cause these problems, since the best time to use it was when he didn't know about people and needed to convince someone to do something. Thus, it was more likely that after doing it, they'd begin to question things, and make a mess. Of course, he could always requiem them again, but that became a cycle, and dangerous. And then he heard a thud, swiftly followed by a message from the two AI. "Fuckin--Jump to others? This is gonna go great."
Present:
After the message and response, Shef pulled himself up from the wall marched to a location that wouldn't be directly under the room he'd just been in, then set a portal to get him to the floor of an adjacent room or hallway. Preferably room. Once he was there, he set a portal in the wall, climbing another level until he was above the servants' lounge. From there, he opened a small portal to peer down on the battle. "Enn. Have a birds' eye view of the situation. Not engaging yet. Close combat isn't my thing, there's smoke, and I'd prefer to keep attention on me low to maintain the vantage point. Will engage with nonlethal ammo once the smoke clears somewhat." He pulled a small pistol out of an interior pocket of his jacket, smaller pistol than he normally used, and snapped a clip with a white paint mark on it into the slot.
Shef loads up the five-seven with the nonlethal ammo, screws on the suppressor, and lays down on the ceiling, waiting for the smoke to clear. Then, he'll take four shots with the nonlethal ammo, switching up the exit location of his peephole portal every shot.
Post by: spümpkin on March 13, 2018, 12:21:38 am
Seems like even strange constructs want to learn Keijo. She's really goin' places with this now.
She spins in place, shedding her covers, and stands there in her full Regalia. She didn't really care about being covert anymore. Not that she did before, really.
Running towards Mary, she slides under her at the last second, going between her legs and attempting to pull the panties off.
[6 6 1 2 6 6 1 4 5 6]
Post by: Twinwolf on March 13, 2018, 08:13:46 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 14, 2018, 04:18:15 am
She runs off after Faith without a word.
Minato sighs.
"Alright. A fight, then."
He immediately armors up and heads back in.
Post by: Empiricist on March 14, 2018, 05:23:42 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle Is To The Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dmrr3DxUK4) | ] |
"Y-Yoake? What are you doing here? W-why were you dressed like Iris?"
Well Mary is confused, considering what's going down, she's probably gonna stay that way for the foreseeable future. Her servants don't seem to really have any consistent idea of how to respond. Vendellin is just, standing there gobsmacked, Evi is, moving forwards to do something, and judging by her expression, she's not entirely sure what she'll be doing either, and Fleur is just fucking filming this all on her phone.
What happens next, does not help.
So firstly, Yoake just fucking powerslides under their employer and manages to get a grip on her undergarments. Said undergarments don't really take kindly to this and just, start trying to become airborne and throw her off. This is, probably confusing enough already, but filtered through the lens of mundane perception, it probably gets a bit weirder.
"Is this, one of those weird Master-Student things? Like, oh I'll show up randomly and beat you until you're strong enough to fend me off?" (Vendelin)
"Nooo! D-Don't just stand there! Do something!"
"I dunno, you seem to have it well under control if you ask me." (Fleur)
"Um, is that Masked Knight Gaia?" (Evi)
And sure enough it is, fucking Masked Knight Gaia charging in heroically to thwart the machinations of evil, what form said machinations are taking here not entirely clear, but boy can he run. And boy is he not liking what he sees, because those are definitely Storm Mind thrusters flaring there, there's at least, half a Storm Mind in that construct? And it's just firing off its thrusters non-stop trying to get Yoake off.
Four rounds impact Mary.
Okay, and it can extend its shielding too, lovely. Well, the impacts, even shielded have stunned Mary, but unfortunately, Mary's not really the problem here. She's more, the thing the target is using to trying and bludgeon Yoake with, which really isn't working out too far now.
The construct begins to accelerate, trying to spin Mary around and around until it can slam Yoake into Minato, and then the window, and then out of the window.
Shef
"Understood."
Noriko and Yuki have entered the combat area!
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on March 14, 2018, 05:39:29 am
She couldn't be bested, especially now that she was going public in front of everyone!
Grabbing the panties, she leans backwards, her legs pressing against Mary's, attempting to gain some control over the spin the panties are generating, and pulling on them at the same time.
[6 6
[Drop 1]
Post by: Strider03 on March 14, 2018, 08:28:09 am
Shef uses a portal to watch the window until it seems like Mary is approaching. He'll then immediately close the portal, and make a new portal from the window to the opposite wall, aimed down. If someone goes through, they'll hit the floor in front of the opposite wall. Use a 5, no hyper.
((Is this okay? It's something that using a 3 hyper would be gokd for, but it's also something he could probably just do generally, right?))
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2018, 07:41:39 pm
Alter to 2, just wait for a good chance to try and help restrain Mary.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 17, 2018, 05:17:48 am
Minato looks around. Civilians. They needed to get out of here, now.
Behold, citizens! It is I, Masked Knight Gaia! Please, step out of the room for your own safety! My allies and I are apprehending a very dangerous villain and get out of here!"
Right. Use your reputation to get them out. Okay, that should work. Now onto the real problem.
The pair of supernatural panties swinging around Mary like a deranged flail.
Minato does a few quick mental calculations.
He needed to stop either the Storm Mind or Mary dead in their tracks. He could do that, easily, but who? The Storm Mind was too small a target, and judging from the way Noriko was hanging back, she wasn't going to be too much help for the moment, so her accuracy wasn't going to be available; no tricks using a thrown spear here, then. That left Mary. The best way to stop her would be to cushion the blow onto something; likely himself. Shef had a portal set-up, so at least Minato had a back-up plan should this one fail.
Here goes nothing.
"Yuki, get ready to heal me. Noriko, Shef, if I screw this up, I'm counting on you! Miss Appleton, please relax as much as possible! I'm going to catch you!"
Summon Rho Aias and get between Mary and the civilians. Minato braces himself to soak as much of Mary's momentum as possible, using the shield to take most of the blow.
[[4] [5] 2 6 6 5 6 5 3 3]
Post by: Twinwolf on March 18, 2018, 12:15:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 18, 2018, 04:36:20 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle Is To The Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dmrr3DxUK4) | ] |
Evi glances down at her pager.
"Hmm so Hayate was a fake name? Fleur, you need to tighten security... Fleur!" (Evi)
"Fleur!" (Vendellin)
"Hmm yeah... what?" (Fleur)
"We'll need to review our checks, Mister Gaia Knight here, got in with a false details." (Evi)
"Are you sure? He could just be a weirdo who signed up under his real name, sure looks like one. No offense." (Fleur)
"KYAAAAAAAAAH!"
With her legs pressing against Mary's, Yoake manages to straighten out their formation. The target, now more centered and being slowed pulled out place finds itself unable to speed up its spin as much as it used to, spin that it soon loses as Yoake is well, not really slammed, more kinda just smushed against Rho Aias. Yuki, really just drops shielding for everyone, the construct was able to utilize Keijo techniques, but it seems that when not doing that it can't actually do much damage, not that it was particularly deadly to begin with.
"A-also! Iris' pager got stolen, hey um, Yoake, what did you do to Iri- AAAAAAAH!"
The target gets to accelerate again, this time in a straight line, launching the formation like a spear in an attempt to slam or possibly embed Yoake in a wall, or at the very least, dislodge her.
Faith and Karen have entered the combat area!
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 18, 2018, 05:09:23 pm
Assuming no complaints, he'll begin to concentrate, feeling out the space below, and then set about making a portal below the three. They would fall straight down into it, and then find themselves coming out horizontally on a lower floor. Hopefully this would prevent any sprained ankles or anything, and just some general confusion as they found themselves sliding horizontally out onto ground one story lower.
Shef takes his time to create a portal that will take the three servants to a lower floor, preferably as safely as possible.
(6) 4 5 2 5 4 4 2 2 5
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 18, 2018, 05:59:57 pm
"Alright, I'm taking care of this now." She took a wider stance, placed her hands together with her arms stretched out in front of herself, and invoked a single tone. "Vayvayastra!"
The air around her abruptly slammed itself together, with tangible vacuum force tugging at the others in the room, before speeding right up Mary's skirt.
Use Vayvayastra [6] to slash the panties to bits without harming Mary. Alter to 6.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 19, 2018, 08:30:07 am
[[2] 6 6 5 6 5 3 3 3 5]
Post by: spümpkin on March 20, 2018, 06:25:06 am
"Iris is fiiiine, don't worry. She's just unconscious! As long as no harm comes to you, I'm sure there'll be no bad blood between us either."
Now that Mary has stopped spinning quite so much, Yoake tightens her grip on Mary, while taking up a wide guard stance with her feet some distance apart, heels digging into the ground. Her butt muscles tense up as she attempts to hold Mary in place as much as possible, hopefully making Noriko's job a little easier.
[Alteration Used, (6) instead of (1)]
[
[1 burned]
Post by: Powder Miner on March 21, 2018, 02:34:45 am
"Ah. Um. <Oh hell with it, I'm just gonna...>"
What with high energy, intense, high motion combat going on, Faith rapidly came to the conclusion that there wasn't much she could really do, and proceeded to make a golden shield of energy spring around herself, backing up against a wall.
Faith uses Shield of Courage!
World Line: 4 3 4 2 5 5 4 3 5
Post by: Twinwolf on March 21, 2018, 02:13:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 21, 2018, 02:56:25 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle Is To The Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dmrr3DxUK4) | ] |
Yuki closes in, grabbing onto Mary and digging in her heels as Yoake does the same from the other side while Faith kinda just nopes off to the side. Shef's portal opens, dropping the three spectating servants below, and good thing he does, because with a rush of wind, Mary's panties tear. As does a good deal of the rest of her clothing. The thrust is gone, suddenly so, so suddenly in fact, that neither Yoake nor Yuki react to it on time, toppling over into a Mary sandwich as she babbles on about her first kiss and taking responsibility or something.
"What in tarnation..." (Arnold)
"I-it isn't what it looks like!"
"Are you to say then, that this is not merely yet another of Miss o-Shiri's antics?" (Vincent)
"Oh uh, then um, it's exactly what it looks like?"
"I see, Miss o-Shiri, could you please be as so kind as to get off Lady Appleton? You are causing, quite the scene, Lord knows if Fleur were here..." (Vincent)
Arnold sort of just, awkwardly holds out Mary's jacket, trying to avert his eyes while Vincent survey the scene with steely indifference.
Remember how all hell was suppose to break loose when the Sanctuary was unsealed? How your foes were expected to rush out, make a break for it as you hunted them down? That uh, doesn't happen. And Minato knows why.
Just before Shef's portal closed, there was a small spike in spirit energy readings. The construct had jumped. Likely to one of the three servants now down below.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 21, 2018, 03:17:55 pm
Minato has a look around through the sensors in his helmet, trying to detect where the construct went. Before he looks towards the ground, he looks around at the group instead to make sure it didn't jump to anyone here.
Post by: Empiricist on March 21, 2018, 03:22:38 pm
A quick walkaround shows no, definitely has to be one of the three portaled servants. Probably wouldn't jump to one of you anyway except as a last resort, given that people who have know what it is probably wouldn't be as phased about stripping down and shanking it to pieces.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 21, 2018, 03:26:37 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 21, 2018, 03:28:12 pm
Post by: spümpkin on March 21, 2018, 05:03:01 pm
"SorryMaryforthekissitwasnecessarytogetmyjobdonewecantalklaterbye!"
Post by: Powder Miner on March 21, 2018, 08:18:00 pm
Walking up to Mary and Yuki, Faith crouched down and started to pull Yuki out from under Mary. "C'mon sis, let's get you out from under Miss Appleton, yeah?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 21, 2018, 09:32:20 pm
Also drop that 1 from my worldline.
Post by: Empiricist on March 21, 2018, 09:49:10 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle Is To The Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dmrr3DxUK4) | ] |
"W-wait! That's the exact opposite of taking responsibility! At least tell me where you left Iris!"
But alas, it was too late, Yoake was already leaping though the portal, soon followed by everyone else, everyone but Shef.
On the floor below, the three servants look around kinda confused, it is here that Minato gets a reading. The construct is, damaged, it seems that however it achieved its jump, not all of it made it, it's, leaking even more spirit energy now, and not exactly healthily. That being said, the functional part of it is still bound to something right now - the underwear of the butler, Vendelin Krall.
You know the drill.
One Floor Above
Shef drops down into the lounge to the sight of Arnold draping the jacket over a rather flustered looking Mary.
"I um, couldn't tell you what just happened, even if I wanted to."
"But hey, found the jacket! That's a plus right?" (Arnold)
"..." (Vincent)
"I'm chalkin' that up as a win." (Arnold)
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 21, 2018, 09:56:13 pm
Try to assist Minato and co. with whatever they end up doing, mostly by trying to harmlessly immobilize this poor bastard.
Post by: spümpkin on March 21, 2018, 10:07:19 pm
and executes a Vacuum Butt Cannon - Tournament Edition (designed for competitions, should only strip the clothes and not inflict serious injuries) on Vendelin.
"Don't worry, this should only hurt a little!"
[Hyper used, 6 burned]
[Alteration used, (4) instead of (2)]
[2 6 1 4 5
Post by: Strider03 on March 22, 2018, 05:36:45 am
"Alright. So. First things first, we're all working with Masked Knight Gaia, me and everyone who just disappeared. You're all in danger, since there's apparently an evil being that latches onto panties. We're trying to destroy it. Simple. Weird as hell of course, but simple. Now, I need you to remove yourselves from the area, for your own safety. Best would be to go for a walk on the grounds or something, and I'll send the other servants along after you when I can get them out of the way of the fight. And actually, text me at this number if you need to come back, I'll be able tell you whether it's safe. [Insert cell number here]"
Most of this, he stated without looking away from the portal, hoping that the danger would be obvious enough to them that he wouldn't need his requiem. However, for the last bit, he looked up just to determine whether they'd gotten the number and all noted it down. If he had to, he supposed he would use his requiem to force both their flight and marking down the number. But he'd prefer not to, even if it took repeating himself once or twice.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 24, 2018, 07:22:20 pm
Faith hides away in the corner again.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 25, 2018, 10:13:01 am
[[6] 5 6 5 [3] 3 3 5 4 6]
Post by: Twinwolf on March 25, 2018, 06:03:14 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 26, 2018, 07:16:30 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle Is To The Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dmrr3DxUK4) | ] |
"What?" (Vendelin)
That, was about the only thing the unfortunate butler got out before Yoake rear ends him with her rear end. A shadowy aura flares around him as she impacts, the construct raising its shielding to counter the blow. He remains fully clothed, for now at least. But in between the botched jump and all that shielding, the target's probably gonna be quite drained.
Meanwhile...
"Huh... I didn't know you were a chuunibyou..."
"Yeah, wow you really didn't look the type." (Arnold)
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 26, 2018, 09:26:53 pm
He didn't specify the grounds this time, since he'd remembered that once the sanctuary broke open, there'd be a lot of fleeing. Presumably across the grounds. Instead, he continued without his requiem. "Upstairs is probably best." He made sure they'd gone, and if he hadn't he repeated the simple message of danger, flee to upstairs for a while.
Shef requiems the people. Alteration to a 5 though presumably it won't affect anything like last time. Just need to be safe though.
2 5 4 4 2 2 [5] 4 4 3
Post by: spümpkin on March 28, 2018, 01:42:30 pm
Recover from stun somewhere safe.
[2 6 1 4 5 3 1 1 2 6]
Post by: Powder Miner on March 29, 2018, 01:33:25 am
She sighed again, then she puffed herself up to look all brave and dominant, and then she put her hands together and put a second Shield of Courage. Hopefully with these plus the armor that had formed up under her maid uniform when she'd come in, she could manage a distraction.
"Karen, please tangle him up with the whip while I run up anddistracthimbecausethat'stheonlythingIcanreallydohereaaaaaa!"
Faith puts up another Shield of Courage, charges into the vicinity of Vendelin, and then lobs an intentionally shitty and weak blast of raw magic at Vendelin to distract the strange underwear thing without really harming the butler.
World Line: 5 5 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 29, 2018, 02:52:46 am
Also drop that 2.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 29, 2018, 06:29:58 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 29, 2018, 04:43:44 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 29, 2018, 08:09:50 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle Is To The Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dmrr3DxUK4) | ] |
Faith's blast explodes harmlessly against Vendelin, sort of just splashing outwards against his chest, that seemed to do the trick as while the the construct focused its defenses forwards Yuki sneaked up that ass like an alligator, tearing the man's pants and underwear free as their shield shatters. After that, it was a simple matter for Noriko to put a spear through it. Shards scatter out from the remains, flying over to each of you.
Spoiler: Level Up! (click to show/hide)
And in the distance, you hear the rumble of something great and terrible, a great mechanical beast stirring to life.
"The Sanctuary is unsealed, they're going to make a break for it."
There's a roar, a scraping of metal, and then just this cacophony of raw noise.
"Satoshi's reporting something emerging from the Sanctuary it looks like an armored train."
"Warning! Energy spike detected! Heaven's Draft is activating. I repeat, Heaven's Draft is-"
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
Ever been caught in a flashbang? That, doesn't even hold a candle to this. This, this is the wrath of God given form. The light. The sound. It's like being caught at Ground Zero, of fucking Hiroshima. It's like being caught next to a supernova.
The light, the heat, that's what comes first. It's, well, blinding doesn't even come close to describing it. It's like, light. Light itself. Like getting flashed by a seraphim, and I don't mean low-key flashed, I mean like, his dick's in your face and you can't avert your eyes because his dick is physically IN your eye and you can't wrench it free. It's bright, that's what I'm getting at, real bright.
The blast is what comes next, the shockwave. It's doesn't really sound like an explosion, more the screech of metal, like a great sword falling out of the heavens themselves and plunging into the very earth, which coincidentally is exactly what an outside observer would see, y'know, before getting super flashbanged and just, generally having their day ruined. The sound, the reverberation, you can feel it pushing itself through your body, forcing itself through your very form as if trying to drown our your very identity, tear our your sense of self, which, you suspect is precisely what the others in the mansion are experiencing this very moment.
It's disorientating, it's overwhelming, but it fades, and it fades fast. Two seconds later and you're right back to your senses, back to normal. The rest of the world, not so much. Clear skies now clouded and dyed blood red, spring breeze turned to winter gales. The civilians turn to face you now clad in the shining armor of the Knights Templar, in perfect unison with voices not their own, they cry "DEUS VULT!"
Okay so, here's the situation now:
Vendelin has sprouted an oversized hovering greatsword and an ornate boombox that is currently firing an explosive shockwave of gregorian chants towards Faith's face. Evi is leaping past Yuki on her armor's inbuilt roller skates and trying to spray her Hong Kong Blood Opera style with a pair of silver spray cans loaded with godsknowswhat. And Fleur is currently surfing her shield along the walls leaving a trail of holy fire in her wake while trying to bring her sword down on Yoake's head is a fairly vicious mordhau .
Shef, yeah, you're probably not going to be feeling too happy seeing as the weapon detonated about five seconds after you finally convinced Mary and Arnold to leave, and now their altered forms are both on you with as much wrathful fervor as Chris Hansen at an anime convention. Mary for one has decided to try and skewer you with a jousting lance on her new armored motorcycle while Arnold tries to sweep his electric guitar's laser across your legs.
"They're escaping. Don't think we're fast enough to catch them on foot, but there's some cars and bikes in the garage, I'm en route there and I don't think they'll be too hard to hotwire. If anyone's got any preferences, speak up now."
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on March 30, 2018, 03:44:13 am
She does a backflip, preparing her breasts to catch Fleur's sword in an Evil Bust grip, intending to then throw Fleur into the ground and take her shield to surf off and out the front door of the mansion.
She also clicks a button on her car keys with a spare hand, aiming for her car to drive to the front of the mansion.
[Use Hyper: Chichi Manriki, Evil Bust (5)]
[(6) 1 4 (5) 3 1 1 2 6 2]
Post by: Strider03 on March 30, 2018, 06:43:08 am
As Mary charges and Arnold attacks, use Room to Breath, and portal rapidly between them, past and into another room. Then down, and into a room to the left. From there he'd start to use normal speed portals to make his way outside and towards the garage. Alter to a 5, use a 3 for room to breathe.
2 [5] 4 4 2 2 4 4 [3] 6
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 02, 2018, 08:34:08 pm
Use two Resolve Points. Sudarshana on Minato, and use Sauparna. Fly right through that goddamn window.
The Kumon heir would find himself rather unceremoniously flying through the window at an alarming velocity, Noriko in hot pursuit. In instants, all that was left of the presence of both of them was the echoing howl of the wind carrying both Godslayers through the air in the direction of whoever and whatever was fleeing that Sanctuary. . . And the conspicuous absence of the window.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 03, 2018, 12:15:17 pm
...but when the world came back into view, the old butler had suddenly turned into a crusader-armored sword-hovering, Gregorian boombox-blasting... Faith couldn’t actually think of a noun that could possibly follow that all up, but what she could think of was that this whole situation was suddenly way more terrifying and it SUCKED.
So she popped another Shield of Courage around her body. Sure she actually wasn’t feeling courageous at all in that moment, and each shield likely wouldn’t be that strong, but she also had THREE SHIELDS, so it’d probably work out fine. Then Faith made what was totally a decision to follow the train and not a decision to run for it. Also she was totally making a battlecry as she ran and totally wasn’t just squealing terrifiedly.
Faith throws a third Shield of “Courage” up and then proceeds to book it for the front door..
World Line: 5 4 5 3 1 6 3 1 1
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 03, 2018, 12:47:09 pm
"I'm going to try something. Minato, you're coming with me." She felt an odd surge of power as she absorbed the shards; normally she wouldn't be quite this impulsive, but she had a good feeling about this.Minato, at first, is a little surprised by Noriko's sudden commandeering of himself. Indeed, he wasn't exactly used to going at high speeds at all; even using the Limiter Release on his armor, he wasn't quite as fast.
Use two Resolve Points. Sudarshana on Minato, and use Sauparna. Fly right through that goddamn window.
The Kumon heir would find himself rather unceremoniously flying through the window at an alarming velocity, Noriko in hot pursuit. In instants, all that was left of the presence of both of them was the echoing howl of the wind carrying both Godslayers through the air in the direction of whoever and whatever was fleeing that Sanctuary. . . And the conspicuous absence of the window.
Then, he smirks behind his helmet. He could pull something off with this, if Noriko was doing exactly what Minato was thinking she was doing. He spies several weapons of his floating in the air, perhaps unconsciously summoned by him in the chaos, perhaps he'd forgotten about them. He pulls Rho Aias close to himself, his trusty shield. He needed it for something important.
"You know, usually I'm the one asking people to let me string them along, but if you're doing what I think you are, I'm all yours for now, Noriko. Just give me a minute."
Alter to 3, summon a second Rho Aias and hold both Rho Aiases up.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 03, 2018, 12:52:51 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 04, 2018, 09:11:57 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
With a howl of wind, Noriko vanishes.
...As does Minato.
...And the windows.
...And everyone's skirts.
Hurtling out the window, you see it, the target. A steel behemoth tearing through the earth, its profile wide and low, thrusters dotting its thickly armored shell, burning bright with otherworldly light beneath a blood red sky. As you approach, sun, or rather the sword that replaced the sun behind your back, the first carriage, the first of ten, opens.
An elaborate series of mechanisms twists and folds open its ivory plating, pieces sliding together opening rifts in the armor, holes in the plating for grim payloads to rise from their depths. Four angular cannons emerge, they're vaguely sword-shaped in construction with angular fronts and bulbous rears laden heavy with thrusters. The free-floating weapons shift to the side, burning barrels lazily tracking towards you as missiles begin erupting outwards.
You've, got time, not a lot, but time nonetheless. The cannons have yet to lock on, and the swarm has yet to reach you.
Back in the mansion, things aren't looking good. Socially that is. Not only is everyone now missing their skirts courtesy of Noriko, but Yuki in grabbing Karen had unwittingly used the girl as a human shield, blocking Evi's spray with the heiress' body. The clear liquid, whatever it may be, proving to be awfully explosive detonating in a flash of light that sends the two launching after Faith. Faith continues running the fuck away, now sporting three shields and being pursued by Evi and Vendelin, who are quickly gaining on her.
Yoake meanwhile, well, it's a mixed bag. She grabbed the fuck outta that sword but Fleur immediately let go of it to avoid her counter and surf around her, though failing to actually do so, causing her to just slam into Yoake, the pair now tumbling across the floor.
Shef, just nopes the fuck outta his situation. Honestly, it's hard for him to tell what happened seeing as he portal'd out before he could see the aftermath, though there is some kind of strange rumbling coming from above. It's growing louder but it doesn't seem to be coming towards him at least.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on April 04, 2018, 09:28:48 pm
"En route to garage now, ETA maybe a minute or so. If you can get a bike that'd be great."
Shef heads to the garage, using a 2, if he's still considered in battle or what ever. If not then it won't matter when the line gets rerolled presumably. Are there tracks under the train that Shef can see?
Post by: spümpkin on April 04, 2018, 09:44:53 pm
Like being in her car!
Aggravated, Yoake performs a quick butt spin, attempting to throw Fleur off. She would then run out of the house, and hop into her car to follow the train.
If Shef is out there, pick him up too!
She taps on her mic. "Yo Shef, need a ride?"
[Worldline rerolled, Resolve used]
[Alteration used, (4) instead of (3)]
[Result burnt, (1)]
[3
Post by: Strider03 on April 04, 2018, 09:59:38 pm
"What I need, right now, is a bullet. I'm going to the garage to get it, so meet me there?" He suggested. Then switching over to the line to Satoshi, he stated succintly, "Won't be needing the bike." He increased his pace a hair, closer to a run than a jog now, though not quite a sprint.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2018, 12:17:07 am
Horribly embarrassed because she was now running around in her panties, Faith was no longer willing to go outside. But she wasn’t seeing many other options, and she was starting to get desperate. Nearly frankly ready to cry, Faith suddenly had a line from the briefing go through her head.
Quote from: Elly
"If it does go off, you should be able to safely knock the people out and they'll be fine when you shut it off. Just take it from the user and hit the off button!"
Wait a minute, could Faith actually be shooting these guys in the face with beams?! It sure sounded like it, and it definitely was better than being chased outside and beaten up while shirtless by them, that was for sure. So Faith abruptly came to a halt, turned around, and hollering with a combination of fear, adrenaline, and embarrassment, she suddenly fired one of her magical light beams of freedom at Vendelin.
Faith flips the hell out and then fires a Freedom Beam at Vendelin! Alteration to 6!
World Line: 4 5 3 1 6 3 1 1 1
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 05, 2018, 04:22:24 am
Fling Minato at the train, then fling herself, and regret the fact that I have no 4 to Manavastra with.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2018, 04:47:43 am
Brace for impact and use the Rho Aiases to shield from the cannon. Upon contact, explode the Rho Aiases to open up a hole for himself and Noriko to get inside.
Meanwhile, with Karen.....
Karen Nanami was, all in all, not having a great day.
Firstly, she'd been forced to accompany her idiot cousin's team, consisting of an oblivious idiot who had no place anywhere near a hot stove, let alone near Aramitama- the idiot currently using her as a human shield, to boot-, a foreign girl who Karen was pretty sure was attempting to use Minato for his money (she'd had enough of suitors attempting to get at the Nanami/Kumon family fortunes through her and her cousin and she wasn't about to let that happen again), her idiot pervert of a cousin, an uppity girl who needed to learn how to talk to her social superiors properly (and who Minato insisted on protecting from Karen), that moronic O-Shiri woman with more curves than sense, and that other man who seemed like he was the most competent person in the room.
That was bad enough; most of them had no idea, no clue how hard it was to become a Godslayer.
Then she had to dress like a maid. A maid.
She figured her idiot cousin would enjoy all the girls dressed as maids; she knew he was a pervert who enjoyed that thing for some reason. He was probably having the time of his life, knowing that idiot. But what of herself? This was beneath her. The only one who showed her her allotted respect to boot was the foreign girl. Probably trying to ingratiate herself with Karen to get to Minato (she should know better, really; Karen was fully aware that Minato had no patience for her).
Then that O-Shiri woman almost blew their cover. Not that Karen didn't expect that. Incompetence seemed to be a running theme with this group, but this was a level of stupidity towards which Karen had seen nobody else ascend. This was a stealth mission, not some sort of video game where one could just beat up whoever they wanted to hide themselves. What was she doing?
Then this. This indignity.
She had been used as a human shield, with her skirt blown off to boot (luckily for Karen, she always wore bike shorts whenever she wore skirts, no perverts would ever get to look up her skirt that way) and now she'd been blown to hell by one of the target's servants, all while being insulted.
This was, frankly, ridiculous.
Karen resists the urge to demand Yuki put her down, but she does attempt to shoot her the most murderous, furious glare she could muster.
This was ridiculous.
Karen Nanami, heiress to the Nanami line, destined to dethrone the legendary Yukari Kumon, was above this.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 05, 2018, 08:24:48 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2018, 10:14:59 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
Minato and Noriko
Remember how I said there was time before deluge of missiles reached you? That kinda assumed that you weren't gonna be flung straight into their damn source. So, here's what happens.
Minato, your systems register a power spike as Noriko works her magic and your false regalia begin to twist. They, don't quite expand, their physical shells are fixed, but the concepts they represent, their identity, they're expanding, expanding more than their physical forms can hold. They're leaking outwards, raw concepts bleeding into existence. The pair of Rho Aias shields in particularly seemingly blooming outwards into hazy seven-petaled flowers, less shield and more forcefield at this point. And as you rush down towards your target, you part the deluge like fucking Moses. The missiles don't even detonate against your shields, no, they swerve out of the way and start tokyo drifting through the air, desperately trying to turn in time to catch Noriko.
Noriko, you're too damn fast, too damn evasive, the missiles getting close, but never reaching you. Still their manevuerability and degree of tracking is troublesome, the fact that you even have to worry about them with your current formation is proof of that, and when your speed boost wears off they're gonna to be one hell of a problem.
So Minato's shields go off. Real nice explosion. But there's a problem - you're in the damn lion's den now and the they're hungry. And also they've got lasers. And they're y'know, not actually lions, they're floating laser cannons. Armored laser cannons that about to catch you in the crossfire if you don't get outta there quick enough. Also there's the slight issue that the carriage isn't actually hollow. Blasting the upper armor has created a crater, not a hole, and revealing the side something set deep in the depths of the carriage. Neither of you are experts on the topic, but it looks like a heavily armored cannon, just waiting to be deployed. Around you, magic circles continue tracing into the air, firing the deluge of missiles past you.
The missiles, they're headed towards the mansion. Heading towards your allies.
Shef
You run over to the garage, it's spacious and all that but, it's also noticeably lacking any sports cars. Half of them honestly seem pretty mediocre, and the rest seem to focus on safety and security more than anything else. Not the best for high speed chases. Satoshi glances up from her work on a bike and wordlessly tosses you a metal cylinder. Inside is a single bullet.
As for the tracks, the train just flattens and tear through the earth so it doesn't so much have a track so much as it just leaves this trail of fucked up earth behind it.
Yoake
You spin out of your tangle, you foe not really trying to remain grappling with you anyway. She sprints towards her shield, you run towards your car, confiscated sword still between your breasts. You easily reach the car before she's even halfway to her shield. Unfortunately it is at this exact moment that Mary flies out of a window above on a motorcycle, seemingly shifting directions mid-air as to dive towards your vehicle, holy spear aiming for its engine block. There's also some weird rumbling coming from upstairs. Doesn't sound too healthy.
Oh also there's this huge swarm of missiles heading straight towards you, and probably the rest of the people in the mansion.
Faith and Yuki
Okay so, on one hand, Faith really wasn't bringing her A game today. On the other hand... her more anaemic Freedom Beam is still an enormous fucking blast of energy. And Vendelin, does not dodge in time. It's honestly hard to say what happens, the beam kinda obscures everything, but one moment he's chasing after Faith, the next, he's back to normal and knocked the fuck out on the floor. Neat. Oh also, Faith's missing most of her uniform as well. That's a thing too. Overloading another beam may be risky, to say the least.
Yuki meanwhile vanishes and reappears behind Evi, but as she's swinging, the maid suddenly jumps forwards, sparks flying as her inlines clash against the teeth of Yuki's chainsaw, spinning around mid-air, she sprays, the holy water igniting and detonating in a blast that launches her assailant back but not much else. Before she can properly counter however, Karen's whip finds its mark striking her in the leg. She lands in a stumble, leaning more on her other leg as she steadies herself. She doesn't continue trying to attack and instead just stands there, waiting for something. An attack most likely.
Satoshi calls in through your headsets "Everyone in the mansion able to drive?"
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on April 05, 2018, 11:17:36 am
When Satoshi inquired about driving skills, Shef didn't answer. It'd be redundant after he'd requested a bike. He tapped his mike, broadcasting to Yoake. "At the garage. You coming?" He spoke quietly, standing in the entrance to the garage, watching the train from afar. When it became apparent that there were missiles heading towards the mansion, he spoke to everyone over the comms. "Missiles incoming, make what you will of that.
Alter to a 2. If/when Yoake arrives, jump in the car.
4 4 [2] 2 4 4 6 3 4 5
Post by: spümpkin on April 05, 2018, 03:29:22 pm
She had had quite enough. Yoake starts her car, aiming to head towards the garage and grabbing Shef. If her car doesn't get away fast enough, use Quick-Draw Breast Sword to counter the force of Mary's attack, maybe punch a hole in her motorcycle.
[Burn 3]
[
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2018, 05:04:42 pm
Her Regalia gave her a small piece of modesty, though, as it mostly covered her stomach... but not her back and sides, and now without the bottom half of her top Faith just KNEW that what Noriko’s wind has done was a lot more prominent. ”Uh... Yuki?” Faith began rather plaintively, ”How much do you need my help here? I really want to get something on...”
Post by: Twinwolf on April 05, 2018, 06:11:41 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 05, 2018, 09:52:30 pm
Faith let or a little frustrated noise and then just started to book it to her room as fast as she could, propping up Vendellin near her doorway if she actually got there. Once in her room, if she had the time, she would toss off the ruined maid top, and put on a more normal shirt and pair of sweatpants from her backpack. If Faith had time from THERE, she’d grab one of Yuki’s skirts (she hadn’t brought as much stuff, huh?), stuff it into her backpack, and put the backpack on.
...oh, and she put up another goddamn shield on the way.
Faith goes for her and Yuki’s quarters here as fast as she can in order to put the above plan into effect, WITH a Shield of Courage because why the hell not
World Line: 5 3 1 3 1 1 1 5 4
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2018, 03:06:39 am
Donate a Resolve point to Noriko, use Gate of the Grand Arsenal to fill the stockpile, alter to 5.
[6 [5] 3 3 [5] 6 2 1 2 2]
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 06, 2018, 03:21:07 am
And then they dove downward, smashing themselves into their targets with as much force as Noriko could muster.
Alter to 6, use Narayanastra [R], use another Resolve point to apply Vasavi Shakti to the strike.
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2018, 05:48:15 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
Noriko
For a moment there was silence. Absolute silence, still to the point of maddening, the very air seeming to freeze in place. And then came that noise, that great and terrible noise for which no word could describe. It was the wrath of the gods, the judgement of the divine, the sheer unadulterated salt that was Noriko's existence given form, given voice. The air haemorrhages spears, countless spears, enormous in size and vicious in their fury, immaterial weapons tearing through into reality, the great wounds they gouge becoming their forms, the still air becoming the divine winds that thrust them into their marks. The noise was immense, a terrible cacophony somewhere between a screech and a bang as they slammed into the train in an image more freudian and phallic than most gangbangs. The entire train shudders and groans, caught in the bastard lovechild of an iron maiden and vice, its blistering haste turned into an agonizing crawl, thrusters desperately trying to push it forwards against the otherworldly maw in which they found themselves ensnared.
Sparks fly, metal scrapes. The armor, it's too damn thick. Your spears can't break through and adding more doesn't help that. No, the best they could do is jam, scrape, ensnare. And maybe, maybe that will be enough. Faith's got her beams, Minato his explosives. If you could just inflict some damage, rattle its defenses.
There's a few more metallic groans. Thruster housings. Not as armored as the rest of the train. Not enough you can take them out with the impact along, but with the sheer number of spears being forced against them are crushing them, buckling their plating, jamming them shut.
You don't have the time to finish the job. The spears, now even now you can feel them beginning to fade. These attacks, they're powerful, flashy, but they're also draining, not the sorta deal you can afford to spam, and well, you aren't looking too hot yourself. Turns out those cannons fire laser flak. Caught one by graze and that, just let the next one slam right into you. Last thing those cannons did. You made sure of it. Four mounds of spears jammed down into the earth above where they once floated. They were evasive, not evasive enough though.
Missiles, those are all gone for now at least. Jammed right into the ground. Turns out they don't blow up when struck. Nice to know.
Goddamn, this better not become a regular thing.
Minato
Noriko's plan it seemed, was to slam you like a goddamn rag-doll right down into the train again. Interesting plan there. Y'know what's also interesting? The readings you're getting, pressed against bottom of the crater, jammed between a whole load of spears. You can't figure out too much, this train is evidently way better constructed than that sealing unit, but it seems like it was made in a rush too, you're able to pick up some spirit energy emissions some the surface damage. And well, the emissions are stronger at the front.
Normally you'd be expecting it a bit more uniform, or some kind of interference pattern, internal power cores and like distributing power out to core components and expanding outwards. Maybe some forward bias, some sort of hybrid system meant to leverage a frontal main core with power supply units on each carriage, y'know, because you're probably not gonna be able to power this all with a single core? Nope, not here. It's something else, as if ALL the energy is coming from something at the very front of the train, spirit energy flowing backwards from it, getting progressively used up as it travels, the leaks along its damage surface yielding weaker and weaker signals.
That, would require one hell of an energy source though, like way more shards than they'd be willing to bet on this train rather than just absorbing, like say... a lost templar superweapon with enough output to induce awakening-like states over the population of an entire city.
You've got a target now. You've got explosives. Now, you just need Noriko to let you fucking move again.
Shef
Yeah Yoake might have a little trouble getting here, you go grab a bike. Those missiles are pretty interesting, you're fairly sure they're magical but they have quite the striking resemblance to an actual piece of hardware, one you have some familiarity with - the British "rapier" surface-to-air missile. Accurate, simple to use, that was the idea. Record begs to differ. Fair amount of credited kills, not so many confirmed kills. And of course, in the older models, no proximity fuse. They needed to hit their target, and judging by what's happening with Yoake, the case seems to be the same here.
Hmm, they stopped. Same time as the laser cannons went down. That can't be a coincidence could it? Were they being used as guidance radars for the missiles?
"Where are the others?"
"Karen is currently engaged in combat in the kitchen. Faith and Yuki are currently running upstairs retrieving their clothes."
Satoshi meanwhile leaps into a sedan and it seems to, shift, flattening out and adopting a sleeker appearance resembling that of some sort of sports car, clad in gleaming angular armor, especially at the front. It ignites without her even needing to put in the keys.
With practiced grace she quickly pierces some sort of collapsible spike into the car, just below the instrument panel and clips a small plate and button to the steering wheel - an arcane nitro injector. And then, she floors it. The acceleration was in three bursts, so close they were almost simultaneous. The first from the engine, the second from the nitro, and the third when some ineffable glow came from her hands. Igniting with azure flames the car explodes forwards, tearing straight through into the kitchen
Yoake
There's no time Mary's bearing down fast, missiles aren't closing in much slower either. With a quick slash you bring your assets slicing in a blindingly fast arc tearing into the motorcycle, tearing a deep gouge through it. Doesn't stop Mary from returning the favor though, impaling your car's engine. Looks like you'll need another ride. Hold that thought, missiles incoming. The missiles, okay wow, they do not mess around, you quickly find that dodging doesn't work at all that that you basically end up having to try and outrun the damn things, weaving every now and then to leverage your maneuverability versus their speed to maintain the gap. At least, until the train got snatched up by Noriko's spears. The pursuing missiles suddenly shutting down and crash landing across the lawn.
Mary wrenches her weapon free and sprints towards you, about to go for a lunging slash. Well, she was about to but then Satoshi just fucking runs her down leaving an unconscious and unarmored Mary in her wake. How convenient.
Faith and Yuki
Okay so Karen just runs straight at Evi before suddenly sliding the canister down on the floor. Smoke emanates from it, the plume quickly enshrouding her foe before a whip strike lashes out, scything through the cloud and splitting it apart. Bladed whips are ineffective against plate. Karen managed to do a bit of damage previously by focusing the energy on the very tip of her weapon. A wide sweep, that's a lot less effective. You know what is effective though? A wide sweep with a binding talisman stuck right on the whip. Smoke clears, Evi's anchored to the floor, ceiling, and bench by chains of paper talismans, Karen turns towards you two and looks like she's about to say something when a missile strikes her right in the side and blasts her straight through a wall. Judging by the scraps of fabric left in the wake, she really isn't going to be happy.
Thankfully no missiles lock onto you two so you guys quickly start running back up into your quarters. As you're running up the stairs, you hear something crash down into the kitchen behind you. As you pass the lounge you notice an awfully large hole in the floor, almost as if say some gold-and-alabaster Catholic rip-off of the Doof Wagon (https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/roadwarrior/images/1/1b/Fury_Road_Doof_Wagon_002.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150520125551) carrying a laser guitar wielding knight caved in the floor with its sheer weight all while blaring out gregorian chants, y'know, the the one just under the hole now engaged in combat with Karen? Rounding into your rooms, you've just grabbed your clothes (though haven't quite yet put them on) when there's another crash from down below.
Satoshi's voice comes out from your headsets again.
"Hurry down the hole! I'm getting Karen right now, I'll swing back around and pick you up."
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on April 06, 2018, 06:12:30 am
She rushes over to Shef's bike, taking the driver's seat as he sits behind her, and pulls out the nitrous injector.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's blast this fuckin' thing."
She plugs the injector into the bike, using all three charges. She also activates her Requiem at the same time, aiming for a long land to extend ahead of her, so there's space enough to reach the front of the train.
Post by: Strider03 on April 06, 2018, 06:51:10 am
Shef mentally shook himself; he was getting distracted, and he could worry about the less pressing details later.. He watched silently as the missiles began to curve downward, before plowing into the ground. That was too short, they could go longer, and solid fuel motors wouldn't be able to be shut down (though who knew with magic). Most likely the guidance had been taken out.
After the quick succession of thuds of a number of the missiles dropping to the ground, Shef realized Yoake might be a bit, and revved the bike, starting out across the lawn. He pulled wide around the mansion until he could see Yoake dashing towards him. He braked quickly,then hopped off the motorcycle as soon as it had slowed down enough to jog beside.
As soon as she was close enough, he called out, a little relieved. "You're in one piece. Good to see. You drive, you're better. We need to get to the front of the train, fast. Then. . .well, we'll see when we get there." As soon as she'd hopped on, Shef climbed on behind, holding on tightly around her waist. From his previous experience with her driving, he wasn't sure that would be enough.
Get to Yoake, have her drive. Hold on. Head to the front of the train. Use some portals to defend along the way if necessary.
[4] 4 2 4 4 6 3 4 5 4
Post by: Powder Miner on April 06, 2018, 10:50:08 am
Faith sighed — she should have come to expect this sort of thing by now, but the upshot meant that she wouldn’t be able to get all she wanted to get done done. But, hell, she could split the difference, couldn’t she? She wouldn’t be able to take her bag with her, likely, but what she could do just fine was button a skirt on real quick and toss a shirt on over the tattered sad remains of the maid uniform.
So she moved to do exactly that, and then with a ”Yuki, get a skirt on, then we gotta go on down!” She moved (popping up ANOTHER god damned glowing shield), then, to head down the hole.
Faith puts up a FIFTH shield of courage, quickly puts on a skirt and a shirt without taking off her ruined maid top, and then jumps down the hole.
World Line: 1 3 1 1 1 5 4
Post by: Twinwolf on April 06, 2018, 10:05:02 pm
Drop another heal on everyone, then put on a skirt, then hop down the hole before Faith and chainsaw any enemies that are down there.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 07, 2018, 06:09:43 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 08, 2018, 01:54:14 am
Noriko winced a bit when she realized what she'd done with Minato. "Sorry about that, lost you in the mass of things. Won't happen again, but uh, you're flying with me again." He needed to get to the front of the train, and quickly; she could physically carry him there, compromising her evasiveness, or. . .
Sudarshana Minato again. Fly forward, huck him toward the front of the train as I do so. Clear a landing spot for him if the spears aren't gone when he lands.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 08, 2018, 09:21:18 am
Dai-Henshin, start running across the top of the train to get there once Noriko throws Minato/
[[6] 3 3 [6] 2 1 2 2 2 6]
Post by: Empiricist on April 09, 2018, 09:00:04 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
Minato and Noriko
Aight, so Noriko makes Minato her
The connection reverses.
Minato is no longer dragging his copies around. They are dragging him.
They pierce the train, again and again and again, each strike further forwards, each strike pulling Minato onwards, towards his target, towards his objective. He breaks into a sprint, and his false regalia thunders forth with him, another four pairs of appendages clawing their way forwards with alarming speed.
He's just crossed the fifth carriage now. His forgeries are fading now, reverting, back into blades. In front of him, around him, behind him, defenses erupt all over the train. Six floating laser cannons. two pointed at Noriko, two pointed at each approaching vehicle. Four Storm Minds rise before him. Newer models. Or maybe just desperate variants. Heavy plating, same kind as the train. Bulky. Militaristic. Gatlings, helical blades mounted to the front, half-bayonet, half-blender. And umbilical chords, thick, coming out their spine and hooking them up to the carriages. No numbers this time. Guess we'll be calling them A, B, C, and D. Sounds about right. B immediately dashes towards Minato, aiming to impale and shoot him with its weapon. A and C dash off to the side, floating in the air as their weapons become black vortexes, crossing beams of gunfire strafing out a lead carpet for B's advance. D dashes backwards, keeping its distance and keeping its weapon trained on its approaching target though holding its fire for now.
Noriko, you, are on carriage... actually yeah, which carriage are you on? #3's as far as you could've gone, and #1's detached, its exterior currently folding out to reveal that massive cannon. All of them are spewing out missiles, though, a fair few locking onto you, but the majority going for the two approaching vehicles. The ones that have are having to loop around, coming at you horizontally from both sides.
Shef and Yoake
Hey remember how Yoake's fucking insane? Yeah well that's still a thing. Fucking all three nitros sunk right into the bike. Yoake's Requiem blooms outwards as the two of you hurtle forwards, soon enough dragging the train in as well. It, it speeds up. It just starts skimming on the water's surface, the damn thing didn't even have wheels, it was just plowing through the earth on thrusters alone it seems, and removing all that earth from the equation has just sped it up. Not that it's much of a net gain though - Noriko's fucked up a fair number of its thrusters.
Two laser cannons start taking aim at you two as a curtain of those hyper-persistent missiles begin closing in. You're currently in-line with the sixth carriage.
Faith and Yuki
Well, Yoake's Requiem goes off, so things get a bit easier. Easier as in "there's no floor beneath your feet anymore, so you don't even need to walk to the hole". You land in Satoshi's car, or what used to be a car, it's apparently shifted into being more of an open-topped boatcar at this point.
"Hold on tight!"
You barely have time to react, let alone reply. The car flares again with flames and lances forwards, narrowly dodging a guitar beam.
The two of you, plus Karen, are currently in a turbocharged boatcar driven by Satoshi. It is currently in-line with the second carriage. Missiles are streaking down towards you, two laser cannons are taking aim, and in the distance behind you, Arnold is swinging his laser guitar wildly, beams scattering through the air while besides him, Fleur surfs an ever-growing wave of holy fire atop her shield.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 09, 2018, 09:14:39 am
Try to jam a spear down the barrel of one of the lasers shooting the vehicles while I try to bait the laser cannons locked onto me into shooting the other. Help Minato dodge, starting by shifting him out of the path of the first attack.
Also drop that 1 from my line.
Post by: Strider03 on April 09, 2018, 09:17:52 am
"Yoake! Portals! DON'T CRASH!" He had to shout this over the roar, but hopefully she'd hear. Concentrating to the point of pain, Shef began to open portals, one after another, slightly out of line with each other, jumping the motorcycle repeatedly closer to the front of the train. The portals were arranged such that the exits points varied slightly farther or closer to the train, to throw off the missiles and lasers; a small extra layer of defense. As they approached the front car, the portals would lead closer until they were right next to the train, then a final portal into the front car.
Use Room to Breathe [3] to speed up the motorcycle and then portal into the front car of the train.
[4] 2 4 4 6 [3] 4 5 4 1
Post by: spümpkin on April 09, 2018, 03:24:54 pm
Travelling through portals was no different.
She zips through the portals created by Shef, approaching the front car.
Now, time for the real fun to begin. Standing up from the motorcycle, still firmly gripped to it, Yoake sharpens her nipples and touches various places throughout her body, activating Self-Rackupressure, as the slight pain sends power and adrenaline rushing through her veins. She then leaps off the motorcycle, leaving it to head into the front car. She spins in mid-air, and is then gone into space. She performs Interstellar Butt, attempting to exit inside the front car of the train and slam whatever is inside to the ground, but if there is no interior just slam the car down.
[3 Resolve Spent, Interstellar Butt and Self-Rackupressure performed]
[6 1 5 5 5 3 3 1 6 3]
Post by: Powder Miner on April 09, 2018, 09:02:21 pm
The boatcar drove up to a carriage of the train, and behind them Faith watched as a really really big cannon unfolded from a carriage. ”Oh, uh, wow, that’s big. That’s... bad news. Um, hey, Yuki, Satoshi, ifyou can I need you to be the ones defending the car, ‘cuz I need to shoot this thing. I have like... six shields up, so I’ll be fine.”
With those words (much calmer now that Faith was almost fully clothed and was in a car), glowing moderately brightly from the five Shields of Courage currently surrounding her position, Faith leaned over the side a little bit to extend a palm in the direction of the large cannon, she shouted ”Freedom Beam!” and then she fired a bright yellow beam of magic at the train.
Faith fires a Freedom Beam at the Carriage #1 railway cannon, Alteration to 5!
World Line: 1 3 1 1 1 5
Post by: Twinwolf on April 09, 2018, 09:12:41 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 10, 2018, 01:06:25 am
And he knew just the Regalia.
"Right. If you won't get out the way, I'll just move you out the way."
The Luin Celtchair, a spear so angry, so fearsome that it blazed with intense heat that required it to be bathed in blood to keep it sated, that it would kill many men in battle simply out of sheer rage. Minato had studied it for a while during his Godslayer training, back when he'd been considering Regalia to project, but he'd decided to go with something less difficult to wield. In any case, a Rho Aias and Durandal combo had served the man who called himself a Knight well. In any case, he'd only really need it to deal with a whole army of enemies in close range; throwing it was a bad idea, given he was never quite a good shot with things at all.
In this particular situation, however, this was going to need desperate measures. It didn't need a knight, it needed a berserker. And they were all walking right at him, so no need to aim too well. Perfect.
"Noriko! Stay well back! This is going to get messy! Everyone else, duck! Here goes nothing!"
He could already feel the heat in his gauntlet as he began projecting the spear. Better get rid of it as quickly as possible.
Use a Resolve point, alter to 6, activate True Regalia Replication and summon the Luin Celtchair to attack all of the Storm Minds and cannons in range of Minato. Spin the stockpile around Minato to protect himself, exploding the weapons to deflect any strong blows and using the weapons themselves to deflect anything weaker.
[3 3 2 1 2 2 2 [6] 1 3]
Post by: Empiricist on April 10, 2018, 07:52:18 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
In Minato's hand it appears, a spear, a simple spear of wood and bronze, quite literally blazing with otherworldly rage. Luin Celtchair is not used like a spear. It is not used like a weapon. It wields itself, the user's just the power supply. The targets, it'll handle them, provided Minato survives. He grips it tightly. He'll survive. He's sure of it. Luin launches forwards, Minato with it. A sidestep. Quick. Last moment, just enough to evade steer him out the path of the blades, the gunfire he'll have to handle himself. Regalia spin, bullets ricocheting off their forms. Many are stopped. Many get through. No matter. The weapons cross. Storm Mind B raises its gatling. Intent is to raise Minato's arm up. Avoid the blow. Jam its weapon, its spinning assemblage of blades, and its barrel right into his face, and pull the trigger. Action fails. Assumptions were wrong. A normal spear's source of force is its wielder. It pivots with their limbs. It may be pivoted. Luin is not a normal spear. Its force comes from itself. Sorcery trapped in a casket. Murderous intent with a form. When the Storm Mind pushes, it pushes back, and it wins. Thrusters flare. Storm Mind B dashing to the side. Reaction was predictable. Noriko is observant. Her weapons are never evaded, only delayed. And both Minato and Luin are her weapons right now. Winds reorientate the weapon, and then, they drive it forwards, faster. Storm Mind B drops its weapon and swings its fist towards Minato's head. Minato lets one hand go of Luin. Luin drags Minato off-balance, his body is now oriented diagonally. He is beginning to lean forwards. The fist now needs to adjust. With his free-hand, Minato brings his palm against the inside of the construct's arm, pushing it away, off-course. He leans further fowards, and lunges. Luin pierces Storm Mind B. The armor splits beneath the spear-tip, the weapon drives itself into the construct. Impalement does not occur. It fails to pierce through the armor a second time. Luin and Noriko drive the spear right back down, slamming the Storm Mind against the roof of the train. Luin accelerates forwards, angled downwards, continuing to pin Storm Mind B. Sparks fly. The plating on the roof is being torn apart. Collateral damage. Irrelevant. Luin cares only for its prey. Storm Mind B is being torn apart. Internally. Externally. It scrapes towards Storm Mind D. Storm Mind B expires two meters in front of Storm Mind D. Luin wrenches itself upwards, cleaving through the crumbling construct. Divine winds guide it, restraining it for a moment, keeping it from striking its target's torso. Its momentum sweeps it upwards, and as it points towards the head it drives forwards, from itself, and from the winds. It enters through the keyhole-shaped gap in the visor, embedding and soon tearing itself free of its victims's head, killing them near instantly. It follows through, the arc becoming a semi-cicle as rapidly decelerates, turning back to its other soon-to-be victims. Minato relaxes, letting his arms naturally follow its motions as he shifts his stance, tempering his weapon's bloodlust into something resembling a warding stance if only for a moment.
One second has passed.
Faith gazes backwards from the car, at the smoldering wreckage, the blasted and burnt heap of metal that was once a train carriage quickly sinking into the waters below. There no hole, no cartoonish tunnel right through the carriage. No, her beam had blasted, crumpled, and vaporized its way through her target. The force of the material being forced back, forced outwards, the havoc it wreaked was beyond explosive. Carriage #1 hadn't just been destroyed, it had been completely obliterated. And had something been behind it, that too would have shared in its fate. The missiles are beginning to draw close now, but something's strange, something's off about them - they're not taking the direct path. Picture the missiles arcing down from the across the train carriage. Picture the trajectories they would take to strike the car. Color in the trajectories, highlight the areas they cover, until you have a region, a region in space that marks through where the missiles are heading.
That region describes what you expect. That region is not what you are getting. Some of the missiles are coming from different directions, taking longer, less direct paths. And what Faith realizes is, those wayward missiles, they all come from the same parts of that region.
Picture that region again. Picture it as a swarm of missiles. Picture where Faith is, where Yuki is. Especially where Yuki is. Imagine cones projecting outwards from both of them, where the cones overlap the swarm, the missiles in the cone are moved, shifted off the side. They take less direct paths, they fall behind slightly. Align the cones with where the holes are. The cones are shadows. Regions of darkness cast by two light sources - Karen, and Satoshi. Karen too is important. Karen and Yuki are both important, because Karen and Yuki, are moving.
Imagine how that changes the shadows, imagine how that causes the swarm to shift and churn. That is precisely what is happening here.
It takes some time, a fair bit of time really, a few near missiles, half a magazine from Satoshi, a lot swinging from Karen, but Faith finally sees it, behind the chaos, behind Satoshi's evasive maneuvers, behind the sense of panic as the missiles draw ever-closer and she saw the small army of servants-turned-crusaders off in the distance. She sees the reason behind it all - the missiles don't want her, they don't want Yuki. They're targeting Karen and Satoshi, her and Yuki? They weren't targets, they weren't even collateral damage, they were obstacles, and the missiles are trying to avoid them.
"I can't shake them! They're too persistent! Ammo's running low, I've got one last nitro charge, but it will only buy us a bit of time. I say we board the train, at least then we've got room to shoot and dodge on foot."
It took some time, but Noriko finally lands on cannon A. Flak was problematic, missiles, they were just nuisances. Too maneuverable to shake, too fast to outrun, good thing she had wind magic on her side. Concussive blasts to throw them off course before impact, and watch them go try curving back around. Well most of them at least, for some reason a couple of them just locked onto Yoake instead. Hope she doesn't mind.
Another lurch. Cannon's trying real hard to shake her. Missiles trying hard to dislodge. Good luck, she's got one spear jammed into it to keep grip, and plenty more wind blasts to throw around. The other cannons don't seem to keen to shoot her anymore. Guess they don't have the precision to hit her without hitting Cannon A. Too bad, she's got plenty. Her other spear's currently streaking towards Cannon B, it's been dashing out the way so far, but it needs time between dashes, her spears have no such recovery. As it spear thrusts towards its barrel, the cannon fires, an explosion of plasma throwing it off course. Oh no, whatever could she do? It's not like she can just magically course correct it and jam it right down its barrel. Oh wait, she can. The spear's about halfway down the barrel when the cannon just fucking fires. Well, no luck getting cannons to shoot each other, but getting cannons to just blow themselves up is beginning to look like a pretty sweet gig.
Yoake's ass impacts Carriage #10 from above. There is a horrific bang and the whole thing, this solid mass of metal just, crumples, cracks tearing through its form, the entire train reverberates from the impact. The thrusters all halt at once. The carriages bobbing chaotically in the water and falling to the side, basically just fucking derailing. Thrown up, thrown out from the impact is a flat metal disk roughly the shape of a drink coast albeit a bit thicker. Heaven's Draft. Shadows twist around it, congealing, a crosshair painting around it with a single dot at its center. A Black Halo. A final line of defence, the weapon powering the entire train just a split-second before now pumping its body full of that same might. What emerges is something else entirely. It is dress in black, black shoes, black clothes, black leather jacket, a silver cross hangs around its neck, a cross of burning neon pink in its hands, and a skeletal pair of wings formed out of lightsabers colored that same neon pink behind its back. Out of all the forms it could have taken, it apparently manifested as a near-carbon copy of the R&B phenomena The Weeknd (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Na4j8AVgA). Yeah... go figure.
Minato had just burnt about half of his stockpile chasing down Storm Minds A and C when the entire train tipped over. Turns out these new models know when to cut their losses and just try to zone, using their dashes and superior reach to just keep him at bay. Might've almost worked, but he's got a floating arsenal now, one that as luck would have it, was pretty damn good for blasting him out the way of fire and straight through these constructs. Cost him four false Regalia though and the cannons are still firing at him, something that's a bit of an issue given that Luin seems to be perfectly happy to drag him through plasma flak to reach its prey. Doable of course, but something that'll chew through his arsenal fairly quickly. The fact that the train isn't so much a train as much as it's a collection of nine now-disconnected carriages drifting through a watery pocket dimension at speed doesn't really change that. The fact that Yoake is now alone fighting a lightsaber-winged copy of The Weeknd doesn't change his objectives either. If anything he'll need to get there faster to back him up, but Luin? Luin might not strictly get that, it, really just wants to murder everything and he doesn't have time to smell the murder roses right now. He'll need a plan.
Something's wrong with these missiles. Shef's had more time to watch them, it's a far easier task when they're no longer chasing you. He could already tell something was wrong, their trajectories, their angle of assault, they seemed to all be trying to come from the front, the ones from the back trying to curve in, as if trying to hit Yoake, and only Yoake. And when she teleported away, they just, swerved, swerved away from him and locked right back onto her. And the ones on Noriko, they're, worse somehow. It's like they're having a harder time of finding their target, some of them fail to even lock on to her, veering off somewhere else. It's like they're homing onto her less somehow. At first he wondered if it was some sort of bias or heuristics. High speed missiles to counter Yoake, ones that avoided him so he couldn't just portal them right into their own allies, but if that was the case, if they locked onto Noriko they should work just as well, there's no reason why they display such a clear loss in performance. Those wind spells of her, they have no right to be keeping them at bay.
So at the end of all this, here's the current situation:
Yoake finds Weeknd Alter dashing down towards her at speed with his laser cross, an array of fairly large cannons appearing around him, arrayed in a circular fan and pointing backwards as to blast the surrounding area after his cleaving strike. Four freshly deployed Storm Minds (E, F, G, and H) are also coming in from Carriage #9 though they're still a ways off. Also y'know, there's all the fucking missiles swarming towards her from basically every direction ever.
Shef is currently under fire from laser cannons I and J.
Minato is currently being pulled towards the freshly deployed laser cannons G and H from Carriage #7 by Luin. This is also pulling him right towards their flak blasts. Cannons E and F are now locking onto him, but since they're behind him, Luin's speed will likely render them a complete non-factor.
Faith and Yuki are still dealing with a whole load of missiles closing in on their vehicle.
Noriko is... actually, things are looking pretty good for Noriko right now. Cannon A's still trying to shake her off, C and D are locked onto her but don't seem too keen on doing friendly fire, and the missiles have proven to be completely ineffective against her thus far.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on April 10, 2018, 08:24:35 am
Yoake begins to spin, twisting her hips, and she twists more and more furiosly until she leaps off the train carriage, pushing herself off the ground with her foot, and hopefully nudging the train car into the water. Once in the air, she cancels her Requiem, maintaing her spin and releasing the collected energy into a Full-Powered Vacuum Butt Cannon on the missiles targeting her.
"It's time for an ultimate technique... Zenshin Zenryoku Shinkū Rekketsu! Full-Power Full-Strength Vacuum Butt Cannon!"
[Alteration used, (5) instead of (1)]
[Hyper used]
[1 (5) 5 5 3 3 1 6 3 (6)]
Post by: Strider03 on April 10, 2018, 08:48:20 am
". . . Oh. . . God damn it." He sighed out, tone tinged with equal parts irritation, relief, and resignation. That could be dealt with later though, or never, maybe. For now they needed to win the battle. So he could give some information, just not all his guesses. Tapping into his mike, voice filled with hastily concealed exasperation, he said, "Everyone, the Rapiers--the missiles seem like they're being guided from the laser turrets. Take them out and you should take out the missile guidance systems."
So, now there was a last line of defense. Taking a storm mind and powering it up with the full energy of the heaven's draft, that was nice. And it was fast, and it was charging Yoake. Well, she was fast too, she'd be able to handle it with some help right? Shef rapidly processed all this, as he attempted to keep the motorcycle controlled. But, as soon as the last thought crossed his mind, he noticed that she was reorienting herself, aiming at the missiles, exposing herself to the leather clad thing.
Well, he'd have to cover her. The enemy held the heaven's draft, and the fact that it had enveloped it implied that it needed to be close for its power. Taking one hand off the handlebars, Shef lifted his pistol, pouring out energy into it. It was the same feeling as when he fueled up a tracer shot, but. . . more stable somehow, dense and more solid. As soon as he'd poured everything he could into it, he pulled the trigger, with an earsplitting bang.
The bullet would fly, straight with no portals, for the majority of its journey, until it was in position, in front of the enemy. Then portals, as fast as Shef could make them, turning the linear flight of the bullet into a blurred overlapping web, hitting the same space hundreds of times with pure concentrated physical force.
Use Enforcer[R] on the Weeknd, focus on first punching out the Heaven's Draft then hitting the Weeknd to damage it while it's weakened. And if it quickly recombines around the draft before it had a chance to be hit with the tight bullet web, punch the draft out again, and again. Alter to a 5.
2 4 4 6 4 5 4 1 3 [5]
Post by: Powder Miner on April 10, 2018, 08:40:47 pm
She did have something else to focus on, though, specifically the swarm of LITERAL MISSILES converging upon her position. Or... no, they weren’t converging upon her position, they noticed, they were converging on... Satoshi’s? WELL THEY WERE ALL IN THE SAME “CAR” SO IT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH. ”Satoshiii, Karen, I’m not sure why, but I think they’re all flying towards you, not us!” Then Shef sent his message, and garnered an immediate response from Faith. ”Shef, that can’t be it, there are no cannons pointing our way —thanks Noriko— but a bunch of missiles are coming Satoshi and Karen’s way!”
That didn’t mean Faith couldn’t respond to the missiles, though, and respond she did, by pointing her hand now straight back, firing a very wide Beam (hopefully wide enough to catch all but perhaps a couple of them left to right) of yellow Bravado energy at the missiles and then sweeping it downwards across the missile swarm.
Faith tries to use a Freedom Beam in order to wipe out the incoming missiles! Alteration to a 5.
World Line: 1 3 1 1 1 5 6
Post by: Twinwolf on April 10, 2018, 08:53:53 pm
Burn a 1. Try to interpose self between any missiles at the two targets. Also heal everyone again.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 11, 2018, 08:19:35 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 11, 2018, 11:14:30 pm
Keep using this same method, and kill as many cannons as I can, starting by jamming a spear down A's barrel and leaping to C. Burn the next 2.
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2018, 01:46:25 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
Okay so Weeknd Alter fucking blazes downwards like a shooting star, cross burning bright as shadows blacker than midnight trace its wake, a the cross scything down in an arc of devastation. One little problem, Yoake, isn't there. Yoake's gone. She's above, radiant buttocks unleashing her attack. The only thing awaiting the construct is rough ground streaking by at well over a eighty miles per hour, and a bullet. Let's start with the bullet. It goes through his chest. Something's wrong. It went straight through. No impact, no Heaven's Draft. It's like the guy's not even there. Next comes the ground, he touches it but no sand papering occurs. Something does happen though, as he leaps back up, mostly horizontal and beginning to float, wings spreading open to rapidly decelerate as the cannons fanning out around his back suddenly lock into a spinning cylindrical array around him. He's trying to block the hit. Whatever he did, it doesn't last for too long it seems or maybe it's just not reliable, wouldn't be doing this otherwise. He's canceled his attack and chance to try and catch Yoake in her recovery to dodge. And boy can he dodge. It's hard, trying to nail him between the cannons, the sudden deceleration, and swift footwork, still Shef manages to nail him in the shoulder and gut. Not the outcome, especially since it ain't the shoulder he's holding the weapon is. Two hits isn't bad, but with the overpenetration, it's not as damaging as it could be. Still, he's bleeding profusely, neon blood spilling forth from his wounds. At the very least, Shef's put him on a timer. The impact sends Weeknd Alter on its side and falling to the ground, spared once again from the sandpapering experience, this time by its cylindrical weapon arrangement.
Yoake meanwhile has succeeded in buying herself quite a lot of breathing room, all of the missiles near her blasted to pieces. There's more coming of course, but it's nowhere near as much. Still cause for concern though, especially since she now needs to get through them to continue engaging the target. Well, them and the four Storm Minds, unloading on her. They're, not accurate at all at this range, utterly trivial to dodge, but if she wants to catch up, she's going to need to cross over into close-range killzone, and if last time was an indication, these new models aren't in much of a hurry to get in range of her own assets.
Shef? Well he's probably loving life right now, his bike's gone, and he's tumbling across the ground having just taken the full firey wrath of two laser flak blasts.
Minato manages to put Luin Celtchair through cannons G and H, nothing too fancy, just a quick thrust through the internals and onwards to the next target. Cost him three units from the stockpile though, needed that much propulsion just to dodge the blasts which Luin seemed hellbent on dragging him through. He's blazing towards I and J now, I and J which are still firing at Shef. But that's now where his target is anymore, no, his target, Weeknd Alter in a couple seconds time will be below them and just off to the side, cleaving through his girlfriend's ride. E and F are still targeting him, but again, he's probably not at much risk unless he discards Luin.
Noriko takes out C and D. Not much to say here, the missiles continue to prove to be quite ineffective against her.
Faith's beam meanwhile had just ruined most of the missiles headed her way. She also fucked up Carriage #5 and pretty badly blasted #4 and #6. Not as badly as the that first shot of course, her beam being diffuse and whatnot, but #5 is basically all its armor facing her side before it. Still "most" is not "all", the target area was too spread, out too wide for a beam to fully cover, and when you're in a boatcar about to get half-lodged in dirt and what you didn't cover is still more missiles than you're comfortable with, that makes all the difference. So what happened was, Yuki basically just jumped at the enclosing missiles forcing them to swerve out the way of her ambiguous sexuality, lining them up for Karen's shockwave slash as Satoshi hit the nitro one last time. This time, the car didn't blaze, it just rocketed forwards, skipping across water than soon became earth, the skipping becoming basically a crash, the courier barely avoiding a flip as her vehicle spins the fuck out of control while off to the side, the train carriages just fucking crash and tumble. Well save for #10. #10 basically just got reduced to shrapnel thanks to Yoake. Speaking of things being reduced to scrap metal, Weeknd Alter's deceleration has sent him speeding (in terms of relative motion) this way, he's just flipping out of his spin and turning it into a flying, spinning cross strike on the car as something resembling a human ribcage wraps around him, some kind of barrier no doubt.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2018, 02:56:07 am
Oh shit oh shit oh SHIT THE CAR "Aaaaaaaah oh my God get out of the carrr!" Faith screamed as the boatcar bounced every which way, with an Aramitama ALSO heading towards it to presumably mess it up real badly, and then she took action... specifically orather gracelessly trying to just kind of... roll her way out of the boatcar and onto the ground as it spun out, relying on the absurd amount of shielding currently surrounding her body to keep her safe as she did.
Try to get out of the car! Also, burn a 1.
Worldline: 1 3
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2018, 06:53:03 am
"In case you didn't all see that. Leather guy can phase out of existence for short times. Make sure he's not when you hit him." Shef grunted out, as he clawed at the ground.
Attempt to claw the ground and slow down, then portal Minato generally in the opposite direction he's flying now, hyper [3] Hey, Look over there!.
[2] 4 4 6 4 5 4 1 [3] 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2018, 02:27:57 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on April 12, 2018, 09:48:42 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 13, 2018, 02:33:16 am
Dai-Henshin, thrust the Luin Celtchair down as far as we can towards Weeknd Alter using the last of the stockpile and attempt to impale him.
[[3] 2 2 2 2 1 3 2 4 [6]]
Post by: spümpkin on April 13, 2018, 07:54:25 am
She uses it as a platform, jumping off of it towards Storm Mind E, attempting to latch onto the Storm Mind and lead the missiles and other Storm Minds into attacking it, hopping onto another Storm Mind when that one is destroyed, and repeat.
[1 burnt]
[
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2018, 10:48:19 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
Yuki's field explodes outwards, inconsequential dust and scrapes lifting from Shef's form as a divine protection wreathes his form. Two beams crash into him, detonating in great clouds of burning plasma, his shield gone as quickly as it came. The impact blasts him to the side, his tumble growing more and more erratic. He slams his fist into the ground, gauntleted fingers clawing into topsoil , tumble turning into a slide, into braking, deceleration. In mere seconds, his velocity has more than halved. To the rest of the team it was like he was now rushing towards him, a portal opening above the wreckage of the train, right in front of Minato.
Minato launches through the portal, dragged by his spear. It, wasn't the most accurate portal - by the time he came out the other end, it was no longer aligned with his target. No matter, he didn't need a straight path, he just needed Luin to lock onto the right foe. He pulls the lever.
"Limiter Off."
Four weapons stretch out behind, forms shifting and elongating into twisted butterfly wings transparent and distorted with fractal veins of pulsating golden light. And then, they detonate.
Satoshi watches her passengers leap off her car's. She couldn't get off, not now, not yet. As they finally clear the side, Weeknd Alter bearing right down towards them, she conjures her Regalia, and brings it down, hard. The rod of force expands into a pillar, slamming down into the boat, through the boat, and hurling its still spinning wielder into the air, the vehicle rapidly returning to its original form, that of a sensible, and now half-demolished sedan. Her Regalia shrinks, now adopting a more spear-like form, a pulsating, shifting field of force just waiting to break loose, a bear trap on a hair-trigger.
And then it happens, a streak of burning gold blazing straight through the wreckage. A knight in burning armor, spear in hand, tearing straight through the attack, straight through the adversary in that grave moment right before impact.
Nothing happens.
Nothing. Zilch.
Fuck all.
Minato had simply passed through his target harmlessly, just like Shef's bullet.
The Weeknd's cross comes cleaving across.
Karen, Faith, and Yuki, try as they might cannot escape in time the burning weapon cleaving through all of them and hurling them backwards.
Faith, is fine. The fucking madwoman had five bloody shields and a protective Regalia. She's tumbling but unhurt.
Yuki... well, her shields are gone, she's hurt, but not too hurt, and tumbling. But hey, if it's not gonna stop a slasher villain, it ain't gonna stop her.
Karen, yeah, she's kinda shit outta luck. She's pretty badly hurt and is just fucking launched backwards by the force of the strike.
Minato meanwhile managed to phase through his target avoiding the attack entirely, Luin Celchair quickly spinning him around as the Weeknd leaps into the air a larger pair of phantasmal arms appearing and crossing over its chest, its weapon readied for a parry as its array of cannons spin forward and roar with shellfire.
Meanwhile
Yoake kicks off shattered plating, blasting towards the Storm Mind formation. Gatling fire stafes her from all directions but somehow, somehow she manages to slip past, and slam right into unit E, grappling onto them in mid-air and kicking off them, using the kick and the explosions behind to her hurl herself towards F. F, however, seeing what she did to its ally has already changed tactics, going for a thrust with its weapon, a thrust that is deflected by Yoake's bust who just latches on, turning the fight into a desperate struggle for control over the weapon as the remaining missiles close in, units G and H grouping together and retreating further.
Meanwhile... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmBXEZEYtg)
Okay there goes all the nearby turrets. They, really couldn't handle what Noriko did it seems and while the missiles are continuing to chase her... they can't really do much.
Karen sails through the air towards her, missiles beginning to lock onto her instead. Huh, feels kinda weird being the one hanging back and not getting fucked by murder-happy asshole.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2018, 11:45:53 pm
While she did that, though, she noted that Minato appeared to be rushing towards the Weeknd Alter, and that it didn't appear to be doing the phasing attacking thing (it WAS trying to parry him). So she decided she'd take advantage of it once she managed to slow herself the hell down, and the way she would do that was, by waiting until Minato's attack had resolved so that she didn't, uh, blow him up, pointing her hand in a finger gun at the Weeknd Alter, visibly gathering energy, and shouting "HERE GOES NOTHING!"
And then a brilliant beam of light burst from her hand, a wide beam of raw energy and destruction approximately wide enough to make moving outside its radius in a split second difficult but not a whole lot more difficult lancing out towards the Weekend Alter even as the backlash off the energy washed out to her. The beam of energy was bright, in fact just a little painfully so, with motes of light occasionally splitting off of it and floating away a couple of feet before winking away, almost as if to demonstrate the sheer amount of energy packed into the single beam.
Faith tries to slow herself down since she's waiting for Minato's charge to finish anyway, and then she fires a Lucky Sunbeam at the Weeknd Alter after either Minato's attack resolves or he cancels it, just wide enough to be difficult to dodge!! Alteration to a 6!!
World Line: 3 1 1 6 6 5 5 4 1 1
Post by: spümpkin on April 14, 2018, 12:39:12 am
She flings the Storm Mind caught in her bust towards the other two that have grouped up, hoping to distract all three, if not eliminate them. She would use the force from throwing it to push her away from the missiles, and gain a bit more time.
[1 Burnt]
[(5) 3 3
Post by: Strider03 on April 14, 2018, 06:00:36 am
Try to stop decelerating so much, and wait till after Faith's beam to use Rapid Fire [4].
[4] [4] 6 5 4 1 4 6 1
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 14, 2018, 07:11:49 am
Burn that first 2.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 15, 2018, 04:14:30 am
So, it wanted to phase through his weapon? Minato had a decent counter for that, at least; the Aegis.
It would achieve one of two things; either it would petrify the Alter enough that Minato could land a blow on it and then it'd be a sitting duck for everyone else to hit, or the Luin would phase through anyway, but at least Minato would have a shield of some sort to protect himself with, and he could figure it out from there.
Either one would leave him mostly fine. Hopefully.
But then today hadn't exactly gone to plan.
Alter to 5, use True Replica Replication to summon the Aegis with one hand, holding on to the Luin with the other while using the Luin to brace the shield and petrify Weeknd Alter while shielding Minato from the onslaught of guns, then use True Luin to impale them for Faith and Noriko to finish off.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 15, 2018, 05:51:41 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 15, 2018, 07:10:40 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
Aegis comes out and the shells come a roarin'. Not a good trade, Minato's slammed right into the ground, wasn't close enough to petrify and with his stockpile expended, there was no way to dodge, not with Luin's raging murderboner trying to go at things head-on. Faith steadies herself emotional energy tearing at the ground beneath her, breaking her stumble into a slide. She steadies her aim.
Minato was currently being pounded by artillery. Not exactly ideal, but hey, Minato's a tough guy, he'll live, and y'know what? Him being outta the way just meant she could crank this thing up to full. The blast lances towards Weeknd Alter, and in the split second before it hit, in the split second as it tried to dodge, it does something strange. Its summoned parts, the cannons, the ribcage, the arms, they seem to flicker phasing out of existence. Now there was nothing to protect it from the beam, nothing but I-frames, but not even that was enough.
It wasn't a direct hit, but it was a hit, a clip.
Shef's bullets ventilate the construct's body, what remains of it at least. Half its side has been blown clean off, the wounds horrific, no star wars cauterization here, just raw bleeding shadowflesh, an arm, both legs, and a good chunk of their lower body are missing. Actually missing, they're just, gone, vanished without a trace. And the bullets puncturing them? These ones didn't overpenetrate, exit wounds blooming like flowers of gore and shattered bone.
Faith drops to one knee, still sliding on discharges, she's feeling light-headed, she needs to catch her breath. But her clothes were still on, and that's really all that matters.
Magic circles coalesce before the Weeknd's broken form, looking almost like a series of eyes.
Meanwhile... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmBXEZEYtg)
Spinning as if charging up another Vacuum Butt Cannon, Yoake flings Storm Mind F, sending them careening through the air towards its allies, they scatter and dodge, but that's just fine, now they can't cover each other. Now just need to deal with these missiles...
Two explosions, the last two laser cannons fall, and the missiles fall with them.
Noriko speeds off towards the rest of the team, spears darting back to meet her halfway.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on April 15, 2018, 07:33:07 pm
Take a few shots at the weeknd.
[6] 4 5 4
Post by: spümpkin on April 16, 2018, 02:50:21 am
Yoake heads over to the others, evading any potential attacks from the Storm Minds.
[1 Burnt]
[(3) 3 6 3 3 4 2
"Nice job, guys! Let's end this asshole!"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 16, 2018, 03:46:28 pm
Faith’ll just sit there and burn a 1 as she recovers her stamina.
World Line: 3
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 16, 2018, 08:35:16 pm
Continue heading to the front of the train. Focus on zoning the Storm Minds away rather than trying too hard at actually dodging (so I can move forward more efficiently), and then impale the Weeknd when I get there. Also burn that 1.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 16, 2018, 10:16:32 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 17, 2018, 01:14:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 18, 2018, 02:40:12 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Panther (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7HtXQzF7g) | ] |
Yoake heads on over to the others, not much the Storm Minds cane when do about it now that they're scattered and harassed by Noriko's fire support. It doesn't get much better for them when Yuki teleports right behind G and brings her chainsaw right down on its neck. The armor takes the edge off the impact, but it's not enough, the sheer force splits the plate, not deep enough to cause much beyond a cut, but the impact leaves its internals haemorrhaging and its form slamming into the ground. If it were a person, it'd have been paralyzed. It ain't though, so it just ends up face down in the dirt, wounded.
So Minato discards Luin, the spear using what little energy remains on one final launch at its target, Shef and Satoshi join in, RAM and revolver raised, fingers right on the trigger, a final twenty-one bullet salute to send the broken construct on its way.
Just one problem, the Weeknd ain't done just yet.
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
With a horrific screech the parts around it, the arms, the torso, the cannons and circles, they all shift and slam in place. In the time it took the bullets to reach, they were no longer hitting a soon-to-be corpse, oh no, they were racing headlong into an inferno, a great crucifix of energy rising upwards, splitting the bloodstained skies and cracking the ruined earth.
The shockwave hits you like a semi. The skies clearing in its wake, earth seemingly blasted away beneath your very feet, blasted by the radiant cross until only the clouds of heaven remain.
Clear blue skies, billowing white canopy at your feet you stand amidst the heavens themselves staring down your foe.
| [Now Playing: | Sword of Doom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1H54zwjywI) | ] |
Specifically, their fist. An enormous fist of charred bone with liquid fire for flesh, adorned with gauntlets of gold and bearing down at you with roughly the same size and speed as a semi-truck fired out of a cannon. Maybe not you specifically, unless your name happens to be Faith, but really considering its downward angle and the force behind it, just being near it is not gonna be good for your health.
Okay, let's take a step back shall we? Talk about just what the hell you're even fighting?
Right now speeding right down to you is an enormous figure, something like a man, something like a machine, but greater than both and far more monstrous. It's somewhere between a giant and a suit of armor, its torso only half-covered by flesh, its lower body and left arm little more than charred scaffolding. Your target is in there somewhere, a maimed construct piloting another maimed construct, kinda like a more murderous turducken, one that, judging by the spinning ritual circle pylons on its body and the floating cannons behind it heating up, is going to disengage real quick after the punch to give y'all a nice painful shelling.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on April 18, 2018, 06:55:13 am
Shef uses Portal Shield 6 to redirect the shells back at it if it survives long enough to shell.
[4] 5 4 4 6 1 2 1 4 [6]
Post by: Powder Miner on April 19, 2018, 03:03:28 am
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Once the Giant Weeknd Alter Robot either is hit and damaged with another attack or gets a split second away from landing its attack on Faith, she nails it with another Lucky Sunbeam. Alteration to 6, of course.
World Line: 1 6 5 5 4 1 1 1 1 1
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 19, 2018, 04:38:34 am
On a more practical note, this was something she could handle. A large, heavy object, traveling at high speed? If only the party had a kind of weapon that was almost purpose-built for dealing with such a thing. . .
Vasavi Shakti and plant both spears in the mech's path, preferably angled to try and impale through its neck and chest. If it dodges, focus on dodging myself. Also burn a 2.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 20, 2018, 04:24:50 pm
[2 2 2 3 2 4 3 [6] 2 [6]]
Post by: spümpkin on April 20, 2018, 10:41:47 pm
She hardens a nipple and attempts to slash at the Weeknd, potentially opening a hole for another attack.
[Alteration used, 4 instead of 3]
[Burnt 1]
[3 6 3 3 (4) 2 3
Post by: Twinwolf on April 21, 2018, 08:04:32 am
Heal everyone normally, as well as using the 4-heal on Minato.
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2018, 11:43:15 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sword of Doom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1H54zwjywI) | ] |
Noriko sets up her spears, Yoake lunges forwards, Minato dives, Faith aims, and everyone else just kinda just stands there like lemons. Yoake's the first one to attack, leading onto one of Noriko's expanding spears and them onto the giant's arm, spinning up its arm leaving in her wake a trail of wounds that bleed with gouts of flame. Kicking off, she watches as twin spears slam into the giant's chest, followed by an enormous beam of light. It's, not a clean hit.
The giant twists its body, shifting its weight to approach side-on, its trajectory now a high-speed arc. The spears rake across its chest, the beam burns across it, but only for a moment. It's hurt. Chest loosing its coherence, flesh returning to flame. It holds, for now.
Its attack continues.
Its fist crashes down, an enormous shockwave blooming outwards, and then it vanishes, its entire body disintegrating into brilliant motes of light. Weapons-turned-wings exploding, Minato managed to tackle Faith out of the way, riding the shockwave into a chaotic tumble. Satoshi does something similar, grabbing Karen and launching into the air, her weapon expanding into a pillar of force. Yoake? Yoake wasn't even in the blast radius by this point. Noriko meanwhile couldn't escape in time but she had made progress on getting away from the epicenter, and with a little bit of wind magic she twists the blast and rides the shockwave. Shef and Yuki aren't so fortunate. The wall of superheated air slams into both of them, hurling them up into the air right in time for the follow up barrage.
Few shells come.
No, this battle was already lost. The construct, it couldn't win. Not with the damage it had sustained. At best, it could stall, teleport backwards, bombard from afar. How much time could it buy? Seconds? Minutes? A pittance. No, it would not do that. If it could not win, then that is fine, it was expendable, its powersource too was expendable, its enemies were not. Somewhere within its body, something tips over the threshold, something shifts, changes.
It has eight targets. Seven of them identified.
The portal mage was too skilled. Ranged attacks were ineffective. Up close, his durability would ensure he outlived the construct.
The keijo specialist was too fast. Its missiles would be effective, but they required too much time.
The medic was too durable. A sustained assault would be required, one that would ensure its own destruction long before her own.
The explosives specialist was too durable. A sustained assault would be required, one that would ensure its own destruction long before his own.
The courier was too fast. She could move in quick bursts, sustained fire in conjunction with missiles could work, but it required too much time.
The spear wielder too agile. She was not fast enough to avoid highly explosive attacks, but its shells and fists lacked airburst functionality. Furthermore, its gaydar could not lock onto her properly, rendering missiles ineffective.
The artillery mage was a viable target. She was fast, but she was also tumbling, unable to dodge. The explosives specialist was near her, but his shields would be unable to block a full barrage.
So here's what happens. Your target, Weeknd Alter reappears in a pillar of light, its wing-like cannon array already folded into position. The barrage is heavy and wild, the giant teleporting over and over all across the place, bombarding you from multiple directions, and soon enough it becomes apparent that for most of you, that shelling is just a formality, suppressive fire. No real bite behind the bark.
Shef, you open up your portal behind you even land, sending the shells right back towards their source, though you aren't having much luck hitting them - they're teleporting too chaotically.
Noriko, Yoake, you two just dodge.
Yuki, yeah, you get hit, but considering that you're constantly regenerating and shielding, it's not going to delay you for too long. Satoshi's roughly in the same boat, basically batting Karen away with her weapon before striking the incoming rounds, managing to deflect a few before getting blasted and showered with shrapnel.
Minato, Faith, yeah, you too drew the short straw here. That tackle saved you from the shockwave, but it makes your motion predictable and the need to break out of it before you can dodge, that costs seconds, precious seconds you simply don't have. The full force of the barrage rains down right upon you. Shellfire and shrapnel crash down all around you. Minato, you do manage to throw yourself on Faith. Good job, one date in and you're already on top of her, a shame your protection broke already. But hey, you can take way more of beating than her, that being said, that doesn't exactly spare her from the damage either. A heavily armored man being jackhammered against you, that isn't exactly therapeutic.
The motes of light shift, becoming more missiles, and considering how much the Weeknd teleported, yeah, that's a lot of missiles, all raining downwards, mostly at Yoake and to a lesser extent, Satoshi. The adversary itself however remains focused on trying to murder Faith's puss harder than Minato, just y'know, it's also gonna try and murder the rest of her body and blast her to pieces. It's just continuing to teleport around and shell them. Its entire body is beginning to burn, beginning to glow, glow to bright it's becoming almost painful to look at.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on April 22, 2018, 12:06:08 am
"Shef! Portal, now!"
Yoake crouches, and performs a jumping somersault, planning to come out of the portal and slam into the Weeknd's chest with her butt.
[Alteration used, 5 instead of 3]
[Burnt 1]
[3 6 3 3 2 3 (5)
Post by: Strider03 on April 22, 2018, 06:34:04 am
Tracer [R] on the Weeknd, using generous Faith resolve. If the thing still looks up after that, give Yoake a nonhyper portal to play with to get in close to the thing.
[5] 4 4 6 1 2 1 4 4 4
Post by: Twinwolf on April 22, 2018, 06:47:32 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 23, 2018, 12:15:55 am
Do, uh... nothing. Give a Resolve to Shef, though. Burn a 1.
World Line:
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 23, 2018, 12:42:45 am
She decided that the best way to get those two out of harm's way was to simply eliminate the source of the harm. The thing was basically dead, all she needed to do was cut out it's heart. . .
God fucking damn it.
She summoned up her power over wind once more, planting her spears to either side of her once she reached a position where she believed the thing wasn't going to immediately appear atop her and squash her into the dirt. The air around her compressed into blades into what the construct might have recognized as an attack normally meant to take on groups, slashing at them and sending them reeling. But these blades of air, they were headed straight for its core, seeking it out and trying to blow the damned thing up, Noriko relying on experience she really, honestly wished she did not have to guide her strike.
Vayvayastra, using the next six in my line (as in, not the one that would normally be used for this turn.)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 24, 2018, 02:49:09 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 24, 2018, 06:27:59 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sword of Doom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1H54zwjywI) | ] |
It was a peculiar thing, a ghostly syringe, shimmering with pale light. Spirit energy, trapped, compressed, the prisoner their own jailor. An injector. A power boost of sorts. Time was of the essence. She'll have to made do with two. Taking a single stride forwards, Satoshi's weapon explodes into a great pillar of force, the girl launching forwards towards her target, towards her protectorates upon wings of crimson.
It unfurls, a red carpet for the bombarded lovebirds, the scarf snapping around them, tightening, constricting. She wait until the last possible moment, until she could feel the pull and feedback of the fabric, her movement beginning to decelerate, decelerate fast. Second injector goes into the Regalia. Another pillar of force, another launch. Her first was low, horizontal almost, speed was paramount. Here? Here she didn't care as much, just needed to avoid the shelling. This time, she launches high, delivery trailing behind her.
The smoldering titan swings its cannon to bear, and then comes the shockwave, the echoing crack of a whip compressed into a blind razor, tearing through the air. It had no choice but to teleport. A bullet was waiting for it, a bullet crashing into it, into the blade of its arm, the arm it just drove towards it. Now both arms were gone. Not ideal, but better to lose an arm than to be destroyed utterly. Pity that was never the choice.
Even as the round detonated, the very wind turned against them, lances tearing through its chest, into the confines within. There would be no impalement, no puncturing, no, there would be no need for more wounds, Noriko had no need for them. She simply required an entry point, and given the sordid state of the Weeknd, there were plenty of them. Embolism doesn't even begin to describe it, the blast rips open their chest cavity and cracks open their skull. Grey matter splatter across the cockpit, arterial blood gushes anew. But still, somehow, the construct clings to life, form all but broken, but still somehow twitching, moving. Pointless, it could resist no longer. A fist slams through. Through the cockpit, though their ruined chest. Reaching within, closing around it, their core, Heaven's Draft. Yoake tears it free. She's gone before the blood even finishes scattering.
Weeknd Alter is no more.
The construct fades into naught. The titan collapses into light. The heavens it occupies shatters to pieces.
You are now all standing some distance away from the mansion neath blue skies amidst the wreckage of a train and its garrison. All resistance has been crushed, and soon, the same fate shall befall those left within the Sanctuary.
"Excellent work. The mansion is secured, as is Heaven's Draft."
"Get some rest but not too much. We'll need to breach that Sanctuary soon enough, the longer we wait, the longer they'll have to prepare."
Spoiler: Level Up! (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on April 24, 2018, 07:06:59 am
Post by: spümpkin on April 24, 2018, 07:29:08 am
"Come on Shef, It's in safe hands! Nobody is gonna grab this while Yoake's on the job."
Post by: Strider03 on April 24, 2018, 11:52:41 am
He turned back to the carnage again. "Anyway, you did good out there. But what happened to your ride, thought you were going to pick me up?"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 24, 2018, 11:56:51 am
...oh, yeah, there was still someone rather heavy on top of her, pressing her into the ground. ”Minato...” Faith ventured, ”...you’re crushing me...”
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 24, 2018, 12:33:34 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 24, 2018, 02:26:30 pm
"Sorry 'bout that. It was the best I could think of to get you out the way. Least you aren't dead, right?"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 24, 2018, 05:21:19 pm
Post by: spümpkin on April 24, 2018, 06:48:47 pm
"W-Well, I got held up! They wrecked my car! I mean, it's not like I don't have plenty to spare but that was one of my favorites."
She pouts.
Post by: Strider03 on April 24, 2018, 07:32:33 pm
"Should probably see about armoring them? Get someone to install plating and reinforce the frame. Normally that'd add about. . .five hundred kilos for the ballistic plating and glass, probably somewhat impair the handling, decrease fuel efficiency. But with awakened stuff, it's probably feasible to do it while keeping it all fast. Maybe get someone like Tsukasa to help out when you repair it, or when you build a new one? Winter and Enn can probably recommend someone too, if there's people better suited."
Post by: Empiricist on April 25, 2018, 06:34:13 am
"Elly is en route and will be arriving within the hour."
Noriko
"And so it did." Satoshi grins. "Told you you'll get used to it, now you'll just need to work on smiling more~"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 25, 2018, 01:42:17 pm
She skids to a stop nearby, parking her bike near one of the pieces of debris, taking off her helmet and shaking her hair out as she does to get it loose as she props up the kickstand.
"Came as soon as I could. Alarms went off from the sensors installed into Minato's suit- which, by the way, Minato, you might want to consider NEXT time you stuff your face into your lady friend's bountiful bosom, it messes with the sensors a little bit- and I decided I'd help out on the field for once. It's nice to get out of the house, and of course, get to see the real eye candy, hm?"
Shef doesn't even need to look to know that last part was aimed at him.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 25, 2018, 02:27:28 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 25, 2018, 04:12:16 pm
So, overall, that comment had actually been enough to ensure that a scarlet-faced Faith was glaring daggers at Tsukasa.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 25, 2018, 04:28:14 pm
"Tsukasa. Seriously? Bad time."
"Just saying, Minato, be a little less reckless with the Gaia Armor, otherwise you'll get you and her hurt because some Aramitama used you as a club to smack her around like a pinata. The rate you're using yourself as her human shield, I'll have to install airbags and cushions for her next time. Try to make more use of your Regalia Replication."
Post by: Empiricist on April 25, 2018, 08:42:47 pm
"Aww don't be like that, it's not that dangerous! Relax a little, you'll just stress yourself out if you worry so much."
Post by: Twinwolf on April 25, 2018, 09:03:31 pm
Post by: spümpkin on April 25, 2018, 10:33:33 pm
"Come on, I don't care that much." Yoake stretches, taking a seat wherever she can. "Man, that was soooo boring! I can't wait to get back to my dojo."
Post by: Strider03 on April 26, 2018, 06:23:29 am
Careful not to provide acknowledgement, Shef continued his conversation with Yoake. "Well, we've still got another battle on our hands. Actually take down the Aramitama and all that. And we'll be taking a brief break, I'm guessing. If you're bored, maybe you should try to teach some of the inhabitants Keijo or something. I don't know." Yoake being bored was not uncommon, but Shef had no lack of faith in her ability to do stuff to overcome that boredom. No faith that her actions wouldn't cause mayhem, but he was definitely confident in her ability to find entertainment.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 26, 2018, 02:23:21 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 26, 2018, 04:11:12 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 26, 2018, 04:11:26 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 26, 2018, 04:47:13 pm
"I'll just be a second, Faith."
He looks over at Faith to check her for a moment, make sure she was okay, before strolling over to his friend. It wasn't enough to make up for years of not asking, but Minato had to try, at least.
"Hey, Noriko. You holding up alright? You were in the thick of that fight, thought you might've taken a few scratches."
Post by: Empiricist on April 26, 2018, 07:33:47 pm
"Those aren't mutually exclusive y'know. You can be serious but not completely on edge, everything's not life and death all the time."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 27, 2018, 02:06:03 am
Well, off went Minato, and Tsukasa didn't seem to have any interest in responding to her (or in apologizing) so Faith decided she'd head on over to her sister.
"Hey, Yuki, if it wouldn't tire you out, could you get me with a little bit of healing? I think I'm still bruised up..."
Post by: Strider03 on April 27, 2018, 07:07:10 am
Meanwhile on his phone, Shef composed the following message, ready to cover it if he felt someone watching.
Quote
If you determine the targeting mechanism, I trust that information will be only available on need to know basis, and not given to the indiscrete.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 27, 2018, 06:05:13 pm
Once Minato's concern was sated, she turned back to Satoshi. "Who said I was on edge? All I'm doing is treating superweapons with the amount of concern they deserve."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 27, 2018, 06:24:30 pm
Tsukasa grunts as she crouches by one of the destroyed carriages and begins her analysis, rooting around in her bag for various gadgets and doodads.
Minato shrugs at Tsukasa's comment.
"She's got a point. This isn't even remotely the first superweapon I've had to help trash. It loses the edge a little once you run into the third chemical weapons lab disguised as a host club. It gets a little easier, once you know what to expect."
Post by: Empiricist on April 27, 2018, 07:45:04 pm
"That's Tsukasa's job, not Elly's. Targeting priorities of discovered will be disclosed, it's important tactical information."
Noriko
"What was that about being seconds from death again? Anyway, it may be a superweapon, but don't forget it needs people to work and a mansion like this doesn't that many people. So don't sweat it, I'm sure the AI will take care of you. Y'know when they're not being too kissy kissy~"
"H-hey! W-we're not that unprofessional!"
Post by: Strider03 on April 27, 2018, 08:50:41 pm
"Any reason not to head back to the mansion right now?" Shef posed his question to the AI, but it would presumably be audible to anyone who cared. Didn't think anyone had a reason to detain him, but who knew.
Post by: Empiricist on April 27, 2018, 09:01:57 pm
"No. But your covers won't hold. It seems that Heaven's Draft was the push needed to get some of the people to Awaken. Area should be secure though, so there's no rush to get supplies over. If you need something, speak up, we can try and get some additional provisions, provided that they're pre-made."
Post by: Strider03 on April 27, 2018, 09:40:17 pm
"Far as supplies go, you got any illusory stuff? Make multiple images of one attack to get enemies to defend in a different direction, or use it once to scout?" Once Shef had asked this, he approached Yoake sitting on the ground, and tapped her shoulder, muttering, "Sounds like some of the mansion folks have awakened, want to head over?" Regardless of the answer, he'll probably start to make his way back.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 27, 2018, 09:43:10 pm
"Right...""Ok~" Yuki said cheerfully, channeling her healing magic into Faith. Followed by the rest of the party, since they were hurt. "Are you alright now? I was worried for a bit during the fight..."
Well, off went Minato, and Tsukasa didn't seem to have any interest in responding to her (or in apologizing) so Faith decided she'd head on over to her sister.
"Hey, Yuki, if it wouldn't tire you out, could you get me with a little bit of healing? I think I'm still bruised up..."
Post by: Empiricist on April 27, 2018, 10:31:36 pm
"Throw some confused newbies with zero experience straight into combat against a fortified foe? I don't know Shef, I'm no Sun Tzu but something about that sounds questionable."
"Illusions we can procure, they tend to require time to properly attune to you however, so we may need to have them set up on the fly as you fight. Scouting, you're probably better off with disposable drones, we can get some."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 28, 2018, 01:26:31 am
She was mostly fine, though. Maybe not the happiest, but Yuki's healing did wonders.
Post by: spümpkin on April 28, 2018, 01:42:43 am
"Oh, sure thing! Not doin' anything here." She notices the call Shef is on. "Oh yeah, can you get 'em to grab me... some more of those nitrous injectors? Also, do you think they could get another one of my cars ready? Preferably something a lil' more durable than that last one."
She follows behind Shef when he heads to the mansion.
Post by: Empiricist on April 28, 2018, 02:39:39 am
"How do I know? It's your car. The nitro we can arrange for, we can get some shielding enhancements as well to keep it intact."
Post by: Strider03 on April 28, 2018, 06:17:40 am
Shef yawned as he looked up at the sky. He'd probably want to get a nap in a bit, or something. Maybe. Depended on the quantity of chaos they met when they arrived at the mansion. "So, you planning on driving a car into the sanctuary?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 28, 2018, 01:51:18 pm
Post by: spümpkin on April 28, 2018, 09:58:44 pm
"No... Not a car..." She talks to the AI's again. "Hey, can you guys contact my company? You should be able to get a direct line to the R&D department. Tell them you're calling on my behalf, and to send the Mark I Suit Prototype to the location. That should be all you need to do."
Post by: Empiricist on April 30, 2018, 05:34:48 am
"We'll contact him."
Soon enough you arrive back at ruined lawns of the mansion. There's no one there. Shutters have gone down across all the windows, no sign of anyone on the grounds either. It's almost like it's deserted. Almost. Not quite though - soon after you enter a camera's field of view, your phone buzzes.
Unidentified number, you've a feeling you know who it is though.
Is it safe to come out now?
Noriko
"Sure you aren't underestimating yourself there? Anyway, I'm not saying you shouldn't take it always take it lightly, but it was here, not downtown Sendo."
"Yes, we have weapon infusions that can heat your weapon or wreathe it in a forcefield allowing it split armor when thrust with sufficient force."
"I know where to get some explosives. You know how to infuse them with spirit energy?"
"Elly likely has access to some more potent armor piercing enhancements as well."
Yoake
"Understood."
Post by: Strider03 on April 30, 2018, 05:56:01 am
Quote
Yep, should be. Can we come in?So, they, well, some of them at least, had probably holed themselves up in the security room. Not the worst place to hide out, but predictable. Well, he'd make more judgements on its efficacy after he'd actually seen it.
"So what's this mark I suit?"
Post by: Empiricist on April 30, 2018, 06:05:44 am
Eventually, the shutters raise and you see servants walking through within the mansion again. Mary runs out the front door, flanked by Fleur and Vendelin. You note the stunguns
on their hips though they don't look like they plan on drawing them anytime soon.
"So um... what was that about?"
"Yeah, and what were those things on the cameras?" (Fleur)
Post by: Strider03 on April 30, 2018, 06:17:41 am
As soon as people started moving about the mansion again, Shef questioned the AIs. "What's the verdict on what can be revealed to awakened people? Anything classified?"
Now:
The operative word here was that some of the servants had awakened. It was necessary to determine which before revealing anything, or telling any lies. "Well, tell what you saw first, and I'll do my best to explain."
Post by: Empiricist on April 30, 2018, 06:31:29 am
"Four Godslayer Awakenings were predicted. Slaine has confirmed them to be as follows: Lady Mary Appleton, Vendelin Krall, Fleurette Abspoel, and Evi Stephanidis."
"Just Heaven's Draft."
"I-I don't know what I saw..."
"It was like a drug trip or somethin', think I forgot who I was for a moment there." (Vendelin)
"And when we woke back up Evi started lifting things with her mind and noticed these weird shadows near the cameras."
"Shot them all." (Fleur)
Post by: Strider03 on April 30, 2018, 06:42:13 am
"You all can see that? Good. To put it simply, you've all got powers now. Sounds like just you three and Evi. You're now awakened, the awakening being the drug trip thing you reported. You'll be able to see and comprehend stuff in the world that the rest of the servants won't. If they saw my portals, they'd probably be quite confused, but not actually know what it was. So, you probably won't be able to tell your other servants about this." Shef cut himself off, and paused for a moment.
"Is all that clear? There's more to tell, and I'll get to the shadows and the stuff outside, but for now, I just want to know if you're getting all this." And not having a mental breakdown of course.
Post by: Empiricist on April 30, 2018, 06:50:27 am
"Um, okay." (Vendelin)
"This is beginning to sound like a second rate light novel." (Fleur)
Post by: Strider03 on April 30, 2018, 07:03:56 am
"Let's see. Basically, once you're awakened, you have powers, and you're possibly a target to these things called Aramitama. Aramitama are big bad monster things that want to take over the world, all the usual stuff, you know. There was a sanctuary, a little hideout, for one in the mansion, which isn't a good thing obviously. You probably saw some of its minions or something in the camera. Any case, that's why we were here. We just had a fight, and that was probably reason you have powers, but I'm not really sure." So he couldn't mention the Heaven's Draft, interesting.
"Final part of the abridged story is that we haven't gotten the Aramitama yet, and we'll need to invade the sanctuary and destroy it before our mission is over. Got questions? About anything, really." Shef had no idea if he'd explained it enough, or well. Hopefully any problems would be merely due to confusion and the seeming insanity rather than a failure to head off false assumptions; those were often far worse.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 01, 2018, 08:01:15 am
"Uh. Right. I had a look at the trains and the bodies, aaaaand you're probably not going to want to hear what I have to say, some of you. I made do with what I could bring here; I'd tell you more if we were in my apartment."
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 06, 2018, 10:56:01 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 06, 2018, 01:24:31 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 06, 2018, 01:59:57 pm
You guys remember the things you fought earlier, the corpses you brought back for me? They're getting better at making them. Non-ablative armor, a slapdash job, but decent given they seem to have been in a hurry. Missiles? Pretty much shaped impact charges, propelled by magic, probably guided by an external unit. They've got fail-safes, to keep them from exploding or flying if they lose signal, probably to keep them blowing up in transport or something.
As for the radars? I kept them for last because.....well, there's no real easy way to say it.
It's a gaydar.
It senses just how gay you are. The gayer you are, the more likely it'll target you. Might be wrong, it's not easy to tell what these things are supposed to sense, especially given I don't have either a working sample or better tools, but given what Enn and Winter are telling me, I'm going with the most likely.
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 06, 2018, 05:41:46 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 06, 2018, 05:53:51 pm
Post by: spümpkin on May 06, 2018, 06:05:20 pm
She looks bewildered, but then chuckles loudly. "Oh man, of course! That's why..." She stops, looking at Noriko...
And gives a thumbs up with a smile.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 06, 2018, 06:12:23 pm
Faith made a point to look away from Noriko, and instead... at Yuki or something, she didn’t know, she just didn’t want to help make Noriko the unfortunate center of everyone’s attention.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 06, 2018, 06:19:39 pm
".....you know, in hindsight, this is probably only the fourth weirdest thing I've seen in two years of doing this."
He, and probably everyone else, is entirely oblivious to Karen's suddenly horrifically mortified and blushing expression in the background, as she stares dumbfoundedly at Tsukasa, trying to process exactly what Tsukasa just said.
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 06, 2018, 11:14:16 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2018, 07:01:15 am
"I'm gonna need way more info later, but for now just tell me how we're supposed to stay safe during all this." (Fleur)
Everyone else
Satoshi just chuckles to herself before speaking up "Anything in them we can check? Noriko left some pretty clean holes in them so there might still be something useful left intact in them."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 08, 2018, 07:06:07 am
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 07:09:36 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2018, 07:25:07 am
"W-will it work? I-I don't know... I just see people everywhere, they look like... um, servants? But it's like, it's like they're not really there... Evi has some kind of telekinesis, Vendelin some kind of spirit following him, and Fleur-" A pillar of light erupts around Fleurette, ancient grimoires spiralling up into the air around her before spreading out, each in formation. Locks are undone, chains are unbound as they open, mystic circles blooming from their pages, right in front of the, most certainly not g-rated illustrations within them.
"Just great, she's got an entire library of them now." (Vendelin)
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 07:44:25 am
"Sorry. Okay, so you see people, but not physical. Lots of possibilities, ghosts, temporal pathways, who knows. Can you interact with them at all, and do they do anything?" Shef needed to figure out what these powers did, not what they looked like, which was a bit irritating. But then again, had he known any of what he could do when he awakened? He honestly couldn't remember.
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2018, 07:54:12 am
"I-I don't know, I can barely seen them right now... you're right it's not going to help much in a fight so I'd best just stay away..." Hmm, no idea then, sometimes happens, sometimes people's powers are a little more esoteric it seems, seemed to be the case with Hanako too considering she failed to realized she even Awakened or that she even had abilities. Wait... when did Mary get a rifle?
"Reality alteration. Some forms of it act through an interface. Slaine's acts through clockwork, it seems that Mary's acts through these phantom servants. Good, if it something does happen, she'd at least have someone to teach her on the fly."
"You may want to mention Slaine by the way, we dispatched her to secure the mansion and help resupply, if all else fails, she'll be able to step in."
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 08:10:13 am
"So, Fleur. You can make books, obviously, but it's likely you can do something with them, besides reading them for personal enjoyment or whatever. Probably some type of spell work. Mind going out on the lawn a bit and trying something? Just sort of go with what feels natural probably." Might not work of course, sometimes you needed that kick of danger to figure out what you can do, but it was worth a shot.
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2018, 08:18:57 am
"You sure the floating and magical circles aren't just for show? Something to attract the readers? Y'know, like Enn?"
"Huh? What? Wait, no I'm just trying to examine the inscriptions!"
"On the circles or the pages?"
"Pa- I mean circles! Definitely the circles!"
Okay... ignoring that, Fleur walks over to the lawn, the books closing and slowly orbiting her when suddenly... absolutely nothing happens! It's amazing isn't it?
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 08:27:26 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2018, 08:33:04 am
You feel a sudden sense of pressure around you, a disturbance in the air, but as soon as it comes it leaves. Hmm, Mary doesn't seem to have the most control right now. Something made even more evident when, instead of replying she just kinda eeps in shock, fumbling the rifle in her hand, the rifle she only just noticed.
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 08:49:08 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2018, 09:05:18 am
As you draw your weapon, something appears beside Vendelin, some manner of spirit, robotic in appearance and clad in some manner of garment best described as a cross between a jōe and a stylised straightjacket, taloned hands idle as its blank face stares impassively, the larger of its eyes shifting and zooming in on you. No comment is made.
"Oh, it's gonna be one of those kinds of things, isn't it?" (Fleur)
Two shots ring out, neither find their mark, as they slam into a wall of light which seems to envelop them, trapping them in midair.
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 09:21:43 am
"You want to continue to test, or to spar? Would probably be first contact with an attack wins." A choice between figuring out the specifics of her defense, or discovering whether she had offensive capacity. It was better to let her decide, Shef believed. Gave her a chance to go with what felt more natural, which would be useful if they got into a conflict. There had been some shadows that Evi had taken care of. . .
Post by: Powder Miner on May 08, 2018, 11:14:23 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 08, 2018, 11:40:01 am
Tsukasa seems genuinely confused at this. It seems she hasn't caught on to the cues about Noriko or Karen.
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2018, 08:26:41 pm
"Instinct I guess." (Fleur)
She steps out of the way and the bullets drop to the ground, perfectly intact.
"I think I'll just rest for now, need a break from all of this stuff. Besides I think I know just how to relax..." (Fleur) She grins snatching one of her tomes out of the air.
"How 'bout you Vendelin? You've got that big scary robot, why not give that a try?" (Fleur)
"And get shot? No thanks. I don't even know what this crazy thing even does." (Vendelin)
"Oh? No takers? Then I'd like to sign up." (Evi)
Evi walks on over, her uniform now replaced with casual clothes and a bullet-proof vest.
"One condition though - this only ends when one of us submits. You look like you know how to use that gun, and I don't think I can stop a bullet. Not on the first try anyway, so first hit won't work. Oh and, fight a bit seriously, I wanna see how these kinds of things pan out normally. Deal?" (Evi)
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 08:56:04 pm
Shef betrayed a little surprise as Evi stepped over, partly due to the fact that he'd not noticed her arrive again, and partly due to the air of confidence. It usually took people a bit to get used to this, he knew. Perhaps, it could be attributed to her already being in one fight? Either way, Shef nodded once as she volunteered.
"Oh? Deal. Surrender is fine, also ends if either of us is physically unable to surrender. Don't expect that, but it's always best to close those loopholes. Now," Shef pocketed the gun he'd been using, and pulled out the significantly heavier RAM pistol, "If you want serious, I'll be using this." He snapped it into the steel frame surrounding his left arm. "One final thing. This won't be how things pan out 'normally'. There isn't really a normal. But if there was, it wouldn't be a one on one fight between awakened humans. Still useful, good for pushing limits, just don't get ideas about how things will normally go." If there was anything else the maid wanted to say, now was the time to do so. With either an affirmative or a few seconds of silence, he'd begin.
Post by: Strider03 on May 08, 2018, 09:22:40 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 12:43:21 am
"Let's start then." (Evi)
Your instincts tell you something is about to happen, something you're not sure if you'll be able to avoid. Make your move.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 05:46:12 am
Shoot Evi, two shots.
[4] 1 2 4 5 5 3 1 2 4
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 06:07:08 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You feel something take hold of your heart, and just squeeze. A beartrap slamming shut. A bullet crashing into your heart, crashing in from every direction. You've had worse. Far worse. You see it in her eyes, the realization, you feel it in your chest, the psionic vice spreading out, rushing forwards, trying to push you, force you off-balance, force you back. No dice. You pull the trigger, twice. The vest, it was built for the mundane, for conventional munitions, and what you just fired was far from conventional. The rounds tear through it like tissue paper, and hurl Evi off her feet. First round fails to break her skin, freshly Awakened or not, she was still a Godslayer, it'd take more than just that. And a second bullet, well, that's definitely more than just that.
"EVI!"
Blood splatters across the lawn, she staggers backwards, mind reeling, looking for all the world as she didn't know what just happened, she probably hasn't, not quite, adrenaline's one hell of a drug. She staggers a couple paces backwards, hands touching the bloodstained blouse neath the ruined vest, her hands drenched in her own blood.
Vendelin quickly bars Mary's approach, Fleur closes her book and stares at you, almost in disbelief. Almost, seems she's not quite going to rule it a homicide just yet, probably for the best, seeing as when she's done coughing up all that blood, Evi seems to still be a talkative mood.
Sucking in breath behind clenched teeth she looks, almost at a loss for what to do. Finally she speaks "So... I uh (argh) don't suppose you can heal me?" (Evi)
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Yuki
"Hey, mind coming back over to the mansion? We got a patient for you."
Post by: Twinwolf on May 09, 2018, 06:23:26 am
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 06:30:33 am
"Not me. I'll call one of the others over to do it. She's pretty good. Enn, mind getting Yuki over here?" His jacket was already sort of ruined from sliding across a lawn at eighty miles per hour, so using the small knife built into his arm, he cut off a decent sized piece of the fabric, folded it up, and knelt down to press it over the wound. Probably wasn't too necessary, depending on how quickly Yuki arrived, but it would probably decrease any panic among the servants and Mary if he wasn't just standing around doing nothing.
"So, Evi, this is going to start hurt more. Bullet wounds tend to do that. Bit of a burning sensation. We're just going to keep some pressure on this till my teammate arrives. Quite honestly, you're going to be fine. Made a mistake definitely, but being a godslayer, you've got quite a bit more resilience than the average human, and Yuki works quick. Hmm. . .you'e probably going to need a regalia at some point--just some magic gear that you can wear generally, could be armor, or something with enchantments to add an effect to attacks. . . " Shef stopped, then said somewhat sheepishly, "I'm sorry about that."
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 06:40:12 am
"We'll... we'll be able to continue right?" (Evi)
"So... what are the chances she'll just go all evil on us or get a super mode?" (Fleur)
Vendelin and Mary kinda just stand there in awkward silence. They don't look as worried as they used to, but they are evidently uncomfortable with looking at Evi's exit wound.
Soon enough, Yuki hops on over and does her thing.
"May want to try putting a bit less energy in your shots."
"So... round two, and maybe something weaker?" (Evi)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 06:48:06 am
In response to the AI, Shef muttered, "Really, I wouldn't have noticed that."
"Alright, sure. Using the same gun, but I can probably control the power a bit, so don't worry." That last part was to the servants in general, as he could feel some of the stares he was probably getting.
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 06:52:16 am
Steadying herself again Evi grins or something close to it, what with the aforementioned burning sensation and whatnot. Raising her hand, she gestures, and some unseen force seizes you weapon, trying to force it out of the way as she suddenly sprints forwards.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 06:58:08 am
Alter to a 4, use Hey, Look Over There![3]. Then shoot Evi in the back, probably about a quarter of the normal energy added to the bullet?
1 2 [4] 5 5 [3] 1 2 4 1
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 07:08:31 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Your arm's forced away and Evi launches out the portal. "Hey! Don't go that easy on me!" (Evi) With a snap of her fingers, she sends the ground erupting beneath you, as her descent suddenly halting.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 07:15:30 am
Shoot a few times into a portal towards Evi, quarter power. Burn the 1, use the 2.
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 07:24:28 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"Oh come on! How am I supposed to- argh!" Well, good to know that shot landed. But honestly, for the other rounds right now, you're kinda shit outta luck. The eruption did nothing, but by the looks of it, it wasn't supposed to - it was meant to impair rather than harm, and impair it does, grass and topsoil blocking your sight and impairing your visibility. Enough to give her the margin needed to avoid the portal barrage, hard to tell how she managed it though. You hear a rush of air, and amidst the dispersing dust see her swooping down towards you, less flying and more just being hurled.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 07:32:43 am
He blinked some dirt out of his eyes, and began aligning the portals in his mind. While he did so, a thought occurred to him, could the portals be made stable without being opened? No time to think about that, but. . . could be useful. Pushing that thought aside, he opened the series of portals to ferry him away in a direction perpendicular to the one Evi was approaching from. Preferably not towards the mansion if he could help it.
Use Room to Breath[4], then take another quarter power shot once Shef is facing Evi again.
[5] 5 1 2 4 1 5 5 4 2
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 07:39:12 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Your bullet slams into Evi's side, sending her tumbling to the ground. Breathing heavily, she sends another dirt plume up around you as you begin to feel her telekinesis focus on your trigger finger, trying to bend it away, away from the trigger.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 07:48:05 am
Evi had been trying to close the distance earlier, so presumably she had an idea of something to do at close range. On the other hand, most of her skills had been action at a distance that would not be affected much by portals. A toss up, but the urge to experiment lead the man to go with his incomplete portal.
Cache[5] a portal, while trying to push against the telekinesis on Shef's finger to shoot. If he manages to shoot, it will be quarter strength again.
[5] 1 2 4 1 5 [5] 2 1 1
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 07:56:14 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Another shot, and another miss courtesy of the plume. Her telekinesis may be enough to halt your trigger finger, but it can't do it for long enough, she simply lacks the power to affect you for too long. Hurling herself your way again, she drives her hand forwards as she nears, the air shimmering as a lance of psionic force rushes forth seeking to pierce your arm.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 08:04:10 am
Trigger 1 Cached portal to redirect the incoming attack, then attempt to push in with an exoskeleton enhanced punch. Alter to a 6, burn the first 1.
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 08:17:21 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Portal tears open, and the lance crashes into Evi's side, the impact of the strike... nudging her by like, an inch. So, she still retains some control over it eh? Good to know. Your fist meanwhile doesn't go as well, a telekinetic push nudging it just out of the way to avoid harm as Evi touches down besides you. Flipping it out of her sleeves, the heiress thrusts a stungun towards your side as her body is wreathed in a corona of pale radiance.
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
Several dozen lances erupt forth, shifting and twisting like tentacles aiming for a whole different kind of unpleasantry as they close the gap, seeking to pierce and gouge.
"Oh hey look, a super mode." (Fleur)
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 08:26:42 am
"Having fun?" His arm having swung past it's target, Shef decided not to pull back for another punch, instead pulling the trigger as quickly as he could, to send a bullet through a portal and then into Evi's stomach. He was gambling that, combined with her stun gun attack and redirecting his punch, she probably wasn't focusing on his trigger finger at the moment.
Shoot through a portal to hit Evi from the front, quarter power.
[2] 4 1 5 2 1 1 2 4 3
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 08:37:35 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
The stungun now enhanced with spirit energy was an unpleasant jolt. But just a jolt. Bullet slams right into her chest, and the scatter fired lances slam into you. The result? Both of you get send staggering backwards, though it's pretty damn clear who came out on top. Namely the guy who's left standing and without another bullet hole to the chest. Least it's not bleeding as bad as last time.
Evi slowly staggers upright through what is beginning an alarmingly common sensation. "Again... Heal me... I want to continue..." (Evi)
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 08:46:51 am
"Okay, so, we'll go again. Two things though first. One, what do you want to get out of this? And two, was that a good level? Kept shot power down, and made a few questionable choices, but I wanted to test something out, and give you a chance to get in close, see what you could do there."
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 08:59:56 am
"To... to get stronger. There... there are three reasons why I must get stronger... One: If we're targets... if we're targets now I want to be able to protect everyone! T-two!: S-so that Mary w-won't worry as much... I-I know s-she's always worrying... and if, if this really is the world we live in... she'll just worry more! And three! Because I can!"
Psychic energy courses through the air as Evi quite literally picks herself back up.
"So please, heal yourself and don't hold back on your choices... help grant this selfish request of mine..."
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 09:15:21 am
"Second condition. We stop after one more round, for a bit at least. Go over what you've figured out, see what you could have done better, why you did stuff, same for me." Shef raised his arms up, stretching over his head. Presumably he was being healed by Yuki at this point.
"If you're ready, let's go again."
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 09:23:07 am
"Sure, I'll only need one more round..."
She winks and then with a smile drives her fist forwards, hard. Shining filaments of force shine from her fingers, and as they scintillate you see that they are already attached to you, coursing into you, into the same points she pierced with her tendrils.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 09:30:40 am
This would be a different kind of shot though, one imbued with his will. It wouldn't be active immediately, but when it did, it should carry the same effect as his requiem.
Use Manipulator[5], aiming for Evi's legs. Brace for the hit.
[4] 1 [5] 2 1 1 2 4 3 3
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 09:37:31 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
Psionic power tears through the tendrils into you, the jostled aim giving Evi just enough time to dive out the way of your bullet, though she seems sort of, confused about the whole thing? You meanwhile, well, turns out those tendrils didn't magically make you weaker or anything, even with her pumping force in, it really didn't hurt that much.
Evi, kinda just, starts backing away a bit?
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 09:50:11 am
Once he was a bit away, he fired a few more low power shots. Poking and prodding the defenses.
Shef fires three quarter strength shots.
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 09:57:56 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
You fire your bullets, and they shatter, every single one of them. They barely leave the barrel and then, they're just dust in the wind.
Evi points her open palm towards you, and you feel that unease again, that instinctive feeling telling you that she was about to strike.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 10:15:11 am
In a swift motion, Shef drew the five-seven, and held it up to fire in his right hand. In rapid succession, he fired off four shots. Two with each gun, one each enhanced to about the quarter of his normal power, and one in each gun left entirely unmodified.
Fire one quarter power and one mundane shot each at Evi from the five-seven and the RAM. Alter to a 4.
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 07:22:22 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
Another psionic implosion hits your chest as you fire, bullets flying and shattering as they fly. Evi remains untouched. She gestures, and another plume of dirt rises around you. You hear something rushing through the air though not really towards you as you feel the tendrils dig further in.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 07:36:47 pm
He'd first put the barrel of his RAM to as close to the entrance as the portal as possible, and fired two shots, towards the ground, one full power, one quarter power. Perhaps by jumping over the point at which the bullets shattered, he could bypass the effect? Unlikely, but worth a shot. After that, he'd step through the portal to escape the crater of disturbed dirt.
Make a portal that exits pointing away from Evi, shoot twice into it as close to the entrance to the portal as possible, then step through. Burn a 1, use a 2.
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 07:46:21 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
You fire and the bullets strike the ground. Interesting... you step forwards through the portal and as it closes behind you, all hell breaks loose. Those tendrils in you? They detonate. Expanding, gouging, tearing. The force hurls you like a ragdoll. And at that same moment, Evi jerkily swings her arm over like a puppet on strings, in her hands is Mary's rifle. She pulls the trigger, and a screen of dust rises around you, soon to be pierced by a hail of fire.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 07:52:30 pm
Use Room to Breathe[4] to travel obliquely to current trajectory, and fire a few low power shots on the fly.
[4] 3 3 1 3 3 1 [4] 3 4
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 08:00:29 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
Through the portals you go, and as you fly you aim, putting your burst right into Evi's chest. The impacts send her staggering backwards and pretty badly hurt by the looks of things, just, one little problem - you're not unscathed either. Another psionic lance strikes you in your unarmored arm, a second one swinging around the side towards you. Evi meanwhile drops the rifle and bends her knees ever so slightly, readying to dodge.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 08:13:59 pm
However, it would be assisted, as Shef emptied the magazine of his pistol, still limiting the power of his shots.
Open a non-hyper portal between Shef and lance, and use Rapid Fire[4] towards Evi. Alter to a 4
3 3 1 3 3 1 3 [4] [4] 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 09, 2018, 08:17:09 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 08:19:38 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
Your barrage shatters. Every single bullet, destroyed as soon as they were fired. The lance flies though the portal and as it closes, finds itself severed and destroyed. Evi's panting heavily now, but she hasn't given up, not just yet, she gestures again, going for another vectorless strike to your heart.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on May 09, 2018, 08:22:05 pm
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 08:26:14 pm
Repeat the exact same thing from before. Rapid Fire[4] with an alteration to a 4, quarter power.
3 3 1 3 3 1 3 [4] 6 [4]
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2018, 08:36:59 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
Your barrage begins to shatter but each bullet travels that much farther, until the rounds tearing right towards Evi, or at least, where she was standing, her having managed to throw herself out the way at the last moment. You take the hit to your chest, but it seems weaker than before. Seems like she really is tiring out.
She tries to stand back up, tries being the key word here, but it seems whatever she did, it was fairly taxing.
"G-go Evi! You can do it!"
"Come on! At least make it entertaining!" (Fleur)
"Well you two seem to be getting into this." (Vendelin)
Stretching out her hand, Evi lets out a cry as that familiar corona flairs around her anew, going for another strike to your heart.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on May 09, 2018, 08:43:17 pm
Post by: Strider03 on May 09, 2018, 08:52:10 pm
A rapid series of them to fling himself towards Evi, firing as he went and maybe adding a punch at the end for good measure. If he lasted that long. The portals might make it more difficult to get a bead on him, or maybe it'd just give her a chance to try something in close range.
Room to Breathe[4] to fling Shef towards Evi in a zig zag path, send off 3 quarter power shots while on the move. Alter to a 6. Maybe an exo-arm punch at the end.
3 3 1 3 3 1 3 [6] [4] 3
Post by: spümpkin on May 09, 2018, 11:22:47 pm
She strides over to Mary, tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey... About what happened back there... I'm sorry I kissed you. It may have been entirely necessary, and crucial to the mission at hand which is really important probably moreso than the arbitrary nature of a 'first kiss'... But I am sorry, because I can understand how that might feel. In fact, I am so sorry, I am going to train you on how to use those new powers of yours. See, if you get strong, you can inspire people to be friends with you! Even if you are a weirdo! I mean, look at me!"
Regardless of what Mary says, Yoake takes a battle stance.
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2018, 12:06:57 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sugar Skulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqqffWGqWk) | ] |
As you go through the portal, you hear an audible -snap- coming right where you just were. The first portal closes. You pull the trigger, and you feel something just -snap- inside you. No matter. You open fire, a three round burst striking her in the chest, before she can even fall, your fist is in her chest, and I mean in it.
She crumples, right then and there, in your grasp. You feel her breath become labored, erratic, you feel her movement cease, and then...
-snap-
It was, quiet, quieter than the rest. But this one too you feel, a shallow tear splitting across your cheek, blood beginning to ooze from the wound.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Noriko
So you go on over to find Shef wrist deep in a maid, her form quivering as she gasps for breath, her ruined outfit drenched in her own fluids. He tears his hand free, holding her steady as an awfully excited looking Yuki gets to work healing the two of them.
Yoake
"Wait w-what? T-that was part of the mission? Hey! D-don't just look at me like that! I-I'm not ready!"
Post by: spümpkin on May 10, 2018, 12:23:44 am
"Yup! And don't worry, this is real training, because you never know when things might happen, so you always have to be ready!"
Yoake puts distance between her and Mary, just to close it again, and as she gets closer she jumps, triggering her Requiem and dragging Mary onto a Keijo land, with a gently landing Yoake facing her.
"Let us begin!"
She bows, and then runs towards Mary, planning to do a fairly plain and telegraphed butt strike on her side.
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 10, 2018, 01:03:30 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2018, 04:06:10 am
Okay so your Requiem goes off and you start closing in. Mary counters this by... sorta just running away and flailing. By the looks of it, she's about to just dive off the Land and fucking try swimming away from you.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on May 10, 2018, 05:24:10 am
Yoake rushes towards her, planning to overtake her and stand between her and the water.
[Burned 1]
[Alteration used, 2 instead of 6]
[6
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2018, 05:37:18 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Mary just crashes into your chest, falling backwards as her rifle clatters to the ground. In that moment, in the brief moment right as you appeared behind her, while her mind was still processing it all, in that split second before recognition, and some measure of relaxation, you see them. Her servants. An entire crowd of maids and butlers standing behind her, features indistinct, beyond indistinct even, it is not the absence of features rather the absence of all information about those features, each so perfectly indistinguishable that you cannot even count their numbers for with every one that you count, you lose track of each that came before.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 10, 2018, 05:37:56 am
"She was--She's awakened, first of all. Second, she wanted to have a sparring match to test her powers, and she didn't want me to go too easy. Obviously, I took the second part a bit--eugh--too far. That probably wasn't going to be Noriko's damn good reason that she wanted, but oh well.
I'll explain more when we're healed." With that in mind, Shef watched Yuki work, trying to figure out how far along she was. Couldn't get Evi to (hopefully?) back him up if she couldn't speak, and he wasn't going to apologize till that point either.
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2018, 05:43:46 am
Wound's rapidly closing, she'll be able to stand quite soon.
"You alright Shef? Godslayers can survive more than just that, but I don't suppose that's the point."
Post by: Strider03 on May 10, 2018, 05:48:56 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2018, 05:54:36 am
Slowly Evi exhales, wincing. "Haaah... That plan sounded better in my head...
Post by: Twinwolf on May 10, 2018, 06:25:59 am
Post by: spümpkin on May 10, 2018, 07:50:33 am
She rushes over to the rifle Mary dropped, and kicks it off the side, and it falls into the water. "Won't be needing that now, will we?"
She then runs to Mary, leaning so close to the ground she scrapes her butt across the land, generating heat and friction, as a large tail of flame sprouts from her tailbone, and she (lightly) whips at Mary with it.
[Hyper used, Heat Butt (3)]
[6 6 6 6 4 1 6 (3) 1 5]
Post by: Strider03 on May 10, 2018, 08:15:22 am
"When you're ready, let's go sit down on the porch and talk through what you did, okay?" Shef tentatively let go of the woman, as she seemed like she should be able to stand now.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 10, 2018, 02:29:44 pm
Faith watched with an unreadable expression as Noriko stomped off, sighed, and walked over towards Tsukasa. She positioned herself beside Tsukasa, leaned in, and whispered to the Awakened tech expert just exactly how she had gone and fucked it up. ”Alright, Tsukasa... listen... these missiles are tracked by gayness, right? Well, if they had trouble tracking Noriko, and she yelled at you for saying they tracked off of gayness, what does it mean when you argued with her about it? It means that whatever is going on with... uh, her sexuality, you’ve basically made it an issue in front of everyone. Do you understand?”Tsukasa's expression goes from confused, to understanding, to slightly mortified, then to sighing.
".....aahhh. I....I honestly didn't know. That's my fault, I suppose. I honestly couldn't have known at all.
In any case, I can't have made it private; not because I want to embarass her, but because this is information you all need to have. Even if I wanted to, those missiles are a threat to all of you. Better that you all know how they target people so you can all plan around it, so you can all stand on the same level. It sounds callous, I know. But her sexuality is less of my priority than her safety, especially as a new Godslayer. If she makes it home tonight to think about it, it's my job done.
I'll make it up to her later, somehow. Or I'll get Minato to do it for me. I know he's in hot water with her too, the idiot."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 10, 2018, 02:50:40 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 10, 2018, 02:52:49 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 10, 2018, 03:20:02 pm
At least he wasn't outright insane, unlike some people.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 10, 2018, 03:23:21 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2018, 07:15:11 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Shef
"Sure, let's get going."
Post by: Strider03 on May 10, 2018, 07:34:57 pm
Shef headed over to the porch, and sat down. Once seated, he pressed the release through his shirt on the exo-arm, allowing the gun to detach, before he set it down in his lap. "Well, first, sorry. Know you were fine after the bullets, but a collapsed rib cage is probably a bit less fun. That vest is probably useless now too." He gestured at the numerous holes torn in the ballistic vest. "I'm willing to pay for a new one if you want, but you should probably get a regalia. Someone else will probably walk you through that process, I think."
"Moving on, good job. You tried a lot out, and pulled off some of it. Had it pretty close to beating me in the last bit too. So, to begin with, I guess, tell me how you saw the battle, from the beginning. Tactical choices, what it looked like I was doing, how you thought you'd get around it, that type of thing."
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 12:06:55 am
"'Kay, so, I couldn't stop your bullets, so I needed a way to stop you from hitting me. I tried forcing your gun out of the way and stopping you from pulling the trigger,"
Raising her hand, she gestures, and some unseen force seizes you weapon, trying to force it out of the way as she suddenly sprints forwards.
Her telekinesis may be enough to halt your trigger finger, but it can't do it for long enough.
"but your body's nearly as humorless as you are and I can only do the stronger stuff in bursts. So I needed some other way to do it."
Focus [3]: Evi enters a state of higher concentration, heightening psionic output. (1 Turn Duration)
The eruption did nothing, but by the looks of it, it wasn't supposed to - it was meant to impair rather than harm, and impair it does, grass and topsoil blocking your sight and impairing your visibility.
"That's when I started creating those dirt screens, figured you couldn't hit me if you couldn't see me. Kinda taxing multitasking like that though, you'd have landed enough hits soon enough, I needed to be more decisive. You seemed comfortable at range and you portaled me away when I tried to get up close. Assuming you weren't just going easy on me then, it meant you were more confident further away, so I used those screens try and close in."
"I'll admit, that taser?"
The stungun now enhanced with spirit energy was an unpleasant jolt. But just a jolt.
"Really hoped it'd do more. Guess all this magic is a few cuts above the mundane."
She winks and then with a smile drives her fist forwards, hard. Shining filaments of force shine from her fingers, and as they scintillate you see that they are already attached to you, coursing into you, into the same points she pierced with her tendrils.
"Those strings I sunk into you let me continuously apply my powers, I thought it might be enough to throw your aim off, but it wasn't enough, nothing was enough. Nothing seemed to work, but when you overpowered me, I noticed something:"
Psionic power tears through the tendrils into you, the jostled aim giving Evi just enough time to dive out the way of your bullet, though she seems sort of, confused about the whole thing?
"I felt it. I could feel you move against my strings, I could tell where you were aiming, where you were going to shoot. So... I tensed them up, just a bit, not enough for you to notice, I didn't put any power into it, but enough that I could still feel you."
"And it worked."
"I could feel you aiming, I could feel you pull the trigger. I could figure out where your bullets would be, and if I knew where they were, then I could crush them."
You fire your bullets, and they shatter, every single one of them. They barely leave the barrel and then, they're just dust in the wind.
"You couldn't hurt me, not without breaking those strings. Was that why you stepped through the portal? You were tying to sever them weren't you?"
"But I was one step ahead."
You fire and the bullets strike the ground. Interesting... you step forwards through the portal and as it closes behind you, all hell breaks loose. Those tendrils in you? They detonate. Expanding, gouging, tearing. The force hurls you like a ragdoll. And at that same moment, Evi jerkily swings her arm over like a puppet on strings, in her hands is Mary's rifle. She pulls the trigger, and a screen of dust rises around you, soon to be pierced by a hail of fire.
Doombringer: Atlach-Nacha [R]: Evi reveals a trick or trap she set up in advance. The power of this scales with how effectively it links to what she already has set up and the resources at her disposal.
"I predicted that, and while you were trying to bypass my defenses, I was pumping more power into those strings so that when they were cut, they'd explode inside you and tell me right where you were."
She smiles, giggling "Didn't go that way, did it?"
Through the portals you go, and as you fly you aim, putting your burst right into Evi's chest.
"You really are tough, try as I might, I couldn't stun you enough to tag you with another string, so, you shot me. I needed to tag you again, so I set up that dirt screen and fired, I figured you'd either dodge or open a portal so if I sent those two strings to pincer you. Unfortunately you didn't go perpendicular with your dodge like last time, so it took more time than I thought. Fortunately you still couldn't react in time."
"I tagged the arm with your heavier gun since you used that more, you only used your other gun briefly, and I was counting on that. With that one string, I could only account for that arm, if you used the other one, I'd have been unable to dodge."
Bullet Time [4]: Evi accelerates her thought processes, greatly increasing her reflexes. (1 Turn Duration)
"Good thing you didn't huh? That'd have been a bit of an anticlimax."
"By then I was running out of time, all that set up took so much energy and it getting hard to focus. I had to push my powers to avoid your attacks, but you only needed to fire. I basically just lost."
Evi's panting heavily now, but she hasn't given up, not just yet, she gestures again, going for another vectorless strike to your heart.
"I realized then, that the whole 'crush the thing' attack wasn't really efficient, you can punch through a wooden board, but good luck squeezing it to pieces. So I changed it, I aimed to break, not crush. Wish I did that earlier, since you stepped through that portal and it was over."
As you go through the portal, you hear an audible -snap- coming right where you just were. The first portal closes. You pull the trigger, and you feel something just -snap- inside you.
"My string sent out a signal when you cut it, letting me get that hit in, but I hadn't the time or energy to set up the failsafe. And without the string, I could only stand there and get hit."
You open fire, a three round burst striking her in the chest, before she can even fall, your first is in her chest, and I mean in it.
She crumples, right then and there, in your grasp.
She perk up "Still, not bad for a total newbie, right?"
Post by: spümpkin on May 11, 2018, 12:31:31 am
She whips at Mary some more, not aiming to kill or anything, just lightly harm her in an attempt to activate whatever these servants were planning. Still, standing on guard in case something did happen.
[(6) 6 6 4 1 6 1 5 2 6]
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 01:00:00 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You advance towards Mary, whipping your tail forwards, but something's wrong.
| [Now Playing: | Seven Nation Army (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFJjwXtsU4) | ] |
The pressure, it multiplies. From simple to unease to some akin to the crushing depth of the ocean. The air becomes like treacle, slowing your movements. If you were weaker, you'd have been halted. If you were weaker, you would've stopped. Collapsed, been brought to your knees. Your tail begins to flicker, like a candle in the wind.
Mary backflips away, right off the floor, heel kicking through your weakened flames as she completely misses the landing, instead being catched by her servants, a duelling pistol now in hand.
"W-what's happening?"
The pressure is beginning to subside, Mary, doesn't seem to have noticed the gun in her own hands just yet. Your Requiem terminates.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on May 11, 2018, 01:11:22 am
Yoake concentrates for a moment. She clears her mind (something that comes to her fairly naturally), and walks towards Mary.
Only when she is directly in front of Mary does she refocus, and uses her butt to attack Mary, quickly and lightly.
[(6) 6 4 1 6 1 5 2 6 3]
Post by: Powder Miner on May 11, 2018, 01:24:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 01:27:32 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Seven Nation Army (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFJjwXtsU4) | ] |
With the pressure fading, you're able to close in again and just go for a quick tap, your butt striking like a match against Mary's clothes and reigniting your tail. Mary meanwhile kinda just falls over again.
"W-wait! H-hold on! That keijo thing you're always on about... it actually works?!"
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Faith
"<It was, but then Shef of all people volunteered to train some of the new-Awakened staff. And then Yoake joined in.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 11, 2018, 01:39:12 am
<"Uhh... okay, so they Awakened from the Heaven's Draft thing? ...and Shef and Yoake are teaching them? Is it just me or does that sound like... well... honestly a completely terrible idea?">
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 01:41:59 am
"<Who knows? Different people learn in different ways, and sparring with Shef seems to have helped Evi. A few bullet wounds seemed to have worked wonders for her. As for Yoake and Mary, it's still too early to call it.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 11, 2018, 01:46:34 am
<"Did Shef just... shoot the fuck out of one of them? God damn it Shef... what the hell...">
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 01:52:04 am
"<Oh he did more than that, he caved her chest in with his fist. See the girl chatting with him right now? That's Evi.>"
Post by: spümpkin on May 11, 2018, 02:02:19 am
She holds a hand out to Mary.
"I think I've got a better idea of your powers now. They're pretty impressive, I might add. You've got this whole army of like, void servants, and they give you guns I think? Pretty neat! Now, what could they do with Keijo..."
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 02:09:18 am
"They're the ones giving me guns? You actually devoted your life to it? I-I thought you were joking!"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 11, 2018, 02:13:21 am
"<What the fuuuuck. Oh my God, I hate everything about this.> Shef, what did you dooo?!"
Post by: spümpkin on May 11, 2018, 02:39:21 am
She talks to Winter and Enn now. "You guys got any idea?"
"Also, of course I was serious! Where do you think I spent almost my entire life? On an island, being trained by retired entrepreneurs on how to properly be a Keijo Star, and return the glory of Keijo to the world!"
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 02:43:53 am
"Yes, it's the product of her abilities, though they have a limited concealment effect that renders it harder to notice when they conjure something for her. Seems that she is either unaware of that effect, or affected by the concealment like everyone else."
"Eh....? There's an island devoted to it?"
Post by: spümpkin on May 11, 2018, 02:49:00 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 02:50:52 am
"Oh, um, is there anything I can do to help you with that? I-I don't think I'd be very good at it, but maybe I could help in other ways..."
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 05:43:49 am
As Evi gave her explanations, Shef nodded along occasionally, raising his eyebrows a bit at some of the strategies. This was a maid, heir to some wealthy family who had presumably gotten into no real fights in her life, and this is what she did in her first? It wasn't flawless, obviously, but it was pretty good. Dangerous, but highly impressive.
"I don't really know whether to take the humorless thing as a compliment or not. . . Anyway, first off, the psychic vectorless attacks. Those were your biggest tool against me, in terms of disruption, for obvious reasons. Stop me from shooting, make my portals useless, what could I really do? Obviously didn't have enough power to do that, but you did a good job pressing with that tool."
"But, and this is just a speculation, you could probably have used the crushes more effectively, ignoring the fact that the break is probably more useful. Specifically, you went for the heart, it felt like. Dunno how much fine control you've got, but I'd have gone for either crushing my windpipe, compressing a carotid artery, or maybe going for something in the brain. Each would require increasing levels of fine control, though you could maybe get some weird effects by just putting pressure on parts of the brain. Main thing is the middle one, I'd say, since it doesn't require much strength at all, and would put a normal person unconscious within a few seconds, and instead of making me feel pain that's simple to fight through, more likely to make me lightheaded even if it doesn't succeed."
"Still, good adaptability with going for the trigger finger instead of the gun. Doesn't make a load of sense, but some people would quit that method after seeing it fail, least in their first battle."
"The dirt screens? Good job on those. You're correct about getting in close being better against me, though you do need to be able to handle yourself once you're there. And this isn't a criticism or anything, but I'd have taken a bit more advantage of the dirt to throw some stuff in. Whether that be a ranged barrage, or just a few fast moving objects that would have made me consider dodging or blocking. Gives you a bit of an influence on my movement which you could take advantage of."
"Anyway, moving on. Yeah, a taser's not going to do much, even with a bit of assistance. Speaking of," Shef tapped his earpiece, then spoke to the AI, "What's going to be the procedure for getting these people regalia?"
"Those are seriously going to help a lot, I think. Anyway, honestly, about the strings, I sort of thought it was some kind of spatial lockdown, and the only real reason I went through the portal was because my bullets had actually worked, and because I needed to get out of the tossed dirt. Still a pretty good strategy there, I couldn't really get a great read on it."
"Good choice on going for only one of the guns. Because of my test, I sort of thought that if you had the effect on me, it always applied to both guns. If you can trick people when they're testing your skills, that's always an advantage."
"Now, general criticisms; I'm not going to give too many recommendations, it's your responsibility to figure out how to get around this stuff. Starting off, while it may a bit contradictory, you should be careful about the points at which you use the psychic crushes and breaks on me. They were your biggest bypass of my defensive portals. But. They don't exert any real battle pressure. They don't control where I go, and there's no option except for me to resist my hardest and go fully on the offense to hopefully break your concentration. Once you started relying on the crushes too much, you lost all tempo. If you can't rapidly overpower your enemy, you need to gain, well, basically a feeling of initiative in a battle."
"Same on the bullet shattering, in a way. It's highly useful, but you'll need to accompany it with some more pressure. If you're not putting down pressure, you'll be highly susceptible to regen people, heavy consistent damage dealing/high pressure (which would be me, at least here), and other people with a quicker setup. Not a bad thing in itself, of course. Just means you need a team, and you'll have to be aware of these counters to you in battles where you're alone, and maybe even make efforts to disengage."
"Finally, you've got damn good willpower. You're going to want to cultivate that, as it's an incredible asset when used right. So, that's really most of my thoughts on the matter. If you've got any questions about my stuff, that's fine, make things a bit more fair if we spar again. It's up to you to figure out the balance between scouting abilities on the fly, and abusing knowledge gained beforehand in our matches, depending on what you want from them."
Post by: spümpkin on May 11, 2018, 05:51:41 am
Yoake pulls a flyer for her dojo, which she keeps on her person at all times, and hands it to Mary.
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 06:14:10 am
Evi cups her hands over her mouth and calls out "Tried way worse than that! Didn't work though!"
She gently reclines, floating in the air as produces a phone from her pocket and begins typing something into it. "So what you're saying is, I need more killing power? Wow, you're as brutal as you look, but not wrong. Right now against someone with a gun, my best bet is to cripple or kill before they can fire, my strings are too slow to open with. Carotid artery, I hear that a not, could you point it out to me, like just press against mine or something? Need to know where it is."
"Slaine and Tsukasa can both organize that, area's secured so we're not in as much a hurry as for the Noriko and the Tatsumakis."
Yoake
"Oh uh, okay. Um." She kinda just fidgets in place for a moment. "W-would you mind being my friend? I-I know it's really weird and sudden to ask but..."
"She's rich, she's lonely, and you're too rich and carefree to be after her wealth. She's kinda jealous of that carefree part." (Vendelin)
"Whaaa-?"
"Heh, it's a butler's duty to say the shit his mistress can't say." (Vendelin)
"N-no it isn't! That's not a thing! That shouldn't be a thing."
"Too bad." (Vendelin)
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 06:40:42 am
"Not quite. You need pressure, whether it's your own, or from allies. Controlling the flow of battle, not pure strength. Having enough firepower to nuke a city isn't useful if it takes hours to set up, or even if it takes just a minute, so long as you can be hit first. It's always a balance of course, pressure without power isn't very effective either, though I'd say it is a little more so. Again though, this is what allies are for."
"Carotid arteries, well that's pretty easy to find. They're the arteries you use to check your pulse." Shef reached out, carefully pressing a spot on the side of her neck, a little back and just underneath the jawbone. "There's one on each side, take blood to the brain. Here, how about I demonstrate the choke? Generally it takes about 15 seconds to take effect. But with your abilities, cutting off the blood supply entirely might be a bit easier, decreasing the time it takes. Or you could try to sever the artery. Anyway, you should wake up in. . . thirty seconds or so if the choke isn't maintained."
If she agreed, he'd stand up, and head around behind her. One arm around the neck, with the elbow at the front, forearm and upper arm hitting the two arteries on each side, trachea sitting mostly untouched in the crook of his elbow. His other arm, the left one, would simply be holding his right to help maintain the pressure. After about 10 seconds or so, then he'd let go.
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 06:48:30 am
"Guess I'll need to get a little more creative then."
As for the demonstration... "Well, you already shot me and caved in my chest, what's an added choking?"
You get five seconds into it when you realize that there's something wrong with her pulse, namely that you're not feeling it. Not her real pulse at least. It's, too erratic, shifting. Guess she's trying a few other uses for her powers.
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 06:55:22 am
"So. . . what exactly are you doing? Pumping blood with your powers or something?" Why would it be so erratic though? Maybe pushing the blood in larger bursts to pass by the compressed area? That could lead to hemorrhaging if done wrong though.
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 06:57:56 am
"Heh, what gave it away? Was it the give? The pulse? The texture? It's a barrier with pulsing strings."
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 07:02:10 am
"So wait, is this an external barrier, or something you layered directly on the arteries, or what?"
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 07:06:05 am
Wait, now that she mentions it...
"Something like a barrier, I let you push just a little more to simulate flesh. Cutting it a bit close, can't have you realize the difference in thickness can I? You're squeezing my neck still, but not enough."
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 07:08:13 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 07:10:35 am
"Not sure myself, I kinda only make them on the fly. I'll have to play around with them a bit more myself."
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 07:18:59 am
"By the way, you weren't here for the explanation of, well, what all this is, why we're here and that stuff, right?"
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 07:22:24 am
"I was on the phone with Mary and everyone else and watching from the window. Y'know, just in case something happened." -snap-
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 07:33:15 am
"Say, you ever been in a fight before this? Just, in general?"
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 07:34:31 am
"No actual fights, some sparring for self-defense and learning how to use guns and some other things though."
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 07:58:23 am
"Remind me. You stopped the bullets by timing based on when I pulled the trigger? And that requires strings to be attached, it sounded like. If you could extend the strings without them needing to be attached to an attack, connecting them might be a bit easier. Set up nets, or just fling them in the path of an expected dodge." At this point, he checked his watch, to see how much time they had left before presumably assaulting the sanctuary.
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 08:26:23 am
"I'll see what I can do."
There's still some time, need to wait for your provisions and everything to arrive after all.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 11, 2018, 12:56:56 pm
”<Winter... why is everyone and everything so weeeeird?”> she muttered.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 11, 2018, 01:00:57 pm
".........okay, this is too screwed up, even for me."
Karen seems to be stalking off last towards the mansion as Tsukasa finishes up her analysis, utterly dead silent.
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 03:24:38 pm
"Unrelated, but earlier in the basement, that stuff was mostly lies. As is probably quite obvious. Was down there trying to see if the sanctuary might be hidden away there--small portal in the wall--, got a bit surprised when you snuck up on me and had to come up with a lie. Pretty poor one, you could probably tell. Just wanted to make sure though, so that you don't start throwing bugs at me randomly."
"Winter, Enn, you two know whether the missile targeting system was figured out yet, or did everyone just get bored of waiting and come back here?"
Post by: Empiricist on May 11, 2018, 06:02:35 pm
"<As opposed to how perfectly normal it is to fight angry homicidal refrigerators?>"
Shef
"Noted!"
"Preliminary hypothesis is that it is some kind of 'gaydar'."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 11, 2018, 06:29:35 pm
Post by: Strider03 on May 11, 2018, 07:07:18 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 13, 2018, 04:41:19 am
Post by: spümpkin on May 13, 2018, 03:03:11 pm
"Weren't we already?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 13, 2018, 04:17:21 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 13, 2018, 04:38:32 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 13, 2018, 05:27:25 pm
Karen's tone seems rather even as well, as if she'd rather not talk to Noriko either.
"I might......perhaps....possibly......owe you an acknowledgement of how.....difficult this is to deal with."
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 13, 2018, 05:45:24 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 13, 2018, 06:12:10 pm
"W-we were? I never knew you thought of me as a friend... But yes! We're definitely friends now!"
She gives you a quick hug.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 13, 2018, 06:19:19 pm
Karen lets out a little "hmph", crossing her arms and not waiting for Noriko to reply.
"Perhaps you......aren't as unprepared as I thought. Perhaps I might have slightly, somewhat, underestimated the difficulty of your task. Maybe."
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 14, 2018, 11:52:32 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 14, 2018, 12:04:33 pm
Then again, she probably should've expected this. People don't change that quickly. At least, Karen didn't seem the type to.
Post by: Twinwolf on May 14, 2018, 05:23:08 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 12:48:34 am
Faith fell silent and then abruptly spoke up in English to Winter. <“Hey, Winter, I’m wondering... if I wanna actually get some supplies besides all the clothes I brought, could you contact someone for me?”>
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 12:51:04 am
"<What do you have in mind?>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 15, 2018, 12:56:00 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 12:58:11 am
Faith tried to ignore Karen’s near-clothesless status herself — there was only so much she could deal with at once.
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 01:20:02 am
Satoshi just innocently waves, shifting herself to show some more of the "damage" as she talks to someone on the phone.
Faith
"<Physical or magical energy? Some sort of protection is doable. Think you can activate it on time? Or would you rather a shield. You may wish to check with your allies, they might have their own supply channels.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 01:59:58 am
Do the health and energy potions work a bit more easily?”>
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 02:28:13 am
"<Not even close. Godslayers are managed more by a support network than a full organization. There are reasons for this, depressing reasons. Besides, playing Big Sister awfully sounds tiresome.>"
"<Enn wants to know how you feel whenever you exert yourself. Physically tired? Sluggish and unable to fire? Both? Active defenses tend to be more potent than passive defenses, you'll need reflex or foresight to use them though. We can tell you what we can get you, but you may wanna check with Elly and Slaine, and whoever else your allies know to see what they have.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 02:49:12 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 04:17:20 am
"<Physical strain, should be manageable with a rejuvenation unit or combat stimulants. We can provide you with some, can give it to you gradually or in bursts. Shef's handler, Rosario may have access to some more sophisticated stimulants. >"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 04:20:55 am
...seriously, though, what do you mean by "sophisticated stimulants".">
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 04:24:04 am
"<It it honestly that surprising Shef has a handler? We mean better optimized, tailored, or experimental ones. He has ties to Eisenberg Health, so it is possible he may have access to them.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 04:27:05 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 04:28:31 am
"<In the same way most potions are.>"
Post by: spümpkin on May 15, 2018, 05:26:07 am
"Of course we're friends! I mean, I kissed you, tried to steal your panties, and you seem to have a genuine interest in Keijo, so that's about all my qualifications satisfied."
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 05:35:42 am
"Those are your qualifications?!" She pauses "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that or anything! I'm just, kinda surprised!"
"What she means to say, is she's surprised you don't need about half a dozen background checks, a legally binding contract, oh and since we're all magic like, a blood oath like her." (Vendelin)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 15, 2018, 09:07:32 am
"W-w-wait a second. Shef has a handler. Shef. The guy who handles that."
He points over at Yoake, letting her presence speak for itself.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 09:18:03 am
She looked over to Minato and saw him goggling at her confusedly, flashing him a brief and sheepish smile. ”I’m talking to Winter about provisions. And, apparently, yeah, it’s... handlers all the way down, I guess.”
Post by: spümpkin on May 15, 2018, 05:38:40 pm
"Of course not! No friend I make would ever be stupid enough to break my trust! Besides, why would they want to? I'm a great friend."
Her smile is entirely genuine.
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2018, 08:18:23 pm
"<Addiction no, side effects, maybe if decide to try an experimental one.>"
Yoake
"That... makes a lot of sense actually..."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 15, 2018, 08:56:55 pm
And she looked up, at the boy who was in fact in front of her at that very moment. ”Uh, so, yeah. Winter is suggesting I ask around for who you guys know for contacts. I am kind of looking for something that can I can activate to absorb attacks, instead of, well, getting you slammed into me a bunch, no offense.”
Post by: spümpkin on May 16, 2018, 05:02:47 pm
Yoake's face took on a pondering expression.
"Hmm... Now that we're friends, I can train you better! What kind of training do you want, Mary?"
Post by: Empiricist on May 16, 2018, 07:33:23 pm
"<Understood. However many do you require?>"
Yoake
"Oh uh training... well... I'd like to be able to use my powers, but I don't wanna get shot like Evi! And I want it to stop handing me guns!"
Post by: Powder Miner on May 16, 2018, 11:54:58 pm
Post by: spümpkin on May 17, 2018, 06:47:15 am
"Okay, so, no need to worry about being shot, because you should know by now that's not my style. Second, I think the way you use your powers is to... just will things into happening? Jus' try and give yourself a sword or something. Think real hard about it."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 18, 2018, 02:34:36 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 18, 2018, 02:51:37 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 18, 2018, 02:53:21 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 18, 2018, 03:02:47 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 18, 2018, 03:50:21 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 18, 2018, 03:54:47 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 18, 2018, 06:30:37 am
"<Got it.>"
Yoake
Mary sorta just closes her eyes and concentrates really hard, clutching at the straightsword in her hand.
Noriko
"Hmph. Not as bad I thought it'd go. Don't take that as a compliment." Oh great, Slaine's here. This time she's clad in full tactical gear, doesn't look any less irritating though. "Called in anything for the assault?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 19, 2018, 02:00:43 pm
"Oh. I thought you were still outside."
"Just finished. You guys need something? I can't be too much a help, given I only brought so much stuff, but I packed a few goodies, especially for you, Minato."
"Me?"
"You really think I'd let you lag behind these jokers with their kit? O-Shiri Industries might be big and heavily funded and have a whole department for this stuff, but they're not me, boy. And Foundry's at least half full of Kurosaki-brand originals."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 19, 2018, 02:08:41 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 19, 2018, 02:14:28 pm
They're not actually gravity-based, though. I just named them that because it sounds cooler."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 19, 2018, 03:24:24 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on May 19, 2018, 03:27:46 pm
Noriko, rather than responding to Yuki immediately, gave the girl a look with a mixture of confusion and incredulousness, looked in Karen's direction, made a strangled noise, and rapidly began moving back across the skin tone spectrum in the direction of "tomato." "I, uh, wh, I did not realize that happened. . ." Attempting to avert her gaze didn't do a whole lot of good, as all it did was highlight the fact that Satoshi was also missing clothing. . . though that was nothing compared to how little remained of Karen's. "Uhm. She didn't feel like apologizing for anything she said earlier, though.""Hmmm, I guess that makes sense then. You blew off me and Faith's skirts, but I didn't mind so much and Faith had a bunch of spare clothes!" Yuki continues cheerfully. If Noriko had been paying attention, she'd probably notice Faith in an entirely new outfit and that Yuki's skirt was ill fitting and didn't match the maid top she still wore.
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 19, 2018, 08:00:13 pm
Post by: spümpkin on May 20, 2018, 02:35:49 am
Post by: Twinwolf on May 20, 2018, 06:54:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 20, 2018, 09:08:59 pm
"B-but what if I'm really angry? Or drunk? What if I hurt someone with my powers! I-I don't think I'd be able to go on..."
"Immediately straight to the manslaughter angle I see."
-bap-
A paper fan strikes Mary on the back of the head, fading as quickly as it came with its phantasmal wielder.
"Ow! Just like that! W-why's my power hitting me now?!"
-bap-
-bap-
-bap-
"H-hey! C-cut that out!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 22, 2018, 03:13:45 am
”That sounds pretty good to me! I don’t really need something super permanent anyway, especially since this is a last minute kind of thing anyway — I’m just glad you did in fact have these things.”"Alright. How many d'you need? I got quite a few. I was actually working on these babies when you guys called in the cavalry and all, so you're in luck, you got the good batch."
Post by: Strider03 on May 22, 2018, 06:35:09 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 22, 2018, 08:14:27 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 22, 2018, 10:12:47 am
"And remember, if all else fails, pick up the lughead over there as a shield. He can take it."
Minato frowns at Tsukasa, crossing his arms.
"Good to know you have my best interests at heart too."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 22, 2018, 01:59:24 pm
Faith smiled and patted Minato's shoulder twice with her free hand. "He is the, you know, armored dashing Masked Knight Gaia and all, and I know he can take it, but I think I do prefer the methods that don't get him hit right in the face with magic blasts or whatever."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 22, 2018, 02:07:59 pm
"Funny, Tsukasa. I go out and test your stuff for you and this is the thanks I get."
"You're very welcome. My stuff's the only reason you can take so much punishment, y'know. Nice to know you at least carry protection around when you're with pretty ladies, though~"
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 22, 2018, 02:08:25 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on May 22, 2018, 02:26:22 pm
"Honestly, I think I like Minato's whole hero complex thing. It seems to have worked out pretty well for him so far, and I think it's part of why he's so nice."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 22, 2018, 02:38:31 pm
"E-eh?!"
"See? Girls like a knight in shining armor sometimes. Just not all the time. Now, you were saying about the thing you were going to give me?"
"Oh. Right. The gear. Well, I thought you might like a bit of an upgrade to the Gaia Armor. It's not quite something I can just install into your belt for future use; for one, I'm still testing it, working out the kinks. It should work just fine; I've tested it already, but only in simulations. Never the real thing. You get to test it for me."
Tsukasa hands over a small, backpack-sized contraption, made of black plastic and rubber, with rounded edges and what appears to be a similar crystal to the Gaia Driver's own in the middle. Minato examines it carefully as he takes it from her, tilting his head.
"What is it?"
"A little temporary exoskeleton for the Gaia Armor. I designed it based on my own Eckesachs. It'll give you a nice suit of armor for your suit of armor, amplify the force of your blows, and has some nifty armaments of its own. Nothing like Gatling guns or stuff like that, but think larger Requiem summons, and possibly a few inbuilt shields. I'd give your friends one of these, but I've just the one, and I thought it'd fit the wannabe knight in shining armor to get the suit of shining armor.
Basically, I'm giving you a small mecha in a backpack."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 22, 2018, 04:27:46 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 23, 2018, 02:38:10 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 23, 2018, 10:41:03 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 24, 2018, 01:28:04 am
"Girls got to stick together, don't they? Besides, you're not the first young newbie with issues about clothing damage I've done this for."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 24, 2018, 02:24:47 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 24, 2018, 04:09:00 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 24, 2018, 08:50:25 am
"How many of each do you need?"
Yuki
Slaine watches as Noriko flies away. "Hmph, how rude."
Post by: Strider03 on May 24, 2018, 09:02:44 am
Post by: Powder Miner on May 24, 2018, 03:45:29 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 28, 2018, 07:56:55 pm
Okay so after a while Elly prances in with a duffle bags full of shit people ordered, and spreads it all out on a table. Here's what you got
- Several grooved plastic vials with a depression on one end - quick dispense plugs, twist to pour, press to inject. Most are marked with a crimson cross, though two instead bear what appears to be a bastardized red bull logo.
- Four patches, slightly curved with shield symbols on the inside and some kind of simple alchemical adhesive pads along the edges.
- Six magazines, crosshair labels on their paper tags.
- Three speedloaders for a six-shooter.
- Two paper talismans, the larger one is inscribed with a celtic knot in the shape of a cross (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/NHS_logo_in_Wales.png), the smaller one bears a stylized bullseye.
- A bottle of gasoline.
- A collapsible spike of some sort, a single red button at the top beneath a plastic cap with three glowing lights traced around it.
- Three square sheets of metal with numerous crease marks on them akin to those you'd make on origami paper.
- Two dull metal spheres somewhat deformed, such that they sit still upon flattened bottoms.
- Five small devices resembling mini-tablets with a pair of mechanisms at their sides resembling flatter joysticks.
- Three small flat pads with warning symbols on them and sigil tracing mechanisms around their sides and a few dials on the back. Each is numbered and comes with what is clearly a detonator bearing that same number.
- Eighteen bullets in small pouches labeled "kin-amp".
Soon following them is a large person-sized case marked with the o-Shiri Industries logo and Ren carrying a simple cardboard box.
Post by: Strider03 on May 28, 2018, 08:08:33 pm
Pointing towards the pouches marked "kin-amp", Shef said, "Those yours, Satoshi? Know anyone I could talk to about those?" Some high impact round most likely. Shef supposed that he didn't really need anything like that at the present, but if there was some supplier of exotic rounds she knew, it didn't hurt to ask.
Post by: Empiricist on May 28, 2018, 08:24:38 pm
Post by: Strider03 on May 28, 2018, 09:37:45 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on May 28, 2018, 09:51:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 28, 2018, 10:52:47 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 29, 2018, 04:54:10 am
"Hoo. Nice."
He turns over the pack Tsukasa handed him, looking over at the five generators and the healing potions he'd requisitioned. Minato still didn't think there was actually a giant mecha inside the backpack-sized device, but if Tsukasa could fit an entire suit of armor into a belt...
Post by: Strider03 on May 29, 2018, 06:47:30 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 30, 2018, 05:45:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 30, 2018, 10:15:59 pm
Satoshi brightens up, almost in surprise it seems, "Sand tart cookies! Kompeitō too! But most treats will do as long as it's sweet and sugary."
Noriko and Yuki
"Nice to meet you! But wow, I really did underestimate you, to think you'd be working with the Kumons and o-Shiri herself... Oh right, the uh, supplies." She opens the box, revealing the contents to be as follows:
- Twelve spiralling droplets of metal. Two are wrapped in large bands of red tape, five are wrapped in bands of blue tape of varying sizes, two are wrapped in middling bands of green tape, and three are unmarked.
- Four miniature, almost ornamental stakes. Two are wrapped in bands of red tape, two are unmarked.
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 31, 2018, 07:54:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 31, 2018, 11:54:41 pm
"This is your first time using an enchant, right? You said you wielded your spears with magic, what goes through your head when you do that? It might be hard to describe it, it's usually instinctual, but give it a try."
Post by: Twinwolf on June 01, 2018, 06:12:56 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2018, 09:24:48 am
"Have fun! The ones without tape are just for practice, don't use them in battle!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 01, 2018, 02:22:09 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2018, 05:17:43 pm
"Lift one up please."
Yuki
"You're welcome! ^ _ ^"
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 01, 2018, 11:07:19 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2018, 11:32:52 pm
Ren approaches the spear, and after a brief pause, presses the blade of her arm low against the side of the weapon as if trying to tilt it.
"Keep it straight, what do you feel?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 01, 2018, 11:43:36 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2018, 11:48:35 pm
"Air is rushing along the sides. Does knowing that change anything."
She brushes her hand upwards, pulling backwards slightly as she does so.
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 01, 2018, 11:57:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 12:09:17 am
Applying pressure to the middle of the weapon, Ren sweeps her arm down and applying some similar measure of pressure.
"Your spear is held by three points."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 02, 2018, 12:12:25 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 12:18:24 am
"Think so! THey're all bunched up in the middle, try moving some of them around."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 02, 2018, 12:41:26 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 12:49:53 am
"Seems like two's your limit. Sorry about that, I lied about the number. Try reducing it to one."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 02, 2018, 12:54:29 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 01:02:23 am
"Okay that also works, hey, what you think of when you summon your spear?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 02, 2018, 04:07:51 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 07:37:51 pm
"Can you do anything else with them?"
Post by: Powder Miner on June 02, 2018, 08:09:29 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 02, 2018, 09:07:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 09:19:31 pm
"What do you think when you do that?"
Post by: Twinwolf on June 02, 2018, 09:46:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 09:57:17 pm
"Stab. The real ones need you to stab so finding a good way to do it on the fly is good. You can charge it with spirit energy and cut too if it's easier for you."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 02, 2018, 11:02:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2018, 11:08:38 pm
"Oh, try pulling something out and putting it in your spear. Think that should work."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 03, 2018, 06:17:01 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 03, 2018, 07:32:11 pm
The droplet twists and untangles into naught as some ineffable thing is torn free. Strange energy fills your spear. The enchantment is now loaded.
"Think you've done it, now try using it. I don't really know what you need to think for this part. Try using it like your own magic? It has one of each enchantment try using them separately. Don't worry! It won't explode, just light up."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 03, 2018, 10:21:24 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 03, 2018, 10:26:54 pm
Try as you might, no amount of squeezing seems to do the trick, your gentle minustrations eliciting no response from the thick, hard shaft.
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 03, 2018, 10:42:24 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 03, 2018, 10:56:38 pm
A key. A lock. Three pins. Picture that for a moment. Picture it not being quite the best fit. Picture it not being at quite the right angle. Really picture it, feel it, applying more and more force until it sinks in once, then twice, then thrice. That is what happens here. Your spear burns, first blue, then green, then red.
"You did it! Did you feel it? It's in three layers - kinetic, elemental, explosive. All of these have those layers even if you don't load all three. Try and get a feel for them with the other two."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 04, 2018, 08:22:15 am
Faith stood around for a moment, but, no, it didn't seem anyone really had any clips to offer. Still, she had an idea... and so she walked back up to Minato. "Umm... Minato, I know you can make fancy artifacts and stuff with the... thing you use to make... the fancy artifacts. But anyway! I was wondering if it was possible that you could make smaller mundane stuff with it? Or is it just the swords and spears and stuff?""I think I can only make legendary artifacts. Maybe I could, but I wouldn't count on it."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 04, 2018, 12:34:09 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 04, 2018, 02:10:39 pm
As he himself was figuring out where he wanted to store the items he'd collected, Shef overheard some of the surrounding conversation. So after Faith spoke, Shef cut in. "We are at a mansion. I'm sure if you asked nicely the people here would be willing to help. Duct tape or pins or something, I'm sure they'll have something to spare."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 04, 2018, 03:03:00 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 04, 2018, 11:21:04 pm
"Was the resistance in three steps?"
Post by: Powder Miner on June 04, 2018, 11:28:58 pm
She figured a maid would be more likely to have pins than a butler, and between the two maids her options were this Evi girl and another maid she'd not met before. Well, to be honest what with Evi apparently being happily being messed up and covered in her own blood, she did creep Faith out a bit, so for now she'd go for the other one. So she approached the other maid, the one with the leathery-looking books, and spoke, injecting some confidence into her voice: "Hello there! I'm Faith and, well: do you have any pins or things that I could borrow? For the fight we're about to have I need to be able to fasten the potions I got to my belt loops or something, so I don't have to hold them in my hands while fighting."
Post by: Empiricist on June 04, 2018, 11:34:56 pm
Fleur lowers her tome, giving you a full view of ███ ██████ █████████ ███ ████ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ███████ █████ ██████ ███ █████ █████ ███ ███ ██ ███████████ ███████ ███████ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ██████
"Probably, I'll have a look." (Fleur)
Soon enough, she returns with a utility pouch belt.
"This work?" (Fleur)
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2018, 12:03:27 am
So, of course, when Fleur returned, she'd find Faith with her composure rather totally destroyed, blushing like a tomato and rather unable to look Fleur in the eyes. It took Faith a moment to realize that Fleur had spoken to her, so it was a couple of seconds until Faith started, and then looked down at the belt. "U-um... yeah... um, that should work really well."
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 12:09:59 am
Fleur tosses you the belt before turning the tome over to face you and flipping through the pages.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 05:21:08 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 05:51:46 am
Well firstly, the contents are unspeakably lewd, secondly there's something about the illustration, the symbols and circles you seem in some of the pages, you, recognize them. They're actual ritual circles. Wait... what was that? a couple pages back now, there was, something, you think you can use it...
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 06:46:43 am
Not that he was surprised; shunga woodblocks had a long history of being employed by the Kumon Group back when it was the Kumon Clan, as disguised ritual circles for agents of the Clan to employ against Aramitama (that and they were good-luck charms too; against Aramitama, anyone would look for as much of an edge as they could get).
His mind drifted, by some compulsion, to the tendrils he'd manifested using his arsenal last battle. A small tug told him he could do something with that, but what?
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 07:01:37 am
Without another word, Fleur turns the tome back over and continues reading.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 07:16:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 07:19:51 am
"Sure." (Fleur)
He hands over the tome.
"Pervert." (Fleur)
And with that, she pulls out another tome and begins reading that.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 07:24:16 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 07:27:56 am
You find the section of interest and begin reading the horrifically lewd illustrations from the start, standing right next to Faith. The fact that the person in the illustrations kinda looks like her probably doesn't help.
Spoiler: Skill Unlocked! (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2018, 10:37:47 am
Then her gaze was snatched horrifiedly back when she caught a glimpse of something that looked AWFULLY like her, ”Wh-“ which was then horrifyingly confirmed when Minato walked right up and took the book from the maid, opening the book right up to the section that looked remarkably like it was her who was the subject of...
Well, Faith sputtered for a moment, unable to find words momentarily, until: ”R-really Minato?! What the hell, I...” She had essentially taken on the color of a tomato at this point, with the belt in one hand as she used the other to shield her eyes from that damn book. She let out a breath, sucked another one in, and let out a ”I... I just wanted to get something to fasten these potions...” before she turned on her heel and ran out to remove herself from the situation as fast as she could.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 10:50:34 am
Minato yelps over at Faith as she runs out. He hadn’t quite clocked that the person looked like Faith; for once, he was more concerned with learning what he could over reading the lewd bits.
He looks a mixture of displeased and dismayed.
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 05:37:15 pm
Fleur simply turns over another page.
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2018, 06:15:06 pm
Once the pervert maid was a sufficient distance away that Faith figured that that stupid porn book couldn't bother her, Faith sighed and then dropped into a sitting position on the lawn. She wasn't crying, but honestly she had felt just a little like doing so, because this was all too much. Why couldn't she just do things without something stupid happening, like having her clothes blown off or being shoved into maid outfits or THIS! Minato could come over here and apologize if he wanted, but Faith decided he was going to have to come over here to do so, while she reined herself in a bit.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 06:17:44 pm
"Hey, hey, Faith. It's not what you thought it was, I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. It's.....actually for a purpose, believe it or not. And no, I didn't actually notice that it looked like you, and if you'll give me a moment, it's related to why I was reading that."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2018, 06:42:22 pm
Faith put a hand to her cheek for a moment, upset enough that she was having a little trouble finding words, and that it felt like there was a pressure behind her eyes, though she still wasn't crying yet. "...but it, it really wasn't something I needed when I was just trying to get some-- some clips or something! Her having that is just... it's horrible enough, I didn't need you to just go for it too!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 06:49:06 pm
"I didn't know, Faith. I didn't see and I didn't make that connection with you. If you genuinely think that little of me that you think I'd actually read something like that with you in it, then perhaps I haven't done enough to prove to you I'm above that, at least right here, right now. Trust me when I say, I didn't read it because it was lewd, but because it had something I had to know."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2018, 07:02:39 pm
She actually looked up at him now, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "What... what were you doing, then?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 07:11:05 pm
It....the text was teaching me something. A skill. Something I can use to protect the rest of you. I had to know what it was, so I saw an opportunity and took it. And this isn't by far the worst thing, either. People have been using stuff like that to transmit knowledge like this in the supernatural community for years. Because nobody would ever choose to look voluntarily in there unless they were a pervert or a Godslayer. I assumed it was one of those. I honestly didn't think for a moment. I'm so sorry...."
Minato sighed, running his hands through his hair and trying not to look at Faith.
Post by: spümpkin on June 05, 2018, 07:18:42 pm
She eyes up the canister with her logo on it, before approaching Slaine.
"Hey, heard you got some kinda Requiem Potion for me?"
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 07:25:56 pm
Slaine regards you in the manner one might regard the post-lynching pre-burning corpse of a particularly corrupt politician. "Take it." She hands over another one of those vials like the healing and energy potions, this one marked with a circular symbol. "Think of what you want your world to become when you use it. Do not think about what you plan on having for dinner. Do not think about how you want to crash another car into someone. And for the love of God make sure that it won't hurt your allies."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2018, 07:45:59 pm
Faith wiped at her face again, but it really wasn't stopping anything, and she let out a sob. She covered her mouth with her elbow, but she was shaking a little and tears were streaming down her face, now -- the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, and no matter how embarrassing it was she was undeniably crying. "I, I dunno, what to doooo," she wailed, giving up on covering her mouth, and just spilled out the rest of what she had to say, occasionally interrupted by sobs. "but I really hate thuh, the fact that she-- that she HAS that, and that she can do whatever she wuh, wants with it, and I dunno what to do!"
Post by: Strider03 on June 05, 2018, 07:51:16 pm
In an even voice, though there was some hint of irritation on his countenance, Shef said, "Mind not harassing people with porn before our mission? She's a bit sensitive, and being emotionally compromised before a mission, surprisingly, tends not to lead to the best results. I don't know what exactly you did, so maybe she asked to see your stuff or something, et cetera. But if not, perhaps a tactful apology is in order. Without the tomes."
He shrugged, then walked away, back towards the main area with the supplies. They'd probably be fine even with Faith like this, but it was best to make the effort if it saved them some trouble later.
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 07:54:33 pm
"Harassing? I flipped through it." (Fleur)
She frowns.
"That strong a reaction?" (Fleur)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 05, 2018, 08:00:21 pm
He closes the distance between him and Faith and gently, carefully, hugs her to his body.
"Faith, don't worry about it, alright? Don't worry. You'll be fine. This could happen to anyone new to this. Trust me on this. I know.
If she has it, she has it. You can't do anything except ask her to not use it on you. I don't know how it works, I can't help you with it as much as I'd like. But I'm here for you, and Yuki, and the others are here, if you need us."
Post by: Strider03 on June 05, 2018, 08:05:31 pm
"If you're totally against doing it for some reason, well, I don't know. Keep reading your books or whatever the hell you want.
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 08:09:21 pm
Post by: spümpkin on June 05, 2018, 08:10:40 pm
"Don't worry, staying focused is one of my best skills!" She puts the potion away and then instantly heads towards the mech canister.
"Time to open this baby up..."
She presses a button on the canister, revealing a keypad, which she punches a 10-digit code into. This all leads to one of the sides of the canister opening, to reveal a large mechsuit inside of it.
The mech itself is bipedal, with large digitrade legs, a carrier for the pilot as the 'torso' of the mech, with two sets of three rocket boosters, one on each side of the torso. It's painted in typical army greens, with an industrial design. The only notable difference is the two large breasts and buttocks on the torso. On the front, a large pair of breasts, and a full butt on the back of the torso.
"Aww yeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 05, 2018, 08:24:41 pm
Then she pulled back, eyes red, cheeks wet, and still sniffling. She wasn't at her best right now, to say the least, and now the front of Minato's suit had a rather conspicuous drenched spot where she'd bawled into it. She hadn't quite let go of him yet. "Could... could you make her get rid of it or something? I, I don't care about the rest of that book very much, I just want the section with me not to be there..."
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2018, 09:11:26 pm
Oh hey, Fleur walks on over. For once she's got nothing in her hands.
"(Oh fuck, this bad?) This wasn't how I thought it'd go down. She only got kinda embarrassed at the first page, but I guess that's just an excuse. Know it don't mean much but, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." (Fleur)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 06, 2018, 06:38:50 am
Minato doesn't visibly react to his suit being dampened by Faith's tears, as he turns to Fleur. who shows up during the hug.
"Can you, you know, remove that part of the thing with the blonde lady that looks like her? It's bothering her."
Post by: Empiricist on June 06, 2018, 08:21:39 am
"...What? I have no idea what you're talking about." (Fleur)
Post by: Powder Miner on June 06, 2018, 01:48:28 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 06, 2018, 05:44:14 pm
"The fuck's she on about?" (Fleur)
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 06, 2018, 10:15:42 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 06, 2018, 10:44:08 pm
"Yup, first stage is kinetic, second is elemental, third is explosive. Even if you only use one, I've set them up to always have the the stages so it's consistent."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 07, 2018, 03:17:11 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 07, 2018, 03:58:04 am
"There is? Can I? I just summon them. And block bullets apparently." (Fleur)
Post by: Twinwolf on June 07, 2018, 09:54:45 am
Post by: Powder Miner on June 07, 2018, 11:06:25 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 07, 2018, 01:37:58 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 07, 2018, 06:19:58 pm
You stab yourself in the leg. Ow! The bulb seems to fill with crimson light as a pink corona traces its outline, depleting with each passing second.
Faith and Minato
"Again, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I can't check. At least show me what I'm working with here." (Fleur)
Noriko
"It helps stop accidental discharges. Did I put too much?"
Post by: Powder Miner on June 07, 2018, 06:41:13 pm
And it was honestly pretty messed up in its own right too, what with the number of... Faith shuddered. She wanted to cry again a little, honestly, but she really had cried all she could for a while, probably. ”Guh... God... here... it’s b-been shoved in my face again so PLEASE get rid of it!” Tremblinf, she handed it over to Fleur.
Post by: Empiricist on June 07, 2018, 06:46:37 pm
Fleur sorta just stares at the pages for a bit, tugs on the paper and...
"Yeah I got nothing. Changing it's beyond me." (Fleur)
She desummons the tome.
Post by: spümpkin on June 07, 2018, 07:46:50 pm
She climbs up to the top of the mech, and, butt-first, hops into the machine. For a time she is out of view, but then her head pops out of a slit at the top, and the mech whirs to life.
She moves with surprising agility, looking to find Mary and do some more intense training.
Post by: Empiricist on June 07, 2018, 08:14:47 pm
"Huh? Wha-?"
Mary regards you in basically the same way a deer may regard the headlights of a semi-turned-mad-max-set-piece and proceeds to immediately run away screaming. Unfortunately for her, you're faster.
Post by: Powder Miner on June 07, 2018, 08:34:38 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 07, 2018, 08:35:54 pm
"...The fuck do you think I'm gonna do? Jill off to it or something? Please." (Fleur)
Post by: Strider03 on June 08, 2018, 07:11:24 am
Since it seemed like it'd still be a bit before everyone was regrouped enough to start the mission, Shef found himself a wall against which he sat down. He pulled out one of the metal sheets he'd picked up from the supplies along with a remote, and carefully folded the metal sheet in the required way. Turned out to be a delicate crane. Shef had little knowledge or great appreciation for this art form, but it was rather nice to watch the small minimalist form start to flap its wings.
Once it was ready, he held it out on his hand while working one of the controls with his other, causing the thing to take off. First, to get a feel for the thing, Shef attempted to circle the room twice. Once he was somewhat confident, he sent it out in the direction Yoake had headed. She'd probably be out of sight by this point, but he'd search around the nearby rooms and halls a bit anyway. Get a feel for using the drones to actually scout.
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 08, 2018, 07:28:44 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 08, 2018, 06:42:19 pm
"If she can't remove it, she can't remove it. Sorry, Faith, I tried, but if she can't remove it, I don't think anyone else can.
Do you mind just.....keeping that thing out of existence? Just don't show it around. Or speak of this ever again. That last part'll probably be best."
Post by: Empiricist on June 08, 2018, 07:08:47 pm
Well, Yoake turns out to be currently chasing a terrified Mary around in a mechsuit.
The mechsuit has breasts.
Goddamnit Yoake.
Noriko
You do that, getting that much more familiar with the thresholds and sensitivities. Try as I might, I couldn't figure out a good innuendo for you shoving things up your spear, go figure.
Faith and Minato
"Sure." (Fleur)
Post by: Strider03 on June 08, 2018, 09:17:28 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on June 08, 2018, 11:55:52 pm
Post by: spümpkin on June 09, 2018, 11:42:56 pm
"HEY! STOP RUNNING! IT'S TIME FOR MORE TRAINING!"
Because this is not particularly encouraging, she also tries to move her mech so it is in front of Mary, and blocking her escape.
"THINK ABOUT SOMETHING COOL BEING REAL, LIKE DRAGONS OR SOMETHING!"
Post by: Empiricist on June 10, 2018, 12:13:19 am
When confronted with by a giant robot with an equally giant pair of breasts, the human brain tends to shut down from sheer terror. Such things evoke a primal fear after all, as primal as spiders and darkness, doubly so when piloted by someone who an outsider may be inclined to categorize as a domestic terrorist, albeit one with a strange and unknowable agenda.
It is only natural then that Mary curls up into a ball as that now all so familiar pressure explodes outwards. A few seconds later pass. One of the phantasmal servants gently prods Mary.
"Oh uh... Yoake... S-sorry! I didn't see you there! I thought I was getting attacked by a monster!"
Post by: spümpkin on June 10, 2018, 12:19:04 am
"IT'S TIME FOR THE REAL DEAL! IMAGINE SOMETHING REALLY COOL TO FIGHT ME. I WON'T BE ABLE TO STAY FOR TOO MUCH LONGER, BUT WE CAN CONTINUE THIS ANOTHER TIME AFTER."
Yoake is prepared to dodge anything coming from Mary.
Post by: Empiricist on June 10, 2018, 12:49:31 am
Gonna go out on a limb here and guessing "a servant slapping me with a paper fan" is not what Mary thought, though that, is precisely what happens.
"H-hey! Cut that out! Um uh, uh..."
Your thrusters rotate ninety degrees upwards. And then they fire, full force, blasting you into the ceiling and leaving the torso of your mech kinda just lodged there.
"Aha! Take that! Wait no! This is my house! What am I gonna do now?"
Mary meanwhile has gone from triumphantly pointing at you to just rolling around clutching her head.
Post by: spümpkin on June 10, 2018, 01:01:20 am
"-bzzt- EXCELLENT JO- -bzzt- MARY! TRY SOMETHING COOLER THIS TI- -bzzt-"
Again, Yoake readies herself.
Post by: Empiricist on June 10, 2018, 01:27:19 am
You descend completely unhampered as Mary kinda just stares at you. "L-like what? I tried a nuke and black mail and a teleporter but I just got smacked!"
Post by: spümpkin on June 10, 2018, 06:33:01 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 10, 2018, 10:05:20 am
"How does that help?"
Well, she's got a dragon plushie now, close enough?
Post by: Strider03 on June 10, 2018, 11:13:20 am
But that didn't really matter. If he was right, it was probably better that Yoake figured that out herself, and if he was wrong, well no reason to mention it. It didn't look like Yoake was running too far off, and didn't appear to be doing anything too (comparatively) crazy.
Shef turned the drone around, then lead it on a meandering path back to where he was, testing out some more difficult stuff now that he had some knowledge of the basics. He'd try to figure out important stuff like it's ascension speed, how sharply it could turn, whether it could easily traverse somewhat small areas like beneath sofas, the like.
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 10, 2018, 12:25:39 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 11, 2018, 07:05:59 am
Post by: Powder Miner on June 12, 2018, 10:18:47 am
Post by: spümpkin on June 12, 2018, 05:38:23 pm
"OKAY, LISTEN MARY I JUST REALLY WANT TO FIGHT A DRAGON AND I DON'T KNOW IF I'LL GET ANOTHER CHANCE LIKE THIS. SO, I'M SORRY, BUT PLEASE THINK ABOUT DRAGONS. BUT REAL DRAGONS. A BIG GREEN ONE WITH SCALES AND FIRE BREATH."
Yoake then lunges forward, mechanical butt-first, as the plating opens to reveal two large machine guns, about to fire.
Post by: Empiricist on June 12, 2018, 07:41:06 pm
"I'll be heading off then. Good luck!"
Faith
Fortunately, the fifty dozen condoms are not in this utility belt.
Yoake
For a instant Mary's eyes, and then her expression darkens, becoming unreadable.
2x Resolve Expended!
Your thrusters flare and spin, turning your mech breastfirst before slamming it into the ground onto its chest, skidding to a stop at her feet. With a flash of light, she thrusts something a few inches from your face, some kind of ornate rifle, decorated with intricate silver engravings. Around barrel is a dragon's maw, and below it is a bayonet pointing at your throat.
She drops it in favor of grabbing your cheeks and stretching them.
"Damnit Yoake! I can't make dragons! I told you! I just have those weird servants! Regular weird servants too! They're not dragons either! Now apologize!"
Post by: spümpkin on June 12, 2018, 08:04:48 pm
"I already apologized befoooore! I just really wanna fight a dragon, can you not convince your servants to build like, a dragon mech?"
Post by: Empiricist on June 12, 2018, 08:08:17 pm
"No! And you're in a mech right now! Why can't you do it?"
Post by: spümpkin on June 12, 2018, 08:57:47 pm
"Of course not! Just because I'm in a mech doesn't mean I can build a dragon mech!"
Post by: Empiricist on June 13, 2018, 04:44:18 am
"Sorry! I didn't mean to assume or- wait! Why am I apologizing? You came at me with a machinegun!"
Post by: spümpkin on June 13, 2018, 09:24:59 pm
"You're awakened now, it wouldn't have been that bad. Plus, we have a healer right here. That bein' said, a dragon fighting a mech would be worth dyin' for, don't you think?"
She seems completely serious.
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2018, 09:23:41 am
"No! Why would that be worth dying for?"
She continues stretching your cheeks.
Post by: spümpkin on June 14, 2018, 06:36:08 pm
"I dunno if you've heard, but dragons don't exist! As far as I know, anyway. Fighting one would be crazy! Also it'd give me huge publicity for Keijo."
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2018, 07:30:22 pm
"They actually do exist..."
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2018, 08:23:56 pm
Okay so y'all settle down and breach the Sanctuary, the entire history of its damn world tracing through your site as you access it.
| [Now Playing: | アモリタチテカミトミユ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8n-h7sIjvc) | ] |
In darkest night, a droplet of ink falls upon a black sea. The ripples become waves and the waves become mountains, rough-hewn, crystalline almost, like the graphics of an early video game. Embedded, just beyond the horizon lies the neon sun, the boundary between heaven and earth oscillating in tune with its heartbeat, each pulse sending light streaking out across every edge and vertex in the land. Lightning rains down from the stars above as giants rise from the earth. With their hands, the giants shape the earth into all that exists in creation. And with lightning, the stars grant them existence, radiance, a neon pulse of their own seperate to the earth that birthed them.
Life emerges, some facsimile of it, trees and animals living alongside their makers, man and his weapons, holy blades of divine judgement, roaring gatlings of heaven's fury. Rapier missiles, laser cannons, armored trains.
Genesis in motion, come to an untimely end.
Man falls upon his blade. Trees crumble. Animals wither. Their life returns to earth. To the stars. It is needed.
The end times have come. The eschaton.
The land is barren again. What were once valleys become great trenches. Where there was once life there now exists only the instruments of death. Few giants remain, shaping the corpses of their brethren into great weapons for Armageddon.
You see soldiers entombed beneath the land, artillery pieces gouged into the mountains, sinkholes lined with lasers like lamprey maws.
The air is still. You smell nothing. You taste nothing. You feel nothing. This world never truly began, and yet here it is bringing itself to an end just to kill you. Do they really think it will be that easy.
You are all standing in a blasted wasteland where great fissures criss-crossing the surface, psychedelic rays of light crashing down across the trenches in front of you, a great of swarm of rapier missiles rising to meet you, soon followed by moth-like living shadows with neon halos that screech in a deep bass as they send exploding beams of energy streaking towards you. The missiles aren't here just yet.
Your target is much further ahead, at the horizon itself.
"I'm picking up artillery coming from the mountains. You've some time before the first shells land, how nice of them to give you a head start."
Shef
Great rainbow lasers, strobelight stars, bass moths, out of all the things this Sacntuary could've been it's a fucking nightclub. Still, this mention of artillery sounds worrisome. With the delay from firing to landing, they're probably not going to be able to hit accurately without some kind of precog system. That being said you doubt that's the plan either. They're just gonna rain death down to restrict and pray the shrapnel gets you.
Satoshi grins at you "Need a lift? You don't move too quick."
Minato
Sanctuaries have limits. An Aramitama can't just have an infinite army at their beck and call. By the looks of things, there's only so much energy in the system, only so many constructs can be active at once. The neon lightning? The stuff coming down in the trenches and distant mountains, that's their power supply, you're sure of it. It's likely all coming from that horizon, the center of this false reality with the Aramitama's own output added to the mix. In other words, until you break this whole damn world, the deluge won't stop. They can only field so many at once, but they will keep on coming until you're dead or this world is.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 14, 2018, 08:54:57 pm
Moth creatures, orbital bombardment, missiles, and artillery, seemingly in that order. The crossing would be tedious, so without hesitation, Shef replied. "Probably a good idea. Appreciate it." He'd probably also be serving extra duty as a deterrent for the missiles, but he didn't mind that much.
"Any problems with me using portals to keep things unpredictable, give us a small amount of extra distance?"
Join Satoshi. Assist forward mobility and add some unpredictability to location with Room to Breathe once they've started to move. Donate 1 resolve to Noriko
[3] 3 5 [4] 6 4 3 4 1 5
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2018, 09:00:28 pm
Post by: spümpkin on June 14, 2018, 09:31:53 pm
"Heh, how fast? Fast as me, plus a bit. Oh, and then some." She brandishes the arcane nitrous injector.
She then addresses everyone in the group. "Let me know when you want me to use my Requiem. I got these potions to make it better, and it might help with that artillery. I'm gonna head straight for the target."
Yoake then stabs the nitrous into her mech, before rushing forwards at a blazing fast speed. Her primary goal is to make it as close as she can get to the target, while still keeping an eye out for enemy attacks and dodging if necessary.
[Alteration used: 4 instead of 5]
[5 4 6 3 5 4 5 4 6 5]
Post by: Empiricist on June 14, 2018, 09:34:03 pm
Satoshi leaps onto Yoake's mech, the thrusters beginning to shift and expand as she grabs hold, readying her own spirit energy injector.
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 15, 2018, 06:45:46 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 15, 2018, 12:03:56 pm
This was going to be a little difficult. Not that Minato was ever afraid of a challenge. At least, a challenge of this kind.
"Guys, we're going to need to get to the horizon and disable it somehow. That's where the power source is. That's where it's all coming from. If we can shut it down, we shut the whole operation down. Until that's done, the artillery, the constructs- they'll keep coming. Shef and Yoake are going to be doing their own thing, apparently, so I suppose we'll just have to go along with it for now. Noriko, can you get us all close enough? If you can speed us all up, I can provide cover, as much as I can."
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 15, 2018, 12:33:47 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on June 16, 2018, 10:34:10 pm
"Uhm... I can normally move pretty fast, but I don't have any way to move THAT fast... and, uh, I don't really wanna be standing here when that artillery comes down..."
Post by: Twinwolf on June 17, 2018, 06:19:01 am
Burn 1.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 18, 2018, 08:52:59 am
Minato extends his weapons, scooping up Faith and Yuki and positioning them as close to him as possible, hopefully protected by the other weapons he had plus his own mass. He hoped he was holding them as tight as he could.
"Noriko, do your thing. Can't let Yoake have all the fun, right?"
Burn the first 1 in the line, use the 4. Carry Faith and Yuki and let Noriko drag Minato wherever.
[1 4 5 4 1 3 5 5 4 2]
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 18, 2018, 11:42:30 am
Burn a 1. Move forward, dodge artillery fire, try to intercept missiles that get too close with spear. Also use a point of Resolve to go FAST
Post by: Powder Miner on June 19, 2018, 01:35:07 am
Of course, she wasn't putting ALL her attention on that. Faith was scanning the area around them. Honestly, the only scary part was hurtling through the air -- she didn't really feel THAT threatened by the artillery since she was, well, hurtling through the air, and the missiles wouldn't target her or Yuki or Minato. They might be a problem for Noriko, though, and aside from the fact that Noriko would probably drop them if hit by a bunch of missiles, Faith didn't in fact want her teammate to get hit by a bunch of missiles. She also felt that rather than literally just hang there and do nothing she should try to help out a bit, though she wasn't quite willing to use one of her more explosive beams, considering her position. So she was gonna toss some of her weak magic. She wanted it to hit before the missiles got close enough to detonate anyway and hurt Noriko, so she was gonna really have to try to estimate on the leading here...
Faith does her best to fling her non-hyper magic at the missiles going for Noriko, leading them so that they actually hit the damn things!
World Line: 6 5 5 5 4 3 6 6 4 6
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 19, 2018, 02:58:46 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 20, 2018, 02:19:45 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | アモリタチテカミトミユ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8n-h7sIjvc) | ] |
Yoake's thrusters expand, rockets enlarging as they sprout plating and air-intakes. She pushes down the injector and hits the throttle. Blazing blue, the mech lurches and hurtles forwards screeching across the ground at speeds that really anything looking like it has no damn right to even approach. Situated above, somewhere between the cockpit and nine tails of flame Shef observes the situation. Yoake's natural agility is more than enough to avoid the beams, indeed they seem to have rather poor tracking once fired, the rapiers on the other hand, those are a little more troublesome. They're dense, they're maneuverable, not fast enough to keep up normally, but barrelling right into them is not going to be pleasant. As the cloud converges he opens a portal, the mech vanishing. The swarm turns, sharply too, but it's too late, through the series of portals, Yoake tears straight though.
Noriko follows. Riding upon divine winds, she was a bit further up, and with swarm having just been distracted by Yoake, and with Faith running point defense, she quickly passes too. Behind her, the moths make one final parting shot, beams grazing her and her payload, blasts tracing their paths upon the ground, but none managing to hit. The halos shrink, and the moths wither to mere shadows. The missiles halt their pursuit, crashing into the ground.
Shells begin whistling down. Shrapnel and white phosphorus saturating the air, the deathly pandemonium of industrialized warfare crashing down with thundering fury, menacing the barren land well behind Noriko. Looks like they've underestimated your speed. No doubt they've adjusted, next barrage has fired. It's not here yet, won't be here for a while longer, but that, that is sure to hit, unless you change your velocity.
They had wanted a war of attrition. A protracted grinding war. You have not given them one. From the trenches ahead emerge more missiles, but in their midst are not moths, but rather soldiers. Storm Minds. Something like them at least. Lightly armored in ablative plating with great jousting lances in their talons, holding steady in the air. They are a fair distance off, a fair distant that you will all cross in an instant. They will charge forwards amidst a cloud of missiles, rushing forwards at just the last moment to try and skewer you, slow you, halt you.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on June 20, 2018, 02:33:41 am
She looks towards Satoshi, if she can manage it. "Hey, this might get a little bumpy so, hold on tight!"
Yoake then performs a forward roll with the mech, before using it's hydraulic legs to boost it into the air, combined with gunfire from the mech's butt. The thrusters are aimed to get her higher as well.
[Burnt 2]
[5 4 6 3 5 4 5 6 5
Post by: Strider03 on June 20, 2018, 06:28:16 am
Hang on, take some non-hyper shots at the missile, then use Room to Breathe once again when they're in the air near the missiles.
[3] 5 6 [4] 3 4 1 5 5 5
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 20, 2018, 09:28:38 pm
Vasavi Shakti
Post by: Powder Miner on June 21, 2018, 06:03:36 pm
But before Minato did rotate her, if he did, Faith was at least going to mess with the pike line a bit. Noriko was taking care of the missiles, but she did notice that these Mononoke were back to the kind of ablative armor they’d had before the train, and she didn’t like her chances of killing several of them at once, so what Faith was going to do was... The blonde girl fired off a beam of light from her hand, not as blinding as her Lucky Sunbeam, but rather the brightness of her more usual move, a Freedom Beam Of energy that landed out towards the weapons of the nearby conveniently-relatively-in-a-line Storm Minds, in an attempt to render them rather less dangerous.
Faith fires a moderately wide-aperture Freedom Beam at the sections of the pike line near enough to likely meet them head-on, not at the Storm Minds themselves, but at their conveniently, long and thin weapons, aiming to lop off large sections from the tip ends with the beam (but obviously not changing from the best shot at the lances if it would also hit the Storm Minds, she’s aiming to destroy their weapons, not spare them.
World Line: 5 5 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 26, 2018, 04:25:09 am
Minato waits for Faith to get off her attack, then holds her close to him. Use ten weapons from the stockpile and Minato's body to shield Faith from retaliation, detonating the weapons if anything gets near Faith. Use the others and Rho Aias as a battering ram to protect Minato and break through their line, detonating the weapons if necessary to break through or just using sheer momentum to get through if not.
[[5] 4 1 3 5 5 4 2 2]
Post by: Twinwolf on June 26, 2018, 05:18:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 27, 2018, 03:40:55 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | アモリタチテカミトミユ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8n-h7sIjvc) | ] |
Freedom Beam sweeps out, the Storm Minds aren't quite impressed. Two squads of four were charging, four units are hit. Two confirmed kills. Two damaged or wounded. You should know by now that won't stop them though, a lost limb? A lost lance? For those already doomed, those able to shatter shields and pierce metal with even improvised weapons, that matters little. They don't go for Minato. They don't go for Yuki. They hit hard, but not hard enough. Whatever they do, those two will survive. Faith on the other hand? Change of plans then, six tendrils lash out, wrapping around lances, guards, and arms, driving themselves right into each remaining construct. For a moment they falter, these ones, they lack the output of the others. Makes sense, they burn their shard-granted souls to fight, but the ones here are just empty shells, features of the Sanctuary pumped with energy and sent forwards. That being said, they don't stop either, thrusters flaring they continue their charge. No choice then, six tendrils detonate, six constructs fall. Onwards.
Yoake meanwhile, seeing the lances thrusting towards her just decides to fuck that noise and ascend, and ascend she does launching into the air faster than her foes can follow. They could intercept something heading their way, something now traveling a lot more vertically? No dice. Missiles chase a bit more, still she's faster, and Shef's got portals, soon enough the cloud deactivates, the remaining two squads with them. The maneuver cost her speed however, a fair bit of it, Noriko managing to pull a fair distance ahead having used her allies and spears as a battering ram of concentrated homosexuality, though one missile does manage to strike her, shattering her layered shields but dealing no damage.
Little problem there though - remember how the artillery missed initially? Remember how it had to readjust to the pace you guys set? Yoake changed her pace again. Noriko didn't. That new barrage? It's crashing down upon her and the people with her now. Plumes of debris rising from the ravaged earth, and more pressingly white-hot shrapnel peppering through the air from each and every direction. Dangerous, but avoidable. Normally at least. But it wasn't just impact and air-burst, there was white phosphorous too, great clouds of smoke and burning chemicals, masking the shards of metal. Oh and y'know, trying to stick and burn to everyone. Noriko's interceptions buys a bit of breathing room, but there are many shells and each interception has a bit of recovery time with how the spear was knocked and blasted around, end result is still quite a lot of pain racing towards her and her cargo. May wanna dodge.
As the world seems to drown in burning phosphorous y'all see something. Something rising up before you, something big, something fast, matching your speeds. A great moth born of shadows with the maw of a lamprey lined not with teeth but laser cannons and crowned with a dire magic circle for a halo and flying upon six great wings of ragged darkness. From its whirring maw laser flak begins to spew quickly sweeping towards Noriko amidst the artillery downpour.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on June 27, 2018, 04:09:30 am
Order Satoshi to use Override on the mech and give it controlled flight capabilities.
She then closes her eyes, holding her breath, and tensing all the muscles in her body. As she does so, the mech follows her lead, moving into a meditative position, and any outside observer would say she had just disappeared from view after a battle cry of "Kagirinai Shunkan!" rang through the sky.
Activate Eternal Moment, pausing time, and fly towards the moth as fast as possible while making a slight effort to avoid the chemical cloud. Upon reaching the moth, she would grab tight hold of it, before doing a spinning throw in mid-air aiming for the artillery shells falling towards Noriko and the others. Of course, she would grab it with her breasts, and hit it with her butt to launch it through the sky.
[Resolve Hyper used]
[Alteration used, 5 instead of 4]
[4 6 3 5 4 5 6 5 1 6]
Post by: Strider03 on June 27, 2018, 01:45:05 pm
Brace, and be ready to redirect laser blasts directed at the mech from the moth back at it.
[5] 6 3 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 29, 2018, 11:03:40 pm
This done, she shouted the name of her technique: "Manavastra!" Her arm surged forward, and so did Minato, hurtling toward the moth at high speed, carried on a divine wind. Noriko wasn't far behind, darting forward with even greater speed than she'd had before.
Use the 4 for this turn, so that this executes on a 5.
Post by: Twinwolf on June 30, 2018, 03:10:20 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on June 30, 2018, 04:16:09 pm
Faith fires yet another Freedom Beam, this one as thin-aperture as she can get it, and aims to straight-up slice a wing or two off of the moth! Alteration to a 6.
World Line: 5 5 3 6 6 4 6 3 3 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 01, 2018, 05:32:06 am
Chou Henshin to extend tendril duration and redirect all of the stockpile except the tendrils protecting Faith to the front, using the stockpile as an improvised battering ram/riot shield.
[[4] 1 3 [5] 5 4 2 2 1 3]
Post by: Empiricist on July 01, 2018, 06:32:10 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | JUDGEMENT (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLDo-jHcvAQ) | ] |
Metallic wings with blades for feathers erupt from Yoake's mech, shifting and flexing. Tendrils rush forwards, tangling together in front of Minato like a battering ram. Noriko meanwhile parts the smoke-filled sky like Moses, except unlike Moses, she doesn't get lost in the desert for forty years and instead violently propelled her people towards the promised land. The promised land in this case being a big bad moth.
It's, hard to say what happens next.
But well, one moment things were the way things were, and the next, Yoake is right next to the moth hurling it backwards.
So with her foe basically immobilized, Faith just cleaves off all three wings off one side and then the whole Minato fucktrain crashes into its body. Now, the impact was hard and all, but it turns out Death's-Head wasn't exactly rigid. See, it's amorphous, insubstantial, less a singular entity and more a whole load of Black Halos fused together around a crystalline skeleton. So when Minato slams into it, the impact gets distributed shockingly well. Well enough that he only destroys the thorax and lodges in the gaping wound instead of shattering its skeleton and sailing out the other side. It's at this point that countless shadowy hands start grasping and trying to restrain whatever they can grip. It's also at this point that Yuki just fucking eviscerates the moth. Just raises her chainsaw and casually brings it down. Except what she brought down was closer to a thunderbolt, this steel discharge that explodes through the beast's body, rending apart a good chunk of its skeleton, and ripping its way out of its body, taking its head with it.
So uh, in between all of that, Death's-Head is pretty fucked up, its main cannons are gone, its body is failing, and all the hits its adversaries took were taken by their shields instead.
So y'all just sailing basically the twitching almost-corpse of a giant moth, one that is continuing to sprout human-like hands of grab-happy shadows at you when the lightning stops. And the sun rises once more.
Well, maybe rises is a bit too gentle a word. Let's try that again shall we? The Neon Sun tears itself out of the earth shattering the horizon behind it, and it just violently hurls itself at you apparently in a final bid to finish you off. This enormous sparking sphere of silvery metal shrouded in the dying strobes of its fading corona, is now hurtling towards you at high speed. The artillery falls silent. The moth begins to dissipate.
It's too big and too fast to really dodge, you're gonna have to blast your way through.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on July 01, 2018, 07:02:31 am
She activates the nitrous injector once more, heading straight towards the Neon Sun, aiming to burst through it and come out the other side. She leads this charge giant-mechanical-breasts-first, guns blazing out of them.
[Burnt 1]
[4 6 3 5 4 5 6
Post by: Strider03 on July 01, 2018, 07:48:14 am
Use Hey Look Over There [3] if the interior seems hollow when Shef is feeling around for portal placement.
[6] [3] 4 5 5 5 2 5 3 6
Post by: Powder Miner on July 02, 2018, 01:00:47 am
After Shef did his thing with the portal and before Yoake slammed into the Neon Sun, Faith extended an arm (even though she was already winded from her previous powerful beam and kind of struggling to breathe) and blasted off yet another beam, making this one wide-aperture and aiming where Yoake was about to hit in an attempt to give her less metal to have to burst through.
Faith fires aNOTHER Freedom Beam, this time wide-aperture, at the center of the front of the Neon Sun! Use a resolve to make it work.
World Line: 5 5 3 6 6 3 3 5 2 3
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 02, 2018, 05:21:46 pm
Aside from the tendrils keeping Faith protected, drive half the remaining stockpile into the Neon Sun and detonate them all. Burn the 1, use the 3.
[1 3 5 4 2 2 1 3 5 3]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 02, 2018, 09:56:39 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 02, 2018, 10:03:06 pm
Also burn a 1.
Post by: Empiricist on July 03, 2018, 01:23:50 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | JUDGEMENT (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLDo-jHcvAQ) | ] |
So this great big sun's launching forth, trying to murc all your sorry asses but well, you'd think think by now with their fancy combat data and all that they'd think they've have realized that running at y'all dickfirst and screaming ain't the brightest idea. No? Well, sucks to be them. So Faith just fucking blasts the front of the Neon Sun open, just fucking bores straight through, leaving Shef rather blue-balled.
As you speed into the depths of the broken sun, you get a better look at its internal structure. Well as good as you'll get racing through at this speed. A hard shell of armor measured in meters instead of inches, concealing a labyrinthine facility. The walls are white. The air is chilled, sterile, complete, more whole than the world outside, the world outside that just shattered. There is nothing outside the broken sun now. The world is the sun, and the sun is the world. Curvature vanishes. You tear through, crash down into the center, or at least, what once was.
The impact, isn't too bad actually. Minato blew half his stockpile decelerating and tearing through. Noriko could decelerate at her leisure and clear debris with her spears. Yoake had timestop and wings.
You find yourselves having crashed down into some sort of door-lined hallway. It's, pretty fucked up, and not from your doing either. Blood is splattered across the walls, furniture lies in disarray, the walls and floors have been riddled with cracks, craters and bullet holes. As the dust and debris begin to fade, you see further in front of you, the hall terminates in a conference room, one in as bad a shape as everywhere else, holding a man in as bad a shape as everyone else, a wounded man, an angry man. An aramitama in the shape of a man, and as he turns to face you you can see that he is-
(https://i.imgur.com/9yJo2dl.png) "YOU SON OF A BITCH! MARK MY WORDS! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! YOU WILL RUE THE DAY-"
-Hitler. Literally taking the form of Hitler because subtlety is dead. The main addition to the whole thing seems to just be the three heart-shaped locks floating behind him, chains binding them together into a ring. He's bleeding from a deep cut across his chest, his clothes are torn, and he's brandishing a luger. Well was anyway, right now he's just shouting and lunging for your throats.
(https://i.imgur.com/9yJo2dl.png) "You... I have no time for your meddling. Guards! Kill them all!"
| [Now Playing: | Knights of the Holy Lance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8wZfpI_QgE) | ] |
Two figures explode out of the walls before you, armored figures, mechanical figures, clad in angular armor illuminated by unearthly neon lights, well whatever lights are still intact. Most shine some more, a few throw sparks. Their forms are humanoid, almost, they're a bit taller, slimmer, and move with a mixture of grace and frightening power, accentuated by their ghostly auras of psychdelic images and blue-shifted space. Sweeping its oversized vapestick, one summons a flowing plume of flame formed not of fire, but neon smoke out from which strange and ever-shifting images. The other gestures and snaps their fingers, a small explosion of that same energy about to erupt, centered right on where Faith currently is. The Aramitama himself, darts forwards, malice in his eyes, readying to strike Faith and Minato.
Yoake
Hard to assess his style, but just from his motions alone you can tell the Aramitama is well-versed in martial arts.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on July 03, 2018, 01:31:39 am
Yoake chugs the Requiem potion as fast as she can, before activating her Requiem. The desired Land is a thin stretch of land extending out from a wide circular base. This way, Yoake and Hitler will be standing on the thin stretch, her companions will be on the circular base, and the guards will have no ground to stand on. Then, she goes in, flying up with her mechanical wings and swinging her butt at Hitler, brandishing the fiery tails that extend from it.
[Burnt 2]
[6 3 5 4 5 6 6 5
Post by: Strider03 on July 03, 2018, 06:14:47 am
Shef considered briefly that the comms might not be working, before attempting to call Winter and Enn to ask, " Enemy Aramitama appearing as Hitler. Who was in here before us? Seeing signs of a previous fight."
Use Rapid Fire [4] through a portal off to the side to get around Yoake and hit Hitler. Also get off mech, since Yoake is going in for close quarters. Alter to a five.
3 [4] [5] 5 5 2 5 3 6 2
Post by: Empiricist on July 03, 2018, 06:42:11 am
"Another Aramitama, they just left."
"It appears that they sabotaged this Sanctuary and launched its core, what you are currently inside at you, using your entrance and the disruption to the internals as an opportunity to escape. We withdrew Mary and her servants as a precaution, but the Aramitama vanished as soon as came back out."
"They probably had an Anomaly set up beforehand."
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 03, 2018, 10:21:17 am
Burn another 1.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 04, 2018, 08:01:24 am
...Also, helping Yoake out.
Do above + Guidance of the Moon Yoake (and herself while she's at it)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 04, 2018, 08:02:55 am
He needed to do several things; get Faith out of danger, stop Hitler's charge in his tracks and then ready him for his teammates. This was going to be rocky, shaky, and he was probably going to have to apologise about messing up Tsukasa's exoskeleton.
Plan developed.
"Faith, you're not going to like this. Yuki, catch!"
Minato suddenly throws Faith away from his tendrils towards Yuki, before blasting the five tendrils that used to hold Faith to boost himself towards Hitler. Use another five and the remains of Rho Aias to absorb the impact of the attack and drive Hitler into Yoake's path. Activate Gate of the Grand Arsenal to add more to the stockpile for later.
[[5] [4] 2 2 1 3 5 3 6 5]
Post by: Powder Miner on July 04, 2018, 03:22:38 pm
Faith downs an energy potion after being tossed and then uses Truth's Strike on Hitler! Alteration to 6!
World Line: 5 3 6 6 3 3
Post by: Empiricist on July 04, 2018, 06:34:50 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Knights of the Holy Lance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8wZfpI_QgE) | ] |
Everything becomes a complete and utter clusterfuck in five seconds flat.
Just chaos, pandemonium, Saturday at Tsukasa's.
See uh, Faith, never reaches Yuki. Instead, with a kick that seemed to happen in a single instant, Hitler shatters her aegis, punting her right into Vape Knight A's distortion, breaking her remaining shield. Turns out he was not where he was, what you all saw was just an afterimage. When Yoake's Requiem went off, he was already in your midst.
It was a dupe, a bamboozle. Don't be so upset you didn't see it coming - neither did France.
Yoake's faster than France though. Things felt off when she dragged everyone inside. So she pivots, sweeping her flaming tails backwards. But see, the thing is, she's not the only one who noticed. Precognition, scrying, information from nothing. It can be a very dangerous power indeed, and those marked by the goddess are blessed with unerring aim in a similar vein. Yuki's guidance goes off, and though neither Minato nor Shef knew they were striking at an illusion, their attacks shift. Or rather, reality shifts. Space twists and bends, and for a brief moment, as impossible as it sounds, the path between the two attacks and their targets becomes a straight line. Minato rushes forwards and hits behind himself amidst a hail of lead.
So uh, end result is that Hitler is just on fire, riddled with bullets, and now being rammed off the platform by Minato.
Minato, Noriko, that afterimage was a cheap trick. It won't work again. You know he can do it now, and you know as long as you stay vigilant, as long as you don't overcommit, it won't save him again. Well for what little measure it saved him this time.
Yoake, you're less certain. He's shown an ace sure, and you guys did in turn, but the thing is, it's a little more than just a trick, you know that much. All martial arts is about footwork, keijo especially, and that sidestep, it's dangerous. Suddenly moving to your opponent's side and striking in an instant, even after seeing through the illusion it's a threat, a powerful spacing tool, a constant threat, possibility that keeps foes always thinking "Will I need a second strike? Can I make a second strike?" You're not phased though. You can win this. You know you can.
Faith, you, you're not certain of anything in this midst of blueshifted whatthefuckery you find yourself in, save for perhaps that the next few seconds are gonna hurt. The distortion isn't fading and the Vape Knight that produced it, while now stuck treading water, is more than close enough to execute a brutal upwards swing with its staff, aiming for your chest. The other Knight has yet to resurface, but you can feel it targeting you with another blast, it must be hiding under the water somewhere, it's mechanical after all, it has no need to breath. You'll have to trust Noriko to handle it - it caught a spear to the chest right before it went under.
Hitler meanwhile seems to be trying to focus as he draws a pistol, pointing it to... his own head? Y'all get the feeling you don't wanna be so close to him anymore.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on July 05, 2018, 12:42:05 am
Gotta get the gun out of his hand.
Yoake twists and spins in the air, with the rockets boosting her while she prepares a Vacuum Butt Cannon. She releases it, shooting the guns and trying to hit a general spiral but focus on getting the gun out of his hand.
[Vacuum Butt Cannon, (6)]
[Alteration used, 5 instead of 3]
[3 5 4 5 6 (6) 5 5 1 3]
Post by: Empiricist on July 05, 2018, 01:07:52 am
Quote from: Strider
Shoot, aiming to disarm the luger.
Burn the 3, use the 5.
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 05, 2018, 11:42:20 am
Her other two spears focused on Knight B. She was riding on her sense of where they were to inform her attacks on it, concentrated as she was on Knight A. The spear already in her chest, she tried to drive further in as it expanded; the remaining spear flitted under the water, attempting to meet up with its companion traveling the opposite direction. Noriko tried to aim it so that the weapon wouldn't collide with its sibling, but strike slightly to the right or left so that they were attempting to twist Knight B apart.
Alteration to 6, and use Vasavi Shakti.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 06, 2018, 05:41:42 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on July 06, 2018, 05:58:34 pm
Faith flicks an activated Graviton Field Device out of her sleeve and throws it at the Vape Knight’s head with one hand, downs an energy vial with the other, and then uses a Truth’s Strike on her attacker, Alteration to 6!
World Line: 5 3 6 3 3
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 06, 2018, 06:00:50 pm
[2 2 1 3 [5] 3 6 5 2 6]
Post by: Empiricist on July 06, 2018, 08:21:03 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Knights of the Holy Lance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8wZfpI_QgE) | ] |
A shimmering field of seven layered fields flashes out in front of Faith, but of course the field was to stop projectiles, and the Vape Knight was most certainly not a projectile. Faith grabs her potion and the Knight's staff slaps it right out of her grasp, but before it could seal the deal, a massive spear slams against its side. It's not a clean hit, blocked by the vape staff and mitigated by a quick turn on the part of the Knight, but it was enough to stop the attack, enough to buy the relieving trio time to close in-
Oh fuck.
Noriko feels it, through her spear. The other Knight is soon to be dead, but it moved still, one final parting spell, and she had a feeling she knew where it was aimed. She hits the brakes and swerves behind Minato, and then comes the blast.
Now, here's the thing to remember, this psychedelic distortion Faith found herself in, it's not there for the feng shui, it's there because it hurts, because it murders people, so just being inside it was damaging her, this strange erosion upon her form. So she's not exactly feeling too well, even with Yuki helping counteract the damage to an extent. But that discomfort, that doesn't even begin to compare to having an explosion spawn right inside her chest. For a brief instant, the world burns neon, a flash of superluminality, nothingness, and assorted distorted disorienting sensations. And then, the distortion detonates, a gas leak lit by a single errant spark - that initial blast. What follows next, is much the same, but well, a fair bit bigger. The blast shatters the last vestiges of Rho Aias and tears through Minato's aegis, not that it stops him, Durandal striking through and running through A. Yuki and Noriko though, they find themselves being hurled backwards by the shockwave, back towards the whole Hitler situation.
How did that go anyway?
Well, Shef immediately shot the luger out of his hand, Satoshi sweeped his legs out from under him with her extending staff, and Yoake proceeded to just absolutely riddle the guy with machine gun fire before blowing off his arm, and really a good chunk of his shoulder and torso. But of course, things never are that easy, and it soon becomes apparent that what he was about to do, did not require him to shoot himself in the head. No, it simply required him to perish. Or at least for his body to. And as that fatal vacuum blast crashed into him, he cries out a single word:
(https://i.imgur.com/9yJo2dl.png) "PERSONA!"
| [Now Playing: | The Battle for Everyone's Souls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyADLWDSrDs) | ] |
Blood becomes light, and crimson fills the air. From crimson rises white, from white rises black, a grand swastika. White explodes outwards, as a shell of thunder and lightning, and the swastika twists into a silhouetted figure.
He is dressed in the robes of a shaolin monk, fortified with leather, trimmed with fur, and armored with steel. His beard is as red as blood and as wispy as the clouds, his eyes were focused, fierce, burning with intensity, and his hammer was the fury of the heavens themselves. There was no mistaking it, the phantom figure took the form of Thor.
Behind him, a heart-shaped lock opens, vanishing in a flash of light, and in the instant the Kung Führer regenerates, the ring now with only two heart floating faithfully behind him.
Yoake, you immediately take note of the aura you feel radiating from him, it's a sensory aura that feels the movement of spirit energy around him. Not something you use, but something you recognize, a defensive chi-based technique that grants the user improved reflexes and instinct at the cost of killing power. You also recognize what Thor's doing with Mjolnir right now, by detaching the head from the handle to reveal an extending chord, and swinging that around, he's wielding it as a meteor hammer, it's a kind of weapon that consists of a heavy weight attached to a long chord that can be swung, cast, and kicked often in a circular motion and often with each action complementing the others. Finicky to use, but potentially devastating and with good reach, and at times, speed. Combine that with the lightning coursing through it, and well, it becomes a lot harder to deal with, going to be difficult getting the chord in a tangle if it's a damn livewire. Well, for a person at least. But you? You're in a mech, and its armor sure as shit ain't conductive.
So here's how things go down.
With the swaying of a drunkard, Hitler sways and staggers side to side, aiming to stagger right into Shef, sway forwards into Satoshi with an explosive palm strike, and swerve around for a leg sweep on Yoake. Thor is covering him with a wipe aerial sweep of his hammer, aiming to catch both Yuki and Noriko before they recover, before kicking the hammer head and sending the whole damn thing extending at high speed and slamming into Faith's spine from afar, though he seems to also be eyeing Shef with murderous intent and no action.
Satoshi readies into stance, shrinking her Regalia into the dimensions of an eskrima stick.
"That spectre has no life of its own. Damaging it will temporarily disrupt its functions, but you'll need to eliminate its master to keep it down."
Knight A is dropping its staff and snapping its fingers, aiming to do one last parting blast on the already fucked up Faith before Minato explodes the construct out of existence, and Knight B is helping out by being a whole load of debris slowly sinking into the infinite depths of the abyss because right after it attacked Noriko tore it to pieces.
"Minato! Projectile coming from behind you!"
Oh and uh Faith, on one hand, if seeing Evi getting her chest caved in has taught you anything other than that she might be a masochist, it's that Godslayers can take an awful lot of punishment and that you've probably can take a fair bit more of damage before you're at risk of kicking the bucket. On the other hand, that fucking hurt. Like okay, not as much as you expected (some kind of pain tolerance boost combined with adrenaline?) but you still did just take two explosions which don't exactly tickle.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Empiricist on July 06, 2018, 10:22:40 pm
Quote from: Strider
Shef will use a cached portal to plop hitler away into the water when he's staggering drunkenly. Then use Hey Look Over There! to hopefully get the meteor hammer wrapped around Thor's legs.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 07, 2018, 05:26:03 am
She felt nauseous — something was terribly wrong inside her, and there was a ragged hole in her chest that was bleeding so heavily, that not only was the water around her rapidly turning red, but in the moments she bobbed above the water she couldn’t see just how deep it was, because of the bleeding. Not that she would be able to look so clinically anyway — the world around her swam, she couldn’t breathe, she didn’t know what angle the others were at, her head was light, she was a strange cross between weary and feeling light and stomach-lurchingly tingly. She wasn’t sure if she’d faint or throw up... but maybe that was partially answered when she made a hacking noise and yet more blood flew out, to dribble onto her neck.
Tears ran down her face, too, heavily — despite the lack of actual agony, she felt physically about the worst she had in her entire life, and that felt like an understatement. It was awful, awful, awful, everything was, today was, her life was, and she didn’t want to deal with it! She couldn’t! She wouldn’t! Weeping, covered in blood and saltwater, something snapped in Faith again, emotionally and magically. But there was no long rant this time. Instead she just let out a strangled noise, too quiet to be heard from the Land, and she threw a hand weakly forward.
A wave of dark purple energy thrummed outwards, anguish and terror and despair coalescing themselves into a thrumming blast of energy that was only thrown in the vague direction of the Vape Knight, but it only had tobe in the vague direction of the enemy because Faith’s Desperation Break was wide, potentially indiscriminate, and in this case stretched long and far just to surely slam the enemy with vitriolic magic before it could hurt Faith again.
Faith uses Desperation Break, widening the already notable area of the wave so that it’s probably sure to hit the Vape Knight despite her dizziness and disorientation!
World Line: 5 3 3 3 5 2 3 3
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 07, 2018, 03:59:02 pm
This wasn't an unfamiliar emotion. This anger was the righteous type; not the self-loathing, shocked anger he felt at himself when he realised how Noriko felt, nor the minor irritation he usually felt at something going wrong, but the sort of righteous, driven rage he felt when he saw a bully tormenting others. He'd felt this many times before, against Aramitama, against humans. The same rage that drove him to throw thugs out of the window to protect the young underclassman who'd made the mistake of reading the wrong manga in the wrong place, drove him to protect others from Aramitama. That much, everyone knew. That much, he knew, and knew from experience.
With experience comes control. With control comes clarity.
Despite his anger, Minato reins himself in. His rage, focused steel-sharp, becomes a source of power for him, a wellspring of willpower, a lens for him to see clearer than before. He quickly looks around to see who needed his help, right then, right there, perception slowing time in his mind to a crawl.
Faith was coughing up blood, standing in the open, she was an easy target. Definitely a priority. This was obvious.
Noriko, fine for the moment (Minato wasn't making that mistake twice), and she could get herself out of danger if necessary. Not a priority, not right now. He'd get to her later.
Yuki, equally enraged. She was out of control; anger like this wasn't something she was accustomed to, let alone such anger in the middle of a fight. She was tough. Not a priority.
Not that she ever was; she was tougher than him, Minato figured. His toughness didn't come from just his armor, it came from undying, blazing willpower, forcing himself to get up, no matter how hard he was beaten. It was a Kumon family trait. His grandmother was equally hardcore, if not more.
Yoake and Shef were fine, doing their thing. Shef could use portals to escape, and they were right in Yoake's home turf. Neither of them needed his help. Not a priority.
Current priority: Get Faith out of danger, now. The best way to do it: Destroy Hitler and the other goon.
He had a plan. This was going to hurt. Minato grips the lever on his belt.
"Limiter Off."
Alter to 6, double-cast Dai-Henshin. Use 1 Resolve, activate Gate of the Grand Arsenal to rapidly restock. Thrust one weapon into the Vape Knight to finish him off, and use three to cover Faith by intercepting any projectiles incoming towards her. Use one to propel Minato towards Hitler, using the momentum to drive Durandal straight into his chest. Use the stockpile to cover avenues of escape, dedicating five weapons to countering his escape. Keep five close to Minato, rotating around him to ward off incoming attacks by means of explosion.
[2 2 1 3 3 [6] 5 2 [6] 1]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 07, 2018, 04:12:14 pm
Yuki was not planning beyond two things. Making sure Faith was OK and then making sure whoever did it died messily. That meant Hitler. Hitler, fuck you. Thor, fuck you because you're getting in the fucking way. Mortality, fuck you because you don't get to do jack shit on Faith.
At some point Yuki had started screaming. She did not stop screaming.
Surprise attack Thor. Chainsaw his fucking head in if possible. Use Resolve. Salvation of the goddess [4] on Faith. Use resolve and then use non-hyper telestabs and try to chainsaw the fuck out of one of the locks, then the other if there's a notable effect. And then Hitler if there's time. Alteration to 6.
Post by: spümpkin on July 11, 2018, 09:11:31 am
Or at least try to, anyway.
[Alteration used - 5 instead of 3]
[3 4 5 6 5 5 1 3 3 5]
[Resolve used - Interstellar Butt]
Yoake ignores Thor, and ignores Hitler. She focuses on her new target, the two heart-shaped locks floating by Hitler. She will grab them while they float in the air with both the hands of her mech (following them if they teleport away when Shef portals Hitler), before activating Interstellar Butt. While surrounded by the outer reaches of space, she flings the locks towards the interstellar body she orbits, before returning to smack Hitler in the face.
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 11, 2018, 09:52:57 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2018, 01:53:57 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle for Everyone's Souls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyADLWDSrDs) | ] |
Knight A takes a sword through the chest, before it can even react a deep purple fills the world and erases its existence. Yuki takes a meteor hammer to the face, the air exploding with lightning as it discharges. The Führer sways backwards, and suddenly forwards, just enough to evade Shef's portal. He staggers backwards narrowly evading Satoshi's weapon before quickly catching her kick and backing away from the spinning heel that follows it.
Three spears swoop down, each keeping its distance, and each keeping its point trained on him as Minato explodes forwards sword leveled at his heart. So Hitler grabs Thor's chord with one hard and steps backwards, bringing his open palm against Minato's arm, less a strike and more a slap, just enough to keep the blade away, using the arm to guide the weapon away. With his other arm, he swings the chord around his back, catching a spinning blade, a thunderous roar meeting the explosion as he drives his elbow into the boy's throat before being thrown back by the blast.
He's hurt now, blood trickling down his back, but he avoid the brunt of it by countering with Thor's own discharge. He's still close though, still within reach, if only Thor wasn't there, bringing Mjlnor spinning around for another strike.
(https://i.imgur.com/9yJo2dl.png) "Angry are you? I'm not the one who brought her in here, I'm not the one who put her life at-"
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
There's a burst of static, and Thor collapses, a flickering fissure bisecting his entire form as Yuki lunges forwards murder in her eyes. In that same moment Yoake grabs hold of the ringed locks, and vanishes, vanishes into the depths of space. The twin hearts quickly find themselves spiralling towards the ravenous maw of a quasar, friction and tidal forces shredding them long before they reach it. Yoake herself rides the disc as she returns to the battlefield, pincering the Aramitama as he moves to dodge Yuki's attack.
Now Yoake, the thing is he knows you can do that, there's a delay between you vanishing and you returning, that brief moment you use to accelerate, and that instant is what gives away your attack, that instant that gives him time to prepare. Or would, if he doesn't have a sudden seizure, and takes the butt and chainsaw like a slut.
"Warning! Energy spike detected!"
Hitler staggers backwards. He's missing an arm, there's a great bloody gash in his side, and he's on fire. But he's still standing, having managed to protect his fast at the last moment. He's also still spasming.
(https://i.imgur.com/9yJo2dl.png) "You, you will-"
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
(https://i.imgur.com/9yJo2dl.png) "SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME-"
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
(https://i.imgur.com/9yJo2dl.png) "CRONUS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"
There's another flash of red, and another figure appears at his side, robed in black and sporting a swirling void in place of a head, a sickle grasped in his hands.
Okay so Minato, here's what you realize - those hearts? They were anomalies. They're, not just extra lives, they're power limiters, he can't use them without sacrificing his power, and when each breaks, that power returns to him along with all that vitality. When Yoake broke two at the same time, that influx of vitality must have overloaded him somehow. It's hard to tell what's going on in there, but those spasms are symptomatic of the havoc within. That being said, he is that much more powerful now, even in this state.
Right now, Thor is not a threat, he's still recovering from Yuki's attack. Hitler is, well, he's leaping up from the floor at Yuki while screaming "GENOCIDE FIST!" so that's a thing. Cronus meanwhile is turning his weapon into a kusarigama and readying to intercept incoming attacks as he lunges right at you face first in what's probably an attempt to devour you. That's not the problem, the problem is the field expanding out of him. You're pretty sure that's a healing field.
Yoake's Requiem terminates, returning everyone to the Sanctuary, or what remains of it anyway, just a barren patch of that black crystalline earth.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: spümpkin on July 12, 2018, 02:18:42 am
She grabs the bottle of gasoline stored in one of the mech's internal compartments, before squirting it all around and over Hitler, adding to his current... fiery disposition. Other than that, she defends.
[Burnt 1]
[3 4 5 6 5 5
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2018, 04:34:12 am
Quote from: Strider
If no extra large (resolve) attacks are going off directly against Hitler, Shef's going to use Enforcer [R] on him, delayed till after the heal
Else, attempt to portal Hitler in past the expanding heal wave, in case it's something that can be physically avoided like that, and fire some non-hyper shots at Hitler's chainsaw wound.
No matter which condition ends up happening, alter to the first five.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 13, 2018, 01:27:13 am
He was hotblooded, not naive.
He'd have to take out this newcomer to the fight as quickly as possible, and trust that everyone else had their jobs handled. And he thought he had just the right weapon for this job; one he'd considered using before, but never quite found the right time, the right opportunity.
Alter to 5. Use Chou Henshin to re-tendrilize your weapons. Summon Gae Bulg to disrupt any healing the field might give out to Cronus using the barbs that the weapon creates upon wounding an enemy. Blast the kusarigama away to make an opening using his stockpile, and then let Cronus impale himself upon Gae Bulg, stepping back and bracing yourself to avoid taking too much damage as the spear's effect takes hold. If he attempts to evade, reposition and force the spear into him anyway.
[3 3 4 [5] 4 1 2 [5] 5 6]
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 13, 2018, 07:20:54 am
Varunapasha on Hitler. Try to delay the strikes to make the hitstun last as long as possible, and include the followup.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 13, 2018, 09:19:54 pm
Depending on whether there's enough time, either telestab Hitler from behind or allow him to impale himself on a running chainsaw. HEALING FIELD afterwards.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 14, 2018, 12:26:44 am
Faith kneels down and takes a health potion and a magic potion. Burn a 2.
World Line: 3 3 3 5
Post by: Empiricist on July 14, 2018, 04:57:30 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Battle for Everyone's Souls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyADLWDSrDs) | ] |
Faith, figuring that her sense of pain must be pretty fucking numbed by what she's just been through stabs herself with her vials. First one was healing. Don't feel much but a green aura rises up around her so it must've worked, right? Energy potion, that she feels, it's a jolt up her spine instantly clearing the haze in her mind. She notices she's missing a few cuts and scrapes, if that's gone then the internal damage should be too.
Minato thrusts forth with Gae Bulg. Cronus says fuck that and swings the weight and chain of his weapon over, ensnaring Minato's spear and rushing forwards, it's kinda hard to tell whether he's aiming to use sickle or her maw because both are just going at it. Probably doesn't matter since the spear proceeds to twist and embed itself into the apparition's shoulder, and after finding its body to be semi-insubstantial, proceeds to just flail around inside the guy's chest cavity, sending static-like distortions rippling through their form. Healing field still goes out but it's twisted as well, weakened. Unfortunately he still kinda just chomps on Minato's head. Damage aside, it's kinda hard seeing when your head's stuck in a dark tooth-lined portal.
So when the healing wave gets to Hitler, he's still leaping upwards, Yuki teleports behind him, but well, she just did that trick didn't she? Hitler spins around as she reappears, bringing his fist fowards as his other arm begins to reconstruct. It's at this point that Shef's bullet tears through his torso. Momentum however, keeps his fist on track. It yeah, ain't pleasant. It disintegrates all of Yuki's clothing, leaving her butt fucking naked and missing her heal booster, discharges some kind of dark lingering energy into her, and sets her on fire. Oh also it hurts like a bitch. Noriko swoops over and Hitler tries to dive for it but Shef's bullet portals again, severing tendons in his legs and leaving him to fall into her upper cut. What follows next is, kinda like the knitting of a scarf, except the needles consist of a betwitched bullet with an absurd amount of kinetic energy, and a really salty girl trying to avert her eyes from her naked coworker. And instead of a scarf, it's Hitler's violent maiming.
Oh and Yoake's there. Like while all this shit is happening, she just, casually floats up, produces a bottle of gasoline and pours it on Hitler's burning form as Noriko severs all his limbs and Shef punctures basically everything of importance in his torso.
With Yuki's own healing field expanding, she finds herself, better though still crackling with lingering energy that seems to leave her rather short on breath. Also she's on fire, but that's never really stopped a slasher villain. Minato is fine again, having spend the additional time stabbing Cronus' everything until he was able to pull his head free. Faith meanwhile finds herself, basically fine again but kinda late to the whole "remurder Hitler party".
Satoshi sorta just, stands there awkwardly, conjuring another syringe as Hitler finally expires.
Post by: Empiricist on July 14, 2018, 05:27:39 am
"Another energy spike, he's not done yet."
"He's about to attack! Be ready!"
Amidst the numerous wounds inflicted by Shef and Noriko, one final wound opens, in the shape of a keyhole. Crimson light fills the air as Cronus and Thor fall upon their own weapons forms collapsing, absorbing into them. The weapons glow gold and crash into the keyhole. Power, intense to the point of being palpable explodes outwards across the battlefield as a figure emerges the epicenter, a handsome man, shirtless and clad in a red coat, some high-tech Ironman-looking gizmo in his chest projecting a Superman logo, and his left arm replaced with a metal prosphetic.
(https://i.imgur.com/xWe91f6.png) "I ought to congratulate you for making it this far. Now if you could, DIE!"
| [Now Playing: | A Mighty Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPU0HD9hvmg) | ] |
Energy arcs outwards as he crosses the hammer and sickle before slamming them into the ground, great spikes erupts outwards all around him, the first few aimed at the nearby Yuki, Yoake, and Noriko, the next few just expanding outwards to attack indiscrimately, to conceal his position, and to provide cover. He is about to move now, with superhuman speed, first aiming to strike Noriko with a sweep of his laser eyebeams, then to fire a missile from his shoulder at Yoake, before peppering Shef, Faith, Satoshi, and Minato with bullets from a shadowy gun-wieldling limbs that he sprouts from behind him and crashing back into Yuki, sickle-first.
Satoshi runs forwards, trying to first smash the incoming spikes and then to push Yuki out of the way.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on July 14, 2018, 03:26:59 pm
Faith felt like she’d seen a picture of who they were fighting before, besides all the superhero shit, but she couldn’t remember, and that was a small piece of her thoughts right now. MOSTLY her thoughts were A: I can talk now and B: <”FUCK YOU! YOU SCUMBAG, YOU BASTARD, YOU— YOU— FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! GO TO HELL, I WON’T LET YOU KEEP RUINING EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE FUCK, FUCK THIS DAY AND FUCK YOU!”> And then, as he made his charge towards Yuki, she summoned a crackling, dark spear literally made of her misery and then threw it at Stalin, as hard as he could. She was gonna KILL this fucking Aramitama!
Faith tosses a Piercing Insecurities at the Man of Stal, Alteration to a 5!
World Line: 3 3 5 3 3 2 2 3 3 1
Post by: Strider03 on July 14, 2018, 09:21:13 pm
Spikes from the ground, footing would be an issue, however, they weren't directed at him exactly, so he might be able to ignore those for the most part. Bullets were a small threat, but they'd be easy to deal with. A simple portal. Though Stalin was dangerously close to. . . who? Yuki? He hadn't noticed, as he had been entirely focused on riddling Hitler. Now it took him just an instant longer to recognize her. The dissonance of him associating only Faith with clothing. . . difficulties, the fact that she was on fire, and the general double take that might come with noticing an entirely nude, rather attractive person. As soon as he'd realized who it was though, he wrenched his gaze away, frustrated with himself. He'd let himself get distracted slightly in battle, but more importantly, it simply felt wrong to, however briefly, almost ogle the naked Yuki.
His first thought was to throw his coat at her, but that wouldn't be feasible. She was still on fire for one, and there was the chainsaw. And the wrath, which meant she probably wouldn't want to spend the time to put on a coat. There was no solution there.
Honestly, this seemed to be happening a little too often for Shef's comfort. Happening to allies, could be used by enemies. Not that big an effect maybe, but it could distract ever so slightly. Could he find a way around it? Yes, actually. . . and it might have other uses. He wouldn't be able to do it immediately, not with what he knew, at least with the idea that was forming in his head. He'd need someone's assistance, and he suppressed a very small grimace. These thoughts were almost simultaneous with his action, as he'd started to move as soon as he'd turned his gaze away from Yuki.
Use Hey look over there[3] in front of Stalin while he's moving to slam him into the ground. If the dash at Noriko seems too fast, wait till after to do so. if all his movement seems too fast, attempt to just relocate him farther from, and facing the opposite direction from Yuki. Use one cached portal to send bullets back at the Man of Steel. Alter to a 6.
2 [3] [6] 2 3 4 5 5 6 1
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 15, 2018, 04:17:50 am
But he had to admit, Yuki had a rather nice body. Hoo boy. She wasn't as curvy as Faith or Yoake (not that he thought of Yoake that way; she was hot but Minato had standards and there was that saying, don't stick your dick in crazy), and she didn't have that slender, petite charm that Noriko had, but it was definitely something to be admired. If he weren't in the middle of a fight for his life, he might even take more than a few seconds to stare at it. Maybe even save the image for his mental bank for.....later.
But no, the fight took priority right now. That and Faith's cursing in English had started, and he was pretty damn sure that whoever she was yelling at was probably a young Stalin. History had always been something of Minato's forte, given what his Requiem did.
Time to enact a quick plan. Shef was summoning portals, Faith was out of the path (safe for the moment) but Noriko wasn't. Noriko was a priority right now; this was Yoake's home turf so this was no issue for her, and Yuki, despite being naked, wasn't too badly inconvenienced by whatever was going on with her.
Activate Chou Henshin, explode three weapons to push Minato in front of Noriko, use another three to smash spikes out of his way, and throw the tendrils of his stockpile into the Man of Steel's path to smash him back into Shef's line of fire and guarantee his attack. If he speeds up, use the tendrils to slingshot Minato into tackling him out of the way.
[[3] 3 4 4 1 2 [5] 6 1 4]
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 15, 2018, 09:48:21 pm
Alter to 6
Post by: spümpkin on July 17, 2018, 04:20:16 am
[Resolve consumed, Eternal Moment activated]
Now that she had a bit more time to think, she applies the Arcane Nitrous once more, leaping up and over the missile and spikes coming out of the ground, before slamming down on Stalin, guns blazing, butt first.
[4 5 6 5 5 1 3 3 2 4]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 17, 2018, 08:37:44 am
Try to avoid the attack. Guidance of the moon on self and Faith. If Stalin gets into a bad position from hopefully missing or from what the others do, punish violently.
Post by: Empiricist on July 17, 2018, 10:16:31 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | A Mighty Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPU0HD9hvmg) | ] |
So Minato and Satoshi just blaze through the spikes, explosions and kinetic impacts buckling and blasting apart the metal as gunfire traces all around them, flashes of silver plinking off of Minato and blasting into Satoshi, not that it stops either. Minato leaps into the air, tendrils interlocking into a shield to block the crimson beam. Even before the beam had fully dissipating, those same tendrils were lashing out, trying to force the Man of Steel through Shef's portal. He, couldn't block the whole beam. Some of it slipped through the cracks, burnt away at his frontal armor. Mech's still functional, though its front will be weak till it deals with the heat.
Speaking of Shef, he seems to have decided that he really can't be bothered dodging, like at all. So when the .454 Casull rounds, explosive and cored with steel launched at him out of 10 inch barrels wielded by limbs of blood and shadow, he simply stood there and relaxed. Focus broken a spell snaps, the only thing holding close a portal, and like a trap being sprung it tears open in front of him, sending the bullets right back to sender. Unfortunately, it does have the side effect of rendering his own portal a bit off the mark, not helped by the rather poor visibility amidst the clusterfuck of spikes.
Yoake meanwhile halts time leaping into the air, blazing upwards. It's straining, this technique of hers, she has yet to master it. A split-second is all it buys. Enough to evade the spikes, enough to dodge the missile, but not enough to close in, not before time resumes. The brutal hammer swings fowards, parrying her metallic backside, the metallic arm wielding it shuddering and glowing from the impact while her own mech's armor buckles and crumples. Damage reading race out across her interface, it's nothing critical but her guns have been banged up. This thing's not quite built for full-on supernatural combat. Good thing she doesn't need it to win.
This clash meanwhile proves to be the perfect opportunity for some good old fashioned impaling. The first spear, or perhaps more accurate telegraph pole-turned-shiv crashes into the Man of Steel's front, the trip drawing blood, but the bulk of the mass being kept at bay by those shadowing limbs. The next two find themselves blocked similarly. Enough to pressure him, enough to try and halt his momentum, but not enough to do enough damage. It might be time to break out the enchants.
Still having a pinned foe is just what Faith wants, better yet for the explosions of light of the combined assault to mark her target amidst the dust and debris. Dodging explosions of silver Faith brings an orb of purple energy into her hand. A pillar of light rising from it, twin helices trace and converge inwards forming a needle-like spear shifting from an influx of divine magic. To be honest, she had no idea how to throw a fucking spear. To be fair, it hardly mattered, the magical practically propelling itself, all those feelings bottled up inside her surging forth as a hateful murderboner that crashes into Stalin, blowing away his right shoulder and everything attached to it as radiant lines trace outwards from the wound, Noriko's spear on that side managing to drive deep just that little deeper in the instant its prey falters.
Darkness and blood explode out of the wound, a formless mass dotted with paranoid eyes and desperate human mouths, it shifts and stabilizes, becoming that little more distinct, that little less formless, the vague silhoulette of a great bear, grabbing hold of the sickle, and scything forwards into the teleporting, flaming, and now-shieldless Yuki.
Or rather, into the girl in front of her. Almost through her really, the sickle managing to cleave down Satoshi's left shoulder and into her heart. Lips stained with her own blood, breathing through ruined lungs, Satoshi stares at her hands, now drenched in her own blood. As if in shock, as if in disbelief. Her expression darkens becoming unreadable. What was going through her mind now? Pain? Anger? Was there anything in it at all? Or was it just raw animal instinct? It's impossible to tell. But then she leans forwards, ever so slightly uttering words in almost a whisper.
"It takes more than that... "
(https://i.imgur.com/xWe91f6.png) "What?"
"It takes more than that to kill a bullmoose!"
A needle thin lance of force slams down through the bear as a magic circle traces below the Satoshi drawn in her own blood, a circle depicting not runic scripts nor esoteric geometry, but rather a great bird of prey, wings outstretched, thirteen arrows grasped in its talons. In an instant the regalia expands into a great pillar, blasting apart the beast, and in an instant, it collapses back into the form of a staff. A staff of shimmering silver atop which a star spangled banner billows defiantly.
Code: (Gaia Driver) [Select]
Warning! Godforged Regalia activation detected!(https://i.imgur.com/xWe91f6.png) "Tch, a cheap trick."
The Man of Steel begins to reform the bear using it to reach for Yuki's fallen provisions as he sweeps his eye beams across everyone near him (which is basically everyone other than Shef and Faith). The missile launcher rises again from his remaining shoulder aiming to discharge its payload into Yoake at close range while its wielder with a burst of speed, and apparently powers of flight launches backwards, aiming to disengage as more shadowy limbs emerge filling the air around him with exploding bullets.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on July 17, 2018, 07:43:33 pm
Everyone seemed mostly fine, save Yuki still being on fire (he noted from the glow she cast more so than actually looking at her). She did not seem to be doing anything with regards to that, not even noticing it, still distracted? She'd been screaming earlier, and she'd occasionally seemed a bit. . .out of it all in the past.
Probably best to get rid of that fire and stuff now. And it'd be better for group tactics if she was more in control of herself. So, a bit uncertainly, since he'd not actually attempted this before, he raised his gun to fire at Yuki's side. He poured none of the force that he'd normally add to the bullet, but an ample helping of that energy that surged through him when he used his requiem. He was still concerned, but even if he'd underestimated how much this would hurt, she'd still survive it. So he pressed the trigger.
As soon as it had hit, he said--no, he commanded, "Yuki. Heal yourself, get rid of that curse and flames, now." There was a mental component to it too, some small part of it based on intention. So he intended to convey the idea of patience, she could fix herself now for greater gains in the long run. Less necessary in this case, since she could hear, but still there to convey the nuances without necessitating more words.
And if it didn't work, well she could survive, just not quite as usefully. So he turned his gun on Stalin again.
Use Manipulator [5] on Yuki, and force her to get rid of the curse. Then shoot Stalin, focusing on the right shoulder, around the connection of the metallic arm. Alter to 4.
2 2 3 [4] [5] 5 6 1 4 1
Post by: Strider03 on July 17, 2018, 07:44:21 pm
Post by: spümpkin on July 17, 2018, 08:15:01 pm
Yoake presses a button on the side of her mech suit, ejecting her from its grasp, before she hurls it towards the Man of Steel by slamming it with her butt. Hopefully it'd cover some of that fire, too. She then focuses on dodging out of the way of attacks.
[Burnt 1]
[5 6 5 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 19, 2018, 11:42:50 am
[[3] [4] 4 1 2 6 1 4 4 6]
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 19, 2018, 01:39:29 pm
Burn a 1.
Post by: Powder Miner on July 21, 2018, 08:00:43 pm
Faith uses No Way Out on Stalin! Alteration to a 6.
3 4 1 4 6 1 2 4 6
Post by: Empiricist on July 22, 2018, 01:11:04 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | A Mighty Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPU0HD9hvmg) | ] |
A bullet slams into Yuki's chest, and for a moment, she no longer had control of her own body, perhaps not even her own mind either. There was something there, some strange foreign instinct, some influence, some voice of reason screaming to her. And even if she herself could resist, her body did not.The girl threw her burning body at the ground as her her magic focused on the curse, working to shatter it as her dive-turned-roll snuffed the flames. Behind her beam and bullet crash into Satoshi, blood now staining her vestments. She could've blocked, she could've turned her scarf into a shield, but that was worth more than her flesh. Flesh heals, fabric does not, and between a finite option and a replenishing resource, the choice was obvious. Standing tall, flag planted, she drew her revolver and emptied its chambers. Her wounds did not heal, but their meaning, their bleeding, it all ceased to exist.
The Man of Steel's assault continued to pound against Minato's defenses. Five tendrils are destroyed. Only two take their place. But Rho Aias holds still, battered but whole. He had failed Noriko last time, neglected her. That will not happen again. He lunges forwards shield first blocking his counterattack, and Noriko follow from behind unraveling her enchantment and bringing it into a spear. The weapon slams into the Aramitama's chest. He catches it of course, but that just means she could blow off some of those damn shadow limbs while she was at it.
Yoake had no shield, but she did have a mech. Fat load of good it did. Couldn't even handle a parry. The design may work for the military, but it needs more work to be worthy of Keijo. She ejects. The mech was utterly mundane. It could hold to an extent, but between the lasers and bullets it'd be close. But when has that ever stopped her? If she could still pump energy in she was certain it'd work, but she couldn't, could she? The answer came soon enough, passive observations deep in her subconscious connecting, combining. Her instincts, intuition, were excellent as always. She didn't know it, but there was already a name for what she did. Reinforcement. The mark of a fully fledged Godslayer. Magic that asserts the existence of the mundane. When the explosions and smoke clear, the mech is still functional, albeit heavily damaged, and more importantly, slamming straight into the Man of Steel.
The explosion blows off the frontal shadow limbs, sets off the mech's ammunition supply, and tears deep rifts into the Aramitama's torso. A bullet had managed to glance off his right shoulder, six more, bewitched with kinetic amplification had flattened against his body. And left arm had been severed too, bound by crackling purple restraints. It is doubtful that he expected the explosion or the mech. It is doubtful he knew what Faith's attack would do. But he had still see in in all the commotion, and thought quickly enough to intercept it, with his own severed arm.
He dashes up into the air, the stump of his right arm sparking with electricity. And as he does, Faith is probably a little thankful - he disengaged rather than standing his ground, pretty good for her considering it she uh, kinda sorta threw herself with that bolo. Not too sure how it happened, it's honestly a bit of a blur, but yeah. Still, if that arm is only sparky does that mean he can he not replace it with shadows? Does only flesh part of him regenerate? More problematic however is his left arm, or rather, what is now within the maw of the beast: three healing potions, and two accuracy boosters. It is doubtful he can use Ren's items, but those potions should be quite standard.
(https://i.imgur.com/xWe91f6.png) "I see... you still have aces up your sleeves."
He begins to descend, quickly at that. Guess he can't fly for long.
(https://i.imgur.com/xWe91f6.png) "But, so do I."
| [Now Playing: | Fatality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08_6aayIWc) | ] |
He gestures and in dead silence, a great rift begins to form behind, looking looking almost like a new horizon. A great wound in reality, from which a tsunami of blood begins to crash forwards.
On a good day, how many people can you kill? Normal people, civilians, soldiers? One hundred? One thousand? One million? How about forty million? Because that is what you are facing now. Forty million corpses precipitating from a tidal wave of blood. An enormous wave, several stories tall from which rifle-brandishing corpses emerge. Some old, some young, some fit, some little more than skin and bones, all unified by one thing: the fact that they don't have bullets.
The wave crashes inwards from the arc-shaped rift. Somewhere in its midst is your target, and you, are going to need to cut your way through. I daresay, this shouldn't be a problem for you.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on July 22, 2018, 02:41:22 am
Faith whimpered, a high-pitched noise of terror that was barely audible but that was, and she started to tremble like a leaf as she beheld the zombies. If she didn’t do something, she’d die. If she didn’t do something, she told herself, she’d die. She had to... she had to...! She had to find a way to take out her opponent before this unimaginably large wave reached them. But first she had to know where he was, and her rank terror at the thought of being unable to do so before she died added to her fear, coalesced with it...
And suddenly she could feel that knot of her own vitriolic insecurities and worry, the weakening magic she had laced the Aramitama’s body with, and she could feel exactly where it was. She lifted a shaky arm, and pointed at one place in the tidal wave of undead, tears running down her face (pale as a sheet) faster now as she stated a: ”Th-there... he’s right there... I can feel h-him, he’s— he’s there...”
Faith burns her last resolve in order to detect Stalin’s location by the Piercing Insecurities effect still on him! Burn a 3!
World Line:
Post by: Strider03 on July 22, 2018, 02:54:38 pm
Even if it did so, it would be far less useful if someone else couldn't take advantage of the pressure it created. So, he focused on his requiem, forcing it on all the zombies he could see. A continuous stream of spoken command and ideas, amounting to two ideas: Move, out of the way. Force yourself aside. And, fear your neighbor, turn on them, kill them to save yourself.
A paranoia, and a justified one. Shef knew paranoia, and he knew how to make it stick. That subtle dread that your neighbors might think the way you do, but with just a shred more bravery and cunning, and just a little less fear. And these people, they should know the paranoia too. Food shortages: who would break first, and turn to take from the meager stores of a neighbor? Politics: who would be the first to mention the statements you made when drunk to the MGB, in hopes of some small reward, getting you shipped off to the Gulag? And there were so many other small day to day things to fear.
Shef uses his requiem to attempt to make the zombie horde open in a path towards Stalin, and to make them turn on one another when they're out of the way around Stalin. Alter to 6, burn a 2.
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 23, 2018, 02:40:13 pm
Activate Narayanastra [R], alter to 6.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 23, 2018, 03:47:25 pm
Forty million zombies. So far, Minato had gathered, they'd seen everything they'd had to offer. Shef's portals, Faith's beams, his Rho Aias, Noriko's spears and Yoake's Keijo shenanigans; the gatling blasts they'd used to break Rho Aias, and the direct explosions they'd spawned behind his shield were testament to them at least expecting him. Their defenses were built off that. He fully expected them to have even prepared something for some of their newer techniques; Noriko's whole rain of spears, the Luin Celtchair.
But this technique, he'd never used before. He wasn't quite sure it would work. He'd practiced it a little bit, after all, to get the hang of it; if he could figure out how to do it with more weapons, then it could be useful. His weapons broke, even the tougher ones like Durandal. That was the reality of it. They were inferior copies upon copies; facsimiles made to emulate the original, that couldn't possibly even touch the original. Minato, no matter how good he was, couldn't quite yet make copies equal or superior to their base.
They reflected their wielder; always trying to emulate the heroes of old, but never quite matching them, never quite emulating them.
Maybe it wasn't the weapon that needed to change. Maybe it was the way he used it.
Noriko and Faith didn't need protecting, not in the immediate moment, not right now. They didn't need a knight in shining armor. They needed as much explosions as physically possible, and Minato was happy to deliver. Faith had pointed out the enemy, Shef had opened a path, and Noriko was about to cover the zombies with forty million spears like a scene straight out of a Chinese wuxia movie. Now it was Minato's turn to do something.
The right leg of Minato's armor suddenly glows with the golden energy signalling Minato summoning a Regalia into the world, but instead of forming into a weapon, the projection breaks into ethereal shards, wrapping around his leg like a third suit of armor. For a brief moment, if anyone had cared to look, they might have seen what he had summoned, and then realised exactly what he'd planned to do. His hand drifts to the lever on his belt.
"Here goes nothing. Faith, don't worry. Just stay behind Yoake, Yuki and the others. Noriko and I got this."
"Limiter Off."
Doublecast Dai-Henshin, alter to six. Use 1 Resolve, and then use Unerring Spear of the Allfather and smash Minato's Gungnir-boosted foot into Stalin, using five of the stockpile to assist the attack and the remaining stockpile to defend Minato from the surroundings, with explosions if necessary.
[4 1 2 [6] 1 4 4 [6] 2 1]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 25, 2018, 10:00:45 pm
Post by: spümpkin on July 27, 2018, 04:47:34 pm
Yoake uses Interstellar Butt to teleport inside the wave and open up an attack on Stalin for Minato.
[Resolve used, Interstellar Butt]
[Alteration used, 5 instead of 6]
[6 5 5 3 3 2 4 3 5 1]
Post by: Empiricist on July 28, 2018, 03:06:06 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Fatality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08_6aayIWc) | ] |
Okay so Faith in her terror, manages to feel something other than the crushing despair inside her soul, namely the crushing despair outside her soul, currently trying to crush Stalin's balls (along with the rest of his existence) like some kind of emo metaphysical vice. She points that out. Twice actually, at Winter's behest, the second time from a couple paces to the side. From the two gestures Winter traces two lines, and from those two lines she gets a set of coordinates. Coordinates for Yoake.
So in an interesting role reversal, Minato finds himself getting grabbed by a pair of breasts and yanked into deep space in an ordeal that is equal parts bewildering, confusing, and terrifying, as in, more so than usual with Yoake. When their little jaunt ends, he finds himself being hurled bodily towards Stalin.
Congratulations, you've caught him. His pants are down, his dick's out, figuratively on both counts thankfully, and with a pull of his lever, Minato explodes forwards, aiming to make sure he won't be capable of doing either. But, you know how that song and dance goes. Soon as he kicks, his target seemingly teleports behind him, bringing his sickle down on the lad's neck. So, he's found a counter for teleports eh? That flanking move, it's not just a cheap opener, it's there to counter things like Yuki's teleport and Yoake's Interstellar Butt. Doesn't work against Gungnir though, and with a little twist of causality, Minato's kick rends up the Aramitama's torso and detonates somewhere in his upper chest. There's, a lot of blood, and screaming, and Minato's pretty sure the Man of Steel's missing his nards now.
That being said, he's pretty sure his mech's missing like, most of the actuators in its leg, and a good deal of the integration mediators are completely fried. Projection enhancement system's still green but mobility-wise the suit's deadweight now.
With Minato away and Faith too terrified to fight, crowd control duty falls to Noriko. The skies certainly dark with thousands of giant spears crashing down onto the battlefield. Well, not quite crashing - they're aimed, Noriko's aiming them all, her dire winds howling across the battlefield, feeling out everything before her, the spears, their trajectories, a certain attractive coworker's naked-
...
You know what? If there's anything she's learned today, it's that if God exists, he's a goddamn pervert.
So the horde's structure is just, all messed up. The tidal wave hasn't halted but blood is flowing down into the cracked earth, corpses are being, less impaled more, getting smashed to pieces, and the sheer force of the impacts are spreading ripple through the horde. All in all, with the targets mindless and in disarray Shef couldn't hope for a better target. Doesn't even need to raise his weapon, just fucking stares down the horde, barking threats and commands at ragged horde. It's a game of chicken against a fucking tsunami, and the tsunami's the one that blinks. The waning wave splits as it surges forwards, becoming two roaring streams in a V-shape that surrounds his group yet doesn't even come close to touching them. Not yet at least.
Yuki uses this time to heal. Faith was her priority right now, and if she's so shook, then she'll be her bulwark. Cuts and scrapes vanish from her body as her divine barrier continues to build. She readies her chainsaw, the air around her filling with killing intent as she waits for the horde to make their first move.
Satoshi holsters her revolver and takes off her scarf, the fabric wraps around her free arm, as a length of it extends and sharpens, an animated blade, readying to strike.
Y'know those old kung fu movies where the jackass minions just fuck about around the star jumping at them like one at a time like a buncha dumb assholes? That's basically what happens here. The entire horde's charging at you going with bayonet stabs, flying vaulting kicks, and wild hook punches, but they're not dog-piling you either. There's gotta still be several million left still, but even with Shef mind-controlling them en massse you're gonna need to take the offensive or you'll be stucking these dipshits for the rest of the damn week.
Minato and Yoake are facing a similar situation with the back end of the horde spinning back around to back up their wounded master. Who is currently trying inject himself with the healing potions using his bear limb, as he sweeps his eyebeams at the pair over and over again. Two large shadowy limbs sprout from his wounded chest and grab hammer and sickle. Slamming the weapons together, energy arcs everywhere as he readies to clash the weapons against their next approach.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on July 28, 2018, 08:59:26 am
Keep up the Requiem effect as Shef moves forward towards Stalin trying to clear the path. Burn a 2. Use Resolve to
World Line:
Post by: spümpkin on July 30, 2018, 06:09:00 am
Her butt whips out as fast as possible, attempting to strike the healing potion away from Stalin with one of her Heat Butt tails, and lashing him at the same time.
[1 Burnt]
[6 5 3 3 2 4 3 5
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 30, 2018, 11:33:21 am
Post by: Twinwolf on July 30, 2018, 10:21:37 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 31, 2018, 02:10:48 pm
[[4] 1 2 1 4 4 2 1 5 ?]
Post by: Powder Miner on August 01, 2018, 04:21:57 am
Faith uses Desperation Break (assuming that in negative mode she can just use it for the wave), widening area of effect to max and tossing it at the incoming horde!
World Line: 4 1 4 1 2 4 6 5 2 3
Post by: Empiricist on August 02, 2018, 07:39:48 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Fatality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08_6aayIWc) | ] |
A rippling purple wave. Everything it touches dies. They die brutally, violently, as if cleaved in twain. Though that, is a bit cleaner than the truth. The attack was no blade, the wave bore no edge, no, what obstacles lay in its path, it simply blasted through, as if they weren't there, as if they never existed. As the wave fades, something else rushes out from its shadow, unseen save for the havoc it wreaks. A great gale compressed to a razor's edge the zombies it passes simply fall to pieces as they run, collapsing into neat little piles. For a moment, the wave recedes, not so much pushed back so much as just being erased from the area. But then, it surges back once more. Zombies trip and trample over their fallen comrades, Yuki's saw leaving streaks of red with every swing, Satoshi covering her blind spots with staff and cleaver, the pile around them growing higher and higher, a palisade of corpses to break the desperate charge. Out of this, Shef strides forwards and before him, the horde recedes. Comrade turns upon comrade, the raging rapids of blood and corpses parting before him, revealing his target.
You got a clear shot now. No idea how long it'll last, but you best make the most of it. Because right now, Minato's mech is nonfunctional, and Yoake is tumbling away, badly hurt.
What happened? Well Minato and Yoake both just exploded forwards at Stalin, and in the ruckus that followed, claimed his ursine arm with a tail of fire. Unfortunately well, remember how the guy was readying to meet your attacks head-on with those arcing weapons? Yeah uh, that was no joke, the man fucking steps diagonally, letting Yoake take the arm as he brought the hammer against her and the sickle against Minato. So the vials and stakes get launched straight up, the hammer grazes Yoake, and the sickle bites into Rho Aias. Thing is, those arcs weren't just for show, the attack wasn't just physical, hell they weren't even primarily physical, no, this attack was magical through and through.
Yoake? Your Regalia seemed to flicker where it touched that hammer. There was no physical damage here at all, but whatever it did, it hurt, it hurt like a bitch, and you find your lunge turning into a tumble. It's a magical assault, something that directly alters its target, like what Mary used against you. This is more powerful however, but of course, this one has to touch you, and between the telegraphing and arcs, you can at least see this coming and doge right out of the way.
Minato? Rho Aias breaks, violently. The exoskeletal arm holding it? That breaks too. Practically explodes, takes a small chunk of the frontal plating out with it; an explosion devoid of all heat and light, just broken pieces flying through the air. The impact forces you backwards, you've lost a stockpiled unit too - the impact snapped it. So that was his trick then, a destructive transmutation, a powerful one at that. Enough to short out Yoake's Artifical Regalia even if only for a moment. At the current difference in raw output, clashing with that will destroy any summoned weapon short of a True Invocation. Trading blows is out of the question when those weapons are arcing, but so long as he cannot touch you or your attack... Error warnings flash across your interface, mech's a write-off, its systems are all failing. Fine, looks like you'll just have to do it the usual way.
Compelled by Shef, the horde around the Aramitama begins to recede away, leaving him standing alone. From the stump of his left arm, another hand of blood and shadow begins to form, reaching up to catch a vial as it falls back down. He is not preparing to attack. He is not preparing to counter. He is not preparing to dodge. Eyes are beginning to peer out from the wounds running up his chest. He stares you down, as if daring you to attack.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on August 03, 2018, 06:45:17 pm
Keep up requiem effect. Use Enforcer [R] on Stalin. Aim for center (reactor) and try to get a few strikes in there first, then spend the last bit of the bullet's energy trying to put a few holes in the arms holding the weapons.
If Twin doesn't want to give up resolve, give last point of Resolve to Faith
World Line: [5] 1 4 1 3 2 2 4 1 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 04, 2018, 09:38:45 am
Still, Stalin had taken a direct hit from a True Invoked Regalia. The fight had gone on a while, and even the bulkiest Aramitama couldn't exactly take a direct hit from something like that, not after the huge beating they took. After all, Lord Humungus didn't exactly take even one of Minato's False Regalia to the heart that well, but Stalin was still standing. Almost as if....
Wait. The arc reactor. Something wasn't right. Minato was sure he'd smashed Gungnir right into it and yet it wasn't damaged. It wasn't some kind of shielding that Minato wasn't aware of; otherwise, it would've used it to protect itself from Gungnir in the first place, mitigating the damage he'd dealt. Yet, Minato had managed to blow up half his body with the kick to begin with, and he was retreating to try to heal his wounds, but he was still standing, and the arc reactor was entirely undamaged. The Aramitama was able to regenerate its wounds, as far as Minato saw.
All its biological wounds.
Something clicked in Minato's mind. He flips on communications.
"Everyone, listen up! We need to destroy the body! The reactor's the weak spot, but as long as the body's still around, we can't destroy it! We need to destroy the body and then hit the reactor with everything we got! I can't hit him yet, not while his weapons are up like that, but you guys can, as long as you don't get close to him!"
And, as for Minato intended to start the process? Well, the mecha wasn't doing much anyway. Besides, it was just as much of Minato's Regalia as Rho Aias.
And that meant he knew what he could do with it.
Burn a 1. Take the mecha off, launch it at Stalin and self-destruct it right before it contacts Stalin's weapons, forcing him outside of his wave right into Noriko and Faith's firing line.
Launch Minato forward with two of his stockpile, using the rest to keep his defenses up and stay in pursuit of Stalin.
[1 2 1 4 4 2 1 5 5 2]
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 07, 2018, 10:13:51 am
Post by: Twinwolf on August 11, 2018, 09:49:34 am
Post by: spümpkin on August 12, 2018, 06:17:57 am
As she continued to tumble, she regained her focus. She wouldn't let this hit get to her. She could recover.\
Recover she does, landing on her feet before springing up off the ground once more to catch the healing vial before Stalin can. Drinking the vial if she can, too, but if she can't, breaking it.
[Burnt 1]
[5 3 3 2 4 3 5 4
Post by: Powder Miner on August 13, 2018, 05:25:45 pm
Faith uses Piercing Insecurities on Stalin with the donated Resolve, seeing if all those holes and rips in his chest make for a valid target! Alteration to 5.
World Line: 1 4 1 2 4 5 2 3 4 1
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2018, 05:37:47 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Fatality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08_6aayIWc) | ] |
Okay so Minato crashes his mech right into Stalin and detonates it. Leaping up out of the explosion, Yoake leaps upwards, grabbing the falling vials and drinking them all in one gulp as a series of spears and a bullet crash into the Aramitama below. Things, don't go as well as you'd hope. There's no vicious counterattack or anything, he just, stands there. Trouble is, when all the dust clears he's still standing.
The only hit that seemed to matter was Faith's spear, leaving another gouge running through his chest, the lance of energy managing to clip the arc reactor even as Stalin shifted to the side, leaving a hole in the side of its casing and the whole device flickering and sparking. The other wounds on his chest begin to close. Noriko's spears had failed to pierce though they are now lodged in the rapidly closing wounds. Shef's Enforcer round was enough to strike into his flesh, but in the end they glance off. It was a technique for soft targets, ideal against flesh one would think, but in that moment Stalin got harder than Minato thinking about Faith. So really fucking hard.
Yuki has a little more luck, what with her foes being unable to become nigh-invulnerable at a moment's notice, her chainsaw doing an admirable job of keeping the scattered zombies at bay and in pieces.
Satoshi casually draws her revolver striding forwards.
"What a stupid trick. You care barely dodge with that on, much less attack. And you still took damage."
She nods at Faith.
"All you're doing is delaying the inevitable. If you can't move, if you can't block, we'll just fire until you're dead. If you can even maintain that. If not, Noriko has plenty more enchantments and I'd think she can use them faster than you can pull out the spears. Give it up. It's over. We've figured out your trick, your army's dead, your Sanctuary's gone."
(https://i.imgur.com/xWe91f6.png) "No... Not yet... I-I can still stand... I can still fight... and if I can drag even one of you to Hell with me... that would be enough."
| [Now Playing: | For Whom The Bell Tolls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeqGuaAl6Ic) | ] |
His hand rushes into his chest and closes around the reactor, crushing it.
(https://i.imgur.com/xWe91f6.png) "That... would be worth my life."
Radiant light begins to tear through Stalin's form. His form begins to fail. But not fast enough. His weapons shatter. His army fades. But still, still there is some spark of life in him. His body unravels, the blood and shadows fading to reveal naught but a pulsing nervous system sustained only by ki. He claps his hands together one last time, charging up another transmutation, but of course that is naught but another afterimage. He's reappearing right to Faith's side lunging forwards for one last kamikaze attack.
Faith
You have the sinking feeling you won't be able to dodge this. The guy's first, you've got a split second to react and honestly? You aren't liking your chances. How much power was in that reactor? It was enough to sustain that entire army, enough to make him regenerate, enough to do all that magic without breaking a sweat. If he really is sacrificing it, expending it all, the core of his being, his entire future, in a bit to kill you. Well, it's going to be hard getting it to miss. Your Regalia will do little against a magical attack like that. If it's come down to this, then you're gonna have to face that attack head on. No more running, no more hiding. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Your target's right there. Kill him before he kills you.
((Satoshi donates her 2 remaining points of Resolve to Faith!))
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on August 14, 2018, 08:27:51 am
Hey, look over there![3] to give Faith a quick open shot on Stalin. Alter to a 4.
1 [4] 1 [3] 2 2 4 1 5 3
Post by: Powder Miner on August 17, 2018, 05:22:55 pm
Faith uses one donated Resolve to use Piercing Insecurities, snd uses anither Resolve to add the combined negative emotions of the entire day to its strength! Alteration to 4.
World Line: 1 4 1 2 4 2 3 4 1 3
Post by: Twinwolf on August 17, 2018, 07:41:39 pm
Dump two resolve and a 5 from further down the worldline into a SURPRISE ATTACK (OF JUSTICE). Ideally while not getting in the way of Faith's beam thingy.
Post by: Empiricist on August 17, 2018, 08:46:59 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | For Whom The Bell Tolls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeqGuaAl6Ic) | ] |
A crackling spear of energy crashes through the portal and into Stalin's side. This would be the third curse this battle. Purple lines trace outwards, out the great hole in the Aramitama's flickering body. Then with a flash of silver and terrible roar, they find themselves cleaved in twain. No doubt a killing blow, but the writing's on the wall, it wouldn't be enough.
Faith's attack was a spear of energy. Yuki's attack was a cleaving strike. Each alone was more than enough to kill. But killing is not enough.
No matter how you cut it, no matter how you cut him, this could only kill, and his life, was already forfeit. The broken pieces of his body continues forwards, kept moving by sheer momentum.
Contact. Discharge.
Arcs of energy erupt outwards, spreading across Faith's body. Her clothes, the ground beneath her, it all blows apart, as everything fades to white.
But, as the debris cloud clears, it is clear, that Faith Tatsumaki is still standing. Her clothes are gone, her chest plate fell off, but she's still standing, and she's unharmed.
"How..."
Stalin fades to naught, his shards scatter.
Spoiler: Level Up! (click to show/hide)
The black sky cracks, and the Sanctuary shatters. You are now all standing in the mansion's loading dock - your access point. Okay, 'standing' might not be the best choice of words here, 'tangled' is probably a bit more accurate. See, you guys don't end up in empty room you entered from, no, what you find yourselves in is a little bit closer to DashCon, except y'know instead of a ballpit it's a grand magic circle filled with what is best described as a mosh pit of flailing tentacles.
Fleur and Vendelin are standing just outside the circle carrying several spare changes of clothes. Evi and Mary are the next two to enter the room. Shef notices Evi dismiss something as she enters.
"W-why are they naked?"
"Called it. We got some spare clothes, just need a bit to dispel this..." (Fleur)
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 17, 2018, 09:03:45 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 17, 2018, 09:09:54 pm
"Oh, and because Stalin too. Both the same Aramitama though."
Post by: Empiricist on August 17, 2018, 09:11:37 pm
With a bit of effort and a lot of embarrassment you manage to tear your way out of the thicket. A magic circle appears at Fleur's feet as she reads a tome, slowly disabling the spell.
Shef
"ehhh..? W-what?"
You manage to cleave a bit of space and portal out. Vendelin for his part walks on over and summoning Dschinghis Khan, jams what appears to be a paper talisman with holes punched into it down into the circle. The tentacles cease their movement, though the dispellation looks like it may take a bit longer.
Post by: Twinwolf on August 17, 2018, 09:14:35 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 17, 2018, 09:28:57 pm
"We fought an Aramitama, it took the shape of Hitler. One of it's attacks hit Yuki, blasted off her clothes. Thing later transformed into Stalin, it's last attack hit Faith. Clear? Now, mind telling me what's with the tentacle welcome mat?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 17, 2018, 09:42:26 pm
"An ambush. We were told the Aramitama might try and make a break for it. Figured we didn't stand a chance if they went after us so our best bet was to stall so you guys could catch up. Fleur set up that circle, Evi had some psychic web set up on top of that, we were plannin' on nailing them with one of my talismans and Mary's pressure thing as they came through, figured it give you guys a chance to take them down. If it came down to that I mean. 'course we were hiding out a safe distance away and all this set up takes a bit of time to dismantle. Sorry 'bout that, but y'know, better safe than sorry." (Vendelin)
Post by: Powder Miner on August 17, 2018, 09:55:45 pm
Firstly, though she'd killed Stalin just fine, she'd been hit by the dregs of his attack... and though it hadn't been enough to actually harm her, much less kill her, it had been enough to take a usual problem of hers and make it reach its natural conclusion. Faith was now left without... much of anything, something that would no doubt leave some of her teammates with profoundly mixed feelings, especially as no doubt could reasonably be left as to the fact that she was... quite gifted, in most respects, given that it had been made very visibly clear. Now, this would have been enough to shake Faith deeply if that had just been that.
But it wasn't just that, it wasn't just that at all. The moment Faith appeared back in the world, she felt herself entangled, being brushed up against in a great many ways as she was caught in a security field of restraining tendrils... and she was left with the horrible realization that this was basically the situation in Fleur's book. Faith choked and sputtered in shock as the things kept moving, jostling her around, and then the moment that they finally stopped moving and allowed her to properly move her arms, Faith screamed at the top of her lungs and threw an arm downwards at the floor. This movement of her arm, however, just so happened to be matched with a wave of powerful dark energy, which neatly obliterated all the tentacles in its path, continued to the floor, and blew a large hole into it, spiderwebbing the area around her with cracks. Faith, now no longer supported by the tendrils, dropped down into the crater she had left, and very promptly folded, hitting the ground and then curling into a fetal-position ball in an attempt to at least keep the worst of her state off of display.
And then she began practically crying her eyes out. (...again, but harder than she had yet today.)
Post by: Empiricist on August 17, 2018, 10:01:10 pm
Well, that seemed to do the trick. No need to dispel the circle if it gets reduced to a fucking crater.
"S-satou!"
A shadowy distinct butler snatches a set of clothes from Fleur's hands and leaps down into the crater draping them over your shoulders.
"I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't think you'd be naked!"
Post by: Strider03 on August 17, 2018, 10:12:33 pm
"We're done, you probably know. You sending a pick-up? And is there anything else you need done here?" The pick-up was probably a silly question. Yoake might have a vehicle, Satoshi too, and the AI would know to send one whether he asked or not. But he couldn't remember whether Yoake's car was in driving condition, and Satoshi just had the motorcycle right? And as to there being a vehicle whether he asked or not, he simply felt better knowing what to expect and when, and. . . he'd just said it off the top of his head really. Not really thought out, and he didn't care.
Post by: Empiricist on August 17, 2018, 10:14:58 pm
"Satoshi will be driving everyone back."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 18, 2018, 11:02:45 am
Then Faith was stripped completely naked. The chain stopped in midair, completely straight and rigid for a moment, before fading and crumbling to bits, the show of willpower that had created it completely halted in its tracks.
Faith Tatsumaki was a very beautiful girl in Minato Kumon's eyes. Not that Minato was particularly demanding when it came to looks; slim or large, flat or busty, tall or short, brunette or blonde, Minato was a man who appreciated all women of all shapes and sizes. Besides, he wasn't looking for soemthing in their appearance, but he was looking for a nice girl; a girl he could get on with, so to speak. Not someone digging for the Kumon fortune, nor someone only with him for his looks; someone who liked Minato for who he was. However, he did realise it wasn't exactly easy to find a girl like that, not at his age; most girls (hell, most people) had to learn the lesson that decent people made for better partners than exciting or charming ones. Faith wasn't the most exciting or the most seductive girl, given the circumstances, but she seemed decent enough, kind enough for Minato. She seemed to like him because not because he was Minato Kumon, rich heir to the Kumon family, or because he was hot, but because he was Minato. And that was why Minato liked her. She was, very simply, a decent person. (Forgetting the matter of Noriko for the moment; Minato's feelings towards her were, though not as hostile as hers towards him, still a little conflicted).
That wasn't to say Minato couldn't appreciate the looks of a girl, though. Far from it. He'd gotten in trouble a few times with the ladies for that.
And Faith's looks were, by far, absolutely stupendous.
Minato's eyes drank in the view of Faith's perfect body; her pale, soft skin, her curvy body, her bountiful bosom, her shimmering blonde hair and more besides, more that he'd be focusing on for weeks. For a brief moment, Minato was stunned. She was utterly gorgeous. If this had been better circumstances, Minato could stand here all day, admiring the view. Faith really was beautiful.
Then a reminder that these were not better circumstances came, when the tentacles appeared (and were eliminated), and Faith collapsed in a crying heap.
Minato felt ashamed, briefly, and thankful that his helmet was still on, but right now, Faith was a priority. Noriko seemed fine for the moment, he could catch up with her later. Right now, Faith needed him more. Noriko could be mad at him all she wanted, but Minato would be damned if he let someone sit here, shamed for all the world to see, because he didn't want to upset his friend.
The boy slides towards her, scooping her up in a gentle hug, as gentle as he can manage, letting her use him as something to cry against, all the while shielding her from the prying eyes of the others with his body. He says nothing, does nothing but provide her with protection and contact, and sits there to let her have something to hang on to, while the shock of the day wore off.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 18, 2018, 03:24:02 pm
On the other hand, he was at least armored so he wouldn’t be able to feel it, and having two people around her at least meant that she would be able to hide behind them... God, they’d seen everything, they’d seen everything...! Not only had they no doubt seen things she very much did not want them to, but the group and the mansion staff had seen her dropped into what were essentially the contents of that tome... despite the fact that Minato was one of these people, she wrapped her arms around him, sank her head into the crook of his shoulder, and bawled and bawled and bawled and bawled. The day had been far and away the worst one she’d ever had in Japan, and one of the worst ones overall, and this was only exacerbated by the remnants of her magically-enhanced breakdown running through her.
It took a few minutes for Faith to reach a state that wasn’t “overwhelmed with sobbing” — she was still crying, but now it had slowed down, the Negative Emotion mode had run its course, and Faith was capable of focusing on other things than crying into Minato. Faith didn’t find any words to say, but she did at least reach out and push Yuki away ever so slightly — Yuki needed to go get dressed as soon as she wasn’t covering Faith from view — and then she squirmed around a bit as she grabbed the skirt that had been tossed onto her from her shoulders, and slipped it on. Then she did something similar for the shirt, finally restraining her chest.
Now she was at least clothed. Visibly hastily clothed, with nothing under until she could get a better time and place to dress more thoroughly, but she at least wasn’t naked. With that out of the way, Faith still wasn’t up to talking, or to getting up, so she just sat there for a while, holding onto Minato and sobbing on him occasionally.
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 18, 2018, 07:36:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 18, 2018, 08:16:55 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on August 19, 2018, 09:32:46 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 20, 2018, 02:52:50 am
"Just let it out, let it out. Don't worry. I got you."
Post by: Powder Miner on August 20, 2018, 04:01:20 am
Faith waited until he did, and then finished the process of getting dressed. Then, with a long sigh, she stood up, wincing a bit as her sock-clad feet were dug into by the uneven ground of the crater she’d created. She was utterly humiliated but she wasn’t blushing, just looking beaten down and tired, her gaze locked to the ground. ”...I want to go home...” she said, quietly. She couldn’t look up to meet anyone’s eyes, and doubted she would be able to any time soon.
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2018, 05:43:12 am
Faith and Minato
Okay so, Faith's you're heading back home having gotten a full change of clothes. Minato, you're walking by her side. It's sometime in the afternoon, school's almost out so no point going back there to catch whatever's left, not that either you are in the mood for it anyways. Vendelin had prepared boxed lunches for everyone, maybe you ate them on the car ride back, maybe not. If you did, hopefully it wasn't in the last five minutes.
The city's busy as usual, streets bustling with people. Well right up until now. A murmur goes through the crowd, people start shouting. The crowd begins to part and you begin to see the source of the commotion. It's a girl, she's naked, she's covered in blood, she's, a lot of things really.
First thing's first, the blood? It's probably hers. Girl's haemorrhaging it like a fucking garden sprinkler. Also she's bleeding from the eyes. And the mouth. And, a lot of places really. One of main ones being y'know, the exit wounds in her torso. The fact that she hasn't gone into shock yet is almost certainly a sign she's Awakened. She's stumbling, staggering, her gait unstable, unsteady, posture absolutely fucked. She's disoriented, confused, sedated, and of course, desperate. She's running, running from something, probably not anything pleasant.
You see figures in the crowd. Her pursuers most likely. Roughly humanoid, looking like animated mummy wrappings with a striped pattern of red and white, accentuated by their attire - tactical armor and plexiglass visors modelled after the knights of old. There's six of them total. Four of them are in loose formation and pushing their way through the crowds. One of them has an smg, two have assault rifles, the last a handgun. Other two are positioning themselves on nearby rooftops, levelling DMRs on the girl.
So here's what happens. First, the girl seems to notice you two. Or more specifically, she notices Faith. You see a flash of recognition in her eyes as she starts running towards you. The marksman to your left begins to aim, a magic circle tracing around the barrel of their weapon, orbs of arcane energy taking form around it, they do not fire yet, instead opting to sweep their weapon across the crowd and assess the situation. Marksman to the right takes the shot however, discharging a single of energy aimed at the girl's centre of mass. Harder to tell what the other four are doing. The two riflemen break off to each side, both moving towards cover behind cars, if they're taking aim you don't see them doing it, not like they have too clear a shot with the crowd yet to disperse. The other two continue to advance, the one with the smg pulls out some sort of cylindrical device and throws it towards the girl, it looks like a flashbang before quickly shifting to a crouching position as their partner draws what appears to be a laser designator and fires into the sky. A crimson beam surges from the designator, rising into the air before halting and expanding into a magic circle that looms overhead.
The crowd is still dispersing. You do not have a clear shot on the ground team, but can hit the marksmen from here with ranged attacks. Your enemies most likely do not know you are Awakened. Not yet at least. If they figure out who the girl is running towards, they might jump to the conclusion however.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on August 20, 2018, 07:21:23 am
With the exception of himself, the room was, unsurprisingly, empty of people. Nothing under the table or behind the couch, nor behind the blinds. For the most part, said room was clean. Nothing on the floors, the bookshelves were orderly and occupied only by organized books, CDs, and files, the couch was also clean. The table stood out as slightly cluttered though, remnants of a meal, napkins, small tools, and a few sheafs of paper scattered across it. A glance into the kitchen and the bathroom confirmed them to be empty, the bedroom too. Not a full sweep, but Shef rarely did that; too tedious for the small likelihood of discovering something. In the bedroom, Shef removed a set of metal plates and polished spheres from his pockets, and tossed them into a drawer. They'd been completely useless for that battle, but. . .they were rather fun, and he felt there'd be some use for them in the future. Everything else in his pockets got tossed onto the bed, and he hung his coat in the closet next to a few others.
Shef headed back over to the bed, and stared down at it, eyes unfocused. "Deal with those later," he mumbled. He was exhausted, drained, more than he had any right to be. Needed some rest before anything else, but. . .no, he wasn't going to deal with the pile of guns, magazines, and other tools just to sleep on the bed. Picking up one of the guns and a pair of glasses from the bedside table, he first stopped at the bathroom to remove his contacts, then headed into the living room. There he promptly laid himself down on the couch, pushing the gun underneath it. He drifted off quickly, into a light doze.
After just under an hour, Shef found himself conscious again, staring at the floor over the edge of the sofa cushions. His mind was clearer, a bit. He yawned, rolled over to face upwards, putting a pair of glasses on his face and staring for a few moments before anything else. It didn't take long for him to decide to review the day's events in his head. A sort of internal debriefing. It needed to be done since there hadn't been a full one, and he'd made mistakes, and he needed to address them. They'd arrived at the mansion without incident, nothing to note there. They'd spread out to search the mansion for the sanctuary, and he'd gone to the basement. That itself had been something of a mistake in retrospect, too suspicious, an odd place to start. He could have asked for a tour immediately and avoided numerous potential problems. Nothing major had occurred, thankfully. But it had led to the maid, Evi, managing to approach him entirely unnoticed. He'd been certain he was more aware than that, had made efforts to keep himself constantly aware. Admittedly a basement would likely have had concrete floors, easier to sneak on in soft shoes. . .It was still a failure, something to note for the future. Green hair too, something he'd only seen a few times. On the whole, that event had been more than a little unnerving on a few levels. The tour, for what it was, had gone mostly without incident. It was when Shef had arrived back with the others that the next incident had occurred. He grimaced as he thought back on that. The scryer. He'd overreacted, obviously, but it had just been such a spontaneous bewildering event that he couldn't fathom even now how he should have reacted.
Not in the way he had, that much was certain. What a fucking stupid set of circumstances-- He forced his thoughts prematurely away from that incident, didn't really want to think about it right now. "Moving on." Yoake had stolen the panties without problem, nothing to review there. The train battle was next. That had gone mostly well. He wasn't sure whether to be pleased or disturbed that he'd been able to independently determine the targetting of the system of the missiles though. "Fucking gaydar guided missiles. . ." he grumbled, yawning. Battle had ended without much incident, then Tsukasa had shown up. This wouldn't have deserved mention save the fact that, once more, she'd gone immediately to flirting. With him. It had been almost the first thing she'd said. Perhaps she was just a flirt with everyone, and since there'd been no men present except Minato, he'd been the target?
But there were other possibilities. In both cases, flirting had been so immediate, with Tsukasa focusing on him within seconds. Did she know him from somewhere back in France? Was she being paid off by someone? It certainly wasn't that he was naturally irresistable. He barked out a laugh that rang through the empty apartment. He'd need to gather some more information before coming to any conclusions regarding her, to be done another time. Next event of note was the sparring matches. Nothing to say about Vendellin, he'd seemed cautious, hadn't had many questions or seeming interest in trying out his powers, and in return, Shef hadn't said much to him. The man might have been content with observing, not a bad thing, but Shef really couldn't say. Fleur had been. . .distracted. He wasn't certain what to think about the fact that some people's abilities apparently involved a great deal of porn, except that he was rather glad that hadn't been the case for himself. Mary was meek, but her powers seemed promising in their own right. Yoake was better suited to teaching her, she needed someone to surprise and terrify her into fighting. It was for her own good, no need to feel guilty about that, right? Evi had been, honestly, fun. It had been stimulating to go up against another godslayer rather than Aramitama and the like, which took teams. It let him experiment more, without the possibility of endangering anyone, allowed a bit more creativity too, of a different kind. The strategies were different against a single person also focusing solely on figuring him out and defeating him. Thinking about it, probably something to be stressed again to her, that Aramitama or mononoke battles would generally not be like that.
Also, christ, what the hell was up with her? How had someone who'd never been in a real fight before not been completely traumatized by being riddled with bullets, then having her chest cavity collapsed? Not that he wanted to traumatize someone, but it was frankly disconcerting. Had to be some kind of masochist or something. Not that a big deal though.
Next event had been entering the sanctuary. Nothing important until they'd entered the sun and met Hitler. Faith had gotten the shit kicked out of her again, and had broken down. Fragile, both mentally and physically. Couldn't be helped, with her abilities focusing that much on offensive power, but still. Then Yuki'd been stripped. Once more, Shef berrated himself, for the fact that he'd stared, however briefly. It was seriously disturbing that he'd reacted as he did, no matter how natural. She was a teenager and a teammate, goddamnit! It would not happen again, he told himself vehemently. If such a situation came up, he'd be prepared, both mentally, and with perhaps a new tool at his disposal. Not going to happen again. For this solution, Shef would need help, not something he thought he could figure out on his own. Best to get the help sooner than later, but he wasn't looking forward to it. He could probably put it off two days or so, right? It'd be useful when he got it though, he'd be able to prevent anyone from abusing that same distraction against him, might even be a measure to immobilize enemies.
Well, that had been the day. Not all of it, but the most pertinent parts. Even after the nap, he was still feeling worn out, but Shef pulled himself up anyway. Put on some dinner, turned on the TV to a news channel, then sat down at table with his gun. Dissassembling it wasn't necessary, it didn't wear down when used with his power, but he liked to keep in practice, and it helped relieve the stress. Stay familiar with the mechanisms, keep his fingers quick too. The full pistol was arrayed on the table in all its component parts in about twenty seconds. One by one he went through the formality of checking the pieces for scuffing, any powder marks, warping, until he came to the slide. He breath caught briefly.
On the inside near the slide release, normally concealed against the frame, was a series of small etchings. Numbers. Not a serial number, it was out of place for that, and he would have known about it. He'd designed the gun. By the spacing, Shef figured the numbers were probably a phone number. But placed there by whom, and why? Who'd have had access to the internals of his gun besides himself, and who, in accessing it, would decide to leave a signature rather than sabatoge?
Oh. Right. Tsukasa. Was she serious? Face warping into a scowl, Shef marched over to the bedroom, and grabbed his phone before returning and began punching in the numbers, while muttering under his breath.
He sent off a text, brief.
Quote
. . .Don't carve stuff on my gun.
He tossed the phone down on the table and waited.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 20, 2018, 07:29:05 am
Then she heard the crowd in the city murmuring... then she heard the murmuring get louder. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no," she began to mutter, to plead to noone in particular. Please, no more, please no more, hadn't it been enough? The crowd's murmuring turned to panicked shouting and Faith let out a whining noise -- apparently, it wasn't enough. Faith didn't want to deal with this, she couldn't deal with any more, she wouldn--
And then Faith saw the girl naked and coated in blood on the ground, and she knew that she had to go in and help. She didn't have a choice, this girl looked to be dead unless they did something. That's when Faith noticed that the girl, even in as horrible a state as she was, appeared to recognize her. Faith couldn't tell who it was, but... dammit, she really couldn't leave her like this. So, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, Faith muttered a "D-dammit...! I'm going to help her...!"
Faith ran directly at the bloodied girl, and when she got close enough she withdrew the two graviton field devices at the same time she had left (at least these had survived, if not her clothing) into the air to deflect the shot and the grenade. Then she continued covering ground towards the mystery girl, and promptly knelt on the ground. See, Faith had already decided that she wouldn't be using any of her bright light attacks -- she felt horrible and hollow enough that she didn't think that any of them would even work. So instead she went for the kind of magic she'd been using when she broke down. It came easily, of course, but that was just a dull, sad note in the back of Faith's mind right now, as she was focusing on using the relevant spell in a way that WOULDN'T cause horrific collateral damage, instead blasting an entire Desperation Break at an angle away from her and the bloodied girl into the ground, hopefully surrounding them with a massive plume of dust.
Faith runs to Sakurako, tosses her two defensive devices to defend against the shot and the grenade, and fires a Desperation Break directly into the ground to make a large dust plume! Alteration to 5!
World Line: 4 4 1 3
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2018, 10:32:13 pm
Eliseo Cox was not a fan of maid cafes. That is not to say he had a particular distaste for them or that he found them inherently repulsive, rather in his eyes they were simply another part of Japan's eccentricities, another piece of scenery on his commute.
Cox was of a strange and elusive breed, a most unusual pedigree, he is, as one would say in the vernacular, a morning kind of person. He wakes early, works early, leaves early. The kind of man who preferred dawn to dusk, the early jog to the late night life.
It thus was not unusual for him to be passing by this time, nor was it unusual to glance if only for an instant into the cafe. A trivial motion, one that always meant and should have meant nothing. He never did understand the appeal of such establishments, save a perhaps as a tourist trap or as some strange manner of front for the Yakuza, which, judging by the general appearances of some of the patrons, is something that would honestly be of little surprise to him.
It was simply another tiny detail to his routine. Was. Past tense. Today was different.
He did not know what came over him. Was he not thinking straight? Still burdened by the tired aftermath of the weekend? Did he himself change in his time here in Sendo, slowly, imperceptibly even to himself? Cox blinked. The girl he saw there on the other side of the glass was unbelievably cute! She was absolutely adorable! Was she a new hire? Was she working there all this time? Did he simply not notice that the quintessential quality of the cafe was sheer cuteness, surpassing even that of harp seal cubs and newborn infants?
Whatever the cause he had to enter.
And so our man finds himself here now, sitting down at a table being served cake by the prodigiously endearing Noriko. A girl, a vision of sweet perfection, her immaculate uniform perfectly complementing the subtle curves of her blasphemous protoplasmic form that bubbled with the countless ravenous maws that seemed to form and uniform with each passing instant, their blasphemous screeching serenading him with the crushing weight of eternity as her unspeakable, indescribable motions set his heart aflutter with existential dread as he hallucinated the twisted mockeries of his entire genealogy in great detail weeping tears of blood and screaming with unearthly laughter beckoning him towards joining them in the primordial void, leaking, clawing outwards from the imperceptible delineations between infinitesimally small instants from which time itself was assembled.
The cake was pretty good too.
Noriko
You're back home. Kouta's not there yet, he's probably just gotten out of school and probably heading back right now. You got a text from Ren asking how the mission went, and another text from Winter saying that the paperwork for your salary has been done and to chat with her and Enn about it when you're feeling up for it.
Yuki
You also received that text from Winter. Also your mother continues to be catatonic and everything continues to be pure suffering. Also the guy sent to look after her is currently addressing you, a boy looking around the age of twelve yet clad in a tailored suit and carrying the air of someone much older, a boy for which that quote about the abyss gazing back seems perfectly fitting given the madness and malevolence that flickers at the very edges of his eyes complementing the intensity of his cold gaze.
"Your flesh puppet is broken."
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 22, 2018, 12:12:31 am
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We succeeded. A bunch of weird embarrassing things happened and Faith almost died.
Post by: Empiricist on August 22, 2018, 03:38:04 am
Quote from: Ren
Wanna talk about it?
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 22, 2018, 05:15:57 am
He remembers the face from somewhere, but with all the blood on her, he can't quite figure out who she was. She wasn't badly wounded, not really; if she was Awakened, she could take far, far more than a normal human being could. Minato learned THAT lesson many, many times. Even Awakened could only take so much, however, and she looked like she was about to hit the very edge of what she could take.
Her pursuers were mercless. Trained, clearly. They had her cornered like a badger in a trap. Two of them were above her, the other four chasing her down, possibly marking her in sync. Whoever wanted this girl dead, they wanted professionals, and they got them. This would make Minato's job a whole lot harder than it had to be. He files through what he could use.
No time to use the Luin; even with its speed, Minato wouldn't be able to take them out before they landed a shot on her. Rho Aias wasn't going to be enough to defend against all the shots, not all at once, and he didn't have stockpiled weapons to take the blows either. Durandal and Gungnir were only useful against single opponents.
Something tugs in his mind. A loose thread. He recognises it.
It was the same Regalia that had called to him when he needed to stop Stalin from hitting Faith, the chains that he'd instinctively formed. Only thing Minato could think about doing at the moment. He couldn't use it yet, not until he was sure, not until he had a clear shot.
He needed to buy time. Rho Aias was going to be useful, but he needed something more. He needed to improvise.
>Nothing for it. Here goes nothing.<
"HENSHIN!"
Minato rushes forwards, his armor forming around his body as he does, his arms extending forward to tackle the girl to the ground and cover her with his own body.
Alter to 4, use Rho Aias. Push Sakurako to the ground, cover her with Minato's body and Rho Aias, protecting her from attacks from above, to the side or in front of Minato.
[1 3 3 [4] [4] 2 6 4 6 1]
Meanwhile....
After what seems like hours, Tsukasa finally replies.
<Got your attention, didn't it? ; ) >
Post by: Strider03 on August 22, 2018, 05:54:47 am
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Alright. Fine. So tell me, why? What do you want?
Shef returned to washing the dishes, pondering the ways in which he could remove alterations to his pistol without needing to make or obtain replacement parts.
Post by: Empiricist on August 22, 2018, 07:56:47 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
A grand circle traces in the sky, and so the battle begins.
| [Now Playing: | Sis Puella Magica (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPi3SanzPoQ) | ] |
Faith, you're the first off the mark rushing over to Sakurako's side and tossing your field projectors into the air, twin hexagonal fields ripple into existence, and not a second too soon, Snipe B's arcane beam halting against the field. Wasting no time you swing your aim down and let loose, blasting away at the pavement, not enough to crater it, but enough to get a nice little debris screen. Somewhere in the back of your mind you realize who the girl is, Sakurako, the girl you saved before. Minato transforms and sprints forwards, forcing your classmate to the ground and deploying his shield protecting the two of you with his body. A shame that won't work against the cylinder. Not completely at least - it's a flash bang. The dust, the shield, it protects you from the flash. The bang? That's still a bitch. A thunderclap right in your ears, it leaving both of you unsteady and disoriented.
The dust goes both ways. Your enemies can't see you, but you can't see them either. Good enough for now. Their weapons are projectile in nature, a poor match against Rho Aias.
That being said, it might be a little trickier if you get blasted from two directions. Not sure what's going on, but a pink plane of energy is now sweeping through your plume right now and all your instincts are screaming it might not be so safe here after all. That circle above you is about to unleash a barrage of arcane bolts, thank god the civvies have run the hell of away.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 22, 2018, 09:00:17 am
As for why? Two reasons. One, so you can call me without asking Minato if you need anything checked or that handy exoskeleton of yours upgraded or something. Two, because as much as I love working on my babies like the Gaia Driver, it gets boring getting HQ on my tail to pump out more stuff or something.>
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 22, 2018, 09:37:44 am
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I guess? I don't get why fighting demons has to involve so much nudity.
Post by: Empiricist on August 22, 2018, 09:47:19 am
Quote from: Ren
People are more durable than their clothes
Quote from: Ren
Can get combat outfits and wards I know some good places
Post by: Strider03 on August 22, 2018, 10:16:19 am
Quote
If it'd been the number in isolation, fine. I don't deny it. But upgrades and niche devices are useful. Would've made contact if you left a number, along with that offer, on a piece of paper.Shef wasn't entirely sure what to make of the boredom comment. He wouldn't have input on much she did, nor would he be able to do anything about her overseer's demands.
It was good to have made contact. In part because of the new addition to his arsenal that he wanted--he had no clue where to start on that--and in part because it made determining the woman's motives a bit simpler. If she'd been paid off, if she was working for someone, or trying to get something out of him for herself, it'd be difficult to discover from a distance. And she didn't seem the most skilled at the ingratiation game, so perhaps she'd let something slip if asked directly.
Quote
I can't do anything about boredom, you'll have to deal with that yourself. Have got something I'd like some input on though. Specific type of attack, bullet based of course, have no idea how to actually do it. But I'd rather be able to actively create it than have to deal with a limited supply. That feasible? You make an engineered version, then me attempting to imitate the enchantment or setup on the spot?It was a little difficult to clarify what he meant in text. Partly because he wasn't entirely sure how her creations worked, partly because he didn't really want to reveal that much information if this wasn't feasible, and partly because he himself wasn't exactly sure what he wanted.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 22, 2018, 10:20:46 am
You get the vague sense of disappointment through Tsukasa's reply.
Post by: Strider03 on August 22, 2018, 10:44:25 am
Quote
Things occurred, most recent mission. I want clothing bullets. Useable on allies and enemies, protection for the former, binding of some form for the latter.If Shef noted any sense of disappointment, he dismissed it quickly. There was very little to indicate such a feeling, so it made no sense to put stock in it as anything more than imagined on his part.
Quote
Thoughts?
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 22, 2018, 01:03:43 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 22, 2018, 01:11:58 pm
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Want to be able to quickly enchant a bullet, shoot it, and a layer of cloth or something effectively similar grow from the point of contact to cover a target. Best way would be to be able to layer them, maybe some control over thickness. More layers for things that need to be immobilized or protected, fewer for traumatized allies who just need something on them. That's been happening a bit too much.
Quote
<If this is not feasible, I'm open to suggestions.>
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2018, 09:21:57 am
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2018, 10:31:56 am
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Fine. What am I looking at in terms of effect? Price? Likely amount per batch? Anything needing to be done on my end?
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2018, 10:42:42 am
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2018, 11:05:47 am
Quote
That strength is fine, you seem to get the picture.He sent the message off, then stood up, and headed over to the window. He shouldn't have been surprised, but it brought his concerns to the forefront of his mind again. He stood motionless for nearly five minutes before heading back over to his phone, and sending another message.
Quote
No date. But we need to talk at some point, in person. Figure out a time and a place, within a week preferably.Better to confirm or deny his suspicions sooner rather than later. More time to deal with them if confirmed, less time spent worrying if denied.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 23, 2018, 03:24:10 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2018, 03:37:09 pm
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Already said no to a date. Forget it, will figure something out another time.Shef turned the phone off, set it to charge, and headed off to sleep.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 24, 2018, 11:08:16 am
Faith then darted out of the smoke as fast as she could, trying to get a visual lock on the location of those snipers, then waving her hands in their direction and channeling all of her shame and humiliation and current trauma to just get them to fuck off already! Or, at least, to get them to stop being able to look and fire in their direction, but that was good enough. Then she'd try to move away, hide behind Minato, and NOT get horribly messed up by everything else present. Today had been traumatizing enough, after all. She just wanted to go home, curl into a ball, and stop existing for a while.
Faith activates her comm, darts out of the cloud of dust, tries to use Don't Look At Me! on the Snipe Hunters, and then further tries to hide behind Minato once he leaves the cloud of dust. As for her worldine, she rerolls it and I'll figure out the specifics when I get home from work.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 24, 2018, 11:47:32 am
Now for the hard part. The figuring out.
He needed more weapons, more time to plan, more room. These bastards weren't giving him much. At least Faith was here to back him, something he was grateful for; even as tough as Minato was, it wasn't exactly easy protecting an already wounded target from a pack of wolves. Now, he needed to do his part with what he had; Rho Aias and a single floating blade, its golden lines winking into existence at the corner of his eye. It wasn't much; he wished he had time to summon something like the Luin, at least without leaving his current charge unprotected. It would've been nice to have that thing take care of them for him, but then again it would also have been nice to just rest for a moment after today's events.
Oh well. A hero's job was never over.
Burn the 1. Administer healing potion to Sakurako, and use Rho Aias to shield Minato and Sakurako from attack. Use the single stockpiled weapon to blast both of them out of the way of the shots above and backwards. Position Minato between Sakurako, Faith and the attackers so any shots will impact Rho Aias first, then Minato, before they hit either of the girls.
[1 3 3 2 6 4 6 1 1 3]
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2018, 08:52:18 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sis Puella Magica (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPi3SanzPoQ) | ] |
So Faith comes diving out the plume cursing the two marksman above with blinding clouds. As she lands she identifies the source of the energy plane - a disc-shaped drone built around a magic circle. It's floating next to Neophyte B, scanning through the debris. Minato and Sakurako's positions have been compromised. Also there's a rod jammed into the ground next to Neophyte A, a rod which is now crackling with energy and spawning orbs of energy around itself.
So here's what happens next, bolts of energy rain down from the circle in the sky. Those slam against Rho Aias. At the same time however, Neophyte A fires on Faith while B and Clight Minato up. D kinda just stands there staring off into space.
Faith, manages to dodge fairly well, throwing her out the way of the burst fire. Still her foe proves to be rather accurate, she doubts she can keep this up. She needs to get begun cover or kill these bastards, the sooner the better.
Minato manages to heal Sakurako at least, some of the girl's wounds closing as he fills her insides with his life-giving fluids. Rho Aias starts to crack, but it's not getting broken fast enough, and with the marksman out of play for now the boy manages to avoid taking a hit. The pressure wasn't too good though, so he blows the blade, another almost immediately taking its place as he launches backwards out of the circle's killzone with Sakurako in tow.
He then takes a spray of bolts to the spine and is sent staggering forwards. D is standing behind him now wearing some sort of weird combat harness. They're jabbing themselves with an autoinjector and judging by the fact that they're beginning to sprout six wings and a halo and beginning to be blinding to even look at, this ain't the kind of transformation you wanna just let happen. Trouble is, they're still firing with their free hand and keeping their distance.
So the Sniper Hunters fall back behind cover, A continues firing on Faith as their drone fizzles and fades, B continues putting pressure on Minato's front, and C turns out to see who's tapping them on the shoulder.
It was a magical girl. Looked to be in her late teens to early twenties, short crimson hair with matching eyes, athletic build, clad in an elegant white outfit trimmed with a touch of blue. Her fist was currently connecting with their face, the force of the blow shattering their visor and sending them reeling, as they turn to aim they find that their assailant has already closed the gap again and is now jamming a switchblade into their wrist. They drop the gun and the girl conjures her staff, the upward stab priming her arm perfectly to come right back down, the stuff claiming a kneecap with its heart-shaped tip.
"<You came to the wrong neighborhood motherfucker!>"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 24, 2018, 10:13:53 pm
Quote
That might help, actually.
At least there was something to be done about that. What had already happened was maddening, though. Everything was so strange, and it was stressing her out. Not to mention the worry about Kouta. . . He was supposed to be home soon. If he wasn't, she could probably go looking for him. That was the worst thing; everything was so silly, but there was so much that was lethally dangerous despite being utterly absurd. The fusion of Hitler and Josef Stalin miming techniques from anime was ridiculous, but the fact that he had still almost killed someone was alarming. She felt like anyone could be swept up at any time, just attacked on the streets. . . but that wasn't something she needed to worry about, right?
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2018, 10:49:25 pm
Quote from: Ren
When are you free?
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 24, 2018, 11:53:52 pm
Quote
Just have to make sure my little brother gets home safe, then I'll be available. Later than today, after my shift.
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2018, 05:52:33 am
Quote from: Ren
Sure!
Quote from: Ren
What do you do?
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 25, 2018, 09:51:05 am
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I'm a waitress.
Noriko groaned. Here it comes. . .
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2018, 07:49:14 pm
Quote from: Ren
Where for?
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 26, 2018, 10:19:53 am
Quote
It's a little cafe on XXth street, can't miss it.
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2018, 06:08:28 pm
Shef's Apartment, Tuesday Morning
You awaken to a crash.
Your eyes flicker open. Rays of light filter through veiled windows. Morning. Seven o'clock by your estimate.
Your bedframe has broken from the impact. There is a pressure on your body. A weight, concentrated near your pelvis. There's a lady in your room, straddling your lap, clad in not much save for a simple white robe that does little mask her figure. Bright brown hair cut short and eyes with color match, wings of alabaster and a heavenly aura that dispels all doubts as to her identity - the girl is an angel.
Noriko
Quote from: Ren
Wanna meet up there?
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2018, 07:32:49 pm
He had begun to visibly relax again when he noticed that he was at an angle. His bed wasn't supposed to be at an angle. He finally turned his gaze towards the weight in front of him. A human being. He stared at her for a moment, and then up to the ceiling, arm inching around to the side of the bed. As soon as he felt the textured plastic and metal, his arm snapped up to point the pistol against the woman's head.
Angled slightly up, it'd likely not hit anyone in an adjacent apartment, and would need to go through more layers of building to get to the next floor if something happened.
"Better fucking pray that this is just a dream."
He pulled the trigger twice.
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2018, 07:47:07 pm
Well uh, you're not sure what you were expecting, but this stranger wrapping her lips around your gunbarrel probably wasn't one of them. Like your actual gunbarrel, the RAM handgun's one.
She coughs for a moment before spitting out blood and two flattened bullets.
"RAM-zero-three. Fifty calibre. Regalia variant. You've got good taste."
Not a sign of any impairment. Likely some form of rapid regeneration, similar to that of Yuki. Hasn't budged either, she can definitely take a hit.
"Don't look so disappointed, I'll swallow next time if you ask nicely."
It is at this point that Hanako pokes her head in through your wall, finding herself looking at you being straddled by a girl on a broken bed saying some awfully scandalous lines. Her face immediately flushes red.
"I-I I-... I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were- Next time I'll knock!"
She immediately scrambles away, though judging by the ruckus outside you can't imagine she got too far.
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2018, 08:07:45 pm
He watched in complete befuddlement as Hanako's head appeared through the wall before disappearing. That likely meant she knew the person? Had they arrived together? What Hanako had said didn't indicate either way. . .Too many questions. But the main thing was, this wasn't a battle he could expect to win, and the woman on top of him wasn't attacking him. Stalling was better, not action. Figure out what was going on and try to come up with something.
". . .Excuse me?" He said in response to her statements, while pushing a little from underneath to see if she'd stand of her own accord. It wasn't especially comfortable for a few reasons.
"Mind getting off, please?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2018, 08:13:16 pm
She nods and hops off. Well, she's pretty relaxed for someone who just tried to fellate a fifty cal, soft-spoken and altogether as angelic in temperament as her appearance suggests, comments aside of course. Doesn't seem to be hostile, for now at least.
"Sorry about the bed by the way, I wasn't aiming for that."
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2018, 08:23:58 pm
"Look, just, can you go wait in the living room for a minute or whatever? I need to get dressed."
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2018, 08:26:34 pm
"Your place of residence. Take your time, there is little rush in my duty."
Unlike say, the energetic knocking you hear on your door now.
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2018, 08:38:30 pm
As she left, Shef called out, "Oh, hey, could you just. . ." He gestured vaguely in the direction of the main door to the apartment as the angel left. "Go figure out who's at the door? If it's Hanako, let her in." He didn't have much doubt about the angel's ability to determine that Hanako was the person who had stuck her head through the wall, if there wasn't some acquaintance already.
He'd then toss on a shirt, grab his gun, and head out the door into the main living area of the apartment. If whoever was at the door hadn't been let in, he'd go over and see who was there.
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2018, 08:44:57 pm
So start you getting dressed when you hear not one but two familiar voices.
"Hope we didn't interrupt something, we heard gunshots."
"All is well, I was simply introducing myself."
"Y-you mean you aren't his girlfriend?"
"Nothing of that sort. I am his guardian angel."
"O-oh so that means Evi is-"
"Nope, just dropping off a gift."
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2018, 09:01:31 pm
So he was almost ready to open the door and come out when he heard the third voice. Was that who he thought it was? Shef pushed the door open, and looked over towards the main door of the apartment. Yes, he'd been right. He threw his hands up in confusion, turned around and reentered the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He was overcome with the urge to just open a portal through one of the walls right now, whether it be the side wall of the building or a wall into another apartment. But the impulse passed quickly, and he stepped out into the living room again.
"Okay, so. . ." Here Shef stopped very briefly, trying to collect his thoughts. He sagged against a wall, and rubbed his eyes. "Why the hell are you all here, at, what is it, seven in the morning?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2018, 09:05:20 pm
Evi just laughs handing you the bouquet and flowers.
"I'll be honest, I overestimated the commute. I know you're probably not into flowers and chocolate but... I'm pretty sure the kinda things you'd like aren't legal anyway."
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2018, 09:17:51 pm
"Thanks?" Overestimated the commute? She still would have arrived around eight, pretty early for such things. Could be explained as wanting to do it before work, but evening would work better, Shef would have thought. "So, same story for you two? Decided to pay me an early morning visit for flowers? I-Look, sorry. Does anyone have anywhere to be? Otherwise, just, just come inside and sit down somewhere." He waved them in with his free hand.
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2018, 09:27:11 pm
"I-I didn't bring any flowers sorry b-b-but I can by some next time! Promise! I-I actually live next door now... I just came since I heard a crash and then gunshots..."
"I'm here for business. Consider me your guardian angel. So long as you draw breath, I shall bear form. I didn't come bearing flowers, but I do have this..."
She conjures a silver briefcase in her hands and opens it, offering a peak for a brief moment. Assorted munitions lie within. She dismisses.
"Hahaha, guess you have me beat there."
So before you know it, you end up sitting in your living room with three cute girls. What the fuck is your life right now?
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 26, 2018, 11:58:47 pm
Quote
I guess.[/glow]
Noriko groaned and buried her face in the couch.
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2018, 12:38:18 am
Quote from: Ren
Kay! Gimme a text when you're done!
Post by: Strider03 on August 27, 2018, 06:22:37 am
He held up a hand towards Hanako to stop her. "No, no. Please, that isn't necessary, not that the gifts aren't appreciated of course. Was just. . . trying to figure out what's happening, this isn't exactly a normal Tuesday morning for me."
He took a deep breath. "Anyway, introductions first. You two know me, and apparently each other's names," Shef nodded at Hanako and Evi; the former had mentioned the latter's name, right; then he waved his hand at the angel, "But I don't know who you are--name, not just claims of being some kind of guardian--and I'm going to hazard a guess that they don't either."
Jesus christ, what was he supposed to do with this? Just entertain the uninvited guests? Dismiss them? Either way he needed a few answers. Whether the angel was telling the truth, and if so, how he'd managed to get a guardian angel. How and why Evi had gotten his address, though he suspected Winter and Enn might be responsible. Less important, but still of interest was the fact that Hanako lived next door. When had that happened? He didn't remember there being a vacancy, though he didn't pay that much attention to it.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 27, 2018, 06:45:44 pm
As she began to turn, Faith watched as some incredibly violent magical-girl looking girl came out of nowhere and started positively brutalizing one of their opponents. That was good news, though she wasn't looking forward to having to talk to multiple people after the battle ended... especially if more of the bullshit that had happened to her earlier today happened... dammit, Faith! she told herself. No getting distracted... even though it was very, very hard.
Faith ran in the direction of the transforming enemy, and let out a burst of magic in its direction -- and since the crowd was gone, she didn't have to hold back, she could just vent some of her frustration and humiliation and fears on this thing, and boy, bo-o-oy, did she have a LOT of those to vent.
Faith sprints over to Neophyte D and fires off a Desperation Break at it, not especially wide width, but a couple yards' worth of clearance on either side (unless it would hit Minato or Sakurako of course)!
World Line: 6 5 5 4 4 5
Post by: Empiricist on August 27, 2018, 11:47:30 pm
"W-we exchanged names after I crashed into her outside... "
"I think I'll go with... this."
She picks out a passport and ID from her briefcase, likely from several, and flips it open, revealing the name "Léone Mercier".
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 28, 2018, 03:56:59 am
[[3] 2 6 [4] 6 1 1 3 3 6]
Post by: Strider03 on August 28, 2018, 06:10:31 am
"Alright then. Léone, this is Hanako, she used to live in this apartment, and we met a few days ago when she came wandering back. This is Evi, and we met yesterday on a mission. Hanako, Evi, this is Léone, and we just met this morning when she broke my bed." There, hopefully that would clear things up a little. He neglected to mention more about the circumstances of any of the meetings though, with a vague feeling that he'd look really bad if mentioned certain things.
He stopped a moment, and looked around, unsure where to go next with this. He spoke abruptly. "Why the flowers? Don't mean, why didn't you pick something less than legal, I mean why'd you feel the need to get a gift?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 28, 2018, 10:23:15 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sis Puella Magica (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPi3SanzPoQ) | ] |
So Minato and Faith switch, Minato rushing away with his flaming spear and Faith vaulting over him, discharging a quick purple ripple of destructive energy. The wave crashes into Neophyte D and seeming passes through them causing no harm.
So Neophyte D just fucking fires into the space Minato occupied before sprouting its six wings and a corona of light behind its head, its body becoming blindly bright, so bright it's painful to even look at. It also appears to have summoned a wooden oar in its free hand, readied to club a motherfucker like a baby seal.
Oh and Minato feels the impact of the bullets against his back, even though none of them even connected.
As for what's happening with the newcomer, well, a futuristic magical circle traces beneath her feet and she starts shouting out an incantation, if it can even be called that.
"<I, Nicole Valentine hereby certify that the course of action I am about to take is mine and mine alone! I thus declare that Syrup Aerospace and its subsidiaries are not liable for the potential consequences of my actions, which include though are not neccesarily limited to: property damage, grevious bodily harm, death, ecological collapse, and/or crimes against humanity!>"
And with that and a swing if her staff, a directed pulse of rippling pink energy, love hearts, and bubbles looking like something straight outta a shoujo manga background rushes through A and B's cover. If it dealt any damage, it isn't visible.
Minato's charge comes after that wave. Nico slamming her staff down and launching C's pistol up into her hands with a pinpoint blast as she moves into cover, giving the boy a little covering fire against A. Rho Aias takes another pounding as a he approaches, and while A is suppressed it becomes quite clear their magical pole doesn't give a damn, discharging the eight orbs around it as a precision barrage if arcane bolts. So what happens here is that Minato blows a stockpiled weapon for an initial block, simultaneously using that blast to propel him into B, terminally shanking the punk ass bitch before detonating a second unit to his side to catch the side of his side and spinning him around 180 degrees to catch, most of the remaining bolts. Took a shot to the shoulder in the process. He'll live.
So, how do A and D respond? Well A raises their rifle and then just, drops it, doubling over as a circular maw forms in their head for the express purpose of vomiting paint all over the pavement and starting to just, fucking convulse as sections of its membrane begins to slough off. D meanwhile runs forwards with absurd speed before just suddenly exploding as if some sort of crazy destructive spell had just slammed into it.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
"A token of appreciation for protecting us and that training."
"Training? Shef t-trains people too?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 28, 2018, 12:52:25 pm
"But it was pretty enjoyable, and if you want to go at it again sometime, we should work something out."
"Same goes for you, if you want, though you've already got a trainer or something, right?" Shef directed this at Hanako. He considered that it might be a bit rude to ignore the angel for the present, Leone? Actually, how was that pronounced for a girl? In any case, he didn't feel guilty about said rudeness for two reasons. Firstly, since matters with her seemed somewhat business related, dealing with that was best left for later after. . . whatever this was. And in the second place, she'd broken his bed. She'd just have to accept this small amount of discourtesy.
Post by: Empiricist on August 28, 2018, 06:08:07 pm
"I-it's um uh, m-more like a mentorship b-but I'd r-really feel more comfortable i-if it was with you!"
Post by: Strider03 on August 28, 2018, 07:04:53 pm
"Why??"
He coughed, then said carefully, "You-you do remember how we met, right? Did you lose those memories too?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 28, 2018, 07:10:34 pm
"Y-you took care of me w-when no one else was there! S-sure you tried to punch me, b-but I think I'd have been s-startled in your position too..."
Post by: Strider03 on August 28, 2018, 07:23:22 pm
"So did Mr. Koizumi. Let me get this straight, because. . .You know what. Actually this is probably better." He had no idea how this would reflect on him, but it seemed the best way to convince the woman not to get herself into something she wasn't mentally prepared for.
"Evi, mind telling her what our 'training session' was like? And then, once you've heard that, then decide whether you want this. Fine if you do, I'll do my best. But listen first."
Post by: Empiricist on August 28, 2018, 07:34:18 pm
"Oh it was oodles of fun, quite violent though, got shot a lot and he caved in my chest. Still, I learned a lot."
Hanako looks fairly shocked and gulps as she hears about what do did to Evi, yet... "I'll do it. I can't die not again not again"
"...Is she goigg to be okay?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 28, 2018, 07:54:39 pm
"Anyway, sure. We'll figure something out. Hopefully tailored to what you want to get out of this, but no promises. Later though."
"Does anyone need something to drink? Water, tea, juice? Some coffee, but I can't vouch for quality."
Post by: Empiricist on August 28, 2018, 08:06:22 pm
"S-sorry... a-after I left, I visited my p-p-parents and- and..." Tears begin to well up in her eyes "it was t-terrible, they spent the last two years thinking I was dead... I-I can't let them go through that again..."
"There, there, it's alright now..."
Post by: Strider03 on August 28, 2018, 08:48:09 pm
"I. . .We'll try to fix that, so something like that doesn't happen again. Alright?" He stood up to go put some tea on. She hadn't said no last time, and maybe it'd help a bit. Once the water was on though, he came back out into the living room, and stood in front of Hanako
"I'm not going to say things are going to go fine. Not going to lie. There's always going to be that chance that someone or something gets you. Backup, resources, training, they'll all help, but they'll never bring the chances to zero. So you're going to have to figure out what level of risk you're willing to live with, and how much you can put into lowering it. And then we'll start working towards it. You need goals for what you want out of this, specific ones. Consider it your first assignment. You have two days, starting now."
Another one of those gambles. People--some--needed something to do. That bit of drive forward to get them out of the rut. If it was a push by someone else, so be it. He pushed the unsavory association that came with that back; he was doing this for her good, he wouldn't abuse it. He'd be taking a lot of chances like this with training, Shef considered, basing a lot of his choices on instinct, hopes, and vague ideas.
Post by: Empiricist on August 28, 2018, 09:26:43 pm
"I-I understand! Thank you!"
...Well, she's motivated at least.
Post by: Strider03 on August 29, 2018, 06:26:01 am
He offered the tea around, before setting the tray on the table. Now what? He didn't anything more for Hanako, and if he thought of something later, she was right next door. Leone, he'd like to figure out the details in private. After all, it appeared to Shef that she'd arrived with the intent of a private meeting, whatever that entailed. Evi, well Shef knew he had one small thing he'd like to do before she left.
"Evi, if you need anything. . .here," Shef snatched a piece of paper and scribbled a cell phone number on it. He only had Mary's number himself, and he didn't really want to ask for her number now, while everyone was around, so best leave it to the maid's discretion.
Post by: Empiricist on August 29, 2018, 11:22:10 pm
"Thanks! I'll b eheading off now, don't want to overstay my welcome, now would I?"
"I-I probably should go too... I only came to c-check up on you..."
Your phone vibrates. It's from Rosario. By app too, guy doesn't like texting, prefers something a little more encrypted. Says he prefers the interface a little better too.
Quote from: Rosario
Got a job for you this Friday. Yeah I know, it's been a while. But don't fret, it's a good opportunity, trust me, and extended to you specifically. Security gig, bodyguard dutiy, it's for one of those fancy old lineages, one that is awfully interested in meeting a man with your set of skills. Enn and Wyn will handle the briefing when you're ready. There's a catch though - they need four people, and your usual group won't work. Think you can get three other people in time?
Post by: Powder Miner on August 30, 2018, 01:14:19 am
Then Faith moved behind Minato, over to check on Sakurako. Naked, covered in blood, barely conscious, and in fact still bleeding... horrifically. What had happened to her...? She hadn't been awakened before, Faith was sure about that. Faith quietly muttered a curse and knelt over Sakurako, injecting her with a healing potion. "Oh, Sakurako... ...Winter, Enn...? Do you have anyone who can heal her nearby...? Or... anyone with clothes? I-- I really don't want to have to, but I'll take off my shirt if I have to so she can have it, but... but... I don't want to."
Faith just heads over and uses a healing potion on Sakurako.
World Line: 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 2 6 5
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 30, 2018, 02:56:16 am
Minato, for his part, wasn't quite sure what was going on with this person (he was pretty damn sure whoever it was probably rivalled Yoake for insanity and was probably one of her rivals in business, given the whole "Syrup Industries" business, but you never knew with Awakened). Still, the bailing out was appreciated.
Now to finish off the last couple down here. Minato wasn't quite confident enough in his aim to throw a spear up at the remaining blinded snipers. Even if he could use the Luin, he'd need to get a little closer to guarantee a clear shot. Which meant finishing off the last couple down here instead. He turns to their surprise guest.
"<Thanks for the help. I got the ones down here. Do you mind getting the ones up there?>"
Alter to 3, summon Durandal and calmly finish off the remaining enemies on the ground.
[2 6 6 1 1 [3] [3] 6 1 3]
Post by: Strider03 on August 30, 2018, 06:04:33 am
The man nodded as Hanako and Evi mentioned that they should leave, and he stood up to walk them to the door. "See you later. Have a nice day." He remarked as she presumably headed out. Afterwards, he followed Hanako down the hall just a bit to her door. "You too, have a good day."
"But, uh, try to avoid the whole phasing in unannounced? Head in the front door; odds are if you can help me at this point in time, I won't be dead in the extra time it takes. If I would be dead in that time, odds are it's not something you could help much with. Anyways, just try to avoid it, okay? Or else I might just have to start doing the same thing back. I can, you know."
Shef flicked his fingers, and summoned a portal through the door in demonstration before quickly dismissing it.
With that he turned, and retreated to his apartment.
Post by: Empiricist on August 30, 2018, 06:10:08 am
"<Got it.>"
So Minato just stabs a sword through the two downed foes while the girl flies off and Faith just jabs the girl with healing potions till the wounds vanish, though her heartbeat remains fast and erratic, she's starts making the call when...
"That won't be neccesary!"
Walking into a view is what appears to be a cartoon cat with angelic wings and a ribbon on its tail.
"I aready called in a surgical kit, it should be here soon."
He examines Sakurako, first visually, and then checking her pulse and breathing.
"Her powers have gone haywire! It's forcing blood around her body at an incredible speed!"
Sakurako suddenly convulses, quite violently too.
"Her heart just ruptured! Don't heal her, at this rate it will just happen again, and with her power acting like this, she can function just fine without it. We need to conserve our healing until we can treat her or get her to someone who can."
Two gunshots ring out, followed by a thump as Snipe Hunter A's body hits the the pavement. A few moments later, the same fate befalls B.
Soon enough the surgical kit arrives, warping in with a flash of light. It's a flat white box with a casing that splits open to reveal an assortment of mechanical appendages tipped with all the manner of probes and instruments. The mascot starts by deploying a few scanners, contact monitors and four needles, three of them looking like drips the last looking like some sort of blood extraction apparatus.
"She's been injected with a cocktail of drugs. We need to get her to a clinic, somewhere that can look after her. Someone who contain the drugs too. Can you drive?"
Well Minato, you certainly know someone who can. As for the clinic and the sealer, you've the feeling Eisenberg Health and Aiko should suffice.
Shef
Hanako seems to nod in understanding until you do the portal thing. That's about where she just flushes red and takes her leave a bit more energetically than usual.
Post by: Strider03 on August 30, 2018, 06:37:34 am
"So. Talk."
Post by: Empiricist on August 30, 2018, 07:03:56 am
"I'm here to save you, from yourself. The path you're going down, are you really happy with it? Do you think you will ever be happy with it?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 30, 2018, 07:27:23 am
A significant part of the population gets midlife crises, or something similar, and there was nothing in what the 'angel' said to indicate she was doing more than guessing.
Post by: Empiricist on August 30, 2018, 09:02:09 am
"You've lot a lot of things, Olivier, hope, direction. And now? I'd say you're just going with the flow. But when all is said and done, will you be happy? Do you even know what you want anymore? Your life back? The empty jaded life you had? Revenge? Revenge you were denied the first time? Will you ever be happy?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 30, 2018, 09:39:19 am
"You're wrong." He growled.
"Wrong about my life back there. Maybe my career choice wasn't admirable, maybe my rationale wasn't perfect. But I enjoyed it. It had meaning to me, you should damn well know that, and I enjoyed it. I had goals and purpose, even if it was just in beating each of the small challenges that we came up against." Until he came to the challenge that he couldn't beat.
"Don't know if I can go back, or whether I'd want to. But so what? Maybe I won't be happy, or have some grand fulfilling purpose." Not many people did really. Finding meaning wasn't a luxury most got, and Shef was content to find enjoyment in the moment. Questions about what he'd end up having done with his life were useless, there were never answers.
"Why the hell do you care? Why step in now? My life's been going like this for some time, and I've. . . been getting along. So what is it, why step in? You want to give me purpose, go dedicate my life to God or something, and proselytize the unbeliever?" She wasn't here for that, he knew, but he didn't care.
Post by: Empiricist on August 30, 2018, 09:55:14 am
"Had. Past tense. 'Getting along' was hitting the mark closer as of late I'd wager. And for the record, I'd like to think we both know by now there is no bearded old man in the sky with plans for you."
She smiles politely and continues.
"I'm here now because your life is approaching a crossroads, and before you ask, I don't know all the details either. Purpose is not on my agenda, such lofty things have only the substance we ascribe them, no, I deal with something more tangible - happiness. And if that happiness comes from doing a certain heiress or a ghost, well, I wouldn't be complaining."
Post by: Strider03 on August 30, 2018, 12:44:51 pm
She hadn't answered the most important question that Shef had asked, but that was irrelevant in the face of the implications that followed. Without a thought, his hand twitched up to where his pistol would normally sit in his jacket, had he been wearing it. Following this motion, he raised the same hand into some gesture between an unfinished act of putting his face in his hands and an open armed querying motion.
"What. . .are you fucking insane?" He said forcefully, though in hushed tones. His face was tinged red, a combination of anger, indignation, and embarrassment. "You know about them, their histories, and you've apparently been watching me. So you should damn well know that I met Hanako less than a week ago for maybe an hour, and I met Evi fucking yesterday, and that was also for only an hour! I barely know either of them, for god's sake!"
"And if you think that doesn't matter, then fuck off. A one night stand or something isn't happiness, it's just pleasure, and there's pretty fucking big difference between those." He was fuming. He was fuming. Where the hell did she get the idea that she could just waltz in here and say that? It was beyond presumptuous, and kind of offensive. He'd done something nice for two people who needed it, nothing more or less. Perhaps he'd had personal motivations, but they were minor, not of the insulting type that Leone indicated. The fucking gall. Perhaps he needed to just stop doing nice things for people; they seemed unanimously misinterpreted. Maybe that wasn't entirely true, but Shef wasn't thinking to clearly or hard on the subject right now.
Post by: Empiricist on August 30, 2018, 07:56:41 pm
"Relax, an example is only an example. Though I suppose I know now you're not much for hedonism. Tell me then, what would make you happy?"
Post by: Twinwolf on August 30, 2018, 08:00:52 pm
Yuki
You also received that text from Winter. Also your mother continues to be catatonic and everything continues to be pure suffering. Also the guy sent to look after her is currently addressing you, a boy looking around the age of twelve yet clad in a tailored suit and carrying the air of someone much older, a boy for which that quote about the abyss gazing back seems perfectly fitting given the madness and malevolence that flickers at the very edges of his eyes complementing the intensity of his cold gaze.
"Your flesh puppet is broken."
To the first text (regarding her pay), she responded that she'd be happy to talk with them the next day. At the moment, she was home. "Uh-huh. Gave her food and water and stuff?" she said, as if absolutely nothing was wrong.
Post by: Strider03 on August 30, 2018, 08:14:33 pm
Shef's glowering expression persisted after she finished speaking. "No, why don't you tell me. How did you not know that? If you've been watching for so long? Is it like watching my life on television? You should have still known. You new on the job, only get the cliffnotes, or what?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 30, 2018, 08:32:32 pm
"Yes. Is that all?"
Shef
"What am I? A pervert? I get your information in a dossier."
Post by: Strider03 on August 30, 2018, 08:52:09 pm
Shef sighed, clasping his hands in a supplicating manner. "Look. Why don't you give me a bit better clarification on what you actually do, how this whole guardian angel business works, et cetera. You some kinda case worker, what do they pay you? You've got your wings. Conscripted? Volunteer? Why'd you choose me, or was it assigned. When you started, the works. Then when I'm satisfied, I'll answer your damn questions." The man's anger was diminishing, slightly.
He had only a few options: controlled discussion, more hot tempered discussion, and requesting that the woman leave. The second would get him nowhere and might be disruptive to neighbors. The third option, well, Shef admitted his read on Leone was incomplete, and his read was that she'd leave if asked firmly. However, there was that small chance that she wouldn't, and he didn't know if he could make her, and if he couldn't, trying would likely make things worse all around.
Post by: Empiricist on August 31, 2018, 09:05:01 am
"They pay me nothing outside of operational expenses, the job's its own reward, travel the word, meet people, kill people. Picked you since you sounded like fun. And before you ask, you're a case because we've a vested interest keeping you here. ...And a vested interest in getting the Brise de Mer off your tail."
Post by: Strider03 on August 31, 2018, 09:27:37 am
"I 'sounded fun'. I-You want to tell me what that means? Or. . .nevermind." The question would come up again soon, and there'd be little continuing to avoid it, if he wanted the conversation to go on. "What would make me happy? I don't have a goddamn clue. I enjoy my work, for the most part, same reasons I enjoyed the trade. It's stimulating. Sometimes it goes. . .off the rails for lack of a better term, but there's good parts too. I liked the building, the designing part back there. Haven't done enough here, just. . .haven't asked about the resources, and getting more in depth into the awakened weapons would take some significant research, I expect. Procrastinating maybe, who knows. You happy now?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 31, 2018, 09:33:31 am
"Quite. As for us, we want to be a part of your story. Maybe you'll go on to do something great, maybe you go back to the way you are. It's a gamble like any good investment, and the wager is my time. Don't you worry, I'm not much of a preacher when it comes down to it."
Post by: Strider03 on August 31, 2018, 09:43:06 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 31, 2018, 10:01:15 am
"We give you supplies and hopefully you do something helpful. Don't plan on forcing the issue though."
Post by: Strider03 on August 31, 2018, 10:11:13 am
"Fine. I accept, or whatever, conditional on the info I have. You bring up some requirement later, I'd prefer the option to back out. So. . .now what?"
Post by: Empiricist on August 31, 2018, 10:51:32 pm
She opens up the briefcase again, pulling out a pillow and blanket. "Do whatever, I need some sleep."
Post by: Strider03 on August 31, 2018, 11:09:20 pm
"Wait, wait a goddamn minute. Did I say you could sleep here?" He wasn't certain, so he wouldn't voice the concern, but Shef was starting to worry that in agreeing to this he might be agreeing to have his house co-opted by this globe-trotting angel. He needed to know that at the very least.
"And why do you need sleep? Angels get jet-lag or something?" He rubbed his forehead exasperatedly.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 01, 2018, 04:03:28 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 01, 2018, 04:40:07 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 01, 2018, 04:43:12 am
Minato initiates communications with his family's driver as he goes over to check on Faith and Sakurako. He really needed to get a ride of his own that wasn't Vimana; it was cool, but not easy to bring out and it only lasted for a bit.
"Don't worry about it, Faith. I got this. Just take a breather, if you need one."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 01, 2018, 05:00:05 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 01, 2018, 05:16:35 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 01, 2018, 08:10:31 am
"Could you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep."
Yuki
"And you will not fix them?"
Faith and Minato
Another convulsion. "Lungs. She can live without them for now, I'll need to keep her sedated, if she wakes up and panics, then it could be a problem."
The magical girl lands back down and undoes her transformation, and oh boy does she look different. Okay yeah, she probably wouldn't be getting a Saturday morning time slot anytime soon, but as long as she kept her mouth shut and her enemies free of shankings and what appears to be hardcore radiation poisoning, she could actually pass off for that kinda character. But with the outfit gone, she's left in what she was wearing before, which amongst other things includes a black leather jacket and a matching surgical mask featuring a stylized tooth-lined maw. She pulls the switchblade out of C's wrist, wiping it down on the fallen foe's body armor before addressing the mascot.
"<How's the patient?>"
"<As long as she doesn't wake up and panic, we're looking at a full recovery once we neutralize whatever they drugged her with!>"
"<I see. She looked pretty out of it, she gonna remember any of this?>"
"<Can't say for sure. She must have been alert enough to escape unless she had help. Still, the sedatives are pretty strong, this might all seem like a bad dream to her when she wakes back up.>"
Post by: Strider03 on September 01, 2018, 08:24:51 am
He said slowly, clearly, and with obvious anger in his voice: "Listen here. I don't give a shit whether you're trying to sleep. I did not give you permission to take a nap in my apartment. So, you are going to explain why you want to sleep on my couch, then ask politely to do so, in which case I will consider allowing it, or you are going to leave, now."
He couldn't necessarily force her to leave through violence, but he was certain he could make it thoroughly unpleasant to leave. Presumably, even if she could shrug off bullets, they wouldn't be entirely painless, or unnoticeable.
Post by: Empiricist on September 01, 2018, 08:34:31 am
No response. Did she seriously fall asleep in that span of time? Or is she only pretending? Are angels even allowed to deceive people?
Post by: Strider03 on September 01, 2018, 08:43:48 am
If there was no noise for a minute or so, and checking through a small portal verified that she was still asleep, Shef would portal her back in, and move on to slightly more drastic measures.
Post by: Empiricist on September 01, 2018, 09:14:08 am
Still asleep.
Post by: Strider03 on September 01, 2018, 09:20:33 am
Post by: Twinwolf on September 01, 2018, 09:32:26 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 01, 2018, 09:40:23 am
Well, you took two .50 caliber action express cartridges, charged them with spirit energy, and shot it into her. The results, are unsurprisingly messy. That being said, she also regenerates at quite an alarming rate. Her eyes flicker open.
"*yawn* What time is it?"
She glances at the window.
"Oh. I guess I needed to by new clothes anyway. Y'know, you're lucky I have just the thing for getting bloodstains out carpet."
Yuki
The boy nods, picks up a kitchen knife and brings it to a stop mere millimeters from your mother's face.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 01, 2018, 09:45:33 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 01, 2018, 09:48:28 am
Judging by the sound and sensation, you actually did just break his arm. He glares at you, though all he has to say is "Very well. If you ever lose your need for her, contact me. I always have a use for empty vessels." And with that he vanishes. Guess you're not the only one who can teleport.
Post by: Strider03 on September 01, 2018, 10:36:20 am
"Please, just tell--next time ask before going to sleep on my couch? I didn't say you could stay here! And how'd you fall asleep so fast? And--why. . ." He caught himself. He was actually panicking a bit. This person, who'd just wandered in seemed to want to take over his apartment, didn't seem to care for even a show of common courtesies, and he had no way of dealing with her. Talking was not working, violence wouldn't be effective, she was too powerful for that, and threats wouldn't work unless he had some more information on what she would and wouldn't care about.
He took a deep breath, then started again. "Look. Can you just. . . ask next time, and explain yourself? It's. . . fine, I guess if you need to sleep on the couch, but just ask first, please. And, well, I'm guessing you don't want to stay in a hotel or rent your own room? Ugghh, point is, I need to know the logistics of this. Please."
Post by: Empiricist on September 01, 2018, 06:31:59 pm
"Sure, and it helps if you end up in a warzone. And yes please!"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 01, 2018, 06:54:43 pm
<"She wasn't Awakened before... but now she clearly is, otherwise she... she wouldn't be alive, so... that's going to have to be taken care of.">
Post by: Strider03 on September 01, 2018, 07:06:03 pm
"Alright. Now, I need breakfast. If you want anything, ask. It's quite simple. After that, I need to go figure out where to go to buy a bedframe or something. And you need clothes?"
Shef shook his head, he'd gotten himself into something here, with expressing interest in this vague deal, and he wasn't sure what that something was.
"So, in order. First do you have money? Second, do you have even one pair of clothes that will suffice for you to go shopping in? Third, can you find your way around on your own?" While speaking, Shef headed into the connected kitchen, to start preparing a small breakfast for himself. She probably could just go shopping in what she was wearing, no mundane people would see anything supernatural, but who knew whether the perception of the robe would be different at all.
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 06:07:38 am
"Yes, yes, and I'll manage. Are there any supplies you need?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 06:35:13 am
"Yeah, no. I don't need anything.
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 06:58:06 am
"See you around."
And with that, she leaves.
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 07:10:36 am
Quote
Sorry for not replying stat, something came up. Will take the job, contact the AI, etc. Can probably find help, if not, can probably just hire someone through the AI if absolutely necessary. Btw, can you tell me anything about angels in the awakened community?
Shef also grabbed his comm piece, to speak with the AI. "Rosario says I've got a possible job, and to talk to you two about the details. And, uh, besides that, do you have any info you can give about angels? Had one, or something looking like and claiming to be one, show up."
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 07:48:21 am
"Got anything more specific? What did it look like?"
Quote from: Rosario
They represent the interests of Heaven, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. Far as I know, they're here to try and keep humanity going, though the specifics seem to just be up to them. You're better off asking Wynn or a Templar.
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 07:53:14 am
Quote
Thanks man, will do. You free/willing to do a bit more training later this week?
"Appeared around seven this morning. White robe, wings, brown hair and eyes. Claimed to be some form of guardian angel. Highly regenerative, healed within seconds from multiple decent power gunshots. Currently heading out to buy some clothes."
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 08:00:16 am
"That's, not impossible, though I have no idea what business it'd have protecting you. Well unless it's bored or something."
Quote from: Rosario
I might, got a time in mind?
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 08:05:40 am
Quote
Free Wednesday or Thursday evening? 8 to 9 or 10?
"Claimed to have interest in keeping me here, getting the mob off my tail or something. Something about a crossroads coming up too. Got any advice or intel? I'm pretty much in the dark here."
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 08:12:48 am
"Sounds like they have a precognitive uplink. You'll have to ask them about what they're talking about."
"Is everything alright? We picked up its deployment signature in your apartment..."
Quote from: Rosario
I can do the Wednesday
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 08:18:27 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 08:31:19 am
"That's a relief."
"If they are what they say they are, it could be a boon. Angels tend to be innocent, so to speak. Innocent in the same way an indoctrinated child or a mindless automaton is. They're very direct usually, so they usually do what they say. Still I don't like the sound of this, I suggest you figure out if it's helping you under orders or if they decided to. If it's the former, we may have problems. Point is, if angels are involved and they're not immediately hostile, then it could mean there are things in play they've been deployed to combat. Could be, sometimes they just get bored or lost. I'd err on the side of caution till we know for sure."
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 08:37:50 am
"Also, did either of you give out my address to any of the Appleton mansion staff?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 08:41:15 am
"Hmm... Maybe, maybe not. Having a file doesn't neccesarily mean you're of direct interest. Minato and Yoake are quite noteworthy so you might have a file in association with them."
"Evi asked for it, she said wanted to give you a token of appreciation."
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 08:47:51 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 08:53:22 am
"Understood."
8 Heads; 7 Tails.
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 09:00:03 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 09:03:59 am
"Have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 09:06:56 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2018, 09:20:08 am
"That does sound strange, we'll keep an eye out for any other strange phenomena happening around you."
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2018, 09:20:36 pm
After that however, he'd try to find a nearby place where he could gamble. Whether it be horse races, a casino, or whatever. Once there, he could determine if there was some non-localized "good" fortune that he had today. But that'd be a bit later, and he'd determine the details when the time came. Of course, it could be temporally localized, and then there'd be no way of testing it. Still worth a shot.
He wrote a quick note saying he'd be gone for a few hours until around noon and left it on the counter, in preparation for leaving. But he didn't go immediately. "So, what can you tell me about the misison on Friday? Body guard assigment, influential family, need four people total but not from the main team."
Post by: Empiricist on September 03, 2018, 01:13:16 am
"<Go home then. We can take care of her. Give her an explanation too.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 03, 2018, 01:49:37 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 03, 2018, 02:22:25 am
"No problem. Let's go."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 03, 2018, 04:09:08 am
The redheaded boy and the blonde girl made it to the latter's apartment; Faith fumbled at her wallet for a few exhausted moments (thankfully not destroyed with her clothing -- that would have been even more of a nightmare) before she managed to get her key and turn the lock open. She pushed open the door, and then when she pushed it to close it after entering she nudged it into a position where it didn't quite close and instead rested against the edge of the doorway. With a quiet sigh, she just gave up on it and left the final push for Minato to hopefully take care of -- she was just...
Faith was done. Done with just about everything today. It had been singularly terrible, and she just couldn't go about anything else today. Not after all this. Maybe not for the next few days, even -- she just wanted to curl up into a ball and try to ignore the world around her for a while. To that end, Faith silently walked over from the door to the couch in the center of the apartment's living room, got on it, and then laid down, bringing her knees to her chest.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 03, 2018, 04:29:58 am
On one hand, they hadn't known each other that long. Maybe it would be weird for Minato to stay. Maybe he should leave, let her sort herself out first. That seemed a logical thing to do.
On the other hand, she was sad, a friend of his, and in need of comfort to distract her from the insanity that had been today. Nobody else was around to do it; Noriko wouldn't, certainly, and Yuki was absent.
Minato closes his eyes, breathes in, and decides.
"Hell with it."
He stalks over to the couch, sits next to Faith, and carefully strokes her head, in as comforting a way as he can manage. He never WAS any good at this comforting thing; after all, beating up bullies and telling them to screw off was one thing. Fighting one's inner demons was another, and this wasn't an enemy Minato could just summon Durandal at.
Still, he owed it to her to try.
Post by: Empiricist on September 03, 2018, 10:32:23 am
Shef
A small projector in the corner of your room activates, a panel of darkness appearing in the air. Gives contrast to figures and diagrams, could also work to thwart prying eyes in a pinch. A coat of arms appears on it.
"The client is the Danish Noble House of Thorn, an influential family of Godslayers specializing in the destruction of larger, more monstrous threats. The House of Thorn requests that you protect the their eldest child, and bearer of their legacy, Victoria Thorn."
The next image is of a lady in conservative dress and sitting in a wheelchair.
"She may not look like much but she was regarded as a combat prodigy and had a lot of hopes pinned on her prior to her illness taking hold. See, these long-lived Awakened lineages need a way to ensure they remained Awakened since it usually isn't hereditary. Minato's clan for instance used to have a Godforged Regalia to handle that, emphasis on used to nowadays they use marriage and rituals to ensure their bloodline can continue their duties. The House of Thorn is similar in that regard, they use rituals to manipulate the destinies of their successors. As you can see, this is a bit of a crap shoot, especially given that that there are now various monstrosities drawn to her on top of her becoming debilitated. So, with Victoria needing to attend a champagne night on Friday evening, and as of recently been rendered unable to fight, she will require a security detail to babysit her for the event. This is where you come in."
A layout of the event hall comes up now.
"Most of the attendees will be civilians - businesspeople and government officials. You are expected to extend protection to them as well, but do remember that chances are any attack on the event will be an attack on your protectorate first and foremost, so consider things from that angle, you do not have the resources to cover everything after all. Strictly speaking, this job was to be offered to the any interested member of your squad, however..."
"Hiring the scion of the Kumon clan, or the CEO of o-Shiri Industries would look absurd. Meanwhile, Faith and Noriko both look like they could use a break, and Yuki doesn't quite have the tact for this sort of deal."
"This could be a good opportunity to make influential connections for you too, though you are by no means required to accept it after hearing this briefing. It's a request, not a formal mission."
Post by: Strider03 on September 03, 2018, 11:20:23 am
"I'm going to need a map of the area within five blocks of the center, and possibly permission to scout out the venue ahead of time. Thursday preferably, assuming they'll be setting things up around that point and I can get a feel for whether anything unusual is being set up." He checked the display, looking for large window locations, trying to determine which side would have the most open views, and then, once there was a map present, whether there were any suitable hotels nearby, warehouses, or whatnot. Somewhere that a sniper could set up.
"Has there been any pattern in the monstrosities drawn to the target that I should be aware of? I'll also be needing the timetable for Friday, when the event begins, whether we're going to be arriving on time. Are we meeting up at the center, or beforehand at the estate?"
Shef's preliminary thought was to set up Hanako in a sniper perch somewhere away from the event. She wasn't experienced enough for counter-sniping, probably, but given the statement about the charge's assailants being more monstrous, it seemed unlikely that they'd encounter strong enemy sniper coverage. So instead, having her cover the area around them from afar would be most suitable. She was a newbie, sure, but he didn't know any other snipers personally. Additionally, getting a tracking device/marker would be useful, something that she could detect even if there were walls blocking line of sight.
As for others, well this was localized bodyguard duty. Someone like Satoshi wouldn't be exceptionally useful with the focus on vehicles, regardless of whether she'd be willing to help or not. Tsukasa, he had no real knowledge of her combat skills. Rosario was the one who'd offered the mission, he'd not interested, and it might undermine the goal of getting Shef himself a decent reputation. Of the people he knew decently, outside the main team, there were only the Appleton Estate staff, and the angel. God damn it, he thought he knew more people than that. But no one else was coming to mind.
Fleur was out of the picture. Good defensively, definitely an asset, but abilities inappropriate to the type of party. Mary, he didn't see as being much use here, also ran into the same problems with bringing her as bringing Yoake. Vendellin, he could check, but he hadn't seen much of the man's combat abilities. That left Evi and the angel. Christ, that was infuriating. . .Though, he wouldn't have normally minded it so much. It was more the feeling of manipulation, someone pulling the strings that made it so irritating.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 03, 2018, 04:23:26 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 03, 2018, 09:00:28 pm
"We'll contact the venue and the House of Thorn to get your the details and permissions."
"The event begins at 9, but you will be going to the estate first. THe client would also like to meet you and your team prior to this."
Noriko
Three flickers. Audio sensors about to activate.
"Kouta's just entered the Sanctuary. He's heading up right now, but um, do you know a Sakurako Matsumoto? Our records indicate that she's in your class..."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 03, 2018, 09:04:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 03, 2018, 09:17:08 pm
"We found her this afternoon in a very bad state, she's still being treated right now, but we suspect she had been kidnapped and subjected to human experimentation that caused her to Awaken. Maybe during the weekend, maybe after school on Friday. She's currently sedated for her own safety so we don't know just yet. As a precaution, we activated the sensors in Kouta's access unit and informed units active near the schools."
Post by: Strider03 on September 03, 2018, 09:33:36 pm
Following that, he'd head out with the intent of finding a place that sold bedframes and get on with his day.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 04, 2018, 03:33:15 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 04, 2018, 04:12:10 am
"The specifics are presently unknown, but given that she was found naked, sedated, implanted with a tracker, and wielding Awakened powers she couldn't control, it's our best guess for now."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 04, 2018, 04:18:52 am
"I.....wish I could tell you it wasn't this crazy, but it is. This isn't the craziest things could get, either. Sorry I can't be softer about it, but....well, you're an Awakened now, this just comes with the territory. All I can say is that it gets easier. A little bit.
And at least you aren't doing this on your own."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 04, 2018, 08:11:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 04, 2018, 10:29:00 pm
"He's coming up the stairs right now."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 04, 2018, 10:43:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 05, 2018, 01:19:56 am
It is now Thursday afternoon. Six days have passed since your kidnapping. Two days have passed since your rescue. Things can go awfully quickly in the Awakened world. Awakened huh? Still getting used to that word. The concept, a bit less so, standard urban fantasy faire, except y'know, it all kicked off with a game of mahjong, and a circulatory system full of what amounts to super cocaine. Right yeah, super cocaine, that's your power. You got tased, kidnapped, and drugged til you got so high you got magical powers outta the whole deal. Accelerates your blood, accelerates your bodily functions, almost killed you in the process first around. Almost, Faith saved you. Second time in just as many weeks even. Still need to thank her sometime, haven't really been able to show up at school just, the Foundry technicians were still tuning your Regalia, the thing keeping your powers in control for now. There are other ways to restrain it of course, but well, "beating cocaine's ass in mahjong so hard it stops working" isn't really something you can do yourself, and the sedatives, well you'd rather not be in what amounts to a fucking coma thank you very much.
Anyway, you're up, you're moving, and you aren't haemorrhaging blood like a particularly macabre fountain. Go you.
So, where the fuck are you now? Well, you're currently standing outside a gym, not just any gym mind you, it's a gym owned by Yoake o-Shiri the so-called Queen of Sendo, she's rich, she's possibly insane, and apparently Awakened ontop of it. She's training people in martial arts here, something called Keijo. With luck it'll help you keep your powers in check, failing that, next time you'll actually be able to fight back instead of y'know, getting shot and throwing yourself out a third-story window.
Yoake
Okay, it's Thursday afternoon, your class is about to begin. Business has been, capricious, but it's on the up and up. Buncha people dropped after the first couple lessons, but well, after decapitating a training dummy with your breasts, there was another influx of students. Most of the ones in the afternoon class are high schoolers, though you've got some part-timers, self-employed types, and college students mixed in them. They're all filtering in when a visitor come a-knockin'. You can tell right away she ain't here for lessons.
Pink hair cut short, cat ears, two tails, and an hourglass figure perfect for Keijo. Spellcaster, she's got it written all over her, from the mage's cloak half-draped over her left shoulder and the witch's hat tilted forward over ehr gold eyes, small vials of some liquid catalyst held in its band.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 05, 2018, 03:22:12 am
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 06, 2018, 01:35:39 am
~~Matsumoto [松本] Sakurako [桜子]~~
This one you already know. The girl who seems to have some terrible luck, having almost been killed not once but twice due to magical fuckery within a remarkably short time, if nothing else. She hesitates only a moment before pushing open the door and stepping inside, knowing that she had to get control over what was happening to her, and that this was probably the best place she could go to do that. She's unremarkable, for the most part, a japanese girl among japanese girls, dark of eye and hair, basically exactly what you'd expect.
~~Nakahara [中原] Mayume [魔夢]~~
A person who, by all accounts, should not be here. A girl seemingly barely having reached high school, if that, and with a woefully inadequate figure for practicing most Keijo techniques, lacking both size and... well, size. Even so, she was here before anyone else, and of everyone here, is the only one who actually, literally wants to learn keijo because She wants to learn Keijo. Currently eagerly looking around for the sensei, trying to get a glimpse of her among the crowd of new students.
~~Shinwa [神話] Shoriko [勝利子]~~
A darker-skinned, athletic looking girl, currently standing a bit away from the rest of the group and stretching while she waits for something interesting to happen, her eyes scanning surreptitiously over the small crowd of newcomers and over the dojo itself, looking for any sign of the rumored monster-girl that ran the place. After all, she could definitely learn a thing or two from someone like that, even if it is something as outwardly silly as a sport where you decapitate training dummies with your assets.
~~Yamauchi [山内] Nadeshiko [撫子]~~
This is... yeah, this one looks like she'll fit right in... probably. Housewife-y, if you know what I mean, one of the older prospects there, but certainly built for the sport, and based on her physique, she's no stranger to training, if those muscles hidden under her soft exterior are anything to go by. She's waiting patiently, unlike most of the others, arms folded under her chest.
~~Watanabe [渡辺] Narumi [成美]~~
This one is... an odd one, it looks like, a girl who mostly just... stands there, on the very edge of the group, not drawing any attention to herself at all, just... there. A little unsettling, really. It's hard to really pick out many details about her, she looks basically like you would expect any japanese girl to look. Dark hair, a little more developed than most, but then again, she is signing up for Keijo, but otherwise entirely unremarkable.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 06, 2018, 01:20:04 pm
There, Noriko waited for a moment, trying to get a handle on it. She'd just been thinking about that sort of thing, trying to convince herself she was paranoid for even thinking something like that could happen. . . and then she gets a call from Enn over the intercom telling her that no, one of her classmates did in fact get grabbed off the street and pumped full of God knows what until she nearly died. There had to be something she could do about that, right? She couldn't just pull him out of school, as much as she wanted to; he needed to go. And watching over him would be a full time job, and impractical besides. Maybe bodyguards. . .? "Enn, you still listening? You wanted to talk about salary, right?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2018, 03:28:05 pm
No response. Audio sensors are off again. Looks like you'll have to ping her with you communicator.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 06, 2018, 03:39:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2018, 04:30:40 pm
With a flicker, Enn and Winter's avatars appear.
"Yes, we've filled out all the paperwork and you will begin receiving it soon, but there are a few decisions you will need to make first. Don't worry, they're not set in stone, you can always change them later."
"Long story short, most funding for all this Godslayer work comes from outside other realms and the like. As there is no way to convert the currency directly in a way that is recognized by the mundane world, we have to take a different route to get it into mundane currencies and over to Godslayers."
A bar chart appears next to Winter, split between two categories - "Local Currency" and "Off-Realm Account". The relative sizes of the two sectors begin to shift with a list of options at the side shifting as well as the proportions change.
"Think about it this way, you have an off-realm account we pay you with, and you can ask us to convert an elected percentage of that into money you can actually spend here. The conversion's one way and there's a bit of depreciation involved due to the processes involved. What we need you to decide is what you want that percentage to be."
"Having some money in your off-realm account is helpful since you can spent it if you travel to other realms, and you can use it to order and buy stuff from them, it's like online shopping. But, it's not money you can use to spend on things in this world directly."
"And on the flip side, for larger percentages of local currency, the payment processes get more involved. For instance, we could put you down as an employee of an Awakened business such as Kumon Group and route the money through to you as your salary. It's not a an issue for people who do it full-time or as a student, but it'd look extremely suspicious for the people who already have full-time day jobs. Point is, there's merit to both currencies."
"Oh and um, you get payed slightly more if you choose longer payment intervals, like yearly rather than weekly. We'll still give you a starting lump sum to cover time until your first paycheck though."
"And that's the other variable, payment intervals. Again, you can change it later on to better suit you Anyway, here's your total income prior to any conversion losses and estimated as yen, assuming weekly payments."
A number pops up next to Winter. Well, you're not suddenly rich, but it's definitely a lot more than what the maid cafe's paying you.
" Sorry, it's a bit overwhelming I know, we can give you some more time to think about it and maybe discuss with Kouta or your teammates if you wish."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 06, 2018, 10:31:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 06, 2018, 11:56:18 pm
"Wards and the like do not work here on Earth unless you are Awakened or have an external source of spirit energy, like a leyline or godforged regalia. There are however groups, including Tsukasa and Minato's, that seek to find ways to bypass this limitation and/or to safely induce awakening in people. I believe there's currently a pilot study seeking to install fae augments into terminally ill patients to try and force an Awakening."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 08, 2018, 12:42:38 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 08, 2018, 01:27:10 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2018, 01:57:05 am
"I've a feeling we both know the reason - the risk to reward ratio is more favorable. They have everything to gain and comparatively little to lose. Mind you, faetech has an excellent installation record, so fatalities are not something we expect. That being said, these augments are biological in nature, meaning they could cause all kind of trouble if they fail to activate. Imagine going to a doctor afterwards, they might think you have a tree growing out of your flesh or that you have some peculiar tumor, there's no mundane analogue for what they're doing. They could of course recommend an Awakened doctor to look after subjects after the procedure, but there's no way to ensure they stick with them, and a patient having a failed procedure and then being misdiagnosed later on brings up all manner of ethical concerns. Plus it is easier to explain and recruit for an experiment treatment, versus an attempt to give people superpowers."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 10, 2018, 01:20:57 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 10, 2018, 02:27:57 am
"...also, there's a thing of ice cream in the freezer in here, I'm sorry but could you get it for me? It would be nice to have something nice to eat..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 10, 2018, 02:47:41 am
Something stood out to Minato, though, after he came back. He was tired, after all; he wasn't the type to let it show normally, but then again, what Minato and the others had to do, most athletes would probably struggle through, and as fit as Minato was, he was no athlete.
".....what did you mean by that? Easier over here, I mean?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 10, 2018, 03:21:07 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 10, 2018, 03:33:28 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 10, 2018, 03:47:09 am
Post by: Twinwolf on September 10, 2018, 07:58:34 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 11, 2018, 03:22:23 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 11, 2018, 07:16:51 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 12, 2018, 12:11:23 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 12:31:15 am
It is now Wednesday. Afternoon, you think, you could check but to be frank you can't be bothered. At this point you're just drained and tired, cocooned in blankets. Strangely you doubt that you'll emerge a beautiful butterfly, a couple tubs of ice cream heavier maybe, butterfly not likely. A figurative butterfly? Even less likely.
Knock knock.
Someone's knocking.
Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock knock knock.
Someone impatient. It sounds strangely hollow though, it takes a moment for you to realize the cause though - it's the sound of someone knocking on glass. They're not knocking on your door, they're knocking on your window.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 12, 2018, 12:37:25 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 12:39:27 am
The knocking just keeps on going until...
"<Open the fucking window or I swear to God I'll smash my way in!>"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 12, 2018, 01:09:04 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 01:17:12 am
"<Understood, the nearest active unit is just->"
The entire window explodes open with a flash of pink light and love hearts.
"<...inside your apartment. Are you sure this is an emergency?>"
"<FUCKING HELL! Next time just open the goddamn window!>"
Standing inside your room is a magical girl, a magical girl that just two days ago you saw kneecap a guy before giving their mates radiation poisoning and hurling them off a building. She, does not look happy.
"<Fluffles->"
"Already on it! Replacement pane and cleanup drone will be here in five!
Post by: Powder Miner on September 12, 2018, 01:27:32 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 01:39:47 am
"<Too bad. You look like shit by the way.>
Disengagung the transformation, Nico takes a seat on your bed. She opens up her school bad and tosses you... a few boxes of chocolate sweets?
"<Relax it's mostly just synthetic. Cardboard's got more calories.>" She glances at the tub of ice cream "<Don't suppose it matters. Sakurako's recovering well, got a copy of her records with me, figured you'd wanna go over them. 'course you never showed up to school so I had to make a housecall.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 12, 2018, 02:22:17 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 07:27:22 am
Well, the sweets may be entirely synthetic, but they still taste like real chocolate.
"<She's on the mend now. Expected to make a full recovery, she got lucky.>" She waves a medical report at your face, pointing at a couple terms and notes. Arrhythmias. Tachycardia. Arterial vasoconstriction. Hyperthermia. Hypertension. Coronary hemorrhage. Pulmonary hemorrhage. Well, that doesn't sound pleasant. "<Foundry hooker her up with something to help keep it under control. Doesn't seem traumatized or anything, but her powers can make her go a bit psycho.>"
Minato
When you returned home on Monday, a request message was waiting for you. 4pm Wednesday. St. Homobonus Basilica. Duel to first blood. Signed Jack O. You never heard of the guy, the AI haven't either. Apparently he just showed up last week, a traveler from the Aethertide, here to meet some grandmaster or something.
Another challenge. You get plenty of these. You're the scion of the Kumon family after all, and seemingly their return to active Godslayer duties, and Professor Kurosaki's test subject on top of that. Lotsa people are interested in seeing how you measure up, and lotsa people wanna use you as a yardstick. Your win rate's, decent you suppose. Won some, lost a lot. You're, not really suited to duels to be honest, first blood's the standard, and it favors blitzkrieg tactics. You can play sure, but your Requiem, your Regalia, it's the kinda thing that can take a bit of time to get going, especially now you've upped your capacity. Plus y'know, if a motherfucker just flies outta reach and shoots you, you can do that much to win. Well, whatever, only a moron would care if you lose like that, duels aren't real combat, someone try pulling that in a real life or death battle and well, you'll be sure to have someone there to put a bullet through their. Well, with Faith now, it'll probably be more a beam through their everything.
Point is, these things little more than the businessman's sparring session. Only someone like Karen would get worked up over one. Take it, leave it, whatever, no one will care.
It's the day of the duel. If you agreed to it, then you're probably in a Sanctuary inside the the Basilica, attend to by Aiko. If not well, you're probably doing something else. Plenty of things you could be doing, like doing a little crime fighting, or doing homework, or maybe you're rereading that interesting little obituary the AIs gave you. It's from a couple years back, concerning one Hideki Mizushima.
Spoiler: Extra Encounters (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 12, 2018, 07:57:29 am
For all that Minato loved the idea of being a medieval knight and the image of chivalry, some aspects of it he'd never understand, this included. He understood sparring, but duels were useless to Minato; what did Minato have to prove to these fools? He was busy saving people's lives and ensuring the safety of Sendo; his pride wasn't that easy to wound that he had to protect it from every Tom, Dick and Harry that asked him for a fight. That was something Karen would do. Also, what was happening with Faith still had him pretty ringed out. There was something about her life, something about her past, that was bothering him. He had to leave it for the moment, though; she wasn't willing to talk, not yet.
This concerned Minato. This wasn't a threat he could fight, not physically, at any rate. Those were the threats that concerned Minato the most; not the physical ones to his friends. Those, he could fight, he could make go away. They were easy.
The ones that scared him were the demons that came to them and them alone. Noriko's past, Faith's past, possibly Yuki's. Those weren't monsters he could fight to make them go away, not easily, not the way Minato was accustomed to. He was a fighter, a tenacious one at that, but horrible parents or depression weren't something even the most powerful Regalia could make disappear.
No. He wasn't going to think about this right now. For the moment. He hadn't heard from Noriko in a while either, so he resolved to talk to her, after he was finished with something else intriguing, something that might come to bite them all in the backside.
Next to his finished homework, he had the obituary of Hideki Mizushima out, and he was rereading it.
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 08:16:57 am
The obituary was from a small local paper published in some remote rural village. Hideki Mizushima, a boy known for loving baseball and diligently caring for his ill little sister was found dead after a shocking freak accident wherein his body was half-disintegrated before being sliced in half. Strangely you've the faintest suspicion it wasn't really an accident. Go figure.
"Surprise surprise, Mary hasn't seen him since the Sanctuary raid either."
"We will alert you if the Aramitama reappears under that identity, but all things considered I suspect it has more stolen identities. You don't spend years cultivating a cover like this while still being as naive to think it can be used after it's blown. 'Hideki Mizushima' may never appear again."
"I'll see what we can do about his sister. Something tells me they're not going to keep bankrolling her treatment."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 12, 2018, 08:33:38 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 09:07:21 am
"Kokoro Mizushima. Ill with a condition that has yet to be diagnosed. Currently staying at the University of Tokyo Hospital. It was helping cover her expenses with its paycheck. It seems that sometime after the obituary was published, it managed to convince his family that it was Hideki and that the reports of his death were mistaken."
"We have no other identities associated with them right now. Once Acquisitions has finished investigating what's left of the Sanctuary we might get some leads."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 12, 2018, 11:33:48 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 12, 2018, 07:00:11 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2018, 08:49:59 pm
"No. We'll need to break the news to them."
Faith
"<Still can if she pushes her powers too far. And I mean fucking pyschotic, the stuff they found in her blood's like super crack and it seems her powers copy the effects, right down to being high. Those initial symptoms? Classic coke overdose. 'Arrhythmia': from Greek, irregular heartbeat. Tachycardia. 'Tachy-': swift. 'kardia': heart. Arterial vasoconstriction. 'Vaso-': vascular. 'Constriction': take a fucking wild guess. Hyperthermia 'cause her muscles are goin' into overdrive and narrowing arteries inhibits venting that heat. Hypertension, well no shit. Point is up until it magically accelerates her blood without her heart, it's like she's on super crack. If it gets past that point, it's like she's on crack if it did crack.>"
Post by: spümpkin on September 12, 2018, 09:49:07 pm
She quickly addresses the majority of the class, assigning them some practice workouts, before approaching this person.
"Fight?"
An offering, question, and flirt, in one simple word. Yoake beckons, heading towards the arena platform at the front of the class.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 12, 2018, 10:36:54 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 13, 2018, 08:37:54 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 13, 2018, 09:27:39 am
"Patients and anyone who they are sure will only use an Awakened doctor should it fail."
Yoake
The lady grins.
"Thought you'd never ask!"
With a short hop, she follows you on over.
Faith
"<Yeah, most of the time. It's not like she has to use her powers. And you could try asking her, she's been meaning to thank you.>"
Minato
"Nothing for now, we can handle this."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 13, 2018, 02:29:59 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 13, 2018, 04:01:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2018, 04:56:36 am
"That's all for now."
Faith
"<Yeah.>"
"Hey! Don't pretend I don't have something to say! That's just mean."
"<Hey she asked me, not you.>"
"Hmph. Meanie! Maybe next time I won't clean up your mess and give you sweets! We'll see who's a meanie then!"
"<You have me quaking in my boots.>"
"Anyways! Your magic runs on emotions right? You should join us and become a magical girl! We'll give a state of the art regalia that can harness the power of love in the form of Doki Doki energy! You'll be able to wave wants, wear cute outfits, and use snazzy spells! And I'll give you more sweets! You just need to agree to never come near the Happy Funtimes Coalition of Systems and agree that Syrup Aerospace is not liable for anything you do the the WMDs we may or may not be providing you with!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 14, 2018, 05:48:58 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2018, 05:52:41 am
"That's all for now. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious at school. We can keep you updated on Sakurako's condition if you wish."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 14, 2018, 02:20:32 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2018, 06:06:26 pm
"It's where I come from! I'm an alien! The development, distribution, and deployment of wands and all other weapon systems that use Doki Doki Energy is strictly probihited there in accordance with the Doki Doki Non-Proliferation Treaty! But... that treaty only extends to the Coalition and its outer colonies, Earth doesn't count because you guys were here first so legally we are outside the jurisdiction of the Treaty! But you'll almost certainly be arrested on some pretty major if you enter Coalition space carrying that!"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 14, 2018, 07:14:09 pm
...
...
...wait, if there are aliens, are there any aliens that want to take over Earth?>"
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2018, 08:15:52 pm
"Doubtful and not as far as we can tell"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 15, 2018, 01:27:42 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2018, 01:37:25 am
"<Wand makes you an outfit, outfit lets you generate and shape that energy. When you get the hang of it, you can rig the outfit and energy with instructions, make it fly or give it armor and shit.>"
"This is a Syrup Aerospace Doki Doki Wand prototype. It allows for as a Nico says, the creation of an interface suit that will turn feelings of love into Doki Doki Energy which it can then control. I think it should be compatible with your magic allowing you to pump in more energy and afflict enemies with Doki Doki Poisoning at will. Access to more advanced capabilities such as combat embeddings will likely take more time and practice!"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 15, 2018, 05:36:19 pm
Uh... is the outfit resistant to damage? It should be.
Anyway, if I join your group and all, what do you expect of me? Cause, you know, I am part of a team with Minato (that’s the guy that was with me in the fight) and the others and all.”
Post by: spümpkin on September 15, 2018, 07:15:35 pm
Going in for a fairly standard move, she starts with a side-swipe with her butt, using her breasts to act as a decoy attack before flipping around at the last second.
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2018, 10:39:44 pm
Yoake
It happens the instant you move your breasts, a flash of golden light from your challenger's eyes. In that instant, that very same instant, something crashes down upon where you stood. Well, perhaps something isn't quite the right term. If anything, it's more like nothing, a whole load of nothing. A c-fractional fired without warning. Not the strongest attack in the world, but it's real fast and you've the feeling your physical defenses won't be worth a damn thing against it. 'Course that's only a problem if it can hit you, but you're Yoake motherfucking o-Shiri and it'll take more than a little space wizardry to hit you!
You aren't where the attack hit. Before you even moved your breasts you were dodging, it's common sense really, if you feint an attack they'll probably counter, and since you know where they'll be countering you just need to be somewhere else! Just one little problem: she's got her own followup, crashing upon you at the last moment, forcing you to disengage and leap backwards to avoid it.
You are now standing on the centre of the Land, your opponent near the edge.
| [Now Playing: | Six Shooter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkFZn4oPMqE) | ] |
The lady grins back, her hat tilted over her eyes just enough that the glow of her eyes pierces the shadows cast over her face. In her left hand is the weapon that produced the effect, a spell circuit, an assembly of mystic symbols and diagrams. The six-chambered circle at its heart turns counterclockwise, the topmost chamber cycling downwards again to reveal another empty vial, matching those on her hat. In her right hand is its mirror image. With another flash of light she begins firing at you with her left circuit.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Faith
"In its default form yup! But it won't dampen hits by much without modification. Oh and, we just want the combat data! It's a prototype! Oh and to agree to this."
Fluffles drops the wand by your side along with a print out of, is that a EULA? It looks like a EULA albeit with references to various intersolar weapons control treaties and the like.
"You can get a lawyer to look it over if you want! Just be aware to you are considered to agree to this contract the moment you use the wand!"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 16, 2018, 12:03:09 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 16, 2018, 11:25:25 pm
Faith paused, and then.
”And weren’t you sending a drone to replace my window...?”
Post by: Empiricist on September 16, 2018, 11:29:49 pm
"Yup! Here it is now!"
In warps two more of those flat containers, the first one unfolding into some sort of space roomba, the latter beginning to scan the broken window and remove the pieces still left in it.
"<See you around.>"
And with that the girl leaps out your fucking window. Well, at least they hadn't replaced the pane just yet.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 16, 2018, 11:40:55 pm
Faith was silent for a few moments after that. That... had most certainly been a... thing... that happened.
Eventually, though, she actually piped back up. ”<So... Winter, Enn, can you see this? What do you think of this all?>”
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2018, 01:12:12 am
<"I suggest you ask Minato or Yoake for a lawyer, best they got, just to be sure.>"
A pause.
"If you choose to use that Regalia, we will need to test it in a Sanctuary. Nico's combat data indicates that depending how it is used, these weapons may carry significant risk of collateral damage."
Noriko and Yuki
It's Monday evening, you're both entering your cafe when- what the fuck?
So firstly the place is packed. Okay sure. Secondly, there's someone who looks exactly like Yuki serving the tables. That's fine too, you guys did get people to cover your shifts and the mission did end way quicker than expected. But thirdly, thirdly, there's a fucking eldritch blob thing in a maid outfit (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7835684;topicseen#msg7835684), or perhaps more accurately, a maid outfit half lodged inside an eldritch blob thing, which worryingly, takes a bit of actual effort on both your parts to identify as such. Which just a bit weird since at a glance you both just identified it as Noriko, yes even you Noriko, for a brief moment before realizing that made no fucking sense. Who the fuck did they send to cover for you?
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 17, 2018, 02:35:15 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2018, 04:41:13 pm
Quote from: Winter
Elly volunteered to cover both your shifts. When you're ready, tell me and head over to the supply closet.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 17, 2018, 07:46:09 pm
Quote
Is that what that thing is? It looks like something out of a horror movie ate a maid, and I thought it was me for a second.
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2018, 07:54:20 pm
Quote from: Enn
That would be Elly's summon. It is, difficult, to create a cover that allows someone to impersonate an existing person unless they can copy the appearances and mannerisms. Elly circumvented it by combining her summon's properties with charm magic to enhance its cover.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 17, 2018, 08:14:03 pm
And yeah, I think I’m gonna call Minato.
...also, I kind of more was trying to ask if you guys think it’d be a useful trade for me, this Regalia.>”
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2018, 10:02:24 pm
"<A single data point doss not make a pattern.>"
Another pause.
"Your current regalia can compensate for your lack of defenses to an extent, your usage of it is not so absolute that it can be relied upon. It just gives you a greater margin for error. Given then that your attacks, while powerful and accurate, carry a fair latency and are quite draining, I'd wager that your combat style makes is naturally more prone to error, being high risk and high reward and heavily focused on offense. Adding to that you, um, really don't take hits that well... so the margin for error you get is diminished. Personally I feel like something that can reduce the risk of your offense by covering its weaknesses or something that can improve your ability to avoid attacks would be better than your current Regalia. Something like a cloaking unit or metamagical catalyst. Looking over Nico's combat data, these wands may be able to do both, but there may be a learning process."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 18, 2018, 12:43:31 am
Quote
She used charm magic on my regulars?A followup shortly thereafter:
Quote
Whatever, as long as it doesn't turn out to cause brain cancer or something.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 18, 2018, 12:53:36 am
Faith slowly flipped through her phone contacts, giving the AI a chance to reply if they desired.
Post by: Empiricist on September 18, 2018, 12:58:16 am
Quote from: Winter
When you're ready, we'll signal her so you two can switch places.
Faith
No response.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 18, 2018, 02:23:33 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 18, 2018, 03:55:35 am
"Oh. Faith. Hey. How are you?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 18, 2018, 04:14:31 am
Post by: Twinwolf on September 18, 2018, 05:37:57 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 18, 2018, 06:24:11 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 18, 2018, 11:14:31 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 18, 2018, 11:53:34 am
Post by: Powder Miner on September 18, 2018, 12:25:48 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 18, 2018, 01:50:01 pm
Minato says this as he starts packing up, putting his now finished homework away, looking around for the Gaia Driver. While it wasn't exactly likely he'd be attacked on the way to Faith's apartment, he wasn't taking any chances.
And if a kitten (or a pretty damsel) needed saving, that was the cue for Masked Knight Gaia to swoop in.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 18, 2018, 02:05:09 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 18, 2018, 02:12:52 pm
After a moment, he sighs. He carefully adjusts the collar on his shirt.
"....dirty thoughts, go away, dirty thoughts, go away."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 18, 2018, 02:53:32 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 18, 2018, 02:56:55 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 18, 2018, 03:14:30 pm
Soon enough Elly and "Noriko" join you two in the closet. The physical closet I mean.
"Welcome back, masters! You did well! ^ _ ^" She desummons the shoggoth, leaving behind a pile of dry warm clothes that smell vaguely of detergent. She herself begins changing into her regular clothes.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 18, 2018, 03:24:41 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 19, 2018, 04:59:07 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 19, 2018, 05:01:45 pm
"Yuuup! If it doesn't I'll pay for a new one ^ _ ^"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 19, 2018, 06:38:22 pm
"Hey! It's me! You decent? Is it okay for me to come in?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 19, 2018, 07:22:09 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 19, 2018, 08:07:43 pm
Though she wasn't trapped in a closet with two half-naked girls.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 20, 2018, 05:59:24 pm
"Alright, sure. Um.....what, exactly, happened?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 20, 2018, 07:18:02 pm
So, like, the cat thing said that it had figured out I had powers based off of emotion magic and that that would be really useful because apparently the magic they provide is strengthened by feelings of love. So, uh, they offered me a Regalia whiiich would basically turn me into a magical girl? With the stuff that made that enemy double over vomiting. And apparently, like, the dress that comes with it can over time be customized to do cool things like be armored and Enn suggested maybe cloaking, or some other magical stuff! And that sounds really really good, especially with how my current Regalia really hasn’t been anything special.
But, like, it’s an alien weapons company — Syrup Aerospace — and they’re basically testing WMDs, the Regalia, here on Earth instead of in their star systems (wow...). As long as I don’t go to these systems, they assured me I won’t get, like, Iraq’d, but it makes me nervous, you know? I, um, so I guess one thing I wanted you here to ask about is, like... is stuff like this relatively normal in the Awakened world, or am I getting myself in over my head if I accept it? Because... it sounds really good, l-like— a way to grow that really helps me not let the mansion happen again. But it also sounds dangerous, so since I know you’ve seen a lot of Awakened stuff and I just... well, I wanted your opinion, you know?”
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 21, 2018, 03:13:53 am
"Oh. So Tuesday."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 21, 2018, 03:38:32 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 21, 2018, 03:40:31 am
"I.....uh....yeah. Go for it! I mean......you know, my belt is a similar thing....."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 21, 2018, 04:30:53 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 21, 2018, 04:36:03 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 21, 2018, 04:39:39 pm
"Hey, uh....well, you see, my Requiem isn't all that strong without this belt. I can barely summon Regalia I'm familiar with without it; what the belt does is amplify my ability to use my Requiem, and let me pull out all sorts of weapons and stuff without having to concentrate a lot, or know it in depth. Tsukasa, um, gave it to me for testing; I can't really talk about what she's working on, but part of the reason she and I talk a lot is that she takes the combat data from our fights from my belt and uses it to make the belt better at doing what it does. So a little similar, but not quite the same.
Post by: Empiricist on September 21, 2018, 05:18:52 pm
"Of course! Don't worry, I'll be gentle~☆ Just relax and I'll take good care of you ^ _ ^"
Elly begins to hum as she helps Yuki back into her outfit.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 21, 2018, 05:27:41 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 21, 2018, 05:30:17 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 21, 2018, 05:53:22 pm
”I was thinking, you know... you’ve always been there for me, this entire time, right?” Faith glanced away from him for a moment, looking rather daunted, but then she looked back, visibly steeling herself. ”Supporting me, soothing me, protecting me, helping me in so many ways... and then, that day, at— at the mansion, you were there for me to, walking me home, letting me cry on your shoulder, holding me... holding me tight in your arms...” Faith closed her eyes for a moment and smiled, and then looked back down at Minato, smile still on her face.
She leaned forward, her face getting close to his, now separated from his by a mere foot and a hald. ”And, so, you know, I was thinking, even though we’ve only been on one date... it’s kind of hard to— to pace the way two people...” Faith got flustered, trailed off, and pulled away a little for a couple of seconds, before moving back in, her face a foot from his now. ”The way we live, it’s hard to pace the way two people feel about each other with dates, with everything being so insane, and with how close you’ve been to me in and around all the fighting...”
Faith’s arms abruptly wrapped around Minato’s chest, drawing him into an embrace. ”And, I’m— I’m going on and on, I know I am. But I was thinking about you, and how much you mean to me, how much you’ve been my— my wonderful knight in shining armor. And then everything that happened today happened, and it was kind of... kind of a kick in the ass. It made me realize that things aren’t ever going to slow down for me, so I have to act, at least while I’ve got this burst of energy. And that’s why I wanted to get you alone. I wanted to act on all these things, and, um, this sounds cheesy, but I wanted to act on all these feelings I have for you. I wanted to ask you:”
She leaned in, her face separated from his by only a scant few inches now, her eyes gazing into his with a mixture of nervousness, adoration, and warm affection, as she embraced him harder, pressing against him as she now held him tightly in her arms.
”Minato... I want to be with you, really, officially be with you. Will you be my boyfriend?”
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 21, 2018, 09:21:24 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 21, 2018, 09:52:28 pm
"But I'm saying perfectly normal things! > _ <"
"Hmm, I've got an idea~♡ If you're not comfortable with me doing this to her, how about you finish her off then? You two are a lot closer anyway right? ^ _ ^"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 22, 2018, 04:26:56 am
Faith wasn't the most exciting, the most sensual, the most unique girl in the world. But she was, by, far, the nicest person Minato had ever met. She wasn't after his money, she didn't judge him for being a pervert; she liked Minato for who he was. She'd had his back in every fight so far. They were a team, even among their small ragtag group of superpowered misfits. For Minato, that was all that mattered.
Minato was used to people being scumbags to each other; after all, that was why he'd become Masked Knight Gaia, to stop the Aramitama from picking on the little guy. As long as he could remember, he'd been the knight coming to people's rescue, whether it was punching the big bully in the face to stop them from harassing the bookworm girl in the library, or smashing Aramitama heads to protect an Awakened middle school student. People had approached him and become his friend purely for the riches that Minato's family had; he'd bluntly rejected them. In Minato's world, if you were only going to use him because of his money or to get a leg up in the world, you had no place in it.
Minato, for the longest time, had modelled himself after the part of a chivalrous knight, driven by a code of honor, simple though it was. Fight for the little guy, protect your friends, stand between the innocent and the evil.
Everything with Noriko, however, had made him question that role he had assumed for himself. If he couldn't even help his friends with their lives, especially one of his closest and only friends, what good was he? After all, he was a pervert, incapable of protecting even his own friends, and hardly the invincible knight that he wanted so much to be. He wasn't anything like the knight that Faith had just described him as.
But Faith had just told him the opposite. Even if it was only her life he was changing, even if it was only ONE life he was protecting, he was doing right by someone. If he could do it for Faith, then he could do it for everyone else.
He wasn't a failure of a hero, just a hero who needed to find his footing.
Even if it was only Faith, Minato was helping someone.
He gives Faith an awkward smile, that was somehow more genuine than all the confident and suave smiles he'd flashed at her.
"I....uh....well....I never really usually get this far with a girl, you know? They.....all think I'm weird, for being the way I am. Or they just want the money. Even if we made all our money in Awakened stuff, the Kumons aren't exactly obscure. That's the reason I'm not with anyone right now; I haven't found the right girl, someone who I could live with being with. And honestly, if you're surprised, I'm surprised you are.
Let's be honest, Faith. I'm a shameless pervert. I'm not great at backing my friends up; just ask Noriko. I'm hardly the smartest guy in the world. I can be oblivious, hot-tempered and a little short-sighted.
What I'm good at is fighting the bad guy, and I can't chase away all the bad guys in the world. I can't undo what I screwed up. I can't make your past go away, and I can't make your troubles disappear with a snap of my fingers. I wish I could fight them all, just whip out a sword and a shield and fight them like a knight of the old times, but I can't. Those are your battles, and all I can do is help you fight them.
But I'll try my best.
And if you're willing to give me a shot, if you're willing to put up with me, Faith, then I can't say no. Of course I'll be your boyfriend."
Post by: Powder Miner on September 22, 2018, 08:53:53 am
It was the next bit that got Faith uncomfortable, and enough so that it became visible on her face. Faith didn’t want to think of her troubles right now. She didn’t want to think about how Minato couldn’t deal with the ones not involving fighting for her. And she really, really didn’t want to think about her past, especially not right now. Faith ended up squeezing Minato a bit harder for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm down... and the time to register his last words.
He would help her, because he would be by her side... because he’d accepted her. He’d accepted her. He would be her boyfriend. She would be his girlfriend... they would be together. She closed her eyes for a moment and let the bliss wash back over her. ”Minato~~ You’re... you’re my boyfriend! I’m your girlfriend! Minato... this makes me so happy, I don’t really know what to say, so I’ll just...”
Faith opted for a nonverbal response instead, nestling herself deeper into Minato’s arms and leaning her face closer, closer, and closer to his, an eager expression on her blushing face.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 22, 2018, 06:52:44 pm
It is at this point, there's a couple knocks on the door, and then it opens... thankfully, the corner in which Noriko had decided to place herself was hidden by the way the door opened. "Hey, is everyone o...ok... in here..." the voice says, clearly the owner, who then closes the door very rapidly. "I, uh, I don't... sister's shouldn't touch each other that way!"
Post by: Empiricist on September 22, 2018, 06:59:32 pm
"It's okay! We're not blood-related! ^ _ ^"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 22, 2018, 08:07:45 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 22, 2018, 09:50:21 pm
Meanwhile, the manager makes a strangled noise through the door. "That's... what... I... I need a drink..."
Post by: Empiricist on September 22, 2018, 10:05:17 pm
"Is something wrong?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 24, 2018, 10:59:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 25, 2018, 12:37:33 am
"I see..." Elly goes silent for a moment. "I'm really sorry Noriko, I'm no good with this kinda thing, but I think I get it now. You want me to keep wearing the maid outfit, right? ^_^"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 26, 2018, 10:50:20 am
Truth be told, he wasn't quite used to the feeling of someone being this grateful for him being around, but he could get used to it.
He simply wraps his arms around her and pulls her in tightly as well, before noticing her face being quite close to his. An awkward blush appears on his face.
He's not quite sure what to do here, it seems.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 26, 2018, 11:05:44 am
Nonetheless, it was still moving towards his, and her lips were puckered slightly: it could not possibly be more obvious what she was going for. Still, when she got a mere centimeter away from him, she froze, evidently not able to work up the nerve to complete the kiss she was trying to initiate, instead just kind of hovering there with her eyes close, lips slightly open, and blush vivid.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 26, 2018, 11:18:39 am
Minato was thankful his thoughts couldn't be read by Faith, lest his suave, knightly facade be completely ruined.
Breathing in, he puckers his lips.
>Take the plunge. Just do it.<
He moves in, his own cheeks red, mostly out of shame for being a guy who didn't know how to kiss a girl.
And then he kisses the girl.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 26, 2018, 11:38:43 am
But to Faith, none of that mattered behind the sheer exhilaration of having her first kiss with a boy she liked. Faith leaned into Minato for several seconds, making a happy noise as the two kissed passionately if perhaps clumsily, until she finally disengaged with a ”Mwah~” She then squealed happily and curled up a bit, her head moved down to rest against his chest as Faith proceeded to snuggle into her new boyfriend. ”You know... I’ve neber had a boyfriend before... or a kiss...!” She blushed once more, and clapped her hands to her cheeks.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 26, 2018, 11:40:25 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 26, 2018, 02:31:04 pm
"I've.....never had a serious girlfriend. Or kissed a girl either. Guess we'll learn together, huh?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 26, 2018, 04:34:38 pm
"On it!"
With flash of twisted light, Elly's outfit reappears around her and she starts heading for the door.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 28, 2018, 10:32:28 am
”Oh yeah we do need to call your lawyer don’t we.”
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 28, 2018, 11:04:40 am
..........yeah. We probably should."
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 05:25:35 pm
It is now evening. Léone got a couple suits, a couple dresses, and some groceries. You got a new bedframe and a request for a duel for tomorrow afternoon from a certain Jack-O'.
Faith and Minato
It is now Thursday morning. Sakurako still hasn't shown up to school yet. Go shag in a supply closet or whatever the fuck it is that anime teens do.
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 06:44:49 pm
It was a request to duel. As best as he could tell, there wouldn't be any serious danger, and the duel was for testing purposes, or status or something. Either to test a person's power, or to prove it. At first he'd been leaning towards declining, but upon further consideration, he'd only be declining out of laziness or mild spite. It could be good honestly. First blood wouldn't be realistic to a real fight, but it might be some preparation for some unusual circumstances, maybe fighting something with powerful toxins that need to get into the bloodstream to take effect. Any situation really where one wouldn't want to be in contact with the enemy physically for reasons besides the likelihood of pure physical harm.
"Gonna be out tomorrow for an hour or two. Someone wants a duel or something."
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 07:31:44 pm
"So you do. Have you the clothes for the occasion? First blood is oftentimes still a ruined shirt."
Léone seems to get to work washing and cutting vegetables when you hear someone ring your doorbell.
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 08:00:18 pm
Shef noted the angel working in the kitchen, and opted not to comment on it. That she was making her own food was fine by him, and it would make things convenient if he didn't have to worry about providing for her. He'd make his own dinner later when she was done in the kitchen.
When the knock at the door came, Shef stood up, stretched, and headed over to open it. A small portal to see who it was, and then he'd open the door provided it was not someone threatening.
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 08:02:35 pm
Non-threatening eh? What does Hanako with a couple flowers and a manilla folder holding a couple print outs count as?
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 08:08:31 pm
Open the door to let her in.
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 08:21:01 pm
"H-h-hi! I-I know you said you didn't want f-flowers but I-I gave some to M-Mr. Koizumi too, a-and I thought it it wouldn't be fair if if left you out too... The um, report's done..."
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 08:28:21 pm
"So, uhm, just sit down for a moment, I'll give a quick skim through this, figure out where we go now. Will do a full readthrough later." He held out his hand for the papers, and stepped over to a lamp to read the report, for lack of a better word.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 28, 2018, 08:32:10 pm
"...Uh... are you alright?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 08:36:41 pm
Well, the report does a full risk breakdown and whatnot, with the bottom line being basically that she's willing to take the standard level of risk for a full-time Godslayer, with the preferred manner of lowering risk, when it comes down to it, in far less certain language, to A: be stronger, and B: leave no witnesses to come back for vengence be it by stealth or by well, y'know, bloodbath. To this she is willing to invest basically all her time given that she'll be doing this gig full-time. Current goals are to not die. Specifically to be able to survive an ambush like the one that killed her... and to be able to kill an Aramitama with a single shot? Uh, that doesn't sound too feasible, at least unless there's some massive power imbalance at play here...
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 09:10:31 pm
Shef paused, raising a hand to indicate he wasn't done as he thought. "Other stuff here is. . .fine. Gives me some idea of scheduling, what level of hurt you're willing to take to learn. But, far as goals go, we'll need something better, something more attainable in the near future. I've seen you provide fire support on a mission. Was that a primary or side application of your abilities?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 09:16:36 pm
"P-primary! (I think)"
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 09:24:40 pm
"It's a bodyguard assignment for a fancy party, need two other people to help out, not from my main team. Anyway, if no conflict comes up on the mission, I'll try to figure out something direct combat oriented that we can meet up and do Saturday." He'd check with Rosario whether he could get clearance to use that sparring room, or see whether the AIs knew any place nearby. "Payment is up to you. Monetary, resources, connections, up to you. Your choice pretty much, just be sure to name it before the mission. No vague undefined debts."
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 09:28:33 pm
"S-sure! D-do we k-know who might attack?"
Quote from: Rosario
I'll see if I can't book one for you.
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 09:34:40 pm
"That's all I've got for now. Though before you go, tell me, what type of gun are you using right now?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 09:39:32 pm
"I-it's a rifle, er, cannon. Rifle-cannon thing... it fires drills and i-if I anchor it, it gets bigger..."
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2018, 09:44:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2018, 10:04:09 pm
"Um, um, it's um, yes I can, it's really long range, semi-automatic? Recoil is high un-unless it's anchored... W-what do you mean by volume?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 29, 2018, 05:59:00 am
"Anyway. You can summon it? Do so now.
". . .Please."
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2018, 06:13:04 am
"I-it's really loud"
She conjures her regalia, it's this rugged gun noticeably lacking a physical scope and far closer in general construction to an artillery piece than a rifle, with a barrel heavy enough you could easily crack a skull with it (if you could even swing it) and wide enough you could stick your damn forearm down it. When Hanako anchors it, the entire thing just expands into, well basically, it's bigger, it's badder, and it's got a mechanical anchoring system that seems to magically integrate it into the apartment around it.
Post by: Strider03 on September 29, 2018, 07:53:40 am
"Not changing my earlier opinion, probably not going to be taking Aramitama out in one shot with this. But you shouldn't need to, given the nature of the weapon. Allows you to strike a number of times before they even get in range." A thought popped into his mind, a specific technique that might be possible with a weapon like this. Not useful against anything but a stationary foe, and not possible unless one had an extreme ballistic intuition and precise timing, but it might be possible. "Can you control muzzle velocity, and can you consistently make the projectiles ignore air resistance, for say, ten shots in twenty seconds?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2018, 07:56:25 am
"Yes, and s-sort of. I-if I phase it out i-it won't suffer air resistance, b-but it's k-kinda tiring to do..."
Post by: Strider03 on September 29, 2018, 08:05:57 am
"Just an idea anyway. For now, I don't need anything else. Before Friday need you to tell me your max range in meters, if possible, or the maximum range you were capable of testing before then. Additionally, size of five shot groupings at different ranges, gun anchored and held freely. Oh, and the time you took to make each of the five shot groups. I. . . I think that's all. Anything else you need before you go?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2018, 08:10:37 am
"L-longest I've done was 1 km... I-I think I can hit the same spot with all five i-if I don't panic... I-I think it was um, 46 seconds?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 29, 2018, 08:17:57 am
"Well, if you can, test out shots at 2 km. You'll be able to match ranges with the best non-awakened snipers then. And with what's essentially an artillery piece, you could probably get up to something like 10 km eventually. Need a good way of spotting at that distance, but it's certainly feasible. Uhm, since you've already got that info down though, if you can't find a time or place to test longer ranges. . . just go down to: " Shef named a location in downtown Sendo, not near the busiest bustling center, but not far from it. "Tell me what you think the best positions for you to set up would be and why, report back in two days at most."
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2018, 08:25:36 am
"O-okay!"
Post by: Strider03 on September 29, 2018, 08:31:31 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2018, 08:34:37 am
"B-bye!"
Hanako starts walking towards the wall before stopping herself, and seemingly realizing she was about to commit a faux par, proceeds to leave through the door.
It appears that in her panic she forgot to open the door and just phased through again.
Post by: Strider03 on September 29, 2018, 08:42:55 am
The man stepped over to the kitchen, and, leaning against the wall on the threshold of the room, said, "You overhear any of that?"
"Was wondering if you could help out on Friday."
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2018, 08:45:06 am
"I can pretend I didn't."
Post by: Strider03 on September 29, 2018, 08:46:21 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2018, 08:01:40 pm
"I've no objections."
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 29, 2018, 09:05:08 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on September 30, 2018, 11:57:02 am
Something belying her attempt to look as happy and secure as possible, though, was the way her expression flickered occasionally and the way she looked around nervously. Truth be told, this was a bit of a testing ground for her - she wasn’t sure what people would think of her just disappearing for two days and coming back with Minato as her boyfriend? Would they think bad things about her? Oh, or she could get into trouble...
Faith sighed, snuggled into Minato’s arm a bit further, and then spoke to get off of that train of thought. ”So... Sakurako isn’t here yet. Um... I dunno, do we sit somewhere and go wait for her?”
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 01, 2018, 03:42:39 am
Minato was trying to ignore the fact that his very busty girlfriend's bountiful bosom was currently pressing very softly into his arm and he wasn't quite sure it was working.
Post by: Strider03 on October 01, 2018, 06:25:55 am
He opened a line to the AI, and asked without formalities, "Can you get me in contact with Evi?"
Post by: Empiricist on October 01, 2018, 07:20:23 am
You receive a text message with her phone number.
Post by: Strider03 on October 01, 2018, 08:07:05 am
From there he'd inquire whether she was free the next few days and whether she could assist on the bodyguard mission, and asked as before that she figure out how and whether she wanted payment before the mission.
Post by: Powder Miner on October 01, 2018, 02:59:15 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 04:12:46 am
Evi was indeed available. Looks like you goy your squad now.
it is now Wednesday afternoon. You have just entered one of the sparring rooms in St. Homobonus Basilica's hidden subterranean section. Well, sparring room doesn't quite do it justice, it's an entire cavernous chamber rectangular in construction with marble pillars running down each side and light from the false sky filtering through the stained glass windows. Your challenger is waiting near the entrance, leaning against a pillar, a young man with a dark complexion and even darker clothes, some sort of mix between a coat and hoodie, the entire outfit nothing but blacks and greys.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 02, 2018, 06:45:50 am
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 06:55:24 am
"Alright, let's get this over with then." Shef addressed the man, voice echoing through the hall.
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 07:15:57 am
Shef
"Sure."
| [Now Playing: | Plastic Night II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEK8y3nnxxA) | ] |
Jack-O' flips his hood up, his face vanishing into the shadows. From the darkness shines an orange light forming the face of a jack-o-lantern. Well, now you know where he got that name from at least. Darkness seems to leak from him, smoke rapidly filling the air around him as he grow several feet taller, a hulking figure of dark smoke. He begins to move toward the opposite end of the room.
Spoiler: Statuses (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Jack-O' (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Jack-O's Perspective (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 07:23:02 am
Shef opens a portal under the man with a thought, to drop him from about a story up, and opens up on him with Rapid Fire [2 Gauge] whether the being falls or not. Make sure to spread the shots around a bit, and note if any hits seem marginally more effective. Action cost: [3 Gauge]
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 08:16:48 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Plastic Night II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEK8y3nnxxA) | ] |
Portal opens beneath Jack-O's feet but rather than falling straight through he seems to stumble and leaps to the side to try and avoid your bullets. Gunfire tears through his smoke-like form but well, it's kinda hard to tell what their state is beneath all that. All the bullets seem to have pierced him though judging by the impacts on the stone and glass behind him.
"Shit!"
He spins around starts running for cover behind a nearby pillar, pulling out a uzi and firing at you as he runs
Spoiler: Statuses (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Jack-O's Perspective (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 08:32:29 am
Shef will attempt to use a nonhyper portal to mark some of the shots as "return to sender", and set up a cached portal [3 Gauge]. Action amount [2 Gauge]
((OOC: Shef himself is near a pillar right? If the hall is symmetrical at least, he set himself up across from Jack-O' back when he was leaning against a pillar, and Shef hasn't moved from that spot))
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 08:46:25 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Plastic Night II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEK8y3nnxxA) | ] |
Portal cached you take a couple shots, but only the first one really hurt, hard to tell how much damage your foe took as they dived behind the pillar. You take cover behind your own pillar.
Now what? Well, now Jack-O' starts making a break for the next pillar along his side of the room, tossing a grenade towards you.
Spoiler: Statuses (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Jack-O's Perspective (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 08:57:47 am
Shef will attempt to shoot the grenade in the air, as soon after it leaves Jack's hand as possible. Stay close to the pillar and be ready duck back behind. Action amount [3 Gauge]
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 09:09:55 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Plastic Night II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEK8y3nnxxA) | ] |
You aim your gun and fire a sngle bullet. The bullet slams into the casing, and punches into the grenade, sending it flying backwards. Guess this one isn't sensitive to shock. But assuming you didn't destroy the detonator...
"<SON OF A BITCH!>"
...it will still go off right in his lap.
Well the motherfucker in the smoke is now stuck in a cloud of debris so visibility has gotten even worse. Still he doesn't sound like he took that one too well.
"Grr... let's see you try this on for size!"
There's another blast in the debris cloud, something slamming against the ground, another plume of debris rising as Jack-O'lunges from the debris towards you. Well, sorta lunges, guy's noticeably limping a bit. It'll take some time to close the gap, but he's not just going for a straight charge, he's tossing two at you this time with a bit of the spread to them and aimed at the ground. When they hit the ground, both seem to suddenly speed up and bounce at quite different angles.
Spoiler: Statuses (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Jack-O's Perspective (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 09:39:53 am
"Not going to be enough." He grunted, without thinking. Normally he wouldn't have said anything, why waste the breath? But he'd said it for some reason.
Shef uses Room to Breathe [2 Gauge] to head out and around to the left of Jack (from Shef's pov), and fires a few shots. One at least each in general head area, torso, and limbs. Action amount [2 Gauge]
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 10:04:15 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Plastic Night II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEK8y3nnxxA) | ] |
You quickly portal around as the pillar behind explodes and absolutely just riddle the guy with bullets. Okay that's it, it'd definitely a trick. The bullets just moved straight the guy and this time he isn't even trying to dodge.
You hear two pings of metal. The first comes from something rushing forwards from your front right. The second noise however came further from your right just barely angled behind you. Jack-O' now lunges towards you. Well "Jack-O'".
There's two of them. A figure of smoke rushing forwards to strike you down with its fists of fury, and the other one, the young man dressed in black and barely even scratched, rushing out of the debris firing at your legs with another uzi.
Spoiler: Statuses (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Jack-O's Perspective (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on October 02, 2018, 10:49:53 am
Barring Noriko's response changing this, she would head out of the room.
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 12:02:21 pm
He pulled the conceptual pin on his portal, drawing up a defense against the Uzi and perhaps the smoke figure charging him, and aimed a shot.
Use cached portal, try to get a sense of whether there's anything visible in the directions of the two metallic pings, and use Tracer[R]. Attempt to direct it through the smoke figure and then the man in black in sequence, detonating when the bullet runs up against significant resistance. If there's no significant resistance in either, and nothing exceptional is visible at the sites of the two metallic pings, detonate the bullet between the smoke and physical figure. [3 Gauge]
Post by: Powder Miner on October 02, 2018, 12:36:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 04:16:13 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Plastic Night II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEK8y3nnxxA) | ] |
You open the portal sending the bullets away as you tr and get a read on the flashes. Well, it's not hard to figure it out because you're immediately struck from both sides by spinning rings of metal. The first strikes you in the hand, throwing off your aim, not that it matters with the nature of what you were going to fire, the second strikes you in the spine, tearing open your jacket and shirt.
They were grenade pins! He had thrown those grenades as a diversion! He had used the pins as a delayed attack! Was this Jack-O's plan all along?
| [Now Playing: | I'm in Control (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4v2WoKor6A) | ] |
Both figures rush towards you, quickly closing the gap. As the figure of smoke brings their fist towards your face, you pull the trigger.
The shot was completely off thanks to that pin attack. Doesn't matter. You portal it right through the smoke figure. Guess that really is immaterial. Next try - the man in the suit. Impact. He's real. This is gonna hurt for both of you.
The tracer detonates as the second blow from the smoke-like figure sends you crumpling to the ground.
The blast hurls both of your further down the room, landing hard on the ground. This time the guy definitely felt it.
"Shef! Check your left pocket! Is that your card?"
Your left pocket? In your left pocket, there is a grenade. The pin has already been pulled.
"Go!「Deep Purple」!"
The smoke figure reappears, aiming to settle things with another series of strikes.
Spoiler: Statuses (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Jack-O's Perspective (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 04:28:02 pm
Shef creates a portal under himself, twisting over as quickly as possible into it so that he'll fall on Jack, grenade between the two of them. He'll try to stab Jack with his exo-arm knife as a bit of insurance. "Hey! Look over there!" hyper [1 Gauge], Action amount, [3 Gauge]. 1 Resolve to brace for the explosion. Basically, give the man a hug, he needs it.
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 04:49:36 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | I'm in Control (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4v2WoKor6A) | ] |
As Deep Purple rushes forth to strike you down, you portal ontop of its master.
He grins. You can't see him grin, but you can just hear it in his voice.
"Whatever I do, you try to turn it against me. I can't predict you Shef, but I can get close enough! This is it! <Checkmate!>"
There's an explosion. But it's not from the grenade, it's from Jack-O's chest, a directed blast hurling you away into the air. And then the grenade goes off, sending a piece of shrapnel right into your leg and basically just ruining your trousers.
You feel blood trickle down your leg. You've lost.
What the hell was that? Right before that first blast the straps on his chest disengaged. Was it another hidden weapon? You never did see him carrying those uzis and grenades when you walked in. Did he have a claymore strapped to his chest the whole time too?
"Good fight."
Jack-O' begins heading over, taking out a healing potion and offering it to you. No, you see it now. They had something far deadlier than a claymore - a pair of breasts. All this time, you were fighting a Keijo practitioner.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 02, 2018, 05:07:12 pm
She eventually stood up and changed into her own uniform, hoping that the customers took her unwillingness to talk for her just playing her character, and headed out.
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 05:26:53 pm
". . . Ohh. Keijo?"
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 05:34:53 pm
Jack-O' drinks her own potion.
"Yeah, I actually came here to learn more from Master o-Shiri, and figured I might as well try my hand against one of her teammates first. Say, was there any trick to that exploding bullet, or are you just that quick with those portals?"
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 05:49:19 pm
He shrugged. "You in a rush to be anywhere, or what? Got some questions of my own if you can disclose any of your tricks. The grenade pins, specifically. Just, what was up with those?"
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 06:12:18 pm
"Damn that got me good. I'm in no hurry."
She pulls out a small coin and Deep Purple appears, balancing it on its finger. The coin begins to spin, faster and faster, gaining a certain radiance to it. You've seen that radiance before.
"It's a keijo technique. A「Perfected Vacuum Butt Cannon」produces「Ripples」that will continue even if the butt strike is stopped. It doesn't look like it, but「Deep Purple」is constantly spinning and producing more of these ripples. If I transfer these ripples into something I can control them. And..." Deep Purple flicks the coin into a pillar, blasting a sizeable crater into it "It can do a lot of damage."
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 06:56:31 pm
"What's with the name? Deep Purple?"
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 07:50:05 pm
"Yeah, rate's limited. There are some marble tricks I can do but they don't work against people like you who don't rely on evasion. It's a band name, I just did it since some of the other people with these guardian spirit types do the same thing."
Post by: Strider03 on October 02, 2018, 08:02:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 02, 2018, 08:52:31 pm
"You stood in the open even when you attacked me pre-emptively, you fired my own bullets back at me, and you made no attempt to dodge. That's not something normal people do so casually. I figured that was your style, and I figured if you had a defense that good, you'd use it often. Tested that theory with the first grenade. You suddenly coming at my side was unexpected but it still fit the countering pattern. I wasn't that sure about it when I told you that, but it was my best shot and I figured calling it out might throw you off."
Post by: Strider03 on October 03, 2018, 06:16:31 am
"Well, I've got nothing else, so I'm gonna head out if that's alright. If you're willing, care for a rematch sometime? Curious how well those tricks work on second showings."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 03, 2018, 08:06:03 am
Faith opened her mouth... and then her face slowly turned an interesting shade of red, the blonde half-American rapidly relinquishing her grip on her boyfriend, her arms moving instead to cover her blushing face. ”Oh my God... I can’t believe I didn’t think about that, stupid things, augh, sorry, that’s embarrassing.”Minato reaches out to pat her on the shoulder comfortingly.
"It's alright. Just....y'know, I'm not used to.....cute girls hugging me willingly."
Post by: Empiricist on October 03, 2018, 09:29:50 am
"Anytime."
Post by: Powder Miner on October 03, 2018, 01:44:15 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 04, 2018, 04:54:39 am
Post by: Powder Miner on October 04, 2018, 11:12:44 pm
Faith pulled out her comm, palming it and speaking lowly into it.
”<Winter, uh, gosh, I guess prying into personal stuff probably isn’t your job, but in these circumstances... do you know if Sakurako is doing something other than school today? I was hoping to see her, because... well, you know.>”
Post by: Empiricist on October 05, 2018, 12:13:15 am
"<Sakurako is still undergoing rehabilitation. She will not returning to school just yet. If you want to see her, go to Yoake's gym after school, she has been registered to undertake Keijo lessons to help her control her powers.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 05, 2018, 02:28:10 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 05, 2018, 03:28:28 am
"<You could drop by the Eisenberg Health facility.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 05, 2018, 03:39:20 am
Post by: Twinwolf on October 05, 2018, 06:17:14 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 05, 2018, 09:53:02 am
Post by: Twinwolf on October 05, 2018, 10:01:04 am
Post by: Powder Miner on October 05, 2018, 01:56:51 pm
”Oh— Um— Yuki... I wasn’t really planning on going, I was just going to go to Eisenberg Health to see Sakurako. But if you’re there...”
Faith trailed off and thought for a moment. Faith hadn’t really dwelled on it before (and she didn’t think she could be blamed for that) but back during the train and the Hitler battle (what the fuck was her life) Yuki hadn’t even seemed to understand that she should be embarrassed, and the same for an incident previous. Faith hadn’t wanted to go to the Keijo gym because she didn’t want to get harassed about how her chest was big enough to be great for Keijo or something like that, but the idea of Yuki getting roped into Keijo without even understanding why it might be embarrassing was... ickier than that, even.
”...uggghhh... yeah, I’ll go too, I guess...”
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 05, 2018, 02:04:37 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 05, 2018, 02:06:51 pm
”Um, to be fair to Yoake she probably isn’t going to be mangling Sakurako... probably. It’s probably just that Sakurako’s powers are... well... you know, and she’s learning to control them still, so if they go out of control...”
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 07, 2018, 12:46:16 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 07, 2018, 09:47:01 pm
”Oh yeah!” She put her hands on Yuki’s shoulders and grinned at her. ”So, Yuki, guess what! I asked Minato to be my boyfriend... and he said yes!”
Post by: Twinwolf on October 08, 2018, 08:20:46 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 10, 2018, 07:08:14 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 10, 2018, 10:57:27 pm
Ridding Faith of her nervousness was essentially impossible, but Yuki’s own delight did seem to have given her happiness a little confidence — Faith smiled at Minato over her sister’s head.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 12, 2018, 09:22:50 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 13, 2018, 04:04:52 am
"....riiiiiiiiiight. Okay. Uh.....should we get a move on?"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 13, 2018, 05:09:45 am
Faith leaned in and hugged her sister, before turning to Minato. "Um, well, since you're my senpai and all, if we're moving on to class now, I guess I'll see you in a couple hours. Um... um... I hope class is nice for you!" Faith closed her eyes, blushed, and then gave Minato, truly scandalous, a peck on the cheek. She continued to blush for a few seconds before she sighed. "I have to go face the music myself, I guess..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 13, 2018, 01:20:39 pm
"Don't worry. You're a hero in your spare time. You got this."
Post by: Twinwolf on October 13, 2018, 08:46:54 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 15, 2018, 12:22:36 am
Aight, it's now afternoon and you guys have entered Yoake's gym shortly after the commencement of classes. About five minutes alte or so, helps with Faith's anxiety, Yoake's not gonna be drawing too attention to y'all if she's busy teaching. Or so the idea goes anyway. Now maybe except for Minato you guys probably don't really know what to expect. Maybe it'll be standard martial arts training, or maybe it's just gonna be a complete redo of fuckin' MXC. Who knows? Well, the good news is, it's mostly the former. Except y'know, in swimsuits and most of the class' minds appear to be just a little bit distracted by the magical gunfight happening a couple meters away between their instructor and a spell-slinging nekomata.
Oh also Sakurako's here too.
Post by: Powder Miner on October 15, 2018, 03:02:12 am
Faith grabbed Minato's hand and began to move in the direction of the girl she'd now rescued twice. "C'mon Minato, she's over here. Yuki, uh... you're here to help supervise Sakurako anyway, right? Come on over with me too, okay?" That last bit was actually just Faith wanting to keep an eye on Yuki, not that she'd say so.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 15, 2018, 03:14:49 am
"Alright. Well then. At least it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 15, 2018, 03:44:16 am
She was trying not to do anything overt to show she'd noticed, continuing with her exercise and just... quietly hoping they were there to see their comrade. That was it, right? I mean, she'd caused them so much trouble with everything that had happened, and Faith had saved her *twice* now...
oh.
oh sweet merciful buddha they're heading straight for her.
What was she going to say? what should she say? what could she say?
her thoughts are undercut at this point by a sort of silent, awkward screaming.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 15, 2018, 07:54:31 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 15, 2018, 07:57:35 pm
"Um... hi Sakurako. I came to check on you, 'cause, you know..." Faith wondered if she should keep the whole Awakened thing secret, and then glanced at the ongoing flashy battle. "...after the battle and all. The other two who were there showed me some papers and stuff. Um, Yuki, I think you'll want to watch out for her blood pressure going impossibly high... but, I dunno, I guess your healing doesn't really discriminate.
That sounds really hard, though, Sakurako..."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 15, 2018, 08:20:25 pm
oh, that's how it is. She's a job. Causing them even more trouble even when she's not under attack now.
"I... yes, I am, and um... can we... not talk about..." she glances over at the other students, thankfully seeming too distracted either doing their own thing or watching their teacher to pay attention to their conversation. "About... things... out here?" True, the fight was awakened, but to everyone else here it just looked like their master was fighting someone using a gun, presumably loaded with blanks or rubber bullets or something.
Post by: Empiricist on October 15, 2018, 08:31:24 pm
"Holy shit! I think those are real bullets!"
"Fuck! Should we call the police?"
"I don't know! Normally they don't agree to being shot at!"
Looks like you spoke too soon.
Post by: Powder Miner on October 15, 2018, 08:51:32 pm
”<Fucking> Yoake, <I swear to God...> Um, Sakurako, should we step outside or something...? I really did come to check on you, and according to Winter, the only options were here and the clinic. I would’ve gone there but Yuki was heading here, so...”
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 15, 2018, 11:42:15 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 16, 2018, 12:36:58 am
"Yeah, that sounds good..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 16, 2018, 05:52:58 am
Post by: Powder Miner on October 16, 2018, 12:31:12 pm
Then Noriko approached, and Faith immediately turned to her and put her hands on her shoulders. ”Oh my God tell me more where is this place?” Then she belatedly realized that the last time Noriko had seen her she was naked, and Faith colored a bit, looked down, and stepped back.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 16, 2018, 12:54:53 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 16, 2018, 09:57:51 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 17, 2018, 03:54:36 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 17, 2018, 12:12:32 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 21, 2018, 11:47:10 pm
"Oh, my God, thank you so much. Please do send me the address! I swear, there's something bullshitty about the Awakened w-- ah, bah, I'm getting worked up. But thank you!"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 22, 2018, 12:23:41 am
She sounds calm, not wanting to worry them, smiling even though she'd yet to *quite* get ahold of the powers so that she *didn't* wake up and have to spend twenty minutes getting her heartrate back under control, like her muscles weren't constantly sore from overexertion just from the amount of tossing and turning she did in the night, and on a more practical level she'd gone through three separate pairs of sheets since the incident due to tearing them apart in her sleep.
"How are you all handling things? I mean, what with... well, what you do..."
Being heroes. Saving her, cleaning up after the mess she'd gotten herself in, things like that.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 23, 2018, 02:20:24 am
"Oh, you know. Saving a kitten in a tree here, bailing out a damsel in distress tied to some train tracks there, a fight with the evil version of some Western artist somewhere...."
Post by: Twinwolf on October 23, 2018, 09:34:26 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 24, 2018, 02:14:48 am
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 25, 2018, 11:37:53 pm
Just more reasons you shouldn't be bothering them with your problems.
"Well, I should really get back to practice, thank you all for coming out to see me~
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 26, 2018, 10:58:34 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 16, 2018, 08:14:47 pm
It is now Thursday. You're at the venue, a grand event hall. Big, wide open, circular tables scattered across the room. Height is three stories with terraces at the side of the hall. More positions to hide above in the lights and scaffolding. You got the plans on hand too. You alone, or did you bring a plus one?
Yuki
Okay so you start heading back home and you're well on your way when you hear a ruckus coming from a nearby alleyway.
Noriko
Okay so with this over you head back home ready to relax and just wallow in your own insecurities. Might need to put a raincheck on that, cause as you enter the safehouse's Sanctuary you find yourself face to face with Mary, Fleur, Vendelin, Evi, Elly, and a small group of plushies. Each of them is standing near or holding a box.
Faith and Minato
You two are walking back to Faith's. It's around here that you realize something's off. The air, it feels strange here, it feels stale, sterile, dead. And looking around you two find yourselves surrounded by wheat, pale stalks of wheat, you're up to your shoulders in it. It's everywhere, it's covering the place, the street, the road, the interior of the nearby shops. The civvies continue walking, oblivious.
Minato, you know what this is - Sanctuary Inversion. An Aramitama's Sanctuary projected onto the outside world, transforming their stronghold into a weapon. You're in danger, everyone's in danger. You feel a chill run down your spine. Something's coming, and you're right in its sights.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 16, 2018, 09:28:17 pm
He carefully made his way around the perimeter of the room, checking for the locations of electrical outlets and light fixtures. Additionally, he gave a quick check to the undersides of the tables. Unlikely that they would have anything more than an hour before the event, but best to check. Then he gave a quick glance around the room to determine whether it was empty of other people save Leone. If it is, he'll go to one side of the room, under the balcony, and see how many portals it takes to ascend up to each level. Better to know that ahead of time than to have to figure it out on the fly. He continued to keep an eye out for any abnormalities.
Post by: Empiricist on November 16, 2018, 11:18:00 pm
Outlets are in the walls at regular intervals. Fixtures are generally located above with the scaffolding in the main room, or in the ceiling for the balconies. Nothing out of place underneath the tables and there are people buying around helping set up at the moment.
"If we're expecting larger monsters, we will need to plan out escape routes. If worst comes to worst spell fire will be blowing through the walls. It may be counter intuitive but if something does appear we may need to use our client as bait."
Post by: Strider03 on November 16, 2018, 11:40:57 pm
"You're going to be closest to the client, there to take the hit it need be, so you'll be the primary escort in escape. There's the main ways in and out, stairs and elevators. We'll use those if we can. If there's indication that they're being watched, there's a set of two loading elevators through the service corridor here, and through backstage and across the link bridge." Shef indicated two locations on the floor plan. "There's also the deck, if it comes to that. Exit choice will be up to your judgement, however, if possible exiting the main way is best, then balcony if we're separated, service elevators if not." Essentially, he drew two recommended lines on the map, as proposed exit plans that could be used if things went right, and they'd adapt when things inevitably did not go right.
"Let's take a look at this area over here." Shef pointed out the location on the map that involved the service corridor, some dressing rooms, and the elevators. He'd head that way, and make his way in so that they could get an idea of the layout in each of these rooms. Use requiem and portals for keeping people from asking questions and getting in respectively. Continue to keep an eye out for suspicious devices, layout choices, people, etc as they move through the service corridor and into the smaller rooms.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 17, 2018, 02:16:14 am
Minato ducks behind the nearest obstacle and reaches into his blazer, tugging on the Gaia Driver's lever.
"Henshin!"
Get to cover, keep an eye on the area around us and transform.
[[2] 1 5 1 5 4 3 1 2 2]
Post by: Powder Miner on November 17, 2018, 04:34:37 am
Faith winced, but it seemed to work, as the pink heart on the end of the pink rod began to glow, and her body was suddenly obscured by white light. Maybe some observer in some faraway plane got a vision of her swirling around in a multicolored background, with bubbles of light flashing by the observer's point of view in a very complex transformation sequence, but here and now it was a much more pragmatic transformation, a flash of light obscuring her form below her head for a moment before disappearing and revealing that Faith was wearing an entirely different outfit: Faith was wearing a red, long-sleeved dress going down to the knees, with circles of white frills and red frills running (separately) down the sleeves and main body of the dress and making something that almost seemed like a striped pattern. On the chest, right in the middle of the white frills and above her breasts was a large and brilliant blue gem set within a blue flower, matched by smaller blue gems on her cuffs. She also had a black headband with a blue flower on one side of it, white stockings going up to her thighs, and pretty black shoes that thankfully weren't high heels.
Faith looked down at her new outfit and paused for a couple of seconds. "<...wow. Okay, that's... uh... actually not that bad, it's a little much and kinda on the nose, but at least it's not some fanservice anime garbage... RIGHT THE SANCTUARY. Um... Minato, you should probably keep a little bit of a distance from me, I'm going to be trying the new Regalia out and what it does is pretty lethal so you need to not get in the way of my abilities with it on, okay? Right now with what I have planned that means you shouldn't be super near me.>" And with that she moved a few feet away from him and up popped one of her shields... but instead of simply being the usual glowing yellow shield, eddies of pink coloring moved through it. "<Come,uh... come and get some! We're ready for you and you can't get through me!"> Nice job on the confidence, she thought to herself sarcastically, but hopefully whatever attacked fell for it and attacked in melee.
Faith puts up a Shield of Courage and charges it with Doki Doki Energy!
World Line: 5 2 3
Post by: Empiricist on November 17, 2018, 05:39:38 am
"I can get some long fall charms for the balcony. Though mind telling me why that's the plan B? It's probably faster than taking the stairs and it keeps the attacker away from the civilians too, so it should make it easier for us to fight."
Nothing suspicious, though you're not exactly expecting that either given that you're up against large monsters and not a hit squad. Better safe than sorry though. Dressing room is mostly empty, makes sense given that it's a cocktail night and not a performance. Corridors are rather busy at the moment, likely won't be on the night of the event, and chances are in an emergency most people will be leaving through the main entrances for the stairs and escalator than back here.
Faith and Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Okay you got a Sanctuary, you got a target, but where the hell is the Aramitama? It's gotta come soon, Minato's readying his armor, the element of surprise is already fading. It needs to strike now, so where the hell is it? Is hiding? Is it disguised? In the shadows? In the walls? Is it the couple to left? The truck passing to the right?
A girl brushes past you, a high school student no older than you are, straw hat tilted over her eyes. The motion jostles you, your eyes follow, but she's not there anymore. No, she's in front of you now, scythe crashing down without mercy.
| [Now Playing: | RISE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8TyLTD7EE) | ] |
It was simply death, emptiness, void, nothingness given form, a deep rift torn into the world, a color darker than black. A scythe, when it comes down to it, is a pretty piss poor choice in weapon. Modified it could work as an awkward pick, if you've the strength to wield it as such, still less than ideal, but no one uses it because it's a good physical weapon. Perhaps it's the price of their ritual, the price that the wound be inflicted by something so flimsy and impractical, perhaps it is little more than a magical catalyst, less a weapon and more a conduit, it always comes down to supernatural fuckery in the end, and this? This ain't no different. This deathly scythe as it turns out, is imply its dormant form, and when it attacks it shifts, into a great cleaving shockwave, that, that is what was bearing down upon you.
Faith, you force Minato out the way and leap backwards, the blade cleaving your barrier in twain, before both your feet touch the ground again you're leaping to the side as the weapon lances forwards again, now in the form of a lance.
You're, hurt. Okay, not really, it's a graze, it's fine, but well that's not really the point here. This staff, it's definitely upped your capabilities, the scythe strike didn't even touch you, your shield soaked the hit for you. The follow up? You didn't need the shield for that, you dodged. So, did you get grazed? It was between the two strikes, right after the first strike broke your shield, something brushed your finger tips, and in that moment it felt as it the strength started to leech from your body. It was only for an instant, but it was most certainly there.
The wheat is gone too, all the wheat in the path of the swing is just, gone, scattered, stalk and all. It should've only bisected them, but the entire stalk is gone. Is there some other trick to that scythe? Or is it a quirk of this Sanctuary itself?
Four drones rise from the field in a spread formation, each consisting of a spherical birdcage with circular arrays of wind chimes beneath them. Spinning their wind chimes like gatlings two of them send twin streams of arcane energy streaking down towards you, the wheat falling apart beneath their fire as the rounds start tracing towards you. Hmm... they're destroying the wheat completely too... and what's with these trajectories? It's like they're trying to break the wheat around you before closing in?
The third chime rings with a soundless ring as a large spell circle circle appears above you two, sending arrows of frost raining down. Fourth, kinda just floats there.
Oh also, scythe bitch is coming right up on your grill, keeping up the pressure and aiming to impale both of you with another thrust of her weapon.
Minato, your armor's up and you notice that her guard's got some holes in it. She's overextended. At least she should be. It should be a simple matter to summon a sword, parry, and strike and yet... something is wrong, terribly wrong. Every fiber of your being is telling you to run, that it's a trap, that you musn't attack right now.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on November 17, 2018, 06:46:01 am
Faith puts up two Shields of Courage (using a Resolve) and Alters her 2 roll to a 3, spending it on one of the shields, alters the next 4 to a 5, then tries to intercept the Aramitama's attack!
World Line: 2-->
Post by: Strider03 on November 17, 2018, 08:13:49 am
"If we're expecting monstrosities, but don't account for the possibility of some crazy ex or family rival sending a saboteur, then we'll find ourselves in deep shit. And seeing as we have time, I'm going to be checking for things not necessarily related to monstrosities. On that note, he headed into one of the bathrooms, and gave a quick check for anything suspicious, then indicated Leone should do the same for the women's room. He'd want this repeated on the bathrooms they come across later.
Post by: Empiricist on November 17, 2018, 08:23:52 am
"Fine by me."
Bathrooms are clear.
Post by: Strider03 on November 17, 2018, 08:47:54 am
"Could you get your hands on a tracking device? Worst comes to worst and we get separated, being able to track the client will be valuable." As they reentered the main room, Shef began to consider how to inspect the light scaffolding in the ceiling, whether he'd need portals, or if he could figure out where to access it the mundane way. Given that the ceiling was twelve meters up, there'd be some way of easily accessing it for workers who needed to change the lights. Catwalks or something.
Post by: Twinwolf on November 17, 2018, 08:54:54 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 17, 2018, 05:30:49 pm
"Consider it done."
There's some maintainance stairs and walkways up there.
Yuki
You're about to peak into the alleyway when a swarm of shadowy bats erupts out, soon followed by arcane bolts. The swarm swings out and precipitating out of it is a man dressed in an awfully expensive suit with a black umbrella and pointed canines.
"Lil' lady! It's dangerous around here, you'd best get going!" he sounds, friendly, approachable, as he traces a blood red circle and steps back, putting himself between you and the entrance to the alley.
Post by: Strider03 on November 17, 2018, 05:45:53 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 17, 2018, 05:49:41 pm
No time. He was transformed. Faith was stepping right into a trap. He mentally went through what things he could summon quickly. Durandal would be of no use. The Luin was only good for an oncoming attack. Gungnir, no; he needed something better. He needed some way of intercepting attacks; so it couldn't be Gleipnir.
Rho Aias it was.
Alter to 2, summon Rho Aias and multiple generic shields, use Rho Aias to cover from above and use the rest to cover Minato and Faith's backs.
[[1] 5 1 5 [4] 3 1 2 2 4]
Post by: Empiricist on November 17, 2018, 08:28:17 pm
Nothing suspicious. Coverage-wise, it's better; the terraces have a bit of a blindspot directly beneath then, and while the walkways will block Hanako's shots straight down, she can move to compensate, or phase her shots straight through as the construction of the walkways makes it possible to glance through them. The trade-off however is that you're not entirely sure it will survive the recoil of her Regalia's artillery mode, a single shot from that could potentially send pieces of scaffolding and walkway crashing down onto the hall below.
Faith and Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | RISE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8TyLTD7EE) | ] |
Faith, you just throw yourself at the Aramitama blade. Your shields shatter and the blade dissipates. That's another two doses, she goes for the follow up: a sidestep and a slash to your throat. That is where things go wrong for both of you. She seems to stagger forwards an extra step, off-balance. Her face is flushed; Doki Doki poisoning. The first dose, she's realized some thing's wrong, but it's too late, you've given her another two doses already and soon enough they'll be setting in. Things aren't all sunshine and rainbows for you either, your duck turns into a fall as all the strength seems to leave your body leaving you prone on the now-barren earth. You're struggling to find move, your life force is beginning to drain.
Minato, you're currently pinned down by the frost arrow barrage, the surface of the shield is beginning to freeze over but it's barely even damaged. The other shields, well they take a few hits and then the arcane bolts just trace off them and instead just start blasting the ground around you too. Hmm, looks like these drones are focused more on suppressive fire and debilitation than raw power. Still this bevahiour is quite troubling, they took care to leave you in a small circular patch of wheat, surrounded by barren ground, this can't be a coincidence.
Spell Chimes A and B swing their weapons over at Faith now, with the previously dormant Chime D conjuring another frost arrow circle above her. Chime C continues pressuring and pinning you with its own rain of arrows.
The Aramitama collapses into shadows, reappearing closer to you, another short range teleport followed by a low sweeping strike aiming for your legs. That second dose Faith gave her should be setting in shortly, she should be vulnerable, but you still can't shake this sense of dread.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 17, 2018, 08:58:16 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 17, 2018, 10:03:46 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 17, 2018, 11:36:54 pm
"Set her up on the terraces, we'll need as much firepower as we can get. We can rig some cameras up here and have her monitor them to cover her blond spots."
Noriko
"Er, hi! Sorry about the intrusion, it's just we never had the chance to properly thank you for all your work, and um, Wintermute mentioned you just moved in here and that you could use some more furniture so um..."
"KILL."
Post by: Strider03 on November 17, 2018, 11:47:37 pm
He pulled out his phone, checking first the wifi connection, whether that was password protected, and secondly, checking the website for the venue to get any information that had been posted about the event. He'd checked before, but something things might appear at the last minute. Specifically, in describing the event, is there public information about attendees both specific and general, and are times publicly listed and such.
"You done this before or anything?"
Post by: Powder Miner on November 18, 2018, 02:47:05 am
Faith uses Leap of Apollo to evade the drones and get into the wheat! Alteration to 4.
World Line: 3-->4 4 6 6 2 1 1
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 18, 2018, 03:36:24 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 18, 2018, 07:25:15 am
No authentication on the free wifi, the event isn't publicly listed, guess it must be invite only.
"I've been in the ballpark."
Noriko
"Would you like help moving them up, or should we just leave them here?"
Post by: Strider03 on November 18, 2018, 07:32:04 am
Shef headed back down from the catwalk, before considering how to find the head of security. There had to be someone who'd gotten them in without questions, right? He'd make his way to whatever security station they might have passed on the way in, and ask to talk to the head of security from there.
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 18, 2018, 05:08:13 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 18, 2018, 05:10:49 pm
The ground underneath him was barren. No time to waste. He didn't have weapons. Not yet. He needed to stay on the move. No time to fortify.
He had to get out of here before they drained the life from his body. He had to get to Faith. Priorities, priorities. Faith, then himself, then these fools.
They weren't going to stop him from doing what he needed to.
Activate Gate of the Grand Arsenal. Use two of the newly gained weapons to immediately blast Minato towards Faith's area of the wheat, while using the other projected shields and Rho Aias to cover Minato's escape and block off the barrages from above and the side.
[[5] 1 [5] 3 1 2 2 4 1 2]
Post by: Empiricist on November 18, 2018, 06:52:23 pm
"Yes."
The head of security, a well built though evidently aging man addresses you without much fanfare. "So you're the contractor eh? Nice arm, that one of those newfangled gizmos they're making out there? Looks like something from a movie. Anyway, yeah I'm the head of security, the event's above my paygrade though, got some other contractors handling it. Us? We're just following the procedures we get in the email. I can get you a copy if you want."
Noriko
"No really, it's no trouble, it'd be a bit um, rude right to just drop this off at your door step, right?"
"Don't worry about us, we got magic to help us carry it now, don't we? Come,「Dschinghis Khan」" (Vendelin)
And with that his guardian spirit appears again, hefting up the awfully large box by his side.
"KILL." "KILL." "KILL."
The plushie also casually toss their boxes up into the air and catch them, looking rather comical at that given how small they looked in comparison.
Faith and Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | RISE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8TyLTD7EE) | ] |
Minato, blast off, the scythe glancing off of Rho Aias. Wide sweeps dispersed force over an awfully large area, it's pretty terrible for breaking shields. A pick-like strike on the other hand? That could be problematic, and this damn inversion, it's like it's purpose built to bypass your defenses. ...It very well could be. Inversion to bypass and drain, frost and bolt to pin and entrap, a scythe swung like a pick as a killing blow. Yes, there is now doubt about it, this is not a chance encounter, this is an assassination attempt.
Your armored boot touches down on the barren ground. Your strength begins to drain. Gravity magic. Angled towards the center line of each barren region. Makes it harder to escape, harder to fly over. No matter, you kick off again, leaping over the threshold. Faith's blast sends her diving under you as you raise your shield, blocking both arrow barrages from above while the floating shields spin into place against the arcane bolts. You need to keep moving, these attacks are going to tear away the wheat around you, and leave you both back at square one.
Hmm... the wheat... the wheat caught in your blasts are gone. They're affected by your attacks too. But this barren earth does not impair its master.
The lights in the convenience store across the street begin to flicker. On and off. On and off. Until it appears. Modular design. Metallic body, scavenged mostly. Mimics the form of its maker. Black chassis with three white stripes running down its legs. Blood red plating mimicking a coat. Armored. Broad shouldered. Imposing. Its "face" resembling a gasmask with a single rebreather cylinder angled to the side, rotating idly with puffs of cigarette smoke. With one hand it raises its weapon, an awfully large rifle cannon, rugged with the faintest traces of the kalashnikov, its distant ancestor. A metallic talon wraps around the trigger.
| [Now Playing: | Metro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0VMbbuqeNc) | ] |
The brilliant bolt streaks forth from the barrel, multicolored wisps of light trailing its volatile pulsating form to the tune of its internal beat, the blast streaking cleaving through the field between you and the assassin.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Not this asshole again.
You hear his voice now, that familiar accent now-twisted through the automaton's speakers, giving it a cold metallic edge. "Halt! That is my target."
". . ."
The wounded Aramitama continues limping forwards towards you.
"I said halt! Do you not hear me Блять?"
". . ."
Beneath the hat she glares at it, breathing labored, shadowy fissures beginning to open in her form as the radiation cooks her from the inside. She crouches low, readying to lunge.
"This is your final warning. Stand down, or I will cut you down."
"I'd like to see you try."
Chimes A and B hammer your shields with arcane gatling fire, circling above in a loose formation. C hangs back, maintaining one of the frost circles. D opens fire on the automaton. The sense of dread returns now, stronger than ever. This is it. She's running out of time, whatever Faith did, it's frying her from the inside, black blood is leaking from her eyes, from her mouth. She's unsteady, she's tried. But she still has her trump card, that trap, and whatever it is, you've the feeling that now is the time for her to use it.
She staggers forwards, going for another quick horizontal slash, and then well, you have the sinking feeling that a very bad thing is going to happen. You're, honestly not sure if you'll be able to avoid it, whatever it is. Your instincts are screaming at you to run. But well, that's clearly not an option now. Looks like whatever she does, you'll just have to take it head on and kill her after.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 18, 2018, 07:27:41 pm
"Contractor company names would be appreciated too, if possible, some way to get into contact with them. So, how many guys you have here normally?" Shef wondered if the email might reveal any of this, but it didn't hurt him to make some small talk.
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 18, 2018, 08:02:22 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on November 18, 2018, 09:06:09 pm
Faith uses a Lucky Sunbeam, Alteration to 6, Doki Doki that sumbitch
World Line: 4-->6 6 6 2 1 1 6 4 5 4
Post by: Twinwolf on November 18, 2018, 09:08:31 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 18, 2018, 11:06:33 pm
"Sure, you got an email, or d'you want a print out? Our firm assigns up to sixty people here if the event's real crowded, usually less though, this place is busy but not that busy. The company's Praetorian Security, little more specialized for protecting VIPs and the like, guess they figured all the politicians and business people here might be a juicy target. Going with a four man team for this I hear, there's not that many people, hundred or so, it's a private event after all."
Noriko
"KILL."
Okay so you end up leading everyone into the safehouse proper.
"Huh, spacious." (Fleur)
Aight so anyway, everyone ends up unpacking the boxes and here's what you get:
- From Mary: Uh, she just gave you a prepaid credit card. "I um, didn't know what you were missing so maybe you could buy what you want with this?"
- From Vendelin: Cooking utensils and an appliance that looked like the illegitimate offspring that came out of a sizzlingly erotic orgy between a microwave oven, a regular oven, a refrigerator, and a series of pigeon-holes. The instruction manual honestly looks more like a magical tome than anything else. "From another 'realm'. It can store food for a long time and cook or freeze it for you, site said it can keep produce fresh for months. I'll be honest I'd loved to have gotten one for myself but it needs a magical power supply and so it needs a leyline like this or someone to stand next to it all day." (Vendelin)
- From Fleur: Half a box of uh, anti-Yoake weaponry, an 'ecch-a-sketch', a personal force field generator, and a pillow with "Yes" on one side and "No" on the other. "Enjoy." (Fleur) "The field's very weak so it won't help in battle, but you can cover parts of yourself with it like a glove." (Vendelin)
- From Evi: A dinner table, two desks, a few chairs. All pretty functional and utilitarian. "Hope you're okay with the designs."
- From the Mononoke: Eight ornamental suits of knightly armor to decorate your home, each wielding an oversized piece of candy as a blunted weapon. Close inspection reveals that they uh, have zips on their back and are filled with synthetic stuffing. The zips and a few bits appear to be recent additions, built over precision rifts in the armor with some internal components(?) of the armor showing signs of modification to allow them to be posed. Um. You're beginning to think that these aren't decorative suits of armor so much as they're things they killed, stuffed, and mounted. "KILL." "KILL." "KILL."
- From Elly: A kotatsu, a bin, a heater, a toaster, and throw pillow depicting uh... you're guessing it's some sort of hindu god wearing sunglasses and giving the thumbs up. "Just don't let them all touch." Um, okay?
Yuki
"But is it a crime?"
Hey remember those weirdass paint things you fought with Tamuras and Pia? Well four of the big ones round the corner, looking rather battered. Noticing the circle, they immediately ready to pre-empt and defend, which unfortunately for them, they're a little too busy doing that to notice the shadows rising up from their feet to grab them and start dragging them down into the pavement. With an off-handed gesture he conjures a small flame in his hand and drops an ember into the pool of darkness, detonating it in a pillar of flame. There really isn't much left after that.
Post by: Strider03 on November 18, 2018, 11:28:31 pm
After receiving the email, Shef stayed in the room to read it. If there was any laxness in following the instructions, he could hopefully catch it out now. But the man seemed professional enough, that was unlikely.
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 19, 2018, 12:09:27 am
Noriko shook her head. No, this was nice. "Do you guys want snacks or anything? I didn't really cook anything in advance, but I could make up something quick. Er, maybe with the normal oven, though, I'm not really sure how to work this. . . new thing yet."
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 12:17:57 am
He jots it down for you. Instruction wise, you at least don't see anything wrong save for the fact that these instructions are expecting maybe like a madman or some impersonator coming to crash the party or cause a ruckus. It's not going to deal with a full on supernatural assault which unfortunately is exactly what you're anticipating. it's a bit of an egg-shell model this one, they have a thorough authentication process at the entrances, but past that, if you're in, they'll assume you belong here. And you, as a person with portal magic know this may not be the case.
Noriko
"We wouldn't really want to impose... we did drop by unannounced so you really don't have to-"
"Ooh! I'll have a strawberry shortcake please! ^o^"
"KILL."
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 19, 2018, 01:40:18 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 01:48:45 am
"Well, if you insist, how about I could something instead? The host shouldn't have to cook for unannounced guests, besides, I always wanted to take that appliance out for a spin." (Vendelin)
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 19, 2018, 02:01:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 02:05:04 am
"Great! Let's see what you have in the fridge first." (Vendelin)
"Hey you've got a little brother here too right? We aren't inconveniencing him are we?" (Fleur)
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 19, 2018, 02:17:35 am
Noriko had to restrain herself from impaling one of her houseguests, as her adoptive little brother's legs stuck out from a box full of implements that no child his age should even know about, much less be in close physical contact with. As it were, she had to restrain herself from leaping over as fast as she could and breaking some of her new furniture in the process to rescue him.
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 02:22:14 am
Evi quickly reaches down and helps pull the boy out. "Do you know what those are? No? Good. Stay away from them."
"I-I'm so sorry!"
Post by: Strider03 on November 19, 2018, 09:38:24 am
The problem was, it was one day before the event, so it was impossible to impose any wide changes. "Are there bag checks for employees and staff?" After he'd received an answer, Shef would thank him and exit the room, and head back into the main area.
Post by: Twinwolf on November 19, 2018, 04:56:50 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 05:12:38 pm
"Yes."
Yuki
"But... and hear me out on this, what if I made the blood, with magic? That's not illegal is it? And besides that was totally self defense, you saw them running over pointing their fancy guns and everything right? C'mon don't you trust me?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 19, 2018, 05:17:38 pm
"It's not YOUR fault," she said, pointedly not looking at the culprit.
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 05:22:01 pm
It is at this point that Elly skips over to the box and just fucking pulls out one of the devices. "Oh! It's a back massager! I've got one of these at home~☆ It's really good!"
"KILL?"
"Especially for stiff shoulders!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 19, 2018, 05:27:57 pm
"U-um, a massager sounds nice. . ."
"Damnit."
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 05:32:01 pm
"But it's even called a back massager!"
Fleur leans in and whispers something into her ear.
"Huh? Really?! I thought it was an expensive necktie! I was going to buy one as a present! >__<"
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 19, 2018, 06:41:56 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2018, 08:49:44 pm
"Oughta go fine, simpler functions like baking seem easy enough. 'sides, I got a shortcut. Tea and sponge cake sound good?" (Vendelin) He eyes your cooking utensils "Hey Fleur! You forgot to give her the other box!" (Vendelin)
"Oh right. Here you go." (Fleur)
Fleur hands you much smaller box. Opening it up well the fuck away from Kouta you find a full set of kitchen knives. Huh, you actually do need this. There's also a knife sharpening set, how thoughtful? And... another set of kitchen knives? Uh... you dig through the box. Um, this box is full of knives. She fucking went out and spent god knows how long and how much buying enough assorted knives to fill this fucking box.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 20, 2018, 05:01:12 am
Minato extends his hand out towards her, golden chains extending from his hands. Gleipnir, the invincible chains that bound Fenrir to his place ere the end of the world, and he was using it to stop this assassin.
He didn't know if it would WORK, but, well, better if he didn't let her touch him or Faith.
And he could deal with his "old friend" later. Tsukasa was going to be real happy to see him again.
Burn 4 alterations to turn the 1 into a 5. Summon Gleipnir to trap Harvest in place and arrest their movement for Faith to blast them, then use the stockpiled weapons to shield Minato from other attacks, keeping Rho Aias up.
[['5'] 3 1 2 2 4 1 2 6 [5]]
Post by: Empiricist on November 20, 2018, 06:10:56 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Metro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0VMbbuqeNc) | ] |
Okay, so here's what happens. Faith you bark out your announcement, and as soon as the words had left your lips you realize just how bad an idea that was. See, turns out no one's really fuck for taking a radioactive beam of death to the face like a bitch. The Aramitama? She decides to speed things up a bit, sinking low and leaping, backwards? Minato's chain catches her, but it's too late, it's coming.
FUCK!
You fire, and all hell breaks loose.
Darkness. Darker than black and dark still. A perfect void to which even the first scythe paled in comparison. That is what rises from the ground. So, that's the trick, that sense of dread you felt. There was another scythe, hiding in the shadow of the first. in that instant, she had extended it, deep, deep into the ground until it was beneath you two, and when you fired, that was the same moment she swung it upwards.
"BEHOLD! THE POWER OF TAXAT-AAARGAGHRVBJNDKGTHJYEFSWADRTYJ!"
Okay look. Not your proudest moment, but it was a trade okay?
Rho Aias shatters, your beam is cleaved in twain, the enormous blade cleaves deep into you and Minato, oh and the ground the beneath your feet, now completely fucking barren drains you. Also, those frost arrows? Well Rho Aias gone and both your sorry asses getting drained, it just begins freezing both of you.
Faith, you're yeah, not in a good shape, you're bleeding heavily from a massive gash to your back, you're bleeding, getting fucking frozen, and drained. Minato, okay you got armor but the hit did a little more than just sting. You're also bleeding pretty heavily, and you're also frosted and drained.
The Aramitama meanwhile is just, fucking gone. See if Faith used maybe a weaker beam, it probably would've just have gotten fully split. Unfortunately for her, this was a bit more powerful than one of Faith's regular beams. So while she did split the front of the beam, the rest just, yeah, vaporized her. With her gone, her Sanctuary implodes and her minions fall to the ground, dissipating to dust.
Congratulations. You won. You feel like shit, but you won. Gamma walks forwards tossing several vials of healing potions at your feet, apparently completely unaffected by the frost arrows it just took. "I was hoping for another fight. You do not look in mood for fight."
It glances around.
"Who is girl? Your girlfriend? I approve. She killed bitch with beam. She did not escape, but she is still alive though. Watch your back Minato."
Goddamnit. He's right. There were no shards. That Aramitama. She's still alive. Probably lich-like or something. Gone for now, but will be back sooner and later, and this time, with a much better appreciation for what Faith can do. Lovely.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Empiricist on November 21, 2018, 12:14:50 am
"Quite odd to see you around these parts Miss Stephanidis, aren't you a few years early?"
"It's always good to see how things were before. Don't look so apprehensive, I'm just here to enjoy the night."
It is Friday evening now. Things are, well, things. Nothing bad has happened, not yet at any rate. Needed to change a few details at the last moment. Thorn wants, well she wants the priority to be on protecting the guests. Noble? Yes. Stupid? Probably. But she insists she can take it, and well look, long story short, one thing lead to another and well, she took that bullet pretty damn well. She's currently getting wheeled around the floor by a servant and accompanied by Léone. That was the other detail, she wanted her caretaker to be here, just in case of a medical emergency. Said caretaker also has her regalia concealed in a black bag. At least, you think it's a regalia. Wooden katana, didn't notice anything too odd about it anyway, had to smuggle it in with portal just in case security started asking about why she's bringing that in of all things. She's hiding something. You know it, she knows it, but well, you haven't much luck pressing for more info. Most you've gotten out of her is that well, if shit does go down, she'll put everything in the open. Here's hoping she keeps her word.
Evi's chatting up the guests in her new red dress, red to hide the blood if it comes down to it, new because, well turns out all her formalwear were a little more tomboyish than anticipated. Hanako's perched up on the terraces her copy helping survey the floor below.
You? You're just watching from the floor, monitoring comms and waiting.
You're not left waiting for long.
First comes the Sanctuary, then comes the spear.
| [Now Playing: | Dragonslayer Armor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2OCRmxVAY) | ] |
Thorn vanishes, dragged in by an unseen force. The rest of you breach in behind her. How fortunate, collateral damage is no longer on the menu. The Sanctuary is a barren wasteland of marble beneath a turbulent sky, a vortex of dusty clouds spiralling around the sun. It is from these heavens that it fell, a great pillar of light, a spear the size of a tower, crashing right ontop of where Thorn was sitting. She is now sprawled on the ground, forced out the way by Léone. The angel for her part isn't looking too hot no more, what with the impact taking out both her legs and a chunk of her side, well not that she seems to be complaining, her body already beginning to regenerate.
"I-it's above us!"
And indeed it is, a great bird of prey, larger than a damn house. Vaguely corvid in nature its mage's cloak fans outwards as a pair of wings, an astral blue trimmed with gold on top and the darkness of space beneath, matching the rest of its body. The hood is pulled up over its head hiding its eyes, or perhaps more accurately, it has no eyes for the hood it as a part of it as are the feathers to a raven. Tiny motes of magic twist and shift inside its black body as it circles the spear-tower. Oh yes, spear-tower, see the spear isn't just tower sized it also seems to be built like a tower with smooth marble bricks and stairs spiralling up its exterior.
Hanako is about to take aim when the caretaker stops her.
"We must make haste! This place will soon drown in abyssal magic. We need to climb that tower!"
...She sounds exactly like Victoria. She quickly loads her master into the wheelchair and retrieves the weapon.
"My sincerest apologies for this mess, I can explain as we go. Miss Mercier, I will carry you. It is the least I could do."
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 21, 2018, 02:25:03 am
To count; someone had just tried to assassinate him, almost succeeded, and he'd more or less been saved both by his girlfriend but also by his "old friend" (and someone he was sure Tsukasa would love hearing from again). Also, they didn't even succeed in killing the Aramitama either. No shards.
Great. Another person to add to the list of madmen who wanted to tussle with the Kumons.
"......wonderful. How you holding up, Faith?"
Post by: Powder Miner on November 21, 2018, 06:25:43 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 21, 2018, 07:22:23 am
Still, we're going to need to bring that up with Winter and Enn or something. Aramitama operating pretty brazenly like that doesn't seem like a good sign...."
Post by: Strider03 on November 21, 2018, 07:51:41 am
"Let's go. Hanako, portals!" He barked out. Shef summoned portals in controlled succession to accelerate the snipers path up the stairs. If she could get a shot off while the rest of them were climbing, it'd pressure the monstrosity, and lower the focus on them even if the attack didn't actually hit the creature.
Shef sets up portals to get Hanako up higher so she can start shooting maybe. He'll stay behind the client's projection sending out cover fire as they ascend the stairs. Alter twice to a 4.
Post by: Twinwolf on November 21, 2018, 08:07:06 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 21, 2018, 09:01:44 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Dragonslayer Armor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2OCRmxVAY) | ] |
"O-on it!"
Hanako and her copy run through the portals ascending up the stairs, the rest of you trailing behind. As she climbs, she takes aim with her rifle and after a bit of aiming, sends an explosive round right on an intercept course with the beast's breast. It spins to face the round and with a swipe of its talons, conjures a circular barrier. No dice, the round shatters through and blasts right through its flesh. Multi-colored blood begins to drip from the wound like droplets of paint as it screeches in fury. A good hit, but the thing's well, fucking massive.
"I-I hit it! I-it didn't do much though..."
"A fine hit, keep it up! It may not be decisive but enough wounds will weaken it with bloodloss. H-hey, Miss Stephan-"
"Evi."
"Evi, what are you doing?"
"Rigging the chair, I can detonate or launch it if it comes down to it. Hey Shef, give her the bottles."
Right, the bottles. Wind vials, they release violent gusts when used. Good for if say you were say, about to fall to your demise. Evi grabbed two before the mission for your use, said she'd rather not someone pull the same dust trick she did.
"What can else do you know about the bird?"
"It is skilled in ritual magic, attacking by flooding the area with abyssal magic. The price is pays take the form of these towers, it must provide its foes with an avenue of escape, and if it were to bring down this avenue its spell will fade. It will however try everything short of this to make us fall."
"And yourself? What is pressing now, what is not later."
Victoria pauses for a moment, picking her words before finally,
"I... am the girl in the chair. I have become estranged from own body, it is still my source of spirit energy however, so this doll I am speaking through may only function in its proximity. I am afraid we must make the killing blow with my body lest we bring about a calamity."
Glistening darkness rises up, the marble wasteland vanishing beneath its glimmering surface. In it you see the reflections of strange shifting constellations, motes of light like those of the bird, albeit connected by pale lines.
Speaking of the bird, it's just decided that it'd rather not spend its time dodging bullets and taking exploding drills to the chest. So instead, it swoops down low, first scattering the some inky black and awfully slick liquid on the stairs above, and then beginning to send motes of light crashing down, first upon Hanako, then upon the rest of you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Yuki
"Oh? But aren't I innocent til proven guilty?"
Post by: Twinwolf on November 21, 2018, 11:00:39 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 21, 2018, 12:30:58 pm
. . . For that matter, how much money was she actually willing to spend just to mess with her? They were gifts, so it wasn't like Noriko could get too upset, but at the same time, boxes full of knives and "weaponry" weren't exactly what you bought someone to be nice, generally.
Post by: Strider03 on November 21, 2018, 03:18:02 pm
"Calamity? Gonna need some specifics. If you make the last hit but it bleeds out, what happens, what conditions will you need to actually hit that thing, all pertinent details." Shef took a deep breath in response to the heretofore unmentioned complications surrounding their task. "Does it need to be your 'doll', or your actual body?" That'd be yet another hurdle to this climb.
"When we get to the slick, keep your stride length even. Can get us through, but you all need to move at consistent speeds." He called this out over the comms, then thought better of it. "Hanako, try to slow down a bit, it'll be easier if I'm closer." Those motes of light were worrying, but hopefully she could deal with the ones aimed at her? There was a possibility, though Shef knew it was no guarantee, that the motes might be more focused on disruption, perhpas stunning or confusing, or taking out chunks of the stairs, rather than intended to actually damage them.
Shef begins setting portals at equal spacings reaching from just above the oil slicked stairs to the undersides, effectively allowing people to walk on the undersides. These appear in front at a consistent rate, and disappear from behind, hopefully in time with the footsteps of the client's projection. Use the first result, and alter the 1 up to a 3 for a Hey, Look over there hyper to shield the wheelchair crew from the motes of light.
[5] 4 2 [1+2] 6 4 4 2 1 2
Post by: Empiricist on November 21, 2018, 08:21:33 pm
"We are already aware. You can thank your friend for that."
"Was assassination attempt no? Suppressive fire to restrict, wheat to drain and entrap, pick to pierce armor."
"If it is it may be best to have that training now. Keeps you out of town for a few days and readies everyone for the next attempt."
Yuki
"But you aren't sure are you? Wouldn't be questioning me if you were. Are you saying then that you just want a conviction and I'm the guy who'll be getting it? I'm flattered."
Noriko
Soon enough the batter's ready and the tea is brewing. Placing the soon-to-be-cakes in one of the pigeon holes, Vendelin turns to you. "I'm sure you can read the manual, let's not waste your time fiddling.「Dschinghis Khan」"
The spirit appears again, and with a flick of its wrist draws an ofuda slip, the paper talisman bearing not writing but rather a pattern of holes punched through its stiffened material.
"сука блять"
It just, fucking slams the talisman right into the appliance, the talisman seemingly phasing straight into it.
"Dschinghis Khan" as Vendelin explains "Lets me control things using those slips of paper. Objects, spells, " he glances ove to Fleur "People. Great for fixing the damn router."
There's a flicker at your side.
"Sorry to intrude but, would you be okay with going off-realm for a few days? You'll be receiving some training at a beach resort. Kouta can come too."
"Given recent events, a more relaxed environment could be helpful. And it keeps Faith and Minato out of town. There's been an incident, might be another assassin after him."
Shef
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Dragonslayer Armor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2OCRmxVAY) | ] |
"My actual body must land final hit before it perishes, barring it killing itself. The magic binding these beasts is kin to its abyssal magics, there are conditions to be met, and if it is not met, the bindings will break, unleashing all of them upon the world at once. Where they will go, we do not know."
As the bolts close in, Hanako quickly retreats leaving her copy slipping up the lubed up stairs, and sure enough said copy gets nailed by a shot soon enough, unravelling into dissipating shadows. Still it's brought y'all a little more time to prepare for when it strafes down. Léone sits, upreadying to heal as your portal sends most of the motes flying the fuck away. What ones do hit smash into the tower and stairs, leaving gaps, dust, and and rubble in your path. Portals appear above the oil, and yeah, having to move in lock-step slows you down, but you're not slipping either, your little trick is working.
Victoria readies her sword. "I can clear the dust, but these gaps are troublesome. I presume that you cannot defend when using portals to cross them?"
"Stay close, hold tight, what wounds they inflict I can heal."
"I-I d-don't think that's the problem now! Look!"
Seeing that its strafing fire wasn't too effect, the bird's instead decided to swoop down real low, rushing round the tower practically sideways, raking its runic metal claws across the stairs. Sparks fly and the lubricant ignites, not in flame but in wind, concussive blasts of air blasting and slicing out in its wake.
"This could an opportunity."
"W-what?"
"It's in range, and can't dodge, this is our best chance to wound it more. if we blast an alcove in the wall, we can wait for it to pass. Léone can you-"
"Not yet but the drones can. Shef?"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on November 21, 2018, 08:28:30 pm
Faith turned the magical girl wand over and over in her hands a few times, pensively, and then Winter and Enn spoke.
”Damn, I guess I’ll miss more school. But that’s kind of a small price to pay for keeping Minato safe.” Faith circled her arms around him, in a hug, holding him tightly.. ”Are you sure that this’ll keep him safe? Previous Aramitama seemed to be pretty good at finding information...”
Post by: Twinwolf on November 21, 2018, 08:35:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 21, 2018, 09:05:58 pm
"Nowadays they're starting to be more discerning I think some are more into human trafficking now bec- ow! Hey!"
"Do you really want to talk about that now?"
"Point. We can route your school work to you."
"Even if it tries to follow it would need to to get through customs and reach the resort. Even then I suspect that unless it takes its time to rekit, it will simply perish once again against your group's combined power.
Yuki
"Well I was grabbing a bagel at a delightful cafe around here, smoked salmon and lettuce, highly recommend it by the way. Then I saw those Mononoke stalking around and I recalled that they're not really friendly to humans and I figured what the hell, I could use the exercise."
Post by: Strider03 on November 21, 2018, 09:55:02 pm
The drones, right. Those would definitely be necessary. The oil was going to ignite no matter what. He could just have them go to the underside of the stairs, and hang there till the thing had passed, but getting back to the top of the stairs would be a struggle. So, he placed the drones against the wall, and prepared to blow a hole out.
"Gonna try to stop or slow it near us, stop me if you have a problem." The timing would be a little interesting, but perhaps he could do this.
Detonate one spherical and one oragami drone (or just the former if it would suffice) to create an alcove. Use the 4. Shef will activate Tighten the Noose [5], and then attempt to create a portal to ensnare the enemy's head when it passes nearby, specifically this portal will be as close to the surface of the stairs as possible without sacrificing much ability to actually get some of the enemy in it.
Utilize resolve if necessary for the timing and size. If resolve not necessary, fire a few shots into the thing. This is all conditional on not being stopped by Victoria or someone else. If he is stopped, follow Evi's plan completely, with the alcove, and then use the last result in the world line for a Rapid Fire [4] hyper on the beast as it goes by.
[4] 2 6 4 4 2 1 2 3 [4+1]
Post by: Empiricist on November 21, 2018, 10:35:36 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Dragonslayer Armor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2OCRmxVAY) | ] |
You toss the drones ahead and detonate, blasting an alcove into the tower. With a quick swipe of her sword, Victoria splits open the dust to reveal your foe. So y'all pile into the alcove and as the bird flies by, you tighten the damn noose around its throat. The portal appears in front of its head and as it passes through, you constrict, it, the bird just fucking slamming into it at high speed, the edges cutting into its flesh and releasing more of that rainbow blood. The wind blasts, well, it enters the alcove, unavoidable really, just slashing the fuck outta everyone, but Léone's in front, hoisting Victoria's limp body like a shield, and well, it actually works quite well. She takes the brunt of the hit, everyone's got cuts and scrapes, but some healing should make that all fine. Time for the next part, fucking up the bird.
You put a couple more rounds into its chest, Hanako doing the same, more and more of that blood beginning to seep out of its form as it squawks out in pain and fury. Léone slams a cruciform blast of light into its underside while Victoria... throws her sword at it? The blade turning into a fairly large, fairly unpleasant looking snake which is now just slithering and biting its way across the bird's body. Evi for her part sends a pair of psionic lances into it, one into each wing.
Okay so the bird's much more wounded than before, but still it hasn't really taken any hit that will be decisive. You're running out of time too, the entrance to your portal, it's, beginning to give it's starting to move ever so slightly with the motion of your foe, it's starting to open too. It's, countering your magic with its own somehow, trying to break free.
Also a rather large magical circle appears before its talons aiming at your general postcode, a pulsating glob of abyssal magic the size of a small car taking form, and beginning to slowly drift towards you.
The abyss is rising up further and further.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 21, 2018, 11:12:16 pm
Get people out of the alcove. Utilize portals to replace sections of the stairs that have holes in them, and if necessary, try to lightly constrict some portals as handholds for climbing. If possible, take a few shots in the directions of its talons (the ones making the abyssal magic attack).
[2] 6 4 4 2 1 2 3 5 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 22, 2018, 12:42:13 am
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "So what's the catch? Swarming with aramitama? Weird pervy mononoke?"
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 01:03:10 am
"Not much. We've thankfully managed to keep the Aramitama mostly confined to Earth and its general vicinity, and any threats that do appear are expected to be fairly trivial. As for perverted Mononoke, does Minato count?"
"There is a bit of an acclimatization process, as there are no 'normal' humans there and magic is ubiquitous."
"Well there is the training too so, it's won't be entirely R&R."
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 06:14:57 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Dragonslayer Armor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2OCRmxVAY) | ] |
The abyssal orb accelerates forwards, crashing into the alcove and bursting, glimmering darkness explodes outwards saturating the alcove. But you, you are not in that alcove, you portaled the fuck away already. Okay, it was a bit of a tight escape you'll admit, but it's more because there were six bodies and a wheelchair to move than anything else. Racing out, Léone presses her hands on Evi and Hanako like a faith healer, unlike a faith healer, it actually fucking works, the cuts vanishing from the pair and opening up on the angel's own body, soon to close once more. The sniper turns round and puts another wound in the bird before it finally wrenches it head free and begins to fly away, the serpent leaping back into its master's grasp and becoming a sword once more.
The beast spirals the fuck away from the tower, its movements noticeably more labored, its trajectory now traced by its own blood. It disengages before synchronizing its position from your own and... oh fuck. That's a tower. Another fucking tower, this one with a tip drenched in that black lubricant racing down to crash into your tower at a 60 degree angle. Naturally, it's aimed right to hit all of you.
"Incoming!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2018, 07:52:21 am
Whatever, it didn't matter, they needed to move, and he had an idea. Possibly an absurdly terrible one, if he was honest with himself. But, it could work.
"Leone, get Hanako up quick as possible, we'll need covering fire, then come back. Evi, go. Victoria brace yourself, we're jumping." He grabbed the wheel chair with the mechanically reinforced structure of his left arm, waited a second for the projection to grab on to him, and then jumped, into the open air
Try to run for a bit so that the group is not directly in line with the impact. Then have Evi, Hanako, and Leone go, and jump with Victoria. As soon as they're low enough that the tower won't directly impact them, activate Hey Look over there [3] hyper, with both portal entrances horizontal, so that exiting one results in you moving upwards out the other. Leone is expected to come back for us at some point. Hopefully.
[6] 4 4 2 1 2 [3] 5 4 6
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 08:31:16 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Dragonslayer Armor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2OCRmxVAY) | ] |
"It must provide a way to escape the abyss below, two towers fused together still satisfies this."
"Let us go, we have our commands."
"W-w-wait what are you- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Léone grabs Hanako and seemingly vanishes upwards, Evi salutes and quite literally throws herself after them as that familiar corona envelops her body. You? You grab your protectorate, and jump.
The spear smashes into the tower above you. The impact is horrific, rubble and lubricant rain down from above, debris explodes out from the impact site, and the tower shudders, shifting back from the impact and tilting from the impact, lowering its that much closer to the abyssal depths below, the same depths you now find yourself plunging towards. Opening a portal, you dive down and launch right back up, Léone catches you and the chair in an awkward hold, a fairly large bullet hole through her gut, that was now beginning to close.
"Needed more power, Hanako meanwhile needs a hug."
Soon enough you find yourself rising up in another quick burst of speed, getting dropped off on the slicked up surface of the second tower. This, could be problematic to climb. Except, you probably won't be climbing it either, the bird's coming back, it's weakened, it's poisoned, it's pissed. it's just fucking dive bombing you guys now, aiming to slam its its now-crackling talons down in the midst of your group and maim the shit out of you all. You've the sinking feeling all that lubricant is about to detonate as well.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2018, 09:07:12 am
Shef uses Manipulator [5], and shoots the bird. He will attempt to convince the thing that coming too close to them is a trap, dangerous. Just enough to make it hesitate, to give them time to both split up and to attack. He'll stick with the client, and if the manipulator doesn't work, use Room to Breathe[4] (using the last 4 in the line) with resolve to get Victoria away from the attack.
[4] 4 2 1 2 5 4 6 [5] 6
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 09:46:16 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Dragonslayer Armor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2OCRmxVAY) | ] |
"How durable is that body of yours?"
"Quite so, you are not alone in using it as a shield."
So with this giant fucking bird crashing down at you, what do you do? You fucking draw your pistol, and fire once. Granted, it's a fifty cal, but the bird's larger than a fucking house. The bullet embeds but well, it ain't stopping it in its tracks. Not directly. It sqawks in alarm, its wings forcing themselves open. It's slowing! But it's still coming down fast, too damn fast.
It's enough though. Victoria grabs her body and plants her sword down, forcing you behind her. Evi meanwhile grabs Hanako and leaps onto the newly vacated wheelchair, rewiring the strands of condensed psionic she's spent most of this battle forcing into it to link with the lances still embedded in the bird's wings. The end result? The two ladies getting sling shot towards the bird as its talons slam down, the explosion of air missing the pair.
Meanwhile for you three on the ground, the wind is, yeah, not ideal, but it seems to sort of split before you, the brunt of it missing you. Still everyone finds themselves being thrown up into the air.
With the wheelchair now slamming against the bird's throat, Evi retracts her next set of threads, reeling herself and Hanako down onto its back. Shaking with fear and adrenaline the sniper gets to work, her regalia shifting and anchoring itself into the beast's flesh as a freshly deployed shadow clone lowers the sniper cannon's barrel right against the base of the monster's neck and pulls the trigger.
The impact slams it against the tower, the recoil tears the weapon and a great deal of its cloak-like hide from its body, the shadow clone dissipating as the regalia slams into its chest. The bird is still alive. The bird is still moving. For now.
Remember how Hanako's Regalia fires drills?
Well you ever had one of those shredding garbage disposal units in your sinks? You hear something like that, but louder, angrier. A geyser of blood, bone, and spinal fluid just fucking erupts as the drill tears deeper and deeper into the creature's body, its body reduced to really just twitching.
It's at this point that Léone dashes over over its head, dropping Victoria's limp body onto it. A frightfully large crucifix of holy light forming in her raised hand.
"Shef! This task can be done with a single arm." She holds out her other arm, bracing for the impact.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2018, 09:57:15 am
Use Tracer [R] on Leone's arm.
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 10:12:47 am
Yeah up, you is just fucking explode her arm. Like she's just been fucking sprayed with blood that a second ago was in the arm she no longer has.
"That's a bit excessive. I'd have let you unload into me outside of battle you know, if that is what is takes to sate your desires." The cross grows larger and she draws her attention back to the task at hand. "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of all the other illusions of Man, I lay you to rest."
((At this point the Sanctuary would decay, depositing you all back in the event hall. Where and when would you like your next scene to be set.))
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2018, 11:00:15 am
"You said you didn't need an arm. So, I removed it. Leave it at that." Shef growled. Was it always going to be like this when that woman was around? He could let it go though. They'd made it out, the monstrosity was dealt with, and he had a little bit more data. If Leone did become a threat ever, he was a little more certain about his ability to deal with that kind of problem. It was seeming less and less likely as time went on, but best to keep it in mind.
Overall it had been a successful mission though, and Shef resolved to not let the tasteless joke sour his mood for too long.
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 08:16:08 pm
Okay so after a bit of a hassle with a giant headless bird spontaneously existing in the middle of an event hall surrounded by a security detail with varying states of injury and drenched in varying quantities of blood and giblets, y'all eventually make it back to Victoria's apartment for the debrief.
"My sincerest apologies for all the trouble I've caused. There are two questions I must ask however: what will buy your silence, and what will buy your continued service?"
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2018, 08:50:13 pm
"As far as future service goes, don't know what I can really agree to. I asked Evi and Hanako to help out for just this one event, we're not an organized team or anything, and I've got my main job in addition. I'd need to know a bit more about what's expected with that. Just events every so often, whether they're scheduled long in advance, if you'll always need a group around this size. . ." He trailed off. Shef was fine with this, he was pretty sure, but apparently he'd been under the wrong impression. He'd thought it more just a kind of test, a way to get his name out there with powerful people backing him up. Granted, the danger had been very real, so he was probably wrong, but it still caught him slightly off guard, and it showed a bit.
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 09:29:19 pm
"The precise details of my condition must remain secret, at least, to those in this room and the AIs, lest something else take advantage of my weakness to unbind the beasts."
She nods gently to your response.
"It seems that waiting as we have been is no longer an option. Soon enough the rest will attack too, and so increases the risk of exposure. It would be prudent then to schedule these and hunt down the beasts first and slay them on our own terms. I-I would understand if you do not wish to continue, you have all done more than enough for me as it stands, and I hope that I can repay you for this."
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2018, 10:04:57 pm
"Now, if you really want me to stay on. . .I'd personally be willing conditional on talking to the AI about how the scheduling would go. Don't know about anyone else though, except maybe Leone. You haven't got anything better to do, right? Even so, not going to promise away your services. . . Anyway, for teams of this size, you'll need to be willing for me to swap out if necessary, bringing in other people I trust if Evi, Hanako, or Leone are busy with their own lives." He watched the other members of the team expectantly, to see if they had any input.
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 10:14:00 pm
"I understand."
"Of course, your cross is mine to share." Yeah no thanks, the help is enough; you don't want to be sharing any cross with her, especially given that you've just seen what she does with them.
"I'll get back to you on that, I'm still new to this whole Godslayer lifestyle." Okay that's fair.
"M-Me too... I-I need to think about about it more (sorry)"
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2018, 10:37:30 pm
"Now, if that's all?" He trailed of, waiting for confirmation, then continued. "We'll get moving, don't want to overstay the welcome. Thank you for the opportunity again, be sure to remember about the matter we discussed, and we can talk payment then." It wasn't that he didn't trust Victoria, but he simply didn't want to go into this sort of thing blind. He'd talk to the AI and get a feeling for what was a reasonable price. The AI would also be trustworthy sources for letting the others know what the total payment was, so they wouldn't get ripped off. Again, Shef expected no problems of this sort, but it felt right to stick to the old policies when it came to handling money.
Supposing that was indeed all, he'd head home, making sure that those not in his apartment complex (Evi) were accounted for in getting back home.
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 10:43:45 pm
"Of course, we shall be in touch."
Post by: Twinwolf on November 22, 2018, 10:47:11 pm
Yuki
"Well I was grabbing a bagel at a delightful cafe around here, smoked salmon and lettuce, highly recommend it by the way. Then I saw those Mononoke stalking around and I recalled that they're not really friendly to humans and I figured what the hell, I could use the exercise."
"Ok... but that doesn't explain the weird blood circle thing, does it?"
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 11:02:30 pm
"Magic."
He twirls a finger, that same blood red light tracing into the air.
"See?"
Post by: Twinwolf on November 22, 2018, 11:03:54 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2018, 11:12:15 pm
"Well it's a funny thing little miss, if you put a big glowy circle in someone's face, they won't notice what's at their feet. You should try it sometime Yuki."
He smiles, a shadow bat landing in his hand and dissipating, leaving behind a small object. He offers it to you.
"Here's your wallet back."
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2018, 08:29:11 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 23, 2018, 06:41:52 pm
"Well it was never really there to trick you, it was there to trick those mononoke."
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2018, 09:42:42 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 23, 2018, 09:48:22 pm
"Shou Yukimura. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2018, 09:49:56 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 23, 2018, 09:54:23 pm
"So you say, how do long you've been doing this for?"
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2018, 10:18:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 23, 2018, 10:26:11 pm
"So the typical story then, how's the Awakened life been treating you?"
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2018, 10:32:05 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 23, 2018, 10:45:34 pm
"Lovely to hear, I do have to run along now but I hope we can meet again."
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2018, 10:47:21 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 24, 2018, 03:15:55 am
Some Time Ago
"Okay long story short, a long time ago, the kingdom of Atlantis made a pact with the Dirac Sea, gaining power and prosperity in exchange for giving it a yearly tribute. Now this worked out quite well until around the time of the Atlantean Sovereign Debt Crisis wherein a pretty bad case of fiscal mismanagement lead to them being unable to make a sufficiently large tribute. Turns out if you somehow strike a deal with a hypothetical model of the vacuum that won't even be invented for centuries to come, which by the way I wouldn't recommend, you really don't want to default on your debt. The Dirac Sea repossessed their entire landmass, wiping their civilization off the face of the earth overnight. The Aethertide arose from the void left behind in the world. It's a peculiar place, distance and direction do not exist outside of its islands, navigation is a matter of knowing the destination not the route. Fortunately for you, that won't be something you'll have to worry about."
"Like most other realms, spirit energy is abundant in the Aethertide. It's similar to being in a leyline all the time, so things like magical appliances are ubiquitous there. The denizens are all Awakened, though you as a Godslayer will still be a definite step above most in terms of natural power. Godslayers and Aramitama usually do not arise in these other realms. As an aside, it's not a bad place to find work if you ever decide to retire from this job. You'll be staying in the uh, Guantanamo Bay Resort there. It's a lot nicer than the name suggests, it's just a really bad coincidence. Kouta, since you're technically not Awakened, we'll be providing you with a wristband unit to let you use the technology there, you resort card will also encode that information so you won't end up in a situation where you need to be Awakened to do something."
Now
The bow of the boat cuts through the still see like a knife, its V-shaped wake spreading and dissipating to naught. With no landmarks, no sense of direction, it's hard to tell you're moving at all, nothing but featureless sea and perfectly smooth sailing. You've ventured a fair way to get here, your trip starting with a flight from Sendo International Airport to well, nowhere really, a set of coordinates that no longer exist. From there you had touched down in the former fortress city of Kingshaven, it is to a medieval castle what a cancer is to a mole, a sprawling vivisected fortress with tendrils of marble white battlements tracing across its magnificent coastscape, grand tapestries floating alongside modern energy relay system, trains glide along miniature great walls, all beneath the gaze of the floating multi-segmented office buildings rising up from the commercial district. All manner of beings seemed to prowl its busy streets, most at least somewhat humanoid, though there were a few odder beings amongst them too. You hadn't had much time to gawk though, the schedule was tight and you soon boarded the ship in which you find ourself in now, a well-furnished ferry sleek and angular in construction that seems to slice through the waveless waters with alarming speed.
It is now that you see, it, emerging from the horizon, Guantanamo Bay Resort. Contrary to its name, the resort is effectively a private island owned by the resort company itself, and imprisoned within a grand dome of clear hexagonal plates that stretch out well into the surrounding waters, a life-sized snowglobe, minus the snow. Check in as it turns out, takes place when crossing through into this globe, identification checked and resort access cards being handed around here, and soon enough you find yourself disembarking onto the warm sandy shores of the resort proper. It's basically a small town really, with a sprawling main complex that splits off into collections of various smaller buildings wrapped by a series of footwalks and light rail tracks.
You could head to the concierge now if you need them for anything. The mini-map on your cards meanwhile indicate that you've a bit of ways to go from your bungalows for the unpacking. Oh there's also a few cafes and whatnot if you just wanna faff about right now anyway.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 24, 2018, 03:00:37 pm
"Oof. I've never actually SEEN Aethertide before.....I've heard about it, in the past, before. But actually being here...."
Post by: Strider03 on November 24, 2018, 11:48:28 pm
"Thought you weren't supposed to be phased by anything, mister veteran. Thought you'd have a summer home or two here at the least."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 25, 2018, 09:14:57 am
Post by: Powder Miner on November 25, 2018, 09:46:26 pm
Now that she had arrived in the resort, however, she felt... actually a strange sense of familiarity. Weird hexagonal dome aside, Faith was a frequent beach-goer, being from Miami-Dade County, and this combination of town and then sandy shore... A small smile settled on her face.
"Huh... heh... you know... this kind of reminds me of South Beach."
Post by: Strider03 on November 26, 2018, 07:24:14 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 27, 2018, 02:14:48 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on November 27, 2018, 03:13:14 pm
Post by: Strider03 on November 27, 2018, 10:31:54 pm
At Noriko's comment, Shef looked over, and considered for a moment whether to speak or not. He cautiously asked, "Has Kouta--have you ever been to a beach before?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 28, 2018, 07:56:19 pm
"Remind you of home, huh? Oh yeah.....you're....from Florida, right?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 28, 2018, 08:07:54 pm
"I like it here. It's really cool."
Post by: Strider03 on November 28, 2018, 09:09:08 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on November 28, 2018, 10:28:46 pm
"Heheh. Uh, we have beaches about as good down where I'm from, Yuki, believe it or not!" Faith turned and smiled at her boyfriend. "Yep! I'm from around the Miami area, which is in the southernmost part of the state. There are a lot of great beaches in Florida in general, but Miami has the best, I think."
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 28, 2018, 11:07:26 pm
"They teach that in schools, you know." She at least knew that Shef meant well. . . probably . . . but did he have to do his damndest to scare Kouta?
Post by: Strider03 on November 29, 2018, 08:56:17 am
"That's good. You'll like it here, it's much more enjoyable in the ocean than a pool."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 29, 2018, 11:24:44 am
Minato's eyes are very pointedly on Faith for that last comment, a mischievous smirk dancing on his lips.
Post by: Powder Miner on December 02, 2018, 05:12:06 am
Faith grinned at Minato.
Post by: Empiricist on December 02, 2018, 08:00:12 am
Post by: Twinwolf on December 02, 2018, 08:02:07 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 02, 2018, 08:04:37 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 02, 2018, 08:37:14 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 02, 2018, 08:49:52 am
Post by: Powder Miner on December 02, 2018, 02:00:42 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 02, 2018, 02:17:38 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on December 02, 2018, 02:22:37 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 02, 2018, 06:42:02 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 02, 2018, 06:44:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 02, 2018, 10:40:30 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 02, 2018, 11:02:46 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on December 02, 2018, 11:06:39 pm
"Minatooooo. Don't perv on other girls."
Post by: Twinwolf on December 03, 2018, 08:03:06 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 03, 2018, 08:14:58 am
And if Kouta doesn't learn that it's healthy to like girls now, he'll end up like one of those anime protagonists who panics when a girl so much as touches him."
Post by: Empiricist on December 03, 2018, 08:56:10 am
You whip out your guest card, a minamalistic affair constructed out of some sort of rigid black material with a blueish crest at its center. Tapping your finger against the crest you inject just a little bit of spirit energy almost as of you were trying to heal someone, and with that the device activates, an interface projecting onto the air millimeters above it.
Y'know those holographic interfaces in fiction that are just a abstract arrangements of a single color? Yeah, this ain't that. This looks more like a mobile application's GUI than anything else. With a quick press and another bit of energy input, you open up the minimap of the resort.
Looking at the map you see that the Main Complex is vaguely crescent-shaped and located mainly to one side of the island. Near the center of this crescent is the Main Square with collections of paths, buildings and facilities radiating outwards all the way to the beach on the other side to the form the Inner Peripheral. A handful of smaller buildings break off the outer edge of the main complex, scattering onto the beach as the Outer Peripheral. The beaches themselves are divided into various sections based on wave activity, varying from nonexistent to intense, with most falling near the light-moderate area.
You are currently located in a waveless region of beach near one tip of the main complex, the Main Entrance. The Concierge should be right up ahead past the cafes and light rail station. Apparently it's also rather close to somethings labeled as the Quest Hub. Your bungalows are meanwhile located on the beach just part the inner peripheral, in a section of the light-moderate wave activity.
You could cut a line straight there through the outer peripheral, take a more indirect curving along the beach or through part of the main complex, or take the light rail and straight there.
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 03, 2018, 02:07:22 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on December 03, 2018, 03:16:58 pm
”I, um, well, yes of course I want you all for myself Minato I’m literally your girlfriend. Though, um, I dunno maybe don’t imply too much from that...? But, um, it’s just, the ogling random strangers, like Noriko said, it doesn’t sit super well...”
Post by: Twinwolf on December 03, 2018, 03:28:56 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 03, 2018, 07:03:08 pm
Minato seems a little more uncomfortable now, retreating a little. He'd struck a nerve.
Post by: Twinwolf on December 03, 2018, 07:14:01 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 03, 2018, 09:43:52 pm
Past the glass doors is the concierge itself, a rather fancy affair with winding paths and staircases leading deeper into the complex, their general trajectories revealed by a series of holographic maps scattered across the air conditioned hall. A pair of bored-looking receptionists man the desk, for some dentition thereof anyway, they seem to be more concerned with looking at their phones and handheld consoles than their current work (or lack thereof). A few people are milling around, a few new arrivals taking photos, some beachgoers having a rest on the seats, and a handful of adventurers walking to and from the direction of the quest hub.
Minato, you recognize one of the people here. Sort of. Ji-Hun Yi. You've heard of him. Vaguely. It was a while back, in passing really, a mention of a promising new recruit, a necromancer armed with a ritual scythe who came to be known as the Midnight Reaper. A title which you're guessing was made independently of his bright pink hair and surprisingly not awful fashion sense. With a title like that you could've been forgiven for expecting him to be all gloomy and full-on Hot Topic, but nope; khakis, hawaiian shirt, and a smile. He's currently chatting some girl next to him.
Ji-Hun Yi
Blunt Razor
Blunt Razor
The girl? You don't recognize her, you're pretty sure. She's dressed in a hospital gown augmented with a jacket and long boots, not the kinda dress sense you're likely to forget.
Anyway, past the concierge your current routes will take you deeper into the complex before curving out into the main square and crossing all the way through the inner peripheral.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 05, 2018, 12:27:07 pm
"Huh. That's who they were talking about. He looks like a fun guy."
Post by: Empiricist on December 05, 2018, 06:18:58 pm
Anyway, your bungalows, they each have light rail stop right in front of them, the system splitting off from a hub just outside the the general stretch of beach they're all built along. When it comes down to it, they're basically just small luxury houses, not really surprising when it comes down to it, the realm's got magic out the damn ass and it seems like no one's afraid to splurge a little. Full temperature, breeze and humidity control, adjustable sound and temperature insulation, filtered windows that can simulate day or night and let in a breeze without even needing to open. Shit's got wifi, a full kitchen with the same weird pigeonhole appliance Noriko now owns, oh and, no instruction manuals at all. You have no fucking idea how to use any of this.
It's fortunate then, that putting your bags down does not require a user manual.
Post by: Strider03 on December 05, 2018, 08:53:03 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on December 12, 2018, 07:19:25 pm
She moved her hand to a lock of her hair and thought for a moment, twirling that lock of hair, until eventually she spoke up. "Ummm, Minato? Sorry, and this isn't because of being mad or anything like that if you're worried about that, but I think I want to stay with Yuki here. Uh, I don't want to come off... the wrong way."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 16, 2018, 06:40:23 pm
Then Faith. Minato looks a little disappointed.
"Ah. I see. Well.....that's okay, I suppose. I can't really just ask you to room with me, right?"
Post by: Powder Miner on December 17, 2018, 03:57:13 am
"...and... uh... no, sorry. That would be kind of..." slutty, Faith thought, her eyes dropping to the ground, "...yeah."
Post by: Strider03 on December 22, 2018, 08:03:26 pm
"Any problems?"
Post by: Twinwolf on December 22, 2018, 08:59:52 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 23, 2018, 01:51:01 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 23, 2018, 03:13:09 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 12:38:35 am
"You've been watching way too much anime."
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 08:45:56 am
"What kind of leap in logic is that, anyway?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 05:29:42 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 05:58:19 pm
"Think about it seriously for a moment. She's an older teen involved in magic shit, with secret powers that he lacks but can comprehend, and takes care of him all on her own."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 06:09:29 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 06:20:16 pm
"Anyway, I think the likelihood of a crush depends somewhat on how many years she's been taking care of him. Too many and it'd be unlikely, but I don't know, less than five perhaps, and it's definitely a possibility."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 07:06:24 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 07:17:25 pm
"Forget that. It's speculative, and even if it were the case, as long as nothing came of it, it's not our problem I suppose." He let out a small yawn, and resumed unpacking, refolding some of the clothes that had gotten slightly crumpled.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 07:27:08 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 07:31:06 pm
"You ever feel like you're losing control of your life?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 07:33:11 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 07:46:12 pm
"You know their. . . I don't know, specialty?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 07:52:19 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 08:00:46 pm
"Well, anyway, their specialty is destiny manipulation, for preserving the awakened-ness in the line, or something. But that's the important part, the destiny manipulation. Got a small job with them a few days ago, protection at an event, and things have been. . . off? Since I got the proposal for the job."
"I don't think it's really the destiny manipulation, at least not directly. As long as the client wasn't lying afterwards of course, but I really don't know honestly. You know anything about destiny manipulation rituals and stuff?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 08:09:42 pm
"Destiny manipulation's kind of a misnomer. It's more "filling stuff with as much enhancements as you can to make it do what you want". Difficult, hard to do, but not impossible. What, exactly, happened?"
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 08:18:22 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 08:29:25 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 08:46:42 pm
"What exactly happened. . .Well, in broad strokes, I had three people--awakened or similar--show up in my house at seven in the morning. One through overestimating travel time, one by choice? And the final in response to the other two showing up. Barely two minutes after they showed up, I recieved word that the Thorn family wanted me to do a job, and that it'd require three in addition to myself, specifically three people not on this little team."
Shef knew this to be about as vague as he could get, but he found there was a limit to how much he wanted to share, even relaxed, somewhere secure like this.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 08:53:00 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 26, 2018, 09:02:42 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 26, 2018, 11:36:35 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 27, 2018, 09:10:26 am
"Sometimes forget that you're just as much in the dark about some of this as we are."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 27, 2018, 11:04:02 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 27, 2018, 11:45:03 am
"I don't keep files on people generally, just notes. Something seems interesting, important, odd, I note it down later, but nothing like a dossier. Also, don't really know why you'd want to be there, it's just a small apartment, but you're welcome any time."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 27, 2018, 01:49:20 pm
"Huh. No, actually. Winter and Enn didn't fill me on that front. I always assumed you were way deeper into this than I was."
Post by: Strider03 on December 27, 2018, 03:50:13 pm
"Everything--no, let's say eighty percent--of what I know of all this has been since I left France, and a great deal of that knowledge has been courtesy of Winter and Enn. 'Scuse me though, gonna take the bathroom." He himself didn't have much else to say, and he needed to go get changed. He was rather looking forward to swimming and the beach, and wandering the resort afterwards.
Post by: Powder Miner on January 08, 2019, 09:56:41 pm
"Um, yeah, sure. I'm excited to see what this place looks like on the inside, actually. Looks pretty luxurious."
And so Faith indeed followed her sister into the place they'd be staying, letting out a whistle.
"Yeah... I admittedly have like no idea what half of this stuff does but this place looks preeeetty nice. I guess this whole Awakened thing does have some perks, huh?" Finding her a boyfriend had been a pretty nice perk too, admittedly.
Post by: Twinwolf on January 09, 2019, 06:32:45 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on January 10, 2019, 05:13:34 pm
Faith paused, looping her finger in her hair for a few moments.
"Man... you know... we've never really done anything outside of fighting monsters together, have we? We should change that, Ii think. I dunno, I guess I need to get to know you more."
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 11, 2019, 12:51:17 am
Post by: Strider03 on January 12, 2019, 02:04:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 13, 2019, 05:10:42 am
Well you've got the one that can be projected from your guest card. By the looks of things, you're in a light-moderate wave area. Hmm, there's also vending machines nearby, though you think they might actually be directly networked to your rooms too given that the symbols representing their wares are also present over your bungalow on the map.
Post by: Empiricist on January 21, 2019, 03:15:43 am
Beach time! Yay! There's things like, sand, and salt water. All that fun stuff. Probably more things with Noriko wrestling with her sexuality with all the grace of an episode of Monday Night Raw too. Anyway you've had your fun. Well some of your fun at any rate, and you've all started heading back.
Noriko
You see a familiar figure walking across the beach in the same direction as you guys. She's dressed lightly now, attire more suited for a beach than a battlefield, a suitcase trailing behind her. It's Ren.
Yuki
Energetic as usual you find yourself bounding over to the bungalows ahead of everyone else. Well that is until a blade of darkness sinks right into the sand in front of you. You don't need to look far to find the source.
Standing on the roof of your bungalow umbrella in hand, the man from before grins down at you, wisps of shadow rising from his body as it smolders beneath the rays of the sun. He doesn't seem too concerned about it.
"Watch your step lil' lady! There's a big bad vampire and there's nothing he wants more than to gobble you up~"
Shou Yukimura
Sometimes Speaks in Third-Person
Sometimes Speaks in Third-Person
He rests his umbrella diagonally across his back as he does a "come at me bro" gesture with his free hand, golden conduits of energy beginning to trace across his dark attire.
At the same time, four rods erupt from the ground, streams of light linking them together and marking the boundaries of your little arena. Text traces across, reading WARNING! SPARRING IN PROGRESS!
| [Now Playing: | The World Revolving (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNKFBeYVxw) | ] |
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on January 21, 2019, 09:59:44 am
Post by: Powder Miner on January 21, 2019, 03:36:30 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 21, 2019, 07:28:32 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 21, 2019, 07:54:30 pm
She waves back excitedly "Business! What kind of mentor would I be if I didn't help out with your training?" a pause "And since I'm your mentor, you should totally let me keep my stuff in your room!" she gestures at her suitcase.
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 21, 2019, 08:47:53 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on January 21, 2019, 09:13:16 pm
Alter current result to 4. GUIDANCE OF THE MOON from last 4 in the line. Then attack as above. Fairly obvious, but the obvious could bait his tricks before trying anything risky.
Post by: Empiricist on January 21, 2019, 11:43:03 pm
"Thanks! As for teaching, the AIs want you guys to learn reinforcement magic and you wanted to learn some more elemental magic, right?"
Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The World Revolving (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNKFBeYVxw) | ] |
"A direct approach eh? I'll humor you, let's see how you react to this..."
Shou clenches his free hand into a fist, raising it upwards to present the seal now glowing at the back of his black gloves. The conduit lines running across his body crackle and fail while the seal grows ever brighter, a high-pitched whine filling the air as a ring of light expands out from it.
"<Judgement has been passed! The world has been found wanting!
Come, eternal winter! Blow forth, winds of Hell!
Let the world fall still, let the screams fall silent!
An icey prison, a living death!
Treason's End!>"
So uh that happens, and you're currently vaulting over up onto the roof, while this fuckery is about to go off. And oh boy is it a lot of fuckery. The world is beginning to feel cold, oh so very cold as a ghastly wind blows, covering the roof in ice as the very air seems to explosively crystallize near it, pillars of ice threatening to rise from the ground and impale and/or bludgeon you, the whole little show centered around a kinda beat up looking Shou. Guess he had his own price to pay for that spell, awesome, maybe he'll beat himself up without you needing to do anything!
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Everyone Else
Well the yelling and chainsaw noises and shit is bound to attract attention, so a couple passersby are coming on over to gawk at the spectacle, including a pair of well, well you think they're identical twins. Or maybe they were just made in the same doll factory or whatever. Point is, they look pretty similar, and they're kinda teetering at the edge of a springboard overlooking the uncanny valley. Practically expressionless with empty blue eyes and attire that is entirely too formal and far too hot for this weather, the pair consists of uh, you think it's a boy and a girl? Their silver hair's kinda the same length but one of them does have it in a ponytail and is wearing pants so...
Anyway, they're currently just watching in silence, not just the fight mind you, they're looking your way too.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 22, 2019, 07:12:48 am
"Huh. What....what is that?"
Post by: Strider03 on January 22, 2019, 07:40:20 am
In the meantime, he watched the actions. This ice prison seemed definitely intended to mess with mobility. Had to be more to it though, just for what it seemed to cost the guy. Either contact with the ice might be very painful, or there could be some other hidden trick to it. The first idea that Shef thought could be interesting was if the pillars were primed to explode, flinging one between them in a chain if they were contacted.
"This ought to be fun to watch at least. Wonder if he's part of the whole training thing or what. . ."
Post by: Empiricist on January 22, 2019, 07:45:52 pm
"He is, we all just got here."
Oh hey they talk together too, how utterly predictable.
Post by: Powder Miner on January 22, 2019, 10:55:29 pm
Well, Faith mostly untensed, anyhow.
"Is, uh, is this how all of the training is going to go?"
Post by: Empiricist on January 22, 2019, 11:23:15 pm
"Assuredly not; that roof can only hold two at most."
Post by: Powder Miner on January 22, 2019, 11:25:07 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 22, 2019, 11:30:07 pm
"Ren over here will be teaching everyone how to use reinforcement magic; and then we will help improve your energy manipulation. We have reading materials. And volleyball. And a bomb."
Post by: Powder Miner on January 22, 2019, 11:36:24 pm
I mean, as long as you don't throw it at me out of nowhere or something.
...please don't do that."
Post by: Empiricist on January 22, 2019, 11:39:32 pm
"Sure."
Post by: Strider03 on January 23, 2019, 07:30:22 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 23, 2019, 08:21:24 am
".....that's.....reassuring. Don't make it worse, Shef."
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2019, 01:44:30 am
"Cross that off the list."
"Done!"
Post by: Powder Miner on January 25, 2019, 01:51:50 am
"Real-- wh-- are you-- fucking really? What the fuck?"
Faith pressed a finger to her comm.
<"Yeah, hey, what the fuck?">
She fell silent for a moment, looking between Shef and the twins.
"God, that better be a joke." Another pause, this one briefer. "Shef, how many more paranoid things can you come up with?"
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2019, 01:58:45 am
"That was a joke."
It really didn't sound like a joke.
"Ah, but where are our manners? Let us introduce ourselves. I am Sol, and I am Luna. As you can see, we are twins so we are in sync. In fact, we can even finish together."
Sol & Luna
Probably Not Incestuous
Probably Not Incestuous
Faith
"I see you've met your mentors?"
Post by: Strider03 on January 25, 2019, 07:37:27 am
As the twins finished their introduction, he gave a reply. "Shef. Assume you know who we are though." Sol had been the one who mentioned the bomb in the first place, and who'd made the joke, while Luna had just gone along and clarified things. There might then be some distinguishing parts of their mannerisms, by which to differentiate them?
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2019, 08:29:55 am
"There is if she's planning on killing you in your sleep."
That's a joke, right? It's kinda hard to tell since the pair seem to give everything they say the same deadpan delivery.
Post by: Powder Miner on January 25, 2019, 01:37:54 pm
Faith spoke into her comm again.
”<They— do they have a history of doing things like teaching people by putting fucking bombs in their houses, or really that general sort of thing?>”
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 25, 2019, 01:44:42 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 25, 2019, 02:35:20 pm
"Right. Okay. So you're teachers. What....exactly, do you teach?"
Post by: Strider03 on January 25, 2019, 04:44:14 pm
He shrugged. If he was actually worried, he might have thought a little more about the possibilities, but again, this was training, and as far as that went he trusted Winter and Enn enough.
"If Faith wanted to kill me, expect she'd just try to blast me immediately, and probably succeed." Which was a problem perhaps, if someone who was not Faith showed up, someone less concerned with the fact that she might be also injuring people in the vicinity. But there was no real way he currently had to defend against that, save keeping a low profile and winning the information game. Shef shook his head a little, this was a vacation, the whole team was here, he could keep alert, but he shouldn't obsess. Right?
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2019, 06:37:05 pm
"No? Though they did recently order a machine that creates and sustains explosive volleyballs..."
Noriko
"Oh, there's no need to worry about that. You can learn almost any magic with enough practice and dedication, or the right shortcut. To begin we'll need the twins to figure out how your magic works first and then we can move on from there. I um, cheated when learning mine so I'm better at optimization than fundamentals."
Minato
"Magic. Curses. Eschatology."
Post by: Twinwolf on January 25, 2019, 10:05:18 pm
Chaaaarge! Try to avoid the spike things, but if necessary chainsaw them. Works on trees right? Anyway, primary target is probably obvious.
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 26, 2019, 01:19:44 am
Post by: Powder Miner on January 26, 2019, 05:51:17 am
"<I mean explosive volleyballs, you know, whatever. I might nuke a normal volleyball out of existence at some point I guess but as long as no horrible deadly surprise stuff is being pulled on me, I'm happy.>"
"So, um, what kind of training do you two have planned for me, specifically?"
Post by: Empiricist on January 26, 2019, 08:48:13 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The World Revolving (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNKFBeYVxw) | ] |
You take the spell head on, compensating for your poor agility with sheer unrelenting force, your chainsaw roaring above the howl of the arctic winds, leaving little but pulverized ice in your wake. The frost could not hurt you, the ice could not impede you. It could slow you though, enough for the vampire to read your movements and act accordingly. Drawing his umbrella, he steps right into your attack as you're winding up for another swing, a threatening thrust forcing you to hasten your swing. Your regalia slams against his own, shadows roiling out from the point of impact like blood dispersing through water as you force his weapon to the side. But he isn't staggered, no, he pivots with his weapon and sidesteps forwards, aiming to step past you, giving the clash no clear winner. No way you'll let that just happen. You follow through with your swing, slamming your chainsaw against the hard ice covering the roof, feeling a hard shock to your shoulders as the weapon ricochets back up, barely in control. Shadows sweep outwards jostling your aim as Shou reacts in turn. He manages to escape injury, redirecting your attack at the last moment as he skids backwards into a defensive stance.
An enormous magic circle crackles to life at his feet, and the skies above begin to darken and split open. Embers flicker to life, and as if in a video playing in reverse, they glow brighter and brighter, blowing up into the fissure and condensing together into the nascent form of a giant flaming sword.
"<After Fimbulwinter, comes Ragnarok!
Resound horn of judgement! The final twilight is at hand!
Let the stars extinguish! Let the heavens be split in twain!
Surtr, Sentinel of Muspelheim, Herald of the End!
By this contract I invoketh thee, grant me thy power, endow me with thy blade!
Let the nine realms fall to ruin! Let it all burn to cinders!
This world shall end not in ice, but in flame!
INCINERATE! LAEVATEIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!>"
Yeah uh, that giant flaming sword? It's about to crash down right onto this fucking roof. Now you're pretty confident this fancy little shield of yours can negate the hit, or at least mitigate it, that being said, you're not entirely sure the aftermath will be very conducive towards you trying to fight.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Noriko
"It's, a very long story. Don't worry about not knowing how" she smiles reassuringly "I was like that at first, actually one of my initial powers was just being able to eat more cake without gaining weight ehehehe~ We just need to figure out how it works and we can help you develop it further."
Faith
"Depends, on what you choose; Given the short timespan, we found two ways to improve your skills. The tradeoff is between flexibility and strength of effect. We can show you both, but we only have time to teach you one. You won't like the reading materials either way."
Luna takes out a smart tablet, showing what's on the screen. It's a scanned copy of some kinda mang- w-wait! Is that? It's more porn!
"Miss Abspoel was kind enough to give us a scanned copy of the necessary tomes."
They've got to be fucking kidding.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 26, 2019, 05:14:06 pm
"Aaaaaand now you know what I meant, Faith, when I read that tome."
Post by: Powder Miner on January 26, 2019, 06:43:46 pm
Faith then, though, lowered her hand, just holding the tablet at a normal level, with the screen facing away from her. She took in a shaky breath and then spoke rather than shouted. ”I’m— I’m not going to use these. I just... won’t. Last time I saw one of these, it was... it was... it was really horrible, okay? I don’t want to be reminded of it, I don’t want to be reminded of anything around it, and I’m definitely not going to work with it. Please just take it back and—“
Faith’s time and expression had just begun to calm when her attention was drawn by ominous crackling and fissures in the sky, as well as very loud shouting from the roof of her bungalow. And she saw... this absolute maniac about to drop a giant flaming sword on her fucking bungalow. ”<WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I’M STAYING THERE TOO!>”
And, already more than a little angered, Faith promptly dropped the tablet, aimed her hands at Shou and tried to nail him with a Freedom Beam, just small enough in aperture not to destroy her roof. It wasn’t intended to be powerful enough to kill or maim him, but it sure as hell WAS intended to be strong enough to punt him off of her roof.
Alteration to a 5.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 26, 2019, 07:03:34 pm
He figured there was some sort of magical defense on the actual house. In any case, even if there wasn't, repair costs had to be cheaper than dirt here, so they'd probably be fixed within the day.
Post by: Strider03 on January 26, 2019, 07:17:47 pm
He stood up, grabbed his towel, and walked slowly away through a few portals until he felt he was at a more suitable distance before laying the towel out and sitting down once more. Into his earpiece, he drawled, "Hey, so, are these bungalows they gave us nice and sturdy? Not gonna be knocked down by a few rogue flaming swords?"
Post by: Empiricist on January 26, 2019, 09:43:25 pm
"Sturdy, but not giant flaming sword sturdy. Though I wouldn't worry either way - Shou can limit the damage of his spells, he'd be unable to fight in Sendo otherwise."
Post by: Strider03 on January 26, 2019, 09:56:23 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on January 26, 2019, 10:02:47 pm
Resolve use! SURPRISE ATTACK OF JUSTICE and telestab! Trying to finish this before whatever aftermath it is occurs. Failing that, fuck off of the roof after the stab - don't need to deal with that
Post by: Empiricist on January 26, 2019, 11:43:14 pm
The twins blink in unison as if startled or surprise, taking a few moments of pause after your beam before speaking again.
"Miss Tatsumaki, you must understand that our time is limited, this is a crash course created in response to an assassination attempt. Embarrassment is understandable, but is it really worth the risk when lives are at stake? Besides, psychological attacks do exist in this world, and if you are affected so badly by that incident, then all the better that we rectify this before someone gets a chance to turn it against you."
Shef
"Yeah, a real shame the girl who should be making her own decisions lacks an actual babysitter."
Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The World Revolving (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNKFBeYVxw) | ] |
Circles trace into the air, tracing a trajectory for the sword. If that comes down, things won't be good. But you're not just gonna take it like a slut, you don't even know what a slut is! You're gonna end it, right ehre, right now. That was the plan anyway. You teleport behind Shou, but he's already turning, deploying his umbrella in... the wrong direction? You go for the thrust but before you can even connect, a wide-aperture beam just fucking nails him. Umbrella managed to mitigate some of it, not all of it though, your sister's beam just fucking ragdolls him off the roof.
...The sword's still coming down. Welp, time to GTFO.
With an apocalyptic crash, the sword just beams straight down through the circles and into the roof. The ice? It ignites. Instantly. It's like throwing a match into a gas leak. Only the match is larger than a person and burning with blinding fury. And the gas leak is big, like really big. Yeah. So there's this horrific metallic screech as the sword sinks down, and then everything just fucking explodes.
Your aegis shatters, taking the hit in your place as you're just launch into the air like an action hero. Shou meanwhile expands his umbrella and rides the blast into the air like bloody Mary Poppins. Everything in the arena is on fire now basically, embers rain down from the sky. It's hot, it's choking, and unlike how a certain subset of the population likes their sex, incendiary. Bungalow's still standing though, it's actually almost untouched by the blast, mostly just marred by scorch marks more than anything.
Shou, isn't really doing much right now, but he's still rising into the air on an updraft while the world below your is burning hellscape and fire is raining down, so he might now need to do much either.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on January 27, 2019, 12:05:16 am
"I-- of course I don't want to be involved with that, it's not like it's the firs--"
Faith winced as the sword came down on her bungalow, but a furious shout was arrested as she looked closer and saw that the bungalow was not, in fact, completely destroyed. Instead, she just sighed as she tried to toy with her abilities strangely. Maybe she could put out this fire. She spoke as she did, though.
"I'm... I'm not going to talk about it out here. It has to be in private. I... maybe Minato, too, since maybe it's something he should hear, but... I... I still need to decide that, I guess."
Faith uses Shield of Courage, and then uses a Resolve as she tries to manipulate it away from her and onto the roof to soak up the fire on the roof. Alteration to a 5.
Post by: Strider03 on January 27, 2019, 12:23:19 am
"Seems to have worked out fine though, so I'll assume that regarding this at least, you knew what you were doing," he capitulated.
Post by: Empiricist on January 27, 2019, 12:40:31 am
"Sometimes, you just have to let someone make a mistake and learn from it, especially when say, there are other more experienced combat units ready to step in. ...Not that much learning appears to be happening here."
Post by: Strider03 on January 27, 2019, 01:02:43 am
"It does all make a rather nice light show, I'll admit. Could understand if that's what you were aiming for."
Post by: Empiricist on January 27, 2019, 01:07:23 am
"Do I get a little medal to go with tha- ow! ow! Okay, okay, I'll stop. *ahem* Not the plan either, but Shou does prefer to make a spectacle, helps sell the whole 'great and powerful wizard' image he's going for, don't you think?"
Post by: Strider03 on January 27, 2019, 09:28:24 am
"Certainly is conducive to that image. If I was going for it though, I'd have had the sword seem to come from space, even if it took a bit longer and was simply an illusion. Just what comes to mind, I don't know his abilities. This long incantation stuff his main thing, or what?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 27, 2019, 02:50:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 27, 2019, 07:01:27 pm
"Strictly speaking, his combat capabilities revolve around ensnaring foes with his shadow magic and performing decisive strikes with chi-enhanced strikes. The incantations are there to pressure opponents and stall while he gathers chi, that being said, what they lack in accuracy they make up in raw power and they are very much real."
"He's a charlatan, a confidence man, a con-artist. SpecProv; helps with the money laundering side of affairs. Though it's not just people he can con, he's apparently managed to convince reality that he's got some grand magical power or some such and that he is capable of casting those spells. The incantations help sell it."
Noriko
Ren nods
"Take your time, you've earned a break."
Post by: Strider03 on January 27, 2019, 10:28:09 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 28, 2019, 10:28:42 am
"Reliable? No. He'll probably return the wallet and its contents at least."
Post by: Strider03 on January 29, 2019, 06:52:44 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on January 29, 2019, 09:17:46 pm
SURPRISE ATTACK OF JUSTICE on the guy while he's floating to the ground.
Post by: Empiricist on January 30, 2019, 12:32:48 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The World Revolving (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNKFBeYVxw) | ] |
Hellfire rains from the heavens as smoke billows upwards from the burning ground. Yuki, you take one look at that and decide "fuck that shit, I'm outtie", just y'know in different, more anime words. Teleporting behind him again, you cleave downwards, aiming to catch him as he rises further into the air. This time, he's prepared though. Maybe? Was he prepared before? Kinda hard to tell since he got his ass blasted away by Faith's beam. Fabric and tube dissipate, born of shadows they return to shadows. All the remains of his regalia is the central rod of the umbrella which he rests across his back once again, right in the path of your chainsaw. Darkness leaps from the rod, shifting the strike into a glancing blow, an unsuccessful one at that, a malicious grin forming on its wielder's face. He's just above you now, with a clear shot at your back as the falling embers ignite your form, wreathing you in flames.
"<Flames do not burn eternal, and even gods can perish!
Empress of Death, heed your vow! A myriad curses upon the living!
Let the embers of life extinguish!
Scatter and fade! Thousand Cherry Blossoms!>"
Faith, you've only just managed to maneuver your unstable shield bubble onto the roof when the guy starts fucking chanting again and the tongues of flame just fucking detach, turning into radiant flower petals that blow and scatter in the wind. Wish he did it sooner, still the bungalow doesn't seem to have taken any structural damage and the only flames in sight are y'know, the ones consuming your half-sister as cherry blossoms scatter from her body. Uh, that's her lifeforce isn't it?
"Very well, we can also give you the notes and let you study that part yourself."
Sol picks up the tablet and dusts it off, nodding in agreement.
Yuki, you've just landed on the ground. You're still on fire, you're feeling the strength slowly sap from your body, and Shou coming down right after you, aiming to run you through with his umbrella, which as you note, is rapidly regenerating its fabric.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
"I'm sure he has a price, but I don't think you'll like the markup."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 31, 2019, 07:08:28 pm
Minato blinks. Was this something he hadn't already known? Not that he knew everything about Faith, but....now wasn't the time to ask.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 02, 2019, 05:24:13 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 02, 2019, 05:31:09 am
Minato didn't ask what it was, yet. Now wasn't the time.
Post by: Twinwolf on February 02, 2019, 08:10:17 am
Alter to 5, then do The Thing. And then attack.
Post by: Empiricist on February 02, 2019, 08:44:34 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
Aight, so here's what happens. What you guys see happen anyway. Shou's spell goes off, the raging hellscape turning into a necrotic field where life force scatters like petals in the wind. The man himself thrusts down, a probing strike with his umbrella. This is where things get weird.
There's this flash of light and Yuki is instantly behind him. The air around her twists and scintillates like ripples on the surface of lake, her form hazy and distorted like a mirage. If she swung, you didn't see it; all you see if Shou around holding his umbrella by both ends as something just fucking launches him backwards, the area where he stood just fucking exploding with sprays of sand.
| [Now Playing: | ??? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8qg-XzHgUk) | ] |
An arm falls to the ground, still twitching as it dissipates into wisps of darkness. Shou regards the false limb with understandable apprehension as he reveals he reveals that actual arm, hidden within his cloak.
"W-what the hell's happening? Enn, you seeing this?"
With a sharp exhale, he grits his teeth and adjusts his guard, the glowing cherry blossoms shifting into motes of green light that begin to converge on him, cuts and scrapes beginning to vanish from his body while the shadows beneath him begin to spread out and boil.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on February 02, 2019, 12:54:33 pm
Resolve use for telestabbing. Alteration up to 4. Finish the fight.
Post by: Strider03 on February 02, 2019, 04:51:16 pm
No, he'd definitely been holding back, and were it a real battle, he'd win Shef was sure. He could survive the burst of attacks--and it would be a burst, one couldn't do this permanently without a catch--and then his effects on the field would slow and allow ensnaring, disorient or confuse. Then an incantation, like the ragnarok spell, in order to get a decisive blow before she'd recover. Something like that.
But for a battle to first blood or similar like this. . ."Does he have any way to actually counteract that offensive pressure?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 03, 2019, 08:57:51 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | ??? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8qg-XzHgUk) | ] |
In an instant Yuki appears behind Shou, the man barely able to react as in a split second, the girl just fucking faceplants into the ground, her aura fizzling out with a puff of sparks and anticlimax. Shou takes no time kicking her in the face, and that, is the end of that.
| [Now Playing: | Losing Horn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_asNhzXq72w) | ] |
Yuki ends up skidding across the beach with a cut to the head and Shou chases afterwards, breath shaky and healing potion in hand.
Yuki, you feel uncharacteristically tired. Probably on account of, whatever it is you just did. You think you did something cool? It was kinda a blur.
"H-hey! Yuki! You okay?"
Shou offers you a potion.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on February 03, 2019, 09:23:03 am
Post by: Powder Miner on February 03, 2019, 09:31:43 am
"<Christ!> Did you have to kick her that hard?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 03, 2019, 09:37:19 am
"Hey now! You saw what she did, and I sure wasn't going to give her the chance to repeat that trick! If anything, she should be taking that as a complement!"
Shou brings his attention back to Yuki.
"You started moving real quickly for a moment there. Actually forced me back on the defensive, so good job there." He laughs awkwardly as he scratches his head, adopting a more casual pose, he doesn't seem to be smoldering anymore? "I was gonna ask how you felt about learning some of my magic, but I've a feeling you got other things on your mind now."
Post by: Strider03 on February 03, 2019, 09:41:17 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 03, 2019, 09:47:01 am
"Nothing beyond the obvious, well unless she's been taking lessons from Yoake behind your backs."
Post by: Twinwolf on February 03, 2019, 09:50:18 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 03, 2019, 09:53:45 am
A plume of darkness billows up from Shou as he resumes his smoldering. "Well I heh, don't suppose you'll take that healing spell as an excuse? No idea how you did that, believe me, if I knew, I'd be doing that too."
Everyone
So with all that shit sorted, the pillars go down and everyone gets herded towards Ren's general location, after she y'know, drop of all her luggage at Noriko's.
"So, everyone here knows how spirit energy works right?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 03, 2019, 08:33:20 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 03, 2019, 09:38:07 pm
"Well that's no good! Quick crash course then, spirit energy is what lets you use supernatural abilities, it's not just magic either - you can use it to increase the damage of your blows or improve your own durability." She quickly swipes through a tablet in her hands "So all of you use weapons or spells that drop something at range right? That's good, it should be easier to teach this to everyone then."
Post by: Powder Miner on February 04, 2019, 04:45:17 am
Shaking her head, slightly, Faith looked over at Ren.
"Drop something as in attack, or, like, literally drop something?"
Then her eyes slid down to Ren's hands, and she saw the fact that Ren was on a tablet.
"...and teach what to everyone?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 04, 2019, 04:48:05 am
"Like a portal, or a blinding cloud. Creating something directly at a point."
Post by: Strider03 on February 04, 2019, 09:04:51 am
"And yes, you seem to know, I can drop stuff at range."
Post by: Empiricist on February 04, 2019, 08:29:30 pm
"That's correct! Ren Hamilton, at your service!"
Ren Hamilton
Mentor
Mentor
Post by: Twinwolf on February 05, 2019, 10:20:01 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 06, 2019, 07:02:20 am
Ren smiles in amusement "Nothing that fancy, just a way to limit collateral damage. Sol and Luna could probably teach you flashier spells if you want, though if you want forbidden spells, I heard Miss Abspoel is the best person to ask if you can tolerate her lewdness."
Post by: Powder Miner on February 07, 2019, 04:01:51 am
"...well, I guess limiting collateral damage is something I kinda need. I've definitely had to tone down or misaim some shots to avoid blowing up things I didn't want blown up."
Post by: Empiricist on February 07, 2019, 08:28:50 am
Aight so soon enough everything gets underway for your training exercise. Y'all get asked to partner up and grab some metal plates that Shou just unceremoniously dumped onto the beach. Since there's five of you, one of you will have to partner with Ren. Here's how it goes - each of you will adjust your attack and the spirit energy input into it until it's just enough to damage or destroy a plate. You will then take turns holding and attacking pieces of metal while trying to force energy into it as if one were using a Regalia. Once you manage to successfully prevent a plate from getting completely wrecked a few times, you'll move on to trying reinforce it remotely without physical contact.
Faith, your physical defenses are absolute shit, so have fun not reinforcing your board for quite a while. Good news is you're used to ranged spells so when you eventually get reinforcement working, extending it to doing it at range shouldn't be an issue.
Minato, you've got like, the exact opposite situation. You're already used to enhancing the strength and durability of false Regalia, so moving into not-even-trying-to-be-Regalia isn't too hard, but you also do nothing at range because you're not a mage or anything so it's gonna take a good damn while getting your first ranged trick off.
Noriko, you're, a natural at this? Huh? Might be because of the enhancement spells in your arsenal. It's easier to Reinforce shit you hold with your winds, but it takes surprisingly little effort to get it to work without wind involvement at all.
Shef, middling difficulty on both parts. You're accustomed to enhancing mundane firearms, but you boost their damage not their durability so that takes a bit, making it ranged is about the same, you're used to casting magic to a point but those aren't really enhancements so much as direct conjurations.
Yuki, this is, strangely on the tricky side for you, mainly because you're used to dealing with living people, people covered by YukiCare and the occasional unawakened pleb with a machete wound to the chest, plus aren't random pieces of the environment suppose to get destroyed? What kinda anime hero worries about that kinda thing when there are villains to brutally murder when they're completely inward? Like when they're in the shower? Or having sex? Or showing up in the sequel having survived the first encounter?
Oh also, turns out Ren's Regalia takes the form of a combat shotgun loaded with flechette shells wherein each flechette is around the size of an entire damn candlestick.
Post by: Strider03 on February 07, 2019, 07:55:08 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 08, 2019, 06:21:21 am
Post by: Twinwolf on February 08, 2019, 11:09:58 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on February 09, 2019, 12:06:42 am
"Ummm, actually, I might want to 'cheat' a little bit at this by trying something different, and in that case I think I actually want to partner with Shef at first, Minato." Even if he was a thoroughly intimidating man. "He's more regular at using projectiles than you are, and since I should mostly be at range, that means that I should at least be able to make what I do tank some bullets."
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 09, 2019, 02:43:25 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 09, 2019, 03:23:35 am
"Ah. Alright. Fair enough."
Post by: Strider03 on February 09, 2019, 08:12:09 am
"You're going first. Going to tune my power output starting low to the point where it breaks the steel. Tell me when you're ready."
After recieving some affirmation that she was ready, Shef would fire a few times. An unenhanced shot, and a few rising in as small increments of power output as he could make. A .50 AE would never penetrate more than a centimeter, centimeter and a half of soft steel, so this shoukd be perfectly safe, and give some estimate of what power output he should jump to.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 11, 2019, 05:20:37 pm
Post by: Strider03 on February 11, 2019, 06:01:53 pm
Assuming something to the affirmative, Shef will attempt to find the level at which his normal attacks just barely break through a plate.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 11, 2019, 06:16:10 pm
”Okay, this isn’t QUITE what she asked us to do, but... I think I’m ready for the first part of this!” Faith popped a glowing shield into existence around herself, and tried to move it to instead cover the plate, without spending any sort of Resolve.
Post by: Strider03 on February 11, 2019, 06:43:37 pm
Shef then thought better, and approached. "If your method doesn't work, you won't get shot. But this still might hurt, shrapnel and spalling."
He retreated to his position, waiting for an all clear, before firing.
Post by: Twinwolf on February 11, 2019, 07:25:22 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on February 11, 2019, 08:13:33 pm
”Alright yeah that was prettt much exactly how it was supposed to go. This next part should be the thing I’m trying to do...” Faith put another shield around the metal plate, but this time she tried to form it a bit strangely, giving it some “give” that the Shield of Courage did not normally have. The goal here was to make a shield that would only stop a certain amount of force, just slowing down anything more powerful than that, but that was able to withstand multiple shots. More of an armor than a shield.
Post by: Empiricist on February 11, 2019, 08:26:32 pm
After a few unsuccessful shields that kinda just broke, it sorta works? Instead of the entire shield discharging, the bullet punches a hole through it and pings off the metal as you reshape it to fill the hole. There is one fairly clear problem that occurs to you - the damage mitigated here is proportional to the discharged shield, which in turn is proportional to the cross section of the projectile, meaning its defensive capabilities is rather limited in most cases.
Post by: Strider03 on February 11, 2019, 10:14:50 pm
Shef raised the heavy pistol, and pulled the trigger three times, a second elapsing between each shot, each aimed at the same general location.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 12, 2019, 06:45:28 am
Minato says as he steps over towards Ren.
Post by: Empiricist on February 12, 2019, 07:28:19 am
"At your service!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 12, 2019, 05:48:26 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on February 12, 2019, 07:25:00 pm
”Um... o-okay, uh, let me try to alter this a bit then...” Gulping because she was suddenly much more nervous, Faith concentrated and tried to make the shield on the next plate act a bit more like a physical object, trying to get it to buckle when shot to take some more force than it was now.
Post by: Strider03 on February 12, 2019, 07:44:13 pm
He lowered the weapon, flicking the safety back on. He'd surprised her a bit, put her off guard. That was as intended, something to get used to, if slowly. And Shef knew that he himself needed to get better at it, always. So perhaps, just maybe, when it came time for his practice, Faith would do him the same favor of unexpected attacks that he might not be quite ready for.
When she was ready, he'd fire a single shot.
Post by: Empiricist on February 12, 2019, 10:48:37 pm
You were not feeling confident about this one, you were trying, by god you were trying, but willpower ain't everything. Shield stops the bullet completely, but after that it's gone. It was a sphere of energy ready to discharge just like all the rest.
"Would you like some help?"
Post by: Twinwolf on February 12, 2019, 10:58:41 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 12, 2019, 11:04:12 pm
Sparks fly, metal groans, the plate holds. For now at least. With more energy Yuki may be able to cleave through it all the same, but it'd slow her down.
This was it, Reinforcement, magic that asserts the existence of the mundane.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 13, 2019, 03:17:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 13, 2019, 03:28:16 am
"What are you trying to achieve?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 13, 2019, 04:04:20 am
MinatoMinato nods, looking at the plate as he picks it up.
"At your service!"
"Alright. How will this work? What am I supposed to do, exactly? I just reinforce this until you can't break it, no catches?"
Post by: Powder Miner on February 13, 2019, 04:15:38 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 13, 2019, 04:40:18 am
"Almost! We're first going to make sure you can reinforce it, then we'll try to get you to do it from range. We can worry about speed and power when you've got the basics down!"
Faith
"I see... If you will permit us to hazard a guess, we would say that your problems come from you thinking of it as a physical barrier rather than one formed of energy. It's reasonable for a physical shield to ablate or buckle, but combat data indicates your is something that discharges. It breaks in a single hit because it discharges completely irrespective of the attack's power. So it may help instead to think of your shield as a circuit connected to a power supply. When an attack touches it, the circuit is completed, and the entire power supply discharges. Imagine then, a version that only discharges a fixed amount of power each time and try working from there"
Post by: Powder Miner on February 13, 2019, 05:01:20 am
She also tried to make it regenerate naturally from her energy.
Post by: Empiricist on February 13, 2019, 05:04:51 am
The next bullet that goes through decelerates before pinging off the plate. The shield holds for a bit and then it pops. Not entirely sure where it went wrong, you think it happened during your attempts to cut off the power or recharge it. Maybe it didn't fully cut off? Maybe you accidentally overloaded it during the recharge? Hard to tell, you've made some steps though.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 13, 2019, 06:11:53 am
Minato tries to visualise the plate as a Regalia, gripping it tightly, the golden lines forming across it akin to his armor forming or his weapons materialising. It couldn't be that much harder, right? He did this to swords and spears and shields all the time. He just had to think of the plate as Rho Aias; just another Regalia.
Of course, given Minato's powers generally skewed towards summoning Regalia rather than reinforcing it, and his power was amplified by the Gaia Driver anyway, he doesn't quite put as much reinforcement into it as he'd like.
Post by: Empiricist on February 13, 2019, 06:35:52 am
A spread of silvery stakes erupt from Ren's shotgun and ricochet off the plate, there's some surface damage but none managed to pierce it.
"Good job! Let's do this a few more times to make sure you can keep doing it, then we can move on to trying to do it at range, kay?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 13, 2019, 09:42:27 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 13, 2019, 12:32:49 pm
Not that hard after all. Maybe he was cut out for this.
This time, Minato pours quite a bit more power into reinforcing the plate, his mind's eye seeing it as yet another Regalia, another of the countless shields Minato could use, another of the shields his heart was attuned to.
Post by: Strider03 on February 13, 2019, 03:58:52 pm
He gave Faith about a minute, then fired again, carefully partitioning out the amount of spirit energy.
Post by: Empiricist on February 13, 2019, 08:12:55 pm
Another spray of oversized flechettes slam into your your makeshift shield, ricocheting off again. This time however the surface damage has been reduced.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 14, 2019, 05:16:36 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 14, 2019, 08:37:26 pm
"Yup!"
Well, you continue to use reinforcement for a while before you moving onto the next exercise, wherein the board is propped up and fired upon with the reinforcement having to be applied remotely.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2019, 09:41:04 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2019, 07:58:00 pm
"Well, those lines appear when you reinforce things right? Just try things out and see if you get get them to appear, if not we'll work from there."
Post by: Powder Miner on February 16, 2019, 05:22:17 am
Faith paused, and looked down, a finger put horizontally across her lips as she thought. ”...hum. Maybe you’re right and I’ve been doing this wrong.”
Faith sighed and then put up the shield again. This time she didn’t try thinking of a physical object or specifically meting amounts of resistance in specific places, or of a battery. This time, Faith just tried to channel the feeling that had been overwhelming ever since she got her new regalia and beat the bitch with the scythe away from her boyfriend: the feeling of being hit again and again and again, and not stopping the hits, accepting that maybe she would never be able to fully stop herself from getting hurt over and over. The feeling that despite that, she had to carry on. Faith tried to channel the thing that had kept her going now, the thing that motivated her to keep going in the shithole that was the Awakened world: the realization that if she would always keep getting hit, then there was nothing that she could do but keep getting up and keep going anyway. That lying down and curling up wasn’t going to stop the Awakened world from fucking her up, so she would have to just live with it and fuck it up a bit back.
Into this altered shield, Faith tried to channel Perseverance.
...also she visibly teared up a bit, though her face was suddenly quite set.
Post by: Empiricist on February 16, 2019, 05:51:10 am
Your fears, your resolve, your hopes, and your insecurities, they twist and boil within you, as you sink deeper and deeper into the conflicting turmoil of your own emotions. For a moment, they're the only thing there is, as if it were your world, as it that is all that surrounds you, and as you blink away the tears from your eyes, you see that it is because that is precisely what is happening now. A radiant golden aura surrounds you, a paroxystic barrier born of your resolve, burning bright, oh so bright, but only for a moment. Only for that brief moment.
Did you think it would be that easy?
Before your eyes it flickers and fails, like the last dying embers of some distant sunset. You try to kindle it, by God do you try, fanning your emotions into a frenzy, focusing on the exact feelings that gave rise to it, yet even that slips from your fingertips. Passions are such insubstantial fleeting things, so capricious, so quick to change, so easy to forget. They feel so real in the moment, yet when it all passes, when rationality resumes they can seem so distant. Distant, yes, it feels distant already doesn't it? That spark, that moment where you thought you had it all figured out, only to be snuffed out. And yet, you continue, and yet you preserve, like a damned fool. Even as the warm fades, even as the light dims, you preserve, you hold on, because that is all you can do, all anyone can do.
The failing, thinning shield begins to crack, like a glass globe being crushed by the abyssal depths of the ocean, and along those cracks, a deep purple light begins to shine.
What do you do?
Post by: Powder Miner on February 16, 2019, 06:15:31 am
But she opened her eyes, and in that moment she was transfixed. It was... beautiful, actually. Bright, of course, beautiful, and golden, but not bright in the blinding way that her Lucky Sunbeams were. This was... an inspiring kind of brightness, maybe. It wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t hostile, either. Faith was hit by the startling realization that this was how she’d tried to present herself when she came to Japan. She wanted to be the boisterous confident American stereotype she’d... well, to be bluntly honest with herself, that she’d seen in so much anime.
That hadn’t fucking lasted, though, not at all. Like that moment of brightness wasn’t lasting, either. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, that was a horribly fitting timing of this stuff fucking up, and her negative emotion energy was shining through fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
She took a breath to calm herself down. Okay, she just had to not give up, right? Maybe she wasn’t going to be miss American Anime Character any time soon, but that didn’t mean she was useless. She’d saved Sakurako, twice, she’d saved the guy she, well, really did care for, or at least she’d helped him avoid a lot of pain. That was worth something, right? Even if she probably wasn’t going to stop being a constant emotional disaster any time soon, she could still help people. She just had to keep that in mind and move towards her.
...she also wanted to shout something along the lines of “Oh my God, I am so tired of this bullshit, can this thing finally work already, I’ve tried like fifty different things by now god DAMN!” and stomp her foot into the ground and throw a fit, but, hey, maybe she could combine the two a little.
Faith stomped her foot against the ground, but rather than throw a fit, her mouth quirked downwards into a half-frown of concentration. She, rather than try and just cling onto the shield, moved her will to push back against the feelings that were pressing down against her shield. She really was getting annoyed, but she was also learning to do something about it when she felt awful, or when random things happened, instead of just... not.
Post by: Empiricist on February 16, 2019, 06:36:27 am
Push. Harder. Harder.
It's difficult. Against something else, it wouldn't have been a problem. You could use a beam blast them to smithereens. Pretend like there's nothing wrong, even as fear wells up in your stomach. Tell the world it's all alright, tell yourself it's all alright. Well it doesn't work here, because what's pushing back is part of you too, your doubts, your fears, your frustration. Ah yes, frustration. That's the kicker isn't? That dark energy, the curses, the negative emotions, they're part of you too, the side of you that you hide, well tried to hide anyway. Fear, rage, desperation, they're all negative emotions, emotions that will naturally arise when overcoming adversity, volatile, overwhelming, numbing. And sometimes, that just what you need to break through. The problem here is well, if you generate those emotions when you're overcoming something, what happens if their energy is precisely what you're trying to overcome?
Well, simply put, it doesn't fucking work. You dig your heels and force it? It just adds to the crushing pressure. Add more outward pressure and you get more inward pressure. It all comes back to this same tumultuous unstable equilibrium.
...An equilibrium huh? That's a thought. And no, not that zen balance of two internal forces bullshit. No no no, we're talking practical terms. A balance of two forces, collecting within them, an awful lot of energy. Like a star, radiation pressure and gravity, counteracting one another. What if you kept pushing, not trying to break through, but just to trap more energy inside this?
Your shield burns brighter and brighter, gold and purple roiling across the tumultuous surface, prominences of energy both positive and negative erupting, flaring and settling all across its surface. It's not exactly easy maintaining it, but you are maintaining it, this shifting barrier of energy born of your conviction. If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster eh? Well, you'll pass on Kipling's offer to become a man, but you'll happily take a shield outta this whole deal.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 16, 2019, 06:56:44 am
Post by: Strider03 on February 16, 2019, 09:15:52 am
He stared motionless as first the girl started to tear up, and then began to surround herself with that solar shield. It kinda reminded him of those false color images of the sun, and that was not reassuring.
So Shef took a step closer. "It's unstable, volatile, it's emotion based, and not to the purpose of this exercise? Christ, sure, let's do this, it'll be fun. Now. Hold it together." He channeled his will into that statement, a will to plant roots and weather the onslaught of storm and waves, to succeed and triumph over, and to wield the clashing forces. To find a way to make this work.
This was for his own safety partly. She could easily hurt someone at hundreds of meters, and he didn't really care to experience that right now. But more importantly, if this just utterly failed, he didn't care to have Minato murder him. He took his paces backwards.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 16, 2019, 09:33:23 am
The Shield. The very concept that Minato resounded with. Not a tool of war, not a weapon, but a bulwark to protect others with. The Shield was a poor weapon, but it was what it stood for that Minato utilised. The Shield was the left hand of a knight, one half of a knight's prowess. A knight was supposed to be loyal, to protect others, to place others above themselves. That was why Durandal resounded with Minato so much; Durandal might have been a sword, but it was a sword whose legend had been in the service of defending others, whose final wielder had died in the service of holding back an incomparably larger force from his country. It was what Minato wanted to be; the dignified, unmoving bulwark, the knight that slew the dragons that preyed upon the weak.
Rho Aias and Durandal. The unbreakable shield and the sword of the very model of knighthood. All of Minato's other weapons were weapons that resounded with parts of his personality, but not nearly as much; the Luin Celtchar his hot-headed nature, the chains of Gleipnir his desire to hold back the demons that plagued his friends, Gungnir his unerring, direct nature. The weapons Minato could master, they were the ones that resounded with him the most. That was how Requiems worked, as far as he picked up; they worked from the spirit, from the mind, and Minato's spirit had manifested as weapons because he desperately wanted to be a knight, drawing from the very models that he idolised.
But what use of a knight was he? He couldn't protect Faith from humiliation. He couldn't protect Noriko from her suffering. God knew what Yuki was going through. He was hotblooded. Impudent. Perverted. Rude. Nothing like the knights he idolised. What good was he?
No. He refused to let doubt pull him down. He needed to be a rock.
He had to keep going.
He wasn't a knight yet. But he could be. The power to improve, even a little bit, and be better than the man he was a moment before.
He funnels what he can into reinforcing the shield, golden lines forming but sparking out, his power waning as the distance increased. He knew his power wouldn't quite be enough, not yet; he'd only just started learning how to project from afar. But he had to give it a try.
Otherwise he couldn't become strong.
Post by: Empiricist on February 16, 2019, 09:50:45 am
Yeah uh, one problem with those sparking lines - they're sparking out a couple millimeters from your fingertips. Right uh, you don't actually use anything from like more than five feet away. Furtherest you really got were the false regalia you got to orbit you, but those still didn't add too much distance. You identify the problem here quickly, currently, in trying to follow your instincts, you're trying to project your magic out linearly, but to reinforce something you need to make it instead appear at the target point, sort of like how Shef wills his portals into existence where he wants them to be rather than having to launch them, the issue here is, you haven't done this vectorless shit before. And even with those remote regalia, they were connected to you in a way, through the Gaia Driver. Some Awakened have a sort of instinctive sense for doing this, not you though, it is, one of many luxuries you find yourself lacking, and like the ones before it, something to be overcome through both determination and judgement.
So the first question you need to answer then, is where the devil do you start?
Post by: Twinwolf on February 16, 2019, 09:55:58 am
"I think I've got this, yeah." She smiled at Yuki being Yuki. Her modus operandi might be not unlike the antagonist of a slasher film, but most slashers didn't shout at the top of their lungs like that. "Are you ready to give it a shot?"
Yuki nodded rapidly, taking one of the plates and trying to... well, kinda trying to apply her shield to it but inside? That kind of feeling? It was weird working with something that wasn't alive but she was going to try.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 16, 2019, 05:30:18 pm
"Hm. I can't quite grasp this whole thing right away. This....normal?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 16, 2019, 10:21:51 pm
Shef barks and order, and you obey, bolstering the volatile shield with renewed vigor. The hell was that? Shef's not much of a motivational speaker, or really any kind of speaker, so why then, why did his words seem to resonate with you? A shot rings out, the bullet streaking through your shield and pinging off the plate. Experiment successful.
Yuki
You think you might have a grip on- and the spear just punched straight through, guess not. Sol takes the damaged plate "Behind you."
You turn around and well Luna's bearing down on your right now with her Regalia, a brassy lance-like implement styled after a clock hand being currently brought down upon you in a cleaving strike. It's fast, too fast to dodge.
Minato
"Well, you don't really use any ranged spells do you? So it's only natural it won't feel really instinctive. Hmm, let's try this..."
Right so the instructions and exercise goes as follows. First you are to try that whole channel Regalia into bodypart trick like you did with that kick against the Man of Steel, but instead of channeling Gungir into your foot, you're channeling Rho Aias into your palm to catch a punch. Once that starts working, you'll move onto to channeling it into a plate that you hold.
Post by: Powder Miner on February 17, 2019, 07:43:58 pm
Post by: Strider03 on February 17, 2019, 08:05:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 17, 2019, 08:27:16 pm
Right so the bullets just slam against the shield, flattening and ricocheting off against the plate as gouts of energy rupture from their points of entry. The shield holds. The energy supply remains topped up. The limitation of the defence however soon exposes itself - it's exhausting to maintain, it requires constant output to sustain and constant output is quite draining. The shield flickers and falters right before the seventh bullet, and honestly, it feels less because of the six prior bullets and more the having to maintain it for twenty whole seconds thing.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 18, 2019, 11:53:44 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2019, 06:43:05 am
"So, do you know why that failed?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 21, 2019, 07:22:36 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 21, 2019, 07:59:34 am
"Me neither! So let's try it again!"
Post by: Twinwolf on February 22, 2019, 05:11:22 pm
Yuki
You think you might have a grip on- and the spear just punched straight through, guess not. Sol takes the damaged plate "Behind you."
You turn around and well Luna's bearing down on your right now with her Regalia, a brassy lance-like implement styled after a clock hand being currently brought down upon you in a cleaving strike. It's fast, too fast to dodge.
Yuki reacted without really thinking about it. Too fast to dodge, so she wouldn't dodge. She brought up her chainsaw to block it, as fast as she could.
Post by: Empiricist on February 22, 2019, 07:17:50 pm
Sparks fly and metal screeches as you bring your chainsaw up locking its teeth against Luna's Regalia. The blow was fast, but with the weapons locked against one another it's quite clear you've got the strength advantage.
"Good, now Miss Tatsumaki, please take one hand off the chainsaw and maintain your guard."
Post by: Powder Miner on February 23, 2019, 04:29:50 am
...also, I kinda thought it would maybe explode or somehing, but it didn’t do that either.”
She wasn’t going to bring up the fact that she’d cried, maybe she could just breeze past it if she ignored it, ahaha ha.
Post by: Strider03 on February 23, 2019, 10:01:58 am
"What do you want to do next though?'
Post by: Twinwolf on February 23, 2019, 10:06:16 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2019, 09:04:55 pm
"Not quite, for starters, blade locks tend to be transient. Hold this for us please."
Sol hands you another steel plate.
"Focus on how you feel clashing against Luna's attack. In five second's time, dismiss your Regalia and try blocking the strike."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 23, 2019, 09:20:34 pm
Minato continues trying to project. His powers were usually rather flashy, but that was more a side-effect of summoning weapons that were known for cleaving mountains in half with trails of rainbows than any real effect of Minato's own power. When it came to it, Minato's powers were the equivalent of yanking weapons from the largest arsenal known to mankind.
Which, unfortunately, didn't lend itself quite so well to learning how to project without a vector to project through.
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2019, 09:37:58 pm
Plate explodes again. Welp.
"Let's try something else..."
"Hey I got an idea, Minato how d'you feel about just skipping head to improving your summoning for now? If we start there and work backwards getting Reinforcement done at range could be easier."
Post by: Twinwolf on February 23, 2019, 09:39:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 23, 2019, 10:14:41 pm
You dismiss your Regalia and Luna's weapon just continues cleaving down at that old frightful speed, it is as if your block hadn't blocked the strike so much as paused it (and now that you think about it, it makes sense people with time powers might use a clock hand as a weapon). Focusing on, really the same sorta feelings and instincts you had with your chainsaw you steady the plate and hold it into the path of the swing. There's a clang of metal as the weapon stops halfway through the plate.
"Miss Tatsumaki, you've made a good start, now try doing that against Miss Fuuri."
"Practicing more will help you block better; but sometimes it pays to be weaker, for instance if you let your foe cut into something before strengthening its reinforcement further you could potentially trap their weapon."
Post by: Twinwolf on February 23, 2019, 11:02:56 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 25, 2019, 02:34:26 am
Minato cracks his knuckles. Something a little closer to his comfort zone.
Post by: Empiricist on February 25, 2019, 03:40:30 am
"Well you seem like a bright kid, you come from a good family too, tell me, how much do you know about running a con? I'm sure your parents must've taught you something about figuring out when someone's trying to screw you."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 25, 2019, 04:28:00 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 25, 2019, 06:53:57 am
He grins, it's a friendly, charming grin, the kind that sets your heart at ease, the kind that has you checking your wallet.
"Well I suppose that's a start. The buttering up, a bit of an exaggeration, depends on the mark really. Sometimes yeah, they're the greatest guy in the world and you're just the one guy that realizes it, other times maybe you're just a stranger they could help. Still, number one thing I say you'd need is a persona, a character, a mask. Number two's audacity, people don't go around expecting to be conned, most don't anyway, no, they see something that seems a bit odd and then they get their guards up, but you do things right, you do things confidently and you slip right past. You gotta be about to sell it without hesitation, that goes double when things go awry, triple if it's insane, hell it's better if it's insane, if they can't even begin to imagine what you're trying to do, they sure as hell won't be expecting it. Keep that in mind, because what we're doing? Well, it's something most would consider a little audacious."
A chuckle, his form seems to smolder that much more.
"Third and last point is intel gotta know what's a good easy mark, gotta know how to best swindle them, 'course you don't always get much choice in who you swindle, 'specially if you're playing the hero. Here, you don't have any choice, you want power, plain and simple, the power to protect yourself, the power to protect others, and if you want power, well there's only one place to get it from - Akasha. We'll be taking power straight from Akasha and putting it right into your hands, and by 'we', I mean 'you'."
So that's the trick huh? You already figured that asking to improve your summoning could be a tall order, after all, it's not really innate, your compatibility is sure, but this power? It's closer to tech, it's something constructed, something to be refined with research and innovation rather than a training montage, so that side of things couldn't really be hastened, and the compatibility itself? Well, if they understood how it worked they wouldn't need to study you. So that's how it is then, they can't improve the compatibility but they can build upon it through other means, means such as a rather ambitious embezzlement scheme.
"Now I've done this before, but I can't do it for you, so we're gonna have to train you up, you and Yuki too. Now I won't mince words, it's not gonna be easy taking the first step, once it's done, you'll be well on your way."
He takes out a small shimmering sphere, its pellucid surface giving a clear view of the seed hovering at its center. Shou grips it tightly and blueish lines trace along its surface, forming all manner of intricate inscriptions, the orb sinking down into the sand as caution signs extend outwards from it. The sand bubbles and liquifies as the orb vanishes beneath the surface, blueish leylines trace from its point of impact, initially outwards along the ground before fading as a second more violent discharge erupts upwards, solidifying into a glassy tree, around it the air begins to shimmer, a silvery mist hanging in the air.
"This tree thing is protected by a magic field, it's hooked up to this island's leylines so there's quite a bit of power in it. Should be more than enough to keep your away."
He produces cylinder engraved with lines similar to those on the bauble.
"Think of this as a key of sorts. Use it and the boost it gives will let you push through the field. You have all of today to smash that tree. You have to do it yourself. As for me, well, I think I've earned myself a little vacation."
With a grin he pockets the key and just fucking walks off.
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 25, 2019, 02:19:25 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 26, 2019, 06:23:29 pm
".....well, there's no way I can out-con a con artist like that. That'd be like trying to count grains of sand on a beach."
The boy rubs the back of his head. He wasn't the deceptive type, so swindling someone wasn't an option. Especially someone like Shou, who made it his life's work to con things, as far as Minato knew about him. Conning the conman wasn't an easy task for someone who already knew how to be a con, let alone someone more direct like Minato. So the theft approach wasn't going to work.
That left the direct approach. The thing Minato favoured. That was, smash it until it comes down.
Cracking his knuckles, Minato studies the tree for any weakspots he can exploit, things he can go for, any sign that he can bring it down with something like Durandal.
Post by: Empiricist on February 28, 2019, 08:28:08 am
Well, hard to tell how durable it is, but going by what Shou said, the field surrounding it is probably the main problem not the tree itself.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 28, 2019, 05:52:33 pm
So, to start, just to test the field's strength, he manifests some generic swords and smashes them against the leyline, exploding them to inflict as much damage as possible.
"Start with the basics, after all, then work our way up."
Post by: Empiricist on March 02, 2019, 05:04:33 am
Forget exploding your swords, you're having trouble even reaching the damn tree, the air in a several meter radius around it has apparently thickened to the point of being practically solid and aggressively springy, to the point where trying to charge in just bounces you backwards.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 02, 2019, 08:36:49 pm
Noriko shrugged, having watched Yuki's training with vague interest. It wasn't much use to her, really. She did hope that they found some method of training her other than repeatedly using surprise attacks; Noriko was on edge enough already, she wasn't particularly keen on having her house blowing up because they thought she might learn to shoot lightning because of it or something. Her spears appeared in midair around her, and before sending one at Yuki, she took a few experimental stabs at the plates on the ground, trying to get the strength right.
Yuki held the plate steadily, preparing mentally to run through what she'd done earlier - as the spear made contact, she tried to let it sink a little before reinforcing enough to hopefully trap it, although whether that would work on her first try was in the air.
Post by: Empiricist on March 02, 2019, 11:03:22 pm
You feel the jolt of the impact, letting it hang in your mind for a moment as the spearhead drives into the plate, and just as the tip emerges you reinforce, the impact turning into a crash as the plate strengthens resisting the strike. With a screech and groan Noriko forces the rest of her spearhead through tearing apart your plate, the rest of her thick hard shaft thrusting mercilessly through your broken barrier.
Maybe that trick works better against slashing weapons?
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 03, 2019, 12:16:19 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 03, 2019, 10:59:05 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 03, 2019, 05:04:52 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on March 03, 2019, 08:10:20 pm
"Well, uh... I guess we spent enough time training up my attempts at messing with my shield, maybe we should have me try to break your reinforcement now."
Post by: Strider03 on March 03, 2019, 09:19:57 pm
He took up one of the plates, and set about trying to pour spirit energy into it the same way that he would with his pistol. Might as well start there as anywhere else. Whenever Faith had figured out the necessary strength to not vaporize him, he'd hold it up, and hope that it did something.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 03, 2019, 10:51:45 pm
Then she, of course, flung a bolt of her Bravado magic at Shef's plate to see how he did (being careful not to blast off his fingers).
Post by: Empiricist on March 05, 2019, 07:39:03 am
Fill, fill, fill and... bang! Bolt blasts right through. Hmm, that didn't work out too well. Okay take a step back, assess what went wrong, fix it. It's how you fix a gun, it's how you look back on a mission, it oughta handle this. Right, as far as you can tell it's not a matter of power, rather it's a matter of effect. You definitely pumped energy into it, but the energy didn't do anything, at least, nothing useful at any rate. The problem isn't the power supply then, but what you were doing with it. Right, you think you've isolated the problem - you treated it like a gun, but in such cases it the lethality not the durability that you enhance. Need to adjust your approach accordingly then.
Post by: Strider03 on March 05, 2019, 10:07:16 am
So, he focused on the effect which he poured into the overpenetrator round, attempting to make the shape of the plate more permanent, resistant to the fluctuations of an ever unpredictable environment.
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2019, 12:32:34 am
There's a bang as the plate craters and spalls, but it holds. Okay good first step, but you're not all the way there and the spalling is going to be a problem. Think it's more a product of Faith's magic combined with you not putting enough power into it more than anything else at least.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 06, 2019, 12:42:08 am
"Er... I'm not going to be putting any holes in you, am I?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2019, 07:55:47 am
"Don't worry about it. Think I could probably take it even without the plate, what with the adjusted power output. With the plate it should be fine."
It was possible that he was more increasing the actual hardness of the plate, rather than the durability so much, and thus it wasn't holding in one piece as expected? For now though, he tried again, feeding energy into the block of metal for a bit of a longer portion before the attack.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 08, 2019, 04:10:49 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 08, 2019, 04:56:04 am
This time the plate holds without spalling. That being said you don't think the prep time actually did much since you felt it reinforce soon after you started with everything else being just maintainance. Makes sense given that when you enhance your bullets you don't really have to pump energy into it over a length of time, you simply just do it. This may just come down to practice and getting a better feel for this than anything else.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 08, 2019, 06:05:51 am
MinatoMinato recoils, shaking his head and wringing his left hand out. Tough shield, so it was. Minato tries again, this time trying to figure out if the field flickers at all or changes when Minato strikes it, to see if there's anything he can exploit.
Forget exploding your swords, you're having trouble even reaching the damn tree, the air in a several meter radius around it has apparently thickened to the point of being practically solid and aggressively springy, to the point where trying to charge in just bounces you backwards.
Post by: Empiricist on March 08, 2019, 10:08:54 am
It's hard to tell based on appearance, given that it's a well, air, but you do manage to wo work something out using a bit of sand, and a lot of effort, namely that if you hit it super hard it will vibrate slightly as the force disperses and reflects as if you were trying to punch a giant extra springy mass of air-flavored jelly. No flickering or anything though.
Post by: Strider03 on March 08, 2019, 05:19:11 pm
If that didn't work, he'd start by touching the metal plate, and try to maintain the reinforcement as he walked away from it.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 08, 2019, 05:28:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 08, 2019, 05:47:13 pm
Aight, so pin-pointing doesn't seem to work too well, at least, not at first. However by pin pointing the location you're able to get touch and move method working over long distances. After that it's simple repetition and tenacity that lets you finally start applying it at a distance, no touching required.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 08, 2019, 06:04:11 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 08, 2019, 10:58:55 pm
"Don't expect too much from this, alright?"
Post by: Powder Miner on March 09, 2019, 03:00:50 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 09, 2019, 10:27:18 am
Well, the plate holds and stays perfectly intact. Against the sea breeze that is. Soon as you fire the Freedom Beam, it's just plain gone, along with a lot of the sand beneath it, leaving a sizeable hole in the ground.
Post by: Strider03 on March 10, 2019, 09:18:07 am
"Want to move back to your stuff?"
Post by: Empiricist on March 10, 2019, 09:20:37 am
Not really, you didn't feel much of anything since all you felt in the first place was pumping energy into that location, not what that location contained or what the energy was doing.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 04:22:17 am
This wasn't Minato's strong suit. Everyone else had subtle covered (relatively); Minato was either a giant shield for his allies or a giant sword. He knew how to take a hit, and how to dish it out. He didn't know subterfuge, he couldn't manifest portals and he couldn't exactly teleport things. After all, his powers were focusing on summoning weapons, weren't they? Weapons weren't exactly keys, unless you counted a shotgun to a door lock. Or, in his case, an exploding sword to a door-
Oh. Oh.
That was the trick, wasn't it. Summon the damn key. Shou, he knew, was using the same power as his, or something similar. Both of their abilities were tied to the Gaia Memory, or Akasha or Mem Aleph or whatever any given intellectual wanted to call it. The key, likely, was tied with the Gaia Memory. If the key was tied to it, the Memory likely had an imprint of it. After all, it had an imprint of everything and anything that had ever existed on the planet. Minato was only pulling from the section of the Memory that had weapons in it. It wasn't that far of a stretch to start summoning other things.
Minato concentrates, closing his eyes. Perhaps if he manifested the key as a sword, maybe it would be easier. It was easier, anyway; he had more affinity for shields, but keys and swords easier to combine in his mind.
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2019, 04:42:09 am
Well, you get a key as a sword, though uh, you don't think it will function too well as a key in this state given how locking mechanisms are not scale-invariant surprisingly enough. And honestly you don't think this will function too well as a sword either, it's got a weird serrated edge mimicking the teeth of a key, and horrifically large guard that throws all the weight onto the back and renders it really awkward to hold, and the non-serrated side is blunt. On the bright side if you ever get hit by a drunk and end up stuck wondering a a congeries of Disney IP, you know what to do now.
Everyone
Aight okay, an hour or two passes you guys start practicing more with increasing reinforcement strength and rapidly applying it to objects. Except for Minato who's stuck trying to figure out how to get through this bouncy air dome and Faith who has just learned that as it turns out, energy shields sustained by two blending emotional forces can't be quickly switched to new targets.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 04:57:26 am
Summoning it wasn't going to work, not directly. The only thing Minato had ever summoned that wasn't a direct weapon was Vimana, and Minato had to wrangle it into existence. Visualising it wasn't going to completely work, not at all. He grumbles, discarding the giant key-sword.
Shou's words ring in his head; he talked about persona, about audacity, about confidence.
Persona. That was the word for a mask in Latin. Minato had learned that one in class. Masks and deceptions and smoke and mirrors.....all things Minato knew scant little about. But not confidence. Confidence was something Minato knew a lot about. It was his very essence, his personality.
Audacity, confidence and determination. Three words that would sum up Minato Kumon in a nutshell. He had much of the first, a lot of the second and too much of the third.
Confidence, huh? Alright. I have the key. That's all I have to think. I have the key.
Clenching his fists, Minato picked up the key-sword. He was going to go through that shield, no matter what. He continues attempting to project the key, the flames of determination fuelling his attempts. He breathes in deeply, projecting something, anything. It didn't matter.
As long as he acted like that was the key, it was the key. It was a con he was running, after all, and Akasha was the mark.
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2019, 05:11:36 am
You have the key. You have the key. Just grit your teeth, walk forwards and... get rejected completely. You just bounce and skid along the sand, skidding to a stop beneath the shade of an umbrella?
Shou takes another bite out of a bagel. "You kids still training?" A disinterested glance sweeps you over "What's with that weird expression? You got a crazy glint in your eye." A dismissive wave "Eh whatevs, when you're ready to begin, come find me. Til then, try and enjoy the beach, training's training but some R&R ain't too bad either."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 05:13:54 am
Minato continues attempting to head in, continuing to project. He had the key, as far as he was concerned. Akasha wasn't going to tell him otherwise.
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2019, 05:18:42 am
Shou watches as you get up, dust yourself off and walk back at the bubble. "Huh, what a weird guy."
Guess who's back on the sand again? This guy!
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 05:23:00 am
Confidence was something Minato could show off, but determination was something he had well in spades.
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2019, 05:29:56 am
Nope. Try again.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 11, 2019, 05:35:02 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 05:39:09 am
He had to get stronger. He had to be harder. He had to be-
Unless....
He calms himself again. Take it down a notch or two. Confidence wasn't just fiery determination, of course. Minato knew that full well. It was knowing that whatever you put your mind to, it was going to be successful. And he'd be successful here because this wasn't anything problematic, not even an obstacle worth pursuing. It was trivial. Not worth the fire. Just something to do, like going to the konbini and getting some water, or ordering a piece of cake at the maid cafe.
It was only going to be an obstacle if he saw it as an enemy to overcome and not something almost rote, almost instinctual.
Alright.
Adjusting his shoulders, he snaps his fingers, summons the key he knows he's got, and walks forward with a calm stride, sword in hand, towards the tree, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2019, 05:46:53 am
You take a step forwards. The field shimmers but offers little resistance. So that's it. Confidence, comes in many shades. We are confident in many things, we are confident that the ground beneath us is solid, that when we choose to walk, we will walk. But we do not approach it with self-assurance, we do not approach it with determination, no, we approach it with apathy, and in a con, apathy can be a very powerful tool. If you pay no heed to what you do, then what reason does anyone else? Make an offer, but do it dispassionately, do it indifferently, let them provide the enthusiasm, let them guide the conversation, control the negotiation, or so they think. If they think they worked for it, if they think it is their decision, and that you, that you do not care, then you'll have then eating right out your damn palm.
You take a second step, then a third, then a fourth, walking straight through the field. You're halfway through when the world burns red and six light machineguns erupt from the beneath you. Amidst flashing lights and screeching alarms, an automated message plays "UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL DETECTED. PURGING IN 3, 2-"
Time's short, what do you do?
Post by: Powder Miner on March 11, 2019, 05:57:31 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 06:07:38 am
Just act natural. Just stay cool.
He waves his hand at Faith, holding up the false key he'd formed in his hand. He didn't exactly know what it was, but it definitely wasn't Shou's key. Akasha didn't need to know that, of course. All part of the play.
"Good grief. Key's broken. Faith, don't worry about it, honestly. The system thinks I'm trying to break in or something because I'm supposedly unauthorised personnel. I got authorisation right here."
Just to continue the play, he waves the key he's got at the machine guns, rubbing the back of his head to sell it more. To play it off as a minor inconvenience that would surely get sorted out if he talked to the right people.
"You mind? I got the key right here. Can't even make a sealing field that picks up its own stuff right, good grief."
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2019, 06:10:08 am
The machine guns continue aiming menacingly at you for several uncomfortable seconds, then the alarm turns off and they drop back into the sand. What was that Shou said? Gotta be audacious especially when things go awry?
Tree's real close now, you think you should be able to just up and smash it assuming there's no more hidden surprises.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 06:19:07 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2019, 06:22:24 am
The tree offers no resistance, shattering as if it were made of glass and dissolving into nothingness. The leylines crackle and fail, the field dissipates to naught. You hear Shou clapping.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 11, 2019, 06:27:53 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 11, 2019, 07:03:29 am
"A few guns and a forcefield? That's nothing."
Post by: Powder Miner on March 12, 2019, 06:35:54 am
Faith sat at a table in a room in the dining room of her bungalow -- having checked everywhere in the place but Yuki's room, which she didn't feel right just barging into, and having knocked on that door, she was fairly confident that Yuki wasn't there to overhear. Faith sighed, and looked at the people at the table -- Sol and Luna, and Minato. After a few more moments of awkward silence, Faith moved her fingers to her comm, sighed again more quietly, and spoke. "Um, Winter, Enn... m... maybe you should listen to this too. If it was relevant now, it might be relevant later, especially with Fleur's stuff..."
She looked down at the table for a few moments, watching herself tap it nervously with one finger, then the other, then the one, then the other over and over again. This really sucked to talk about. It really really sucked to talk about. But if this sort of thing with those porn tablets was gonna keep happening, she had to talk about it. And Minato especially deserved to know -- she'd keep him after she sent the others to talk to him about it more, probably. "Um, so, right... the reason I grabbed you all to talk with is that I really, really do not want to use those hentai tome things, and... I've got reasons why, and maybe I... maybe I need to talk about them some if this is going to be a problem." She reached over and squeezed Minato's hand with one of hers -- aside from deserving to know, he'd provide some comfort, which she might need.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 12, 2019, 06:38:16 am
"....well, uh...I'm here, if you need me."
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2019, 06:58:26 am
Well, maybe it would help a bit if the peoople you're facing at least smiled a little, or blinked, or did anything except stare into eye withs with those empty gazes of theirs as they continued teetering over a springboard right into the depths of the uncanny valley, but nope, no reaction, no even idle movement.
"Very well. If it helps, we can arrange for counselling services and the like, you won't have to discuss any of it with us if you don't want to."
"Sol, Luna, what are the contingencies?"
"We can continue with the metamagical or spirit injection as planned, albeit without the texts, this will yield poorer results than before but it can be done, alternatively, Miss Tatsumaki has demonstrated she is capable of wielding both aspects of her magic at once, and without entering a fully negative state. We can try to use this to focus on curses, we cannot guarantee she will be able to develop her energy manipulation skills much, but she will at least be able to curse her foes."
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2019, 08:34:00 pm
Ren leans over behind you, peering through the view glass into the contents of the box. Through the glass you can see that the cylinder had broken, broken in its thicker end, the gossamer thin film on the other side untouched. Glass has scattered out into the box, the direction was outward, but that should be obvious - there was no air outside the cylinder, at least not until you breached it. This was the second test. In the first, the cylinder too held a vacuum; you couldn't break it.
"Miss Fuuri, we believe your magic is that of enhancement. Enhancement of quantity, enhancement of movement. By amplifying movement in one direction, you make directed movement arise from atomic vibrations. By enhancing the quantity of the air you can create regions of high pressure, producing blasts of air even when it is thin, though this amplification is transient. In short, you are compatible with other forms of elemental manipulation, we suggest picking something common or easily produced. Miss Hamilton, we leave the training and the lobotomy to you."
"Sure! Wait, lobotomy?"
"Joking, joking."
"We'll take our leave now."
And with that they leave.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 12, 2019, 08:56:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2019, 09:22:31 pm
"This isn't our first rodeo so to speak, and forcing a matter never goes well."
"If it um, makes you feel any better, at least you're not a 6'5'' musclebound man who needs to be passed off as a little girl to avoid an arranged marriage."
"But your expressions reads 'I want to curse people, every night I stay awake thinking of making my enemies cover and waste away before their very eyes'. 'Aaaargh. Aaaargh. It hurts. Help me. Someone save me from Miss Tatsumaki's terrible curse. Truly I will rue the day I so insolently crossed her.' Like that."
Uh... what?
"Anyways, the question then is, what path will you choose? With metamagic you will learn how to control spells and energy directly, it has high potential precision but will require you to divide your attention and maintain focus. With spirit injection you will imbue entities with a semblance of life, it is more autonomous but more lacking in direct finesse, more advanced spells will require a degree of empathy."
Post by: Powder Miner on March 13, 2019, 05:11:39 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 13, 2019, 05:20:04 am
The twins nod in unison.
"We can start tomorrow."
"You'll get used to it, turns getting raised by an Aramitama can make you a tad eccentric."
Guessing this is just to you two and not the twins themselves, though honestly, you can't really imagine them reacting much even if they heard it.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 13, 2019, 05:33:17 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 14, 2019, 05:57:09 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 14, 2019, 09:48:55 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 14, 2019, 09:57:13 pm
The twins take their leave.
Noriko
"Well, I guess we should pick an element and start practicing! Why did you want to learn a new element anyway?"
Evening, elsewhere
Shining above in the cloudless skies and reflected below on waveless seas the stars shine, alien stars arranged in constellations you do not recognize with a strange luminance, they're no brighter than the stars brighter, but they feel brighter, as if immune to light pollution, as if refusing to be forgotten, or perhaps unable to be forgotten here in the land of the lost.
The beaches are bustling with people even at this late hour, shouldn't be much of a surprise at this point - sleep is wasted on many Awakened, yourself included. Feels good to have it, but you can easily go for weeks without it, heh, you might've abused it just a little during your college days. Needless to say, your friends were more than a little jealous.
Those were brighter days, happier days; you brush those thoughts away focusing your attention back at your host, currently helping himself to a rectangular slab of meat sprinkled generously with an assortment of fries, peculiar vegetables, and an assortment of increasingly bewildering condiments, some of which seem to visibly glow or pulsate. "Seriously, have you tried the steak here, it's incredible I tell you."
He turns and takes another sip from his drink - a highball glass filled with some reddish liquid that at one point was blood, at least before the cracked pepper and celery stick entered the picture.
"Drinks too, they've an excellent selection of cocktails, a lot of 'em you can't get back home. No? You sure? Hah, understandable, a drink's only good for getting the other guy drunk. ...Anyway, what were we talking about again? Ah yes, your control magic."
He rifles through a notepad for a few awkward seconds coming to a stop about halfway through.
"Righto. So if I wrote everything down right, you've only really used it against civvies, and a swarm of zombies, right? Not against anything a little more resilient? I dunno like, an Aramitama, some tougher Mononoke? Okay, so my first question then is, how'd you expect to improve your magic if you almost never use it?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2019, 08:30:03 am
"And the other thing? I don't want it well known that I have it. At least, I want it not to be known exactly what it is, a last resort that I can keep at least a little under wraps. Maybe it's stupid, but that's the why of the matter."
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2019, 09:14:32 am
"Well, you say that but it's pretty damn quick, no? A flash of your glasses and they're struggling against your control."
He takes another bite of his synth steak.
"But hey, training, sparring, it all gives you a chance to try it right? No stakes, a real foe, well keeping the details under wraps won't work too well with that but, put it this way, this power of yours, you want it to be a rifle in your hand or a shiv in your boot? Because it sure ain't gonna be easy trying to get it both ways."
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2019, 09:26:36 am
"It's still irksome, but I suppose a shiv needs to be sharp. Powerful but narrow in application, rather than broad in utility but weaker."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2019, 07:32:36 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2019, 08:20:49 pm
"There will always be another shiv, 'sides it's not really that hidden if you've been using it on civies, you can never know who's watching when you do that."
Another sip of his drink, a red glow beginning to shine in his eyes.
"So you want a rifle, sure, whaddya want to do with the rifle? Lotta options, control people, control spirits, control objects..."
He counts the categories on his fingertips before returning to his meal.
"There's more than that of course, but I ain't much a mage when it comes down to it."
Noriko
Ren nods along with your explanation, giving a quick
"Makes sense to me!" no sooner than the words have left your mouth. "You said you got pinned before right? What sort of things were pinning you down?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2019, 08:28:48 pm
"But you seem to know some of the options, mind giving me a rundown what's involved? Within the limits of your knowledge, of course."
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2019, 08:42:36 pm
"People, that's what you've been doing for the most part, more than enough to control a civvie, something tougher, hijacking a limb or shaving away at their reaction time seem doable. Objects, you've done that too. Those zombies, remember? Sure they like people, but I could go to any adult store worth a damn here and buy a doll that looks like a person too, does it make it a person?"
He pauses, just long enough to make you wonder if you're expected to respond.
"No. It's just a thing, an object."
He punctuates this with a thrust of his fork as if for emphasis.
"A dead body's just that and I'd wager those weren't even the real deal, just mindless constructs. You still controlled them all the same didn't you? Within their own capacity anyway, might be able to push it beyond their capacity."
He takes a hefty chug of his drink.
"You familiar with the idea of animism? It's pretty big in Japan with its religion and all that, thinking there's spirits in everything. There ain't but you can always summon spirits and inject them into things. Simpler ones are kinda like programs or automatons, no real thought, just ruleset, can be a bitch to work with if you don't know what you're doing, but you don't need to know, do you? A flash of your glasses and you'll have them eating out the palm of your hand. Just y'know, make sure it's actually mindless otherwise it'll be real pissed."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2019, 08:46:25 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2019, 08:57:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2019, 09:06:05 pm
"One moment please!"
She takes out her tablet, flicking through its contents.
"Hmm, it froze the air around itself? That does sound pretty troublesome! Hmm well if you're doing hit and run, you could learn a way to enhance yourself before you engage to protect you from things like that, or you could improve your options for disengaging, which do you prefer?"
Shef
"Suit yourself. It's the simpler option anyway, probably for the best if you haven't been using it all that much. We'll have a guy head over tomorrow for you to spar with, should give you ample opportunity to play around with your magic and see how it fares in a combat situation."
Post by: Strider03 on March 16, 2019, 09:19:44 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2019, 10:02:16 pm
"Virgin Bloody Mary, but y'know, with blood."
You don't think he touched anything?
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 16, 2019, 11:58:59 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 17, 2019, 02:11:33 am
"Hmm, okay. If you're getting sealed or bound you could try something that hurts the thing doing it enough it can't maintain it, you'll want to learn something more explosive that itself isn't so easy to jam. Alternatively you could try sealing them yourself, you'll be doing it from a bit of a disadvantage so a dedicated sealer will probably win, but it could be enough for other things. Or..."
She hesitates for a moment, as if unsure whether she should continue.
"Or... I guess I could try and teach you how to break it? It's, not really elemental though, and our powers are pretty different when it comes down to it, so I'm not sure if it would be worth your time..."
Post by: Powder Miner on March 19, 2019, 06:23:53 am
"Plus, you know, you're my boyfriend and all, so... it's going to come up at some point or another. Um... yeah. I, uh." Faith breathed in, and then out. "The reason I flipped out so bad about all of the stuff at the mansion is because I got, well, I got harassed a lot in Cutler Bay, back where I'm from. I..." Faith sighed again. It was already hard to get this stuff out and she hadn't even started elaborating. "I'm... I'm big, I know that much. And I've been like this for years. And people... didn't necessarily like me very much, but they liked my chest, so... they'd stare and make all sorts of comments... or they'd say really horrible dirty things to each other about me when they knew I was listening... or, um, every so often they'd try to peep at gym, so I kinda stopped participating there... or, they'd slap my... you know."
By the time Faith finished speaking she had visibly become very glum, looking downwards with a big frown on her face. "Um... um, I don't like talking about that because it was all really horrible," if only part of her greater, horrible, awful life, "but nowadays things just... I, I get my clothes blown off, or people shove porn at me, or... or I get porn magically drawn OF me, and I just..." Her voice cracked. "I really hate it."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 19, 2019, 11:52:46 am
He figured there was something to Faith's insecurities; that she felt she wouldn't be attractive because she was an American in Japan, or that she felt like a fish out of water, both being a foreigner in a foreign land, and being someone who hadn't lived with the supernatural all her life. Minato himself had only awakened about two or three years ago, but he'd always been vaguely aware that the Kumon family wasn't an ordinary family. But this, this was something beyond what Minato had expected.
Then he heard what people were saying about Faith.
Minato's blood practically boiled as he heard exactly what people were doing to his girlfriend. Faith might have even had noticed that Minato's vague, but confident smile had been replaced with a cool, dead-serious glare, the moment she mentioned being harassed. The boy was used to fighting people like that in high school; he was a good student, and a good guy, but he'd nearly been expelled a few times for punching a guy who'd pinched the transfer student's ass in the face, or picking a fight with the girls harassing the shy girl who liked to sit alone. He'd never even spoken to the people he'd protected before, and yet their being bullied had awoken a sort of dragon in Minato, one that could only be tamed by ending the threat to the weak. And if that threat could be ended by hitting the person responsible, so much the better.
It was true, Minato knew, that he'd fantasised about Faith in ways that weren't quite innocent. She was beautiful, and Minato could hardly be blamed for wanting something more from someone he found incredibly attractive, who was his girlfriend. But he'd never act on something like that, not unless she wanted him to; the one thing Minato had done well, in service of becoming like a knight, was chivalry. The bastards who dared bully her because of her looks, therefore, were dead to Minato, and people who needed to be taught a lesson.
Yet under the boiling anger was dread. He'd cracked a few jokes, but good-naturedly. He'd told her she'd get used to it; after all, he had. After all, when the first time you'd ever been exposed to the supernatural was a superpowered monster breaking into your house, while you were taking a shower, to kill you, and the only way you could defend yourself was essentially by turning yourself into a transforming hero from a TV show, what else could surprise you? But, Minato remembered, he was a tough guy. He could take it. Faith wasn't.
The cold dread and guilt and the boiling anger and desire to get back at those who'd hurt Faith clashed in Minato's mind, and so he tries to remain calm. It was for her sake, after all; she didn't need him to think he hated her.
No, Faith didn't need the knightly avenger right now, she needed the understanding boyfriend. There wasn't anyone to lash out at, anyway. Nobody. This was something Minato didn't blame himself for, not completely; he did, however, quietly conclude that had he been there, the bullying would never have happened.
Not least of all because he'd shut them up himself.
"....is that.....all that troubles you? Is there anything else I should know that you're comfortable with telling me?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 19, 2019, 08:10:38 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 19, 2019, 08:55:40 pm
"Oh, er, sure!"
For the person who suggested it, she doesn't sound that enthusiastic, though to her credit, she recover quickly enough.
"You know what Requiems are right? Mine was that being able to eat sweets without gaining weight, so this is like an extension of that. Since most of your magic seems to be enhancement, this could be pretty tricky, but we can always try something else if it fails."
She sets a napkin down on the table, and sets it aflame.
"The principle's pretty simple though, instead of targeting what a spell does, you target the spell itself and..."
She closes her fist and the flame snuffs out, leaving behind neither smoke nor ash.
"With practice you can take the spell's power and add it to a spell of your own, but that comes later. Gotta know how to walk before you run, right? The main trick is figuring out how to do it with your magic, make sense?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 19, 2019, 09:07:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 19, 2019, 10:14:23 pm
Well, the main building itself should have plenty of interesting people right? And you did see plenty of people at the reception earlier, including adventurer types who probably have super secret techniques they could teach you, so you head off there.
Something catches your eye as you return to the main entrance: most people are coming from or going to the deeper internals of the building, but most of the fancily dressed and well-armed types are instead coming from a seperate corridor.
Tracing that corridor you find yourself exiting into a large cavernous chamber wrapped around a grand statue, looking like something out of those RPGs that you totally played because you're just a regular teenager with a decent allowance and not y'know, practically destitute up until like a week ago.
The chamber is bathed in generic mystic blue light emanating from the enormous magic circles rotating on the floor, and all the quest pylons displaying active jobs beneath markers that you think they might've just flat out stole from World of Warcraft. Pylons are just for browsing and taking quests by the looks of it, finished quests are taken to the desks, sometimes with some proof of completion for the cash-in.
Further off from the statue, the light is brigther, warmer, polished floors giving away to carpet, pylon giving away to couches and lounges. Adventurers rest there, a few with drinks in hand or attending to plates of food, but by and large they're just relaxing or chatting. Or networking. Do adventurers do that? Or is that just corporate stuff?
Anyway, you take a closer look at the statue.
Four figures stand, carved from marble white stone: there is a knight in ornate armor surrounded by levitating pages of scripture and motes of light, their hands empty of both shield and sword. Another is a person dressed in a hoodie with tendrils of smoke rising from beneath them, holding some kinda derpy looking weapon best described as the corgi of combat shotguns, along with the kind of weird elongated hammer, you think Minato called them warhammers? beneath their hood you see the grinning visage of a Jack-o-lantern. The next is dressed in a suit and tie, their face concealed by a kitsune mask and their body giving off tongues of blue flame, in their hands are a pair of, you think those are Desert Eagles? Those are the big loud guns from those action movies right? The final figure is dressed in fancy looking adventurer clothes with vials and bottles handing off their belt, they carry an elaborated staff with a curled head shaped sorta like a large hook, with an orb of some unknown liquid levitating at its center. Their statue just, plain doesn't have a face. They're standing together, as if heroes of some sort, larger than life, and completely faceless.
"<Oh, that. We originally wanted to include faces but they thought it was a bit too much, so we omitted them. Hope Al's doesn't look too off, she didn't have any headgear and she didn't want to wear a paper bag either.">
You turn around and find yourself face to face with a skeleton dressed in a staff uniform.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 19, 2019, 11:24:50 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 20, 2019, 01:44:06 am
"Well......................... not anymore. Don't worry about it, your Requiem is just a fancy term for one of the first special abilities you show, it's usually instinctive but not always useful."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 20, 2019, 08:05:05 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 20, 2019, 08:09:51 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 20, 2019, 08:29:50 pm
"<Ah, well that's a darn shame. Work here, been here since the place began. ...Say, I haven't seen you 'round these parts before, you a tourist? New tenant? Adventurer?>"
Noriko
"Doesn't sound impossible, do you find it harder to move your spears when they're enlarged?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 20, 2019, 08:42:56 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 20, 2019, 08:51:43 pm
"<To train? Are you per chance one of the Godslayers that arrived just this morning?>"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 20, 2019, 08:58:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 20, 2019, 09:04:09 pm
"<Well I'm honored to make your acquaintance then, would you like a tour, Miss....?>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 20, 2019, 09:55:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 21, 2019, 12:35:11 am
"Okay, let's try this then, I want you to enlarge one of your spears and press the back to it against me. Try and push me away with it without drawing it back first."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 21, 2019, 07:10:38 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 21, 2019, 07:41:44 am
Maggie. "<Let's start here then, we call this the quest hub, you can probably guess why. Those glowy pillars let you access the Guild network and sign up for quests, no registration required. Most professional adventurers are though, it's usually worth it if you're doing it for a living. Desks, that's where I work by the way, handle payments, Guantanomo Bay quests only, more or less, we can't really check or pay for quests other people opened, but sometimes if you call the client in advance they'll be willing to meet up here. There's no way to easily communicate difficulty, so we have to rely on having good descriptions, yeah I know it's pretty disappointing, and boring, believe me it's not any better being the one writing it, but it means we won't waste anyone's time if they read things properly. Oh, I'm rambling again aren't I? You get use to it, or not and you'll stop talking to me, both work really. What were you interested in again? Scenic tours? Sports facilities? Massages?>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 21, 2019, 12:31:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 21, 2019, 03:28:47 pm
So you press the side against her, and after a brief pause, you start pushing. Sure enough you manage to push her, she has you continue even after the enhancement wears off though not much changes.
"You had more push with it enlarged, so you're not reducing the mass to accelerate it."
She thinks for a moment.
"How about this? You can try shrinking your spears, but if it doesn't work we can try teaching you to conjure an element, and put those principles to trying to destabilize spells by enhancing bits of them until they go out of control, that way if we still get nothing, you can still attune and have some elemental magic."
Post by: Empiricist on March 22, 2019, 09:27:12 pm
((Engaging fast-foward and autopilot.))
Right so the rest of your training goes much the same, a battery of questions and tests, some fruitful, others turning out to be about as useful as Faith's clothing in battle. As Ren explains learning a different kind of magic ain't what you'd call easy, though that is not to say it is difficult either. See, the general principles for everyone's magic tends to vary, and indeed, even people with seemingly similar kinds of magic might have drastically different underlying mechanisms. So what you need then, is a catalyst, a spark, something that lets you branch out. Studying tomes and the like is of course, an option, but well, it could take time, time you don't have. So you have to move onto the next option: trying to force it, pursuing every damn lead, throwing everything against the wall, and praying at least one thing sticks.
The element you settle for was fire, should be useful enough even if all this other shit fails, but it does make the process all the more frustrating, given that you, y'know, probably could learn how to use it without conjuring it given that you could manipulate the very air to create the ideal conditions for an inferno. In theory at least. Maybe there's some hurdles along that way too, can't tell cause you y'know didn't take it.
Looking into enlargement turns out to be a waste of time - you don't actually feel anything new when you apply it to an object, so enlarging a flame for instance won't make you learn anything more about how to summon one of your own. Practicing more with Ren's enchantment units doesn't really help either, you can feel the enchantment moving into your weapons, but try as you might you can't probe any deeper into their structure. So that left the grasping at straws options, the question of what those names were, the names of your attacks. That, that you couldn't answer. Apparently they're the names of Astras, weapons of the Hindu gods apparently.
Your ignorance was deemed promising, more or less. If you didn't know what those names were and yet yelled them out all the same, there would have to be some meaning behind them, would there not? Some strange ineffable meaning. Can you use your attacks without them? Yup, it's a bit easier with them though. What if you use the wrong name? Also doable, it's harder though. What then, what then, if you used another name, a name that you did not know before: Agneyastra.
You feel something, that same feeling you felt that first battle screaming out your attacks for the first time, a strange curious feeling, one you can't quite put into words, but only a feeling. Pour magic into that feeling however, and you get sparks. Sparks and dying embers.
So, you got a catalyst for flame conjugation now, you just need to practice with it, try and stoke the dying embers into a flame, something you can use. Shouldn't be too exhausting, just play with it whenever you got time, with any luck you could learn from your inevitable mistakes, and force those onto incoming spells, without it, well you could always try manipulating the flames and attuning with them.
Yuki
((Skipping ahead. I can edit in a fast forwarded tour if you state Yuki's preferences.))
Later that night
Noriko, Yuki, you wind up back how it all started, how you two met, with weirdass outfits and drinks being served at a table. Except y'know, you two aren't the ones in the weird outfits, nor are you the ones serving the drinks for that matter. Cocktails, orbs of magically suspended liquid with swirling tendrils of ice and punctured by straws, haloed with rings of garnishes, and 100% alcohol free (Yuki checked). It's like you're drinking Saturn.
Maybe it's the atmosphere, maybe it's the resort, or maybe it's just that you're both no longer destitute, but you're feeling pretty good...
Elsewhere that night
Shef, Ren really isn't hard to find, the buffet's large sure, but she's the only one with a pile of plates that high, a swarm of service drones floating above her head like vultures, waiting for her to finish her next plate. The lady's like a damn black hole for food. Apparently she's experienced, a veteran of some sort, and she's the one you need to talk to about improving your knockback power. She waves as you approach.
Post by: Strider03 on March 22, 2019, 09:59:27 pm
"Shef." He offered a hand to shake. He made a sweeping gesture toward the plates, asking curiously,"Stocking up for something?" A fast maybe? Just enjoying the food here as much as possible before heading back to earth?
Post by: Empiricist on March 22, 2019, 10:07:59 pm
She wipes her hand with a napkin, and shakes yours lightly. "Just enjoying the food."
Post by: Strider03 on March 22, 2019, 10:14:50 pm
"I was told that I should find you if I wanted help with learning something. Mainly--I assume you probably got briefed on all of our abilities?--been wanting something knock foes back rather than damage, preferably in bullet form?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 23, 2019, 12:17:24 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 23, 2019, 03:47:09 am
Yes! I must ask though, why do you want to learn a spell instead of having enchanted rounds?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 23, 2019, 07:53:05 am
"And, one can always put in an order for supplies. One doesn't always get the chance to learn new things from such skilled tutors, so it made sense to me."
Post by: Empiricist on March 23, 2019, 08:29:55 am
"Makes sense to me, what situations do you need it to cover?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 23, 2019, 08:44:33 am
"Secondarily, I'd like something that I can maybe play around with to knock people into my portals. They're a bit static right now, and if I didn't have to rely on enemies running headlong into them, that'd be great." He was still extremely curious about the mass of food that apparently had been consumed. Was there more food still coming in? Was there any indication of choice of specific food with all the empty dishes?
Post by: Empiricist on March 23, 2019, 08:52:57 am
"Modified explosive rounds might do the trick, you could make them produce concussive explosions instead of lethal ones and drop the tracking."
No more food is coming in, well, it's a buffet so she's probably having to actually load those plates herself. Looking at plates that have yet to be finished, it seems that she likes more flavorful foods with a clear bias towards cakes and sweets.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 23, 2019, 09:11:26 am
"Man, this is kinda weird, huh?" She gestured vaguely at, well, everything. "It's nice to be the weird socially awkward people getting served colorful drinks for once." Noriko took a sip of her drink, made a pleased sound, then prodded Yuki, leaning against the other girl just slightly too heavily for a moment. "You picked these out, right? These are good."
"Yeah! It's weeeird not being the waitress. But really nice though, I don't have to remember a bajillion orders or deal with guys looking at me really weird and getting slapped by their female friends." her tone held no sign she realized what those looks usually were. "I did! They taste really good, huh? I made sure they didn't put alcohol in these too. No getting drunk! And it's nice to have a chance to talk too, we haven't done that very much since the whole business started."
Post by: Strider03 on March 23, 2019, 09:34:14 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 23, 2019, 05:06:03 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 23, 2019, 05:24:52 pm
"It's settled then! Let's go out and try it out!"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 23, 2019, 05:45:54 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 23, 2019, 05:56:36 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 23, 2019, 08:58:28 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 23, 2019, 09:29:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 24, 2019, 07:01:05 am
"Works for me!"
So you two depart from the buffet and head over to a relatively quiet patch of beach. "Okay, like we discussed, try firing a concussive round into the sand."
Post by: Strider03 on March 24, 2019, 07:26:42 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 24, 2019, 11:52:56 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 24, 2019, 06:16:24 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 25, 2019, 12:22:59 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 25, 2019, 03:12:25 am
A shot rings out, a plume of sand erupts from the beach. Heads turn, hard for them not to, a few bodies follow, driven by curiosity. It worked, sort of, you still feel rather drained.
"You're putting way too much power into it, think smaller."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 25, 2019, 05:25:48 am
Post by: Strider03 on March 25, 2019, 06:41:16 am
"Well, alright." Used as he was to lowering the power of his regular shots in sparring, he performed the same procedure, carefully constricting his power output before firing another round into the sand to detonate.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 25, 2019, 11:55:43 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 25, 2019, 12:27:28 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 25, 2019, 02:44:39 pm
That works out well enough and what people did come closer decide to draw away given that a man shooting at the ground isn't terribly exciting.
"Great! Now to figure out how to make it purely concussive, how does that explosive bullet work anyway?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 25, 2019, 06:01:18 pm
"That any help?"
Post by: Empiricist on March 26, 2019, 03:34:50 am
"Yes! That makes this simpler, we just need to get it to push instead of blowing up. Hmm... maybe try just making the blast more concussive?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 26, 2019, 07:25:55 am
"I'll try that." He wasn't sure exactly how to just make it more concussive but not explosive, maybe more force, but slower? He took another shot, just trying to feel the shot as more pushy.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 26, 2019, 09:08:56 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 26, 2019, 09:13:47 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 27, 2019, 05:55:54 am
The shot just goes off normal. So it turns out just feeling up your shot doesn't actually amount to much, aside from maybe sexual harassment charges filed on behalf of an inanimate object.
"Maybe try layering the enchantments and making them go off in sequence?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 27, 2019, 06:37:34 am
Still though, the sand could at least tell if the layering worked at all. Shef took a little more time than before, layering in the explosive enchantments, less energy fed into each. Each one going off would serve as the trigger for the next, though Shef could see some uses for changing that up. When he was ready, he took another shot at the sand.
Post by: Empiricist on March 27, 2019, 03:54:14 pm
"Good point, be right back, don't go anywhere."
And with that she dashes off with a little more haste than you'd normally expect.
You layer your enchantments, linking each to the one before, an explosion stretched across time, turning a destructive blast into a violent gust, that's the idea anyway. Seems to work, but like you said, there's a pretty big difference between firing at sand and firing at something a little more solid.
Ren returns soon enough, several metal plates in hand. "I've been thinking, you can trap things with portals right? We could use that, I think. Is that something you added to them?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 27, 2019, 04:06:44 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 27, 2019, 08:20:47 pm
"Oh that, they gave us all your combat logs. If you added that to your portals, try adding that to your concussion bullet, try and layer the explosions until they're a really short continous one instead of several."
Post by: Strider03 on March 27, 2019, 09:42:10 pm
Shef faltered a little at the attempts to weave this many aspects of a spell together into the one package. It wasn't impossible, just, not something he was certain he could get right. Delicately, he removed all but one of the layered concussive explosions, adding the solid force portion on top of that. If he could get it to one, he might be able to get it to work for all of them, and perhaps with just one detonation, it'd be an easier start.
Post by: Empiricist on March 28, 2019, 05:18:32 am
"Context, tactical summary, observed abilities, and... general findings."
Your round strikes the plate and puffs up with a rippling wave of force, the plate moves but it's more from the bullet than anything else. Still the force membrane seems to have held. Now there's the matter of putting the other layers back on.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 28, 2019, 05:54:27 am
Faith looked up at Minato, a sad and sheepish little "smile" on her face. "I... I'm sorry, Minato, but I'm not comfortable talking about it. This... well, even admitting this much was really hard on me, and I'm going to already be at my limit talking about it, I think. I don't think I could really take talking about anything else. But... it isn't a problem, is it? The harassment. It's just... the reason I admitted this is because I know I've snapped at you before, but there's a reason why I do. This kind of thing is hard for me, and it can..." Faith mentally revised her phrasing -- "it can feel like harassment" would way too harsh and she suspected Minato would take it very poorly. "I just have boundaries that are really easy to cross. I know it's not fair for you, but..." She shrugged, visibly somewhat miserably, and didn't continue.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 28, 2019, 06:00:09 am
Slowly, gently, after a few moments, he moves to give Faith a tight hug, without another word.
Post by: Strider03 on March 28, 2019, 07:01:12 am
Shef set about adding a few more of the detonations to the round, and tried once more.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 28, 2019, 11:21:18 am
Post by: Twinwolf on March 28, 2019, 11:52:14 am
Post by: Empiricist on March 28, 2019, 02:55:54 pm
"I'd like to think so."
Success. The membrane expands like an airbag as it strikes the plate, forcing it backwards. You notice however, that the membrane broke before the blast terminated, this could be problematic when you increase the power further.
Post by: Strider03 on March 28, 2019, 03:40:52 pm
Noting the failure of the force barrier fairly soon, Shef tried again, This time, two plates set up, at equal distances from himself, and he fired a shot at each, in turn. The first had a number of detonations limited to hopefully no break the force membrane before the final blast, the second with as much as he could easily fit into the bullet. If the former worked better, that'd be interesting. If it didn't, well it would be useful to note how much better the last second one was.
Post by: Empiricist on March 28, 2019, 05:18:14 pm
"Oh, no, I don't do this professionally or anything, I'm just here since I ran into Noriko and she was new to all this." She gestures vaguely to her surroundings.
Full-load membrane-free works better. Though there are differences, full-load is like a blast of air, membrane is like something that slammed into it, a more solid blow. More efficient by the looks of it, potentially more powerful too, if you can stabilize it.
Post by: Strider03 on March 28, 2019, 05:26:38 pm
Nodding back towards the plates, he commented, "I think that's about what I want, but the force aspect is breaking or disappearing halfway through, so I'm losing out a bit on efficiency. Not sure why. . . "
Post by: Empiricist on March 29, 2019, 07:43:16 pm
"Oh, sure then. Maybe try mixing it together with the blasts? It might be too weak and getting ripped open by the blasts, so if you blend them together so they're mixed together a bit better..."
Post by: Strider03 on March 29, 2019, 07:56:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 29, 2019, 08:35:57 pm
This time it works properly, the bullet ballooning out into a rippling field that launches the plate away on impact. Trouble is, as you figured, it's not exactly a quick enchant job, you're using less energy than a tracer round sure, but you're also taking a good deal more time to prep it, hardly the sorta thing you wanna do at a moment's notice.
Post by: Strider03 on March 29, 2019, 09:07:22 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 29, 2019, 11:00:25 pm
"I'm sure you'll master it with enough practice! Is that all?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 30, 2019, 07:24:36 am
"If I need anything else, should I assume you'll be in the food court?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 30, 2019, 08:35:16 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on March 30, 2019, 09:56:13 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 01, 2019, 12:16:47 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 01, 2019, 05:40:50 pm
Reluctantly, she pulled herself out of Minato's hug and looked at him. "Um... okay, so, though, I did only mean that I didn't want to talk about stuff beyond the harassment. I still want to talk about this, even if I don't like it, because it's gonna be really important for our relationship. My boundaries are going to be... really difficult around sex and stuff, and I... well... are you okay with dealing with that?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 01, 2019, 06:01:04 pm
"....the reason I've been so quiet....is because it's a lot to take in. How can it not be, when....that's just the tip of the iceberg? Honestly, some part of me wants to go and find the people who hurt you, and make them pay, because that's what I do. I hunt bullies and make them feel what they do to other people. It's part of why I do this; because the bad Aramitama, they hurt people who can't or won't fight back.
But....you don't need me to find the people who hurt you and make them pay. I don't....know what I can do to help you feel better, and.....it scares me, just a little. This is going to be tough going, I know. But.....yes. I'll be okay dealing with whatever you need me to deal with. Of course. Anything for you, Faith."
Post by: Twinwolf on April 01, 2019, 06:20:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 02, 2019, 08:22:56 am
The spring breeze laps at the edges of your consciousness, you feel warm, snug. The heat of a warm blanket, the rays of the morning sun against your skin. Slowly your eyes flicker open. It was as if you had just awoken from a great slumber, it was as if these past fews weeks were just a dream, a dream that only now you have returned from. In that brief touch of folly, what did you feel? Relief? Sorrow? Your world was a cold one, a lonely one. Cruel, uncaring. No doubt your life is brighter now, but the brighter the light, the deeper the shadow. You've seen what lurks in the shadows, strange twisted entities, as lethal as they were whimsical, waiting to prey upon the masses. The world was indifferent sure, but it was not hostile, this one, you're not entirely sure about. Is this a better life? A life of excitement and adventure? A life of danger and conflict?
You brush the thoughts away, it matters not. Your life is your life, what you have now, is what you have, there's no changing that. You did not awaken in your bed, no, you are as you were yesterday: a Godslayer, on the coach, together, with some random third girl you don't recognize, and in a swanky hotel suite sporting a gorgeous view of Kingshaven...
wait, FU-
Kingshaven! Why the fuck are you in Kingshaven? Who's this girl? What the hell happened last night?
Noriko, you're dressed in stylish suit with a blazer jacket that seems to flow more like a liquid than a fabric. Scrambling through the pockets, you find your wallet, and a new presumably magical smartphone holding six phone numbers you don't recognize. You find your clothes draped across a nearby chair, singed by flame. Your normal phone and comms unit are nowhere to be found. Well, that's gonna complicate things. Fucking typical. One night, one night to relax, was that really too much to ask for?
Yuki, you are clad in a full-on armored dress, a perfect mix of elegance and heavy plating like something out of an anime. The last thing you can recall from last night, is that you were fighting something, something strange, something ineffable, you think it was outside the metaphysical equivalent of a McDonald's parking lot? Your clothes are also on the chair, they're in good condition though. You find your wallet inside with a fair few bills in the local currency, your phone and comms unit are missing too.
The girl stirs, letting out a yawn as she stretches. Her clothes are girlish, fancy, and expensive-looking, something that is accentuated by the miniature crown resting on her strawberry-blonde hair. She, doesn't seem to be very alarmed about what's going on.
Shef
You slept little that evening, seemed to be the norm here anyway, a mix of boons of being Awakened, and abundance of low-strength stamina potions available for sale here. You were awake as the enormous lotus rose up from the midnight sea, a spiralling mandala of glass and sandstone, that formed and unformed before your very eyes, its ever-shifting structure the subject of a few photos, only from the tourists you notice. Apparently a local buddhist monastery were so kind as to lend their facilities to your training regime.
Or well, as you learned this morning, with 'your' referring to members of the team other than you. No, this monastery will just be your ride back to Kingshaven for your training exercises. Minato and Faith on the other hand, they'll be training inside this.
"So as I was saying, you gotta help Noriko and Yuki extract without them y'know 'dying'."
Air quotes, are they involved in some training drill over there too?
"We'll be limiting your intel for this, so I can't say much except that there's a someone out there tasked with stopping you."
He produces an amorphous band of black crystal.
"Combat pass, lets you fight in Kingshaven against your target without y'know, getting arrested. It'll turn red when you engage them so you'll know you've got the right guy."
He tosses you five healing potions.
"Use them to heal up between fights, not during. Don't worry about losing a fight, it's all a learning experience, mission goes on no matter how many times either of you win or lose til the girls get out or til they lose."
"Oh and one last thing, neither of you are allowed to make contact with the girls or interfere with their fights. Aim to stay outta their sight."
Post by: Strider03 on April 02, 2019, 04:42:42 pm
"A few questions. The fail condition, 'death', do I get to know what clock I'm up against?"
"Secondly, am I to assume no contact should be made with my other teammates, and or the AI?" It made sense that he'd be restricted there, but always good to check.
"Finally, can you clarify the limits on contact?
I presume convincing hotel staff to recommend a specific lunch destination is allowed, but what might be just on the border of not allowed regarding contact." His interpretation was that anything that would not make Noriko and Yuki suspicious of someone attempting to manipulate them would be fine, but he needed to check.
Post by: Empiricist on April 02, 2019, 05:14:30 pm
"You won't know the clock, but I'm sure you'll figure it out quickly enough. Contact the AI and your teammates all you want, just don't expect much help, as for the limits, as long as they don't know that you specifically are there and you don't touch their fights, it's fine."
"For the hostiles, you're free to delay or distract that, but attacking them or fighting them is out of the question, capiche?"
Post by: Strider03 on April 02, 2019, 05:27:52 pm
After the briefing was over, Shef checked the departure time for the floating lotus conveyance. If there was time before hand, he'd head over to whatever served as an information desk at this resort, in search of a map and tourist information about Kingshaven, if that was available.
Post by: Empiricist on April 03, 2019, 07:51:06 am
"Nah, that should be it."
Heading over the information desk you find, basically fuck all about Kingshaven. The only maps and brochures are about the Guantanamo Bay Resort- oh, right, Aethertide. All islands are effectively equidistant from one another, so they wouldn't have brochures about nearby cities, because that would be every single coastal city. You whip out your phone and run a search on the local search engine.
Okay, that, that was easier, you get map data and tourist information on Kingshaven. Apparently the place was named as such for when King Maximilian III took shelter there from Queen Sigrun's besieging army, the city holding strong for three whole years of ceaseless onslaughts, which sounds impressive on paper, but apparently every single engagement fought was absurdly low stakes, pretty cordial between the soldiers of each side, and was apparently used by the generals as a way to try and get the two young monarchs at admit their feelings for each other. Something which again, took those three entire years to achieve.
Nowadays it's a bustling port city that's home to the prestigious Kingshaven Military Academy which... huh, is holding a Festival of Arms over the next three days. It's like a regular festival, except there's also some sparring and tournaments happening, attracting soldiers and adventurers alike. Apparently anyone with one of those combat passes is allowed to fight in, really most public areas, with their specific contract dictating who they're allowed to engage and how they're allowed to engage. So a lot of excitement and chaos generally. Apparently these festivals were originally just practical exams for the students, but they started drawing in more and more of a crowd until it became the city-wide festival it is today.
Post by: Strider03 on April 03, 2019, 11:20:43 am
Now the arms tournament was suspiciously convenient, he wouldn't bet against that being incorporated into this mission. Following that hunch, Shef turned his attention to significant local figures, especially those who might be involved in the running of the tournament or affiliated with it. Maybe, there'd even be a list of participants somewhere, or indication of how to get one.
And, about those combat passes. What would happen if one was misplaced, or given to someone else?
Finally he'd turn his attention to some local shops, and any tourist footage or images he could find of the locations. He'd want to blend in as best as possible, and the man wasn't sure if that would involve looking excessively mundane, or needlessly elaborate. So he'd check whether it seemed like he'd need anything to blend in, and then find the locations of a wig shop, or whatever passed for that once magic entered the picture.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 03, 2019, 05:08:16 pm
<"What the FUCK.">. The view out the window told her she was in Kingshaven. Why was she in Kingshaven? Why were her actual clothes draped over a chair, and where was her phone? "Damnit, damnit, damnit. . ." she muttered as she rifled through her own pockets; no sign of the device in either set of garments, though she apparently had a new one with numbers she didn't recognize. Why didn't she remember anything about last night? Yuki had said those things weren't alcoholic.
Noriko sighed loudly, an anxious, strained exhalation. After pacing back and forth a couple times, she decided to turn her attention to the one most likely to know what was going on - the redheaded girl. "Hey, so, uh, no offense, but who are you?"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 03, 2019, 05:43:42 pm
"R-right, um... please don't go to Florida and start beating people up. Um... I guess maybe there's not much you can do except just... be there for me? Well... actually, in this case, yeah, you could help. Just... give me a little help if people start shoving sexual things in my face or making a big deal of my... you know. That sort of thing has been happening here sometimes and it'd be easier to deal with with a little help. Other than that though... we'll just have to be slow about some things."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 03, 2019, 05:48:41 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 04, 2019, 03:06:35 am
Combat passes are generally tied to some kind of support system to gather data, presumably in your case it'll be your comms unit and the AI. As for the shops, well, judging by the images you find on social media, you're pretty sure you could get away with wearing just about anything. There should be some cosmetic salons and the like who could conjure up a wig or apply an illusion if need-be, though you note that the illusions will probably break during combat.
Participant lists are not published, so for people you're stuck looking at figures who might be in Kingshaven. You quickly rule out previous tournament competitors given that they probably have more pressing matters to attend to than some rando's training. Looking into the obvious you learn that the current headmaster of Kingshaven Military Academy is one Admiral Jaroslavas Ignatov. Given his place in overseeing the festival and all the resources at his disposal, it seems quite likely he'd be more than capable of organizing some sort of training exercise. There's also S. L. Hawking, Captain of the Guard, and their secretary Roksana Connolly who basically holds all the actual power behind the title on account of y'know, having all the communication and leadership skills that comes with not being just a conglomeration of blackholes and sea monsters sharing a trenchcoat.
Then, there's Princess Patricija Kovacs, descendent of Maximilian and Sigrun, and y'know, a princess. Naturally most of the information on her you can find just comes from gossip magazines, there's articles about her published, just this morning? You take a look and find yourself staring at a photo f her being literally swept off her feet by a mysterious blue haired girl in a dashing suit.
For a brief moment, you thought it might've been Noriko, but then you realize it couldn't be her - the girl was actually smiling. Y'know that thing Noriko never does, at least not genuinely? Oh wait nevermind Yuki's there too.
Uh... she didn't seduce the princess did she? A couple of angry suitors the could could probably handle, but if daddy dearest doesn't approve they could very well be up against all the king's horses and all the king's men, and well, put it this way, knowing the Awakened world you're not terribly convinced it will have the courtesy to stay a mere figure of speech if it come to that.
Noriko
The girl just looks over to Yuki sort of expectantly for about a long half second before speaking "<Could you translate again Yuki?>"
Princess Patricija Kovacs
Noriko's Date
Noriko's Date
Faith and Minato
Aight it's morning you're on the weird lotus-like mobile monastery. Minato, your training is apparently going to be in a chamber deep within the lotus, Faith, you'll be training outside on its petals.
Post by: Strider03 on April 04, 2019, 06:08:31 am
Shef wondered for a moment about sending the picture to anyone, he just felt deep down somewhere that he should share it. But Noriko and Yuki were out of the question until the mission was over, and Minato and Faith would be busy. He shook his head, flinging the thoughtless idea away. For now he had business. His next direction of investigation was, into the father of this princess. Any relevant local politics might be of use too.
Finally, he took to marking down potentially interesting locations on the map. Garrison, a place to make up some illusions, transportation methods that might prove relevant to a quick traversal of the city, or to the extraction, a few other locations that might catch his eye and a couple of restaurants and bars somewhat near any of the previously mentioned locations. Shef would of course, check any online information available about these locations.
Post by: Empiricist on April 04, 2019, 06:50:29 am
The photo was taken at night, area was well-lit, not that it says much for a city of magic, still you have your doubts photographers and royalty would be in the same place if it were quiet. Hard to get any details from street itself - the shot is below, of Noriko crashing through a window, not a glass one mind you, it's some sort of force field or something, one she must've broken through to get out. Yuki is wearing some kinda armored dress and diving out after her, probably held aloft by Noriko's wind magic like that time in the mansion. Guess you could try looking for the building? Wait no, the article has info on the general address, you got the location down at least, eye witness reports on social media back that info, the time is apparently just past midnight.
As for the matters of the royal family, the current king of the Republic of Drakenvald is King Tadeas. He's not particularly prominent politically, the royal family serving a role similar to that of well, the British royal family. The fictitious one that is, the written by that panel of screenwriters, not y'know, the actual one. He's well-regarded in academic circles having taken it upon himself to promote and bankroll various scientific endeavors and makes it a personal principle to distance himself from politics as much as possible. The identity of his wife is, unknown? Apparently she doesn't like the spotlight or something. Well... at least he doesn't sound like he'd sic an army of breakdancing horses on Yuki and Noriko? At least, not unless he needs it for a research paper?
Politics-wise, Kingshaven is governed by a council. The head of this council is elected by popular vote and holds a level of executive power, but each remaining seat in the council is appointed by an administrative body representing the interests of one particular facet of the city. For instance, one chair is held by the military, another by the tourism association, another by civil maintenance, and so on. In essence the chairperson and their chosen advisors hold the balance of power in the city rather than direct power. The current chairperson is one Zemfira Cole.
Garrisons, there's well garrisons everywhere, it may not be a dedicated fortress city anymore but Kingshaven has a strong military presence. Transportation-wise, the rail system is probably your best bet, so you mark that down, there's no actual roads for cars or anything here, though apparently emergency services have aerial vehicles that can be used to swiftly navigate the city. You save the addresses of a few cosmetic salons with good illusion options.
Post by: Strider03 on April 04, 2019, 07:01:07 am
In any case the information was good, and Shef was confident that he could collect any more that might be necessary in the field. He strolled over to the Lotus to await departure.
Really though, this was quite odd. The events that he could backdate to last night didn't appear to be part of the mission--they seemed to be having fun-- so what had actually happened?
Post by: Empiricist on April 04, 2019, 08:00:02 am
Not much, just some will-they-or-won't-theys with a few friends of both sexes, which kinda just always wound down to "nope".
Post by: Twinwolf on April 04, 2019, 11:35:40 am
"Huh? What... oh, oh ok. <Uh... Noriko asked what happened last night.>" Not exactly a precise translation, but she figured it would be helpful to ask?
Post by: Empiricist on April 04, 2019, 04:01:13 pm
"<Oh.>" She sounds surprised, a bit concerned too, and a touch disappointed. "<I didn't know you two were that drunk. I went on a date with her, you were helping translate.>"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 05, 2019, 08:24:19 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2019, 08:01:03 pm
The door is not a door, but a great mural inlaid in a roughly door-shaped indent, a lotus emblazoned upon it. As you approach it crumbles to sand. The wall behind it too crumbles into sand, a tunnel digging its way through the monastery for you, leading straight into your destination. It is now that you realize the entire building is a great sand mandala, forming and unforming, at times for a purpose, at others simply to remind you of the impermanence of al things. The path before you is uniform, sterile, a perfectly straight path illuminated by strips of arcane luminescence placed at perfectly regular intervals. Deeper and deeper you walk, from your position out on the petals to the depths of the interior. You walk out into the massive cavernous chamber at the heart of the monastery, the air reminds you that of a hospital - cold, clean, and laden with a certain tension. The room is tall, really fucking fall, with large pillars rising all the way up to its top, space here must be distorted somehow, it wouldn't have fit otherwise. It's dichotomous too, monochrome, plunged into darkness except for the bright white of its very center, the center you find yourself walking into. Arrayed around you at the edges of this bright center are figures, crematic statues of sort with forms reminiscent of fencing outfits, though noticeably lacking in any armaments. They stand at attention, sightless gazes staring emptily forwards.
Striding out of the darkness from the other end of the chamber is a young boy dressed in light loose robes.
"It is an honor to meet you Minato Kumon."
Kumon, people normally don't use that name for social calls, they used it when they have an interest in your family, and its connections.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 05, 2019, 09:42:19 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on April 05, 2019, 09:49:21 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2019, 10:27:00 pm
"<I don't there was.>"
Huh?
"<I mean I don't think there was? Alcohol doesn't work too well on a lot of people so we normally use something stronger. If anything, adding alcohol would dilute most drinks.>"
Faith
Minato heads off, so you figure you may as well be on your way too. You take the path out to the exterior, a railed stretch of sand forming before you to carry you onto the outer petal of the monastery, from here you can see the full expanse of the monastery, intricate murals and buttresses, archways and monuments rising and falling with each passing minute. The petals themselves grow and wither in turn, each layer expanding outwards and crumbling, their place taken by the next wave. Below you can see Kingshaven, the city stretching out from your docking point, the streets busier than you remember with bustling crowds weaving amidst lights and stalls, an opulent festival filled with color and activity, magic and gunfire. Oh yeah, the gunfire. Yeah uh, it's probably good you're fairly high up because there's gunfire, spellfire too. The clash of swords, the crash of explosions, random people in all sorts of attire duking it out to the delight of the crowd, people diving out of windows or having running gun battles along the rooftops.
Above this whole mess you stand, upon a cloud-like expanse of luxurious white sand, what appears to be the technomagical equivalent of a volleyball net set at its center. The twins are there too. Great.
A bullseye forms on the side of the monastery.
"For safety reasons, all of us will need to limit our output; please shoot the target with a beam and lower your output until it remains intact."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 06, 2019, 01:34:02 am
"Um... I wonder if maybe you're underestimating..."
She winced at the idea of starting out with a full-power beam -- maybe it would pierce through and blast somebody with a beam and that would... well... be really really bad! It... kind of risked killing somebody! That... that... Faith was going to avoid that!
"Um," she considered, "Maybe instead I should do this." She started off with her beam as low power as she could get it, and then ramped it up slowly from there, stopping and toning it back down again when it finally managed to break the wall.
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2019, 01:43:33 am
That works out well enough. Light traces across the sand, marking the boundaries of a volleyball court, more light rises upwards, giving it walls, and in Sol's hands a volleyball-sized orb of energy spawns.
"Have you played volleyball?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2019, 09:45:13 am
"I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting and yet you already know who I am. I'm guessing you're my teacher for today."
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2019, 10:01:25 am
"No. You will be your own teacher, all I will provide is the scenario, how you grow from that is up to you."
He seems, normal? Like normal by Awakened standards, but well there's a whole load of things that fall under normal according to those. By mundane standards, well there's obviously his age, his calm manner of speech, and the way that he moves, with a certain swiftness and effiency you don't see without a lifetime of training. Still could mean a lot of things, it's hard to narrow it down just from a glance.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2019, 10:03:58 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2019, 10:07:53 am
"Theory and technique are not everything. We learn from experience, from doing, from improvising. We learn from our battles, we grow from our hardships. I am merely offering you another battle through which you may hone your skills."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2019, 10:09:08 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2019, 10:32:51 am
The boy points up. You cast your gaze up as directed. Staring downwards is the sandstone carving of an eastern dragon, looking down at you from high above. Held in its mouth is a scroll.
"Retrieve the scroll. That is all."
That's, awfully high up, guess you'll need to use your False Regalia detonations for this job? By the time you look back down, he's already turned his back and started walking way. As he walks out of the lit center, ten of the figures come to life, stepping out in a ring around you, all in perfect unison. Their brethren kneel down as they do so. The constructs salute you with a closed fist against an open palm, bowing before stepping back into a side-on stance, the clatter of their feet against the tiled floor ringing out as one. In the light you can see them more clearly now, you can see the industrial fans behind their visors spinning to life, you can see the gaps in the plating along their joints and the servos that whirr beneath. The machines stand in their stances, perfectly still as if waiting for you ready to yourself.
| [Now Playing: | Sacrifice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pWFzNs9Tw) | ] |
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2019, 11:28:43 am
Last night still stuck with Minato. Faith's insecurities weren't a foe he could make go away by fighting them head on. He knew that well enough. He wished he could deal with all of his friends' problems with his fists, like that would make them all go away. Honestly, he was a little surprised he'd agreed to take on Faith's issues; but then wasn't that what a good boyfriend- no, a good friend, did?
That wasn't important right now. No, right now, he had an opponent he could overcome with physical power. It would be an uphill path, like everything else in his life, to get stronger. He had to, for the sake of others. And this was the first step on a road of a thousand, or something to the effect, said once by his dad.
Enough talk. It was time to do what he did best. To let a little bit go.
He steps forward.
Sweeping aside the light vest he was wearing over his shirt, he unveiled the Gaia Driver, taking the lever along the side with his right hand while putting his left hand up sideways in front of his face, two fingers up, eyes flitting between each target.
He pulls the lever, a smirk growing on his face.
"Henshin!"
"Driver On. Gaia Link Established."
The familiar golden outlines formed around Minato's body, forming the outlines of his armor, golden energy pouring between the lines like molten metal into smithing moulds. His undersuit generated first, flexible blue material tightly clinging onto Minato's athletic form, then the silver greaves and gauntlets, the silver chestplate with a green gem inset in the middle. His face disappeared last, subsumed beneath a silver helmet, his eyes concealed under a translucent green visor that faintly glowed, two antennae sparking above his head with the power he'd just channeled.
Right now, he was Masked Knight Gaia. And right now, he was raring for a fight.
He cracks his knuckles, summoning a generic dao to his hand. Beside him, he could feel the weapons flickering into existence. Good.
The strategy? Whittle their numbers down. He'd need space to take the scroll, and they were probably here to stop him from taking it. So much the worse for them.
"So......who's going for a ride first?"
Gate of the Grand Arsenal. Summon a random blade outside of Grand Arsenal and engage the closest Pugilist, using the summoned weapons to keep the others at bay.
[[5] [5] 6 6 6 3 6 1 5 2]
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2019, 12:36:07 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sacrifice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pWFzNs9Tw) | ] |
A sword crystallizes into your hands, five more forgeries spin up into the air around you. It's show time. Your foes are equidistant, rushing forwards to strike you. Let's see... who looks like a chump. Ah, Unit 01 will do, they're straight ahead after all. You take that dao and you cleave it right into the your target. Their ceramic form cracks and crumbles, though it holds for now as the pugilist is forced to the ground in swift order. Behind its visors its fan spins faster and faster as it seems to focus. You've seen this before, it's that technique Kung Fu Hitler used, some kinda defensive technique employed to weather an onslaught. Speaking of onslaughts, its allies aren't too keen on just letting you beat on their comrade, fans whirring they fan out and thrust forwards lances of green energy discharging out at you. Hmph, not bad, they're going for a weapon well suited for group fights, one that lets them attack you through your summoned weapons. The energy's probably chi. You've heard some martial artists would harness it through breathing techniques, you're guessing those fans do something similar.
Nine chi spears, and Unit 01 is going for a fast leg sweep. Not bad, but it won't be enough, not even close.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 06, 2019, 04:25:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2019, 06:28:50 pm
"<Sorry I'm not too clear on what happened before our date, but Yuki did mention doing quests and fighting monsters. We could check with the Guild, if it went through them there'd be paper trail.>"
Kouta
You're back at the resort. Noriko didn't come back last night, apparently she's okay just slightly lost or something? Ren took care of you though so everything's fine? Maybe? Apparently she'll probably be back sometime today, there's training back over in Kingshaven, training you can't watch thanks to the festival. Yeah uh, the festival apparently involves people just fucking blasting the shit outta each other in the streets and since you're not very compatible with healing magic, it'd be a pretty ballsy move to rock up there. So basically you're just stuck at the resort with Noriko's mentor for company, could be worse you guess.
Your phone rings. It's a text message from Noriko.
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2019, 08:37:45 pm
You walk out of the monastery, finding that it has docked in a reflecting pool inside the city itself with no visible path between the pool and the sea itself. A bridge of sand forms, letting you and Shou out into the city. The streets are bustling with activity, festival stalls and floating lanterns line the streets, tourists scamper around excitedly recording the running battles and static brawls that seem to be happening everywhere around you. Should wanders off leaving you to your own devices.
Post by: Strider03 on April 06, 2019, 09:15:23 pm
Following that, he thought maybe he'd head to the location of whatever party they'd crashed. But for now, the illusion.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 07, 2019, 02:52:57 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 07, 2019, 05:56:10 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 08, 2019, 08:25:48 am
The salon is a modest establishment neatly wedged between a clothing store and a familiar shop. Monolithic mirrors are arrayed inside, each displaying something like the person standing in front of it but never quite the same. A pair of sales clerks meander across the store helping their clientele while in the back several illusionists weave their spells over their customers.
Noriko and Yuki
"<It's a date then! Oh and just in case you don't know the Festival of Arms goes for the next three days so it might be a bit hectic out there...>" As if on cue you hear an explosion right outside your window, followed by the chatter of gunfire.
Faith
"Close. we will be playing volleyball, however the ball must be moved using spells if it touches a wall, it will ricochet if it touches anything else, it will detonate that includes you."
Post by: Strider03 on April 08, 2019, 08:59:01 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 09, 2019, 04:44:42 am
They had spears, but he'd made an opening already. Tanking them wasn't an option, but then he didn't need to.
Press the attack on 01, taking advantage of the fact he's left an opening in the circle. Propel Minato out of the way of the chi spears with one of the summoned weapons exploding, while countering the leg sweep with the dao by smashing the dao through the leg and continue beating on 01 to keep them down while pressing out of the circle to disperse the group and force them to fan out.
[[6] 6 6 3 6 1 5 2 5 5]
Post by: Twinwolf on April 09, 2019, 08:52:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 09, 2019, 10:17:19 pm
Prodedure's simple enough, you just use the mirror UIs to customize what you want to look like on your reflection. Full body modifications are grouped by cost class, with the price being that of the highest cost class, no matter what the modification is. Accessories and whatnot are cheap but billed for each. You then select other options like durability and duration before printing out a ticket. An illusionist will then have you sit down while they weave the illusion around you. No special requirements for purchasing save for identification to make sure they're not assisting a wanted fugitive or something.
Minato
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sacrifice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pWFzNs9Tw) | ] |
Nine spears of solidified chi erupt into existence. These weren't simple energy strikes, they were proper weapons, half-solid half-energy. Not that it matters much, you spin two free floating blades, catching and directing their thrusts upwards. Shifting your stance, you grab the back of your blade with your free hand, it's not quite half-swording, half-swording is for stabs and not something to be done with a dao, no, you'll be using it like a guillotine. You detonate a forgery and rush forwards driving your blade downwards and through Unit 01's damn leg.
You skid forwards on the ground, grinding your foe against the floor before lifting them up, letting your momentum slam them against one of the pillars.
The construct falls still.
The remaining nine, still recovering from your blast fan out. Unit 02 hurls its spear at you, with 03 and 04 rushing in for followup thrusts. The remaining constructs stalk around you, weapons readied and poised to strike should you shall any opening at all.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Noriko and Yuki
"<We're famous for it so it draws a pretty large crowd, if you two are free I could take you both around. It'd be nice having a date we all remember too.>"
Post by: Strider03 on April 10, 2019, 06:54:41 am
What should he look like, the man wondered. He'd need something which he'd be able to walk right past Noriko and Yuki in, without being suspected. He. . . could probably disguise himself as a woman couldn't he? That seemed the easiest way to avoid any suspicion, of well, being Shef. But no, if he did that, he'd probably have to act like a woman, and he wasn't entirely sure if there were mannerism he needed to change for that. There were other aspects too, that seemed like they'd need a bit more thought to pull off, so that was out.
At least, that was what he'd been thinking, until he noticed the existence of options for body language and posture and the like. After a brief internal struggle, he decided, what the hell, it was worth a shot. He began selecting features, and when he was finished, printed out a ticket. Duration, if it wasn't too expensive, probably till evening today. Durability, depended on whether adding the durability factor would give it any chance of standing up to battle.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Empiricist on April 10, 2019, 03:28:55 pm
All day won't be an issue, durability yeah, it's not going to survive combat, well, not neccesarily. It can be rigged to reboot, letting it kick back in sometime after breaking. Won't survive counterspells and the like, but it will restart if you just get shot.
Post by: Strider03 on April 10, 2019, 03:34:42 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 10, 2019, 03:52:35 pm
Right so you make your order, take your ticket and wait. After a while an illusionist gets freed up so you get to chill in a chair while they apply it, honestly it feels sorta like being a hairdresser.
With a flash of light the illusion kicks in, flickering your new "body" into existence. You don't feel any different but when you look down, it's someone else's body you see. Experimentally you tug at your sleeve. You felt that, looks like your new clothing has been overplayed directly on what you're wearing. The exoarm is a bit weirder, its armor makes it a bit larger than what the illusion depicts meaning you have to go by muscle memory and kinaesthetic awareness rather than sight. Though you note that when you touch something, the hands do desync slightly to appear to actually touch when they can rather than looking like you have range-challenged telekinesis. The parts that don't exist, like your lengthened hair do seem to interact with the world but only one-way, you can brush it with your hands but you don't feel it as it moves.
The illusionist shifts a mirror, a regular one this time in front of you, and in in you can drr all the minor desyncs in expression, they do match what your are expressing, but the how is different. Everything larger like posture, fidgeting, etc. that's all done using indicators flashing into your gaze to guide you.
"<How does it look?>"
Post by: Strider03 on April 10, 2019, 05:26:36 pm
It was uncanny. He knew mentally that there was a mirror there, and a figure followed his motions for the most part. But trying to identify that figure as himself? The cognitive dissonance whispered anxiously as Shef checked the mirror. Once he'd checked his back--he was slimmer, with hair trailing to halfway down his back--and face, he glanced down from the mirror, exhaling. Better to just look down at himself and--not there--get a feel for in which places he existed and didn't now.
Experimentally, he pressed the tips of his fingers together, noting the illusion extend a little bit extra to compensate. "It's great. But. . ."Shef reached over to touch his forearm. The illusion, of course, moved slightly further before stopping, a perfectly fluid and believable picture of him tapping his own arm. But what about someone else? What would happen if they touched him, if they bumped into him in the street? "Er, could you touch my arm? Want to see what happens there with the illusion."
Post by: Empiricist on April 10, 2019, 05:52:33 pm
The illusionist nods and touches your arm, their hand stopping just before the illusion itself.
"<If it's a problem maybe we can modify the outfit so something occupies the space. I can throw in some force padding so even the illusions can be touched but it'll cost you, especially if you want tactile sensations.>"
Post by: Strider03 on April 10, 2019, 06:23:50 pm
"Thank you." He said carefully to the illusionist, following all the promptings of the HUD, before paying for the whole procedure.
Once he'd finished, he headed out onto the street, checking the saved locations on his phone to head over to the place where Noriko'd crashed through a window last night. As he walked, he'd check the lastest news on the gossip sites that had provided this information.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 10, 2019, 07:51:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2019, 07:08:04 am
"<Whatever you say! Let's get going then, the nearest quest hub isn't too far from here.>"
So you three head down to the reception, the girl going off to pay for the night. The reception is cozy with something between a rustically luxurious and a warm homely feel to it, though you feel anything but at home, there's a strange feeling in the air, you spy darting gazes in your direction and some not so subtle stares, a few murmurs going through the room, and as you wonder why they're looking at you with such interest you hear the receptionist speak, their voice soft and clear, ringing high above everything else.
"<Was the room to your satisfaction, Your Highness?>"
"<It was! Keep up the good work!>"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 12, 2019, 02:02:06 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2019, 02:31:38 am
You're on the way to that bar when you spot something on your phone, another gossip article, trashy as always and linking to a social media feed. The content is spread thin, there's not enough, but it's enough: she's just been spotted with Patricija and Yuki in a hotel not too far from here. If there's articles about it, no doubt more gawkers will be showing up, a nice crowd to blend into, a crowd assailants and your adversary could very well be hiding in.
Faith
The twin nod in unison, Luna tossing the ball up with a slash of her regalia with Sol following it up with a vicious downwards thrust that sends the ball flying down aimed a fair bit above your head. He's aiming to bounce it off the wall and ricochet it into the ground behind you.
Post by: Strider03 on April 13, 2019, 08:41:51 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 13, 2019, 05:50:55 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on April 13, 2019, 08:13:02 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 15, 2019, 01:40:32 pm
[[6] 6 3 6 1 [5] 2 5 5 2]
Post by: Empiricist on April 17, 2019, 06:12:12 am
Your beam erupts out, you may be holding back this time but it's still got some oomph, blasting the ball up and ricocheting it off the arena's ceiling. Sol just kinda walks backwards robotically reaching up his free hand for the ball, not that it ever touches it. It stops in the air, glowing an angry pulsing orange.
For a moment you thought he bewitched the ball, enchanted it, halted it, but as the sphere expands, as it burns with that same orange light and its surface erupts with great violent prominences you realize how wrong you were. He didn't stop it, he trapped it, imprisoned it, within the depths of a miniature star, a star the size of a beachball, crackling with heat and roaring with great gouts of starfire.
Well, at least the naming's on point.
"Your attacks are powerful;"
"Your attacks are limited;"
"You hold great power;"
"So why focus it?"
"Focusing helps ensure a kill yes, but you do not always need a kill. Sometimes what you need is a hit, a solid, reliable hit. A blow that leaves them open; a strike that leaves no hope for escape; when your foe is rendered vulnerable then you can strike."
"That, is the true strength of a magus like yourself not simple destructive power, but rather the capacity to make even a single hit decisive and even a single mistake guaranteed death."
With a gesture Sol sends the miniature star swinging down in a fast arc, aiming to slam dunk it right in the front center of your court. Luna meanwhile launches a second ball (wait, why is there a second ball?!) in a high arcing trajectory aiming for the far left rear corner of your side.
"Diversify."
"Or perish."
Minato
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sacrifice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pWFzNs9Tw) | ] |
02 charges at you, dropping its free arm and swinging its spear arm forwards in a windmilling motion as it makes one final leap. The spear burns bright and erupts forwards with a pulse of light and rush of air, now less spear and more beam, one that slams against a shield and slams hard. Like harder than you'll be slamming Faith, since you're a gentleman and not y'know, a burning erection hardened out of weaponized lifeforce and homicidal intent. Your shield shatters and detonates, ablating the spear and deflecting what remains of it
With the explosion in your face 03 and 04 take the chance to get right up in your grill to shank you harder some sort of hypothetical jackhammer-turned-shiv. You block 04's blow easily, using some of your arrayed weapons to force their weapon up as you step forwards and drive the dao against its chest, right as 03 drives its spear into your side. It's not a clean blow, your conjured chain has ensnared the weapon and your armor prevented it from piercing, by boy it is not pleasant, it's a whole lotta force focused right on a single point, driving your right back against the wall. Glepnir has its uses, but without sacrifice its range is still limited, it's long enough to death with a sword sure, but when you're foes aren't planning on touching you without a suitably long pole and are actively trying to skewer you with said poles, it's not going to come out fast enough.
So the pillar cracks and crumbles behind you as 04 staggers backwards its chest cracked and damaged, but 03 ain't relenting, its spear glows bright as its fan howls louder and louder, about to discharge the spear as a point-blank beam. Sensing blood in the water units 05 through to 08 ready their spears to hurl from multiple angles, stagger fired too - they're trying to make you trade one forgery for one spear each. Units 09 and 10 stand at the ready on your flanks, weapons levelled to run you through if you try to break through that way. 02 simply returns to stance, readying itself.
Okay, so you're not invincible, you're not infallible, but if they think they'd got the upper hand now, they've got another thing coming.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on April 21, 2019, 05:17:54 pm
Noriko's eyes widened slightly. "<Your Highness?>" she asked aloud (with a rather heavy accent), though she had enough presence of mind to at least do so quietly enough that only those immediately nearby would be able to hear it. "Yuki, did that lady just call her a princess or something?"
"Yeah, they did. Guess she's a princess. Wonder if it's figurative like 'princess of this festival' or literal like 'princess of the town'? Guess we'll see! I wonder what people think of us making friends with royalty on our first night in town?"
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2019, 09:25:34 pm
"<And done! Let's head to the hub, there's a rail station close by we can use.>"
And with that you walk out into thr bustling crowds of Harold Holt Square.
First thing you notice is the stone effigy the eponymous former Prime Minister turned isekai protagonist. It stands triumphantly, boomerang in one hand, oversized knife in the other, the floating statue secured to its base with a copy of his ground harness. He uh, well he certainly looks different to how the history books depicted him.
Festive lights and stalls have been arrayed out around the statue, a more familiar albeit fantastical touch compared to the buildings you find around you, some of which are less buildings and more enormous constructs consisting of floating panels and shifting walkways.
The princess leads you two onwards as a Nitro Express train crashes into a nearby building, torn apart from within to a cascade of camera flashes, neither the building itself nor the crowd below apparently too concerned about what just transpired.
Shef
The Nitro Express as it was called was named for two things: its speed evocative of nitrous oxide, and it's volatility evocative of nitroglycerin. These trains only run during the Festival of Arms, express trains accessible only to registered combatants, and liable to quite literally explode with violence at any given time. You watch as radiant lines trace across its form as great serpents of arcane energy tear themselves free from it, the train crumpling into dust, and soon, not even that. Inverse shielding. One of its many failsafes.
You didn't take the express, that'd have just drawn too much attention. Besides, it'd only take a stray bullet to bring your illusion down to reboot mode and blow the whole op. You took a "regular" train, and are now surveying the scene from above at the station.
You see your protectorates trailing the princess across the square, you see a few curious faces turning to follow them, you see an ominous figure peak out from the window of a nearby building, dressed in a sharp suit and a paperbag that bears only a single eye hole to the side, and you see a lady clad in red cautiously tailing the trio.
Either could just be curious. Either could be after them. Either could the the adversary. Either or neither.
Post by: Strider03 on April 21, 2019, 10:23:16 pm
Shef made note of the building the man was in, and its connections to adjacent buildings. If it lacked connections, yet he managed to move quickly between vantage points, that would provide insight on his mobility. Secondly, the woman, at what distance was she tailing, and how obvious was she making it? Did she seem distracted, checking for other tails, the like?
Did he note anyone in particular exiting the Nitro Express, it would not do to be unaware of a possible wild card battle in close proximity? And of course, Shef made certain to survey his own surroundings, noting anyone at the station who might be of use. So much to take in, and he still needed more intel to determine his next move.
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2019, 10:38:57 pm
Baghead is inside a library with connections to some of the nearby commercial buildings and the part of the city behind it (this area is somewhat terraced, occurring in a sort of urban valley with grand stairs leading down into the square from each side). Red meanwhile is pretty discrete about tailing from the trio's perspective, but someone like you with a good vantage point won't have much trouble seeing what she's doing.
A few people are descending from the crumbling remains of the Nitro express, adventurers and combatants in all kinds of outfits, the main two of interest being a mage surrounded by giant arcane serpents, and a swordsperson with a blade glistening with the same light as the the rends that tore apart the train, guessing they must've derailed it in their fight.
Possible assets around you, that's a bit trickier. Your Requiem's not as powerful here given that here the populace is all Awakened, meaning absolute control could very well fail and spark a brawl, not something you want. You'll need a gentler approach here, you see train conductors you could inquire, a tour group you could follow, and a few adventurers chatting. Still people are coming in and out, so the crowd's ever-changing right here.
Post by: Strider03 on April 21, 2019, 10:49:16 pm
No point in doing anything with the adventurers or the conductors right now. He would however, try to sidle up to the tour group, and listen in on where they were headed, to see if that'd fit his needs. If that didn't seem useful, he'd just keep up his own observation. Shef idly tried to recall whether he'd seen anything regarding the princess's awakened abilities.
Post by: Empiricist on April 21, 2019, 10:53:02 pm
No ping response, but they're not too close either. You may need to get in closer to check them with the ping function. Tour group's headed to that library building.
Post by: Strider03 on April 21, 2019, 11:00:03 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 24, 2019, 11:51:33 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 24, 2019, 05:47:08 pm
"<No, they're for registered combatants only. We'll just be taking a regular one.>"
Post by: Empiricist on May 01, 2019, 09:18:58 am
You casually slide into the back of the tour group as they descend down into the square, the tour guide regaling the few who care to listen about Harold Holt's arrival in the Aethertide and his rise as an Adventurer-General. Ground tethers are involved. That's not your concern right now, you can take a history lesson later, you got people to tail, and those people in question are heading up to the station.
Taking advantage of the crowd and commotion you slip away into the masses, tracking the lady in red's position as you move to tail her as she in turn tails your comrades. If she noticed you, she isn't making it obvious. Baghead remains where he is, watching from afar. Maybe he hasn't seen them, maybe he's after someone else, it's too early to tell. Red, she's more problematic, you're almost certain she's ID'd them, but she's making no effort to engage. Several possibilities come to mind, she might be waiting for an opening, she might just be a tracker, or she could be an assassin. You'll wanna ID her ASAP, if she's the adversary then you might've just gotten the drop on her. If she's someone else, you'll have to push to expose. The typical Awakened assassin will stalk their target, their abilities attuning more and more. By the time they strike, death will be all but assured. Not something you can permit here.
You glance around, making sure no one was paying you too much heed as you follow the illusion's guide. You take out your phone, a sleeker nicer model than the burner you own, casually glancing through it as if checking a text as beneath the illusion your hand brushes across the combat pass, sending out a ping. Red lines streak through its form. The adversary is near.
Noriko and Yuki
The station is abuzz with activity, the princess guiding you along with almost practiced grace as- OOF!
Someone crashes into Yuki sending both to the ground. Thankfully for Noriko's sodium intakes, it's the regular kinda crash and fall, the kind where both people end up on their backsides rather than on top of each other in a scandalous position. The someone as it turns out is a girl around her age dressed in a well, uh, it's looks like the closest you'd get to jeans and a hoodie if you tried to make that only out of JRPG costume assets. It's like an RPG white mage's robe cut short and worn over a tunic with a several pouches going over the front and a swashbuckler's pants and boots. The whole thing completed with a silvery bracelet over her left hand.
Three other teens jog up behind her, each sporting that same silvery bracelet, though rather different fashion tastes. One of them is clad in a full set of plate armor with what appears to be a tommy gun resting comfortably in her hands, another seemingly skates along the ground as if he were on an ice rink and is dressed in a black billowing longcoat and the lower half of a gasmask, the last is just wearing casual clothes, like pants and a t-shirt.
She begins helping Yuki back up as another Nitro Express whizzes past, that is until she sees herr face, shock and realization flashing across her face. Blue lines trace along the bracelets.
"<Ah! Sorry about th- IT'S THEM! GET THEM!>"
Wait wha-
Yuki, before the rest of that thought goes through your head, her fist goes into your gut, a pulse of concussive force cascading through into your body as your aegis shatters, launching you straight through the wall of the express train.
Noriko, you can feel it. The girl's magic. She's reinforcing the inner wall of the train. Y'know the one speeding right into Yuki and about to slam into her? Yeah. Weaponized reinforcement. Clever, but, weak? It's weaker than your own reinforcement spells at any rate, that you can tell.
The other three are a bit slower on the draw, though they do make their move nonetheless. The armored girl opens fire on you with her tommy gun, a wide spray of bullets tearing through the air at you, the emphasis being on sheer volume rather than accuracy. Meanwhile the casually dressed boy passes some kinda magic circle over to his compatriot who skates forwards apparently readying to engage either you or Yuki, depending on who's more amenable to getting smacked.
The crowd is dispersing around you. The princess looks more nonplussed than concerned at the whole situation.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 01, 2019, 04:50:53 pm
Shef took the distraction offered by combat as an opportunity to withdraw a little ways from Noriko and Yuki's tail. When it seemed like she'd be out of range, he'd test for the presence of the adversary again, ensuring that he wasn't jumping to conclusions too quickly.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 02, 2019, 02:06:08 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2019, 02:52:05 am
You launch the blast but the timing really isn't in your favor with the balls aimed at different places and the dunk coming out faster. So the frontal ball gets blasted up while the star itself just sinks into the ground without a mark, the rear ball meanwhile wasn't in the best angle and with its trajectory being what it was, it winds up riding the edge of the shockwave before bouncing off the rear wall. It's now ricocheting back, descending towards the mid-left side, which is less than ideal given that Sol has just slashed the first ball and launched it hard towards the far-right corner.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 02, 2019, 03:28:20 am
If that didn't work, Faith used a Freedom Beam, a wide-focus slash intended to sloppily hit both balls, because if she got her shield off it would at least probably get the two balls closer together.
(And the entire time, Faith herself moved, because something sinking without a trace into the ground probably meant it was going to pop back up and get her or something)
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2019, 03:53:07 am
Shields up! You leap up and just fucking ram the first ball, it, really doesn't help. They're like on the opposite sides of the court and while you do try to give a token attempt at lancing the other ball with a beam and well uh, it works? Sorta? Instead of just hitting the corner and detonating it's now violently ricocheting backwards on your side of the court, at least as was until it hit the rear wall and deflected forwards at an angle. At this rate it's going to blitz forward and slam into the net.
"Wrong answer."
Try again."
The shield-deflected ball meanwhile bounces just over the "net". Luna sets up the ball with a rising slash with Sol following up with a descending thrust, aiming to send it crashing down fast in your rear court. You're tiring out and fast.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 02, 2019, 04:33:54 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2019, 06:39:44 am
You focus, at least you try to between cold sweat and labored breath. You get... we you get something it's not really a beam though more like a curtain of fog crackling with dim purple and yellow energy. Sweeping it up, does sort of work? Though instead of really launching the balls anywhere it just kinda pushes them up a bit. The outbound ball clears the net, barely. The inbound ball deflects, its angle leveling out a bit, it's going to bounce off the rear wall and then into your rear court at this rate.
Luna gives the outbound ball another slash as it enters her side, aiming to ricochet it off the ceiling and down into your front court.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 02, 2019, 03:10:17 pm
But he could take it. That was what he was born to do, take it. Take every punch, every blow, power through it until the enemy was done. He was tough enough to do it.
This was a contest of attrition, a contest of wills. And Minato Kumon had plenty of will to go around. It was the age-old unstoppable force, immovable object, sort of deal, only these poor bastards weren't unstoppable forces.
So much the worse for them, because Minato definitely was immovable.
Send 03 off balance by pulling on Gleipnir and then summon the Luin Celtchair to charge into 03 directly. Direct the charge trajectory so 03 is smashed into 04 and then smash two of the weapons into 03 to finish the job.
[[6] 3 6 1 2 5 5 2 [4] 2]
Post by: Empiricist on May 03, 2019, 07:58:17 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Sacrifice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pWFzNs9Tw) | ] |
The spear becomes a beam and the beam crashes right against your side. Not gonna lie, that hurt.
You wrap the chain around 03's wrist and pull them close before running them the fuck through with your blazing spear, spinning on your feet as you redirect the spear and thrust it into 04. You were planning on putting both forgeries into 03, but well at this rate you only need one to finish off each, the two constructs falling limp.
Four more spears rush forth asd you just stand there and take it. You got willpower, plenty of it in fact. Good for you, that ain't enough though. You're sprawled back on the ground. You taste iron in your mouth. You aren't bleeding, not yet, but you soon will be. Take another hit and you'll be writing this up as a failure. Hell, you can't even risk a Dai Henshin at this point.
It was fun while it lasted, this little kung fu fantasy of yours. But seven foes still stand.
You got nine forgeries. A tenth incoming, and five more if you really push yourself. Each one a bomb, each one enough to dodge, each one enough to crush. It's about time you take this seriously don't you think?
| [Now Playing: | Enemies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoHGZFyMCHU) | ] |
02 rushes into view, leaping above you and descending down hard and fast as they conjure a new weapon in their grasp: a sledge hammer.
05 and 06 glide forward on their flanks, conjuring ladders to skim along the ground, while 09 and 10 sprint to leap up and ride along them, aiming to add their spears to the mix. 07 and 08 fan out at the sides beginning to summon folding chairs.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on May 04, 2019, 01:02:35 pm
Alter 6 down to 5, alter current 1 to 3, then use the new 5-hyper, sending about two thirds towards the pugilist, and one third towards the courier. Teleport to the magus using the non-hyper.
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 04, 2019, 03:21:36 pm
"Fuck OFF!" She held one hand ahead of her as her spears materialized around her, a gale of wind blasting forward at the bullets to (hopefully) make a space in them just large enough for her to dash through headfirst. One of the spears appeared in her hand only to promptly be hurled forward on a stronger gust of wind, headed right toward the one with the offending weapon with a shout of "Manavastra!"
Post by: Empiricist on May 04, 2019, 10:38:16 pm
コンバット•スタート!
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The silvery gauntlet closes into a fist, driving deep into your gut. Light twists, space bends, the air seeming to ripple in its wake as it scintillates a bright wispy blue. It was a shield, a barrier, kin to your own. It was a hexagonal field, no larger than her first, space and force transmuted to light and glass, a crystalline bulwark, pellucid save for the six arrows marking its edges, curved but only barely, and durable but only for an instant. The impact was spectacular, beautiful even, the shards of your broken shield mingling with her own. A shockwave erupts, a ring of rippling space perpendicular to her punch shimmering with light as the shattered fragments of her barrier lance forth as a spiralling spear of force, last vestiges of your heavenly aegis burning with light and flame as it protects you from this strike even as it sends you crashing through the train wall.
The end of the carriage races forward to meet you, races forward to crush you, but your mind is elsewhere.
In your mind's eye you can see it; it's hazy, incomplete, constructed less of imagery and more of raw concept, but it's there! You can see it! You remember!
It was a dream you thought was truth, a vision that masqueraded as the present, a marsh of strange plants and crystal water, of marble platforms and crisscrossing walkways, a marsh stained black by something you do not remember, a place that is nowhere that you know of, yet which you feel as you've visited before, a world no different to a dream, yet one which you know is real.
You feel... you feel what you feel. The rush of air around you, the floor of the train rushing beneath your feet, the roar of gunfire reverberating against your chest. You feel everything, yet you feel nothing.
You feel sensations but not their meaning, the signifier but not the signified. Your mind is silent, silent once more, free of your troubles, free of your own self-deceptions, for a moment, if only for a moment. But that moment is all the time you need.
For that brief instant you are naught but will and instinct. A body running on autopilot, a mind tearing forwards, a white hot bullet caring naught for the journey nor the destination, only the direction which it was given.
| [Now Playing: | 完全感覚Dreamer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGbxsiBZGPI) | ] |
The world seems to shudder as the wind bends to your will. A corridor of air rending itself into existence, its birth cry a howl of with wrath and fury. The hail of fire cowers and wavers as the the storm opens is great terrible eye, a tunnel of screeching rushing air. Into the breach to launch, a horizontal dive lead by your spearhead, the ghostly rounds streaking a phantasmal silver as they tear towards you, towards you but never closer.
Darkness erupts from the passing carriage, ink black arrowheads streaking across the ground in perfect silence. The pugilist is the first in their path, eyes wide in horror she leaps back, but the tenebrous tide proves to be faster. It was a single arrow, a single droplet in the great deluge, yet a single arrow was enough. There would be no special effects, no fanfare. The arrow that brushed against her foot simply discharged and vanished, a soundless fury, a bolt from the blue without thunder and without lightning. The only sound you heard, was the girl's scream.
It had only grazed her foot, but had you only seen the consequences you could not have imagined that was all that happened. A horrid ragged gash rips open across the pugilist's clothes as she's just absolutely hurled backwards, slamming straight through a pillar and reducing half of it to rubble in the process.
"<GWEN!>" the reticent magus screams, he screams, but perhaps he should've been running instead. The darkness was not content with simply one hit. It splits apart like the current in a river delta, two thirds streaking towards the fallen pugilist, one third rushing for the courier, and single lone arrow racing for the magus.
It was this single lone arrow that discharges next, but it this time, it was an attack, no, it was a teleport. The instant it touched him was the instant Yuki appeared in the air above him, bringing her roaring chainsaw down with a heavy cleave.
You hear an explosion and feel its blast ripple through the air but you haven't the time to see what happens next - you've closed in on your quarry now, and like hell you're gonna let her escape. Yuki's got new powers, great, that means they're not powers you have to worry about right now. You can just focus on doing what you do best - violent totally non-Freudian implement! Your spear explodes forwards slamming into the girl's chest, unfortunately it doesn't quite the effect you're hoping for - she staggers backwards but less from the impact and more from the explosion that just tore out of her chestplate, an explosion that is now sending white hot shrapnel at you! The girl herself wastes no time working on a counterattack, resuming her saturation fire of your general postcode with more ghostly bullets. Explosion is still blooming, the shrapnel still only just materializing. A single word echoes in your mind - Agneyastra.
Yuki, you have no idea what the hell just happened, but you're just gonna roll with it! You remember doing something and next thing you know you're bringing your chainsaw down on the mage. Shame it didn't land, well not on him anyway. At the last moment, he did something and a spellcircle appeared in front of him, blasting the two of you apart. He skids to a halt with a three-point landing, but he clearly doesn't want to be anywhere near you anymore. The fact that your chainsaw made a larger crater than his bomb and proceeded to tear apart the platform on your way backwards probably isn't doing wonders for his confidence either.
You meanwhile? You're doing good! You wound up getting smacked by the reinforced wall and nailed by the blast, but neither hurt too much and you're quickly regenerating too!
The audacious courier seems to have escaped harm by blasting your black arrows into nothingness using another one of those spell bombs and leaping up into the air, a holographic skate track appearing beneath him and keeping him up in the air. With a rush of speed he's now skating towards the the fallen pugilist while the magus does some kinda magical grenade jump with another fancier spell circle to just get the hell away.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
You withdraw as all hell breaks loose on the train platform, releasing a ping. There is no response.
Post by: Strider03 on May 05, 2019, 07:28:37 am
Then, approaching a little nearer to the adversary, he found an angle, attempting to open a portal under their feet, sending them into the chosen building. If this worked, he'd call the number of the phone.
Post by: Empiricist on May 05, 2019, 08:32:42 am
You spy a few conspicuously empty rooms not too far from here? Coincidence? Or is that another one of the festival's amenities? Hard to say, but both work for your purposes.
A portal opens below the lady and drops her down into the room. Needless to say, she looks quite shocked about th whole affair, regarding the now ringing phone with suspicion and reticence, though I seems her curiosity wins out in the end a she answers "<Hello?>"
Post by: Strider03 on May 05, 2019, 09:10:17 am
Shef took a deep breath, not calming himself at all, then spoke into the phone. "Noticed you've been tailing the Princess closely. Rather suspicious of course. Care to explain yourself?"
Post by: Empiricist on May 05, 2019, 03:56:23 pm
"<Do I need any explanation? Plenty of people want to know who her mystery date is, and just what kind of relationship they're in, and I'm here to get that scoop. Care to explain the theatrics? Spiriting away a law abiding citizen, you've got some nerve.>"
Post by: Strider03 on May 05, 2019, 04:38:20 pm
Hopefully he could stall for a while, prevent any interference in the current battle.
Post by: Empiricist on May 05, 2019, 05:57:52 pm
<Susan Belrose, for the Kingshaven Express.>"
You look that up, there's no such publication.
Post by: Strider03 on May 06, 2019, 07:09:13 am
Around now, Shef began to relocate himself, finding a new location in the station to occupy. It was possible the adversary wouldn't determine that he'd have had to been that close to test the combat pass, but this was not a chance he was willing to take. As he attempted to find a new place to spectate from, he'd both scan the area for the person with the bag head, and consider the likelihood and dangers associated with depositing another burner phone--there'd be four more after that--with the princess.
Post by: Empiricist on May 06, 2019, 08:05:47 am
Baghead is amidst the crowd, spectating the battle, he stands there blending in surprisingly well with the rest go the gawkers. Someone mumbles something to him, you can only see the movement, you hear not the sound. It's a mature looking boy wearing a facemask pulled up to his nose, with a beret angled over his light blue hair and a slim military harness over light dark clothes. Maybe there's more, with him, but that's the only one to speak to him so far.
You could definitely portal a phone over to the princess, but she could get pretty suspicious real quick, maybe you could manipulate her or maybe she'll go into lock down, it's a risky gamble.
Post by: Strider03 on May 06, 2019, 09:25:07 am
At this point, Shef would also begin watching the likely entry ways that the adversary would take to arrive back up at the station. It would be a good indicator of how quickly she dealt with delays and distractions.
Finally, as he scanned the crowd, multitasking to find those who seemed suspicious while trying not to be so himself, Shef's thoughts wandered back to the mission parameters. Would it be possible to requiem Noriko or Yuki if the situation demanded it? Neither of them really knew about that ability, he was fairly certain. But, he'd been told not to interfere with the fights, a major restriction to be certain. What could he do outside of combat with this ability to help them in combat? Directions maybe, seeding an idea, or warning of an incoming attack? Before an attack affected the two, they weren't really in combat. Hopefully.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 07, 2019, 04:04:49 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 07, 2019, 04:48:12 am
You continue watching, a girl in a scarf and overcoat glances at baghead, talking into her phone, her word inaudible. Another potential threat? Hmm, what about the lady in r- CRASH!
"<Eep! I'm so sorry!>"
You're on the floor now, a girl practically straddling you, she's clad in some sci-fi style outfit, all plasticky and digital, with electronic cat ears and neon roller blades. She hurriedly tries getting up, only to slip and fall a few more times, the skates proving a bit too slippery for her. Eventually she gets back up and starts trying to help you back up on your feet. You don't like how she fell on you, too much surface area, too much risk, she might've felt a little too much, felt what lies neath the illusion, though if she did, she sure isn't showing it, or maybe personal illusions aren't even worth commenting here, at least during the festival.
Faith
You simply haven't the time. You can bring your little cloud above your head, you can try and catch the balls all you want, the the simple fact of the matter is that you need to mode to catch both balls where they land, and the twins simply won't give you that chance. The balls are coming down in different places, on behind, one in front, and both aimed to land at almost the same time. You catch the frontal ball, and before you make even more than a few steps, the rear ball detonates, a heatless force blast ringing out as its shockwave sends rippling waves through the sand beneath your feet.
"So close yet so far. You need versatility or volume, and right now, you have neither."
Post by: Strider03 on May 07, 2019, 07:13:56 am
It was almost obvious that this would be a distraction, that or a plant. As soon as he'd gotten up, Shef briefly scanned the crowd, trying to pin down the locations of baghead and his compatriots. The combat pass and the adversary would have to wait.
Post by: Empiricist on May 07, 2019, 07:22:24 am
The girl leaves you alone. Baghead and his posse are still where they were with scarfy still talking away on her phone.
Post by: Strider03 on May 07, 2019, 07:27:31 am
On the other hand, if she was neither identified as an adversary, nor covering up enemy movements, there was only one other option Shef could think of. Some sort of plant, whether that be of a bug for tracking purposes, or some sort of magic based plant. The purpose that would have, he had no idea. But at the very least he gave himself a cursory look over, checked his pockets, exposed skin, and anywhere else that he could feasibly get away with checking in a crowd.
Post by: Empiricist on May 07, 2019, 07:32:35 am
Lady in red has yet to re-enter your ping radius. You check your pockets. Motherfucker! There's a tracker clipped to you! Real hard to notice place too - back of your exoskeletal arm where it's hard to see and where it blends in with the rest of the scaffolding. She must've found the place while "helping you up". Shit, someone's suspicious of you and you're not sure which is worse - baghead or the lady. Though the lady you can at least engage, baghead is shaping up to be one of Noriko and Yuki's foes meaning, hands the hell off.
Post by: Strider03 on May 07, 2019, 07:41:20 am
Following this, Shef would relocate again, checking himself for bugs again when he arrived at a new position.
Post by: Empiricist on May 07, 2019, 07:49:17 am
You spy a girl with white hair and just quickly dump the tracker into her hoodie's pocket. They're probably not gonna mix the two of you up but y'know, don't have time for perfectionism here. You quickly draw back away into the crowd, letting the movement of the foot traffic guide you away before doing a more thorough pat down. Two more trackers. One at them at the hem of your pants, another at the back between your belt and the pants themselves.
Post by: Strider03 on May 07, 2019, 08:02:28 am
He did not relocate after dropping the trackers this time. Letting himself get pushed around too much was a path to failure as much as having his location constantly broadcast would be. Do another search of the crowd, and keep an eye out for skater and the adversary, the usual.
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 07, 2019, 09:12:05 pm
Agneyastra
Post by: Powder Miner on May 08, 2019, 06:26:59 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 08, 2019, 10:20:39 pm
Red's heading back over the train platform now not a care in the damn world. Skates, you can't find her, she vanished into the crowd.
Three trackers, a patdown, and all from a little trip. Troublesome. Unknown affiliations too. Two real choices here.
Adversary, singular, there should only be one right? Well you'd think that if you were a more trusting man, but that's not strictly the case. Hanako has shadow clones, Victoria a false body, Vendelin a guardian spirit. There are ways to have more bodies and more hostiles than a single adversary.
On the other hand, how could they have found you? They couldn't have traced your call somehow could they? Maybe they sensed you otherwise? They weren't too hard to find and not too Har to tail now that you think about it? Was that bait? Or maybe you have yourself away, stared at baghead's posse when everyone else was watching the other way?
Though of course baghead himself could've spotted you, he seemed better at tailing at a glance anyway, appearing far enough away and vanishing before reappearing blended into the crowd, could've eyed you while pretending to watch the fight. If skates is allied with him and not some goon, then that'd be another four man squad up against your protectorates, another four man squad that isn't engaging. Cautious, or something else? Something about that seems too neat, too arranged, too artifical, like they'd be playing a game themselves if that were the case.
No other threats appear, at least, not for now.
Faith
Luna hits the remaining ball up in a much gentler arc.
"Miss Tatsumaki, do you remember how you calibrated your beam output? Repeat that. Start from zero and work your way up until you have just enough to keep the ball aloft.Keep it within your side of the court."
Post by: Powder Miner on May 09, 2019, 05:08:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 09, 2019, 06:59:08 am
"Now, try recalling the feelings you had when you made that shield."
Sol and Luna each ready a ball, tossing theirs in once you have a proper grasp on the first one. They continue doing this until you're overloaded.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 10, 2019, 04:32:32 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2019, 04:52:54 am
So there's half a dozen balls or so bouncing up into the air, rapid pulses keeping them aloft. You've managed to push your back to the "net" keeping the balls aloft by just blasting them against the walls and keeping them in that general area, but it's not exactly a picnic keeping that up. You pour your frustration into the bolts letting it mix with your resolve as they begin to crackle with dichromatic energy. It, offsets things a bit, you're not pumping out more power than you started with, but you're no longer losing any to frustration either.
Two more balls come sailing over, high lobs, they're moving slower, much slower than they should even with a gentle launch. Still you're at your limit already and two more... those'll be the straw to Bane the fuck outta the camel's back.
You got some time to think at least. Put it to use. You got a good head on those shoulders don't you? Well you'd like to think so anyway. Prove it then.
Time seems to almost slow as you glance through the court, feeling out your options. Really, you got two things at your disposal right now: your skill with beam spells and your sense and control of the bolts still in the air and... wait, the balls too? Why can you...
There! A spark. A crackling arc of energy, yellow and purple, light and dark, chasing each other's tails. It's coming from the balls. They're charged, charged with your energy? Was it the frustration? The touch of darkness? Your negative spells do have a tendency to curse things, could you have contaminated the balls with it somehow?
Three resources you got three resources at your disposal. What do you do with them?
[]Fire off an array of super weak lasers. Send a pulse through whenever a ball touches one.
[]Try and remotely steer the balls into your shots.
[]Modify the curse, maybe it can keep them afloat?
[]Something else.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 10, 2019, 05:41:59 am
...wait a minute. Holy shit. It was just like that time with that asshole dictator Aramitama fusion thing that stripped her naked WAIT no she wasn't going to think about that too closely-- but anyway, much like when she'd marked him she seemed to have marked the balls somehow -- and now that she had, she realized that she could probably control them fairly easily, considering that they were made of energy, and she'd been working on moving that around a lot recently. And since she could...
Faith tried to steer the balls into her shots slash each other!
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2019, 06:01:11 am
Time seems to come rushing back as you focus, balls ricocheting off of each other once more, but this time, it ain't random, this time, they're bouncing against each other, keeping themselves aloft or hurling themselves against your bolts. Yes! Progress!
One by one, the balls fizzle to naught. More take their place. Far more. But these ones are much smaller, mic lighter. They're slow to fall, and you think just tagging them will let you keep them levitating, but there's so many you doubt you could, at least, not with your bolts.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 10, 2019, 06:30:55 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 10, 2019, 07:13:51 am
You sweep your dichromatic beam, sending the balls flying up whet they fizzle and vanish.
"Behind you."
You turn and find that the net has raised, if only slightly, creating a small gap below. The twins stand outside the court four large balls flying down fast in their side of the court, each ball coming down on each corner. They're coming up from pretty damn high, but they've got an awful lotta momentum, gonna be hard to stopping them if you only tag them at the last moment.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 13, 2019, 05:58:14 am
Well, nothing to do but try. Faith attempted to bend a Freedom Beam under the net, bending it back up and widening it to catch all of the balls as they were in the process of descending. Not only that, but Faith would try to apply just enough of the double-emotion effect to the ability to catch the balls with the energy-control effect, and steer them into the net.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 13, 2019, 11:16:14 am
That was a terrible idea.
Charging headlong at a bunch of people in a schoolyard brawl or even outside, works; untrained people- delinquents harassing the weak outside, the clique of mean girls pestering the shy bookworm- preferred to target the weak, the vulnerable and those who weren't going to fight back. They didn't like targets who could fight back; Minato learned this lesson early, when they tried to smack him around as a young kid and he fought right back, showing them he wasn't a pushover, some weakling to be stepped on by the strong. An untrained fighter preferred an opponent who really couldn't fight back at all.
But a trained enemy knew how to take advantage of anyone's vulnerabilities, and these robots were plenty trained.
Minato groans, pulling himself off the ground. The shooting pain through his body told him he wasn't in any condition to use his usual tactics; no charging in like a madman. A Dai-Henshin in his current condition was going to risk genuine bodily injury. Luin Celtchair wasn't going to cut it either; it would take him too close, too quick, and Minato needed to stay away from them. Rho Aias could work, but how? He needed some way of keeping these things off him, some way of fighting back without getting too close. Gleipnir could hold the crowd back but he didn't have enough chain to hold the entire group back or lash them back. His finishing technique could do it, but he'd need them grouped up for the impact to get ALL of them.
The next few seconds passed like an eternity for Minato.
>How, dammit? I gotta think.<
Noriko. How did Noriko do it? She was dancing around the battlefield with her spears and her wind; Minato was an immovable object, but she, she was like the wind. She had a way of fighting that was alien to Minato. How did she do it? He racked his brains. Maybe she could give him some pointers. What would she do if she were here? How would she handle this?
Manavastra.
That word rang in his ears. Where did he hear it before? It wasn't one of his Regalia, no. Nothing he'd used-
Noriko. It was one of Noriko's techniques. One of her powers. He figured her abilities had to do with Hindu astras, but he'd never tried to summon them before, not like that. He didn't need a nuclear bomb, he needed a scalpel. Most astras were too powerful, too broad in range for Minato to use. Most of the big ones, anyway. Maybe he could take pointers from her. But using one of her abilities wouldn't work; again it wasn't suited to his powers.
Something reached out to his mind, like warm, grasping tendrils, reaching out to Minato's mind. It was something he was familiar with; the feeling he got whenever he searched for familiar weapons to use in combat, the feeling he got when he reached into the Gaia Memory. It had begun when he had first Awakened, when he drew Durandal that night when the Aramitama had broken into his house to try to kill him and he summoned a sword out of thin air to fight it off. The Gaia Memory knew Minato now, and Minato knew it like a familiar book, and it knew what Minato was looking for.
The golden outline of an ornate bow formed in Minato's outstretched hand, a string already drawn in his other hand. He knew its name like he'd said it many times before. He could feel his armor changing to accomodate the new weapon; it did this every time he had a new Regalia, changing in subtle ways and subtle forms to enhance Minato's use of weapons. He already knew; he'd be using THIS one a lot.
Regalia Unlocked: Gandiva.
Perfected False Regalia: Celestial Arc of the Inferno [3]: Gandiva, the bow of Agni, the Hindu god of fire. Minato may summon Gandiva to fire flaming projectiles from the bow that explode on contact, or load the bow with summoned False Regalia (either other hypers or Requiem-summoned fakes) and fire them to impale them into objects and explode on contact, as well as projecting their effects at range (Rho Aias projects a shield at range, Luin Celtchair becomes a enemy-seeking projectile, etc.). He may also sacrifice stockpiled Regalia to increase the amount of arrows fired from Gandiva. As with other false Regalia, he can destroy it to protect himself from attack or to damage an enemy heavily.
And after that, everything fell right into place. He could turn Gungnir into a finishing move of his own, imbuing his foot with it to ensure his attack would be powerful enough and accurate enough to take down the target. Why not everything else?
New Stat Block.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
False Regalia Fortification [5]: Minato can sacrifice a Regalia to imbue it into something or a small area. That object is now imbued with the power of that Regalia, and be used to lay traps in an area for Minato to catch an opponent out with it. If Minato imbues another Regalia with Fortification, the effects are now combined, i.e. Luin Celtchair and Gleipnir combined now leaves a trail of chains to entrap anyone struck by Luin Celtchair.
Action: Minato summons Gandiva and loads Luin Celtchair and Gleipnir into it. Move away from 02's landing spot and fire the imbued arrow into 02 to throw it away from Minato, lining up the trajectory to nail 05 with the combined Gleipnir/Celtchair arrow as well. Load two more stockpiled weapons into Gandiva and sink exploding arrows into 09 and 10 to knock them away from Minato, all the while moving back to keep space between Minato and the Pugilists. Use the remaining weapons to ward off incoming attacks, sacrificing them if necessary.
[[3] [6] 1 2 5 5 2 2 1 5]
Post by: Empiricist on May 14, 2019, 05:44:22 am
Beam goes out and curves up, widening to catch the balls. One problem - those balls? They're at each corner of the twin's side of the court. So even with that high dispersion sweep you have one hell of a time catching all of them. Your credit, you do manage to catch three, using the beam to quickly sweep across, but the fourth detonates before you reach it.
"My my, back to the comfort zone I see. The moment you're unsure you slip back to that beam. Tsk tsk, we have much work to do."
Perhaps she she does it subconsciously, driven by her homicidal intent towards us. Can you not see the killing intent in her eyes? Our dismantled dismembered bodies in her gaze?"
"I shiver with dread."
Neither of them are shivering.
"Yes, yes, let us appease her through our counsel so she shall spare our lives."
Are they just going to keep going on like this or...?
"Miss Tatsumaki, remember the tactics you used prior."
"You must leave your comfort zone and have confidence in your magic."
Four more balls fall from above, a repeat of the exercise.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 14, 2019, 06:06:03 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 14, 2019, 11:36:30 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Enemies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoHGZFyMCHU) | ] |
Flames consume you though they do not burn you,
standing here defiant though fortune has once again spurned you.
With these cut and trembling hands you grasp,
a childish dream that seems further each day than the last.
The path to being a hero is not the same the stories tell,
nor is it one you can claim to follow especially well.
Yet to this and every challenge hence you shall rise.
For man errs, till he has ceased to strive.
And so in an arc your hand does trace,
conjuring flame and steel with measured haste
as you entertain a most curious thought in your mind
seeking to pay the alabaster bastards back in kind.
Chain and spear now blend
uniting as harbinger to a most gruesome end.
A ward against the foe that approaches,
tip tracing the airspace it encroaches,
your adversary ablur,
their fans awhirr,
as their hammer crashes down upon you.
The price you paid was a pittance,
a forgery sacrificed to shield you from the weapon's emittance,
the blast throwing you back,
widening the gap,
though you've most certainly seen better days.
Yet here you still stand, injuries be damned,
and for that you have been rewarded.
Your foes served up on a silver platter,
make haste, no time for swagger;
your target's in range, your munitions deranged,
you let loose and take the fucking shot.
Your arrow sings a symphony
with the scream and hiss of promised calamity.
Tongues of flame becoming burning chains
as it streaks towards its prey.
Through the vanguard's body it tears, piercing all the way into the formation's rear.
Two now chained, most certainly maimed, and subject to an awful lot of buggery.
With the enemy riposted (and the narrator's care for rhyme exhausted), you turn your attention to other matters at hand. 05 is, actually still active, they were fast enough to leap off the ladder as you impaled 02, 09 meanwhile, well, they're chained up with 02 and let's just....
BANG!
They're out of the equation now.
05 you fire another arrow at but they manage to dodge away, riding the blastwave backwards, at least you've disarmed them and widened the gap, plus now you're the one with the range advantage. 10, proves to be similarly fast, managing to leap off its ladder and out of your third arrow's path, 06 isn't so fortunate. You weren't aiming at them though they were pretty close to your target on the ladder, and they did manage to move out the way of the arrow too, but unfortunately for them, a simple dodge like that ain't enough. Proximity detonation, bitch. Yeah they're on the floor now, casing all cracked and spear blown out of their hands.
07 and 08 continue their charge as you reset your footing and adjust your skirt.
Wait, skirt?
You bring a shield closer, you can barely recognize the man in the mirror so to speak. For starters, it takes you a moment to realize it's a man. The uh, good news is you look super cute with that light makeup and those hair decorations? Is that good news? The bad news is uh, your armor is missing and instead you're dressed in an adorable frilly maid outfit and you could probably pass for a girl.
Oh also 07 and 08 are lunging at you with folding chairs that you've the sinking feeling are going to explode, 10 is hurling a spear at you, and 05 and moving over to retrieve its ladder.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Faith
Shield comes out, sorta okay? You're not entirely used to applying it to things other than yourself. Then you stretch it out and, yeah. It just, disintegrates into a haze of energy, sorta like your blinding spell but more dispersed. Hmm... maybe you could use this? You doubt you'll be able to stop the balls in time just by contaminating and manipulating them, but maybe you could do something to the haze?
Post by: Powder Miner on May 14, 2019, 02:06:54 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 14, 2019, 05:16:31 pm
Right, so you pump more and more negativity into the haze, the whole mess coming alive with rumbling arcs of purple energy, like a particularly angry thundercloud. Unfortunately while the balls do slow well uh, remember how you've limited your output and how you've been blasting the shit outta the balls with focused beam and explosives prior? Yeah uh, that cloud ain't gonna cut it.
Boom.
This time, the twins just immediately call down the redo immediately.
Okay, so you deploy a haze, you can't damage the balls directly (though you'll certainly keep this trick in mind for later), but you can pump energy through it and you can manipulate it, maybe you can do something with that?
>[] Do the haze again, but this time manipulate it into condensing into four shields
>[] Do the haze again, but use it to fire off a barrage of bolts
>[] Do the haze again, and try channeling a beam that comes out of one corner, then another, and so on
>[] Haze, focus them to just the corners, gather energy, when the balls come through, pump those fuckers full of energy and hard manip them
>[] Do something else
>[] Fuck it, let's have a look at them tomes, they can't be that bad, right? ...right?
Post by: Powder Miner on May 14, 2019, 05:32:02 pm
And that’s what she tried to do.
Post by: Empiricist on May 14, 2019, 05:37:21 pm
With rumbling roar the cloud just fucking explodes upwards, thickening and roiling with newfound power. It sweeps over the balls and then compresses, splitting apart into four small tempests that sink down into the spheres of energy, like water whirling down a drain. The balls now crackle with the same energies as your magic, fiercely so to, you've basically made them your bitch.
You hurl them up and then... a fucking shower of tiny balls appear, your four big contaminated ones currently in their midst.
Post by: Powder Miner on May 14, 2019, 11:52:03 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 15, 2019, 02:29:02 am
And detonate they do, pulses of energy crashing out from the four orbs and into the shower of balls. Long story short, the barrage is halted and it all fizzles. The barriers disengage.
"Congratulations. You're free."
You're pretty sure they're just saying shit again, but holy hell you can't help but agree, that was fucking awful.
Post by: Empiricist on May 23, 2019, 03:56:11 am
For the moment the breeze is a gale, coastal winds scattering a shower of petals through the market. In times past, sailors staked their lives on such fickle winds, lives and fortunes, kingdoms and futures made and broken by their whims. Your past was much the same, winds more figurative, but no less capricious. Is your present the same? Are you still a slave to fortune or have you the strength to forge your own path? It's hard, hard to say, the world feels stranger like, more dangerous too, manic, mad. You thought you only had, to put it lightly, only the rest of your life to worry about. But no, there's assassins too, and Kung Fu Hitler, and whatever the hell Sol and Luna are. And yet, and yet, you have agency, don't you? A card and account off-realm, magic arcane and vaguely war crimey at your fingertips. Hell, you could even run away if you so chose. Become an adventurer or something, live out the rest of your days here, never to return. The winds blow once a more, putting an end to your reverie as-
Oh fuck, that's not a regular wind.
| [Now Playing: | Sable (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxBKsbcSXGo) | ] |
A cocoon of petals rushes into the air before exploding open. You see a girl in a hooded cloak as red as her rose petals taking aim with her weapon - some kinda elaborate cross between lance and rifle. The gunfire follows swiftly, antimaterial rounds crashing down into the marketplace.
Y'know for people caught up in all this, the civies seem pretty fucking chill about the whole thing, the largest reaction you see being someone taking out a camera to film it all.
It's not like long before her quarry reveals themselves, crashing through a stall, the tables and wares rearranging as soon as they're clear. It's... you're pretty sure that's a keijo practitioner. She's dressed in one of those one-piece swimsuits that Yoake seems to fond of, augmented with coats, boots and belts formed of colored smoke. Wings of blood tear free of her back as she weaves near with frightful speed, speed that is soon matched when the girl in red comes crashing down upon her.
It was a vicious thrust, a diving strike aimed to crush and impale. A shame it missed. The spike buries itself into the pavement as the Keijo practitioner side steps out of the the way, moving to retaliate, but the oxymoronic sniper isn't done just yet. She pulls the trigger and the spike seems to burn with energy, petals of light scattering off its radiant form as it explodes out from the pavement in a brutal cleave. This time, the Keijo practitioner isn't so lucky. She moves to dodge but the energized lance catches her arm blasting it clean off. Not that is slows her down. Her arm's gone but the blood inside it stayed, a whirling disembodied mass of blood vessels that shift into a hand, a claw, and then a cleaving limb that scythes through the air aiming to pay the sniper back in time. You see the practitioner use some kinda vial and limb just explodes with flames, though not even that is enough as her foe parries the strike with her own weapon, sent skidding backwards as her rifle ejects an empty cartridge.
Festival duels as you've been told are to first blood, but neither fighter seems to be about to break it off, though you think you got a good idea why - the practitioner's arm is regenerating and a frightening rate too.
Wait a minute, isn't that...
Sakurako
You've been shot, stabbed, dismembered, beaten, blasted, thrown, slashed, and you feel fucking great. No seriously, you feel amazing. Any pain you might be in is just utterly buried under a minty numbness that pervades your body, and above and beyond that you feel euphoric. You feel happier, the world seems brighter, vibrance and violence blending into a colorful blur. You're alert, you're focused, you're also missing an arm, but it'll be back soon. The infusion syringe, that you won't be getting back, but that's fine, Marta blew one of her cartridges too on that attack, didn't have much to show for it either, and when it comes down to it, the longer this drags on, the better it is for you. You're not just getting faster, you're getting better, better at leveraging your techniques, better at controlling your powers. That blood claw? You couldn't do that before that's for sure.
Here's another: your foes aren't dumb, they can see the writing on the wall as well as you can.
"<This is bad, she keeps getting faster and faster.>"
"<We'll finish this quick then, you ready?>"
"<No, but let's go for it anyway.>"
Marta spins Alfbern in a circle before slashing at thin air, more of her rose petals scattering before the pair.
" Bankai! Godslaying Crimson Thorn! "
"<Soul Resonance! Marche Au Supplice!>"
Hey wait, isn't that Faith back there?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on May 23, 2019, 08:55:21 pm
again.
again.
Wow you really suck, huh? Best not make it a third time. Still, this was cool as shit.
Shit, they were doing some bullshit. some over-the-top finishing move probably. Well, only one thing for it.
Clock Up 4
Her veins swell, and she feels lightning surge through her veins, the world slowing just that tiny bit, and she sprints to the side, zig-zagging through the market, behind stalls, under low barriers, trying to both draw them away from Faith and hopefully lose them in the sprawl to give her a moment to heal and go on the offensive without her blood spraying out of her mangled arm like a firehose.
Well. More than usual, anyway.
Alter to a 6 since they appear to be about to do some crazy shit.
World Line: 3 2 3 5 6
Post by: Twinwolf on May 24, 2019, 04:35:07 pm
Also laugh in a mildly maniacal and probably concerning way.
Post by: Empiricist on May 24, 2019, 11:03:30 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | 完全感覚Dreamer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGbxsiBZGPI) | ] |
It starts with a spark, an ember, a counterspell. Basic. Weak. Trivial. Get a good teacher and you could learn it in a day. Or a night. A lone flame that burns with and burns away magic. To try and counter the blast was madness, like trying to stop a runaway car with peashooter. The difference in power, the difference in magnitude, it is undeniable.
But if the still air can be roused to a tempest, then so too could this flame be kindled to a raging inferno.
From the spark it grows, a roaring conflagration burning a deep red as it rages. It consumes the blast, it consumes the shrapnel, it consumes itself. In the end, there is nothing but flames, flames and a spear lancing through them.
The munificent paladin staggers backwards as the spear crashes against her side, a brief pause opening in her wild sprays as she rights herself, Noriko herself taking the time to disengage. Light rises from the point of impact, and girl begins to heal. Looks like it'll take something a bit harder to take her out of commission.
The courier rushes forth, magus blasting into the air and landing in his arms as he speeds forwards along his aerial path, Yuki and her black arrow in hot pursuit. Still, there's a coupla issues. Firstly, the arrow's fast, but it's no faster than Yuki, in fact it seems to move at the exact same pace meaning it's less an attack and more just a one woman pincer manuever. Secondly, it can't fly, it's restricted to the ground, and the courier is in the air. And lastly, he is simply faster, if only because of his boost. Still, he won't reach the girl in time. He might be fast, but the black tide had a headstart, and now they leap up, a tidal wave seeking to crush her.
"<Ruben! The armor!>"
There's a blast, smoke and debris rising from her position. The audacious courier darts out dragging the the magus and the pugilist behind him by their collars. He starts moving for the paladin but-
"<Take Ruben and Gwen. Run.>"
"<Are you insane? You won't last a minute against those monsters.>" He pauses wincing awkwardly before glancing at Yuki. "<No offence by the way, but you guys are crazy strong. Please don't mark me down for that.>"
"<A minute's a good enough head start.>"
"<And you? You won't escape.>"
"<No, I suppose I won't. I'm not much use anyway; any good hit and we're done for.>"
"<Ah- wha- No! We're not leaving you behind! If anything I should stay! I screwed up!>"
"<You won't last. Please, I'm begging you, run.>"
With resignation she gets back into stance, gun barrel tracing along with Noriko's movements.
"<And er, Gwen, win this one for us please.>"
Ruben tosses her two spellcircles and gets to work on casting a third on her. The courier accelerates again, moving to disengage. Gwen can only watch helplessly as she's dragged away.
Steeling herself, the munificent paladin opens fire once more determination in her eyes, and wisps of light leaking from the gaps in her plating.
"<I am Nadiye Esposito, Paladin-in-training and student of Kingshaven Military Academy. This will be my last stand!>"
The first spell circle begins to explode above her, threatening to scatter cluster explosives around her position, gritted teeth betraying the pain now eating away at her.
So what she's planning, a self-empowerment technique like Minato's dai-henshin. It'll burn away at her, eating away at her more and more. She's on borrowed time now, but if she took a good hit it'd all be over anyway. Apparently anyway? It's doubtful she'd die, but it's doubtful they're expecting any fatalities at all, the courier spoke of this like it's some kind of exam?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on May 25, 2019, 01:17:09 am
Post by: Empiricist on May 25, 2019, 02:15:46 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
An unearthly aura envelops the girl as her rifle turns to light. Its silhouette alters as two pieces split off from the mass and attach to her. The rifle has traded its complex mechanisms for a sleeker more elegant construction, while a pair of triangular speaked-lined have attached to the girl. You hear that disembodied voice again, now reverberating with a hint of feedback.
"<Wavelength Identified as - Execution Type. Commencing amplification.>"
| [Now Playing: | King Nothing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBbOHohwR8) | ] |
A dull riff resounds from the speakers as a sphere of twisted light expands outwards, catching Sakurako as she dives to disengage, trapping her within a snowglobe of stained glass. Rose petals fall freely within while hues and colors seem shifted. Everything seems slower. The girl because she's no longer dashing, Sakurako because well, it's as if she's moving through treacle. Whatever speed advantage she had has been practically leveled with her movements now only faster by a sliver. Though even in that span of time, her arm has already regenerated.
With movements measured and deliberate, the girl loads another cartridge into her weapon, the spike retracting as it lets loose a burst of anti-material rounds towards Sakurako as she advances, aiming to close the gap.
You hear a voice and turn to find yourself standing face to face with a lady with bat-like wings dressed in what appears to be a mix of a smart casual dress and tactical armor "<Guessing you know her?>".
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 25, 2019, 07:12:04 am
There, he took out a phone, and began to search for locations where he might buy some combat useful items, and headed over, building up a list all the while in his head.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on May 25, 2019, 11:02:13 am
But Sakurako was anything but normal.
Excel Clock Up.
an explosive, world-melting wave of euphoria, and everything was very clear. She wanted to finish it? Well then, let's finish it!
Sakurako charges, unleashing a flurry of blows from all 12 striking points on her body from both conventional martial arts and keijo training. She didn't want to find out what that form could do, and would rather keep her enemy on the defensive... with a field like that, she wouldn't be surprised if it was heavily focused on offense, since its aura would render most enemies unable to fight to begin with.
Post by: Empiricist on May 27, 2019, 06:29:33 am
Aight first stop is an adventurer's supply store not too far by rail most of what you need you can get there, which is to say everything conventional. Place is located in the middle of a pop up market place, one with an awful lotta people and a matching amount of proportion mostly focusing on some little red riding hood knockoff trying to gun down what appears to be a keijo practitioner with wings of blood. Also, Faith's there.
Post by: Strider03 on May 27, 2019, 06:45:43 am
In the store, Shef began collecting items of use. He'd search for all of the following, even if it seemed unlikely that such a place would stock a number of the items. Smoke grenades, flashbangs, steel cable, trackers of his own, napalm,, strong glue, and some more drones of the type he'd picked up on the mansion assault.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on May 28, 2019, 02:10:55 pm
Well, at least it was better than dealing with the rest of the family.
Minato cracks his knuckles. He could freak out later. Enemies now.
Tsukasa would have a field day seeing him in this.
Three Alterations to turn the 1 into a 4. Burn one Resolve. Use two stockpiled weapons to propel Minato out of range of the lunge, sacrifice another weapon to block the spear and finally take out 07 if possible with Gandiva while they recover from the lunge.
[
Post by: Twinwolf on May 28, 2019, 06:13:47 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 28, 2019, 09:46:30 pm
Smoke, flash, incendiary, check, check, and check. Question is what kinds? You can get them seperate or any combination of them together be it as rumbling thundercloud that obscure and disorient or white phosphorus' big brother.
Cables, trackers, drones, and industrial grade adhesive you also find. Cables and trackers are easy enough, adhesive, depends on how easy you want it to dry, you got your standard superglue all the way up to some kinda ritual dried cement. Trackers you gotta choose whether they're physical or curse-like, covert or ballistic, and whether you want anything like a targeting uplinks, remote detonation, and whathaveyous. Man, you're glad the girl had physical, a curse-based tracker you mightn't have even noticed.
Minato
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Enemies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoHGZFyMCHU) | ] |
You're drawing your bow as 07 and 08 come crashing down. Twin explosions blast you backwards sparks flying as you skid backwards taking aim. A spear crashes past, blown off course by another sacrifice. You take the shot.
An arrow of silver flame lashes out, aimed and aiming right for the gaps in 07's joints. Still recovering from their explosives slam, they haven't the time to dodge and a severed arm falls to the floor.
Unit 07 is defeated.
Unit 08 conjures another spear and hurls it at you, as does Unit 10. 06 now standing once more dives for its spear, conjuring a second one in mid air and hurling it at you, intending to do the same with the other spear when they reach it. Four spears, stagger fired, each followed by its wielder aiming for a hard punch, that is unless you have something to say about it. 05 waits in the wings, aiming to slam the ladder into you at the first sign of weakness.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 28, 2019, 09:58:11 pm
Adhesive, he needed something that'd suffice to hold objects firmly to a wall or ceiling if he so desired. As he passed by, Shef wondered about the possibility of gluing someone to the floor. It seemed cartoonish, but would it be possible? Most likely they could just remove their footwear and move on. On a whim, Shef checked whether the ritual cement had anything that might bypass that downside. Perhaps an adhesive that permeated the rubber of shoes and secured from there
Regarding the trackers, he poked around a bit with the labels, trying to determine the ease of use of the curse based tracking. If it couldn't be applied quickly, he'd have some issues utilizing it.
Post by: Empiricist on May 29, 2019, 06:11:22 am
Adhesives, no. Binding units, maybe. Adhesives hold things together, binding units hold enemies in place. Big difference. Quick dry superglue should handle your general adhesive needs, you'll need a binding unit to keep a foe in place.
Trackers, well curses depend on the magic resistance of your foe and how likely they are to notice and dispel it. Easier to apply ones also tend to wear off quicker.
Sakurako
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | King Nothing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBbOHohwR8) | ] |
Marta's done something. You don't know the full extent of it. Don't wanna find out either. Time to finish this. Coloru and euphoria brigthen your world, the treacle-like air thinning as you charge forwards, closing in on your foe.
BANG!
That, that was your leg.
Your charge turns to a tumble, a real fast tumble, a tumble that turns into a leg sweep, a leg sweep that sets up a rising butt strike. The geometry of the attack is awkward, limited, with your missing leg you haven't the chance to snake around Alfbern's guard, having little choice but to plow straight through and slamming him into her. Enough to send her tumbling backwards. Not enough to draw blood. You're real close though.
...Your leg isn't back. Normally it'd be half back by now. You're regenerating sure but... it's slower, much slower than usual. It's the field, this Execution Wavelength of hers. It slows everything, not just movement, regeneration too. How troublesome. Fine, you'll have to crawl, good thing you're regaining the speed advantage then.
Marta staggers upright, leaning heavily on Alfbern for support. She's panting and winded, probably not much of a threat at this rate. Alfbern seems to recognize this, his body reverting to his human form, that of a young victorian gentleman dressed in burnt clothes that sport a few more spikey belts than regular. He's not the most accurate guy, you're not too worried about him. The things rising up through the ground, through the pair, through the nearby civilians? The things that resembles a metallic centipedes with almost human eyes dotting the engine-like segments of their body and fingerbone-like blades for legs? The things that resemble flaming beartraps leaping through Marta? The things that descend before you, resembling webs of flesh sculpted into vague approximations of spiders with spark spears for tongues? Those, those might be a problem.
Marta and Alfbern aren't doing much, but the centipedes are currently crawling through them as if they aren't even there. The beartraps are leap through them and towards you. The spiders are sorta just getting in your way.
Blasting through them and giving the pair a good few punches? Not too hard. Blasting through them without losing another limb in the process and throwing the fight? That's a bit harder.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Faith
You, you don't see any of the weird metal album extras. Only thing you notice is that you feel something hanging around Sakurako, something that exploded forth from the bullet that struck her, a curse of some sort reverberating away inside her body.
Post by: Strider03 on May 29, 2019, 07:02:40 am
Curse based ballistic trackers, and perhaps two standard physical ones. With that, he'd have all he needed from this store, and would head out.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on May 29, 2019, 09:55:58 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 30, 2019, 02:35:03 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | King Nothing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBbOHohwR8) | ] |
Seeing the freakshow bearing down upon you, you decide to go take this one the skies and GTFO, launching into the air upon a cyclonic gale. You're fast approaching the edge of the boundary of Marta's field when it runs out, the wind and your head start.
Marta staggers uprights aiming the re-weaponized Alfbern at you. She's tracking you, biding her time until she sees an opening, an opening from what you ask? Why the opening from the giant worm that's appeared behind you, it's larger than a snake with a drill-like head split open into a gaping maw, its body feathered black and reverberating as it screeches at you with a killer guitar solo from its jaws.
Also a shower of bone asteroids shaped vaguely like human skulls swoops down at an arc, aiming to cut off any attempts to dive down.
Make no mistake, if you don't blow another infusion, you're screwed. But if you can escape, if you can just escape, your foes are gonna be shit outta luck.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on May 30, 2019, 04:50:58 pm
Clock Up 5
World Line:
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 31, 2019, 10:49:15 pm
That wasn't the end of it, of course. Noriko was, technically speaking, unarmed, but far from harmless, and now she had a new trick to practice. The girl wanted to fill herself up with magical energy? That was just fine. Noriko swept a hand at her, and another burst of reddened flames rushed at her, unnatural fire carried on magical wind to strike her, set her alight with the energy she was already burning herself to use.
Agneyastra.
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2019, 08:19:13 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | King Nothing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBbOHohwR8) | ] |
You jab yourself in the stomach and press the plunger down rocketing forwards across the barrier, your missing limbs rapidly regenerating as you do so. Wait limbs?
...Fuck, she blew off your arm.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Yuki and Noriko
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | 完全感覚Dreamer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGbxsiBZGPI) | ] |
Noriko's spear pierces the circle in midair, shattering it. That's one bomb out of the equation. The other one meanwhile rains a shower of bomblets down around the girl, an explosive screen aiming to stall it seems. Noriko readies her a spear and another spell-eating flame, waiting for the explosions to subside, no need to waste it on something so transient. Yuki too stands at the ready waiting for her chance as Noriko strafes around her quarry dodging ghostly munitions, and as they wait a spear and a black arrow begin closing down on those trying to flee.
The arrow is stuck on the floor, unable to reach the courier above. The spear has no such problems slashing, leaping thrusting at Ruben whilst his compatriot tries his damnedest to dodge. Guy's fast, but Noriko's accurate and as the spear rushes towards Ruben's chest, the courier has little choice but to dive in front, reactive armor blasting away the spear, and blasting the trio off their track, th black arrow leaping off the ground to meet them.
Back around Nadiye, something is clearly wrong - the explosions, they're not subsiding they just don't fucking stop, which is a bit of an issue if most your offensive options are liable to getting blasted away. But shit gets worse because well, the air just fills with bullets now. Not like a figure of speech or anything, ghostly bullets just fucking appear in the air. It is as if every bullet Nadiye has just fired has returned as a wild fanning fussilade. No, that is what it is, or close enough to it - along the path of every bullet she had just fired, several more have appeared, each placed exactly along the trajectory. The result, is well, it's gonna be a bitch to dodge.
Oh as for the three chucklefucks, it's Gwen that takes the lead this time, conjuring a much larger hexagonal shield and ramming it against the arrow, four black angular tails beginning to sprout from her as she kinda just screams in exertion like every other anime protagonist ever.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 01, 2019, 09:09:55 pm
Oh hey, it's a pretty waif. cute.
"You're cute~"
She'd apparently completely forgotten about the duel in the sudden rush of insanity and was now completely focused on the figure with their face currently sandwiched between her modest chest with only the thin swimsuit between them. oh hey. Arm's gone. Better fix that. Goosh. There, temporary arm! and probably normal arm in a second. That's nice.
"What brings you here, cutie~?"
Post by: Strider03 on June 01, 2019, 09:38:06 pm
That was his plan, up until he caught a blur of motion from the fight out of the corner of his eye, and was promptly slammed into by a schoolgirl, swimsuit-clad and coated in blood. A combatant from the fight that had been going on, she'd likely spotted him from there. Pulling the same collision ploy twice would be useless, so she was either associated with the baghead guy, or actively attacking. Either way? He wasn't just let himself be walked all over like last time. Immediately after the impact, while the girl said something, he conjured a portal, dropping both himself and the assailant into a nearby alleyway.
She said something again? Cute? Oh dear god, it had better not be another one. Fearing each of the many possibilities that this assault could entail, Shef attempted to fling her off, before pulling his pistol, and opening fire.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 01, 2019, 09:47:56 pm
Immediately, her arms move to snake around their neck, clinging closer, one leg wrapping around their waist with all the strength she can muster.
"oooh, taking me somewhere private right away, huh? I like the way you think~"
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2019, 09:51:07 pm
Goddamn this girl's fast, you catch her by surprise with a hand around her throat, but she quickly grabs in an embrace, dooming your throw to end with you topping over ontop of her instead.
The commotion you two are making could be bad...
Post by: Strider03 on June 01, 2019, 10:01:40 pm
He ejected a bullet from the chamber of his gun, trying to aim and fire would be a struggle in this situation. Instead, he pressed it against the girls' stomach with his right hand, layering on the enchantments to the bullet as quickly as possible. The layered detonations, and then the membrane separating each one, over and over. Normally he'd want more, normally he'd prepare it in the magazine. But for now he did what he could, trying to get as many layers in before the assailant questioned why he was holding a hand to her stomach. Detonate, and take advantage of the blast, to portal away and try to close off the portal before the assailant can follow.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 01, 2019, 10:18:36 pm
Also, thanks to the blur of id-overdriving supercocaine, she somehow managed to associate detonating a *fucking grenade* as just extreme kinkiness owing to the fact that to be honest at this point the rush of cocaine from her healing factor felt reaaaaaaally good.
well. At least for now.
or she'd get ragdolled and lose her beloved since she didn't really have any way of tracking them.
Either/or really.
Post by: Empiricist on June 01, 2019, 10:26:02 pm
The airbag round gets her off alright, it gets her off you sans arms, though she doesn't seem to even notice, save for replacing them with limbs of blood... You made some distance now, but she's regenerating rapidly, and real damn fast.
Post by: Strider03 on June 01, 2019, 10:30:33 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 01, 2019, 10:39:28 pm
Then it snaps shut again, and as she charges at him, a mist of blood surrounds her, a moment later taking the shape of a suit of featureless crimson armor with oversized claws. She didn't seem to be bothering to dodge overmuch, just trying to charge straight through the fire, letting it wound her wherever it might and powering through it with whatever she needed to pay. Not enough mind left for tactics, really.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 02, 2019, 04:00:29 am
[[
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 06:52:43 am
Well, the girl's doing something but she's also stationary, so you put a manip round right into her chest. Hmm, so she's armored now, slower, tougher, not tough enough. You blow out both kneecaps as she approaches, slows her but they regenerate in short order. May wanna start making use of that manip round, slowed she might be, but she's still real damn fast and soon enough she'll be going for your throat.
Minato
Each spear is answered by an explosion, a detonating weapon launching you back further and further, another arrow loosing into your foes, the fire bolt visibly curving to strike them down. They do not cease in their pursuit, but you do not cease either. For once, you are no longer holding your ground, you are fleeing, you are firing back, and because of that, you are winning. Dayum, you could get used to this, is this what being Shef's like, just outranging your foes and gunning them down? It's not really on-brand for you but it seems pretty darn effective. The final arrow you loose is into the ceiling, blasting the scroll free into your hands. In it you find seven healing potions, you'll be needing two to heal your wounds, so you've basically got five. All the scroll says is to heal up and meet the master deeper inside.
The walk, it's the same as the one that took you in here, just with a different start and a different end, you find yourself on standing in the center of the lotus beneath the open sky, the boy standing opposite you. He regards your new appearance with all the expressiveness of a brick wall.
"I see that you are victorious, for what little victory matters here. Are you prepared for the next exercise?"
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 07:27:23 am
"Stop. You're exhausted, you need to rest."
The imperative was to halt her assault and to sleep--perchance to dream?--forcing a wave of fatigue and calm over the assailant. An impetus to rest, right there, in the middle of this back alley. Shef had never done this before, but he'd told Shou he wanted this as a powerful tool for his arsenal, not a hidden blade to never be used. This was a risk he had to take.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 02, 2019, 08:58:31 am
".....do you mind explaining to me why I'm in a dress?"
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 01:14:01 pm
"I was under the impression that you have reached the next stage of your maid fetish, yet your words imply you had no say in this matter?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 02, 2019, 01:18:02 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 03:29:48 pm
Should it not, she'd pause after being held back by the assault, the device on her waist opening once more, this time with the girl inserting a Grey-green injector into the slot that had held the other vial before, closing it up again. A moment later, a mist in the color of the vial was emitted from the device, quickly coating the armor, transmuting it into something closer to crystal than it's prior material. She leans forward, settling into a runner's stance, except for one arm bent back as if for a straight punch, the gauntlet on her hand transforming to feature what appears to be something like a spike of crystal blood, likely designed to be pneumatically driven forward on impact to increase force. Power seems to explode out of the mechanism, filling her body before concentrating in that fist before she explodes forward, launching a wild forward straight powered by every ounce of acceleration she had.
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 05:37:46 pm
This won't be a hidden blade, but even a sword at your hip will need sharpening, refining. The tiredness doesn't seem to hold, what does hold however is fear, intimidation. Your Requiem attacks both the body and the mind, the body with compulsion, the mind with fear, and it just so happen your foe, running on pure instincts, is while refusing to feel tired is still quite intimidated by the effect regardless.
Minato
"I have no idea then."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 02, 2019, 06:43:06 pm
"Er... a little? I'm not in a group with her or anything but I've kinda had to help her a couple of times when she got caught up in Awakened trouble. But, erh, she IS Awakened now, so."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 06:45:40 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 06:57:40 pm
"Calm down, and tell me who sent you, why you attacked."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 07:03:41 pm
"Well, I lost the duel, and then got launched over to you, and you were super cute so obviously I tried to seduce you, and you even brought me into this lovely non-public place, but then you shot me so now I'm not sure whether you're actually my darling or an assassin who's replaced him and needs to have an emergency re-assignment as alleyway wallpaint."
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 07:26:25 pm
"<You're both from Earth right? Are you here for the festival?>"
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 07:30:34 pm
"What? You're gonna have to come up with something better than that. I'll ask you again, who sent you?" He shot another manipulator, compounded with impulses to tell the truth.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 07:32:50 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on June 02, 2019, 07:40:48 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 07:43:12 pm
"Better. Keep going. What were your instructions? Do the names Shou or Ren ring any bells? What's my name?" The gamble here was that she'd answer honestly. However, given that the command had been enough to force her to stop her attack and speak, it seemed a reasonable guess here.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 07:45:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 07:47:57 pm
"<Oh, will you be staying for long? What kinda training are you doing here?>"
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 07:58:16 pm
"Care to elaborate on the kidnapping and drugging too?"
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on June 02, 2019, 07:59:47 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 08:14:53 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 02, 2019, 08:24:44 pm
Vayvayastra, using the last 6 in my line
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 08:32:27 pm
Well, given that he was trusting the veracity of her answers, Shef decided to lower the illusion. Better to dispel any false conceptions that she might have about him now before she tried to. . . seduce (really, was that seduction?) the illusion she found cute again. And of course, he could check whether she knew his real appearance, not an impossibility of Yoake was her tutor. A few commands in the HUD and the illusion dropped, leaving Shef's true form exposed. "Again, do you know who I am?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 08:49:09 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 09:02:54 pm
"Please stop that Miss Matsumoto. Anyway yes, that's me." There was no point in denying it, the evidence was correct, and Sakurako could always simply ask Yoake for a picture of him when she got back. He wasn't sure whether Yoake would do that, whether he requested her not to or what.
"No, you can't touch my hair. Ignoring the minor aspect of 'what the hell why would I let you do that at any time', what if you try to murder me again the moment I let you move? I've got no guarantees that won't happen. Even if there was one, wouldn't really trust it given that you're permanently on a lot of cocaine."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 09:10:57 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 09:39:52 pm
Shef was at a bit a loss here as to what to do. The girl was apparently being driven by a rather large amount of internally produced drugs. Who else would she attack, or seem to attack if she stayed at that level? The manipulators seemed to be working for the time being, but he couldn't stay here all day shooting the girl, he had work to do, a mission.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 09:45:45 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 09:57:50 pm
"Yeah, let's just try to figure out a way to lower those numbers for now, shall we? We'll figure the rest out after that."
Post by: Powder Miner on June 02, 2019, 09:59:13 pm
"Uh... training to get better at Awakened fighting?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 10:01:03 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 10:05:22 pm
"Don't mean do nothing, but attack, and have the attack not land. Would it still let everything out?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 10:06:40 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 10:10:43 pm
"Again, and tell the truth, will you attack me if I let you move?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 10:12:22 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 10:13:50 pm
"<Fighting huh? What kind? I do a bit of it myself. The name's Cynthia by the way.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on June 02, 2019, 10:17:53 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2019, 10:21:13 pm
". . Possibly, depending on how well the overclocking thing works. Can't expect me to just let you follow me around in this state." Assuming no further troubles, Shef will lessen and remove the effects of the manipulator bullets, before opening the necessary set of portals to take Sakurako up into the sky. As he did this, he firmly reassured himself that if this didn't work, he could just compel her into staying still again, and just leave. Right, he could always just do that.
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 10:28:16 pm
A few heads turn your way as you say those words.
"<Oh there's a few, wetworks, monster slaying, military work, dueling...>"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 02, 2019, 10:29:16 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 02, 2019, 10:45:05 pm
The girl launches up and you hear a distant crack before she comes tumbling back down at your feet. The portal depositing her had opened just below the apex so the fall wasn't too hard.
Post by: Powder Miner on June 03, 2019, 02:50:57 am
"<Er... you know... Aramitama fighting. S-so... monster fighting I guess.>"
Post by: Empiricist on June 03, 2019, 02:54:29 am
Yeah that doesn't help get the attention off of you.
"<A bit of column A, a bit of column B. Say, can I buy you a drink or something? There's a nice cafe around here...>
Is she, is she offering you a way out?
Post by: Powder Miner on June 03, 2019, 03:37:25 am
"<E-er, yeah, sure! You can.>"
Post by: Empiricist on June 03, 2019, 03:50:03 am
Amazingly you don't wind up in a bathtub full of ice missing half your organs! Well, not yet anyway. Cynthia leads you away before any of the curious bystanders can challenge you to a fight or start poking you with sticks or however they treat Godslayers around here.
The café's not too far from here, a well-populated establishment meticulously crafted in the image of a generically idyllic family owned business as much as possible, albeit cut with generic fantasy aesthetics and the general convenience afforded by literal magic. You honestly feel kinda out of place here, it's kinda been a while since you've gone to a café where the staff aren't dressed like maids.
Cynthia orders a coffee, Irish, with extra cream.
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 05:55:34 am
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 03, 2019, 07:57:49 am
"I... um... I mean... I was... I'm sorry for... grabbing you, Willems-san, I know there's no real excuse for it and I did... I did all that and there's no reason you should forgive me but I'm very sorry, and I know you're probably really busy with some kind of work and I'm taking you away from that, not to mention that I even attacked you, there really is no excuse...
She looks absolutely apalled with herself, too, apparently she does not approve of her own actions while high as shit.
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 08:58:24 am
"I see. Consider your apology accepted, don't do it again, et cetera." He sidled towards the entrance to the alleyway intending to make his exit, never turning enough that she left his line of sight however. When he reached the exit, Shef hesitated a moment, and then asked cautiously, "You. . . didn't still want to come along, right?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 03, 2019, 09:03:28 am
internally there was some very slight fangirling going on under all the self-loathing, though to be honest it was relatively minor, after all while she was probably one of the few actual fans the group had, Shef wasn't exactly the most well-known of them and she had less fodder for obsession than with the others.
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 09:10:58 am
"Fine, let's try it. Having more help for this mission should be good. Reserving the right to dismiss you at any point though." He beckoned from the entrance to the alleyway.
"Come along then, still got some shopping to do."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 03, 2019, 09:16:41 am
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 09:32:27 am
"Quite certain my cover's already blown for one of the groups. Might help with the other group though. Just so you know, Yuki and Noriko are in their own fights. I'm not to contact them or make them aware that I'm here, but I need to stop my adversary from setting them up for failure in their battles. Can also mess with their adversaries a bit."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 03, 2019, 11:28:36 am
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 11:47:53 am
Getting back to the main points at hand, Shef continued with this mini-briefing. "No direct interference, correct. They still need the training of the battle, our job is just to make sure their chances of winning that battle are better."
"I don't think underwear will be necessary. It's unlikely that it'd be enough to convince someone actively. . . feeling me up, and if they are, my cover's gone already. The clothes are so that when the illusion breaks, and it will, I can swap appearances a bit beneath, make following me a little harder than it might otherwise be."
"Electronics?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 03, 2019, 11:53:57 am
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 12:32:38 pm
"Also if you'll look around, there's plenty of people out buying stuff from the adventuring shops, almost as though there's a big city wide tournament going on involving hundreds of people. Not too worried about that right now." Were the mission a longer one, perhaps the girl would have been right. But for a day? He needed the tricks that would fool people for the minute it took him to set up an attack or foil theirs, not a disguise that would fool someone for longer. It was a balancing act, and the balance here was necessarily tipped towards short term tricks, intel gathering, and running interference.
"Just. . . calm down, follow along, and. . .please don't cling to me like that." He gave a plastic smile, the illusion transforming it into something perhaps with a bit less irritation leaking through. It wasn't comfortable, she couldn't be more than eighteen or nineteen, possibly younger, and Shef was quickly beginning to regret his choice in bringing her along. Was a field asset really worth this?
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 03, 2019, 03:06:39 pm
And suddenly the act was gone, as quickly as it'd started. She does notice that she's covered in blood and try to get rid of it, did her best to make the wings look inconspicuous if she couldn't get rid of them, and generally looks a lot less like she's doing things and more like she's just looking at them in passing while she pays attention to their surroundings.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 03, 2019, 05:52:15 pm
Shef and SakurakoMinato just stares at them with an absolutely deadpan expression.
This won't be a hidden blade, but even a sword at your hip will need sharpening, refining. The tiredness doesn't seem to hold, what does hold however is fear, intimidation. Your Requiem attacks both the body and the mind, the body with compulsion, the mind with fear, and it just so happen your foe, running on pure instincts, is while refusing to feel tired is still quite intimidated by the effect regardless.
Minato
"I have no idea then."
He didn't believe him for one second, but then again, maybe this was all part of the drill. Or maybe it wasn't. If it wasn't, Tsukasa was definitely going to get an earful from him later.
"....okay then. So.....I assume THAT first fight was just the warm-up."
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 06:12:13 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 03, 2019, 06:55:49 pm
"That is correct. The real battle begins here. Prepare yourself Minato Kumon."
The youthful ecclesiarch produces a staff topped with a crystal sphere, swinging it out to his left as it glows a vibrant purple. You're not sure what he's casting, but you've a feeling you don't wanna get too close right now.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef and Sakurako
You two duck over into a nearby clothing store and Jesus fucking Christ, what is this shit? Look, you guys have seen the weird and varied attire of what some of the people around here wear, but it hasn't quite clicked until now that it means that they must've brought that shit from somewhere, well now it's clicked, clicked like a gun coming off its safety, a gun pointed at your head, horrific anime fashion choices bristling down the barrel. Ignoring the frightfully expansive selection of belts, hair decorations, and other assorted accessories, and the outfits that frankly look more like fetishwear than anything else, you two come across some more normal looking clothes and also a selection of headgear including helmets, shadowy hoods, and paper bags.
Post by: Strider03 on June 03, 2019, 08:35:22 pm
With just a bit of showiness, Shef pulled an article of clothing off the racks to hand to her. She'd wanted them to appear like two friends shopping for clothes, right? It didn't hurt, as long as it didn't take too much time.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 03, 2019, 11:42:16 pm
Post by: Strider03 on June 04, 2019, 07:08:44 am
"You also. . .want to clean up real quick?" He muttered, gesturing vaguely towards the somewhat reduced blood stains.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 04, 2019, 11:43:01 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 04, 2019, 12:16:35 pm
[[6] 4 4 2 4 4 [5] 1 6 3]
Post by: Strider03 on June 04, 2019, 01:02:26 pm
"Good?"
Shef plotted out a route back to where he'd last seen Noriko and Yuki, hopefully finding a munitions store along the way. He'd of course check on the local gossip to make certain they hadn't relocated much, and for any other useful info.
Post by: Empiricist on June 04, 2019, 04:22:11 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You summon your weapons and brace for what's to come...
コンバット•ス-
Right so this white truck just fucking crashes through the wall like the goddamn kool-aid man and just absolutely creams the guy before ramming them into the wall opposite, crumpling violently on impact.
So, fifteen plus tons of truck going at well over a hundred k's hitting a small child and crushing him against a wall. Do you have any idea what that does to the human body? Here's a hint - it's like artillery on cake, and that's before it catches fire and explodes.
Smoke and fire, bloodstains and debris, you could've sworn you saw some bone mixed in there. Fragments of bone anyways. Fuck an open casket, this guy'll be lucky if they can even scrape enough of him together to fill a tin can.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 04, 2019, 07:00:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 05, 2019, 02:54:04 am
Well, you find a boutique munitions store. They sell a variety of magical munitions. Examples include: homing, exploding, ricocheting, being a laser, being a collection of small woodland creatures, being a collection of large woodland creature, being a collection of small woodland creatures voltron'ing together as a larger woodland creature that happens to also home in, ricochet, and explode into binding chains covered in laser spiders powered by the Third Amendment to the Real United States Constitution (this one's still the same though). You know because those munitions are currently screeching through the air as a few of the customers are actively engaging in a firefight in its aisles using the ammunition, with a few helpful displays on the store keeping track of each person's current tab.
Sakurako
Well, for starters, it turns out you weren't actually using combat stims, those work a bit differently. No, what you had were infusion units, which are typically applied to weapons, projectiles, familiars, and the like. Just in your case you were fucking mainlining that shit. Turning them into bullets, well you could infuse your blood with some and try spraying them down like a one-woman bukkake line of elemental devastation, but by that point you could probably just run up and punch them or pack a melee weapon extend your reach and act as a force multiplier. So what do you wanna do? Keep on using infusers? Take combat stims? Blow the money on blackjack and hookers instead?
Post by: Strider03 on June 05, 2019, 09:54:33 am
In those aisles, restricted by the battle going on, Shef passed a number of unique, but rather niche armaments. Not what he needed. For now, the man searched for something that'd cause lasting troubles to an opponent even in combat merely to first blood. This aisle seemed good for that plenty of lasting effects, tear gas and pepper spray bullets, glue rounds, and more. One in particular he noticed, initially dismissing it as unnecessary. But, he needed a lasting effect, something to deplete an enemies resources, and after an internal struggle, Shef decided to purchase the rounds. He didn't have to actually use them if he began to regret this later, right?
Post by: Twinwolf on June 06, 2019, 06:02:52 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 06, 2019, 09:14:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 07, 2019, 04:09:54 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | 完全感覚Dreamer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGbxsiBZGPI) | ] |
Noriko, you rush upwards, the very air quite literally filling with bullets around you. You speak your incantation and cast your spell, channel your magic and direct your winds. A blade of air lances forward, hammer and chisel as one. Pierce the barrier and that bitch will be aflame, fail and there'll be nothing to her from gunning you down before you land. it's quite the gamble, and you're damn sure you'll win it.
The blade tears through the screen forcing the explosions apart, but as soon as they part, new explosions roar out to fill the void. The barrier holds, but your blade has penetrated, time to improvise. You turn the blade towards her chest, and splay it open, the stab turning into a shove, a shove that forces her right into her own barrier. The reactive armor goes off, its explosion counteracting that screen and blasting her back forwards, it's spared her the first hit but now the knockback hurls her face first towards the other side of the blast screen. There's no choice but to drop it.
Screen goes down, she stagger out, you're waiting, flame in hand. You grab her, her body bursting into flames as your counterspell turns all that magic coursing through her into a roaring inferno. Turning you throw the burning girl forwards off-balance before hurling your spear through her spine.
She collapses as the flames begin to die, impaled upon your spear.
"<Oww! Did'ya have to be so rough Miss Instructor?>"
Not sure what she's saying, but you're pretty sure it's not what you're expecting. You expected more screaming, maybe some cursing, definitely not pouting though. Her presence has changed completely too, and to be honest you kinda preferred it when she had that almost dignified air about her rather than well... this. She kinda just stares expectantly at you as if waiting for you to remove the spear.
You note that her bracelet is now flashing red.
Yuki, you recall your vector and teleport behind Gwen chainsaw at the ready. Course since she was rushing forward towards the vector when you recalled it, it means she was at the front of their little formation, meaning there's two people behind her, two people who you suspect have a vested interest in making sure she remains tragically unchainsawed.
The audacious courier reacts in an instant, grabbing another blast spell from the mage, thrusting it towards you as spirit energy floods the crackling circle. It splits two. He was fast, real fast. If you swung your chainsaw it'd have been a coin toss. Maybe you'd have hit first, maybe he'd have, but you didn't use your chainsaw. No, gleaming in your offhand is Noriko's other spear. It had been chasing the trio and when you teleported above them that was also when Noriko cast her spell and the spear went limp, and if she wasn't using it... then why not borrow it for a bit? A spear's got more reach than a chainsaw after all... though now that their counter has been countered...
The courier skids and tumbles to a halt, their having body gouged a shallow trench in the ground. He kinda just moans as his bracelet turns red, the deep wound across his chest beginning to heal as a geometric barrier surrounds him. He flops over into a sitting position, guessing he's out then.
Still he did spare the magus, managed to take the hit for both of them, though the magus isn't your problem right now. Gwen is. You made two strikes, the first caught the courier in the chest, the second Gwen caught in her hands.
Well maybe not her hands, Gwen, might not be home right now.
Her eyes are dead, empty, lifeless. Her grip on your Regalia tightens as the air stills with killing intent. You're, not fighting Gwen right now, it's someone else, something else in control now.
| [Now Playing: | Voices (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIyYIt4a4pw) | ] |
A palpable wave of energy explodes from the girl hurling you and mage backwards as she begins to transform.
Black lines trace across her face and when they meet, her head splits open along them. Inside, all you see is darkness, darkness and two slits of light glaring back. Her body seems to turn itself inside out as the darkness roars out and subsumes her. Before you is no longer a girl but a beast, a monstrous black jackal with four angular tails.
It lunges for your throat, be it with sharp teeth or deathly claws it cares not. And it lunges it seems to grow, larger and larger, as the world around it shifts, the ground beneath its feet, the air around its body chaotically transmuting. It wreathed in azothine solvent and degenerate matter, liquid adamant and quark-gluon plasma, countless substances some magical, some mundane, transmuting into one another, a shifting pestilent phantasmagoric aura of destruction.
"<Oh fuck.>"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Empiricist on June 09, 2019, 07:33:42 am
You run into her at the check out. Half mage half cowboy with a pink hair and a perfect hourglass figure. Stella. Magus, nekomata, and Yoake's new girlfriend. Guess she's here too. On one hand she could be a useful asset, a familiar face, and a possible resource to boost - her match with Yoake was a close one, from what you gather from Satoshi she was no slouch, would've had it too had she not stopped to gobble up that eye candy, assailing her with a variety of exotic munitions and some fairly impressive gunslinging. On the other hand, she is Yoake's girlfriend, which doesn't really bode well for really just the concept of sanity in general. She's walking away now, in a few minutes she'll have vanished, your opportunity gone forever. What will you do?
Sakurako
Infusers get! Oh hey, Faith's at that cafe over there! You gonna go over and say hi?
((Powder will become active again soon.))
Post by: Strider03 on June 09, 2019, 07:50:26 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 09, 2019, 08:36:53 am
She turns around and there's a blinding flash of golden light from her eyes. Next thing you know you're pinned against a wall with her bust pressed against your face, readied to smother you.
"Oh hey! You're Shef aren't you?"
...You know, you should've seen this coming.
Post by: Strider03 on June 09, 2019, 08:45:39 am
If he managed to pull away, he'd answer. "Answer me and I'll answer you." It was Stella certainly, and she obviously knew it was him, but it was a matter of principle.
Post by: Empiricist on June 09, 2019, 09:43:33 am
"Who else?"
She grins wide, a bit too wide for your liking
"But wow! To think I'd meet you here, and disguised as a cute girl no less! You're all business all the time right? Yoake told me alllll about you! Who are we shooting? Is it Hitler again?"
Post by: Strider03 on June 09, 2019, 01:03:43 pm
"And what brings you here?"
Post by: Empiricist on June 09, 2019, 07:52:54 pm
"The festival of course!"
She gestures broadly around herself.
Post by: Strider03 on June 09, 2019, 09:37:07 pm
If the answer was in the affirmative, Shef would continue to explain what he'd worked on so far with Ren regarding a primitive knockback round, and his first attempted use of it against Sakurako, the latter part in minimal detail of course.
Post by: Empiricist on June 10, 2019, 06:57:35 am
"Sure!"
You soon find yourself getting practically dragged out of the store and over to a nearby fountain. Well, they call it a fountain, but really it's just an artificial lake running cross the town with beaches on both sides formed out of room temperature snow and people sparring atop lilipads that have a disturbing resemblance to Keijo arenas.
Soon enough you find yourself standing on one such arena Stella standing opposite you. Learn by sparring, that's the idea she pitched. She drops three clips on the ground and kicks them over to you.
Post by: Strider03 on June 10, 2019, 07:23:21 am
"These?" He questioned as he picked up the clips, attempting to inconspicuously begin caching portals for the battle.
Post by: Empiricist on June 10, 2019, 07:32:44 am
Okay sure, pick up the clips, load them and let's just prep a portal just-
バン!
There's a hellish flash of gold and you stagger backwards from an impact, something very soft is pressed against your face though you don't think it's Stella's bust this time. Damn it, did she notice? No matter, you got no idea where she is with the thing covering your eyes and your position ain't good, need to act now, and fast!
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 10, 2019, 07:42:35 am
Additionally, if he managed to get up into the air, he'd attempt to ready one of his flash bangs for use, maybe next time she tried that he'd have something in response? He'd need to figure out the tells and the method though before he could figure ouot any method of countering it.
Room to breathe into the air, attempt to clear vision, prepare flashbang for easy use later.
[6] 6 1 5 4 2 6 5 5 [4]
Post by: Empiricist on June 10, 2019, 08:52:47 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You portal up into the air, throwing off the obstruction from your face. Stella's moved up to the center of the arena down, twin spell circuits in her hands, Symmetry Breakers, customs, made them herself. Typically loaded with c-fractional munitions that deal catastrophic damage to a very small cross-section; precision weapons well suited for anti-armor applications, if you can aim them well enough that is. Today, they appear to be loaded with pillows. A six-chambered circle cycles out an empty vial.
"Try and knock me off! I'll try the same. And no outside items!"
Stella strikes a dramatic pose and just, kinda stands there, readying to dodge rather than really apply any further pressure.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 10, 2019, 09:08:57 am
Pillow round straight down toward Stella, gather intel.
6 1 5 4 2 6 5 5 4 2
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 10, 2019, 10:37:04 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 11, 2019, 06:23:47 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Stella sidesteps, letting your shot glance off her side. It doesn't help that the shot in question was a speeding pillow. Looks like she can dodge at least. She begins to conjure two vials, loading them into one of her circuits
"Now, show me what you've got!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 11, 2019, 07:26:27 am
Instead, he began to let himself fall, pulling up a minimum number of portals to bleed off speed before he hit the ground. As he landed, Shef fired chaotically across the lilypad, saturation fire to protect his landing.
Bleed off speed a little, land, and saturate with Rapid Fire [4]
[1+2] 5 4 2 6 5 5 [4] 2 6
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 12, 2019, 05:59:33 am
Minato steps back from the truck, cautious and wary. He had a sneaking suspicion that his opponent wasn't quite as dead as he seemed; maybe in the normal, mundane world, a truck hitting you that quick might kill you. But this was the supernatural world, and he'd seen people take worse hits and walk it off. Alternatively, if his trainer was actually dead from a truck hitting him at enough speed to pulverise elephants, Minato now had a different, worse problem; someone had broken into Aethertide, into their resort, and was likely aiming to kill Minato specifically. His gut told him, screamed at him, to run in and attack it at full power, but Minato had learned THAT lesson already; getting too cocky, getting too hasty would get him eating dirt in no time at all.
So either his trainer was about to go red and bust out some serious firepower, or Minato was about to have to fight for his life from someone who'd broken into a place with what he presumed were serious protections against exactly what just happened.
In a dress.
>....well, I'm pretty sure I pissed off SOMEONE up there.<
Step away, continue building up weapons. If an attack comes from the wreckage, deflect with as many weapons as necessary. Summon Rho Aias for some additional protection.
[[4] 4 2 4 4 1 6 [3] 2 1]
Post by: Empiricist on June 12, 2019, 06:46:54 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You open a portal beneath yourself, launching back upwards, and as you reach the apex of your launch, portal right down spraying pillows across the arena. Stella again refuses to fire, focusing on evading and weaving through your chaotic spray, none of the shots landing though she is forced back a bit regardless. She doesn't return fire either, that is, until your handgun empties.
There's another hellish flash of golden light and a pillow rushes towards you, or rather, it's already invading your personal space, its impact imminent. It's aimed right at your face, oriented to hide her movements, not enough to blind you, but enough to create a reaction gap. You can hear a second round go off and you can hear her footsteps as she rushes you down.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
From the burning wreckage, a crystal sphere rises, the same sphere that topped the boy's staff, the glass cracking apart to the revealing shifting core that lies within. It emits a high-pitched ring, sonorous like the that of a singing bowl, and a wave of energy expands out from it like a lone ripple across the surface of a still pond. It's peaceful, calming almost. Well it was anyway. Peaceful and calming the first few times, now it's speeding up though, faster and faster, with a rather disquieting sense of urgency, an urgency that you realize is your own as your instincts cross the gap to conscious thought and you realize what your body already knows - the ripples are painting your location, broadcasting it, where to you don't know, but it's doing it faster and faster, and whatever fresh hell it's calling down, you don't wanna be near it. Move.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 12, 2019, 06:52:26 am
Minato uses as many weapons as necessary to get the hell out of there by exploding them and propelling Minato as far away from the target being painted on him as possible.
[[4] 2 4 4 1 6 2 1 6 2]
Post by: Strider03 on June 12, 2019, 07:06:18 am
Portal away to other side of arena, while removing pillow obstruction and preparing knockback round. Fire at center of mass, don't detonate the round unless it gets extremely close and impacts. No need to reveal it's strength or weakness. Create a portal afterwards, positioned to hopefully deposit her in the water if the bullet gets detonated. Otherwise still portal, just farther away, small, and not doing anything conspicuous.
[5] 4 2 6 5 5 2 6 6 1
Post by: Empiricist on June 12, 2019, 07:47:41 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Oh hell indeed.
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
You blast a forgery, fuck that you blast three of them, hurling yourself backwards and where you had just stood, the world is torn asunder.
Imagine if you would that the world were a person and that you were an insect, crawling along their flesh. Well, someone just shot that person. Thunder beyond thunder, fury beyond reckoning, violence transcending violence itself. The wound opens, a ragged weeping wound that bleeds crackling arcing blood all the colors of magic, a bridge between worlds.
Through it you see what lies beyond, it's, probably not what you're expecting. You see neither burning hellscapes nor metaphysical truths, neither arcane phantasmagorias nor ravenous voids. No, you see a peaceful street in some other realm, citizens walking through the streets, a few more curious ones peering through, you see buildings, typical cozy buildings, a bit more rustic as some Awakened things often are, but still recognizeable, you see bookstores and grocers, banks and taverns, blacksmiths and some kinda adventurer's guild?
The entity smack bang in the middle? The one crossing the worlds? Yeah, they might be a little more threatening. A machine colored a dark armored grey with an angular body reminiscent of a chrysalis and a bulbous head sporting a single large circular "eye". Its body levitates above a magic circle enclosing a lotus flower sigil, its form haloed by dozens of golden arms formed of some condensed energy like some bizarre sci-fi buddha.
"NOW, SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO."
Thousand-Faced Bodhisattva
Back From The Dead
Back From The Dead
There's this high-pitched om noise and then those fists come crashing down, less a flurry of blows more a pinpoint saturation bombing, the machine rushing forwards to crush you as the portal slams shut behind it, the staff's core flying over back into their chasis.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
So you decide to tank the hit, that's a mistake. The followup shot wasn't a pillow, it was beam of concussive energy crashing into the pillow and slamming into your skull. This one was angled up, she must've quickly crouched low for that shot, firing it during a lunge. Through the portal you go, you're unsteady though and you were already falling so you wind up on your back, tossing the pillow off your face before sitting up and readying to counter with a concussive shot of your own, trouble is, there's two pillows flying towards you right now, obstructing your direct shot and there's that hellish glow in her eyes again.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 12, 2019, 08:11:38 am
Portal Shield for the pillows and possibly the glowy eye thing if that requires some vector, then fire some shots through the pillows and around at Stella. Focus on catching the dodge though, she's not going to fall for her own trick. Knockback round mixed in.
[4] 2 [6] 5 5 2 6 6 1 2
Post by: Twinwolf on June 12, 2019, 10:00:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 15, 2019, 09:53:43 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Voices (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIyYIt4a4pw) | ] |
So Noriko jerks her spear back, tearing it out of Nadiye. At least, she tries to. See, a typical spear is has a thin leaf-shaped tip, it's a very stabby weapon, good for poking holes in things. Noriko's meanwhile is less spear, more bizarro ghetto polearm, it's got this broad triangular head, double-edged and razor sharp. This, has a few consequences, for starters it's fairly unwieldy for a normal person, it's got a bit more mass at the front too, and perhaps most importantly in this case, if you impale a motherfucker on it, it's not the easiest to yank out.
So instead of doing some cool move where she just yanks it outta Nadiye in a spray of blood, she instead finds that the Regalia's just kinda caught on her.
"<Ow!>"
So naturally Noriko's next move is to just step on Nadiye, pinning her to the ground and just trying to brute force it.
"<Ow! Ow! Ow! H-hey! Cut that out!>"
Okay fuck this. Noriko just fucking lifts the spear, vanquished foe still impaled upon it and rushes to Yuki's aid.
So while all this was going on Yuki was trying to dodge. Like not teleport away or anything, just do a regular dodge. Yeah, girl doesn't have the best track record with that. The beast just fucking bowls her over, catching her in the throat with its claws and pinning her down as tries to transmute her flesh into an assortment of 100% vegan substitutes that unfortunately don't function as very good substitutes.
Oh hey, Noriko's here! Nadiye too! They play a nice wholesome game of "pin the tail on the donkey", except the donkey in this case is a calamitous beast of destruction, and pin is a spear, and the tail is a screaming flailing girl. Eh, details. Noriko misses the flank and instead just pins Nadiye to the beast's side instead, it's like she wasn't even trying! Unfortunately at this point, Nadiye deciding she'd rather not have her giblets transmuted into not-giblets has scooted further down the spear and is now hugging onto Noriko for dear life, which makes the whole "clothesline Ruben" part of the plan kinda hard to execute.
"<Gwen!, you've gotta wake up! Please, I'm begging you, please->"
It's sometime around this point that Yuki, now sporting a few cuts, scrapes, and singes decides to make her escape. Her escape being to cleave off the beast's arm and roll back into a crouching stance. Huh, that was surprisingly easy.
The beast howls in fury and in the next instant, it's crashing down ontop of Yuki, Ruben clinging desperately to its tail even as his protective spells begins to fail and ablate. An explosive orb of energy grows within its remaining hand. All of you are in the blast radius.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 15, 2019, 10:14:51 am
Minato studies his options mentally. Gandiva wasn't coming to him right now. Gungnir was the nuclear option, but the enemy didn't look near weak enough to be finished off even by its pure power. Minato wasn't too bad at using Durandal, but one sword against a dozen arms wasn't going to do too much, not unless he could get close and cut something down. Too many hands, too many ways to block Minato's attacks, unless he could-
No. Not yet. He needed some time to set that up. It could, if it didn't end the fight, at LEAST do some serious damage, but that was a card he wasn't quite going to play yet.
For now, it was buying time. He'd turn this into a battle of attrition; this enemy was more powerful than Minato, but Minato could play the waiting game, bring him down to his knees, and then play that last card.
"You wanna see me get serious? No problem!"
3 Alterations to set the leftmost 2 to a 5. Activate Gleipnir to entangle the Bodhisattva's hands and arms. Sacrifice two weapons to extend the range, and as many as necessary to keep Minato out of range of the fists. Place Minato at an angle to attack from behind.
[
Post by: Strider03 on June 15, 2019, 10:56:35 am
Portal beneath Stella into the water.
[2+2] 5 5 2 6 6 1 2 2 1
Post by: Empiricist on June 16, 2019, 02:36:20 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
With another forgery you blast yourself out of the way of the machine's charge, casting your chain backwards and letting it wrap around their arms as you go for the flank.
"I SEE. SO THAT IS YOUR ANSWER. INTERESTING. I SHALL PERMIT THIS FOR NOW."
A crimson beam of burning energy explodes out of their eye ricocheting off the very air at chaotic angles, looping backwards to first cut off any attempts to approach further and then crashing down towards you. At this same time, five angular pillars of metal extrude up from the ground around both of you.
This, could be bad. Rho Aias should be able to block it, but it will keep on you on the defensive, plus, the way they say it, it's like they're bound by choice like they could escape at any time. Maybe they're overconfident, maybe. But they literally did just come back from the dead and jump across realms so they've probably go something up their sleeves. You can't get too aggressive now, not like last fight... but if go for risk averse and passive, they'll surely bleed you dry.
Spoiler: Gambits (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
With a quick roll Stella dodges the portal hopping back to her feet. She dismisses her Regalia waving her hands at you.
"Hey hey hey, I don't wanna return fire but I will if I have to!"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 16, 2019, 08:44:11 am
"Fine. Why'd you want to stop?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 16, 2019, 12:35:42 pm
Alter up to a 4.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on June 18, 2019, 01:50:30 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 18, 2019, 07:42:31 am
"Why to make things fair for you of course!"
Fair for you?
"It won't be fair if you started using real bullets against me, because if you did, then I'd have to too!"
What's with that implication? Confidence or something else?
"But also, I wanted to talk about that enchanted bullet you used, that's the one you wanted help with, right?"
Post by: Strider03 on June 18, 2019, 03:38:55 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on June 28, 2019, 04:14:23 am
[[4] 1 6 2 1 6 2 2 [3] 5]
Post by: Empiricist on June 28, 2019, 06:21:00 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
"BEHOLD. THE LASER EYES OF THE VICTORIOUS FIGHTING BUDDHA."
Uh, you've read up on Sun Wukong and you're pretty sure the guy wasn't just Darkseid in a fursuit. But sure, let's go with that, one burning ricocheting beam coming right up, right up in your grill. You ain't just gonna stand there and take that.
Bracing yourself you track the beam, watching as it draws closer and closer, and then right before it hits, you drop the chain and throw the shield. The beam ricochets off of Rho Ais, charring the shield and blasting it into the air, but it ain't done just yet. Oh no, not by a long shot, it ricochets again this time off of thin air and comes crashing right back down. Popping a forgery you leap up onto one of the rising pillars, blasting a second weapon as the beam gives one last good pass before flying off. It occurs to you that perhaps you shouldn't have thrown your shield - this beam is easier to block than it is to dodge.
No time to regrets now though, holding out an arm, you pantomime drawing a bow, Gandiva materializing into your hands as you do so. An arrow of flame burns at the ready, and your outfit too becomes flame, twisting and shifting into armor. Unfortunately, it's not your armor. Well not Gaia Knight's anyway. it's close to it, but last time your checked it didn't come with an eyepatch, snakeskin jacket, and gang tattoos all over the plating.
Fuck it, this'll do. You let loose, your arrow and...
BANG!
A blast. Confusion. You didn't detonate Glepnir, why was there a Regalia explosion? Realization. It wasn't Glepnir that exploded, not initially. It's the arms! The Bodhisattva detonated their own arms! Your foe begins retreating backwards, firing another damn beam down range at you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
"Let's stick to pillows for now, you can enchant them like any other bullets anyways! But about that bullet, it needs more oomph! Like, way more! How's it work? Force membrane and internal blast source? I think I can fix it!"
Post by: Strider03 on June 28, 2019, 06:40:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 28, 2019, 07:09:40 pm
"Makes sense, the problem I think is that the membrane consistency isn't right, it's too airbaggy right now. Want help adjusting it?"
Post by: Strider03 on June 29, 2019, 07:44:20 am
Post by: Empiricist on June 29, 2019, 07:49:01 pm
"Yoake's butt."
Post by: Strider03 on June 29, 2019, 08:02:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on June 29, 2019, 08:17:30 pm
"Hey! I wasn't joking y'know? It's way too soft right now, you're trying too hard to make sure the membrane won't pop. You need to make it firmer, as firm as you can to hold the blast without breaking. And if you get it near the consistency of a butt, you should be able to make it simulate a Keijo technique so it launches people much further!"
Post by: Strider03 on June 30, 2019, 09:26:01 am
"Issue is, how does one make a membrane. . . do that? It's the muscle underneath that's important for Keijo, not the skin. Isn't the issue then, with the blast beneath, not the membrane itself?"
Post by: Twinwolf on July 03, 2019, 03:43:44 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 05, 2019, 09:55:46 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Voices (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIyYIt4a4pw) | ] |
With a growl Noriko wrenches Nadiye off of her and just fucking beans Ruben with her, knocking him off the beast and judging by the barrier appearing around him, out of the fight. Now it's just Gwen left, or rather, whatever the hell she's become.
It tries to unleash its attack but Yuki's chainsaw cleaves right down through its arm, the orb half fizzling half destabilizing and blowing apart the severed limb in a shower of chaotically transmuted detritus. Course, evil-powered supermodes generally have a little more fight in them so naturally it just keeps on fighting.
With a flash of light a sleek mechanical arm appears, a blend of silver steel and white ceramic, precision actuators and cutting-edge meta-materials replacing the first arm Yuki severed. Electricity arcs across the cybernetic limb's surface as power surges through its systems, the steel fist driving forwards towards Yuki in a hard fast jab all while energy gathers in the beast's mouth preparing to saturate the entire area in front of it with that chaotic energy.
Good thing Noriko's winds have just returned, eh?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 08, 2019, 11:35:47 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 08, 2019, 07:44:48 pm
[
Post by: Empiricist on July 09, 2019, 09:57:25 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
You blow the forgery leaping into the air and catching your shield, not a second too late either - the beam slams into Rho Aias head-on, practically exploding as it ricochets off. But it doesn't stop there, it ricochets off the air coming down for another pass, repeating the process over and over as it jackhammers against your shield, cracks beginning to form across the Regalia's surface as it shoves you through the air before finally fizzling to naught. You can probably block a few more, but their keepaway capabilities are nothing to scoff at.
For now you let yourself clatter to the ground, landing into a roll and guarding position, waiting to see the Bodhisattva's next move.
Apparently, his next move is to hide like a bitch. They're now discharging a beam that splinters into smaller independently targeting beams that seek to strike you from multiple directions to bypass your shield. Though in their defense, they can fire while remaining in perfect cover and you can't, so who's the real bitch here? Hopefully not you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Empiricist on July 16, 2019, 07:55:18 am
Well that didn't go quite as planned. He'd needed the distance in case she rushed him, but apparently there'd been other plans in the works. For now though, he continued to apply the layered enchants to his prototype round. First a portal with the dual purpose of redirect the pillows back and perhaps catching any further attacks, then a few shots around and through the pillows to catch any attempts to dodge, followed by the knockback round if he could figure out his targets location well enough.Shef
Portal Shield for the pillows and possibly the glowy eye thing if that requires some vector, then fire some shots through the pillows and around at Stella. Focus on catching the dodge though, she's not going to fall for her own trick. Knockback round mixed in.
[4] 2 [6] 5 5 2 6 6 1 2
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Well you say she won't fall for her own trick, but she seems to have fallen for precisely her own trick. At least, her own trick of "lmfao just shoot them". No seriously, you just shoot her and it works. Granted, the first pillow impacted before you could bring your shield up, but then your just shot her back with a regular round. Like, you didn't even need the flanking shots.
Huh. Can she not dodge when doing that eye thing?
Hmm maybe, but if all goes well you won't even need to use it against her. Now, while she's staggered! Airbag round, should keep her staggered, keep up the pressure. Just need to weave the explosions into the membranes and shit- there's a rippling spark and fizzle. Cursing to yourself you redouble your efforts weaving the layers together as a bolt of nothingness grazes your cheek.
The aperture was narrow, the wound shallow, but it's enough, just enough for warm blood to trickle down your face. Hmm, is that why she insisted on this kind of fight? That weapon, it might not be any better than the RAM in a life or death shootout, but in a duel to first blood, it's almost unfair.
"Time out!"
((Sorry again for forgetting and having to retcon shit.))
Post by: Strider03 on July 16, 2019, 08:58:44 am
"Need to be able to toss it out, throw it around all the time without delays."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on July 18, 2019, 01:34:51 pm
[[6] 2 1 6 2 2 [5] 5 2 4]
Post by: Twinwolf on July 24, 2019, 11:27:06 am
Use furthest 4 to heal self, then do above.
Post by: Empiricist on July 25, 2019, 07:12:07 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Voices (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIyYIt4a4pw) | ] |
Darting across the beast's front, Noriko releases her remaining spears. The jab, she can't stop but she can disrupt it, rob it of its power. The first drives through the metallic arm with a horrible grinding screech, the second rushes upwards a ballistic uppercut, driving its bladed head up right behind the jackal's chin, through their lower jaw, through their mouth, and through their damn fucking brain. Try that breath now, asshole.
The impacts should have forced it back. The spear sticking through their arm should have slowed their punch. The spear through their jaw, through their fucking brain should have given it at least some pause. But it doesn't. Its breath continues charging. Its fist continues its path. And in the span of the next split second Yuki finds herself getting thrown across the the length of the platform, civilians running for cover, even diving off the platform to escape the carnage. Flipping through the air, she self-proclaimed goddess jams her Regalia into the ground and re-engages her shields, her wounds closing in preparation for what was yet to come. She's not the only one hurt - her foe's hand has been split apart.
Goddamnit. God fucking damn it. The bastard just won't fucking die! Sweeping through the air Noriko crashes into the beast's side, the air solidifying around her feet as her flight turns into a flying kick right into the first spear. The wind compresses and rushes forward driving the spear deeper, but they don't just stop there, they drive themselves around the spear into the wound, through the wound and into the beast's body, into their black fucking heart.
The ghastly gale blows through its body, a mad zephyr spear through its throat. In it Noriko can hear twisted dispassionate screams, the deafening whispers of a mad god.
U̵̧ǹ̨c͜͏a͟ú̢g͘͠h̵́͜t͢ ́Tỳ̡p̸̨è̶͜Er͏̢͜r͜or̴͠:͝ ͝Ơ̛bj̴́e̢͟c̵͜͠t̀ f͢un͟c̨̀t́io̢n̶͟͞ ̕҉a̸(͏̴e)̛{̶i̸͞f̷̕(̀͘!̴́e̴͡)ŗe̡̢̛t̢ù̢r̡̡n̡;va̧͠ŕ͝ ̛t̶,̴r,̕i͡,̧͢o;n̷̶.͞àp̷̷p̷̷l̵͞y͘͝͝(t͝͡͏h͜is̡҉̷,̨̀͘[̀͠e̕]͟)́͟͟,̡͟͢t=͠t҉̷h͜͝ì͟s̶̸.p͡à̷̛r̀͠a͘͢ms҉͏(҉)͟͡,҉ŗ̢=͜t̷҉.̡͞s̢͡i͘z͠ȩ͢͡|͘͜|҉͜҉thi͢͠͡s̵.̵͠͏d̕͜a҉t̢a̸̵̡Á͜t́t̀͢r(҉̵"̀͠s͡͡i̢̧z҉e"̶)̡̕,̀̕͝į=̵t͘.s͟h͟͝҉o̢͢w̷Scr̨̛e̴e̴̕n̷N͟͏a͏̵m͘e|̧͡|̀͞t͘͟h̵͞iś͝.d̸a̵t̀͡a҉A͏͘t̶͟t̴r(͡"̧͢s͏͝h̴̀o̶̢͜w͞-͝sc͏͘re̶̕e̷̕n-̵n̸am̢̨͢ę̸̷"̵)̨͘,̀́ǫ̡=̵t̨͢.̸c͏ǫ̶͡ù͘͠n̕͘̕t||̷͞t҉h͞i̸̡͢s̷̛.͘d͞a̸t͝a̕͡͠A̸̕͞ţ̛t͞ŗ̢("͏҉c҉̨o͟u҉̧ǹ͘t̷̕͘"͏)͟,t͏h̸͡ì̸s҉.̛cl̛͢a͟s͘sA̵t̷̴tr̨̕͠.̛̕p̨̕ù͟s̕͏h͜͏(̷͏"̧͢t̛wì́҉tt̸e͟͜r̵̡͘-͟͡f͢͟o̵͞l҉͝l҉̀o̶͜w-b͠ù͏t̶̡͠t͞o͜n")͘͡,t҉ḩ͞is͝.s̕ho̕͞w͞͝S͢cr̢eè̴̴n̶҉̕N̛͠ą̷͟m̢͞ę̴=̵̧i̧̛!̵͘͝=́͡"̶̨͠fa͜lse̸"͏,̡͡͏t̡͜͡h͟í̀ś.s̶ho̴̸͡w̛͡C̕͠o͢uņ͠t̀͞=̀͘͘t̷͡.̧̧s̡̡h͝ơ̡wC҉o͠u͠͏n̢͟t̸҉!̀==!͜1͘͝͡&&҉͝t̸̡͟hi̴ś̴́.da̵̧̧t̢a̸A̢͘t̵́͝t̛r̶̕͠(̀͠͠"̴͡͡s͝ḩ͟ò҉w͠-҉c̶̛o͞u̕͞ǹ̴t"͘)̴́!̷̢͏=̨"́fą̷͘l̡se̸̕"̡̛͝,͞o͠=͢=̕͞"̀͘no̷̴n̷̡e"̷͘͢&̧&̨(̶͡th̴̵̀i҉s̛.̢͘ş̀h͡ò̡w̷C͟où̢̡n͘͞t́=̕҉!̢͡1̵͜)̶,̵t̡h̷̡is͟͢.̷̧͟exp̨l͏͡i͠c̨i̴t̛͝Wid͘t̴͡͠h=̢́t.̸̷w͡i͡d̀͜tḩ̀|̷̴|t̸̸h̷įs͘.̧d̛a̸̡͜t͠ą̀͠At͢͜t͘ŗ("҉͝wi̵d̕͟t̷̨h̸͞")͘|̡|"̢"̢̀͡,̸͡t̷́h̸̴i̸̛s͜͠.̸͘̕s̵̡c̴͢re̸e̵͝n̷̶̛N̵ame̷͟≠͟t̡̧.̛͝s̶͠c҉̷́ŗ͏ȩ͡ę͘n͝_̷̨͡n͞a͘͡͝me̶͘||͟t̢̧.̷͜s҉̸̶ć͡r͡e͢e҉́n̡Ǹa͠͡me̢͢|̀̀͠|͡s̸̛̛.̷͢śc̴͠r̡̕e̕e̴̢n̕N̷a̴m̷̧e͠(͢t̨̧h̀i̧s.̢a͜t̛t̛r͘(̷͞͞"̸h͢r̸̢͘e̸̢f̸̧"҉̧̕)͘͟)̛,̨͝t͢h̵͜͝i̡s͟͝/͡p̢͟rè͞͞v̛͘i̷̢e̸͢҉w̢̧͡=͝t̡̧͠.̵͡͡pre͡v͜i̶͜͢e̡͡w͠||̷t̸h͘i͜͏͞s̀͞.͟d͝a͢t̡a̷̷A͠͏t̵t͝ŗ҉("̢p̵r̸é̷v̛i͡e̶w̢͠"̛)̢̕͠|̨͘|"̧"̶҉,͝͠ţhi̧s̢̛.ál̨i̕g̢͞ne҉͢ḑ͟͞=͢t.҉a̢͘͝l͘͡i͞gn|̶́͞|͜th̨͢i҉s̨͢.҉d̢͘ąt̴͢aA͟͝t͏҉͠t̡̡r͟͠͡(͟"a͜͜͡l͟i̕g̡̨n͡")̸͜͝|̶͢͝|̷̕"͡",͏t͏̛h͜i͘ş.̵̛͘s͟i̸͡z̶͟͢e=̨͜͢r=̡͘=́"͏͜͠l҉a̢r̢g͢é̴"҉?"͘͝l̶"́͡:̶́͜"m͏͘͡"҉}͜ ̨͘h̀a̷s ͘̕n̷o̸ ̕m͏e͞t̀́ḩo͜͝͏d̶͟ ̷'҉̸įn̶҉̴i̢̕t'̡
And then comes the beam.
The platform, the ground, the very air around Yuki. It becomes everything. It becomes nothing. But in the end, Yuki is still standing, her chainsaw revving, that crazed smile on her face.
The beast changes targets now, going for Noriiko now, a fact that it announces by appearing right behind her, energy crackling around its newly formed arm, an arm twisted together from flesh and tree trunks. It's going to try and pummel her into the ground now, how creative.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
"Just slow! I'll be the judge of compelxity!"
She tosses you a healing potion.
"There's ways of speeding it up, you'll have to show me how it work though!"
Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
The gates open. Light and leylines, whispers and legends, some forgotten, some yet to be written.
Eight forgeries remain.
Beams crash against your shield, the rest circling around. You wait wait till you can feel the heat against you, hear the crackling in your ear. Then, you launch forwards, driving your shield through the swarm.
Six forgeries remain.
You blast through the beams, and like a swarm of murderous hornets their brethren spin around collapsing back towards you. A third blast gives them pause for thought.
Five forgeries remain.
You decelerate quickly, Rho Ais may be strong but it as shit ain't aerodynamic. The swarm closes in once more. Fine, you drop another blast in.
Four forgeries remain.
The target's almost in range. Two forgeries are reserved to dive down, another two for close quarters combat. You'll need them too - the Bodhisattva's sporting two new arms. Might not be bad trading them blow for blow. Maybe, guy might have more tricks up their sleeves. In that case you'll still have your shield, your bow, and your fists. Anything beyond that is another gate, or perhaps it's time to-
Wait, what is that? What the fuck is that?
The five pillars rush up from the ground, closing inwards around you, and in that moment you see they are not pillars but fingers, fingers from a giant metallic hand, a hand now trying to wrap around you, trying to crush you, to break you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on July 25, 2019, 09:58:29 am
Post by: Strider03 on July 25, 2019, 11:12:14 am
"So, what do you think?"
Post by: Empiricist on July 25, 2019, 04:29:17 pm
"So you're layering this stuff on one by one?"
Post by: Strider03 on July 26, 2019, 07:25:32 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 26, 2019, 12:02:29 pm
Alter to 4, burn next 5
Post by: Empiricist on July 26, 2019, 02:12:45 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Voices (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIyYIt4a4pw) | ] |
Noriko spins round rushing into the beast as it strikes. It wasn't a matter of of hitting first, it was a matter of getting close, too close for the punch to work. See, the thing about straight punches is they've got a minimum range, you can't punch someone if they're inside your guard, you can adjust of course, change positioning, change attacks, but that takes time, time the beast does not have.
Noriko lays her palm across the jackal's chest like an incoming sexual harassment lawsuit and a spear of energy explodes into the beast's heart like a surprise homicide charge. There's a furious roar, neither bestial nor arcane, no this was mechanical, a violent mechanical fury. This, was the roar of Yuki's chainsaw as it cleaves down through her prey.
Try replacing that.
Oh wait shi-
A wall of roiling darkness explodes outwards, washing over the duo leaving then disoriented and numb. Euugh. Where the beast fell Gwen lies unconscious. Hooray?.
Noriko, you're still mostly fine honestly. The roiling darkness was unpleasant but it's weak bitch must like all these motherfuckers you've been staunching.
Yuki, you've taken a transmutation beam to the face, so you're a bit worse for wear? Your face hasn't exactly been reduced to a quark-gluon-napalm-ghost-table plasma, but it has fucked your fashion style given that your armored dress is more just plain dress thanks to the plating getting fucked with a jackhammer, edges are kinda corroded too. Also they seem to have just gel'd your hair together or something, in in all, more a mix of general embuggerances than much else.
Shef
"Of course! If complex enchantments were so slow to cast, I'd be in a lot of trouble! What we'll wanna do is make it so that it starts from a seed spell that assembles the real deal, then you'll only new to cast that and pump energy into it. Since it's just repetitive, it shouldn't be too hard, you know much about metamagic?"
Post by: Strider03 on July 26, 2019, 02:30:26 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on July 26, 2019, 07:28:01 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 26, 2019, 08:06:44 pm
"So you're familiar with subspells right?"
Well yes, you're not that much of an amateur. Spells can use their own power supply to execute other spells, it's how your tracers and enforcer rounds work after all - rather than requiring you to manually portal them, they've got their power supply for opening portals.
"What we'll wanna do is make the each layer type the other layer type's subspell. That way you just need to make the finest layer and the rest will build itself a long as you keep pumping in energy. Think you can do that?"
Yuki and Noriko
Patricija isn't too hard to find, given well the eyes on her as well as you two, well that and the fact that she is walking towards you two right now. "<That was amazing! I had no idea you two were so strong!>"
A handful of eyes seem to be glancing expectantly between Noriko and the Princess.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 26, 2019, 09:51:24 pm
Post by: Strider03 on July 26, 2019, 10:22:03 pm
"If it's recursive, what'll put on the brakes? Just some limiting module, or simply cutting the power?" Shef asked, as he attempted to create the connections.
Post by: Empiricist on July 26, 2019, 10:42:23 pm
"<I wasn't either!>" She turns her attention to your vanquished foes "<Gwen'll be alright, just need to sleep it off. We'll go get the seals checked.>" "<Did we do good Miss Instructor?>"
Shef
"Power! It can't make new layers if it doesn't have the power to do it!"
You, think it's working? Are least, it's not exploding in your hands just yet.
Post by: Strider03 on July 27, 2019, 08:33:13 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 27, 2019, 11:44:27 am
"Wait, instructor? You know these people?"
Post by: Twinwolf on July 27, 2019, 05:18:14 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 27, 2019, 05:29:09 pm
"Yup! Wanna learn some?"
Yuki and Noriko
"<Heh, I was hoping it could buy us more time, never expected her to turn my own spell against me.>"
"<Say, what was up with those black arrows?>"
Ruben continues staring at Gwen's unconscious form, his priorities clearly elsewhere.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 27, 2019, 05:38:37 pm
Post by: Strider03 on July 27, 2019, 05:45:45 pm
"Though, got a bit of a time crunch right now.
Need to not spend too much time here." As much as he would have liked to.
Post by: Empiricist on July 27, 2019, 05:57:50 pm
"<Damn, was hoping to get some pointers, ah well, it is what it is.>"
"<Noriko looks a little confused aboutr all this, you might want to explain to her what's happening.>"
Shef
"We can catch back up later then, wanna test the enchantment?"
Post by: Strider03 on July 27, 2019, 06:06:22 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 27, 2019, 06:18:11 pm
You can already tell there's an issue as you're charging the spell, the energy requirements are increasing at an exponential rate. You fire and the round strikes the platform detonating, it's an explosion, not the violent expansion yiy wanted but an honest to god explosion of force without any of required cohesion.
"Did'ya feel anything weird when making that?"
Post by: Strider03 on July 27, 2019, 07:00:03 pm
"Hmm. . .something went wrong in the recursion. The power requirement kept increasing, like each created layer continued to take in power even after the next had been made? And obviously the result was. . .unstable." Had the explosion been pretty normal as far as magic explosions went, or was there any unusual factors?
Post by: Empiricist on July 27, 2019, 07:03:05 pm
"Oh that's an easy fix! Each layer is continuing to make subspells; just route the power supply for each layer so it goes into its subspell if it already exists, that way only the latest one can make more!"
Post by: Strider03 on July 27, 2019, 10:29:15 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 28, 2019, 12:37:31 am
"Yup! Think about it! If each layer was free to make more layers, you'll have a directed acyclic graph that's thickest in the middle and sparser on either end. Most of the layers are in the middle of the graph, I'm guessing explosion and membrane layers go off together, and that each pair goes off when the previous pair does so... if you pump enough energy for n layer pairs, you're going through them in log4(n) + 1. That's an explosion."
You enchant another round, same amount of energy, same amount of time, but instead of jumping in steps of greater and cost cost, the enchantment builds up smoothly. You fire it and sure enough you get an air-bag like effect.
Post by: Strider03 on July 28, 2019, 02:20:10 pm
"Well. . . that seems about right." Curious to see how much the speed had improved, Shef would next compare both methods, performing them as fast as he could. Of course, it wouldn't be the ideal speed, given the rather limited practice he'd had, but it should give some indication of what he could expect.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 28, 2019, 06:00:51 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 28, 2019, 09:13:30 pm
"So this was, what, some kind of test? Randomly attacking us in the street? Really?" She let her hand drop to her side, trying to ignore the increasingly large crowd of onlookers. "I'm really not in the mood for this."
Post by: Twinwolf on July 28, 2019, 09:46:19 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 28, 2019, 10:10:55 pm
First layer is faster done manually, subsequent layers are faster with recursive, much faster, you pump energy in and the subspells do the rest.
Noriko and Yuki
"<She doesn't know?>"
"<But you're our targets, how would you->"
"<Sorry, last night was a little crazy. Yuki, Noriko, I'll explain. This is sort of how the festival started off actually, it was a practical exam for the military academy here, squads of students would try and hunt down their teachers through the street in fights to first blood, it became a bit of an attraction, and then this whole festival.>"
She lets that sink in for a bit.
"<If you're both their targets, then there's probably a few more squads hunting you down, they won't know your location but they'll know what you look like. You can tell who they are by theirs bracelets - it's silver for students, black for duelists.>"
Gwen mumbles faintly in her sleep, something about array-like objects and not a number being a number.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 28, 2019, 10:18:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 28, 2019, 11:52:22 pm
"<Still is everywhere, knockouts and injuries count though. Sometimes there's exceptions because it's too easy or too hard, but they have to tell you ahead of time.>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 28, 2019, 11:55:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2019, 12:20:57 am
"<Well I mean, the Beast's not bleeding and neither is Gwen.>"
"<Oh right, your brother, you mentioned he was staying at a resort?>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 29, 2019, 12:24:12 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2019, 12:31:52 am
"<Uh...>"
Everyone is just kinda awkwardly staring at Noriko now.
"<What does him not being related have to do with you staying together?>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 29, 2019, 12:36:51 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2019, 12:46:31 am
"<Moving along... do you have any way to contact him, does he have anyone to look after him at the resort? They know he's not Awakened right?>"
Post by: Strider03 on July 29, 2019, 07:33:54 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2019, 08:21:52 am
"No, you're free to go! It was nice meeting you!"
Post by: Strider03 on July 29, 2019, 08:57:26 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 29, 2019, 12:57:05 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2019, 04:04:35 pm
"<Do you remember much about the resort, can you fly for long? You might be able to fly there, but the other squads will probably try and shoot you down.>"
Nadiye nods in agreement
"<We made plans for aerial interception as soon as we saw the photos, I can't say more - it's a conflict of interest, but there are only three other squads, so if you can beat them as easily as you beat us->"
"<I wouldn't say only, one of them's the student council, still still we all have er, that- he gestures vaguely at Gwen -sealed in us so it can't be too bad right?>"
"<Right. Hmm... if someone's already looking her brother why does she need to get back so urgently? Is it like one of those animes where she's worried someone else will steal his heart->"
A hand clamps down around the girl's mouth. The courier smiles, eyes closed mouth twitching.
" <Yes. Organ harvesting is a real problem around these parts. You can't be too careful. Now if you'll excuse me, Nadiye and I need to go and have a little talk.>"
He begins dragging the paladin away.
Post by: Empiricist on July 29, 2019, 09:10:50 pm
A blur in your peripheral, that is the only warning you get. With a pulse of energy you launch backwards, a bit dramatic sure, but by now you know better than to stay close, close quarters is death. Sol's right on front of you, you could nail him with a beam right now. Could. Last time you did that you got trapped in a burning star. You drew blood first that time sure, honestly you're surprised he bleeds all things considered, but what's it matter? Your life to take another's, it's a poor trade, especially against that Aramitama, against Harvest. She'll just come back, you won't.
You do a leap now, wide angle, too wide to hit Sol even if you refocus, but that's not the point - battle's as good as over with those cards intact. You end the leap early, dodging to the side as a curse bolt tears past you and bust your own shield to blow away throwing knife follow up. It's as good as worthless against it anyways. You keep a mental note of where its remains land.
That miniature sun, that is Sol's ability.
A burning star whose intensity scales exponentially with proximity. It's fine faraway. Up close even its tidal forces become a threat. And he can hide it. In the ground, in a building. In a knife, in a deck of playing cards. An ever present threat, lurking, looming. It's probably inside the ground right now, racing forwards, just waiting to erupt out from beneath you. He can do more with it too, but you've taken care of that. Energy manipulation poisons it, counters it, but only when it's unleashed, only when it's in the open. And now, it's rarely in the open. When it comes out, if it comes out, you won't have the time to stop it. So best eliminate that option.
This is the situation you find yourself in now, your little dance of mutually assured destruction, the next part of your training. You wanted to gets better at fighting right? You wanted to protect Minato right? Well you better learn then.
So this is the scenario, you're free to wander around, do whatever the fuck you want, but the twins, they'll just up and jump you, just outta nowhere, just like now. One at a time, but that's not much of a consolation. Still, you're getting better at it, slowly but surely you're getting the hang of it.
Sol's the bigger threat of the two, if only because Luna nerfed her spell; it was some kinda moon-turned wrecking ball, a reality warping psychic weapon that really just confirmed your suspicions that your mental defenses aren't up to scratch. Still, she's a threat, just less so than Sol.
Thing with Sol is, you can hit him. You're sure you can. You've done it before too. Issue is, he can hit you too, and he hits hard. It's a game of mutually assured destruction against a foe with nothing to lose, it's not a matter of landing it hit, it's a matter of hitting him without him hitting you too, and that, that is hard.
"Well done. You are learning quickly."
He closes in now, a swift slash followed by a screening scattar of cards. You can hit him now, but the star'll come out, be it from the ground, the spear, or the cards.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on August 01, 2019, 11:35:35 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 04, 2019, 06:06:57 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on August 06, 2019, 04:22:28 am
"<God DAMN it!>" They were both huge pains to fight, too. Horrible mini death sun ambush out of nowhere... yeah, that wasn't a fun time, and Sol had quite the myriad of ways of just ruining her day with the thing. For now, she really couldn't afford to engage Sol decisively -- maybe she could, however, afford to play a bit of keepaway using her Doki Doki Radiation. It seemed to be much less lethal against them, but she was thankful for that; instead of just flat-out being murder, it was something she could actually use.
For now, Faith just backpedaled rapidly, raising a shield of energy around her -- swirling with no fewer than three colors. Yellow and purple danced within the shield, as she wasn't presently beaten into a state of despair but sure as hell wasn't totally happy either, with shimmers and ripples of pink moving through the shield as well; she was using her Regalia, colorful magical girl gear on full display, and allowing Doki Doki radiation to sit within the shield as well.
Faith uses Shield of Courage/Apathy, and retreats from Sol!
World Line: 5 4 4 1 1
Post by: ragnarok97071 on August 06, 2019, 08:16:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 06, 2019, 08:56:35 am
"<To be fair, I don't think they're going to be monsters or trying to rip you apart.>" She pauses, resting her hand over her mouth for a moment as if in thought. When she speaks again her expression brightens, well sort of anyway, it's a bit mixed with uncertainty. "<Though... if you're here for training anyway, why not use this as a chance to train? Wouldn't it just be like sparring. Plus... you'll be able to take your anger out. C'mon, you're from the old world right? Haven't you ever wanted to smash something? Like a wall or a building? I'm sure no one will mind if you do that here...>"
Faith
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You backpedal, staying the hell out of range. You know why things are the way things are. You know you need to stay on your toes if you want to protect yourself, protect Minato. You know you need to grow. But, it doesn't make the steps any less painful, the failures any less frustrating.
Children play in the streets. Couples visit the stalls arm in arm. Tourists flock beneath monuments. If you could, if you had the choice, would you be in their place instead? Would you be taking in the sights rather than taking another fucking celestial body to the face? No.
No. But it doesn't stop your wishing, and it is from those wishes you forge your new shield, a shield of distraction and indifference, of apathy and inaction. It won't stop Sol. Hell it won't even protect you against him. But you don't need it to, you just need to burst it, manually if need be. Give him a bit of pause, a little dash of hesitation. That should be enough, enough to delay his retaliation, enough for you to blast him away without taking the hit.
He's still chasing you, not really making any moves though. Slow down just a bit and you could do it. Dodge the initial sun and pop it right in face. Leap out of there before he can counter. That, that should be enough to hand you the win.
In theory at least.
Care to test it?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 12, 2019, 03:31:08 am
Well, if he wanted to get grabby with Minato, Minato figured it'd be a perfect opportunity to be grabby with him.
Alter 2 to 4, load Gleipnir into Gandiva and shoot at the Bodhisattva's body, and then use the chains to pull Minato towards the Bodhisattva, forcing him to either trap himself with Minato or pull Minato to safety.
[
Post by: Empiricist on August 12, 2019, 08:20:59 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
What emerges from Gandiva is not an arrow but a chain of fire tipped with the point of a blade. The Bodhisattva takes the blow to their left arm, the limb armored and metallic as if to match the hand that rose to seize you. The flames constrict around their arm as they grip the chain and hurl it backwards pulling you right out of the path of their own trap and straight towards them. They're not planning on running though. They're not planning on beam you either. No, they're gonna meet you head-on. Angular plating crystallizes out of their body giving them a distinctively more armored appearance as they use their left arm as a counterweight to drive their right fist forwards sending it on a collision course with your face.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on August 12, 2019, 05:29:29 pm
Once he was fairly certain where he'd be heading, he sent a quick text out to Sakurako, mentioning the location.
Post by: Empiricist on August 13, 2019, 07:15:48 pm
The train ride was mostly uneventful. It's smoother yes, quieter too, scenery wasn't too hard on the eyes either, but no matter how much you magic it it's just a train ride. The only real curveball took the form of a few people who wanted to take photos.
Guild's not too far from the platform, the building looking shockingly mundane all things considered, a fairly corporate looking building with wide open gates jammed between an assortment of shops and restaurants. The only particularly odd feature being the quest pylons outside. Adventurers wander in, out, and generally around the building.
The interior is cozy, warm, somewhere between lounge and hotel lobby with some jaunty tune playing overhead. Adventurers browse quests from the pylons and turn them in at th desks. There's also a group of weirdos hanging by the door looking like a buncha Pokemon villain rejects.
The moment you enter the door they're upon you, two dozen firearms leveled at your face.
"<The boss sends his regards.>"
Shef
You arrived a little while after the pair. Coupla social media posts gave away their position when they disembarked. A coupla more gave away half their damn movesets, these all by an account speaking in that classically lcsonoc Twitter-y "as it happens" kind of manner. An account only created a few hours prior, the only posts to its name their running commentary of the fight you left.
So, they know Yuki has those arrows, that teleport, and that awfully threatening mix of shielding, regeneration and raw unbridled force. They know Noriko has scarily accurate homing spears, the power of flight, a spell-eating flame, and something about going all Old Country For Old Men on a motherfucker. Who they are, you find also intermixed amongst gossip articles with such wonderful titles like Is Patricija's Girlfriend A Brocon? Apparently, the people who attacked them were students of the military academy here. By the sounds of it, there's practicals going on, and the test is to try and beat both the girls. Well, you know their foes at least, even if you're still not 100% on your own.
You're outside the guild right now. The trio are working within. Baghead and co are watching from afar outside the building. Red is there too, doing her damnedest to appear distracted by all the cops and medics inside the building. You won't be recognized should you enter, Sakurako will however.
Noriko and Yuki
With an awful lot of poking and prodding, the officer finally gets the henchman off the chandelier. Their belt had been caught when they got launched up there, and with the beating they just took, they weren't really feeling up for resisting arrest. The rest of the mob's scattered and strewn across broken furniture, nursing some broken bones and wounded pride. No blood though. Yuki had been so kind as to use the reverse edge of her chainsaw. Noriko, simply had no need to stab them after the first wind blast. They went down like complete bitches. Turns out standing right in front of the people with the windblasts and black murder tide is a terrible fucking idea. Who'd have thought?
With that mess sorted and Noriko well salted, the trio approach the dark spectacled receptionist.
"<Ah greetings Miss...>"
He glances down, checking his terminal
"<Master of the Holy Flame, and... Miss Harbinger of the Divine Wind.>"
He leans forward ever so slightly.
"<Do you have the package?>"
Post by: Strider03 on August 13, 2019, 07:43:05 pm
"So Sakurako, tell me what you're looking for right now, and what you're seeing."
Post by: Twinwolf on August 13, 2019, 10:08:28 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 14, 2019, 01:07:41 am
There's a few clohhing stores and restaurants in a good position that watch the front of the quest hub. Windows aren't open and front door opens and closes, not to mention it's where the most foot traffic is. Best bet would be to fire either through a portal or from elsewhere within the building.
Noriko and Yuki
The receptionist shifts a little closer, their voice dropping low "<The bioweapon.>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 15, 2019, 11:50:37 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 16, 2019, 12:24:35 am
"<That bad? Do you know have any idea where it might be now?>"
You really don't like the sound of that '<now>'.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 16, 2019, 04:18:15 am
[
Post by: ragnarok97071 on August 18, 2019, 10:12:58 am
"I mean... Suspicious people, I guess? you haven't exactly told me what they look like or anything, or how you think they'll be acting. I don't have a lot to go on, especially since everyone here looks like they're straight out of a cosplay convention."
She pauses, thinking.
"Hey, you do portals and stuff, right? Could you set up a few of those around so that you can watch from a bunch of places at once? I mean, if they let objects through why not light, right? and if you do them small enough people might not notice them... but I dunno how your stuff actually works, just, you know, asking."
Post by: Strider03 on August 18, 2019, 01:44:06 pm
"Two parties. My adversary, and one of theirs. Baghead and the two accompanying, after Noriko and Yuki. Woman in the red dress, my adversary, essentially running interference. And yes, I can look through portals. Much better for walls and doors and stuff than surveillance from afar."
"Main restriction on myself is not letting Noriko and Yuki know I'm here, and not engaging their enemies directly."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on August 18, 2019, 08:31:23 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on August 18, 2019, 09:31:36 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 19, 2019, 08:16:33 am
"For now we're just observing, will act only when it seems necessary. Though if there's any choke points that we can force Noriko and Yuki through, that'd be optimal, could ambush or delay the adversaries there." Wait, could Sakurako simply go down there and begin accompanying them as an inside agent?
Post by: Empiricist on August 20, 2019, 01:32:16 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
You drive Rho Ais forwards right against the Bodhisattva's fist. Myth becomes ruin, protection becomes destruction, the seven petaled flower blooming as an explosion. Yet then, even then, you know it has failed. You've stopped the punch yes, but your chain has not moved, your foe still stands, and as the embers of legend fade, you see that they are unscathed, and all that has moved was their arm, now clocked back by the blast, ready to deliver their answer.
"IN OUR THOUGHTS LIE OUR RUIN, IN OUR DESIRES OUR DOOM. THE MIND IS ITS OWN PLACE, AND IN ITSELF CAN MAKE A HEAVEN OF HELL, A HELL OF HEAVEN. TO ACCEPT THAT WHICH IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL, TO DISCARD THE BASE INSTINCTS THAT DRIVE US, THAT, IS TO TRANSCEND. TO BECOME GREAT, TRULY GREAT, GREATER THAN THE WORLD THAT BINDS US, GREATER THAN THE CHAINS AND SHACKLES OF EXISTENCE ITSELF!"
Oh great, they're monologuing. Not the good "go have a breather while I speak" kinda monologuing either, no, it's the kind punctuated with their fist slamming into your chest.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW? YOU CANNOT HURT ME MINATO! ONLY -I- CAN HURT ME!"
Right so they just fucking deck you, and we're not talking about your typical anime-style "throw a man across the room" punch either, we're talking a proper punch, a real punch, a punch you feel deep in your body, a punch where you just fucking crumple. You stagger backwards. You'll admit, that one hurt. You've had worse though, and your foe looks to be about to do much worse.
The lotus sigil traces out beneath them blooming into a ring of swords, their forms forged from starlight, their blades pointed to the heavens, and their formation caging the two of you within.
Thr Bodhisattva disengages their armor with that high-pitched noise, their arms energizing into light and multiplying. Their arms on their left remain bound. The arms on their right readying bombard you again with that godawful barrage of punches they opened the fight with. Not a problem normally, but now you're kinda caged in. Their eye glows red, another beam soon to discharge, just in case. Lovely.
Hmm. No escape eh? That laser's your biggest problem right now - it cover a lotta area most crucially their left side. Were it not for that thyou'd have a damn good opening - bound arms can't punch and if they struggle too much you could blow them right off just like how they escaped your chains the first time. Hmm, alternatively... that armored state could be why explosion didn't affect them. If it's offline right now you could try blasting them again. Those arms can sacrifice themselves the same way your forgeries can, and that beam could probably handle point defense too... is there another angle? Another angle they haven't covered? No. How about then, an angle they can't have covered?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Noriko and Yuki
"<You two turned in a bounty for an Abyssal Choir early last night. According to our records you engaged it in combat because you misheard its song and thought it had insulted your mother. Upon being presented with the bounty both of you proceeded to whoop and dance for two minutes and fifty eight seconds before taking up a quest to retrieve a bioweapon from the ruins of an Atlantian black site. About an hour later your friend called our desk because you had apparently imbibed the contents of a mysterious flask and felt dizzy. We eventually determined the contents of the flask to be an augmented whiskey. Judging by the noises in the background of the call we have reason to believe you two were engaged in battle with what remained of the facility's defense system at the time. We did not receive further contact until two hours later in the form of a selfie featuring both of you and the vial. The vial contains what we believe to be a super-virus kept under a containment system. Normally this containment system is charged by the facility's power supply, but now that it is removed it will have fallen back on its back-up batteries, which should in theory last for 24 hours.>"
Shef
Actually yeah, you think that should be kosher.
Post by: Powder Miner on August 20, 2019, 05:40:32 pm
Hahahahahahahaha
hahahahaha
hahahah
ha
no
no she did not
Faith decided to play things cautiously now, but not so cautiously that she didn't make any moves and allowed Sol to just prepare whatever he was trying to prepare in piece. So instead, she created another shield, but pulled this one off from around her, forming it into a net-like spread of apathy energy which she then started to try to hit Sol with as she advanced on him.
Create, shape away, and attack Sol with a Shield of Apathy, Doki-Doki infused! This uses an Alteration to turn a 4 into a 3.
World Line: 4 4->
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 20, 2019, 09:14:03 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 21, 2019, 06:24:25 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Like hell you'll fall for that. Your shield expands, a second layer forming inside the first. Pulling it without touching it, you tear off the outer shell reforging it for its new purpose. It resembles spider's web, but a spider's web must be sturdy, it must weather the fury of the elements, it must hold the weight of its struggling prey down their their final twitch, this, this doesn't give a shit. It's a tripwire, a ghetto voodoo claymore, filled with apathy and hurled at an approaching foe. Sturdiness has no place here. Four spokes. No radials. Each gossamer strand a splitting in two and then two more, a fractal lattice colored purple and gold crackling with arcs of pink.
Sol spins on his heels, his charge turning into a skid, into a slide, he swings his hand out and his fingers splay open. In his palm is magic. In its center you see a lake. In that lake you see the sky. In that sky you see the moon. On the moon there are ridges and shadows, craters and mares, and you see it all in close excruciating detail, far sharper detail than you could possible see. You see it as if your eyes have zoomed into it, you see it in a way that makes your head spin and your stomach turn. You see it because it is not in the sky, but right in front of you, a wrecking ball a size of a person, a shield cast to counter your net.
With her free hand she unties her ponytail, but when that hand comes down it is not a ribbon but a deck of cards she throws at you, a deck of cards still in their pack.
"We switched clothes."
Luna continues that motion for another half rotation, her miniature moon orbiting out of the way as she catches the deck with a knife, the blade detonating and scattering shreds of paper before you. A screen of paper spread out before you, a screen of paper frozen in time, frozen in place.
The moon pulses. Your net is beginning to erode, erode under the rays of madness emanating from what it has caught. They're not enough to affect you (thank God), but they'll burn through your net eventually. But for now, for the next few seconds, the net has enough power to hold, and you, you still have control over it. And that moon keeping it at bay? You can manipulate that too, good thing too - it's escaping its orbit, swinging out and aiming to strike you in the side.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Noriko and Yuki
<Hard to say. If it did, the facility itself would have the receiver. Though it might've just had security systems in place to prevent it from ever being taken offsite.>"
You have the sinking suspicion those systems might not be functional anymore.
Shef
Baghead reaches into his pocket and takes out a phone. Red too. Your comms unit lights up.
"Change of plans. You will be relieving Noriko. The people targeting her will now be targeting you."
"You are now cleared to engage foes and make contact with Yuki. Your adversary is now cleared to interfere directly. I'd suggest informing Noriko of the change - she left her comms unit at the resort."
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2019, 07:40:09 am
He abrubtly set off, heading directly over to the guild hall. He'd keep an eye out for movements by the adversaries as long as he reasonably could, but if they attacked, well, so be it. He approached Noriko and Yuki, and interrupted the bioweapon conversation.
"Excuse me. Noriko, you're free to go. We're swapping out."
Post by: Twinwolf on August 23, 2019, 07:08:03 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 23, 2019, 07:18:10 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2019, 07:52:00 pm
If he had remembered, he wouldn't have taken it off, certainly, but he could perhaps have avoided the confusion immediately.
"It's me. Sh--" He glanced around, the adversaries could have some method of eavesdropping. "The uh, person on your team. Look, see?" Shef conjured a little portal above his hand. "You left your comms at the resort. Gonna be switching places with you. You're free to. . . I dunno, take the princess back to the resort and hang with Kouta or something. I don't know, the AI just told me we're swapping out," Shef muttered.
Post by: Twinwolf on August 23, 2019, 07:55:58 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 23, 2019, 08:37:46 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 23, 2019, 09:10:29 pm
Of course Kouta wasn't blood related. Something related to the gossip articles perhaps, implying that he was? It didn't matter. "Yes. I. . .know that already. Get some rest, relax." After this dismissal, Shef hesitated a moment before adding, "Remember, Noriko, you owe me now."
Hmm. He hadn't quite meant it like that. So, to dig the hole deeper, he finished, "You know, one contract killing gratis." He gave a weak smile that made it unusually clear that he meant it in jest.
Post by: Twinwolf on August 26, 2019, 12:52:22 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 26, 2019, 01:48:40 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2019, 03:47:15 pm
Shef shrugged at Noriko's question. He'd only been given a little bit of info here. "Yeah, sure. Probably? I'm sure the princess can help you get back to the resort."
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2019, 07:06:39 pm
Patricija was just sort of spacing out for all of this, not that she'd be able to understand much, if anything was going on anyways. She blinks twice, eyes flickering as if just waking up. She glances, quizzically almost at y'all, pressing her lips together before speaking "Te-" she coughs, awkwardly clearing her throat. The corners of her mouth twitch, a trace of confusion in her expression as if her mouth was not her own. She relaxes her mouth now speaking with it a little less wider, speaking with a little more confidence in her words "Testing... Testing... Can you understand me?"
Post by: Strider03 on August 26, 2019, 07:18:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 26, 2019, 08:15:42 pm
"I think so. It is, not uncommon for buffalo to bully other buffalo? If I were a fisherman, my job would be to catch fish?"
"Did that sound right?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on August 31, 2019, 08:32:14 am
An attack from the top was untenable, the lasers would catch any of his projectiles and Gandiva was fast, but not that fast. Moving to either side would get Minato nailed by either his arms or the lasers. Forward already proved itself to be suicidal; Minato was tough, but he couldn't quite take that, not without Rho Aias.
Which was currently dust in the air.
But....beneath.
Under his feet, he wouldn't suspect a thing. He'd think he was the only one with any real control of the arena, but Minato had been holding this one back for a while, partially because he didn't want him to see it, mainly because he didn't know if it would work.
This trick was one he hadn't demonstrated yet. Namely because he hadn't figured out how to do this yet. But hey, die or fly, right? It wasn't like he had any other options; the Bodhisattva wasn't quite weak enough to be finished off with a Gungnir kick right to the head, and there's no way he'd expect an attack from that direction.
Nothing for it but to try it.
Spend 1 Resolve, ready a healing potion. Minato feigns letting the attack hit him, while secretly fortifying the ground in front of him with as many weapons as he can pack inside it, saving two to move. Right before the attacks land, Minato blasts himself out of the way, using Gleipnir to yank the Bodhisattva into the now-trapped area to stab him and hold him in place, hopefully nailing himself with his own attacks.
[[6] 2 2 [5] 4 5 6 1 4 4]
Post by: Empiricist on August 31, 2019, 10:21:37 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emperor's New Clothes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-zWTDzebE) | ] |
It's the ground. They can't cover the ground. Their very construction leaves a blindspot right beneath them, and as far as they know you have no way to strike it. How wrong they are.
Let's fucking do this.
Your latest forgery is Ascalon, the Dragon-Slaying Spear. Such titles matter little here, at this level of invocation it is simply a spear, a long sharp stick. In theory it should be enough to outrange a foe's fists however many there are. In practice you aren't so confident here, but that's fine, what matters isn't what it can do, what matters is that looks you're actually trying. You twirl the spear in your hand as if testing the weight. Good, focus on the sharp shiny stick. Look at how it shines, how it dazzles. Carefully now, swiftly now, you slide the vial into your injector with your free hand, masking the motion by catching weapon's rear.
Then you charge.
An open palm guides your spear away, another crashes against your chest, forcing the air out of your lungs. You inject the potion and Ascalon detonates. That provides the horizontal component. A second detonation provides the vertical component. Two explosions at once, but how could your foe know that? All they know is there was a blast, and when that blast cleared, when their eye beam lanced you right out of the air, all you had left was the bow and the chain. When you used that chain to pull them with you, how could they have known that five weapons were buried right in front of them?
They couldn't.
| [Now Playing: | Kings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU7co2-yn_Q) | ] |
Five spectral blades erupt from the ground stabbing and entrapping the Bodhisattva. Now there's no escape. Their arms could protect them from an explosion, they did that just now too - a couple arms from the right side were used to soak the blast from your initial escape. Thing is, they have to be between the blast and their body, and right now, those swords, those just improvised explosives, they're pressed right against the Bodhisattva's body.
The starlight swords do not move. The beam continues crashing against your chest, throwing you through the air. But you have plenty of potions, and you can still blast this fucker right damn now.
"...AND SO THE TABLES HAVE TURNED. I COMMEND YOU, MINATO."
The beam suddenly traces off your armor and rushes upwards before zigzagging back down, aiming to strike you from above and impale you upon the ring of starlight swords. The Bodhisattva itself remains still though auxiliary thrusters across their body begins to flare with energy. Guess they're planning on soaking this hit and repositioning for a counter.
The beam follow up you could probably dodge using an explosion, hell Gleipnir alone should be enough - it'll go off when you detonate the other forgeries anyways, it's the set up that's important now, picking tools and weapons for round 2.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 31, 2019, 12:34:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 31, 2019, 07:37:21 pm
"Eheh sorry, I had to download everything first and then it turned out I didn't configure it properly."
"So what's going on? Who's your friend here?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on August 31, 2019, 10:27:37 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 01, 2019, 09:29:43 am
"In any case. I'm relieving Noriko here, so I assume that the bioweapon is now my responsibility. Your highness, you're not really part of the training, just tagging along, right, so you can probably do what you want. Namely head to the resort with Noriko." As he finished, he surveyed the room. Would they be attacked simply talking here? Would the adversaries be required to wait until Noriko had exited, but then strike immediately?
Post by: Empiricist on September 01, 2019, 09:46:49 am
"Hmm not a bad idea!"
She turns to face Noriko
"Mind if I tag along, I figure I still owe you for last night."
Enemies, they could probably attack you right now. Well Yuki at least. They don't neccesarily know you're you given the illusion and all that, not to mention that their previous target is still right high and possibly liable to interfere. Plus Baghead's group seems to be waiting, or biding. One or the other.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 01, 2019, 11:25:12 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2019, 02:34:32 am
Leaving your temp phone behind you depart with your hopefully-not-a-one-night-stand, a little too aware of the eyes tracking you as you do so. Patricija leans in a bit closer speaking quietly into your ear
"Is this bothering you? I could get them off us if you don't mind a detour. Oh! we haven't had breakfast yet, wanna grab a bite to eat too? There's some good stalls here so it's pretty quick, my treat!"
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2019, 08:17:08 am
"So uh, mind giving me a quick rundown on everything? Most of my intel's come from trash tabloid articles. What I've heard is something about crashing through a window with the princess, the battle you've had this morning, Noriko having a thing for her brother, and something about a bioweapon. So, not the most thorough nor accurate set of information. Also we've got at least two sets of adversaries still to go. One group, mainly after you two before, but now me also, and one possibly alone after me and probably now you."
"So. What have you got?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 02, 2019, 08:27:16 am
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2019, 09:05:55 am
"Anyway, info on the bioweapon, can that guy give it to us? Or are we just supposed to find some arbitrary bioweapon." This he directed at both Yuki and the receptionist behind the desk who they'd been talking to. As he asked this, Shef attempted to make a very small portal in the floor. Would it lead anywhere, a basement perhaps, or simply into solid rock?
Post by: Empiricist on September 02, 2019, 09:21:17 am
Through the portal you see a basement with warded storage units. You look up to find the receptionist staring dead into your eyes.
"<Please refrain from accessing areas without permission. I understand that your friend is from old Earth so I'd imagine you are too, I feel it is fair to warn you here then that what you have just done counts a trespassing and can be prosecuted as such.>"
He gives a few moments for his words to sink in before relaxing his posture.
"<The air down there's enchanted, open a connection to it and it pours out marking the exit point. Fairly standard around these parts.>"
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2019, 09:28:57 am
Post by: Twinwolf on September 02, 2019, 10:18:12 am
Post by: Strider03 on September 02, 2019, 06:40:21 pm
And she'd drank some augmented whiskey from a mysterious container? And that was different from the initial drinks? In the back corners of his mind, another beam was added to the edifice of Shef's resolution to not drink ever.
As Yuki finished, he, with increasing concern, asked, "You. . . you do know not to drink mysterious liquids that you don't know the contents of, right Yuki?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 02, 2019, 08:44:02 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 03, 2019, 03:46:19 am
True to her words Patricija doesn't take you far, not by any stretch of the imagination - the food markets are close, aggressively close to the guild, makes sense you suppose, everyone wants a piece of the adventurer's paycheck while they're still riding that high.
The market is bustling, there's so much traffic you find the gazes shifting away people more preoccupied with more substantial matters than idle gossip. Well, that and you're not entirely sure much of the people here know who the princess is anyways, adventurers and tourists, they'd be the kind to come from other places you'd imagine.
Stalls are, well, you're not quite sure what you expected but they're a bit more sci-fi than what you'd expect, with illusory displays listing items and nutritional details, and force membranes acting to the insulate food from the open air. You actually spy some of the food handlers using that forcefield appliance Fleur gave you, fields of force enveloping their hands and other appendages as they handle food before dissipating and rebooting as they switch to some other task, quick disposable gloves basically. Huh, guess it's not just for condoms after all.
The food has a definite skew towards Mediterranean with plenty of seafood dishes a befitting Kingshaven's location, the food fantastically garnished, but mostly recognizable at least in vague terms - you don't know what kinda fish is on that grill but you can at least tell it's fish. Magic plays a heavy role naturally, but after a while you get a sense for the playing field so to speak, the main features here compared to Earth have to do with temperature and cohesion, dishes sizzle with perfectly distributed heat and exist in forms that shouldn't be normally stable, things like piping hot ice cream and cold gaseous syrup, beyond that it mostly has to do with anomalous properties of the ingredients themselves.
Yet that isn't what you notice first, it's actually one of the vending machines you noticed first, offering hot cooked multicourse meals. Fancy shit, like real fancy shit, before you could've starved yourself for a week and still not have found something half as nice, but this? This is actually cheaper than the meals you used to have. At least, you think so? You don't really have a baseline for this off-realm currency, but assuming prices are similar to the US dollar or Euro, it only costs around as much as a candy bar. If you eat it soon anyways, it apparently expires in half an hour and it costs extra for each half hour boost to its longevity."Magic and sawdust." Patricija explains "Mostly sawdust."
Post by: Twinwolf on September 03, 2019, 02:03:18 pm
"A supervirus, and all we know is that you took a selfie with it. Lovely." He'd been joking about Noriko probably owing him for this, but it was starting to seem like this might be a pretty big favor.
And she'd drank some augmented whiskey from a mysterious container? And that was different from the initial drinks? In the back corners of his mind, another beam was added to the edifice of Shef's resolution to not drink ever.
As Yuki finished, he, with increasing concern, asked, "You. . . you do know not to drink mysterious liquids that you don't know the contents of, right Yuki?"
Yuki seemed almost offended at the implication. "Usually I do! Just not when I'm drunk, which I'm still not sure how that happened because I specifically asked if there was alcohol and they said no."
Post by: Strider03 on September 03, 2019, 05:20:02 pm
"Anyway! We've got only a few leads. Noriko's phone here is one, along with the selfie you apparently took with the bioweapon. And you don't remember anything from last night?" Investigate the backdrop of the selfie--location data too if Kingshaven phones did that sort of thing--, and check whether there are any saved numbers, or call/text history in Noriko's phone. Once that info is obtained, check the browser history.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 03, 2019, 05:58:27 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 03, 2019, 07:08:50 pm
"Yes... but only because it fills your stomach with sawdust. Though it's nutritionally fortified if that's what you're worried about."
No, you're kinda more just not interested in eating sawdust.
"Sanma... sanma... that'd be... a kind of grilled fish right? Let me search it up..."
She kinda just spaces out for a bit as if deep in thought before getting back to you.
"Ah yes, there's a place that sells it, right this way!"
The stall she leads you to specializes in seafood and pyromancy, with its signature dishes cooked packed in clay. Except instead of clay it's a low temperature magma-like substance made from conjured molten rock and seasoning.
Still they do have sanma. Sort of anyways - you'll have to make it yourself: it's like one of those noodle places where you choose your own ingredients, except instead of cooking it in a kitchen, they just give you a cross between a Korean stone pot and a grill that cooks your ingredients in the bowl itself before purging the excess heat in a blast of steam.
Shef and Yuki
Six numbers saved to her phone, none with any names. Two of them are Sendo numbers. The other four do not correspond the any location on Earth - they have letters in their area code. Local, you presume. You see a message history to a seventh number, again Sendo, this one seems to be Kouta judging by the texts. Another message history is directed at the guild, consisting solely of the selfie in question. Photo, you got no location data. Backdrop is the interior of a nightclub. Well, "nightclub". It's day in there, with an artificial environment that resembles a tropical beach with snow for sand and what appears to be pieces of cathedral jutting out from the waters. A few internet searches later and you get a name and address, it's not too far from here by train, though it's also closed during the day.
Lastly browser history doesn't have too much, mostly just sites following the only two searches in it, namely Mental asylums in Sendo and Where do babies come from?
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 04, 2019, 01:26:21 pm
She looks over the shop for a moment. She'd been hoping to just grab something and go, but realistically she had no reason to hurry. Not that this stopped her from wanting to get back to her little brother as fast as possible to quiet the voice in the back of her head screaming that something could befall him at any moment. . . but for now she could push that back. Eventually, she picks out a relatively plain dish, then does her best to follow the instructions and avoid setting herself on fire or something.
Post by: Empiricist on September 04, 2019, 08:39:40 pm
"Not directly."
So yes then, well, that explains how she suddenly started speaking Japanese at least.
The instructions are fairly easy to follow, you just hit the red button to activate the bowl's grill and place ingredients on it with the utensils provided, when they're cooked to your satisfaction, you click the blue button and cool it down to a less painful temperature. At that point the grill itself dissipates letting the food fall a bit deeper down while the bottom section of the bowl detaches letting you throw away whatever fat has drained down there. Pretty simple all things considered. Patricija for her part decides to pick the same ingredients as you and soon enough starts grilling them on her own bowl.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 05, 2019, 07:53:46 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 05, 2019, 08:06:57 pm
"Here."Shef tossed Noriko's phone over to Yuki. "First things first, take this, give Kouta a call. He wouldn't recognize my voice." Not that recognizing Shef's voice was likely to reassure anyone. "Tell him Noriko is no longer at this number, is on her way back sooner than expected, etc."
As an afterthought, Shef added, "Also tell him to try not to get in the way of his sister's date."
Post by: Twinwolf on September 05, 2019, 08:39:39 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 05, 2019, 09:13:37 pm
As they exited the guild hall, Shef commented, "I should mention, we're probably gonna be ambushed again at some point. There's a woman in a red dress who was my adversary for the training, and a group including someone with a bag on their head. They've been tailing you since. . .well I don't know since when. But at least an hour I think."
Check the call history with Yuki, were any of the local numbers called? And if they were, check the timestamps on the calls to determine whether they were made before or after the text to the guild.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 06, 2019, 02:57:25 pm
Faith's mouth twisted into a grimace as the restrained details of that damn moon of madness tried to strike her in her mind, assaulting her eyes and her sense of direction, forcing her to turn her head slightly so she wasn't at least staring it dead-on. At least her Shield of Apathy was there protecting her from the moon's full effects, but it wasn't going to last unless reinforced. ...unless reinforced... If the Shield of Apathy even being simply around that moon put it under her control, Faith supposed that the madness effects actually fell under the purview of her emotional magic. And Faith already knew that she could fill other magic with her own and control it, so if she could push out the madness magic...
Faith began to move backwards (because she suspected Luna wouldn't just let her do her plan unaccosted), but as she did she set her face into one of effort, conjuring the magic of another Shield of Apathy -- but instead of letting this one physically manifest into either a shield or a net in the first place, Faith channeled it directly through the net holding the moon under her control, and she tried to push the apathy magic into the moon and force the madness out, first putting all of the magic of the new Shield of Apathy into this, and then using whatever remnants of the currently-net-form Shield of Apathy there were for the same purpose. If she was successful, Faith would be able to turn the moon from Luna's Moon of Madness into her Moon of Apathy -- and perhaps even if she couldn't manage that she could take the Moon out of the running altogether.
While backpedaling to avoid follow-up attacks, Faith casts a new Shield of Apathy directly into the old one, and actively tries to replace the madness magic in the moon with the apathy magic from both. Alteration to 5.
World Line: 1-->5 1 6 1 6 5 5 4 5
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 07, 2019, 02:03:43 am
"So, um. . . how exactly did we run into each other last night?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 07, 2019, 09:50:24 pm
None of the numbers have been called. Noriko apparently just saved them into her phonebook without giving them a name. You make a mental note to lecture her on proper contact management later. No sign of baghead when you exit the guild. Red stays in the guild building as far as you can tell.
Train station is again, fairly close to the guild.
((We can skip forwards or have you guys do something depending on Sakurako's action and your responses.))
Sakurako
Baghead and co have changed positions though their modus operandi remains the same, observing Shef and Yuki nearby buildings, taking great care to stay out of their line of sight. Red remains in the guild building. However you notice that a young boy is tailing the duo as well, taking advantage of his size to hide in the crowds and making sure to always stay a few paces back.
Faith
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
So the moon just swings at you, rays of madness filtering through a thickening web and coming out as mostly apathy, you recall thinking of trying to wrestle further control of it from there but to be honest you don't really feel up to it, you kinda just feel meh right now, even as the moon practically brushes past you, your dodge succeeding by the smallest of margins. Shit! It's the apathy isn't it? You've corrupted the moon, you've corrupted it alright it's fucking affecting you too! In fact, it's getting worse now - the rays are intensifying, the illumination previously focused right at you like a searchlight blooming out like the world's worst discoball, though really the worst part about all this is just how deadpan Luna is handling all this. At least Satoshi looked like she was having fun when she was teasing you, Luna meanwhile just stares at you unblinkingly with those cold dead eyes.
"Yes." She replies. "But only our underwear."
Wait, what?
You hear this horrific garbled roar behind you, the howling heat of a raging star exploding out from behind you. They, they can cast both?
You're trapped now, sandwiched between the sun and moon, and with all that apathy you can't even gather up the will to move, to save yourself. The sun burns brighter and brighter prominences coiling across its surface readying to strike you from behind with a flare. You observe it all with detached disapassionate acceptance. The sun flares brightly one last time, and fizzles. The moon fizzles too.
"I think I'll have some tea."
Sol just sort of wanders off into the crowd tying his ponytail back up as he does so, leaving you standing there dazed and hollow for a few moments. Eventually, you come back to your senses.
...Did, did you just win?
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Noriko
With a plume of steam your dish cools to a less scalding hot. You detach the bottom and toss it in the bin.
"Oh, um... we met in a bar, you two came in looking really happy, Yuki said something about having 'super special secret training' I think?" You're pretty sure she's glossing over some details there.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 08, 2019, 09:53:41 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 08, 2019, 04:58:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 08, 2019, 05:37:22 pm
Aight so you two board the train and you're a ways away into your trip when Noriko's phone starts ringing. It's from one of the local numbers in her contacts list.
Sakurako
Baghead and co don't seem to follow immediately, they seem to just start discussing something in the bookstore they're holed up in, something that gets Baghead rather animated. Eventually, they resume tailing Shef, and Yuki, moving from building to building before finally perching themselves ontop of a train carriage. Through all this Red still hasn't left the guild as far a you can tell anyways, maybe it was an illusion like the one Shef was using and they discarded it now? The boy meanwhile follows the duo straight onto the train.
Noriko
"Well..."
She fidgets, smiling a bit too nervously
"We did go on a date..."
Post by: Strider03 on September 10, 2019, 06:23:38 pm
The ring of the phone put that plan on hold. "You answer, since you might have been there when Noriko got the number. Keep them talking if you can." Shef murmured.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 10, 2019, 06:49:01 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 10, 2019, 07:02:43 pm
It's an energetic lady on the other end of the line "Oh hi Yuki! How've you been? ...wait why are you answering you Noriko's phone?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 10, 2019, 07:07:54 pm
When Shef inevitably asks if she knows the person, Yuki would shrug.
Post by: Empiricist on September 10, 2019, 07:13:01 pm
"A likely story! But how do I know that you are definitely Yuki and not a total psycho who's kidnapped my adorable models and trying to steal their identities?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 10, 2019, 07:24:17 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 10, 2019, 07:25:46 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 10, 2019, 07:33:30 pm
"Well if you weren't Yuki or Noriko you might not know whose phone it was, so you'd have to either force them to tell you or you'd take a 50/50 guess, either way you could definitely end up pretending to be the wrong person!"
"But anyways... I can definitely prove who I am because I know what we talked about last night! You can ask me anything!"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 11, 2019, 06:48:25 pm
Still, she had kind of blasted herself with an incredible saturation of apathy magic, so she couldn't exactly drive herself to care all that much about what to do next. She was basically just walking around the city waiting to be attacked, anyway... maybe she'd find a restaurant or something, or just... something else interesting and easy to do? Eating didn't exactly take a ton of effort, after all.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 11, 2019, 06:53:31 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 11, 2019, 07:04:47 pm
You come across an ice cream stand selling a few exotic forms of ice-cream including: hot but surprisingly solid, fried with a hot shell but cold inside, as a variety pack of fried mini-scoops, and as a pack of cohesive but well-seperated miniscoops with a variety of toppings and skewers and a chocolate fondue.
Wait, were the twins still going to come after you even? They did say they'd stop once you beat them off, one way or another, and you kinda just did didn't you?
Noriko
"Don't worry you didn't do anything weird!" No you're pretty sure you did do plenty of weird things given that you looted a bioweapon and then went off to hit on a girl.
"I um, really enjoyed it actually."
Another awkward silence.
"I just wish you could remember it too. You looked really happy."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 12, 2019, 10:19:24 am
[[2] 2 5 4 6 1 4 4 5 5]
Post by: Twinwolf on September 12, 2019, 06:23:19 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 12, 2019, 07:10:38 pm
"Around nine pm!"
So before the selfie was taken but after the call to the guild.
"You were carrying a tablet with some doujinshi on it! I remember reading through them, they were super lewd but the explanations were spot on!"
No mention of the vial? Could she be lying then? Or maybe she just didn't see it? The doujinshi sounds an awful like Fleur's tomes though...
"As for why you're here... it's training! You're Godslayers who came here with your teammates, like your well-endowed half-sister, and that pervy maid guy who's Yukari's grandson, and that super shifty guy who may or may not be dealing in arms, severed arms, drugs, corporate secrets, and any and all other contraband!"
Uh...
"Now it's my turn! And I expect you to answer these without delay so you can't coerce them out of your prisoners! Ready?"
Okay that seems simple enough.
"Describe the panties you were wearing!"
What.
Post by: Strider03 on September 12, 2019, 07:39:17 pm
At the woman's last question, Shef turned away, dismissing one of the pop-up recommendations from the illusion's HUD, and instead intently at the window, trying not to pay too much attention.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 12, 2019, 09:48:46 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 13, 2019, 12:10:24 am
Patricija for her part falls silent and looks away at your response, a touch of regret or was it resignation? Clearly she wasn't looking forwards to mentioning your date, and given its impacts on your current totally-not-a-date, not without reason either. The moment passes, the mood dies a less dignified death. Eventually she speaks again.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know... Is it really that bad back home?" Huh?
Post by: Twinwolf on September 13, 2019, 04:24:16 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 13, 2019, 06:53:34 pm
"Correct! You're either Yuki, or you're a sicko pervert ontop of being a psycho. Hard to tell. I'll be honest I was trying to think up of some more questions but I couldn't in time, so how about we meet up so I can check in person and hand back that Atlantian bioweapon? You left it in my apartment."
Post by: Twinwolf on September 13, 2019, 07:34:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 13, 2019, 08:15:52 pm
"Oh don't worry, we won't be meeting at our apartment. We'll meet at Pavillion Square, wouldn't want you pulling any funny business in my apartment right?"
Pavillion Square shouldn't be too far, there's actually an upcoming station near there.
Post by: Strider03 on September 13, 2019, 08:23:53 pm
"So you two went and revealed all this to some random person you don't even really know? And left the bioweapon with her? Jesus christ." He'd have to convince Winter and Enn to do a training session on accepting drinks from strangers or something. Like drug and alcohol safety training.
"Also! I'm not involved. . .I'm not doing any of those things that you and Noriko told her! Especially not corporate espionage. What do you take me for?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 13, 2019, 09:12:33 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 13, 2019, 09:40:41 pm
"Well. I'm just working for Winter and Enn right now. Doing the combat stuff, with a side of Acquisitions Negotiation and such. I'm not doing anything illegal." Shef explained. At the moment. His tone retained some edge though as he continued. "It's not about the actual info you know. It's about the fact that this was allowed to happen. You could have given out any information to anyone, and not remembered it. Imagine if you'd handed over your social security number, or blackmail fodder, or the like. It's not the specifics, it's the general principle."
"There's nothing to be done now though, guess there's no point in harping on it." He conceded, lapsing into silence for a few seconds. Though, he did have that question that he wanted to ask, didn't he. . .
"By the way, how does it suit me, the. . .uh, look?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 13, 2019, 11:53:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2019, 01:14:47 am
The princess looks genuinely confused "Oh, I meant with all the spiders and Aramitama running around and the population stresses... I was worried the date was a faux pas and all... Cultural differences and everything."
What? The fuck's that supposed to mean? What, does she think that the only reason you can't date girls is because everyone needs to reproduce to offset all the spider and Aramitama-related murders?
Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Kings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU7co2-yn_Q) | ] |
You blow your forgery and land on the ground. Your foe blows the forgeries encaging them and just vanishes in the blast. A plume of debris rises but well, you know how that song and dance goes. A beam rips through the cloud parting it and hey whaddya know, guy's still standing, er, floating.
"DO NOT PLAY SO CONSERVATIVELY. YOU SHOULD HAVE PRESSED THE ADVANTAGE. YOU STILL HAVE THE BOW DO YOU NOT?"
They're kinda fucked up now. Yeah uh, it wasn't just the forgeries that blew up either, the resulting chain reaction? Blew up Gleipnir too. So now not only are they battered and sparking and quite badly hurt, they're also missing their left arm too.
...Also, you're holding one of the starlight swords in their remaining hand and they've got the same aura Yuki had, a scintillating aura of air that flows like water, a haze twists their image as if it were a mirage. Well, this is gonna suck.
"DO NOT BE SURPRISED. WHO DO YOU THINK IT WAS THAT TAUGHT YOUR COMRADE HOW TO MASTER HER POWERS? LET US SEE HOW MUCH THAT MISTAKE WILL COST YOU."
Aight so this is definitely the same thing as Yuki's. Good thing you've already analyzed that by now, eh?
In that fight with Shou, Yuki seemingly moved with absurd speed and inflicted damage consistent with one of her regular cleaving strikes. But you know it could not have been simple speed. A faster strike would have had more kinetic energy. A faster strike would've inflicted more damage, besides even with less spirit energy behind it would've achieved an effect closer to shrapnel. No, there was a trick behind it.
Three possibilities come to mind: One, for an instant she became something else; a being of energy, a phantom, something like that, something that allowed her to move faster at the cost of losing that attack boost. Two, she twisted space to simulate a hastened attack. Three, she never used her Regalia at all, she simply teleported and dropped a vectorless magic strike right ontop of Shou.
Course problem with possibilities is, you're not entirely sure which it is, and all of them have annoyingly different properties. For instance, a vectorless strike would easiest to dodge but could very well ignore your armor whereas an energy form would be real hard to dodge but real easy to block if your armor's tough enough. You'd consider just fucking kicking the guy as they went to move in but uh... yeah they're not making it that easy: they're not just readying to charge you down, they're re-engaging their armor and ricocheting that beam to try and tag you first. Simple fork move: either you dodge the beam and get nailed by a blindingly fast charge as you dodge, or... you get nailed by the beam and eat the charge anyways. Not pleasant.
"LET EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN PLANNED COME TRUE. LET THEM BELIEVE. AND LET THEM HAVE A LAUGH AT THEIR PASSIONS. BECAUSE WHAT THEY CALL PASSION ACTUALLY IS NOT SOME EMOTIONAL ENERGY, BUT JUST THE FRICTION BETWEEN THEIR SOULS AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD. AND MOST IMPORTANT, LET THEM BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES. LET THEM BE HELPLESS LIKE CHILDREN, BECAUSE WEAKNESS IS A GREAT THING, AND STRENGTH IS NOTHING."
Goddamnit, you really should've just gunned them down when you had the chance. Okay what can you do? Well, you could try and guess how that move works and counter it, do something like a dodge for a vectorless strike, an armor boost for an energy form, an explosive counter a spacial distortion... or you could try and summon something that lets you counteract all three, be it by letting you tank it all, or by letting you counter several at the same time.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on September 14, 2019, 06:20:43 am
Faith didn't hesitate to go up to the counter and purchase some of that fried ice cream.
And, yeah, Sol and Luna still might go after her, but she kinda guessed that was just gonna keep happening, so whatever. As long as they didn't explode her ice cream or something. She'd be mad if they exploded her ice cream.
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2019, 06:36:47 am
Right so it just turns out to be literally just fried icecream but marginally better. The main improvements have to do with the coating, it's fluffier and crunchier, lacking any noticeable trace of oil but not being dry either. The inside, well it's icecream.
Post by: Powder Miner on September 14, 2019, 06:43:31 am
She had gone for a pack of flavors that started at the mundane and got progressively more and more exotic, going from the most basic flavors to moderately uncommon ones, to rare ones that did exist on Earth, and then evidently to some kinds of flavors not found on Earth. She wasn't so sure about those but... what the hell, she could live a little. But what were the other ten flavors?
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2019, 07:30:34 am
You try in order:
- True Coffee: Like coffee flavored ice-cream but it encaptures the whole coffee experience a lot better with a layered construction consisting of a foamy exterior lightly dusted with chocolate and a denser coffee interior. Though the ice-cream itself is cold it emits the rich aroma of hot coffee.
- Ignian Cookie Dough: It's like regular cookie dough ice-cream, but the cookie dough cooks itself and soaks up the vanilla ice-cream before uncooking itself and releasing it, this process happens in uneven patches giving it a unique consistency.
- Rehardening Vanilla: So it's vanilla ice-cream but whenever you take a bite out of it, the exposed icecream hardens and puffs out into a nice crunchy exterior so that every bite has that nice satisfying crunch.
- Foxfire Delight: Sort of like chili chocolate except instead of chili it's actual fire with some globs of what are best described as flavored napalm, all of which feel very very hot despite not actually being able to burn you. Thankfully the cool chocolate icecream quickly neutralizes the heat.
- Liquid Delirium: An energetic substance that ebbs and flows with fresh cream flowing through its roiling coils. Its exact physical properties seem to alter as you eat it as if pre-programmed in some manner. Its flavor is pretty simple but in an elegant and efficient way, though you do feel like something is watching you.
- Nolstalgia: Shockingly mundane in flavor. It tastes exactly like an ice-cream you had a long time ago, back when your father gave a damn. Those were happier times, you can almost feel the hot Miami sun and taste the hints of sea spray...
- Ephemeral Bliss: It tastes amazing. It tastes like the best thing you've ever tasted, but it's fleeting, oh so fleeting, the moment it leaves your tongue you can't even remember the taste, leaving you feeling almost a little empty.
- Astral Storm: A chilled swirling mass of energy with a texture closer to a dense gas than a solid, the flavor is indescribable though not unpleasant either, with the intricate hints in it changing with its turbulence and discharges of energy sending jolts of flavor tingling into your tongue.
- Air Conditioning: Utterly flavorless and insubstantial, but while eating it you feel the cold wind of an air conditioner blowing down on you, and it actually does seem to cool you down.
- Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green: It tastes like nothing you've ever tasted before. Guess this is what Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green tastes like, whatever the hell Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green is.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 14, 2019, 01:22:58 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2019, 06:25:19 pm
"Sorry! Sorry! I just thought that with all the Aramitama and spiders and emus..." Wait, emus? "...Anyways, um, just for my sake would you mind telling me if um, what we did last night was um, acceptable? I don't really know a lot about Earth beyond what General Holt told me..." Holt? Like, the guy in that statue from earlier? The former Prime Minister of Australia?
Post by: Twinwolf on September 14, 2019, 08:12:20 pm
"Oh." There was maybe a bit of a point there.
"Well. I'm just working for Winter and Enn right now. Doing the combat stuff, with a side of Acquisitions Negotiation and such. I'm not doing anything illegal." Shef explained. His tone retained some edge though as he continued. "It's not about the actual info you know. It's about the fact that this was allowed to happen. You could have given out any information to anyone, and not remembered it. Imagine if you'd handed over your social security number, or blackmail fodder, or the like. It's not the specifics, it's the general principle."
"There's nothing to be done now though, guess there's no point in harping on it." He conceded, lapsing into silence for a few seconds. Though, he did have that question that he wanted to ask, didn't he. . .
"By the way, how does it suit me, the. . .uh, look?"
"Well I wasn't planning to get drunk! I asked if the drink had alcohol in it and they said no." Yuki said indignantly. Then the actual question came up. "Ooooh, it looks really nice! You give off that kinda 'cool girl' vibe."
Post by: Strider03 on September 14, 2019, 08:32:35 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 14, 2019, 09:27:50 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 14, 2019, 09:49:41 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 14, 2019, 11:15:25 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 14, 2019, 11:23:50 pm
"Oh, I had no idea!"
Clearly.
"Dumb question but... why would anyone think you're a pervert?"
Shef and Yuki
Pavilion Square. Once a grand palace, then a central station, now a shopping mecca. Its flooded expanses stretch out before you overgrown with plants and train-tracks alike, an immaculate palace in immaculate ruins, the glass still as clear as the crystal waters below, the marble still as pristine as fine as your illusory appearance. So Yuki assures you anyways.
The place is a garden, as much of tracks and ruins as it is of vines and flowers. New platforms rise from beneath the water like the lilypads around them, signal posts grow haphazardly, a few have become bird roosts, a few more signs to help navigate the grand market and train tracks grow and tangle, blooming with ruins of rooms that never were. The tracks have become walkways, and new tenants have settled into the ruins, the broken rooms symbiotic with the creepers that grow up their walls and the merchants who have set up inside, nourished and reinforced, royal elegance intertwining with natural greenery and fresh metropolitan style. You see gardeners tending to the place, pruning it with shears of thermite and guiding it with trellises of steel.
It is beautiful. It perilous. Foot traffic is high, who knows what lies within the crowds? The skeletal rafters and dense treetops make for excellent vantage points or sniper positions, while the ruin-shops and undersides of the platforms could work well for ambushes. It's a tactical nightmare. You mentally kick yourself for not searching the place up, for not interjecting when the lady proposed it, of course she'd suggest it - whoever sets up the meeting holds all the damn cards.
And then, and then you see her. You her waving at Yuki, and your stomach just drops. Those eyes! Dear God, those eyes! They're the eyes of a seasoned soldier, trained and alert with a piercing intensity yet relaxed in spite of it all. You had thought her another eccentric. You had thought wrong. Make no mistake here, this lady is dangerous.
"Hey Yuki! Over here! Over here!"
Sakurako
From your vantage point nestled in a tree above you Shef and Yuki exit the train and make their rendezvous with a lady just inside Pavilion Square. The little boy stayed in the train while Baghead and co rushed up another tree. You take care to remain out of their sight. Something feels wrong. The meeting is going forward as expected but you can't shake that feeling, that almost sickening gut feeling that something's not right. Instincts screaming you scan your surroundings again. Nothing. You scan the rafters, tracing all the way across just in case there's a sniper. Nothing. You shift your gaze back and... wait... what's that? There, deeper in the markets, you can see the same scene playing out a split second in advance.
You see what appears to be Shef and Yuki meeting with the exact same lady.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 15, 2019, 08:37:55 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 08:43:33 am
"It's been great for me! Super-productive thanks to you and Noriko! Wait, where's Noriko? Who's the girl with you? Why's your day rough?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 08:57:44 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 08:58:49 am
"Whaaaat? But your breasts aren't nearly as big as Noriko said they were!"
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 09:05:41 am
Very quietly, after glancing around, Shef murmured. "Pads. I pad them sometimes." Oh god, this was going to come back to bite him. Maybe the woman would believe it, Noriko had been drunk, right? The sole comfort to Shef was that if she didn't buy it, things wouldn't be much worse than if he'd just revealed himself immediately.
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 09:06:46 am
"No way! Where'd you get them? They must be pretty good right?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 09:11:51 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 09:21:53 am
"Sure thing! So... is your sister okay?"
Sakurako
Wait, they're not a split second ahead anymore! They started that way, but now it's kinda, back and forth? The other version of the lady always moves a split second ahead of the one speaking to the real Shef and Yuki, but the real Shef and Yuki are always a split second ahead of their other selves?
Post by: Twinwolf on September 15, 2019, 09:35:09 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 15, 2019, 04:42:43 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 05:13:15 pm
"Aww well that isn't too good is it? Don't worry though, I can help! As soon as you answer these questions! And quickly too! When did you Awaken? Where did you Awaken? What are Minato's fetishes? Whose chest did Shef cave in? Describe the Aramitama you've killed! Oh and what happened on the Eleventh of September?"
Noriko
"Oh." She looks a bit confused by all this "Why?" Well that's simple enough to answer and she does seem genuinely oblivious to fact of the matter too, so it probably won't hurt to explain exactly why.
...You do know why right?
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 15, 2019, 05:42:23 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 15, 2019, 06:07:15 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 06:24:10 pm
"Oh, that's pretty quaint" Quaint?
"Hmm, maybe it's related to everyone thinking you're hallucinating?" Somehow you doubt that.
Shef and Yuki
"Do you know, Faith? And I mean 2001."
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 06:26:01 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 15, 2019, 06:29:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 06:52:12 pm
"I meant the other stuff like the lady whose chest got caved in! And yup! 9/11, pretty obvious right? It's a big event... if you live on Earth. It's not something most people around these parts would care about."
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 06:54:37 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 07:01:16 pm
"Hmm... Okay you're good! I think! What can I do for you? Need help remembering what happened?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 15, 2019, 07:08:22 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 07:20:24 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 07:48:41 pm
"Sure thing! I meant you guys last night near the harbor, you two looked super cute so I asked if you two were okay with it modeling for my manga and you were so we went back to my apartment and got down to business! Drawing took some time so we had a chat while you guys held your poses, thanks a lot for that by the way, it turned out great!"
She produces a draft copy of her work and oh god, that's a full-on ero-manga. Well uh, we now know why she knows what Yuki's panties look like. Well, at leatt the girls in it don't look like the reference models?
"We continued to chatting afte that, you showed me the tablet you had, I wired the money into your accounts and you guys headed off."
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 07:55:36 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 08:00:06 pm
"Oh no, she was already wearing that dress back then!"
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 08:02:32 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 08:06:26 pm
"I think they left it there on accident."
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 08:11:34 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 08:25:43 pm
"The harbor, think they said they were raiding one of those Atlantian blacksites Yuki mentioned getting some super special secretly training at that time. I think a Buddhist monk was involved?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 15, 2019, 08:43:32 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 08:53:32 pm
"It's Fiona, Fiona Ritter!"
Fiona Ritter
Dangerous Pervert
Dangerous Pervert
"I've got it with me here right now of course! D'you want my draft too? Just to see what it looks like so far? Don't worry, the characters don't look like you, I learned my lesson from last time!"
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 08:58:30 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 15, 2019, 09:07:21 pm
Quote
WMN = PRXY. X HND OF. BAG BHND U N TRE. TRNG 2 FND CSTR, MOV IF PSBL, RL WMN DPR N MRKT
Then she turns her attention to the crowd, trying to spot anyone else that was following them. Was it one of the ones in the tree doing this? She notices herself begin to hyperventilate, knowing that her adrenal glands were already kicking in. She could feel the world start to slow down even without her trying to Clock Up, the stress of the situation getting to her. That's fine, it'd help sharpen her focus in small doses, slow down all this chaos so she can get a clear view... as long as it was low enough that she could control it, stay focused.
Post by: Strider03 on September 15, 2019, 09:35:49 pm
Quote
Ok. Be careful.Shef looked up from the phone, and affecting an expression of curiosity, said hesitantly, "Uhm, can I see that manga? I know someone, not me, who might like it." Shef held his hand out to see it, making a point if possible to contact Fiona's hand. A crude test to perhaps reveal the illusion, hopefully she wouldn't react too obviously if it was revealed.
"You said you did this once with someone's real appearance? Geez."
Post by: Empiricist on September 15, 2019, 09:52:14 pm
"Sure!"
Well, it's horrifically lewd. You touch her hand and it feels like it should but your mind jumps back to when you where demonstrating a choke to Evi, when she faked the tactile sensation.
"Yeah, I kinda sorta did the modeling but for real..."
Oh.
"...With my boss' wife."
OH.
"And published it."
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.
"Boss was pretty angry about it all"
Go figure.
"I got fired, one thing lead to another, and long story short the boss got stabbed by his son."
Wait what?
"But it's all good now! He's mostly recovered and we're working together again! Though uh"
She leans in close whispering loudly
"I think he's a bit of a chuunibyou now"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 15, 2019, 10:26:30 pm
Quote
If u need a distraction LMK
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 15, 2019, 10:42:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 16, 2019, 12:09:17 am
"True! Though if everyone thought I was crazy anyway I'd just do what's fun, but maybe that's just me."
She tosses her bowl into them bin.
"Let's get going, Guantanamo Bay Resort right?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 16, 2019, 06:26:02 am
He was distracted again by the buzz of the phone. A distraction, could be useful, but to do what? Preemptively attack baghead and his friends? To call off the meetup? No, they needed the bioweapon, the transaction just couldn't occur in this state.
Quote
Do whatever. Need bearing.If and when something happened, Shef needed to know which way to head to secure the real bioweapon.
In the meantime, well he had this woman's number. Perhaps this proxy setup wouldn't be alarmed by a text. It hadn't for Sakurako's. So he sent the following, mumbling, "sorry, you know how it is. . ."
Quote
Compromised. Projections.
Post by: Empiricist on September 16, 2019, 06:56:13 pm
Shef sends his message and moments later "Fiona"'s form is wreathed in cold blue flames, burning away to naught.
Your phone rings. You answer and hear Fiona's voice but lower, colder "I am in Pavillion Square. Next to the tree and coffee shop past the east entrance. Meet me here. Now."
Sakurako
You see the real Fiona dial a number. You see the imposters react with shock and confusion, the fake Shef turning over to the fake Yuki, the fake Yuki patting herself down and producing... is that a bug and tracker? The fake Fiona bursts into blue smokeless flames and vanishes.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 16, 2019, 07:05:32 pm
Post by: Strider03 on September 16, 2019, 09:09:24 pm
As he moved forward, Shef moved a flashbang and a smoke grenade to his jacket pockets.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 16, 2019, 10:00:07 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 16, 2019, 10:08:05 pm
"Is it though? I guess things are pretty different on Earth, but if it's truly wrong would you have still done it last night?" She frowns "Too far?"
Shef and Yuki
Across tracks and through crowds you go, until you see your doppelgangers, until you see Fiona standing beside them, standing behind them gun raised and bullet rushing into Yuki's chest. Her aegis shatters leaving her unharmed, though the shot wasn't too powerful either, fired from a Derringer up Fiona's sleeve.
"Sorry! Please stand still and don't block this time! Checking for illusions!"
Oh shit.
Sakurako
So Fiona just fucking shoots the doppelgangers with a Derringer and then shoots Yuki too when she shows up. That's, a thing? Everyone seems surprisingly chill about the matter thus far.
Baghead and Co. have tailed Shef and Yuki, going up another tree. They now chatter amongst themselves, visibly confused.
Post by: Strider03 on September 17, 2019, 07:29:51 am
"Your double disappeared in flames, how did you do that, could we try it with these as well?"
Post by: Twinwolf on September 17, 2019, 07:38:55 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2019, 07:48:05 am
"You knows?" she wonders, casually putting another bullet into you. Your healing quickly handles what little damage it did. Flicking the tiny pistol open she empties four spent cartridges into her hand, pocketing them before replacing them with four more and takes aim at Shef.
Shef's doppelganger stares icily at him.
"One story at a time." Fiona moves to pull the trigger.
Post by: Strider03 on September 17, 2019, 08:22:14 am
If he was just shot, he'd redirect with a cached portal. Perhaps he could pass that off as an automated defense just like Yuki's.
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2019, 08:33:52 am
"What projections? You're just trying to pass yourselves off as us and take the weapon!"
"They said you swiped the phone and planted a bug and tracker on them!" she turns to face your opposites "And they're saying you're fakes!"
She casually shoots you, the shot portaling away as your cached portal springs open. She fires three more times.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 17, 2019, 08:51:02 am
Post by: Strider03 on September 17, 2019, 09:57:56 am
"Anyway, this should be easy, right? We just ask more questions, and it should become clear who's real. I can start. . ."
"So, fake me, who's the sixth member of our group who didn't come with us on this trip? What is the name of Noriko's brother? What guided the missiles in the fight at the Appleton Estate? And. . . Well let's go with those, then you can ask some, then Fiona."
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2019, 05:16:39 pm
"I was about to ask the same thing! Do you have my memories too? A misguided hatred of me that's just because you want to be loved? Any special evil powers?"
Shef
Fiona simply produces a Derringer from her other sleeve and fires. You feel a sharp pain in your chest. Not the sharpest, not the deepest, but pain nonetheless. Error messages flash across your interface, a circular hole opens in your shirt, your real shirt. Your illusion begins its reboot process. A vectorless attack, some spherical cutting field.
"Let's start with who you are!"
Your doppelganger stares with concern and disbelief. You know enough to deblieve those expressions too. "What would you have done if that was the real me?"
Sakurako
Well, Shef's illusion just crashed...
Post by: Strider03 on September 17, 2019, 05:22:47 pm
"I'm Shef. Now answer the questions if you can. You not answering seems reason enough to disbelieve your stories as well."
Post by: Twinwolf on September 17, 2019, 05:35:19 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2019, 05:57:20 pm
"But maybe one of us is just acting friendly in the hopes of backstabbing and replacing the other! And of course! I did in the fight against Hitler-Stalin-superman!"
"Well, he -is- super sketchy! Hey Shef, what was the first Aramitama Yuki and Noriko killed? What sealed the entrance to the Appleton Estate Sanctuary? Does Faith really pad her chest?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 17, 2019, 06:05:47 pm
"If that one doesn't answer my questions I'm gonna shoot it, okay?" Shef gestured at the copy of his illusion.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 17, 2019, 06:59:32 pm
"She doesn't pad, I give her enough hugs to know that much."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 17, 2019, 09:24:51 pm
Sakurako was in the driver's seat still, but only just, her blood was pumping and complaining that it needed to do something not just sit here and watch.
Hang on.
the problem here was that the doubles seemed to know most of what they'd done... not surprising, to be honest, but... would they know about her? Doubtful, she'd met shef all of once in a backalley and as far as she knew baghead and co. didn't know she existed. So what if she threw a little chaos into the situation. And so she drops down off her perch and into the crowd, making her way over to the group, hefting the shopping bag that she'd gotten when she'd bought her replacement vials earlier and had until now kept folded up and stowed away, shoving things back into it to make it look full.
"Darling, I finished~" She'd try to come out near the imitation Shef, giggling and throwing her arms around it, letting the instincts coming from her drugs take over regarding the... exact nature of her actions. Highly embarassing later, likely *extremely* convincing that they were in some sort of relationship if the person in question didn't know otherwise. "Oooh, is that that girl you were talking about? Why are there two of her?" She tries to play up the oversexed manipulative higschooler angle, as if he'd told her about them but they'd never actually met, hoping that the sheer confusion of what the christ was she doing would be enough to break the script like so many dried noodles.
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2019, 10:30:09 pm
"Oh hi dear, how were the markets?"
The doppelganger takes Sakurako's reaction in its stride even if its stride is most certainly little moe than a drunken stumble at this point, some crazed wildcat gamble now most certainly flying by the seat of the raging conflagration that became of their proverbial pair of pants.
You smile, giving a million dollar wink aimed close enough to your shady watchers to provoke suspicion and panic, but far enough off to leave them guessing.
"Hi! Who are you? A girlfriend? A co-conspirator?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 17, 2019, 10:57:56 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 17, 2019, 11:10:04 pm
And thus the trap was sprung. This copy had just identified her as at least a very close friend, probably more, which it wouldn't have done if it'd known at all who she actually was. Meaning that the chance of it actually naming her correctly was, shall we say, very very low, and if it was lying about having a girlfriend, it was probably bullshitting about everything else, too.
Game, set, and match, bitch.
Post by: Empiricist on September 17, 2019, 11:21:29 pm
"No it's okay, it sounds like you've got something on your chest. I can get you some more privacy if you want, besides... Kouta's probably waiting. You're not related, right?"
She winks. You're not sure how you feel about this. Actually you're not entirely sure how meeting up with Kouta even relates to having a private conversation that is until until the wings sprout from her back, mechanical and almost skeletal with thrusters that burn a cold white. She smiles politely at you, waiting to see if you accept her invitation to take to the skies.
Post by: Strider03 on September 18, 2019, 06:03:17 am
He considered sending a text to Fiona asking her to stay quiet for a moment, but came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be necessary, and if the adversary had some way of intercepting that message, it might make things worse.
"Don't. . . say anything, Yuki." Shef said as quietly as he could while still being audible to her.
Post by: Empiricist on September 18, 2019, 05:45:09 pm
"Of course dear!"
Wrong.
"This is my girlfriend"
WRONG.
"Akari."
WRONG.
Fiona for her part simply smiles
"It's great to meet you Akari! While we're introducing people, could someone introduce me to their other friends too? The ones in that tree?"
She points, points directly at Baghead and Co.
"Who?"
"We don't know them."
Post by: Strider03 on September 18, 2019, 05:55:56 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 18, 2019, 08:55:53 pm
"So no one will mind if I shoot them then, right?"
She grins and reaches behind her back under her jacket.
That's an M320. Not an off-realm replica like those used by Jack-O', not a Regalia copy either, no it's an honest to god military issued M320 grenade launcher. Modified of course, a few features have been removed, including the frontal grip and leaf sights.
The weapon may have been mundane, but the munitions most certainly were not, instead of getting blade the tree instead gets struck by a bolt of lightning, the rather disreputable members having to hurl themselves out to spare themselves what was shaping up to be an awfully unpleasant tasing.
"Christ!"
Four of them. Baghead, facemask, scarves, and the cat. Guess you know who she was working for now. Still they're not scattering either, actually they seem to be heading right towards your position.
Post by: Strider03 on September 18, 2019, 09:22:24 pm
As a warning shot, Shef loaded one of the remaining pillow rounds he had on him, and fired it towards the ground in front of the approaching foes.
Post by: Empiricist on September 19, 2019, 07:18:43 am
Pillow hits the ground in front of Baghead and the guy just fucking kicks it away. They tap their bracelet and it lights up as does yours. A briefcase appears in his hands, four ethereal mirrors unfold from nonexistence behind scarf girl.
"<Enough.>" He intones, voice rumbling like distant thunder.
"<We will be engaging now. There will be no more interference from you. That girl will get what's coming to her.>"
He stops right in front of you, towering above.
"<Ten paces. That's more than reasonable.>"
"Well, time to go now, nice to meet you all-"
The doppelganger makes a run for it. Fiona catches her by the collar but "Yuki" simply vanishes into flames. "Faith" too. Well at least they weren't hot flames.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 19, 2019, 08:34:35 am
He did not check whether they had reached ten paces as he raised the gun, and fired a shot at each of the adversaries heads in turn.
Fire some of the special rounds at the heads of each of the four enemies.
[6] 6 5 5 5 3 5 6 6 2
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 19, 2019, 08:48:38 am
"Hey, my name's actually Sakurako, I'm Faith's classmate who she isn't datimg. Should we give these people some space, I think this is a duel and I need to rest off a massive amount of cocaine for a normal person."
Post by: Empiricist on September 19, 2019, 08:49:57 am
"Sounds like a plan to me! Nice to meet you Sakurako!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 19, 2019, 08:14:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 19, 2019, 11:20:22 pm
With a gust of wind and a flaring of lights the two of you begin your ascent, rising above the crowds and markets, rising above the buildings and rooftops before ducking out the way of an aerial dogfight between two squadrons of well-armed corgis. The skies above Kingshaven are not private, they are not quiet, commuters glide through the air, duelists trade blows with blade and bullet, some up close, some a horizon apart, but the skies are not your destination. No, the pair of you fly further, the city receding beneath you, the voices, the gunfire, all soon replaced by the sublime stillness of the endless ocean.
You are alone now, just the two of you lost between an empty sky and a still sea, the only noise the rushing of the wind and the faint hum of thrusters. You are lost, yet your destination nears or so Patricija says. In the Aethertide your destination is always just behind th horizon, you simply need to know what it is.
Soon you will see it, with its sandy beaches and snowglobe dome, its beachside bungalows and artificial waves, its tourists, its seabirds, Ren and Kouta too. But for now you are alone, the only souls above an endless sea stretched horizon to horizon. If you want to speak, to speak and not be heard, now would be the time.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 21, 2019, 03:37:54 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 21, 2019, 03:46:12 pm
Taking your paces one thing seems clear to you - you're up against an assassin. Not a member of the Brise de Mer mind you, or even anyone fighting with lethal intent, no it's a matter of style, of combat doctrine.
All this time following Yuki, following you, they were building up resources or constructing rituals, readying to land a single decisive blow. Recent events have thrown a spanner their way, but they seem confident enough to engage now, or at least, more confident in engaging than stalking you now they're certain you're aware.
When you first noticed them, three possibilities crossed your mind, the first that they were waiting for an opportunity, the second that they were observing how their targets fought other squads, the last that they were as they were, assassins. You can rule out the first two now.
This was not much of an opportunity. They had better ones, such as when Yuki and Noriko had only just finished their first fight. If it was the terrain that was more their concern, then there would've been little reason to delay the attack until now, they could've jumped you right after you got off the train. Observation meanwhile, that would not be hampered by your awareness. If they simply wish to hang back and watch, they could Scatter and hang back further, no need to be so rash now.
So they're assassins then, at least one of them anyways. The Mellifluent Skirmisher you rule out quickly, no way they'd risk their trump doing recon on a stranger. That leaves the other three as potential risks.
Still, ten paces, was it really just courtesy, or did they have a trick planned, it could very well be the condition for a ritual. In its execution, or in its breaking as so you intended. Either way, they must have some insurance against that, surely they would. You have the feeling, that if you take the shot it should not be at seven paces nor nine, rather it is should be a different angle completely, just to be safe.
Though... Is there some way you could use this battle too? The puppeteer, the master of these projections, they're nearby somewhere. Not unless they're exceptionally skilled, and at least that rate it's your training will be a bit of a shitshow anyways. They're either cloaked or hiding amongst the crowd. Or they're below you, under the platform, under the water, sensing everything above somehow. Anything else would stand out too much, anything Sakurako will have spotted already. You hope. The cirrculum at the school is notably lacking in terms of such elementary tradecrafts. You could use th bracelet to narrow down their location, past that you'll need some sort of way to force them to reveal themselves. Something preferably that won't get you into too much trouble with the law.
This, is your best opportunity. Sakurako's cover ha been blown. They'll know you've got eyes elsewhere moving forwards.
Yuki
"Yup!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 21, 2019, 04:06:52 pm
Don't let him see your hand; that was a thing Minato picked up. Not something Shou had taught him directly, but he figured a conman like him would know.
Of course, Minato's hand was a constantly shifting deck of cards that threw up nothing but low suits and he was holding straight flushes up his sleeves, but Minato was used to fighting on the back foot. He needed to bait the attack out, see how it operated, know what he was up against. He was pulling more tricks out of his sleeves, the longer they fought. Ordinarily, he'd be relying on intel, or someone like Shef or Noriko to see what was going on, but he was alone.
Alright, he could deal. After all, Minato had tricks he hadn't revealed yet too.
Summon Rho Aias and load it into Gandiva. Blast Minato out of the way, fire Rho Aias out of Gandiva to create a shield to catch the charge and the lasers. Get a close look at what the Bodhisattva is doing. Also prep a healing potion.
[[2] 5 4 6 1 [4] 4 5 5 4]
Post by: Empiricist on September 21, 2019, 05:21:19 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Kings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU7co2-yn_Q) | ] |
You can't cover both options, but you can cover two. That'll have to do for now. Blowing your next forgery you send a fresh Rho Aias down range, seven rings erupting out one by one as it expands into a flying wall to block the beam. Spider cracks race across the the surface as the Bodhisattva readies themselves and-
They're behind you. White-hot pain shears through your body all at once.
Thank god you prep'd that potion. You're the barest of margins from first blood here. Yet you still crack a smile. Gotta look confident, gotta look the part, even if they can't see you under that helmet out there. A hero's gotta smile at the end of the day after all. You know how it works now. That trick of theirs, those tricks of Yuki's too. It's an energy form of sorts, a little more advanced than the norm. In a split second their body became something else entirely. A wave in a still sea, an ethereal gust, a thing without form, without coherence, free to spread and reform, free to flow where the world took it. It didn't go around Rho Aias, no, it poured in through the cracks left by the beam, it flowed across your armor, seeping into the joints, cutting down through the gaps. The path of least resistance, a thunderbolt of razors.
It's funny really, you were wondering how they could have taught Yuki, how their powers could even align. Everything they had, everything they had done it was all so clearly Buddhist; Reincarnation, Sun Wukong's eyebeams, Gautama's Five Elements Mountain, Guanyin's lotus of pole star swords. Yuki meanwhile, she well, she never struck you as particularly Buddhist, in character or in powers. But this foe of yours, this mechanical Bodhisattva was armed with more than just Buddhism. No, there was no mistaking it. The power demonstrated just now, the power inherent to Yuki is that of Taoism.
Taoism, the philosophy of following the Way, the one way, the natural way. The philosophy of wind and water and lighting, of yielding, of taking the path of least resistance. You are familiar with its legends as you are with almost every legend, of a butcher whose blade follows the natural through an ox's bone, carving meat off the flesh guided not by thought nor senses but by instinct and instinct alone. Well in this case your foe was that butcher and you were that ox.
Well guess what bitch, oxes aren't armored up and packed with explosives. You are. That trick of theirs is powerful yes, but you can counter it. If you armor yourself with not gaps the damage they can inflict is limited. Better yet if you can surround yourself in an explosion, then the path of least resistance, ain't go be anywhere near that explosion.
Next time they use it anyways. Right now they're sticking to the bread and butter, transforming their sword into a halberd to crash down upon you and readying to blast you with another beam. You inject the healing potion. Okay. You can handle this too. Eye-beams, they're from Sun Wukong right? Well it just so happens the venerable monkey king's eyes were oh so sensitive to smoke and while Gandiva's arrows might not burn with smoke, you're sure this nice jacket of yours will. That ought fuck their targeting right up, you know better than to assume it will take out the rest of their loadout though.
Still, two tools decommissioned, it's a good start. Now you just need to play your part as the hustler, the expert playing the part of the fool casting away the mask at last. Pretend it was all part of the plan, pretend you knew it all from the beginning, pretend all the things you need to pretend, and win this damn fight.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 21, 2019, 05:55:45 pm
Shef remained motionless, gun raised to fire. Not out of any respect for his opponents wishes. He twitched, waiting for the optimal moment, at which their trap might be triggered. He did not take a step, as the portals opened under him, dropping rapidly him into the sky.
When he was at a height of a few stories, Shef let himself oscillate between two portals, bobbing up out of each in turn. Here he fired his initial shots, directed towards the headwear of his enemies.
Launch into the air with Room to Breathe [4]. Fire some of the special rounds at the heads of each of the four enemies.
[6] 6 5 5 5 3 5 6 6 [2+2]
Post by: Empiricist on September 22, 2019, 07:02:27 am
コンバット•スタート!
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The count is at 7 when Shef turns around.
The students still have their backs turned, though the Mellifluent Skirmisher has engaged her Regalia, augmenting her appearance a fair bit. A mechanical assemblage is anchored to the base of her spine, wrapping two halves of futuristic warship's hull around either side of her hips, their centers each holding a set vertical rack of torpedo tubes and in place of deck guns they have speakers built into the deck itself. A black coat has been added to complement her sleeveless shirt, a naval cap rests on one mechanical ear, and her rollerblades have been replaced with strange metallic boots with azure soles and ankle-mounted plates, she seems to skate across the ground just as effortlessly though.
Imprinted on her new coat Shef can see three things: the number 2, an insignia depicting a train drifting on two tracks simultaneously, and the name D.T.S COMET TRACE.
As Yuki turns to follow, to move to engage, she sees the Unflappable Shinobi produce a scroll and unfurling it behind him. Written in large repeating calligraphic text are the characters 城の原則. The scroll vanishes in a puff of smoke revealing him to now be wielding a handful of kunai. Guess he's some kinda ninja?
Portaling into the air above Shef puts a clothing damage round into the back of each foe's head as Yuki makes her advance. All four find their mark.
The Watchful Commandant loses her scarf. The Unflappable Shinobi loses his facemask and beret. The Mellifluent Skirmisher's ears and cap flicker, though they remain firmly in existence for they are her Regalia. The Inimical Attorney, well, for a moment, a moment everyone catches a glimpse of a bald head and a strong jawline, everything else hidden by the glare of the sun reflecting off of said head, and then the bag flickers back into place. Okay, apparently the paperbag is a Regalia.
The squad spins around in reaction, Yuki already bearing down on top of them.
| [Now Playing: | Spin and Burst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HsVzdA8dk) | ] |
The ground explodes under the girl's feet forcing her backwards as a series of explosions chase her backwards amidst the scintillating shards of her aegis. From above Shef can see the cause - torpedos rising up from the platform, the surface rippling as if it were water. So that was their insurance policy, a torpedo barrage lying in wait beneath the platform itself.
The Unflappable Shinobi and Watchful Commandant follow this up by making a series of hand seals like something out of an anime Yuki may or may not have seen
"<Earth Release - Mud Wall!>" "<Earth Release - Mud Wall!>"
Cement explodes up from the platform in the form of a three walls melding into one, it's not stopping either, the Shinobi repeating the technique as upwards, creating a haphazardly expanding mess of brickwork and masonry that spirals chaotically upwards. Even with Reinforcement magic Shef's RAM Regalia could likely punch through, one of the many advantages of its high caliber, the main complication is that it's obstructing his view and giving his targets plenty of places to hide, including what the hell the Commandant and Attorney are doing now.
Yuki meanwhile lacks such troubles being a melee fighter with absurd speed, the salvo of floor torpedos the Skirmisher fires towards her could prove to be problematic however, especially given that the previous explosions, while failing to deal any actual damage, have succeeded in forcing her off the platform and onto one of the tracks-turned-walkways meaning that she's now got water on both sides.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 22, 2019, 12:06:49 pm
In that case, Shef resolved to do his best to delay them, and, opening a set of portals into the expanding fortress of earth, he began tossing the smoke grenades he'd purchased earlier. Bursters mostly, they would be ideal for disorienting, hindering motion in a small area, and perhaps making breathing a little more difficult. On top of this, he began to bombard the fort with shots, dispersed evenly and randomly throughout. Even if he didn't hit anything, it could serve as a distraction for Yuki to break in if she so wished.
Open holes into the fortress, fill it with smoke grenades. Then use Rapid Fire [4] to saturate the area.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on September 23, 2019, 06:24:35 pm
Do above. Also don't get into Shef's line of fire.
Post by: Empiricist on September 24, 2019, 03:13:03 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Spin and Burst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HsVzdA8dk) | ] |
Ground frothing in their wake the torpedo barrage streams towards Yuki as she charges forwards and just fucking lunges. Reacting to her movements the torpedos leap up from the ground detonating in mid-air. They're fast. Yuki's faster. The barrage explodes behind her and she just rides the shockwave propelling her further, faster, chainsaw roaring like thunder as it cleaves the fortress open.
Smoke grenades portal in behind her, filling the air with white smoke, gunfire soon saturates the air. The Inimical Attorney and the Watchful Commandant press themselves low as fifty cal rounds rip through the fort. The smoke obscures Yuki's vision. It will obscure her adversary's vision too, and in this choking haze no one will see her black arrows. Strangely despite it all, she doesn't find herself blinking too much from eye irritation or anything, looks like her powers protect her from that as well.
The Attorney moves, somewhere, it's hard to tell, the Commandant crouches low adjusting her stance to face the intruder.
"<Covering fire on my position! I'll hold her off!>"
The mirrors tear open with crimson eye piercing mind with a burning gaze. The Commandant's gaze does the same, like a white hot lance through the skull. They're readying some kind of psychic attack, best stop it somehow, yet as she observes this Yuki feels a strange sense, a sense of uncertain menace. There's something else at play. A trap or countermeasure. The Commandant has some kind of trick up her sleeve, she does know the trick or the trigger, only that it exists.
Torpedos drop from the ceiling and sink into the ground surrounding the Commandant.
Outside Shef can see the a tower rising from the wounded fortress, rising to rival his height. Suddenly kunai begin tearing through the walls! The Unflappable Shinobi's running and gunning inside cover sending precise bursts of kunai streaking towards him like gunfire. Seems like they're phasing through the walls themselves. Shef can peer inside with portals, still there will be a latency and the Shinobi could always change direction in reaction. Course he could always place the portals aiming up or down and shoot through the confines of the tower itself, increase his odds of hitting.
...There's something behind him.
"<In flagrante delicto>"
The Inimical Attorney is right behind him with a flying kick, the attack propelling not only himself, but also the torpedo he brought with him, the torpedo his foot is now driving towards the frenchman. Motherfucker, he's pulling a Yuki!
The briefcase handcuffed to his wrist shines with menacing light and the promise of doom.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 24, 2019, 08:19:09 am
It did not take much for Shef to determine how to deal with the baghead man's attack. His cached portals flickered into existence, a tunnel forming from the air in front of the man's foot, down deep to the bottom of the artificial lake stretching out beneath the platforms.
Use as many cached portals as necessary to open a hole to the bottom of the lake in front of baghead. Hope he likes fifteen to thirty thousand liters of reinforced water traveling at vehicle speeds crashing into him.
Drop down with portals to avoid the opening salvos of kunai. Fire a few shots towards his general vicinity, not too targetted since the kunai come out after he's left a spot most likely
[5] 5 5 5 6 6 2 6 5 2
Post by: Twinwolf on September 24, 2019, 07:06:11 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 24, 2019, 09:00:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 24, 2019, 09:12:35 pm
"Of course, my lips are sealed. As are my modem, bluetooth, airgap, and psicom."
Shef and Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Spin and Burst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HsVzdA8dk) | ] |
Shef, you see that motherfucker coming and you just fucking NOPE. You sure as shit don't want a torpedo to the face, though you do have other uses for one... three cached portals fuse and spring open as you reinforce the surface of the water neath the platform, simultaneously dismissing the portal beneath you.
"<CANAN!>"
A burst of kunai fire whistles past your head as you crash down into a roll and a plume of water explodes out of the portal above. If anyone was below the platform, it would've been like a hammer blow to the chest. They'd probably be forced to resurface soon. Course it ain't all sunshine and rainbows, the Inimical Attorney sails through the air, arms crossed over his chest. Hmm, you see. He leapt off at the last moment and his ally detonated the torpedo early, propelling his away. You put another few bullet holes into the fortress. You need something meatier, need to blast the damn place wide open or collapse the structure on top of them. Think you got something for it, a little new tool. Else well, the Shinobi seems to know where you are but you can't figure out their location save in retrospect.
You hear a voice right behind you.
"<Dual sovereignty.>"
Oh great. The Attorney ain't done yet, he's right in your blind spot again. Blue flames ring the single eyehole in his bag and a crushing fist races for your spine.The briefcase glints once again with promised doom. You can feel the Shinobi's eyes on you. He can see you through the fort somehow and he's got his bead right on you, he's just waiting now. Seeing if you dodge, seeing if you portal away the Attorney, soon as you do, he'll be firing.
Yuki, it burns. It burns. Those horrific red eyes, that piercing gaze. Something flashes into your mind. A glimpse, hazy and insubstantial, and then, it's gone. No matter. You charge straight forwards and the ring of torpedo detonates blowing you straight out the fortress. In the next instant you're upon the Commandant, chainsaw-turned-lighting roaring through her body. It was the arrow. You set it right before you charged. Soon as the torpedos went off it rushed for the Commandant teleporting you right back into striking range. She's hurt, real badly hurt, clothes all cut up, battered and scratched. Amazingly she hasn't gotten a proper injury just yet. It was those eyes, burning against you, burning as you struck, they stopped you, just enough, just enough to keep her in the fight.
Except...
Except, she doesn't seem to care anymore. She's, embracing you? She cries and she sobs holding you tight. Whatever composure she had before is gone now replaced with sniffles and wails "<That's too horrible! I can't- to think- oh Miss Instructor!>" Uh what? She hugs you tighter.
She's crying but she crying for... you?
"<It's okay... it's okay I understand, I understand... come on, let's get you some ice cream. Y-you don't have to be alone in this anymore! We'll help you! Promise!>"
Apparently you're going out of ice cream now? She's kinda dragging you out the back of the fortress and really determined about it too.
<Er boss? Is everything okay down there?>
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 25, 2019, 06:57:19 am
For now it was time to see what baghead had in the way of defenses, and to deal with the fort, a little.
Two cached portals, one to catch baghead, the other to block kunai. Shoot bageahd a few times with normal shots, some to center of mass, some to eyehole.
Then try out the new knockback round on the fort.
[5] 5 5 6 6 6 6 5 2 [3]
Post by: Twinwolf on September 25, 2019, 02:34:02 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 25, 2019, 04:33:15 pm
((Assuming that was in English.))
"<Your father leaving you, your mother breaking down, it's way too cruel!>"
Oh. Fuck. She knows.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 25, 2019, 05:44:53 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 25, 2019, 05:49:45 pm
"Oh... I didn't know that was possible. I'm sorry to hear. That sounds terrifyingly, and kind of dangerous too. You, didn't say much about really personal things like that last night. Just that you live with Kouta, who's not related, and you're recently moved into a Sanctuary."
So far so good, she hasn't asked about the Emu War or the AFL just yet.
Post by: Twinwolf on September 26, 2019, 07:47:54 pm
Oh.
"<...I'll go for ice cream with you if you never tell anyone about that. That's my business and it's mine to tell or not tell.>" Yuki said, suddenly uncharacteristically serious.
Post by: Empiricist on September 26, 2019, 08:50:44 pm
"<Oh sorry! This must be a really sensitive thing for you! I didn't mean to pry, I swear! I was just trying to do my attack but then it all came flooding out and... oh it's so terrible! I promise I won't tell anyone!>"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on September 27, 2019, 12:54:07 am
He knew, exactly, what he needed to do now, but he was going to need a few moments to line it up. For one, he would need far more weapons than he had right this instant, and for two, he didn't want to give away that he'd figured out his enemy's trick, not yet.
Better to keep playing the cocky fool who happened to have an occasionally good insight, as opposed to the cunning knight who'd just figured out the winning play. He had to know if he had any more tricks up his sleeve; the multiplying, the stone skin, the jumping. Son Goku, as Minato likely knew him, was overpowered even by the standards of mythology, and Minato wasn't about to risk everything just because he knew his enemy's weaknesses because he was starting to figure out what he was up against.
All Minato had to do was line up everything perfectly. The best laid plans always went wrong, but Minato could manage. It wasn't like everything hadn't gone completely wrong before, and it wasn't like Minato couldn't deal if it did. All Minato had to do now was pull this off.
Gate of the Grand Arsenal, to fill Minato's arsenal up; can't surround yourself in explosions if you hadn't the tools to do so, and can't fire a bow if you hadn't the ammunition. Prep another healing potion, just in case. As the halberd crashes down onto Minato, Minato immediately uses one newly summoned weapon to blast himself out of the way, stripping off his jacket in such a way as it seems unintentional, letting the jacket get caught in the explosion to blow dust into the Bodhisattva's eyes.
[[5] 4 6 1 4 [5] 5 4 6 4]
Post by: Empiricist on September 27, 2019, 11:43:10 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Spin and Burst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HsVzdA8dk) | ] |
You portal the Attorney upside down and immediately snap open another cache in reaction to the kunai sending them slamming right into the guy's chest. Looks like that hurt. Maybe, you'll need a good baseline to compare it to. What better one than your RAM? Hmm, looks like the RAM still hits harder, though the kunai are still enough to pose a potential threat to you. With that in mind you snap open a second cache as a second volley bursts out from another angle. Then you put a bullet right into the Attorney's eyehole. It would appear that the guy's main defensive assets consist of durability and sheer overwhelming pressure. Neither of which helped him out here, neither of which could prevent his bleeding head wound. You weave up your enchantment letting it layer up itself just how Stella instructed you an with a roaring BRRRRT the new expulser round detonates, an explosive wrecking ball of force that smashes a gaping hole in the front of the fort and pulverizing its way out the back. Fading smoke billows from its depths.
The Attorney's fist slams into the ground. Ripples spread over his visage, like waves rippling through a reflection of a lake. The wound is gone.
"<I DEMAND RETRIAL!>"
Healing magic? No, that wouldn't let him stay in a duel. The moment you drew blood he was "dead" for the purposes of the duel. That's how it works normally. Meaning, for him to continue, it would have to be something else entirely, something that could defy death. Reality alteration you surmise, he made it so that the wound never happened. It just, didn't count. No "death", no loss.
"<I call my first witness>"
He's behind you again. This time he's not alone. The Unflappable Shinobi makes his close range debut, irises glowing red. You spy a thin ring around each of his pupils, a tomoe marked upon it.
"<Earth Release - Mud Wall>"
Righto, so a wide wall of earth of rising up in front of you. You'd imagine your foes are about to crash through with the Shinobi readying to cover any attempts to disengage with those kunai of him.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Kings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU7co2-yn_Q) | ] |
Halberd comes crashing down but you catch the shaft against Gandiva, twisting to guide the blow down and away from your body. You slide one hand off, conjuring a dagger as you move to deliver your riposte. The Bodhisattva's fast however they shift backwards to delay your stab and- SHIT! That damn jacket! It's caught on the halberd! Shit shit shit, you can't move, not fast enough with your foe's beam about to fire. You run your blade across the jacket and detonate it, blasting you back, your torn jacket left stuck to the halberd. You loose your arrow right before you hit the ground, but well, to be honest, you're more of a fencer really. You've only really just gotten this fiery bow and it's not exactly easy hitting a moving target when you've just been blasted backwards. You miss. Arrow goes short, ignites the jacket and manages little else. The ricocheting beam blows past your head.
Huh, that missed? It's almost as if those laser eyes can't handle smoke too well. It's almost as if you planned this right from the start, but nah, that'd be overthinking it, right? It's just a lucky coincidence, right?
Five new forgeries flash into existence behind you. Another healing potion loads into your suit's autoinjectors.
The earth next to the Bodhisvatta explodes upwards and a stone cylinder slots into its left shoulder slot, quickly shifting into the shape of an arm and twisting into metal. At the same time a porcelain vase explodes up from the ground and it strikes it with an open palm. You can see the force of the impact ripple through it, you can see the cracks beginning to form, not at where they struck it but at the side opposite it, the side opposite you. You can see the water, and you can tell it is Guanyin's vase. Or at least, a watered down simulacrum thereof.
Which means that it contains a massive amount of water, a massive amount of water that is probably about to explode out at you very soon, half shotgun blast, half sledgehammer blow.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2019, 01:05:51 am
Alternatively, Shef considered, if he man wasn't able to move, think, or otherwise perform the spell, that might be simpler to enact. Could he shoot these people a bit more without killing them after first blood? Probably not. But if he could send off his attacks before the enemy began to bleed, maybe he could pull it off? Alternatively he could make the justification that since his enemy was casting a spell after first blood had been drawn from Shef's perspective, it was really justifiable self defense to m--deal with this guy how he saw fit. Maybe.
Expulser on the wall immediately, use the cached portal if necessary to block the attorney. Be prepared for the blindspot strike, but ideally if the knockback hits anyone ready to crash through the wall, follow up with regular shots . If they're being tricksy and not going to get shot by this plan, snap reaction requiem on the crowd to reproject their illusions. Otherwise we'll deal with this next turn.
[5] 5 6 6 6 6 5 2 6 [3]
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2019, 01:45:34 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Spin and Burst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HsVzdA8dk) | ] |
Your round tears through the middle of the wall and blasts the Inimical Attorney backwards, and then, the Unflappable Attorney is upon you. Seems like it's not just the kunai that can go through those walls, he dashed through the side section for a flank. You quickly portal him away and with a casual adjustment of your glasses shout your demand at the crowd. Most just look confused. A man in grey flinches however and you see your doppelgangers reappear at his side.
The Attorney rolls to a halt, staggering upright.
"<Those damn portals... Canan! Get ready! Let Maria stall the girl.>"
The catgirl in question pokes her head out of the massive hole in the fort.
"<About that... they've left.>"
"<What?>"
"<Well... Maria was crying and started dragging her away. I think she didn't like what she saw.>"
The smoke begins to clear and sure enough in the distance you can see the sobbing commandant dragging Yuki away for, something or other.
"<...Again?>"
"<Aww come on! I even got all fired up and everything!>"
The Inimical Attorney... seems a lot less inimical now, he kinda just slouching forwards. The knockback round would've staggered him pretty bad sure, but well, the guy's heart doesn't really seem to be in it anymore. Actually he doesn't seem to even be attacking right now. In other words he's just a sitting duck.
The Shinobi kinda just shrugs and stares into your eyes. You notice that you've subconsciously started moving to point your gun at your own head. So, he has that power too eh? The poor fucking bastard won't know what's about to hit him.
The man in grey makes a run for it.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2019, 06:19:57 am
Too much stuff to deal with, but these enemies seemed more than a little put out. For the sake of formality, Shef ooened a portal through which to send one shot at this "Maria". Not likeoy to dodge if neither she nor her team knew it was ained at her.
From there, he casually began firing on the fleeing illusionist. There wasn't much point in revealing them if they just escaped and cast a new illusion, though Shef wasn't sure they even could.
Shoot Maria for formality, portal assisted so most of her team don't know Shef is doing this. Requiem the shinobi to stop and explain what their ploy is, why they've seemed to stop. Fire some regular shots and a manipulator at the fleeing illusionist.
[5] 6 6 6 6 5 2 6 1 [5]
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2019, 07:58:40 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Spin and Burst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HsVzdA8dk) | ] |
Your arm stops and you just Requiem the guy right back. He proves far less resistent and immediately finds himself spilling his guts. Figuratively, for now at least.
"<I was hoping you'd shoot yourself.>"
Okay? But beyond that, what they were plotting?
"<No, that's about it.>"
But Baghead! But the sudden shift!
"<He was mostly just angry at your co-instructor, she's caused a lot of problems for our legal system. Guess he's not really just not that motivated if it's just against you.>"
...Wow okay.
Uh... You guess you'll just shoot the man in grey? Hmm, he's cleared a decent distance and you'll have to fire through the crowd, but, just steady your aim and... BANG! you catch him square in the back. There's a crackle of lightning and blast of plasma and they keep on running, their visage burning away to reveal the lady in red. That was a shielding unit not a native ability. Protects against a single attack using a high power electric discharge. Guess you're not the only one coming in prepared. You lose visual on them, but the curse has marked them and you can track them now. Question is, can you keep up.
"<So... It looks like you've got some business with that lady. I think we could help you, if you'll help us of course.>"
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Yuki
Right, so a portal just opens up right beside you a fifty cal slug rips through Maria's chest. Her bracelet kicks in and heals her before setting up a barrier.
Well, that was a thing.
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2019, 08:08:18 am
"<But, what are your terms? Would not be opposed to a deal.>"
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2019, 08:11:35 am
"<Well, she's got this pretty powerful spell that attacks people's minds, but sometimes she sees something really bad in it and feels sorry for her opponent. I think that happened just now. As for our terms, that depends, do you want to chase them or are they only your enemy? I can help you chase her down if you'll agree to a handicap.>"
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2019, 08:15:31 am
"<I'll agree to a reasonable handicap decided between us. Catching up would be useful. Previously, others challenging her would be acceptable, dunno about now. Catching up should be enough.>"
"<She's being tracked.>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 28, 2019, 10:01:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2019, 10:27:07 am
The ice cream parlor is trendy, uptown, more so than any ice cream parlor has any right being. The tables are mahogany, the drapes a luxurious red velvet, a repeating fleur de lis pattern lines the walls neath paintings and rustic light fixtures inspired by the gas lamps of old London town. The man behind the counter addresses the crying commandant. Few words are spoken, and what was is done so in German. You think you heard a name, Maria, the commandant's? A mutual friend's? It's impossible to tell, still his gesture is hard to mistake - in that room.
Trendy. Uptown. The room you find yourself is neither. It was once a supply closet you think, a judgement you make based on the door and the faint scent of citrus. It's been converted since. As much as the budget allowed for anyways. The spacial expansion spell is, wonky, to say the least. Room's larger than it should be, but you almost trip on the way in when one step sends you forwards at five times the distance. Still the spacial aberration settles down further into the room. The walls here are a dull beige, the faint flicker at the very edges tells you that this is probably what all the walls here look like, underneath the illusions. What it lacks in furnishings they've tried to compensate with some posters, music related for the most part. Pressed against the window is a wooden table with bean bag seats on either side of it, you're guessing that window's an illusion too, or some kinda screen - it wouldn't be showing the outside from its position.
It's a far cry for the fancy exterior but it feels almost comforting in a way, it doesn't feel like a restaurant it feels like someone's home.
The commandant hands you a menu tablet.
"<I... I won't pry. But at the very least, I'd like to do something to make you feel better. Even if it doesn't last.>"
She tries to smile. Tries being the key word here. She's a soldier not a shrink and it shows.
Meanwhile, in Maria Klein's Head
“...It’s a little dangerous though. The job I mean. Like, life threatening. I could die. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” Yuki said, pushing her chair out. “It’s fine, right?” She was standing. “You don’t care, right!?”
“...It’s a little dangerous though. The job I mean. Like, life threatening. I could die. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
“You don’t care, right!?”
“I could die. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
“You don’t care, right!?”
“I could die.”
“You don’t care, right!?”
“You don’t care, right!?”
“You don’t care, right!?”
“You don’t care, right!?”
“You don’t care, right!?”
Shef
"<Fine by me. Andreaz, a ramp please.>"
"<On it.>"
Right so the shinobi just magically summons more walls to etrude from the ground, except in this case they're at a 45 degree angle and definitely shouldn't be self supporting. The skirmisher (the attorney called her Canan right?) readies herself holding out her arms expectantly as if thinking you'd be doing all this in a bridal carry.
Oh, that's exactly what she's expecting, isn't it?
Noriko
"You two must have gone through a lot, um, if you don't mind me asking, how did you two end up living together? Finance-wise I mean, and why didn't that someone tell you?"
Post by: Strider03 on September 28, 2019, 10:54:32 am
"Let's get this over with then." As he was carried, Shef began caching a new supply of portals.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 28, 2019, 11:52:33 am
Post by: Empiricist on September 28, 2019, 08:24:57 pm
"Oh, that must hurt. Um, this might be out of line, but couldn't be have done a test? Sorry, I don't really know how this works back on Earth, everyone's Awakened over here. You, must have worked really hard right? I heard the cost of living is much higher over there. ...The killing him wasn't literal right?"
Post by: Powder Miner on September 29, 2019, 05:00:34 am
FaithFaith had expected strange flavors, but it got to the point where... well... she couldn't possibly have predicted it.
You try in order:
- True Coffee: Like coffee flavored ice-cream but it encaptures the whole coffee experience a lot better with a layered construction consisting of a foamy exterior lightly dusted with chocolate and a denser coffee interior. Though the ice-cream itself is cold it emits the rich aroma of hot coffee.
- Ignian Cookie Dough: It's like regular cookie dough ice-cream, but the cookie dough cooks itself and soaks up the vanilla ice-cream before uncooking itself and releasing it, this process happens in uneven patches giving it a unique consistency.
- Rehardening Vanilla: So it's vanilla ice-cream but whenever you take a bite out of it, the exposed icecream hardens and puffs out into a nice crunchy exterior so that every bite has that nice satisfying crunch.
- Foxfire Delight: Sort of like chili chocolate except instead of chili it's actual fire with some globs of what are best described as flavored napalm, all of which feel very very hot despite not actually being able to burn you. Thankfully the cool chocolate icecream quickly neutralizes the heat.
- Liquid Delirium: An energetic substance that ebbs and flows with fresh cream flowing through its roiling coils. Its exact physical properties seem to alter as you eat it as if pre-programmed in some manner. Its flavor is pretty simple but in an elegant and efficient way, though you do feel like something is watching you.
- Nolstalgia: Shockingly mundane in flavor. It tastes exactly like an ice-cream you had a long time ago, back when your father gave a damn. Those were happier times, you can almost feel the hot Miami sun and taste the hints of sea spray...
- Ephemeral Bliss: It tastes amazing. It tastes like the best thing you've ever tasted, but it's fleeting, oh so fleeting, the moment it leaves your tongue you can't even remember the taste, leaving you feeling almost a little empty.
- Astral Storm: A chilled swirling mass of energy with a texture closer to a dense gas than a solid, the flavor is indescribable though not unpleasant either, with the intricate hints in it changing with its turbulence and discharges of energy sending jolts of flavor tingling into your tongue.
- Air Conditioning: Utterly flavorless and insubstantial, but while eating it you feel the cold wind of an air conditioner blowing down on you, and it actually does seem to cool you down.
- Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green: It tastes like nothing you've ever tasted before. Guess this is what Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green tastes like, whatever the hell Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green is.
True Coffee:
This was good! Faith really liked this. This was the kind of thing she'd buy as more than a weird little novelty. It was just objectively better than mundane ice cream.
Ignian Cookie Dough:
WHOA! Holy cow. That's really, really, really, really good. Faith was stunned by this. She'd totally buy, like, tubs of this stuff, and inevitably binge them at some low point. Wow. It was exactly the kind of horrifically unhealthy stuff she loved in the first place, but then made into this wonderful double-dessert power mixture.
Rehardening Villa:
Ehhh... this was okay? It was honestly a bit of a letdown, she preferred vanilla ice cream when it was nice and soft and creamy, like French Vanilla stuff.
Foxfire Delight:
AAAHHHHHHH GOD FUCK OW OW ow ow ow that wasn't very pleasant at all! She knew crazy people that would LOVE that sort of thing, sure, but not her. Ouch! People who went for that ultra spicy stuff were strange, let alone literally hot stuff.
Liquid Delirium:
Faith was not very sure what to think about this one. The flavor and shifting was weird, but actually quite pleasant and an overall almost artistic experience, but the vague sense of paranoia that seemed to come with it wasn't something Faith liked. This was getting weird.
Nostalgia:
Oh God, what the fuck, Faith nearly cried. Was that what this did, inspired strong nostalgia and tasted like old memories? Faith really didn't want to get into old memories, not when the taste of what had been sweet in her younger life was always going to be twisted and darkened by the years of bullying and abuse that she'd suffered. Maybe it would be nicer for other people, but her own past had been bad enough that she'd come here to escape it, and this definitely ruined her groove enough that it took her a few moments to continue on.
Ephemeral Bliss:
Sitting there stunned at the loss of the most incredible sensation of her life, Faith really was just getting disturbed. Was this drugs? It was an awful lot like drugs, probably. Ummm?
Astral Storm:
This was super weird, but it was actually a lot more mundane compared to some of the previous things, considering the lack of emotional manipulation. It actually wasn't that remarkable to Faith at this point, which was WEIRD.
Air Conditioning:
Haha, what? This was harmless, but actually kind of cute. She wouldn't buy it or anything, but it was kind of a funny little novelty.
Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green:
After staring into the distance for several moments, Faith decided she was done.
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 29, 2019, 02:12:07 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on September 29, 2019, 02:52:26 pm
"<...Well, I appreciate the thought? I like ice cream... are you ok?>"
Post by: Empiricist on September 29, 2019, 07:24:14 pm
The man behind the counter walks on over with a jaunty wave.
"<Pardon me mein Fraulein, but are you okay? You did not look well.>"
Wait, what does he mean by... oh right, the Nostalgia.
Noriko
"But it, hurts, I understand. Have you talked to him about it? Actually... have you spoken to a therapist about this? An Awakened one I mean, it sounds like you've had it really rough."
Yuki
"<I should be asking you that! That was terrible! I can't believe...>" she gets up a little bit from her seat as if she's about to go on a whole spiel. Her words fail her however and she soon deflates back into her chair.
"<Ugh, let's just start from the top... Hi, my name is Maria Klein.>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on September 29, 2019, 10:23:23 pm
Post by: Empiricist on September 30, 2019, 02:08:20 am
There's a period of silence before at last Patricija glides on over and gives you a light hug. In essence, the "I don't know what the fuck to say" maneuver of these kinds of conversations.
Eventually, eventually, she speaks "Do you like being Awakened?"
Post by: Empiricist on September 30, 2019, 07:42:58 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Eurodance thunders through Canan's speakers, neon burns in her wake. Your ride is rough, bumpy, a sudden acceleration up the ramp, a ballistic flight through the air and then a heavy splash into the water. Canan bobs up, her boots keeping her above water, keeping he moving, skating across the water at high speed parallel to the tracks. You see the lady in red running ahead of you, her two illusions in tow. You're gaining on her rapidly. Out of the corner of your her eye she sees you two. No way but forward or back. Not unless she can run on water too. Looks doubtful. She shoves the illusory Yuki at you and just keeps running. She won't outrun you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on September 30, 2019, 07:52:28 am
Expulser [3] on the projectionist, try to knock them into the water, a couple regular rounds on the projection.
[6] 6 6 2 6 1 5 1 [2+1] 2
Post by: Powder Miner on October 01, 2019, 02:08:56 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 01, 2019, 06:50:39 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 01, 2019, 11:22:19 pm
((Assuming this was in English.))
"<Exo- Ah, ja, ja, nostalgia can trigger such things. I take it then mein fraulein that you are from the old world?>"
Noriko
"Makes sense to me, everyone's Awakened here so I was curious. I guess... you'll need to make sure he sticks to safe places? They won't attack in broad daylight right?"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 02, 2019, 03:54:28 am
Post by: Twinwolf on October 04, 2019, 08:27:12 pm
Yuki
"<I should be asking you that! That was terrible! I can't believe...>" she gets up a little bit from her seat as if she's about to go on a whole spiel. Her words fail her however and she soon deflates back into her chair.
"<Ugh, let's just start from the top... Hi, my name is Maria Klein.>"
"<Hi! I'm- uh.... family name second in English right... Yuki Tatsumaki!>"
Post by: Empiricist on October 04, 2019, 10:51:56 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Expulser hits the lady and just sends her skips her across into the middle of the lake. A sitting duck stuck treading water. In theory anyways. Your first proper regular bullet just blows "Yuki" apart in a burst of blue flames.
"<Woah woah woah! You got the wrong girl!>"
Somehow, you doubt that. Maybe it's because of y'know, literally everything that's happened the past half hour. Or maybe it's because the projection was carrying a fucking flashbang, a flashbang that is now sailing right towards you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Faith
"<Ja perhaps... we thought the name was self-evident, though that is not true for all origins I see. I am happy to give you a refun if->"
(BANG)
Uh, what was that? It sounded like something hit a table or something? Seems like it came from that supply closet over there.
Yuki
"<Nice to meet you Yuki.>"
She smiles awkwardly fidgeting in her seat.
"<So... Yuki, why's your life so terrible?>"
And then she just kinda slams her face against the table.
"<Maybe you drive the conversation instead please?>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 05, 2019, 08:24:06 am
"<Let's move.>" Shef commented over the music.
Shoot the flashbang out of the air (this was confirmed doable in a previous fight). If the flashbang disappears in fire like the other illusions, speed up Canan's movement with portals (Room to Breathe [4]) to get out of the area of a possible real flashbang. If the visible flashbang gets hit by a bullet, shoot the adversary (Rapid Fire [4]) a few times.
[6] 6 2 6 [1+3] 5 1 2 2 5
Post by: Empiricist on October 05, 2019, 08:32:42 pm
Right, so Canan strafes to the side as you pull the trigger. Problem - the flashbang doesn't go where you lead it, it actually accelerates forwards straight towards you, blue flames beginning to leak out of it.
((Remember when Jason Humungus pulled that trick with the explosives and you guy got to adjust actions? Same deal here. You've already ordered Canan and fired at the "flashbang". You have yet to Rapid Fire the Lady in Red. Feel free to adjust what ha yet to occur.))
Post by: Strider03 on October 05, 2019, 09:22:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 05, 2019, 10:50:25 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Okay so, the not-a-flashbang splashes into the water and you split ways with Canan, a series of portals crossing you over the walk way. The trouble begins as you're over the walkway.
| [Now Playing: | You're Gonna Go Far, Kid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql9-82oV2JE) | ] |
"Faith" dashes into your path, just like how the flashbang dashed into you. So you just get fucking clotheslined and slammed into the ground. It hurts but you're not actually hurt by it, but you are on your back and the doppelganger is ontop of you hands beginning to wreath with blue flames to pummel and burn your ass.
The Lady in Red approaches too, dashing over near your position.
Canan, doesn't fare much better, a hand suddenly rushes out of the water and soon enough she's in the clutches of a man sharply dressed in a suit and tie. His face is hidden beneath a kitsune mask and he has a Desert Eagle .50 AE jammed under the girl's chin. That was the trick behind the flashbang wasn't it? It wasn't a flashbang, it was a transformed projection deployed for a misdirection and flank.
"<Hey there, why you helping the guy out?>"
"<Well, I get a handicap if I do.>"
"<Well I just so happen to be after him too. Wouldn't mind some help too. Think about it, we're both trying to draw first blood on him, so why not team up?>"
Oh great. You could try a counterbid but it'll only work out if you can get out and stay out of these close quarter engagements, lest Canan see a chance to blow you to kingdom come with those torpedoes of hers. Maybe it's safer to order her off or shoot her right now.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 05, 2019, 10:58:38 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 06, 2019, 12:54:55 am
"Oh..."
She just squeezes you a little trouble, clearly at a loss for what to say.
"Well um... how does he feel about it? Is he as scared as you are? Since he can still see Awakened things it should be safe enough to move him off-realm, but..."
There's always a but isn't there? And for once you wish it was Yoake's.
"He wouldn't have much of a life."
Post by: Strider03 on October 06, 2019, 08:16:02 am
Expulser [3] to blast away the doppelganger from Shef, and propel Shef back a bit. Requiem the illusion. Regular shots on the woman in red.
[6] 2 6 1 5 1 2 5 [3] 1
Post by: Empiricist on October 06, 2019, 09:40:49 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | You're Gonna Go Far, Kid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql9-82oV2JE) | ] |
Channing spirit energy into your Regalia you alter its enchantments creating a expulser round outside the barrel and portaling it right against your chest. The moment "Faith" tries to pummel you you set it off, a pulse scraping you backwards to the very edge of the walkway and forcing the doppelganger right off your chest. A quick flash of your glasses and it punches itself in the face, vanishing in flames. You put a round into the lady in red and she burns away with blue flames.
"<...If you're also hiding a pair of breasts, I am not going to forgive myself.>"
Is, is that a common problem? Getting blasted off by a pair of breasts? Actually, more to the point, what the fuck? The lady in red was a decoy? So this asshole's the projectionist? Fucking hell, desert eagle and a decoy lady in red, you've the sinking feeling he was going for a Matrix reference somewhere in there.
But wait, does that mean he was hiding as a flashbang up until now? You never did damage the lady in red did you? That reactive armor prevented the shot from harming her, thougu the curse still applied. In that case he must've been on her person when you did that first compulsion?
That would explain what just happened, but there's a teensy tinie problem with that theory - it's fucking insane. They would have to have launched themselves at you, over the fucking water, while you had Canan and her torpedoes on your side. The fuck would they do if it didn't work out? What if made a more serious effort to put a bullet in the flashbang? Or what if they did manage to get behind you but then failed the inevitable flanking strike? The fuck then? That seems like one hell of a gamble unless their plan was to just sit there at the bottom of the lake in flashbang form hoping you'd leave,but if they were that passive, they'd have just let Red take that first hit and throw you off.
So no, that's not the trick, that's a fucking stupid trick. There's something else at play here. Your gut tells you there's some other trick to it, probably something a little more esoteric.
"<Change of plans, you miss, will be taking me away with you. Preferably far away from him. Or you know, bang bang.>"
"<Well unless you wanna negotiate something Mister Instruct->"
"<Bang bang.>"
"<O-kay, heading off now!>"
Canan begins skating away from you with the adversary in tow. You could still shout a counter offer at her. Or maybe just shoot them both and be done with it.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 06, 2019, 09:52:34 am
No, that couldn't stand. He no longer would have his tracking curse, and they'd both be gone. The whole thing would have been pointless.
Tracer [R] the both of them, detonate it preferably between the two of them, if not inside the adversary. If possible hit both with tracker rounds afterwards.
Post by: Empiricist on October 06, 2019, 10:03:53 am
Right, so Canan speeds off, skating like crazy as the tracer round gives chase. She's fast, she's mobile, but those along won't let her outrun it.
"<Well shit. In that case...>"
So uh, the guy just fucking leaps off of Canan and straight into the tracer. There's an explosion, there's blood in the water, and Canan's getting the fuck out. Your adversary meanwhile bobs up to the surface bleeding from a chest wound. Tapping his bracelet he administers a healing potion.
Post by: Strider03 on October 06, 2019, 11:14:36 am
With an enemy like this, he had no way of being certain whether this was truly first blood. It could all be an illusion, the adversary might have swapped to a new form underwater nearby, there were many possibilities. It was reasonable to think all of this could be faked to get Shef to lower his guard. The only way to verify would be to determine, personally, whether the combat bracelet the man was wearing was real or illusory.
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 06, 2019, 12:51:43 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 06, 2019, 02:37:45 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 06, 2019, 06:17:51 pm
"<Mind portaling me over?>"
Small constructs that look like crosses between turbines and jellyfish rise up from the lake, undulating over to clean out the blood.
Noriko
"Maybe, but you shouldn't have to shoulder all the burden. Talk to him about it, it's good to discuss this sort of thing and know your options."
Yuki
"<I think it's covered by the Tragic Backstory Clause. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine.>"
More fidgeting
"<Um, so, would you like to make your order?>
Post by: Strider03 on October 06, 2019, 06:31:56 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 06, 2019, 06:38:37 pm
With a nod the man takes off his combat pass and backs away. Shortly after you confirm it belongs to your adversary.
Post by: Strider03 on October 06, 2019, 07:13:00 pm
"Anyway, care to go get something to eat? Haven't gotten lunch yet."
Post by: Empiricist on October 06, 2019, 09:57:32 pm
The man glances down at where you've thrown the bracelet, looking around to note the position and landmarks.
"<Sure, you got any preferences? There's a good Ysian place nearby if you're up for it.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 07, 2019, 06:26:16 am
"<Not too familiar with the local food scene anyway. What do they specialize in?>"
Post by: Empiricist on October 07, 2019, 08:50:48 am
"<Very flavorful - a lot of the food's pickled or preserved, traditionally heavier on the seafood and immaterials but this place is a little more modern. Good if you like pastries and dim sims.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 07, 2019, 09:43:40 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 07, 2019, 09:44:46 am
The fight had gone on for a little longer than he'd intended, but he was open. His main avenue of attack was nowhere near his main body. He had his hands back, but the Bodhisattva wouldn't see this attack coming, especially since it was Minato's finishing move, the kind he only used when he needed an enemy nuked, right now, right then.
The water would flow through the path of least resistance, if it was even remotely supernatural. Minato didn't intend to let that happen. A shield wouldn't do it, not unless he had a lot of copies of Rho Aias, and he didn't, not right now. However, explosions, for a few seconds, a few vital seconds, would cover and overlap each other. All Minato needed to do was time it right, time it so Minato's coup-de-grace was uninterrupted, unstoppable and unforeseen.
The next few seconds were vital. They could decide whether Minato could end the fight, right here, right now or he was going to have to figure out what to do with less tools than he'd really like. That second possibility was a pain in the ass and would probably hurt.
He really, really hoped the first possibility was the one that went through.
Minato flicks the lever on his Gaia Driver.
"Limit Break: Regalia Infusion."
"Let's take you for a ride, you wannabe god-monkey!"
Spend the final Resolve point. Alter to 6. Align all stockpiled units but one around Minato just right so the explosions overlap, leaving the water nowhere to go but away from Minato and timing the explosions in time to both cancel out any incoming attacks while also avoiding Guanyin's vase, and use the last one to explode to propel Minato towards the Bodhisattva. Execute a True Regalia Invocation: Unerring Spear of the Allfather, smashing a kick directly into the Bodhisattva's head.
[
Post by: Empiricist on October 07, 2019, 09:59:59 pm
You are greeted by the ringing of the carillon and the scent of strange and exotic spices. Interior is chic with silken seats (you note they have metamorphic backs to accommodate less humanoid patrons).
Dishes, they look somewhat more Indian in construction, though by and large none of their components are recognizably Indian, indeed while there are a few curries, stews, soups, and minces are more common, with some kinda of versatile pastry that looks like a flowering vine filling in for the rice and naan bread.
"<Graveroot>" your host explains, a hardy plant that grows near untended graves and corpse strewn battlefields, its thick vines pierce into corpses draining them of blood, flesh, and marrow, necrotic magics consuming them to fuel the plant's growth and giving rise to brilliant widow's blooms flowers. In a city so choked with the stench of death like Ys was, they were common place, and their inhabitants found a way to alter them to have a more palatable prey. These modified vines drain soup and mince and various other fillings, nourishing wheaty flower bulbs that char and cook themselves becoming something ressembling a fried bun, slightly chewy and flexible with a crispy almost pastry-like exterior and a hot but not burning filling. The exact texture and properties can be engineered using tasteless additives added to foods as to effectively program the vine's response. You can buy it from any good grocer nowadays though the best ones he notes need to come from a plant modified to suit its chef, the bigger the better, which would entail having to find a an opportunity overgrown crypt or abandoned necromancer's lab (got to be abandoned, your friendly neighborhood necromancer blacksite wants their resources well preserved and not completely drained by wild plants thank you very much), fighting through whatever the hell set up shop there, and dragging the damn thing all the way back out. "<That, was an ordeal. Smelled like dead fish for weeks.>"
"<That why you burned yourself alive?>"
Such is the greeting of the grinning maître d', sweeping in to meet you both and usher you to your seats. It's a small staff booth, tucked away in the corner, but it's cozy.
"<You could say that.>"
Guy really could, he fucking burst into flames shortly after you fished him out of the lake and came out of it starchy dry.
"<So, how's your day?>"
"<Same old, same old, who's your date?>"
"<Sparring partner. Name's Shef, he's from Earth.>"
An impressed whistle.
"<I'll have to ask sometime, here>"
He tosses you and you alone a menu and heads off.
Front has the whole fucking backstory to the cuisine, middle has the dishes, back has the drinks.
The Avalonian Cider looks pretty popular, crisp acidity problem helping with the heartier dishes. Comes in alcoholic, non-alcoholic, and oh, well that explains a lot. On a sliding scale from "safe to drive" to "utterly shitfaced", alcoholic occupies the second lowest bracket of the spectrum. You've a feeling when Yuki ordered drinks last night, the "non-alcoholic" was more a testament to the drink's potency than its lack of consequence.
Dishes, it's a sliding scale, double axis really, some more European, some more Eastern, some you can mostly understand others entirely exotic.
As for the story, well how it goes is that the Ville d'Ys was once a kingdom sitting somewhere in the Baie de Douarnenez, a land reclaimed from the sea and beset on all sides by the waves. It was an engineering marvel back in its day, well, until the floodgates were opened anyway, drowning the entire populace save for its king. Sunk back into the sea, the doomed kingdom found itself in the Aethertide like so many lost cities before it, and in time it's populace would rise again as the undead.
The early years were rough, the now-small populace having to basically relearn how to fish in the supernatural realm of the Aethertide, where the fish are often a little less cooperative than those back on Earth. They had to rely on whatever stores of food remained, the only food unspoilt that which was preserved, either intentionally or by chance thanks to brine from its flooding. Supposedly the food from those lean years would go on to shape their cuisine with its preserved meats and pickled vegetables, heavy flavors from salts and spices, both to preserve and to pierce through to those whose senses had been dulled by undeath.
The second influence came later, in the form of some very very lost Chinese explorers stumbling across the reborn city. Many would wind up settling there. Those who stayed brought with them memories of their cuisine, homesick sailors trying to make emulate the meat buns of their homeland with the meat pastries rooted back in Medieval France, and in time these early experiments would give rise to what became the modern Ysian dim sim you see at every table. Those that left eventually managed to find new lands, and reconnect Ys with other lands of the realm, its old trade networks slowly but surely rebuilt in this new worlds introducing new influences and of course, new exotic spices, spices which of course now feature in their dishes.
Post by: Strider03 on October 08, 2019, 09:36:41 am
Meanwhile, he'd pick out something light from the menu, that would still allow him to get some exposure to the more unique spices, and this graveroot. He'd also order some of the cider, the noninebriating kind of course. However, he did have a few questions about these drinks that he'd pose when he had the chance. Namely, what was the active substance in the beyond alcoholic drinks, did it add any change to the flavor? Could it be cooked off? How did it act in comparison to alcohol, in terms of strength, length, and type of impairment.
Post by: Empiricist on October 08, 2019, 09:47:46 pm
"<Yeah, we were in a party together. You met her?>"
You order something that was once Bouillabaisse, the dish consisting of a small bowl of sanguine stew spiced to perfection with a rich complexion layered with a not quite chilli hint and a sharp almost citrus-y that purges the spice and richness, giving you a chance to savor it while still ensuring it does not overstay its welcome. The fish itself is served seperately as a small heap of fine succulent chunks mixed with shreds of salty preserved vegetables with hints of something peculiar though not wholly unpleasant. The graveroot serves as the bread in this case, and for all intents and purposes really is just well decorated bread, it's sort of like a baguette or pretzel in terms of texture. There's another functionality to this all of course - if you drop the fish and pickled vegetables into the stew and stick the graveroot stem in there, the bulbs begin to expand, filling with stew and fillings before popping off the vine as small fish dumplings.
As for the the drinks, a quick phone search indicates that there's a wide variety of intoxicants available with the properties varying between them, though they do generally change a drink's flavor unless masked. Not all of them can be cooked off. Intoxication length varies, but regulations state that intoxication length cannot last for any longer than eight hours at maximum, with prepackaged drinks having to have the upper bound of their intoxication length clearly displayed along with any kinds of entities for which thr length does not hold or for which the contents could be considered harmful.
Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Kings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU7co2-yn_Q) | ] |
The vase shatters and the floodwaters are unleashed. It's a blind shot, a wide angle blast to try and catch you, force you to back off at the very least, fire hose meets freedom beam meets shotgun, the raging torrent rushes to engulf you. A sword drives into the floor, your armored boot pressing against it as you crouch low like an olympic sprinter.
The blade's purpose was two-fold, first it was a nice convenient place to kick off get a bit of a speed boost. Second is well, you're gonna fucking Orion Drive this shit again. The low stance too served a second purpose - it kept your profile low, made you a smaller target, ups your odds of riding out the storm.
Your remaining forgeries spin up and array forwards. Close enough to protect you, far enough that their blast won't force you back.
It looked nothing like Hokusai's woodblock. This, this was almost alien, it was an all-engulfing darkness, a ravenous beast, roaring not with the rush of water but the grinding of pulverized earth. It fills the world and you disappear within.
Five flashes of light follow, mere milliseconds between them. It felt longer. Everything felt longer, like eternity viewed from narcotic-addled eyes. In the darkness in the confined space, it was almost blinding, it was almost deafening. The split seconds pass. The light was gone. The darkness remain, rushing forwards, rushing to consume you. Was it about to end? Was it all going to peter out? Or was there still a solid water awaiting you. You can't tell.
Fuck it.
You blow the blade and charge, tearing through the last vestiges of the tide. An armored fist meets your head A burning ray crashes into your side. The Bodhisattva could not see. But they did not hear you move, they did not hear you escape. In such circumstances it was only natural to assume you would face it head on, that you would weather the storm and crash through, be it by force or by some trickery. It was only natural then that they move in accordance, to set up a perimeter defense, and to make a blind pre-emptive strike.
Gungnir cares not. You kick continues, and you claim their head.
The explosion is violent, furious, controlled. Channeled right into the point of weakness, that necessary gap in the plating between the head and the torso.
Sparking and failing, blasted and burned, the Bodhisattva's severed head clatters to the ground.
"CONSIDER ME IMPRESSED."
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 09, 2019, 06:30:18 am
"<Did not expect the keijo, I'll tell you. You said you were in a party though, were, not anymore?>"
Post by: Empiricist on October 09, 2019, 08:49:00 pm
"<'fraid not, gang's all split up nowadays. Al's gone into the Feywilds, wanted to help out on the frontier, Rook's doing more Templar work nowadays, and Jack's training under o-Shiri sensei now. We stay in touch>" he taps his phone "<but you know, it just isn't the same.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 09, 2019, 09:51:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 11, 2019, 11:02:45 pm
"<Private eye, not-so-private eye, a bit of adventurer work if the job looks interesting. All-round troubleshooter really. Name's Ignis, nice to meet you.>"
Ignis
Man in the Middle
Man in the Middle
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 11, 2019, 11:11:44 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 11, 2019, 11:24:20 pm
"<There a lot of troubleshooting to do around here then, besides the adventuring stuff?>"
Post by: Empiricist on October 11, 2019, 11:29:30 pm
"Of course, but he's probably have thought about it too. It's always good to have someone to talk to, and it is his life in the end. Have you spoken to anyone else about this?"
Shef
"<More do what suits me. And of course, we got cults, we got criminal enterprises, a few folks who think they'll conquer the whole kingdom. Plenty of trouble to shoot.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 12, 2019, 12:01:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 12, 2019, 12:23:06 am
"<Not really my kind of thing, I prefer something a little more people-focused.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 12, 2019, 07:56:12 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 12, 2019, 08:02:06 am
"<You'll see.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 12, 2019, 08:08:10 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 12, 2019, 08:18:40 am
"<I was the fake vial and going to poison and ambush you.>" A pause. He blinks. "<Y'know, I'm really starting to hate that thing.>" Well at least he's still saying it jovially. That being said, what the fuck? The fake Fiona and everything on her person burst into the flames. That includes the vial. Is he resisting enough to lie? But if so, why such a bizarre lie? Is the truth stranger than fiction? Or is this some sort of crazy mindgame?
Post by: Strider03 on October 12, 2019, 08:26:26 am
"<Yeah I can see why one would hate it. Recently came to the conclusion that I need to be using it a lot more, so, sorry about that.>" He did not sound sorry at all.
Post by: Empiricist on October 12, 2019, 08:41:01 am
"<Well, the plan was to take you out quick and leg it. Since we're revealing our hands now, mind telling who that other girl was?>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 12, 2019, 08:47:14 am
Granted maybe asking about her would be a decent distraction from impersonating one or more other people, but whatever.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 12, 2019, 09:45:54 pm
Yuki"<Oh, yeah, I could. Uh... do you have any recommendations? I don't recognize any of these flavors...>"
"<I think it's covered by the Tragic Backstory Clause. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine.>"
More fidgeting
"<Um, so, would you like to make your order?>
Post by: Empiricist on October 13, 2019, 02:42:22 am
"<Oh you don't have to worry about that, it's fine enough if the mark doesn't know the guy or if I've set up a Man in the Middle situation like the meeting back there, but impersonating someone closer to the mark? That's not the sort of gamble I like to take.>"
Yuki
"<W-wait really? Are you not from- Oh that would explain why everything looked so different and- er... right! Right... you guys do from um, icecream where you're from right? Maybe um er... Vanilla with a dash of Ephemeral Bliss? ...Wait where you from?>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 13, 2019, 03:21:45 am
"<But to be honest, there's not much more I could say about her besides name and a few details I wouldn't care to reveal to a stranger. Just not polite to do so without permission, you know?>"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 13, 2019, 03:42:10 am
Faith then winced as a banging sound reached her ears from somewhere behind the man at the stand.
"<Yikes. What was that?>"
Post by: Twinwolf on October 13, 2019, 08:45:23 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 13, 2019, 09:10:20 am
"<Nah, I'm not that curious. How's the food?>"
Faith
"<That room is for my sister and her guests. The spacial enchantments are, imperfect. It can be, awkward.>" You hear another crash and clatter. "<On second thought, I should go check.>" He knocks on the door, moving it open "<Is everything okay?>"
You catch a glimpse into the room, of a girl hugging another girl across the table from her. The second girl's a little wide-eyed, clad in a corroded dress that was once armored, and uh, did she start using hair gel? Still you recognize her, how could you not? That's Yuki.
Yuki
"<Earth...? That would explain... Oh. Oh.>"
With a rush of air and a clatter of furniture Maria lunges for you, trapping you in another hug.
"<I-it's okay! You're safe now! E-everything will be okay! I-I didn't know things were that bad for you! You, you must have gone through a lot!>"
Is, is it that bad? What kinda reputation does Earth have around here?
There's a knock on the door.
"<Is everything okay?>"
The door swings open revealing a man and... is that Faith behind him?
Post by: Twinwolf on October 13, 2019, 09:23:16 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 13, 2019, 09:26:02 am
So uh, you walk in on the two hugging and then Yuki gives the girl this weird pointed look and you think the girl nodded a bit?
"<Erm, sorry! Two vanillas with a dash of ephemeral bliss please!>"
"<Okay?>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 13, 2019, 09:40:42 am
"<At the resorts, like the Gauntanamo bay one, do you know if visitors fron earth are particularly rare?>"
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 13, 2019, 11:11:41 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 13, 2019, 06:23:56 pm
"<Guantanamo? No. Place has an arrangement. They provide facilities and lodgings for Godslayers, and they get debates and protection in exchange. Elsewhere? You guys are a rarer sight.>"
He notes the general perception of Earth, at length what you can gather is that Earth is, at best, regarded as a peculiar place. At worst, it's regarded sort of like Chernobyl if Chernobyl was in the middle of Afghanistan and infested with Australian wildlife, like some sort of barren Mordor-esque hellscape filled to the brim with Aramitama and vehicular manslaughter. Especially vehicular manslaughter. Apparently the general fragility of mundane people is something that boggles the mind here. Still the place is also regarded as being basically the cutting edge for certain kinds of research, a world of unparalleled historical significance (for it is where all realms lead back to) and the only real source of Godslayers, heros made flesh, superhumans amongst superhumans, more or less. Yeah uh, so it turns out Earth is not what you call a tourism hotspot.
"<Or so that's what you'll hear anyways. Jack's mostly just complained about the infrastructure, no comment on the Aramitama or traffic accidents.>"
Noriko
"Huh? Where's that coming from? I guess you haven't done anything particularly nice, but I don't think you've done anything mean either?"
She really just sounds bemused more than anything else. Did she not consider your words hurtful? Or is she just plain dense?
Post by: Strider03 on October 13, 2019, 06:41:44 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 13, 2019, 06:45:23 pm
"<Should be, E's pretty across the sort of thing.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 13, 2019, 07:06:30 pm
She gestured at Yuki's hair and clothes.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 13, 2019, 07:09:43 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 13, 2019, 07:37:51 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 13, 2019, 08:32:09 pm
"<Elodia, she manages the whole operation there. Pretty sharp lady.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 13, 2019, 09:37:40 pm
"Yuki... ah... what's the first thing you remember after having those drinks?"
Post by: Twinwolf on October 13, 2019, 09:40:23 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 14, 2019, 01:04:20 am
"<We're going to be having a talk later today.>"
Post by: Empiricist on October 16, 2019, 08:02:03 am
"<Far from here. Her office is a number, I suppose she wouldn't mind me dialling. You wanna talk now or later?>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 16, 2019, 04:13:32 pm
"<An introduction could smooth things over later I suppose, if another call is needed. But. . .>" If his formless suspicions had basis, and more than simply a rogue or thoughtless staff member was responsible, did he really want to alert the manager immediately? Things could be swept under the rug quickly if anyone was made aware that he was prying. Even if there was no involvement by management, they might try to downplay things for the sake of reputation. No, Shef didn't need to talk about this now, he'd collect all the information he could about the catalytic events of the previous night, before letting anyone know he was suspicious. "<Nah, it can wait. Got a lot to do now anyway, hopefully Yuki hasn't been jumped by any of the other groups while we've been split up.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on October 16, 2019, 05:29:45 pm
"You..." Faith fell silent again. "You... woke up with clothes on... okay, so at least there's that. Do you... have any... hmm... um..." Faith sighed, and moved closer to Yuki. "You don't think you were... doing anything without clothes with them, right? Um... nothing... nothing sexual, right?"
Post by: Twinwolf on October 16, 2019, 05:32:37 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 16, 2019, 10:59:47 pm
"<Hope not, that'd make my job harder.>"
Faith and Yuki
"<What happened last night?>" She sounds, kinda out of it, probably since she was just sitting there awkwardly during your exchange with Faith. "<Oh um... maybe? Do you want to try? >"
Post by: Strider03 on October 17, 2019, 06:01:36 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 17, 2019, 07:43:12 am
"<She ain't my target.>"
Adversary pass detected. Could be anywhere in the restaurant or just outside it. It's definitely here though.
"<Relax, I'd rather not make a mess here. Hell, I'll show you around here if you want too. No surprise, no ambushes. You've got my word. Sparring's good and all, but the market's worth checking out, and if you plan on taking anything home, you'll need contacts.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 17, 2019, 02:29:43 pm
"<Seems like the reason to do it now would be to distract, gain intel, or poison like you planned before. Maybe even sticking with your word, and only attacking with whatever item I purchased that you concealed yourself in, the moment I'd left. Seems in your best interest. . .">
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 17, 2019, 06:23:25 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 17, 2019, 07:11:52 pm
"<Ah, so you've a few days then. That changes things. Easier for me too.>"
Producing a notepad, he jots something down, tearing out the page and sliding it over to you. It's an address.
"<Yuki was spotted entering there a few minutes ago.>"
Noriko
"Oh, didn't really notice." She didn't notice? "You get used to tuning things out when you grow up in the public eye. People always say things and then everyone forgets by the next week at latest." She shrugs. "I was more worried I made a faux pas. Plus Earth's pretty strange so I might be chalking everything down to that."
Post by: Strider03 on October 17, 2019, 07:55:25 pm
But, there was the bracelet, which Ignis had recovered. Given where Ignis had positioned himself for the man in the middle trick, his range probably wasn't long enough to directly recover the bracelet. And, when he'd incinerated the doppelgangers, with the fake vial, there'd been no bracelet left behind. So it must be transportable. But Shef's wasn't, clearly it wasn't an inherent property, so something about the man's abilities must involve transporting complex objects. There was something there, and Shef would poke at that bit of intel in a bit, when Ignis wasn't so close.
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2019, 07:33:35 am
"<Depends. 4 am or so works best, but that might be too odd.>" Right, Awakened don't sleep too much do they? Well, they don't need to anyways. "<How's 10 am work?>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 18, 2019, 07:40:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2019, 08:01:35 am
He nods, sliding another piece of paper over to you.
Post by: Strider03 on October 18, 2019, 10:09:21 am
Following that, he headed to the restroom, with the intent to fully check his person for bugs, both physical, and to the best of his abilities, curse based. As an additional precaution, he activated his compulsion on the two pieces of paper he'd recieved from Ignis. The man's constructs had been susceptible, so if these were a trap, hopefully that would be revealed. Anything found would be flushed down the toilet together in one batch.
Finally, Shef reactivated his illusion, and portalled to the outside of the building to head to get a train to his next stop, on alert for an ambush.
Post by: Powder Miner on October 18, 2019, 10:12:04 am
Faith suspiciously flicked her glance over to the other girl -- this was a LOT, whatever was going on, and she was beginning to suspect that, well... the more she asked, the more she'd find out.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 18, 2019, 11:34:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2019, 06:13:43 pm
You part ways with Ignis, the man dissolving in with the crowds as you talk to the maitre d', the guy rattling off a list of spices and preparation methods. "<Though if you're planning on cooking back home, you'll need a guide. Earth doesn't have any ambient spirit energy, so most of those won't work normally, and a few will break down. Most cases I -think- you need to add a spirit to battery system to it and keep it charged, I'm not an expert though. You want me to check with the Chef? Guy likes picking his own ingredients, think he won't mind giving you a rundown if you tag along.>"
Huh, guess cooking will be a little more complicated.
Anyways, as you enter the restrooms and begin your check you know that something has gone horribly horribly wrong. Adrenaline floods your body. Your heartbeat hammers in your chest, in your ears, as the world seems to spin, seems to slowly darken. You're having a bit of trouble drawing breath. You feel a bit dizzy, unsteady on your feet, cold sweat running down your back.
Motherfucker. He poisoned you. How though? You've had your eyes on your food the whole time, and it arrived before he got back his pass, as far as you can tell anyways. Was there some sort of payload in it? Triggered remotely so it'd only kick in when he set it off? That's, not strictly allowed... Maybe it was the paper itself? He did want you to take the fake vial before and you did suspect the paper may be the same. The flashbang spewed blue flames before, and he was that flashbang. Was he the paper now? Could he use more than just flames?
Faith and Yuki
Maria seems to physically recoil from Faith's glance, though she looks considerably more agitated by Yuki's prompt for that matter. "<S-sorry no, that was an attack spell, it only uses negative experiences... I could try using something else to find out what happened though...>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 18, 2019, 07:08:16 pm
Clearly, he'd been poisoned. It'd been on his mind since Ignis had mentioned that plan, though apparently that'd done nothing to prevent it. Either the poison would be sufficient to activate the first blood condition, or it wouldn't be. In the former case, not much he could really do. In the latter, Ignis would need to do something to get that condition. On the chance that he had to finish the job personally, Shef, trembling, pulled one of the drones he'd purchased earlier, piloting it into a position where it could view the entrance of the bathroom from the outside. A crude method of surveillance that he could detonate if need be.
Next step, on the off chance that it was something in the food, and there was any more poison that had not been taken into his blood stream, the man pulled up his shirt, leaned over, and opened a hole directly into the middle of his stomach, letting the contents pour out into the toilet.
Finally, he'd drop the two pieces of paper on the ground, and requiem them, to determine whether they were the source of the affliction or not. Of course he'd keep an eye on the camera feed from the drone. He'd need a new plan if nothing happened with any of this though.
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2019, 08:54:11 pm
Stall entered. Drone deployed. Stomach emptied. You still feel like shit, but you doubt this will be enough to fulfil the condition. You can still fight at the very least. You take out the pieces of paper and the second one, the one with his number on it burns with bright blue flames in your hands, flames that are now trying to blowtorch into your face.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 18, 2019, 09:31:10 pm
Expulser lite to blast the paper out of a portal hole in the wall. Try no to cause too much property damage. Send out another drone out the hole, to keep an eye outside.
[1+2] [6] 4 4 6 1 4 6 4 6
Post by: Empiricist on October 18, 2019, 11:25:19 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Old Boy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XerHnOIEiU) | ] |
Fire erupts from the paper and you let go, conjuring your Regalia and firing. You don't aim anywhere in particular. No need to. Portal does all the work. Should've anyways. Bullet hits the paper. Expulser expands. Problem - there's something else here. Or Rather, someone else. Something between you and the detonating expulser. Or more accurately, someone. Paper goes out through the portal, and riding the expulser blast, Ignis drives his burning elbow right into your chest.
Okay, so that fucking hurt. Also you're now stuck in a bathroom stall with what appears to be a close quarters specialist who is now going for a sweep and strike combo.
...and who just dropped a grenade in his wake. Again, in this cramped-ass stall.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 19, 2019, 09:12:38 am
Speak of grenades, this was probably another of that. A spawned clone, disguised as a grenade, or created in some stealthy way disguised by the dropping of the grenade, to turn this into a two on one. Shef, leaning heavily against the wall of the stall, decided he was not having that. As before, he began to layer the enchantments of an expulser round, soon letting the magical machinery take over the work of making new layers, and when it was complete, he detonated it at his chest. Portal behind him, he'd try to blast himself into the main area of the restaurant, a bit outside the hall to the bathroom.
Maybe, just maybe, Ignis would be a little hesitant about property damage inside the actual establishment.
Expulser between self and Ignis and his grenade. Portal behind into body of restaurant, do not let Ignis come through the portal. If there is a moment, make certain Igniz didn't plant anything when making his jab.
[6] 4 4 6 [1+2] 4 6 4 6 4
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 19, 2019, 05:14:31 pm
He wasn't exactly traumatised- after all, he'd been doing this for years at this point and this guy was training him, not trying to kill him-, but most of the fights he'd been in, for a long while, hadn't exactly involved his opponent being hit by a truck and pancaked, then resurrecting as the bastard son of Son Goku and Budai, as the opener. And most of them also didn't involve Minato starting the fight in a maid costume and ending it looking like some gaudy gokudon out of a video game.
He still wasn't sure how that last one happened. Tsukasa was going to need to do some explaining. Minato closes his eyes and rests against a surface where he can take a breather.
"Man....I'm starting to understand a little bit of what Faith's seeing about the Awakened world. That was.....a crazy last couple of minutes."
Post by: Empiricist on October 19, 2019, 06:36:19 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | The Old Boy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XerHnOIEiU) | ] |
He kicks your legs out from under you and strikes you in the jaw. Expulser goes off. Then the grenade. You blast out into the restaraunt proper, kidding to a halt. As your portal closes you catch a glimpse of the bathroom's interior, protected by reinforcement magic as an explosion engulfs it, Ignis dissipating in the blast. Motherfucker, that was an actual grenade. Well, you feel like shit, you're kinda hurt, but you haven't lost just yet. Ignis might not be too keen on coming in right now. Maybe. If that's the case then well uh... well shit. You could try picking him off from outside but he's probably disguised again. Still you could probably contact Sakurako, get her or Yuki over, back you up. Guy hasn't been too keen to fight two on one. Maybe the poison and beatings rendered will change that. Still, seems like a fine enough bet.
A voice interrupts your thoughts.
"<Well, I suppose we could use some excitement... System Override.>"
A matrix of lines expands outwards as the manager invokes her administrative pass, darkness punctuated with gridlines overlaying over the walls. This'll complicate things. Some of the store owners and whatnot have administrative passes, meaning they get to dictate the rules of engagement within their premise if they so please. Change win conditions, add restrictions, and your bracelet interface has just lit up with her new ruleset: Do not hit staff or patrons. Do not magically influence staff or patrons. Do not damage the restaurant. Do not break anything. Do not spill food or drink. Penalty: Instant Forfeit.
Well, that's a thing.
A couple walks in through the door. Patrons or Ignis in disguise? It's hard to tell.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Rules (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 19, 2019, 07:17:43 pm
He pulled himself up, grabbed one of the provided potions from his backpack, and downed it, before stumbling his way to the least occupied portion of the restaurant. Not that it would be that empty, but he'd try to get to the best spot he could before the inevitable assault.
When he'd found a spot, Shef pulled out one of his phones, and tried to call Yuki. If anyone could deal with the poison, it'd be her.
Post by: Empiricist on October 19, 2019, 07:22:06 pm
"<If you want to order I'll be fine with shooting him myself. As for throwing... I've always believed more in the spirit of the law.>"
Post by: Strider03 on October 19, 2019, 07:25:22 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 19, 2019, 07:34:20 pm
"<Coming right up.>"
She places a desert menu in front of you and casually shoots a man as he enters, the guy dissipating in a puff of blue smoke. Useful. You take the healing potion. You still feel like shit but at least you're a bit further from losing now. Menu meanwhile is split into two main sections - hot and cold. Cold has well, ice-cream, cold sweet soups, cakes, fruit salads. Hot has things like fried buns with custard, hot sweet soups, hot crepes, and churros.
Post by: Strider03 on October 19, 2019, 07:40:48 pm
Next step, he'd send out one of the aerial drones to wait outside of the restaurant from a high point of view. He'd have to leave eventually, and he wanted eyes for when he did, or in case he was forced out.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 19, 2019, 08:49:35 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 19, 2019, 09:33:14 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 19, 2019, 09:35:14 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 19, 2019, 10:10:15 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 20, 2019, 05:30:26 am
"<I think it's probably best not to cast any more mental attack spells on Yu-->" And then Yuki was called. "What's going on, Yuki?"
Post by: Empiricist on October 20, 2019, 05:43:36 am
"So it was. And yet you prevailed still."
The headless Bodhisattva paces in place, hands resting behind its back.
"You are dismissed. You are more than they say you are, Minato Kumon. One of the better contenders for Yukari's legacy... Yes, we will watch your development with interest. Now if you will excuse me, I must reincarnate."
And with that another truck fucking crashes into them and explodes.
Shef
She flashes her phone. There's some sort of social networking app on it 3 friends nearby. Complete with locations too. One of them vanishes. A text message pops up.
Quote from: From: Ignis
wtf?
Minato
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"<Returning Blade - Skysplitter>"
A blade returned to its sheath. A single step forwards. And then, a flash of light that cleaved apart the world. A piercing shriek. A plume of dust. A monoatomic blade screaming toward your throat.
Iaido is, flashy. It's pretty damn anime too if you're into that. And perhaps most importantly, it's a little on the impractical side. Generally speaking there's little reason to sheath a sword after drawing it, combat-wise anyways. But such inefficiencies are what rituals thrive on, a little drawback as tribute for services to be rendered. In this case, it manifested as speed. It was manifested as power. One and the same really, faster it move the more kinetic energy it has, the more it hurts when it strikes something. This attack? A lot of power. Funny thing about iaido though - it's a little predicable. You can only strike at so many angles from drawn position. It's all geometry really, all swordfighting is at its heart. You rush forwards not because of your reflexes, because of your strength, no, you rush forwards because of your guard, your positioning, your footwork. Position yourself right and geometry does all the work for you.
And what is in the blade's path but a forgery? Once a blade, now an explosion, now ruin. The katana shatters. The difference between them and you, is that your weapons are expendable. More than theirs at least. They can recover of course, that wasn't really their Regalia, no their Regalia was only the hilt, the blade was a product of it. He could replace it quickly enough, just need to return it to his sheath. A bit of difficult task now though, now that Durandal has pierced his chest.
Blood splatters across pavement and you kick him off your blade. It's nothing personal, but if he something up his sleeve he might've tagged you on the way out. Even in a fight between normal humans, a fatal strike rarely kills in an instant. There is always time, time for the vanquished to drag their killer down with them somewhere in that haze of adrenaline and action. For the purposes of most duels, that would still be a mutual KO.
His bracelet flashes and he's teleported out.
Two people rush you from behind. They're out too - just needed to lign up the forgeries and they impaled themselves. A bullet pings off your armor, that, that's beneath your concern. You look for more fruitful targets, more pressing threats.
Such is the situation you've found yourself in, a free-for-all of sorts. Sure, the general rule's that you won't just accept fights from any Tom, Dick, and Harry, there aren't enough hours in the day really, but you gotta break in your new techniques somehow, and there's no substitute for a real living thinking opponent. Besides, here in another realm long repossessed from the Earth you're not Minato Kumon, at least few would recognize you as such. Here, you're just a man in some fancy armor, just another duelist come to enjoy the festival. It makes things a little easier. At the very least, the spotlight ain't entirely on you.
And hey, you didn't sculpt that body of yours just by reading did you?
The arena is a floating city square recreated from sand. You're somewhere near the center now, a bloody swathe carved behind you.
There's no helping it really, Godslayers are well, they're a bit of a cut above most Awakened. So what would pose a threat to you should probably be whoever's wreaked just as much havoc someone such as say... ah, your gazes just met. Yeah, that mage is a threat.
She is dressed in a robe plated with black metal, her Regalia seems to take the form of long slender gauntlets inset with purple gets. An amplifier or catalyst type most likely. The unadorned staff, you're pretty sure it's just a summoned weapon. Effective enough in the right hands, but well, it's something you could destroy, just like that sword.
She, doesn't seem to be doing a lot of fighting though, not personally at least. That centaur cosplaying as a Tron character or something, the one at her side? Yeah... he's doing a lot of fighting. Lotta people getting pinned down by arrows of starlight.
You're guessing she's some kinda summoner. General trick with these is yeah, fucking gank the summoner.
"<A seven ringed shield? In that case... Chiron you are dismissed. I summon thee, Abraxas!>"
| [Now Playing: | I'll Face Myself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmPMx8qI2n8) | ] |
Okay yeah, definitely a summoner. So Chiron goes away in a puff of blue flames and with a swipe of her staff the Urbane Evoker conjures a new figure clad in mechanical armor with an almost chimeric appearance. Okay. No big deal, just a representation of the thing Basilideans credit with the creation of all intelligent thought and the bootstrapping of 365 heavens bearing down on you.
Right, they're a ways away still, other side of the square. Gonna have to blast through a dozen or so people to really reach her. Her summon doesn't have to worry too much about that, no, he's got a ranged attacks. A silvery orb gathers in his palm, fragments of burning metal precipitating out of the growing orb in a lattice-like pattern. He lets it loose. It's aimed a little short? Okay, probably some kinda AoE and aimed to discourage your approach. Move forward fast enough and you could probably duck under it, move too slow and it nails you. Hang back and you could probably dodge it.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on October 20, 2019, 07:01:00 am
"<Bit of an invasion of privacy don't you think.>"
Post by: Twinwolf on October 20, 2019, 02:08:32 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 20, 2019, 05:21:44 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 22, 2019, 04:08:11 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 22, 2019, 08:37:28 pm
She shrugs "<Eh, you can turn it off if you don't want the tracking.>"
Faith and Yuki
((Assuming Yuki said that last bit in English.))
"<Okay, um, I could follow you. What's going on?">
Post by: Strider03 on October 22, 2019, 08:44:55 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 22, 2019, 10:12:44 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 23, 2019, 03:57:53 am
She nods and jots down your number. You take your icecream and go. Mmm, tasty.
Meanwhile, in the bushes
Four figures watch from the bushes as the sisters depart, green hooded cloaks blending in with the shrubbage. Well, not that it's much help when their faces are clearly poking out. In front is a girl dressed in your typical adventurer's outfit, her hair done up in a sporty ponytail, sheathed on her back are an enormous sword and what appears to be an oversized rolled up newspaper. At her side is a breathtakingly beautiful elf dressed in a rather stereotypical green tabard with a quiver and short bow at their back. Behind them is a teen who could probably give Shef a run for his money in terms of sketchiness, clad in a mantle that seems nigh-impossible to distinguish from the shadows it casts or the smoke emanating from it. And off in the corner is a well-dressed young man with a rather archaic fashion sense, a young man who appears to be more preoccupied by the paper on which he writes than his targets dissolving into the crowd. At this moment they were in the middle of a discussion, if such called that.
"<-those black vectors are fast and->"
"<Useless. My arrows will blot out the sun.>"
"<Well guess we've got a volunteer. Think you can handle her healing too?>"
"<Of course! Anything for you.>"
"<What.>"
"<What?>"
"<Okay... moving on... I'm seeing reports that the spearwoman flew off with Princess Patricija.>"
"<Yes, that is a shame... I had her all figured out too.>"
"<For the last time Jerry, we're not stealing anyone's panties!>"
"<Well, not anymore.>"
"<No! It was never on the table!>"
"<How about under the table?>"
"<No.>"
"<Inside a dead drop disguised as a utility box?>"
"<No! End of discussion! Do we know anything about her replacement?>"
"<Nothing beyond that account. They've just posted a rundown of the fight with Maria's squad.>"
She glances at her phone.
"<In such detail too... It's pretty creepy honestly.>"
"<Maybe it's part of the exercise? Unverified intel.>"
"<Point. Could be. What are the odds?>"
"<Coin toss.>"
"<Not really good are they?>"
"<Better than a casino.>"
"<Okay so it says he can portal away people and projectiles, and mind control people.>"
"<And he's got a gun.>"
"<That too.>"
"<Hoho! A battle of attrition? Bring it on!>"
"<That's insane, he's a Godslayer, it's practically suicide.>"
"<I shall be the judge of that.>"
"<Okay, any real suggestions?>"
Apparently not. Well, if it came down to that, there was someone she could rely on at least. Well, maybe rely on was a bit too strong a phrase, but any port in a storm or so they say.
"<Bel.>"
No response.
"<Earth to Bel.>"
Still no response.
"<Allow me.>"
Maggie stands up, hoisting the youth upside down and swinging him side to side like a pendulum. Eventually he looks up.
"<Sera calls.>"
"<Ah, my dear muse. What is it that you desire? A sonnet to your beauty? An aria to your->"
"<Is the manuscript ready?>"
"<Ah yes, I have just finished it!>"
Taking the block of paper, she flips straight to the last five pages, skimming.
"<Bel, we all die in this.>"
"<Of course - it's a tragedy.>"
"<...Could we not die?>"
"<And compromise my artistic vision?>"
It was at this point that Sera's face met her palm. This, was going to take a while.
Faith, Shef, and Yuki
Faith and Yuki enter the restaurant (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg8035968;topicseen#msg8035968). Yay.
Post by: Strider03 on October 23, 2019, 06:39:35 am
"<Thanks for coming Yuki. And Faith? What are-->" He cut himself of, and picked a different way of phrasing it. "<You get roped into all this as well?>"
Post by: Empiricist on October 23, 2019, 07:21:19 am
Well, whatever the hell happened inside the fortress sure did a number on Yuki's dress, what with the skirt cut shorter and basically all the plating missing now. Either she brought a real cheap dress without an protection enchantments, or whatever hit her overpowered it, either way the girl responsible you already took out of the running. She's a little wide eyed and her hair seems stiff, like something gel'd it up, but honestly those two made you lean towards her being the real one - it seemed doubtful Ignis would make a "flaw" like that. The lack of response to your compulsion seems to confirm this.
Faith and Yuki
So Shef just flashes your glasses at you and something seems to tear out through the scintillating lenses, a peculiar feeling, like a sort of nonspecific push or impetus, though it quickly washes over both of you without doing anything weird.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 25, 2019, 07:36:37 pm
"Oh, that girl who dragged me off wanted to get ice cream, and Faith was at the ice cream place! I didn't actually get any ice cream before you called though and I said I was going to go back after. Soooo poison? I think I can heal that. I probably can heal that."
Healing magic, try and do the thing and heal shef
Post by: Empiricist on October 25, 2019, 08:52:31 pm
Well your discomfort begins to fade as Yuki starts healing you, spirit energy pours forth from her shard, stiffening her hair and illuminating her palms as she focuses healing magic into you. It's, taking a while.
Yuki
Hmm okay so he's not too hurt right now so repairing the damage isn't too tricky, thing is, your healing isn't removing the poison, at least, not quickly.
Faith
Okay so you can see the issue too, well, maybe not see, but thanks to your training you can sense it anyways. Manipulating your own magic, it's made you a little more aware of other people's magic too. The poison affecting Shef? It's a spell, a pretty nasty one too - it's attacking his central nervous system, but it's focusing on his upper spine, trying to effectively decapitate him, trying to sever the connection between brain and body. That is, until Yuki started healing. It seems to actually recoil from the spell, dispersing in its wake before refocusing and dispersing again. It's not targeted you realize, rather it's algorithmic, it's using something to guide its targeting, though you doubt it's designed to combat healing magic - it's dispersing and shit yeah, but it's still getting eroded away and the damage is still being undone. Any delay you see is more from Yuki's magic being geared more for repairing than spellbreaking. You meanwhile, you might be able to speed things up a little, tear the damn thing out yourself.
Post by: Strider03 on October 25, 2019, 08:57:48 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 25, 2019, 09:00:01 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 25, 2019, 09:23:47 pm
As Yuki began healing Shef, Faith squinted at him, despite the fact that she wasn't actually SEEING what was going on with him, and leaned forwards.
"<Holy shit.> Shef, what the hell did this? This is really fucked up. The spell affecting you isn't poison, it's something trying to sever your spinal cord. Ugh... that's screwed up. Yuki's not gonna be able to heal you very quickly, since she's only really glitching it out and slowly making it shrink, but hold still for a moment, I should be able to take it out now, I figured some stuff out..."
Faith popped a Shield of Courage around her and then melted it away from around her into a spot on her hand, which she then put against Shef's neck unless he dodged away for some reason, funneling the energy directly into him and into the spell in his neck -- mixing the two together to increase her control, she then gradually pulled the spell out of his body, careful to try and prevent any trap algorithms in the spell from going off.
Post by: Strider03 on October 25, 2019, 09:58:11 pm
"That's what the poison does? Didn't seem to be doing that great of a job at it. Anyway yes, Faith. Stuff's been pretty clearly suspicious. Worried someone may have spiked her and Noriko's drink, or purposely misinterpretted their order. They've got a lot of. . ah, beyond-alcoholic levels of intoxicant? That might be considered nonalcoholic. But the resort staff are used to dealing with people from earth, so. . . they should know better. Something else at play."
"But yes. Worrying. Been trying to uncover the events of last night myself, and if you'd care, I can try to fill you in. What we have so far, and maybe more as it comes up."
Post by: Empiricist on October 25, 2019, 10:06:58 pm
Okay so, issue with shoving your shield into him - your shield is really external use only. It's a bubble of energy that violently discharges in response to attacks. Could it be used for overlaid shielding? Probably, but you haven't really learned reinforcement nor had much reason to tinker with it that much. Fortunately Yuki's healing doesn't just heal, it overlays shielding ontop of its targets. So if you mix your shield with her first and... aha! Works like a charm, the aegis/shield mixture spreads out, enclosing the poison spell before closing in and pulling out, producing a yellow bubble containing what appears to be a phantasmal rock?
Post by: Twinwolf on October 25, 2019, 10:17:43 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 25, 2019, 10:23:58 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 25, 2019, 10:25:31 pm
"I have no idea what to do with this thing now."
Her frown turned into an angry grimace at Shef and Yuki's conversation.
"She got drugged? That's fucked. If we end up running into whoever did that, well..."
She was probably gonna kick their ass.
She then let out another sigh.
"Alright, Shef, tell me what you know."
Post by: Strider03 on October 25, 2019, 10:38:42 pm
"About that. . .do you have any time? Got some shopping to do, could tell you on the way over. If not, you'll get the abridged version."
Post by: Twinwolf on October 26, 2019, 07:25:12 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 26, 2019, 08:15:23 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 26, 2019, 08:29:52 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 26, 2019, 08:47:48 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 26, 2019, 08:52:04 pm
Moving outside, the blonde girl set the bubble-with-rock on the ground and then, carefully dispelled the bubble, to see if the spell stopped existing or not.
Post by: Empiricist on October 26, 2019, 09:07:47 pm
The rock just seems to slowly lose all detail, its grains, its texture, its shadow, its color, each piece of its existence fading away until nothing remains. You don't detect any traces of the spell left.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 26, 2019, 09:11:30 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 26, 2019, 09:20:05 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 27, 2019, 02:09:02 am
Post by: Empiricist on October 27, 2019, 04:34:25 am
Patricija holds you a little tighter, tight enough to feel ear pulse if y'know, she had one. Still she's pleasantly warm at least. Sure enough the hexagonal snow globe of Guantanamo Bay soon comes into view and with it, the resort held within.
"<Oh wow, I've never been here before. I tried visiting it a while ago, before they really started work on the resort but um, it really didn't work out.>"
Some time ago
The gates were flimsy, utilitarian. A simple wire mesh topped with barbed wire. Fabric to hide the interior, guard tower to keep watch. Built from whatever materials they could scrape together, simple steel and plastic, concrete and cement. It seemed almost primitive. It was so ugly and yet, so flimsy, could this really keep the place safe? It looked like a simple fireball would blast through, let alone an Aramitama.
Two figures regard the gates. The first was a man sporting the powerful generically handsome build of an isekai protagonist, dressed in akubra hat and what could charitably be called military attire. At his hip was attached the harness locking him firmly to the ground, next to a boomerang and an awfully large knife. He was not the man the history books would remember him as and yet there was something unmistakeable about him, something about that glint in his eye. Standing beside was a young girl eyes filled with something a few shades more negative than wonder, a feeling not quite disappointment but still rather appalled, the crown on her head, an internet connection in her brain.
"<Are you sure this is Guantanamo Bay?>"
"<It is the only one I know of.>"
That, that couldn't be right. The air felt dead here. It was hot, humid, and yet she couldn't help but feel cold. There was no magic here, no mana in the air. Her charms had broken, her clothing had lost their lustre, even the snacks she brought for the two of them had crumbled into dust, sawdust to be exact. This barren empty land, this, was Earth. The cradle of civilization. To think people lived here, to think that to many this was all they knew.
A muffled scream breaks her reverie.
"<I don't think this is the right place...>"
"<...Mistakes may have been made.>"
With a shrug and some deal of confusion the two turn around and go back the way they came, and in the distance a soldier cries out "<Holy shit, is that Harold Holt?>"
And now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast
| [Now Playing: | Kataware Doki (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFsYNUqsBis) | ] |
Your flight slows, the rush of the wind becoming a gentle sea breeze as the descent begins. Home. Home for now at least. You feel another pang of worry in your heart. Is Kouta safe? Will he be okay? If something happened... if something happened, Ren should be able to take care of it. She's capable, clearly experienced and well, she probably knows what it's like to worry... that girl at the hospital, that girl she was watching over. That girl she's left behind to help guide you. You doubt she'd take it lightly. If something happened, you would probably know by now. Enn and Winter, they, you, you can't call them reliable. Their focus is always elsewhere, some other call some other problem, but they, well, they care. They care unlike so many others in your life. If something did happen, they would tell you even if your comms unit is missing, even if you left your phone behind. That, you're sure about it. And yet, and yet, you can't shake that feeling, that something could be wrong, that lingering anxiety in your chest. It's, well, it's not just your Awakening is it? The confirmation that your nightmares really were real, that newfound power that you're pretty sure came with the ability to parallel process your own damn worries too.
No, things, well, things never have been very good have they? Family to family, foster home to foster home, you've started over, over and over again, maybe this will be the time you thought, a faint hope that grew only fainter. Running away with Kouta, that was probably the best decision you could have made, but it sure didn't feel like it at the time. Where the hell would you live? How would you get food? How would you survive? How, how? It was not an easy road and yet you made it work, one way or another, and what moments of happiness you've had since, you've guarded zealously, because you knew damn well how easy it is for it all to be taken away again.
It's hard, to forget those instincts, those inclinations, because as painful as they are, they probably kept you alive during those times. Something like that anyway. You know it's irrational, but it is a part of you, and so you worry still. And so when you spy Kouta there, sitting on the shore, happy and excited in his own little way, you can't help but to breath a sigh of relief.
With a streak of white water, with a series of splashing trails, a stone skips across the water, thrown with supernatural force. There was Ren, standing beside him, evidently the source of the stones. She doesn't see you yet but you do see her as she produces something from her pocket, something small, dull, and metallic. She presses it against her chest quietly, almost solemnly, and without a word skips it across the waves, a pair of silver tags sinking into the sea, never to return.
Post by: Strider03 on October 27, 2019, 06:52:53 am
"You think we could detour to. . .here, on the way over to the ice cream place. Without making Maria wait too long." He knew what he needed, so it'd be just a quick in and out.
As they walked, Shef began to relate his knowledge of the previous night's occurrences. "Regarding last night, the picture is incomplete. We know that Yuki and Noriko left the resort after accidentally drinking something intoxicating. There's a large empty spot there, until they call in at the guild, having performed a quest or something. At this point Yuki, you apparently drank some enchanted whiskey. You get a new quest, to pick up a bioweapon, and. . .two hours later? The guild gets a selfie from a night club with Yuki and Noriko and the bioweapon. Then the guild hears nothing till morning."
"But, we have the phone Noriko was using last night, and a few leads. One of them was a woman who the two of them did some, well they modeled for her eromanga? She's assured us that their likenesses were changed, and they've been paid. Shef brushed past this quickly, not certain what to even say about it. "After that, Noriko went on a date with the princess, which looked nice for her. She left earlier because of exhaustion." No, that wasn't the major thing, but, moving on.
"What else. . .we've got a set of people from the military attacking us for training, one group indicated there might have been a run in with the law last night. And beyond that? In the dark, with some phone numbers to investigate. So we've been running around fending off students and being tricked by my adversary. Sakurako helped us out of that one."
Post by: Twinwolf on October 27, 2019, 04:04:07 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 27, 2019, 11:39:39 pm
some dim part of her remembers that she had something she had to do when she went out this morning.
something about... tanning? Training! Right! Training.
Shit she had had all of one duel and lost it.
That's going to be... trouble.
Post by: Empiricist on October 28, 2019, 08:54:34 pm
Right so what were you doing again? Right, you handed the vial in at the guild, and then er, went somewhere? You think tea was involved? Where are you again? You look around, finding yourself in a dark cavernous chamber, the stonewrought walls extending so high up you cannot see the ceiling. Five robed figures stand around a stone alter holding candles that burn with sickly green flames, a great skeleton of some monstrous beast you do not recognize is suspended above, held aloft by chains binding limbs and protrusions for which there are no names. And as the figures chant in some tongue dead and forgotten, blood pours from the skull into the chalice below, a rich deep red overflowing from it and spilling across the alter and into the channels engraved into the floor.
So, that's a thing.
Post by: Powder Miner on October 29, 2019, 05:24:28 pm
Faith lapsed into silence for a moment. "I'm definitely going to want to talk to whoever had her model for an eromanga, in a... different context, but for now we should... yeah, probably deal with the bioweapon. I assume you guys are already on that, so I'll help."
Post by: Strider03 on October 29, 2019, 05:31:43 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on October 29, 2019, 08:26:51 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on October 29, 2019, 08:29:56 pm
"So FIRST... they left a fucking bioweapon at the place of some person they... that they modeled for, okay, I mean, I guess they were inhibited... but then... Shef, let me get this right... you left a Weapon of Mass Destruction with Sakurako???"
Post by: Strider03 on October 29, 2019, 08:35:47 pm
"Yes, I did. I don't know if it was a WMD, it could be like. . . a little bioweapon. Kinda got jumped by a bunch of military school students and then poisoned, you know. There a problem?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 29, 2019, 09:04:52 pm
that
that sounds a bit odd and concerning.
Of course, still being quite high, she decides to speak up.
"Hey guys what's going on? this stuff looks reeeeeeal freaky, ya know?"
Post by: Empiricist on October 29, 2019, 09:24:31 pm
Okay yeah a couple more trackers and bugs, mostly again from Canan but there's some kinda weird small bluish mote of lightless energy in your pockets that is probably from Ignis.
Faith, Shef, and Yuki
Anyways, you guys pass by an adventuring supply store. Shef, Yuki, you two would spot Fiona buying some plastic explosives inside.
Sakurako
"<Wait, don't you remember?>"
That's, a bit higher pitched that what you expected.
"<Well... she was pre-tty out of it.>"
"<Give us a sec, we're almost done!>"
Are these, high school students? Now that you're focusing you think you spy one of them wearing pink bunny pajamas under those robes. Th chanting resumes and the blood begins to boil, a screaming sigil enclosing the five figures. Crush and grind. Burn and boil. Six vessels arrayed between five figures. The grails begin to fill.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 29, 2019, 09:29:49 pm
"Oh. Creepy cultist-looking dudes are kids. Okay, take as much time as you need!"
Wait, take a sec.
Nope, this seems perfectly safe.
Post by: Strider03 on October 29, 2019, 10:03:26 pm
"Ah. This place will do nicely." Shef would stop to enter, hopefully searching for a magical pressure containment vessel, preferably about the size of a four ounce bottle or similar, along with some magically enhanced high explosives. If he ran into Fiona while browsing the aisles, he'd ask after the bioweapon.
Post by: Empiricist on October 30, 2019, 03:58:21 am
"<See! I told you the black robes look creepy!>"
"<-Goth-. You said it looked goth.>"
"<Eh, same thing.>"
"<Not really, goth can look cute.>"
"<And creepy can't?>"
"<Depends on the kind of creepy. Like spooky creepy or 'windowless van in front of a preschool' creepy.>"
"<Ah! The ritual! Back to chanting!>"
The blood burns. The skeleton burns. The chalice burns. It burns and burns and burns, consumed by the same sickly green flames as the candles until they become indistinguishable, until they become the candle flame and their presence upon the alter becomes no more.
All that remains the abhorrent consequence, a thin ichor, sickly in its verdancy, its surface branded by a shallow crescent of small pellucid pustules. The stench hits you, good god that stench, it is the redolent mephitis, the olfactory intrusion, of that unspeakable virescent viridescence that flourishes in the forsaken depths of the wild and the lands that man had relinquished to its dominion, carried aloft upon the zephyr of the godless heavens. They present it to you, a blasphemous concoction sealed within a cycloidal receptacle by both the Stygian walls of its obsidian prison and by the inexorable beckoning of a land forgotten to the earth itself.
It's sort of like matcha green tea in that is literally matcha green tea.
Eh, it's decent. Just decent. You've had better, you've had worse. But hey, on the bright side there's a lesson to be learned from all this - you should totally trust creepy people in black robes chanting around bleeding skeletons! They're probably nice people who will give you tea and other free stuff!
Shef
Vessels you find, got a few options really, the sample vessels are built with safety in mind and assume whatever you plan on storing in them will maintain itself if injected with spirit energy, allowing otherwise hazardous magic to stored semi-safely in that failure would result in dissipation rather than some violent release. Forensic vessels err even further on the side of caution, storing only a faint memory of the magic rather than the magic itself. Blast vessels are just, on the complete other side of the spectrum, you need to keep them pumped with magic to keep the magic functioning but it keeps the magic at near full-power and will just release it no fucks given soon as the power's cut. There's a few more in between, depending on whether you're interested. High explosives, you'll have to decide on a blast type (exothermic, implosive, gravitational, psychic, etc.) consistency (solid, powder, viscous fluid, thin fluid, non-newtonian fluid, superfluid, ethereal, goo-like, dough-like, dough-substitute, etc.) trigger mechanism (magical, electronic, verbal, geis, etc.) and the like.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 30, 2019, 04:46:38 am
No, he was pretty sure he was the only direct Kumon heir, as much as he wished he had siblings growing up. She COULD be a distant Kumon relative- one of the branch families, perhaps -but none of the branch families he knew of specialised in summoning techniques. So perhaps....some other connection?
Whatever. It was a fight, and he was going to get stuck in.
"<Try me.>"
Alter to 4, use Luin Celtchair to charge ahead and avoid getting nailed by the silver orb's attack.
[
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 30, 2019, 01:17:44 pm
That... sounded about right for this place, in her opinion.
Post by: Strider03 on October 30, 2019, 06:12:05 pm
As to the explosives, he'd initially been intending to go with a standard putty, but if he found some in the form of a tape, he'd get that. Exothermic--he'd come to get high explosives after all, not some psychic or gravity bomb--, and two trigger mechanisms, electronic, or when ripped after the tape had been applied.
Post by: Empiricist on October 31, 2019, 04:52:17 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | I'll Face Myself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmPMx8qI2n8) | ] |
"<With pleasure~>"
You swear she's smiling under that cowl.
You couch low and lunge burning spear dragging you forwards as the silvery orb buzzes past your head, the blazing regalia blindsiding and skewering an unfortunate adventurer before whipping around and cutting into their opponent. Blood scatters through the air and sonorous pulse announces the orb's detonation, dust scatters but there's not blast, no it's simply grown, expanded in an instant. Behind you spin nested spheres of burning metal lattices, each new layer spinning opposite to that which came before, each growing more intricate than the last, the embers of genesis rekindled in the form of some new age blender. It continues to grow.
Okay so it's an area denial weapon then, and Abraxas has prepped another one, though it holds its fire for now, waiting for your move, waiting to see if you make a charge for it to punish. Its master meanwhile just stands there smiling, her midnight cape billowing in the wind.
Noticing what the two of you just did, nearby combatants are starting to clear the fuck out, not too keen on getting caught in the crossfire.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Sakurako
"<Yes! Wait, passable?>"
"<Hold that thought, she seems dazed still. Um, do you know where you are?>"
"<Do you know who you are?>"
Shef
Blast vessel and backup battery obtained. You also grab some exploding tape and putty.
Post by: MCreeper on October 31, 2019, 07:00:47 am
All that remains the abhorrent consequence, a thin ichor, sickly in its verdancy, its surface branded by a shallow crescent of small pellucid pustules. The stench hits you, good god that stench, it is the redolent mephitis, the olfactory intrusion, of that unspeakable virescent viridescence that flourishes in the forsaken depths of the wild and the lands that man had relinquished to its dominion, carried aloft upon the zephyr of the godless heavens. They present it to you, a blasphemous concoction sealed within a cycloidal receptacle by both the Stygian walls of its obsidian prison and by the inexorable beckoning of a land forgotten to the earth itself.Just passing by. Just sigging this.
It's sort of like matcha green tea in that is literally matcha green tea.
Post by: Strider03 on October 31, 2019, 09:35:11 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on October 31, 2019, 11:01:47 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 01, 2019, 01:37:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 01, 2019, 04:46:21 pm
It's ghostly but it is tangible in that you can move it even though you can't seem to feel anything when you push it along. Your Requiem doesn't do anything to it. Still it hasn't exploded or poisoned you, so you'll chalk that up as a win.
Sakurako
"<Oh.>"
There's a bit of an awkward silence and then
"<If it helps, you -did- call yourself that when we first met you.>"
Noriko
Ren? Hello? Earth to- er, this place to Ren?
"Oh, my bad, I may have spaced out for a bit there. No problem. No problem at all. He's very well-behaved."
Okay...
Patricija meanwhile seems less than enthused to meet Kouta. She's sort of just, keeping her distance and seems to be watching him intently while trying to avoid staring too hard or making eye contact.
Post by: Strider03 on November 01, 2019, 06:08:27 pm
Exiting the store, Shef performed his experiments on the object in his pocket. Frustrated by the complete lack of response, he took the object, made his way to the nearest waste bin, and tossed it in.
Post by: Empiricist on November 03, 2019, 02:55:13 am
Tracker dumped!
Faith
Her outfit isn't that bad- okay it's pretty bad, it looks like something out of an ecchi (if they made ecchis for libertarians), but that isn't the point - you've seen worse, you saw a monk dressed in a mushroom cap and a snuggie for Christ's sake, this really isn't that level. But still, but still, you find her uncomfortable to look at, unsettling almost, maybe it's because she's walking right towards you?
She is dressed in a white jacket with three red belts wrapped around the left arm, sword and shotgun crossing her back, assault rifle slung over her shoulder, perky chest emphasized by the short tie hanging between them emblazoned almost ironically with a yorkshire rose. Her blouse is sleeveless, and fitted, no not fitted as in tailored, fitted as in like from an anime, which is say hugging her contours with really more precision that you could ever consider to be modest. Well not that you could consider her attire modest anyways, her shorts are cut a little too high for that, though they're at least secured well, two belts wrapping around boyish hips counteracting the weight of the handguns holstered at their side. Below, two sets of throwing knives are secured around her thighs right above the tight blacking stockings that accentuate her legs, and the high armored boots completing the look, whatever the fuck this look is supposed to be.
It's, yeah, good God why? She wipes her reading glasses, planting them in her jacket's breast pocket next to the pen as she stare backs.
Those eyes, they're not what you expected. They are watchful, alert, stormy grey in color and profoundly grim in intensity, imbued with a piercing gaze that seems to stare into your very soul. Or at least, it would seem that way if it wasn't busy staring right into your chest.
"<Huh, guess they're real after all.>"
You want to scream.
Post by: Twinwolf on November 03, 2019, 10:37:24 am
Post by: ragnarok97071 on November 04, 2019, 10:31:20 pm
"Oh that's good I was a little worried for a second there. So, who are you, and why are you summoning mid-grade Matcha? Midcha. Mid-cha tea."
She giggles to herself.
Post by: Powder Miner on November 07, 2019, 10:52:59 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 10, 2019, 05:57:47 pm
Fiona waves back cheerily as Faith sputters in shock.
Sakurako
"<I guess she really doesn't remember.>"
"<Quick! Say something impressive like we're->"
"<The Kingshaven Academy Tea Ceremony Club.>"
"<Aww... you're no fun!>"
Faith
"<Just checking whether your breasts are real.>" She says, as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "<Y'know, for future reference. Name's Fiona by the way, nice to meet you!>"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on November 10, 2019, 08:06:40 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 10, 2019, 08:28:14 pm
"<We tried that at first, but it was -boring-!>"
"<Yeah! Where's the style? The excitement? The pizzazz? And it's way longer than it should be! What if you already feel thirsty halfway through?>"
"<They took to pregaming for the ceremony, but it didn't really help out.>"
"<So anyways, we were thinking, why not make our own? With magic, and guns, and explosions!>"
"<Still working on the guns and explosions.>"
She nods to a corner of the chamber, the ceiling receding back down and the LED lighting kicking back in. Is that, it looks like the bastard lovechild of a revolver and shotgun scaled up and loaded with tea canisters. The runes on its side spark, flicker, and fail.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on November 10, 2019, 08:29:59 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 10, 2019, 09:42:46 pm
"<Eh... I was thinking more like extreme Tea Ceremony Club!!!>"
"<Exclamation marks mandatory.>"
"<Or maybe Tea Ceremony Club But Better.>"
"<Tea Ceremony 2.0?>"
"<Nah, that sounds too techy, we'd have to think up of a really disrupt-y startup-y name to use that and that sounds like way too much work.>"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on November 10, 2019, 10:19:16 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 10, 2019, 11:04:26 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on November 11, 2019, 04:19:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 11, 2019, 05:06:16 am
"<Try what?>" She asks, looking up from the sketchpad she's been scribbling away at. "<And don't worry, they were both fully clothed and nothing sexual happened. Learned that lesson already.>" Uhh...
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 12, 2019, 02:40:09 pm
She was hoping he'd be stupid enough to charge right into Abraxas' attack. It was the only way forward. Minato, however, had one asset, one card to play.
Luin Celtchair was still in his hand, after all, and it would target any enemy it could if Minato wasn't actively controlling it. It was the legend of the spear, after all, a spear so angry that it killed enemies even before the wielder used it to fight. All he needed to do was loose the spear and wreak havoc.
The army- most armies, in fact- advised against the practice of 'cooking' grenades. Grenades were volatile, they were explosive, and you didn't want them in your hand when they blew up.
Right now, Abraxas had a grenade, and Minato was going to set it off.
Let Luin Celtchair go, aiming it at the attack in Abraxas' hand deliberately to detonate the attack before Abraxas can lob it at Minato. While Abraxas is distracted, blow four weapons to ram into the summoner with Rho Aias forward to parry any incoming attack from forward.
[[3] 3 1 3 4 2 6 5 3 6]
Post by: Powder Miner on November 12, 2019, 10:27:42 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 12, 2019, 10:44:13 pm
You deflate but sadly your chest never will, speaking of which, that's basically what Fiona's putting to paper. Not your chest mind you, but sketches of torsos of similar such endowment.
Post by: Empiricist on November 13, 2019, 03:36:16 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | I'll Face Myself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmPMx8qI2n8) | ] |
Two swords plunge into the dying flames and for an instant, the dying embers burn with life anew. Sparks fly, metals grinds, and Abraxas is hurled back, just fucking ragdolled as a silver streak nails him in the goddamn throat. Orbs comes flying at you, but the shot's gone wide, you got time before it consumes the area. Not quite according to plan - Luin went for the jugular, you can work with this though.
There's a deafening roar, a feeling of profound speed, and a hard thump. Next thing you know you're skidding forwards the Urbane Evoker pinned against your shield by sheer velocity and quite hurt at that. Beneath the cowl you see her grit her teeth, beneath the cowl you see sixteen motes of light diminish by four. You see blue flames turn to raging water, fierce eyes and a gleaming crown, sharp teeth and the heavyweight champion title belt.
"<Sobek.>"
Abraxas fades and a surge of water hammers against your shield, aiming to force you back while simultaneously launching the Evoker away. Rising from the depth is Sobek, the Crocodile God, the Warden of the Nile, the Might of Pharaohs, Sobek who reunified Osiris, who wards away evil, who fights and fucks with the same breath. By the looks of it, he's also apparently pro-wrestler in this form.
So yeah, wall of water trying to blow you and the Evoker away from each other, Sobek's coming out of it fist-first. Not sure what the Evoker's doing ontop of that - Sobek's GLORIOUS SCULPTED ABS and FRIGHTFULLY LARGE PACKAGE are kinda blocking your view right now.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Yuki
An incredibly sketchy boy clad in a mantle of shadows bumps into you. You think, you feel him brush past you and next thing you know you're facing the wrong way. "<Sorry!>"
Shef
You are approached by an adventurous young woman and a well-dressed young man. Though the girl leads, it is the boy who speaks "<What a fine expression... such focus, such intensity. The gaze of a girzzled veteran, of a haunted man. Sends shivers down my spine really, now that, that is prime protagonist material right there, ah but what for? A tragedy? A thriller? Such a classic archetype but I must confess, strange as it might sound my mind jumps straight to 'harem', I daresay we've enough generic leads as it is,no no, we could do with someone more like you, someone a little darker, a little less usual, after all a character should be interesting, no? And a protagonist must be most be all interesting of all...>"
The girl/meatshield kinda just stands there, looking like she'd rather be somewhere other than here.
"<Ah but where are my manners? My name is Sébastien Belmont, tell me, what is your name and how do I get the rights to your story?>"
They're both wearing combat passes. Student ones.
Post by: Strider03 on November 13, 2019, 07:25:35 am
{"I'm sorry, I don't speak English."} This was spoken in passable Spanish, then followed by, in broken English, "No english." With that he began backing away.
Post by: Twinwolf on November 13, 2019, 08:07:46 am
"No, my bad for standing around in the middle of the place! Sorry!"
Post by: Empiricist on November 13, 2019, 08:20:09 am
"Oh um, no. Just taking in the views. Sorry, a friend of mine really wanted to visit here actually, can never find the time though. So I feel like I should try and appreciate it as much as I can." Uh-huh. And Patricija? Well, she's slowly inching towards Kouta with an expression of uh, is that concern? She kinda stares at you expectantly and gingerly moves to poke him.
Shef
"<Ingles? Is that->"
"<Spanish, I think.>"
Okay, just need to slip away, don't do anything to make them suspicious and...
"<Wait! Wait uh.. ES-SPEAR! Commo tea er, llamas why commo ob-tengo(?) los derek-os de too historia?>"
You turn to find him reading something off his phone, you think he's trying to repeat that last sentence in Spanish? You're guessing he's not too familiar with it.
Yuki
Hmm, nothing missing... he does look shady though but
"<LLAMAS! Why commo otengo los de-ree-kos dee too historia?>"
"<Sebastien, I don't think he understands you, maybe we should just->"
"<No! Inspiration calls and I will surrender it so easily!>"
Is, is Shef speaking Spanish?
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 13, 2019, 08:31:12 am
Minato was better at projecting his magic at range now, true. That stunt he'd just pulled was only just because he'd gotten better at aiming.
But up close? That's where Minato shone. Swords, spears and all the like were a LOT easier to use when your enemy was at kissing range, after all; everything else in his arsenal was just to pin his enemies down so he could get closer. And that's exactly where he was.
Sobek was going to be a problem, yes. But if the Summoner had had any tricks to stop Minato from getting too close, she hadn't used them yet. Which left Minato a LOT of ways to play around, but the problem at hand was going to need to be handled first.
And Sobek wasn't going to attack his own summoner.
Activate Gleipnir and tie the Evoker to Minato. Sacrifice four forgeries to pull her as close to Minato as humanly possible, sacrifice another two to strengthen the chains to keep them as strong against Sobek as possible, while Minato smashes her into his shield again, positioning her between himself and Sobek.
[[3] 1 3 4 2 6 [5] 3 6 6]
Post by: Strider03 on November 13, 2019, 10:15:02 am
Post by: Empiricist on November 14, 2019, 12:15:10 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | I'll Face Myself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmPMx8qI2n8) | ] |
Sobek appears, force and fury, violence and virility. Good for him. You know what you got? This fucking chain. Six blades burn to naught and Gleipnir rushes forth binding the summon and master and chaining them together before you. Sobek struggles against the chains, eyes glaring at you with ironically impotent fury as you move around for the finishing blow. Your target seems to take it in better humor.
"<Oh my, what a bold approach~>"
She smiles.
"<I must confess though - I don't like being tied down~ Sobek, if you would...>"
Sobek dissipates.
Gleipnir retracts, seeking to constrict and bind; problem - Sobek's a fucking big dude. Real big dude, needed a lot of chain to hold him, not like to ward against his strength even, no, just to actually wrap around his limbs and restrain him. With him gone now, all that extra chain, all that extra length, it becomes slack, looseness, escape potential.
The Evoker spins round, black cowl sweeping through the air as she turns to run. No matter, the side of your shield rushes forth
And hits nothing.
That cape, it's not a fashion statement it's concealment! It hides her actions! She wasn't spinning around to run, she was spinning for a leg sweep! Guiding your arm away with her staff, she sweeps under your strike and forces you off balance, your swords rush down to pierce her but they stop just short - they're caught. Caught on her gloves, or rather what they've sprouted - black triangular blades like the fins of a shark lining her forearms. Not sure what their usual function is, but here they act as swordbreakers, a way to catch and lock incoming blades.
Fifteen motes begin to burn away as she lets go of the staff, pivoting and conjuring a multitude of blades in the now-free hand, some kind of throwing weapon vaguely reminiscent of a boomerang or a large ornate shuriken.
A lot of them too. She's more than well within blasting range, but despite seeing that they can explode, she seems awfully confident that they won't be an issue, or at least that you can blow them and she'll still stay on some recent footing.
She's acting tough, but she didn't just dismiss Sobek, no, Gleipnir wouldn't allow that, she had to seal him. Guy didn't just tag out, no no no, he's been fucking benched. Close quarters and magic protection. Not something you wanna be missing in a fight against you.
Motes, you're guessing her magic and summons run off of them, and she's generating them at the same rate as you. In that case, fifteen is quite a hefty bet. Fifteen and an attack. That leaves two motes in case she bets wrong, or y'know, to heal. Though you're guessing Chiron's needed for that, Chiron who she hasn't resummoned.
Quite the wager, now, how will you make it fail?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
"<What is he saying?>"
"<How am I supposed to know? I don't speak Spanish!>"
"<Hmm, oh wait Eleutheria would know right? Mayhap you could dial her.>"
"<I am not calling her.>"
Okay good, just slowly back away and... hmm need to signal to Yuki to leave too.
Post by: Strider03 on November 15, 2019, 10:16:19 am
If getting his phone out and doing that seemed like it'd be too risky, he'd try to surreptitiously open a set of portals to slowly lead Yuki away. Not for her to walk through, no. Simply some very small portals in the ground that she'd hopefully see, and follow form entrance to exit. If this also seemed impossible, due to lack of line of sight, or whatever else, simply bump into her and whisper that they were leaving.
Post by: Empiricist on November 15, 2019, 06:49:39 pm
"<I dunno, I thought you were here for the school festival.>"
Shef
Well the girl doesn't care but the boy's eyeing you like a hawk with a restraining order. Still it seems unlikely just usig a phone will trigger anything so you shoot off a quick text to Yuki.
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 15, 2019, 07:08:28 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 15, 2019, 07:41:15 pm
"Er yes, that's not a bad idea." She seems to almost flinch at the suggestion. Well, that's a fucking landmine right there.
So at this point Patricija is just poking Kouta, really really gently, and wihh the kind of caution and worry someone would regard a unexploded shell more than a person. "<Well, you said he wasn't Awakened so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't hurt him by accident... He won't catch anything from standing near me would he?>"
Well, given that Kouta is a reasonably healthy boy and not a malnourished sparrow with brittle bone disease it seems unlikely she'd just accidentally snap his spine like a twig. Plus he has been equipped with protective wards to avoid harm and illness, a real shame they only work off-realm though (apparently most realms are like Sanctuaries and rich in ambient spirit energy, Earth's just a fucking magical dustbowl apparently).
Post by: Twinwolf on November 16, 2019, 10:04:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 16, 2019, 10:39:53 pm
You know that girl with the two swords? The one talking to Shef? She moves over to you now as you turn to leave.
"<Miss Instructor, could we begin the exam now?>"
Post by: Twinwolf on November 16, 2019, 10:50:32 pm
She also texts Shef back about what's happening. Even though he probably sees it.
Post by: Empiricist on November 16, 2019, 10:56:14 pm
"<Look I'll level with you here, I would love to ambush you, but your spanish-speaking friend over there is going to be filing a restraining order if I don't wrap this up quickly.>"
Post by: Strider03 on November 16, 2019, 11:02:08 pm
With that in mind, Shef walks up back to join Yuki. He'd been staying apart in the case that things were less than what they'd seemed. For now though, he wouldn't say anything. Keep caching portals.
Post by: Twinwolf on November 16, 2019, 11:07:40 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 16, 2019, 11:21:36 pm
"<Of course.>"
The rest of her squad forms up behind her, that shadowy boy who bumped into you, that elven archer with the short tabard, and that well-dressed boy who was yammering on about llamas or something.
"<Actually, I'd like to up the stakes if your friend doesn't mind - if we win, he has to go deal with whatever the hell Sebastien wants. If we lose, Sebastien isn't allowed to chase him.>"
"<Hark! I have not agreed to these terms! The risk, the opportunity, to simply let it->"
That's probably the first time you've seen her smile, a sinister cynical sort of smile.
"<Oh, but think about the reward, and besides, what's a fight without some stakes? That's gotta be some kind of writing rule right?>"
He kinda just making this sort of strangled choking sound.
"<Relax, I'll crush them. >"
The archer draws an arrow from her empty quiver, firing it straight up. The velocity's nothing to scoff at.
Post by: Strider03 on November 16, 2019, 11:42:15 pm
For now, he said nothing, drawing his weapon.
Post by: Empiricist on November 17, 2019, 01:41:25 am
You've the sinking feeling the bet is less against you and more to restrain Sebastien more than anything. Anyway putting that aside let's go over the situation again shall we?
You're out on one of the larger platforms, back to a row of stores, cornered effectively, and you're staring down that swordswoman well within her lunging range. That shadowy boy brushed past Yuki earlier and passed it off as an accident, so he's probably set something up. He might've planted something on her. Or poisoned her. Or cursed her. A lot of possibilities really.That archer fired an arrow up just now too, it'd be naive to assume it isn't some kind of set up. A deployment? A deployed threat? Maybe a sort of aerial cache? All possible. Why's she so close anyway? Seems awfully near to stand for an archer. Well unless she's planning on going all Equilibrium of Wrestlemania on your ass with that shortbow of hers. Plus you dumped whatever the fuck that glowy thing was nearby. Probably a tracker given that you aren't dry retching or suffering the aftermath of an explosion right now. So Ignis knows where you and if he comes here, he'll find you. Assuming he hasn't already anyways. He can't interfere with the fight sure, but there's no rule stopping him from swooping in immediately afterwards. Faith's a potential asset in that case, but you've established that he doesn't have a "real" body. He caps you and gets nailed by a beam in turn and it's still his win.
Point is your current position is shit and you need to get the fuck away, the sooner the better. You got ten cached portals, those new expulser rounds, and Yuki. Oh and they still think you only speak Spanish. Should be doable.
Post by: Twinwolf on November 17, 2019, 01:51:13 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on November 17, 2019, 05:08:55 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 17, 2019, 05:15:35 pm
"<Of course! Not after what happened last time...>"
Post by: Strider03 on November 17, 2019, 06:50:54 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 18, 2019, 05:41:18 am
And so it begins.
Yuki, the Eclectic Summoner raises a gauntleted hand and on its back the crimson rune burns to life. A high pitched whine pierces the air and a ring of energy pulses outward.
"<O rider in white, sower of legends, reaper of futures, I beckon thee. Lay waste to the girl.>"
The outermost of the three sections burns away to naught and he pantomimes shooting you. Bright lights shine and rushing forth from him fingertips, appearing from wisps of blue is a fucking truck. Oh also, the Effervescent Archer next to him has summoned another arrow from her empty quiver and is now aiming it in the space between you and her, though she seems to be waiting for the right moment to loose the shot.
Shef, the Exasperated Adventuress' hand rushes to her side pulling a trigger as you exit the first portal. There's a bang, flash of flame, and the scent of gunsmoke. Her first blade, well, "blade", a rolled up newspaper with a sword's hilt comes rushing out of its scabbard aimed on an interception course with your throat. She holds her other sword at the ready, a massive brutal blade colored a chalk white.
Heh, nice try, but that won't work. No seriously, that won't work engineering wise.That scabbard of hers is nothing but a party trick. Look, you're not gonna rule out Awakened engineers making some godawful gun scabbard that fires swords hilt first at people, but if this was one the shot would've looked different, this, this is just pyrotechnics, whatever launched that sword at you wasn't the scabbard. That being said, probably wanna not get nailed by it in the throat either way.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 18, 2019, 07:27:07 am
With that in mind, Shef fired one of his new knockback rounds towards the boy, and prepared to open a portal to catch wherever he flew, and deposit him under the platform, in the water.
Expulser [3] round towards the novelist, and a portal to catch wherever he flies, drop him under the platform.
[5] 4 6 6 5 5 4 [1+2] 4 4
Post by: Twinwolf on November 18, 2019, 09:44:32 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on November 18, 2019, 10:04:44 am
[
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 18, 2019, 11:58:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 19, 2019, 12:26:57 am
"Oh! That's a relief! I was worried given the rate of..." She looks at Kouta and seems to realize whatever she was about to say, she shouldn't say in front of him. Tactful maybe, but it does leave her blinking nervously and gesturing broadly in a whole "y'know?" sort of way.
Faith, Shef, and Yuki
コンバット•スタート!
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Shef, your arm is off. No, no, not quite. That's not what's happening. It's more like, it's not what has happened. You remember placing your arm in its path. You remember you placing your arm out of its path. Two contradictory memories. One possible, one impossible, and yet what seems true now is that which was impossible - that you raised your arm but you raised it wrong like a fucking chump. Causality manipulation. It's pretty fancy. Disorienting too, but when it comes down to it, it's no better than an accuracy buff. These false chains of events will only strain so far, if you had used a portal instead... you doubt it could've made a difference.
That, is a thought for later. Now's now, and now that hilt is slamming into your throat, a horrid heavy impact, a crushing blow that leaves you dazed and gasping for air. An inordinate impact, but one without the damage. It will take more than that to stop you. Seeing the path of Yuki's black arrow the Exasperated Adventuress tosses her sword over at the Eccentric Novelist and vanishes, appearing right before you, her left hand closes over your barrel, her right closes into a fist. You take the shot, bullet portaling from inside the chamber and out towards the Novelist. The girl disappears and reappears at her other sword, shoving the Novelist away. Your bullet strikes her. Yuki's chainsaw soon follows.
Yuki, that truck bears down on you, engine roaring, a good few tons blazing forth with far greater speed than it has any right to have. You feel reinforcement magic coming off its front, a lattice-like mesh of enhancement magic crackling with an offensive magic payload. It's not a uniform reinforcement, no, it's focused in rod-like structures. You could stand there and most of the truck would crumple no problem, but those rods of matter would be hammered out into spikes and driven straight into your flesh. As far as they could go anyways. Based on prior observations, that's not gonna be very far.
He's no frontline brawler. His reinforcement, it's weaker than Gwen's, noticeably so. He's trying to compensate with greater efficiency sure, but it's offensive effeciency only - the amount of reinforcement is the same along any given cross-section. It's all bundled up sure, and sure that will be enough if a weapon can't cleave something that reinforced.
But your chainsaw can.
There's another roar, closer this time, louder, the roar of your Regalia, soon replaced by the shrill shriek of metal on metal. Sparks scatter and the truck splits, you rush to the side with another cleaving strike, splitting off a piece of the truck and basically just shoulder charging into it, shifting and forcing it forwards as you pump your own reinforcement into it, the debris becoming a shield as you charge down the Summoner and Archer. An arrow smashes against your shield, shattering on impact.
"<Broken Arrow>"
And from its remains, nuclear hellfire blooms. There's a flash of heat and then a crushing shockwave, the blast launching the pair away as it turns the inside of your shield to white hot shrapnel.
You've already gone. You saw the Novelist and you took your fucking chance, teleporting out and bringing your chainsaw down. A gunshot rings out. The boy is thrown aside. A bullet strikes the Adventuress, and she takes your strike in his place.
Black lightning spews forth.
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
Black, black as ink, staining the air, symbols trace in its crackling arcs, the language of forgotten gods. It happens in an instant but it seemed to take much longer, the transformation of this world.
The air falls still. The clouds stop moving, and the sky becomes as if a painting. A rotting decaying painting, pigment haemorrhaging down in great streaks of color that seem to ignore all perspective, ichor from distant clouds painting over the foreground itself, caging the battlefield in a twisted cocoon of magic. One by one the details set in, like a mental image forming from a stream of words, focusing, solidifying, crystallizing. A shifting background of abstract patterns, great stands as tall as mountains and manned by figures of ink and paper. Everything becomes paper, pigment and paper, assemblages of paper moving in stopmotion, painted in unearthly pascal patterns that seem to shift independently of what they adorn. Multicolored rings ripple through the heavens as they split open to reveal an infinite expanse of stagelights and scaffolding, pen tips and curtains.
The curtains rise.
It is dark. It was not dark before, but it is dark now. Not because the light is gone but because the light was never described. One by one the stagelights turn on. One by one each combatant is revealed.
Yuki, you stand center stage, the Adventuress' heavier sword planted in the ground next to you.
The Adventuress stands further to the left. There is bullet hole in her outfit. There is a gash too, courtesy of your strike. It would appear that she was knocked back and yet, and yet beneath the gash there is not even the faintest scratch on her skin.
Shef you stand to Yuki's right. A ways apart. The Adventuress' lighter sword is planted in the ground next to you.
The Summoner is further right still, nonchalantly leaning against the nondescript background of the stage.
The Archer stands above, and to the left, above the Adventuress. Perched atop the lowest branches of the scaffolding at the very left of the stage, bow at the ready.
The Novelist stands furthest away, amidst the butterfly-faced theatregoers that fill the great stands of the amphitheater looking down upon his work.
"<But this tale will end not with gunfire but with a dagger to the heart. Your dagger. Her heart.>"
His voice echos through the theater as if coming from multiple directions, as if coming from every direction. And perhaps it is, this is his world after all, and he's looking at you Shef, looking at you and gesturing at his own arm, at the exact place you keep your exoarm's blade.
"<A single clean hit, that is all I ask of you. This is a tragedy after all, not a spectacle for the Grand Guignol, a single thrust will suffice.>"
A pause. He glances down at his phone.
"<Right. *ahem* Solo two es-pa-da la deten-dra! Solo ness-seet-arse un solo gulp-ay limp-ee-o...>"
Jesus Christ. Okay, so those were words, or sounds at least, but seriously? He can tell you've got a hidden blade, a blade you've barely ever used, but he can't tell that you can speak fucking English?
Okay anyways, Archer is firing another shot at Yuki, Adventuress is teleporting next to her to retrieve her sword though the way she's eyeing you you're guessing she'll be teleporting over to you afterwards for a strike. Your instincts are telling you that the attack will come from behind. Oh and the Summoner is just fucking sprinting at you both apparently having decided to get up close and personal.
Faith
Okay, so with that visual clusterfuck over you find yourself seated on the stands, though there's also plenty of clearly marked exits well within walking distance which a few other real people are heading towards. A lot more seem to be whipping out their phones and cameras instead though.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 19, 2019, 09:39:12 am
With that in mind, Shef fired off on of his manipulator rounds at the adventurer, while turning himself to keep the sword a foot or two in front of him. Twin tests, to ferret out more about her abilities.
Manipulator [5] on the adventuress, if she teleports to avoid, send it past, on to the summoner. A single portal to redirect the arrow heading for Yuki towards the summoner as well. Regarding the adventuress, if she teleports directly to the sword, a few tentative jabs with the knife. If not, cached portal behind to hopefully block.
[4] 6 6 5 [5] 4 3 4 4 6
Post by: Twinwolf on November 19, 2019, 11:17:40 pm
Above, also alter to 3. Use 6 to activate Chain Lightning.
Post by: Powder Miner on November 22, 2019, 03:01:34 am
Absurd at it was, the whole stage gimmick managed only to add to this, rather than detract from it. "You can do it, Yuki! <(And Shef!)>"
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2019, 03:37:49 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | I'll Face Myself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmPMx8qI2n8) | ] |
Fifteen blades spiral forth. Twelve find their mark plunging into your armor. Hurts, but not as much as you're expecting. With the power she's sunk into them they must serve some other purpose, some kind of leverage for more magic, a delayed threat.
Well, unless that threat is coming in the next five seconds it'll be too damn late.
That blast wasn't a dodge, you'd have blown far more to dodge. No this, this is just an adjustment, Gleipnir lashes out but naturally she dodges, guiding the chain away while stepping to the side. Another forgery burns and the flames of wrath ignite once more. Luin Celtchar lunges, rushing for her heart that is, til it crashes into her barrier.
It's small shield, a magical circle circle conjured to stop the blow. Not the most coverage, but a fair amount of power. Enough to stop the charge at least. Enough for her guide the spear away, grab it by the shaft and jam it to the ground. Light courses through your chains as they wrap around her arms, those sword-catching ridges working against her as you go for the slam. She's, well she's not fast, but she thinks quickly - looping the chain around Celtchar she jams your slam and pivots, using the motion of the chain and a little bit of magic to spin her heel into a roundhouse kick aimed right for your throat. She's forcing an opening, getting ready to summon, and presumably to exploit those batarangs she jammed into you.
Good try, but this is already checkmate, she's strapped to a fucking powderkeg and you've got a lighter. Sure she could probably boost that shield of hers, absorb the blast, but it'll be taxing and you're still here with sword and shield in hand. At that point it won't matter what summon she's got up her sleeve. It simply won't matter.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef and Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
Righto so Yuki, you brandish your chainsaw and charge straight forward. The Adventuress appears by your side for a split second, retrieving her sword but you pay her no heed. You cannot harm her. The Summoner, he's a little more pliable.
"<Little girl, I will not let you.>"
A voice calls up from the rafters, and an arrow lances forth behind you. A portal opens, redirecting it and driving it forward at the Summoner instead, turning savior into killer. Or at least manslaughter. That was the plan anyways.
"<Ah, a portal. But it will not be so easy, for the freeshooter's arrows must obey their will.>"
The arrow suddenly nosedives, landing between the Summoner's legs and just fucking drilling into the stage, detonating a blast that launches the boy up and onto the scaffolding above a mere instant before your chainsaw cleaves through the dust left in his wake.
"<And so the chamber spins once more, four rounds now remain, three blessed, one cursed. What comes next, only the norns can tell. Lé cue-dan cu-at-tro fle-chas magi-cas. Trés lé o-be-de-ken. Uno o-be-de-ke el me-leeg-no!>"
Shef, that portal was more an afterthought. Yuki can handle herself for the most part. You, you're not entirely sure anymore, not with that condition. You ain't exactly the best knife fighter in the world and even if you could hold your own the Adventuress' superior reach could easily prove to be your undoing. You gotta even the odds, besides fighting fair is for fools and dead men. Enchantments weave through your bullet, the essence of compulsion, the essence of your Requiem, that peculiar power that marked the death of your mundane existence if not your mundane life.
The manipulator round explodes forth, steel becoming light, becoming energy becoming fury.
Wait, why is it- You've got to be fucking kidding, did you mix up the magaz-
"<KYAAAAAA->"
That never is a good sound is it? The round nails the Adventuress in the gut right as she teleports exploding in a flash of light and scatter of shredded fabric, leaving a perfectly circular hole in its wake. It's a good thing that she's not especially well-endowed because that's basically the only reason what remains of her shirt can still cover her chest.
Shock and indignation flash through her eyes as she teleports forth, her hand closes around the newspaper sword and it just erupts up parrying your exoarm. To your surprise you find the impact of your blow has knocked the sword out of her hand, but it's obviously just a setup and her next action proves those suspicions correct - she teleports to the sword, now further back and out of her reach but well within her, sending that massive cleaver crashing down. It's a bit of an awkward swing, the embarrassment is throwing her off her gave and she's instinctively trying to cover her midriff as she swings, but the sheer force of the swing does make up for it, as does its unusual properties. It made at the end of its reach, but the cleaving slash doesn't come from the sword, no, it's completely dissociated from it, a radiant arc that tears through the air from right behind you. A vicious arc so large you have to spring open three caches just to to get it the fuck away from you.
Right, that's going to be a problem. And you blew a golden opportunity too. Your gun's still loaded with clothing damage rounds so it probably won't be too effective at staggering. Meaning you're stuck relying on your portals, your requiem, and... well... maybe you could put those bullets to use after all. It'll be much harder to fight you if she's stuck covering herself...
Meanwhile, Yuki's stray arrow snakes up the scaffolding, twisting up onto the rafters above but...
"<I see what you're trying to do miss! But you don't wanna come up here, and I'll show you why! Guardian of the sacred valley, sentinel who stands before catastrophe! By my first decree, I commandeth thee, abandon ye post and rise to my side!>"
Another rune and another pulse of energy. This one's a new rune, similar design though - three segments traced on the back of his hand, one segment burning away as he makes his command. Light and fury explode within his grasp, radiant smoke and crackling energy as something answers his call, something cheap, white, and warm.
Yuki, you're feeling a bit of breeze below now.
"<Jerry, what the fuck?>"
"<Return her panties at once!>"
"<Yeah! Return her- Wait, why do you care?>"
"<That little girl is strong. I want to fight her, but how can I if she won't come up here?>"
"<Hey, I'm just doing what it takes to win, you all saw her she slice that truck in half! I'm not going up against that!>"
"<But I will. O' cursed arrow, retrieve the small girl's panties.>"
Hey uh, remember that arrow the archer shot up before the fight even began? Well, now its streaking back down to earth seeking to tear your panties out of the summoner's hands in a blaze of nuclear hellfire. You have the sinking feeling she'll be sending them your way soon enough, and while you appreciate the thought you're not sure you've got enough Reinforcement magic to save them from the arrow.
Oh also blushing furiously (with an emphasis on furiously), the Adventuress sweeps her cleaver at Shef in a wide slash, letting go of the handle and letting the it fly forwards a bit further, secured to her wrist by a ribbon, a range boost of sorts.
Shef, so she's doing that and uh you smell something sort of like garlic. Something you know isn't garlic. And a pretty good sign that bad news is coming, a sort of smell that comes back to your arms dealing days - the smell of white phosphorous.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Faith
Firstly, WHAT THE FUCK SHEF? Why does he even have those? Oh God, why do they even sell those? Do they sell those? Is it better if they sold actual ecchi clothing damage bullets? Or would it be better if Shef fucking obtains them through some shady connections somehow?
Also, those are Yuki's panties! The summoner just fucking stole Yuki's panties! You don't know what kinda panties Yuki wears, or at least, you didn't until now, but you could sense the summoning magic coming from under Yuki's skirt as he did that summoning. Actually, now that you think about it, you feel some of that magic resonating in Yuki as he used that rune. That same magic you felt in the truck. He must have some sort of magical leverage over her.
Minato
Right so with that all wrapped up (and after blasting and swording the rest of that melee a trois into submission) you find yourself walking through Pavilion Square and its bustling markets. That is until you come across an otherworldly theater jammed in what appears to be the most questionable zoning decision ever. Eh fuck it, you're up for a show. You walk in through the steps up into the amphitheater, the stage rising up into view and wait, is that Shef-
Holy shit did he just blow half that girl's shirt off? Wait, Yuki's there too! Why's that boy swinging a pair of panties up in the rafters? What the fuck is even happening here?
Post by: Powder Miner on November 22, 2019, 05:26:41 am
She leapt off of her seat to the bottom bleachers, and pointed directly at the summoner, shouting with a surprising amount of venom for someone often so shy and vulnerable: "<HEY ASSHOLE! IF YOU DON'T GIVE MY SISTER'S CLOTHES BACK, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS AFTER THIS!>"
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2019, 05:54:18 am
And Faith just jumped up there and is now threatening the combatants. The girl who just jumped up next to her and who is now frantically sketching something down would be Fiona Ritter, Reincarnation of Lancelot du Lac and member of The Crown, the personal squad of Queen Izanami Nakahara, the true Queen of England. The other two members being Arthur, who is literally King Arthur, and Q, the first of the Godslayer Logistical Support AIs.
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2019, 10:17:58 am
Shef, by now, felt there was no other option. Taking the time to swap out the ammo would put him at a terrible disadvantage, and, his regular rounds wouldn't do much even if he loaded them.
He'd try to portal back away from the wide, white phosphorus enhanced swing, cached portals opening to catch the possibly disconnected strike, and to guide his knife arm to a position near the handle of the outstretched cleaver. Unlikely that it would catch her in a teleport, but it might make her hesitate. He needed to stall until he could come up with a way to actually get the knife strike in.
Shef fires off two more rounds at his adversary, while backing up through a portal to open a little more distance. Portal to get his knife hand near the cleaver's handle to catch the teleport, cached portals ready to get the next disconnected slash.
6 6 5 4 3 4 4 6 [2+2] 5
Post by: Twinwolf on November 22, 2019, 06:01:01 pm
Do above (use last 5 for SURPRISE ATTACK OF JUSTICE), then put panties back on if given a moment to do so since armor-dresses don't really have pockets to stuff it into.
Post by: Powder Miner on November 22, 2019, 06:24:28 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 22, 2019, 07:19:16 pm
Right, so Yuki teleports up and the Summoner just fucking yeets the panties forcing her to catch them as an arcane cloud of censorship explodes under her. Her hands close around her panties, a crimson pulse explodes out, a near-palpable wave of energy racing out with a screeching whine. Yuki's body goes stiff.
((Excel Hyper. Burning an additional point of Resolve for speed.))
"<Harbinger of Steel, of Violence, and of Fury, with my second decree I command you - divert you course change your target and strike down my foe.>"
The black arrow meant for the Archer blazes blue and streaks off the platform, closing the distance to Shef at an instant.
The gunman for his part has managed to score another hit on the girl, blowing away her skirt and leggings, leaving her in her panties. His knife arm aims for the handle of the cleaver, aiming to dissuade any teleportation attempts, but the Adventuress suddenly reels back slamming the blade into the cleaver. There's a cloud of white phosphorous explodes forth, moving to engulf both combatants and set the stage aflame.
((Shef, how do you handle the white phosphorous and Yuki? Yuki, you can struggle and try and disrupt your teleporting strike, but you're not going to be able to stop without burning Resolve.))
Post by: Strider03 on November 22, 2019, 09:10:12 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on November 22, 2019, 09:42:17 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 23, 2019, 12:17:49 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
So Yuki just fucking up and punches Shef, fist glancing off his exoarm and into his shoulder. He spins and falls as the white phosphorous saturates the air. A radiant slash rends through the haze and the fragments of a broken aegis scatter through the air.
Yuki, your aegis soaked the blow though now there's burning white powder sticking to you and scorching your clothes. You sense movement inside the plume, a silver blade burning with radiant light and the promise of indiscriminate violence.
"<Little girl, put your panties back on and face me.>"
Faith, Minato, you guys can't really see what happened inside the burning cloud, what is happening with the Adventuress, with Yuki, with Shef, but you can see the Archer's arrow skid to a halt in midair while she holds her shortbow out above the stage and lets go?
"<Limiter off.>"
Shef, you're below the stage. Fucking hell that hurt. Not a direct hit mind you - you managed to move your exoarm in the way and you've a feeling Yuki aimed for it too, still the blow had plenty of force. The white phosphorous wasn't exactly pleasant either, but that still plays second fiddle here Right, first thing's first, you strip off your shirt and toss it away. It's ruined anyways and the powder's stuck all over it. You switch magazines and get the hell out. You draw a few eyes as you exit the theater though you've the feeling they were more eating the eye candy than anything else. You're fairly hurt, but you've had worse. Can't really heal up with a potion without this counting as a forfeit on your part, but you should be fine now given who your ally is.
With any luck your foes won't have even realized you're gone, not until that cloud dissipates anyways. That keeps the Adventuress out of her effective range and helps you re-engage at your own effective range. Those nuclear arrows are going to be problematic, but you can keep it at bay with your portal caches, at least long enough to gun down the source. Speaking of gunning people down last thing you saw, the Eccentric Novelist was near one of the entrances, you think he might've been drooling slightly oggling at the Adventuress. With any luck you'll be able to put two in his spine before he can even react. Biggest threat here would be the Eclectic Summoner. Another section of that rune burned away but he's still got one decree left on Yuki, might be worth hitting her with a manipulator honestly.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 23, 2019, 12:34:13 am
Reactivate illusion. Remove knife, hold it in the same hand. Change out ammo type. Head to the front of the theater, enter. Shef will keep his gun behind his back, and use a series of portals starting from the muzzle for Rapid Fire [4] on the novelist, so that it appears to come from an angle other than the entrance and Shef's illusion.
[6] 5 4 3 [4] 4 6 4 5 6
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2019, 11:39:24 am
Don't replace the arrow since it could just get diverted again. Instead just surprise attack of JUSTICE on the archer, chainsawing her and hopefully landing nearby instead of falling back down. Use the new 6 in the world line for that.
Post by: Empiricist on November 23, 2019, 08:47:49 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
Blades of light spiral out from the ashen cloud blindly rending the air in search of their prey. They find none.
Yuki appears above panties still unequipped. Thankfully for well, really for Faith more than anyone else, her burning outfit seems to have adapted to an extent fabric shifted as to create a leotard to compensate for the lack of panties and the fact that the formerly long and armored skirt is now far from either. It's probably for the best really given that the panties have now been coated with white phosphorous, kept from burning thanks only to Reinforcement magic.
Anyways, she just takes this wild swing at the Archer. It, yeah, it's not a gentle blow. There's this flash of light, this furious roar and things break. The stagelights explode, the rafters tear, and the entire backdrop splits open broken gears crashing down from what lies behind, a weeping wound in a mechanical giant. And in the middle of all of this is the Archer, reeling, falling backwards, a radiant line tracing where the Regalia struck her.
A thunderous impact that shakes the theater to its very core. Dust and debris erupt from the ground, from what was once the stage, now split in twain. That, was not magic. No, it was the absence of magic. Disconnected from its master the shortbow's enchantments had shorted out, one by one. And chief amongst them was the mass dampener. That crash, that impact, that, was the true weight of the bow.
The Archer shifts her posture, righting herself back up, and with that same motion drives her fist into Yuki's head.
The dust clears, the white phosphorous too, blown away by the force of the impact. Gears haemorrhage from the clockwork expanse behind the stage, broken brass raining down below.
The Adventuress stands alone on the stage. Shef is nowhere to be seen. A fact that Summoner would probably point out if he weren't now stuck clinging onto the scaffolding, having almost been thrown off by the impact.
Yuki is quite hurt. Quite hurt and nothing more than that. The impact, the phosphorous still burning upon her, that was all it had managed. The Archer was hurt too, not as hurt, but still somewhat hurt. And of course, she was grinning.
"<Haa... ha... You really are the real deal. Good. Good. My name is Magnum von Chainsaw. Come, and I will crush you.>"
He's just gesturing at her to approach, readying to answer with a haymaker of his own.
The Summoner is currently climbing back up and scanning the crowd while the Adventuress is just rushing offstage and out of the spotlight.
Amidst all that commotion is a series of quiet muted coughs. No one hears it. No one notices. And with that, the Eccentric Novelist spins dramatically and falls, healing magic coursing through his body and ten bullets in his spine.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on November 23, 2019, 10:32:31 pm
Use the 4 to heal self, also send an arrow out keeping pace with Yuki but diverting to come at the archer from a different angle. Charge, try and set it up so that the arrow will make contact at the same time Yuki lunges to make her attack.
Post by: Strider03 on November 23, 2019, 11:03:13 pm
Exit the theatre, make sure to not be followed, then jog over to the explosives store right next door. Search for and purchase a mountable retrieval unit, that, when activated will pull two items together with substantial force. This is to be mounted on his exo arm, and knife. Search also for a fold-out disposable grenade launcher (limited use, attempt to find something that he could jury rig the hollywood silencer onto), and three rounds. Fragmentary preferred, but willing to switch things up if something interesting is noticed.
Post by: Empiricist on November 24, 2019, 12:09:54 am
Well as for other grenade options you find
- Clothing Damage: Because it seems to be working out for you so far.
- Basically White Phosphorous & Anthrax: Apparently it's a thing.
- Phantasmal Chains In case you want to bind rather than injure.
- Quadruple Recursion: Grenades that explode into smaller grenades that explode into smaller grenades that explode into smaller grenades
- Murderous Lightning Tree: Explodes into a tree of lightning that zaps everything near it for area denial.
- Fuel-Air: Basically a miniature fuel-air bomb.
- World War I: Carves trenches into the terrain, lays barbed wire ontop of it, sprays horse entrails everywhere and then proceeds to saturate it with random shelling and mustard gas.
- Lube: It just sprays lube everywhere and makes things slippery. Like, really, really slippery.
- Molasses: A fast moving blast of molasses. Good for jamming up a construct's visual sensors. Or brewing whiskey in the field.
- Life Drain: For harming foes without blowing foes away.
- Seed Crystal: Sprays fragments of crystal everywhere that embed in objects and proliferate.
And yeah there are retrieval units, main varieties being tethered (reels shit in), untethered (reels shit in but without a chord), and teleportation-based. Grenade launcher you definitely find.
Post by: Strider03 on November 24, 2019, 12:17:48 am
Untethered retrieval unit, one frag, one recursion, and one phantasmal chain grenade, and of course the launcher please. Make the purchases as quickly as possible, and smack the retrieval unit on Shef's knife and exoarm. Head back again to theater.
Post by: Empiricist on November 24, 2019, 02:37:00 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
So the Adventuress just kinda runs off stage, seems like she's not much faster than a regular person when not teleporting everywhere. Her cleaver seems to have turned into a silver sword, because apparently it's constructed like an oversized popsicle with a sword instead of a stick and white phosphorous instead of sweet icy goodness.
"<Ho ho ho! A name is just a name! My fist on the other hand...>"
You heal up and cut interrupt him with strike from your chainsaw, but this time you find your attack is INEFFECTIVE, glancing off MAGNUM'S ROCK HARD ABS with a metallic shriek and not much else as HIS FIST OF FURY COMES CRASHING DOWN TOWARDS YOUR FACE AGAIN LIKE LIKE A SPEEDING SEMITRAILER IF SPEEDING SEMITRAILERS WERE MAGNUM'S FISTS.
Behind him, a black arrow snakes into position and discharges...
Meanwhile...
| [Now Playing: | Girl From Petaluma (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P2_w8fAu4c) | ] |
Binding chains they say? And on sale too? With an offer like that, how could he refuse? Shef adds it to his basket.
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
Teleporting behind MAGNUM, Yuki wreathes her weapon in something like lightning, in arcing steel and whirring teeth, screaming blades and thunderous force. For the lack of a better description the chainsaw was wreathed in itself. Bolt and blasted tree become one and the same, become steel, become violence.
She had already forgotten the Bodhisattva's lessons, but such mattered little for her body remembered.
It crashes into him from behind him, a radiant slash splits and merges tracing lichtenberg figures through his body and exploding out the other side, ragdolling the boy and throwing him off the rafters. That, ooh boy, that one definitely hurt.
He slams against the side of the scaffolding, his CHISELED FRAME SNAPPING THE PUNY SCAFFOLDING LIKE A TWIG, A TWIG HE NOW BRANDISHES LIKE A SWORD, FOR WHAT IS WEAK BECOMES STRONG IN THE HANDS OF MAGNUM VON CHAINSAW.
"<To think you could break my defenses! You do not disappoint! Jerry, do it.>"
"<You got it! Maggie, by my first decree I command you to whoop her ass!>"
So the Summoner takes time off of searching for Shef (or at least, searching for Shef on the Adventuress' body) to swap the Yuki rune for another three-part rune likely corresponding to MAGNUM VON CHAINSAW. Spirit energy crashes through the scaffolding in MAGNUM'S CRUSHING GRASP as he adjusts it in his grasp, TWENTY METERS OF REINFORCED BLACK METAL BROUGHT TO BEAR, SWUNG TO SWAT HIS FOE OUT OF THE RAFTERS.
Yuki, your throat feels a bit parched and you feel a bit winded. Is it from that punch earlier? Or did you catch a cold? Do Awakened people even catch colds?
Shef, you are beginning to feel some flu like symptoms. Onset's faster than what you'd expect. Likely some kinda poison-like effect. Or a bioweapon. Still it's not shaping up to be as bad as what Ignis di- wait a minute. You saw that grenade that was basically just white phosphorous and anthrax... you don't think the Adventuress used that same blend in her blade do you?
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on November 24, 2019, 02:42:30 am
She also sensed a curse multiplying within her sister's body, and she winced, because it was in her lungs and that was messed up, but she really actually didn't intend to interfere in the fight parts of the fights here in Kingshaven so she stayed quiet.
Post by: Strider03 on November 24, 2019, 01:45:35 pm
Shef once again entered the theater, finding a location near the middle where he could inconspicuously fire the grenade launcher. A portal in the floor, connecting to a spot a few rows forward, seats ideally camouflaging his attack. Loading the recursive grenade (double checking to be certain it was the right one), Shef took aim at the summoner's form.
Use the grenade launcher and the quad recursion grenade, aim for the summoner. Imbue the grenade with Expulser[3] properties, for hopefully added oomph. If the adversaries notice before the grenade impact, use portals to bypass their defenses as best as possible.
[4] [3] 4 6 4 5 6 1 5 5
Post by: Twinwolf on November 24, 2019, 03:42:05 pm
Do above. Chain Lightning with last 6.
Post by: Empiricist on November 24, 2019, 09:07:35 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
"<Probably the anthrax!>"
Oh cool. Anthrax. In your lungs. Proliferating.
Eh, it's probably fine, I mean it's not like you can't heal and you've been getting burned with white phosphorus this whole time and you've barely noticed!
Back to violence now!
You cleave off the scaffolding you're on letting yourself fall into the path of VON CHAINSAW'S CRUSHING BLOW. You don't have any magical aerial mobility (yet) so you'll be using the pieve you're falling on to kick off. TWENTY METERS OF BLACK STEEL AND SPIRIT ENERGY CRASH TOWARDS YOU your leap off, black arrow tracing out before you. It's fast, but it can't clear ALL TWENTY METERS OF VON CHAINSAW'S MIGHTY SWING in time.
Time for Plan B then. You drive the arrow into the scaffolding and teleport in, bringing your chainsaw-turned-lightning-but-also-chainsaws down on the improvised weapon. Steel courses through steel and the entire thing just explodes into scrap leaving you facing down MAGNUM VON CHAINSAW once more.
Honestly if it weren't for his name you'd be convinced he's a cute girl. His clothing choices really don't make help, consisting of a short tabbard and a jacket that is somewhere between a hoodie and hooded cloak. The main detail here is that he has pockets, (the hoodie, thr tabbard doesn't have much of anything be it pockets or fabric for that matter) and he's just slid his hands in his pockets staring you down fairly casually.
You're both out of each other's ranges for now and you've got the reach advantage too yet- that's an attack. He's going for an attack you can feel it, your instincts are screaming at you his MIGHTY FISTS WILL RACING FOR YOUR CHEST but how can he do that from his position?
There's an explosion and the Eclectic Summoner leaps from the rafters, a grenade blasting apart his former vantage point sending down a shower of debris and... more grenades. He rolls to the middle of the distribution letting the second wave explode around him, rattled but still in the fight. And that's when the third layer of recursion kicks in, smaller submunitions ballooning out in spherical pustules of force that pop in exothermic blasts that just fucking pinball him around. Soon enough he's bleeding. But his combat pass doesn't kick in. Not just yet.
The lights go off. Darkness, for a moment. Then from above a single stage light shining down upon him. The bleeding has halted, but he bleeds still, not blood but rich red velvet spilling out and sublimating to smoke.
Like the theater's rise, the soliloquy lasts only for a moment, yet it feels far longer.
"<Fuck.>"
"<...>"
"<Bel. Bel...?>"
"<Shit, you're out too?>"
"<Guess I'll have to explain. You got me. But I still get a soliloquy on the way out. One last chance to take you down with me.>"
"<Sera, I don't have a damn clue where he is. Didn't see him in the crowd. He's hiding, or he's got an illusion up. Cloaking maybe. Can't help you find him, but I can do this.>"
((Sera donates 1 Resolve!))
"<Sera, by my first decree, hunt him down.>"
"<By my second decree, hunt him down.>"
"<By my third decree, hunt him down.>"
((The lights will turn back on and the defeated Summoner will exit the stage. He has been defeated, this is just his parting shot. Only Magnum and Sera remain.))
Yuki, you're yeah beginning to cough and feel short on breath. Shef, you've got a slight cough now.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 24, 2019, 10:11:00 pm
For now, if he could help Yuki with her target, he'd be able to heal, and that might be enough. And to do that. . . no, he'd not be attacking directly. Magnum von Chainsaw--what kind of godforsaken name--seemed supremely resilient. It would be better to let Yuki do the heavy lifting, and just give that little push. He put his pistol down into one of the seats, yet another layer of sound dampening, and began charging a requiem bullet. It would be portaled out of the barrel of the gun, a few seats down, and then into the air towards Magnum. Shef was alert for any approach, every single cached portal ready to be used, and tensed to close the portal behind his bullet as quickly as possible. But beyond that, the command.
Manipulator[5], disguise the location the bullet is shot from, portals on the way to avoid interference and approach from a blind spot, and finally, portal the round into Magnums stomach, if possible. Otherwise the bullet might crumple against Magnum's abs. The command is to smash his own head with the upcoming attack
[4+2] 6 4 5 6 1 5 [5] 3 3
Post by: Twinwolf on November 24, 2019, 11:17:05 pm
Chain lightning with furthest 6 down the line. Charge forward as if not paying attention to the feeling - but also send out an arrow again, similar tactic as last time. If the attack comes out and Yuki has time to notice, try to manually trigger the arrow and keep charging from a different direction. If it's actually a psych-out, stop short of entering his range and let the arrow make contact.
Post by: Empiricist on November 25, 2019, 02:29:39 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
"<Huh, that's weird. It's pretty legal here. We do have warcrimes but anthrax ain't one.>"
Iaijutsu is fairly simple in concept - you take your sword, you draw it, and you cut a fucker down. Supposedly the art is for self-defense, in practice it works the other way too. Speed is important, but well let's face it - the guy who has to whip his sword out first is gonna be at a speed disadvantage. And for the love of God do not resheath your fucking sword afterwards, not unless you got a damn deathwish. You're getting jumped, you had to fight to get your weapon out the fuck you doing holstering it again?
Sadly anime and reality aren't on speaking terms no more. In anime it's just taken to absurdity. You got these people fucking slashing apart bullets and buildings with that shit nevermind physics, distance, or basic fucking logic. The Awakened world flip flops between the two. Striking from your sheath offers no inherent advantage but it's a condition, and ritual magic loves conditions like that. Point is, what you're seeing now is the anime kind of situation and Magnum von Chainsaw puts the fucking nuke in nukitsuke.
Your black arrow? Fucking gone. Demolished. Annihilated. In an instant he drew his fist from his pocket, and in that same instant he punched, this pillar of sheer force slamming down on the arrow, the stage splintering and burning with nuclear hellfire as its reinforced fragments rend tear at you like shrapnel.
The impact forces you off-balance as he draws his other fist, IRRESISTIBLE CRUSHING MIGHT CRASHING FORWARD INTO HIS OWN FACE.
Wait what?
Yeah so he kinda just iaijutsu punches himself in the face and flips into the the air. Is, is this some kind of weird taunt? Some kinda evasive maneuver? You can't really tell but he seems as shocked as you are and he actually has taken damage from his blow.
He grits his teeth and narrows his eyes, readying for your counterattack.
Shef, you feel him straining against your control, trying to figure a way out. You feel something else too, straining with him. The hell, is there some sort of other compul- oh, right shit, did the Summoner give him an order too? That would explain it. You'd overpower him completely if it weren't for that, though it seems even with that it takes an awful lot of effort to resist. A wrestling match with his own body, bad enough by itself, even worse with him facing down Yuki, and with the bullet in his stomach, he's not freeing himself of that anytime so-
Your vision explodes into stars, your illusion collapses, and the world seems to spin.
"<Gotcha.>"
Piercing the floorboards. Piercing out of the ground to strike you, is a rolled up newspaper. She's beneath you! There's passages under the seating!
A ring of cleavers erupt around you, a prison of blades. Seven cleavers forged of light. Seven cleavers ready to burst.
"<Incinerate.>"
This is bad. Yeah no shit. How the hell did she track you anyways? Hard to tell but your best guess is she yeah, used the anthrax to track you. No way she could've tracked the shot. Couldn't have been something she could normally do - you'd think she'd have saved her comrades if she could sense you. No, this is probably related to those three decrees. A heightening of her capabilities. Yeah, sounds about right.
White phosphorous and anthrax are gonna spew out from well, all of them. You're winded, your body's shaking, reverberating with the newspaper's impact. You're not going to be able to make an airtight portal barrier. An expulsor might be able to force the powder away but Sera will likely just hit you again, keep you on the defensive, crush you with that cleaver.
Damn it all. What can you do? What can you use?
You have two grenades, the frag probably won't do much. The binding, maybe you could bind the both of you? Try and go for a portal trick shot with your blade when you're both unable to move? You've got that manipulator in Magnum too, control, limited control of his might, and that remaining nuclear arrow of his. You've got plastic explosives, enough to cause some internecine havoc. You've got clothing damage rounds too, not loaded, but maybe you can make something work with them too. Set them off or something. Oh also y'know Yuki. The girl with the chainsaw who can heal and teleport.
Faith, Minato, you guys just hear this commotion and turn around to see a ring of glowy blades erupt around Shef. Also for some reason he's shirtless. Also, and this is kinda off-topic but, damn the guy takes care of himself.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 25, 2019, 08:23:08 am
Then, he needed to get back to the spotlight, where he could both be healed, and draw Sera out. He began the quick procedure of drawing out an expulser round, though it felt achingly slow now, and then detonated it at his chest, to push him towards one side of the blade cage. Or rather the portal directly in front of that side. A calculated choice, as a portal below would have taken more time to move through, more time in the anthrax. With this, he'd be flying up towards the opposite side of the stage from Magnum and Yuki.
Expulser [3] and a portal behind Shef to propel him out of blade cage, and in a path to the stage. It won't help, but modify with portals away from a direct ballistic path. Cached portals ready for the disembodied blade slash, but not to be wasted on the causality manipulating stun sword. Use the remaining control effects to distract Magnum, first by having him think he has to pay attention to Shef, and then, to think it'd be so much cooler if he posed for a few seconds before actually defending. Sera would love it, don't mind the summoner's command protesting, it's cause he's jealous.
[6] 4 5 6 1 5 [3] 3 1 2
Post by: Twinwolf on November 25, 2019, 11:11:58 am
Alter to 4, SURPRISE ATTACK OF JUSTICE with last 5, do above.
Post by: Empiricist on November 25, 2019, 05:02:14 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
Shef, yeah you're in the bonezone right now. The blades reverberate with those sonorous heartbeat and then just blow, just fucking hotboxing you with white phosphorus and anthrax, this burning iron maiden of unpleasantry. Your expsulsor goes and you portal the fuck out. There's a strange bit of weight, or resistance you feel.
Sailing through the air, you see a ribbon wrapped around your ankle. A ribbon attached to a newspaper sword. The Adventuress appears above you and brings a silver sword down.
Unfortunate. You're hurt. Severely hurt. Not quite at the cusp of losing, but you're in the neighborhood. Especially since it's getting hard to breath. There's no guarantee that Yuki can heal you in time. Not if Magnum puts up too much resistance. But Sera followed you, and that would cost her - effects like the ones afficting you, the white phosphorus burning your body, the anthrax prolifersting in your lungs, they tend to whither when the power's cut. And you sure as hell can cut the power now. She doesn't know it yet, but your blade is loose and all it will take is another expulser to drive it through her chest.
Just need to deal with the nuclear arrow screaming down at you. Shouldn't be too hard.
Yuki you teleport behind MAGNUM VON CHAINSAW preparing too go all nothing personal kid on his ass. It's at this point that something forces him to flex letting you strike him easily BUT HIS ABS ARE EVEN HARDER WHEN HE FLEXES AND YOUR PUNY CHAINSAW GLANCES OFF HIS (NOT PARTICULARLY) MUSCLED FRAME. Thankfully your black arrow and the ensuing chainsaw lightning don't give a fuck, launching him back and putting him on the brink of defeat.
Course he's not just gonna just sit there and take it like a slut, he's about to make use of that widened distance between you two and strike you with another iaijutsu fist.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Special Conditions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on November 25, 2019, 07:24:13 pm
Four cached portals to suddenly cause the nuclear arrow to suddenly impact the theater floor a ways away. Curl down to stab at the adventuress, and when she inevitably parries or dodges out of range, launch the knife with Expulser[3] and use all other cached portals to give it extra shots at the adventuress. Try to get the last portal such that if it's also blocked or deflected, it's behind the adventuress, then activate the retrieval unit for one last sneaky shot.
[4+2] 5 6 1 5 [3] 1 2 5 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 25, 2019, 10:13:57 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on November 25, 2019, 11:33:41 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 26, 2019, 02:59:33 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | lixAxil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6cC93h84I) | ] |
Right so Yuki sends out another black arrow and that predictably gets crushed. Probably the biggest threat honestly given her newly sharpened Taoist magic. It, it's the right decision. But sometimes the right decision won't save you. The arrow is an extension of Yuki, a manifestation of her instincts, of possibilities, but it is not Yuki, and in the instant Von Chainsaw crushes it Yuki's own condition is satisfied. She teleports behind him, eyes glowing blue with an almost electric light white you gain a new appreciation for her chest courtesy of the new v-shaped cut in her dress-turned-leotard, an adjust made to compensate for what fabric the phosphorous had burned away.. She brings down her chainsaw. Magnum's fists are ready, he probably saw that coming, but well, Yuki's fast, much faster than she was last time you saw her, he can't turn fast enough to strike her down. He stomps, boot slamming into the stage, splinters reinforcing into shrapnel. It delays Yuki, but it's not enough. His fist slams into her chest.
Blood trickles from his arm. It wasn't a clean hit, it wasn't a good hit, but it was a hit and at this point it's all Yuki needed.
Shef, well, he deals with Broken Arrow well enough. That stab? Yeah, not the best idea. May wanna have a chat with him about that - this ain't Hollywood, Sera's not gonna do some wide parry she's just going to- yeah, that. She guides his blade away with her own and with the same motion just stabs him in the fucking throat, blade turning to light and summoning six more to help pin cushion him a little better. There's a pulse of force and Shef's blade tears through a portal at her. Course she isn't there anymore - she's teleported again to one of those swords. And another. And another. He catches her in the end of course, the blade piercing her chest and triggering her combat pass, but yeah, he really should've opened with that. The two combatants plummet to the ground, vanishing through a portal.
Shef, Yuki, you both extinguish and the anthrax's effects begin to subside.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on November 26, 2019, 10:18:53 am
Post by: Strider03 on November 26, 2019, 11:56:47 am
Shef stood up, dusting himself off, though the powder seemed mostly gone. <"Just wait here a moment, I'll be right back. If there's any paperwork, or post combat evaluation, have that ready.">
After waiting a moment for affirmation, Shef would portal out of the theater, activating his illusion, and would jog down the street to the nearest place he could find selling generic clothing.
Post by: Empiricist on November 28, 2019, 10:16:47 am
| [Now Playing: | Equal Rights (https://youtu.be/xGAAMQLb4ZE) | ] |
Water runs down Patricija's body, the droplets tracing each and every one of her subtle curves, curves you can see in tantalizing detail, barely hidden neath the translucent fabric of her swimsuit.
She's dressed in a spray-on, a hydroreactive polymer coating that ressembles a school swimsuit in form, white and painfully innocent in a way that leaves entirely straight thoughts running through your head. Thoughts that only intensify the material mixes with water becoming cloudy and translucent, its new consistency just dense enough to maintain modesty and tight enough to make it remarkably immodest all the same. You can see almost everything and you're sure you could give it a few choice holes with a touch and just a bit of force. Not that you're thinking of doing anything like that, just well uh, y'know? Maybe you'll need to tear it off that lithe little frame of hers as you save her from err... white phosphorous? Yeah, that. That's probably a thing right?
It's not fully coherent either, whisps of it trailing out behind her and mixing into ethemeral trails of sheer fabric that caress those soft slender legs oh so enticingly. To sharks you mean. Definitely enticing to sharks. You're only running your gaze there because it's a novelty, that's all. There's a lot of things here you don't see back home.
In other news, water's wet and so are you. Y'know since you're in water. You're not gay.
Anyways... Patricija's not the only eye cand- person of interest near you.
There's a girl dressed in a hospital gown, sheer only as much to show a shadow of the figure beneath, with long boots to emphasize her legs and a jacket that you presume is here to provide access to warmth and pockets. Or at least she was dressed like that - she's just taken off finished taking off the gown, revealing what's best described as an approximation of a bikini made from bandages that dig in just enough to draw your eye in a completely heterosexual manner towards er... moving on! She's conjured a veil around her mouth and larger translucent cloth or shawl, blueish sigils painting themselves all over the body adding that little bit more sensuality and mystique to her appearance.
Her companion meanwhile has just taken off his shirt or rather magically dismissed, he's not got the biggest build - he leans more towards lean, but his abs are solid and his jacket is acting almost like a picture frame for them right now. Which would explain why you're staring at them but that's totally 100% okay because you're straight and that's what straight people do.
Yuki
"<Ho ho ho! Of course! I do not mind fighting you again little girl.>"
Shef
"<Okay, sure?>"
Well, there's a women's clothing store nearby, they probably have things in Sera and Yuki's sizes. Wait, what are their sizes?
Post by: Strider03 on November 28, 2019, 11:36:34 pm
As far as style, well he'd really just grab some things that appeared somewhat plain, not too ostentatious, for the two to cover up if they wanted. If they wanted something like what they'd been wearing before, they could do that on their own time. Shef was slightly disappointed he'd not found a more general store to get something for himself, the original purpose of this outing, but he'd just have to do that later.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on November 29, 2019, 02:03:11 am
Sakurako
"<I dunno, I thought you were here for the school festival.>"
"Well, that's why I'm in the *city*, yeah, I more meant like... here. In this room. Summoning tea. Uh. I guess if that's all... I'll get going... where was I..."
She frowns, still not entirely sure where the hell she was supposed to be.
Post by: Empiricist on December 01, 2019, 08:15:44 am
Shirts and pants. Self-fitting and in bland and inoffensive colors should be good you think.
You come out to find a burner phone duct-tapes to the ground with a post-it not saying Not poisoned. I promise.
It begins to ring.
Sakurako
"<Well...>"
"<You kinda barged into our club room and demanded tea.>"
"<I guess we -are- the tea ceremony club but it was super weird!>"
"<Kinda rude too, no offense.>"
Post by: Strider03 on December 01, 2019, 12:00:08 pm
He'd portal down into the tunnels below the seats again, and toss the clothes to Sera, illusion still active. <"You can cover up with these. . .again, sorry about that."> He averted his gaze, muttering, <"Wasn't supposed to happen.">
Post by: Powder Miner on December 02, 2019, 09:00:15 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on December 02, 2019, 09:03:29 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 02, 2019, 09:39:42 pm
"<Is that including bra- oh, nevermind.>"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on December 02, 2019, 10:21:13 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 03, 2019, 12:00:01 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 04, 2019, 10:03:52 am
It's cold. So so cold. Why is it so cold?
"Faith! Faith can you hear me?"
A voice echos at the edges of your consciousness, louder and louder.
"Faith!"
Your eyes snap open.
Snow. The place is covered in snow. It's knee-deep and you're lying in it. It's freezing in here. Ice covers every surface, tendrils of frost mar the dresses , the other shoppers they're frozen too. No, not just frozen, they're encased, imprisoned in blocks of ice, frozen in motion, a wintery Pompeii.
It's a clothing store you were browsing the wares, seeing if you could get anything warded. That was until Enn suddenly yelled in your ear. You raised your shield an now, this.
What the hell happened?
"Your typical run of the mill supervillain attack. Looks to be the work of General Frost. Don't worry about the people; they'll be fine when they thaw, wouldn't recommend the experience though. Dont worry, this isn't your mess to clean up, but I digress, let's focus on getting you out."
You're guessing that's going to be a little trickier than just walking out the door. You conjure energy shaping it around you. It takes the bite off the chill. The chill you feel on your skin at least. There's another one too though, the feeling of ice magic, permeating the very air.
"These superweapons usually only fire once. It's the henchman you'll need to worry about now. "
That's, not reassuring. The situation you're in, it's not exactly good. You're in the middle of a shopping center, second floor. The place was packed with people, there's no way you can fight at full power in here.
"Contact! Sweepers inbound! They're heading this way."
"Automatons most likely. They should have a spherical core somewhere inside them, destroy that to stop them. And watch your fire against the proper henchman, you'll know when you see them - defeat them, do not kill them. We're dealing with cartoon villains here, not rabid dogs."
"Hex that patch of snow in front of the store. I think we can get a first strike on at least one of them. Stay out of sight for now, wait for an opportunity first."
The accessories aisle should provide ample concealment. Might be able to peek through too.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Noriko
Commencing parallel processing.
| The false sun shines down through the dome, radiance filtered, magnified. The light kisses your skin with the warmth of summer, balanced by the cool waters and the soft gentle breeze. Fine velvet-like sand slips between, rushing back and forth with the gentle currents of the pellucid waters. It feels almost foreign to you, when was the last time you've been to the beach? You can hardly remember. It's been years. You, well, you were always planning to visit again, visit with Kouta, but you never had the time, never had the opportunity, till now at least. | So the boy takes out a bottle of what you suspect to be sun lotion and begins to apply it to his companion with hasteful diligence. Dextrous hands slathering every inch of her delicate skin with glistening oil, spreading and kneading into her pliable flesh, starting with the arms and then her shoulders, stomach, and back hands coming dangerously close to the bandages as he attends to her with a mix of care and indifference. He's careful to cover each inch but he's a little rough too, more concerned with speed than comfort as if this were simply a chore to perform, and perhaps to him it is, perhaps to her too given that she's patiently waiting more than anything else shifting her arms to give him better access, extending a leg to let him run his lotion-slicked hands down their length. | |
| Patricija glides through the water, movements small and effortless. Each little kick of her smooth slender legs sends her spiraling through the crystal waters every inch of her body on full display for your rigorous perusal. If she notices your gaze she doesn't seem to mind, content to enjoy her time in the water drifting across a wide arcing path and eventually finds its way to you. | You are standing on the beach, on a shallow sandy slope beneath the waters, a fairly mundane affair that extends for several more meters before it drops right down an into the fantastical. Through the water you can see that which lies below this "step" - a vibrant expanse of flowers and and coral, motes and spirits, an artificial sanctuary more garden than reef, brilliant in vibrancy yet tempered with a certain measured sterility, something like an interactive art exhibit, a grand system of engineered organisms. | Soon enough the two switch places, the girl beginning to apply lotion to the boy's body, massaging the glistening liquid across his chest and abs, lifting his jacket to run her hands down his spine for good measure. She's a little more measured in her movements but about just as dispassionate. The two seem to be talking about something as this happens but what they say is lost to the wind and the waves. Silvery metal traces across his jackets and trousers, blue magic circles sparking to life from them - arcane thrusters. They flare to life and lift him off the ground as he grabs the girl's shawl, lifting her up with him and taking to the skies. |
| Water streams down Patricija's body as rises up from the water, doing little to distract from her outfit and how it seems simultaneously fitted and ever-so-slightly tight, something particularly noticeable at the chest area where makes her fairly limited chest that much harder to forget. It's a little worse than that even. Your Requiem grants you control over the air, and with it comes a certain degree of tactile sensation. And with her this close, well, it's impossible not to feel her. The sensations are clumsy, muted, as if felt through thick gloves or mitts, you never had much need for any finer detail, at least, not to wield your spears. Course in practice, dangling a treat just out of reach is more frustrating than soothing and worse you're pretty sure with enough concentration you could sharpen those senses... | Patricija resurfaces next you. "<You look great! Mind if I join in?>" | The pair fly overhead giving you quite the eyeful as they descend, skimming just above the underwater gardens they appear to now tour. |
Post by: Powder Miner on December 05, 2019, 12:02:55 am
Then she began sneaking towards the exterior wall she was closest to, taking cover where she could, popping up a Shield of Courage once she got close to the wall. Alter the last 2 to a 3 and use it for the Hyper.
World Line: 1 4 2 1 5 5 1
Post by: Empiricist on December 05, 2019, 01:23:28 am
The phone doesn't seem to react. Guess it's most likely a copy then. Or he's developed a countermeasure. Either way it ain't worth the risk. Copy or not it could be cursed, boobytrapped, or worse. You put a bullet in it and portal the remains into a bin.
The amphitheater is crumbling as you re-enter it, the great stands eroding away to dust, the endless expanse of scaffolding rising back into the heavens. There's still time though, time to well, try and make amends. You hand Sera the clothes. She's looks taken aback almost, as if expecting something other than courtesy. She nods, quickly slipping on the short and pants. "<Thanks. Thanks, and sorry.>"
And with that the arena crumbles to dust, scattering wihh the winds. Faith has gone it seems, but you spot a familiar face in the dispersing crowds - Minato.
"<So... you speak English...>"
Faith
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"Understood. We'll watch your back."
You'll be out before that matters you're sure. You sneak on over to the exterior, wedging yourself between a shelf and the window, the expanse darkened with a layer of black ice. You feel magic coursing through it. Again, won't matter. You've enough firepower to blast through you're sure. Shelf should help conceal you, but you haven't the time nor the energy to hide your tracks. Still you're hardly planning on playing hide and seek here.
"It's here."
"Sweeper is preparing to open fire."
You didn't hear anything at all. So they're silent. Good for future reference. It probably saw your tracks. Whatever, you're ready now. Let's do this.
"Maintain a high velocity as you exit. That ice try to retaliate as soon as you breach."
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on December 05, 2019, 07:01:03 am
<"Apparently yes. Do you need something?"> They'd won the battle, so this Bel guy would have no excuse to pester him.
Post by: Empiricist on December 05, 2019, 07:19:39 am
"<Iwanttherightstoyourlifestory!>"
"<*sigh* Here we HP again. You know you can't pester him right? We lost.>"
"<Ah, but the good sir has yet to deem it such! And I am confident we can reach some manner of mutually benefit.>"
Post by: Strider03 on December 05, 2019, 07:24:20 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 07, 2019, 08:33:40 am
"<Is your pedigree not obvious to yourself? You are interesting, your story worthy of my talents though I have yet to know what it is... and of course you have that peculiar air about you, that strange and peculiar feeling, the same I have around my dear Seraphino here.>"
"<What.>"
"<So... what you're saying is you swing both->"
WHAP
Ah, so that's what the newspaper's for.
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2019, 08:39:22 am
"<If I had to fight the same Aramitama twice, and it put together that I was the one from some book, imagine the advantage they'd have in the second battle. Hostages, tactics, worldview, who knows. Ritual magic that requires sacrificing meaningless but uncommon bits of knowledge about a target, not an impossibility.>"
Post by: Empiricist on December 07, 2019, 07:06:24 pm
"<Oh no, it's no big deal->"
Bam! Door flies open, there's a student dressed in a black suit of the armor with a clear plexiglass visor and a matching cloak.
"<Guys, we gotta get going! Concert starts in five!>"
"<Oh whoops! Lidia, d'you have the request details?>"
"<Yes, we can brief on the way there.>"
"<Sorry Sakurako, but we've gotta run now! You're free to come with if you want?>"
Shef
"<Wait they pit us against Godslayers?>"
"<Ho ho ho! So that is why the little girl is so strong!>"
"<Remove it? I have never thought of such, I am not even sure if such can be done. Call it writer's intuition, I know there's something about it, but be it intrinsic, extrinsic or something else entirely, I cannot tell.
Your profession is, troublesome. I had thought you were an instructor or an adventurer, to have foes around each corner, thy would complicate things... I suppose I could take matters more as inspiration than truth, more guidance than ink charted course, surely there is more to you than just->"
" <Sir, you really don't need to keep listening to him. We'd be here all day if you did.>"
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2019, 07:33:48 pm
Yuki cheerfully waved off MAGNUM VON CHAINSAW. "It was a good fight! Had a lot of fun! We should do this again sometime!" she called as he and the adventuress flew through the portal. Then she turned to Shef. Oh, you're here. Where did you go for like half the fight? Were you off chasing some lead on an archnemesis that you just had to follow even if it meant abandoning the fight? Or do a shady arms deal while nobody was looking? And weren't there more of- oooooh. Sorry for tunnel-visioning, I think?"
"I went shopping, and no, I didn't discuss it with you, nothing to be sorry about. The point was for people to tunnel vision and not know where I was. Just, mainly them. Need some clothes?"
Post by: Twinwolf on December 07, 2019, 07:41:55 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2019, 08:22:37 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on December 07, 2019, 08:36:35 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2019, 09:02:36 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on December 07, 2019, 09:03:25 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2019, 09:17:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 07, 2019, 10:23:25 pm
So you're all back at the ice cream place. Hooray. Trick back is mostly uneventful, though Shef notices that Ignis hasn't actually posted anything about the recent battle.
Anyways, Maria is there and icecream list is as follows:
((Want any of them or should I reroll?))
- True Coffee: Like coffee flavored ice-cream but it encaptures the whole coffee experience a lot better with a layered construction consisting of a foamy exterior lightly dusted with chocolate and a denser coffee interior. Though the ice-cream itself is cold it emits the rich aroma of hot coffee.
- Ignian Cookie Dough: It's like regular cookie dough ice-cream, but the cookie dough cooks itself and soaks up the vanilla ice-cream before uncooking itself and releasing it, this process happens in uneven patches giving it a unique consistency.
- Rehardening Vanilla: So it's vanilla ice-cream but whenever you take a bite out of it, the exposed icecream hardens and puffs out into a nice crunchy exterior so that every bite has that nice satisfying crunch.
- Foxfire Delight: Sort of like chili chocolate except instead of chili it's actual fire with some globs of what are best described as flavored napalm, all of which feel very very hot despite not actually being able to burn you. Thankfully the cool chocolate icecream quickly neutralizes the heat.
- Liquid Delirium: An energetic substance that ebbs and flows with fresh cream flowing through its roiling coils. Its exact physical properties seem to alter as you eat it as if pre-programmed in some manner. Its flavor is pretty simple but in an elegant and efficient way, though you do feel like something is watching you.
- Nolstalgia: Shockingly mundane in flavor. It tastes exactly like an ice-cream you had a long time ago, back when your father gave a damn. Those were happier times, you can almost feel the hot Miami sun and taste the hints of sea spray...
- Ephemeral Bliss: It tastes amazing. It tastes like the best thing you've ever tasted, but it's fleeting, oh so fleeting, the moment it leaves your tongue you can't even remember the taste, leaving you feeling almost a little empty.
- Astral Storm: A chilled swirling mass of energy with a texture closer to a dense gas than a solid, the flavor is indescribable though not unpleasant either, with the intricate hints in it changing with its turbulence and discharges of energy sending jolts of flavor tingling into your tongue.
- Air Conditioning: Utterly flavorless and insubstantial, but while eating it you feel the cold wind of an air conditioner blowing down on you, and it actually does seem to cool you down.
- Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green: It tastes like nothing you've ever tasted before. Guess this is what Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green tastes like, whatever the hell Beethoven's 3π + 9ith in Anarcho-Republican Green is.
Post by: Strider03 on December 07, 2019, 10:38:16 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on December 07, 2019, 10:46:59 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 08, 2019, 03:00:21 am
Well no one looks too oddly at you, so that's a good start. The mix has a crunchy exterior by a more doughy crumbly interior soaked with creamy goodness. The air-con also helps cool you down but that might've been redundant in hindsight given that you're already walking around shirtless. One of the boys from the first fight enter though Maria is too focused on Yuki to notice.
Yuki
Mmm! Tastes like actual coffee! But y'know with enough sugar to balance out the bitterness and the vanilla helps soften it further. The concoction's texture is peculiar, consisting of a crunchy outer shell that is incredibly light and puffy and a creamier smoother interior. "<So um... you wanted to go over last night?>"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on December 08, 2019, 03:06:19 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2019, 03:07:29 am
Unlikely to be attacked of course, given Yuki's presence, but he'd not let that lull him into relaxing his guard.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 08, 2019, 05:08:04 am
".....you two enjoying our little....vacation?"
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2019, 07:15:09 am
Post by: Twinwolf on December 08, 2019, 08:27:11 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 08, 2019, 09:21:28 am
"You too, huh? Thought we'd have a little more time to chill out and enjoy the sights. I actually came off a few fights of my own when I ran into you two earlier."
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2019, 09:43:21 am
"So, your battles. Hard? Learn anything knew? Did you win?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 08, 2019, 10:32:16 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 08, 2019, 10:44:25 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2019, 11:49:33 am
"Among other things they modeled for an eromanga, obtained a bioweapon and promptly forgot it somewhere, someone from your school jumped me in an alleyway--you know Sakurako?--, I had a pillow fight, and. . . there's a bit more, but we ended up in the fight you saw us in."
"Third of four total, I think, though the second is kinda, not decided yet."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 08, 2019, 05:32:02 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2019, 05:48:07 pm
"Apparently alcohol is one of the least intoxicating things they put in drinks."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 08, 2019, 05:49:39 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2019, 06:21:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 08, 2019, 09:28:05 pm
Patricija catches the ball drawing your eyes to the fabric around her chest. It's, modest. At best. Though with the spray-on the way it is, the fabric seems awfully tight in that area, straining almost. She passes it forward.
"<You look good Noriko!>"
She vaguely gestures to her stomach. Ball's in your court now, in more ways than one.
Sakurako
You are now en route to the event location by train, a cloak fitted over your shoulders EVENT SECURITY emblazoned across the back.
In your hands is the first briefing pack, a colored print out explaining the mission the Tea Ceremony Club will be conducting.
At the front of the pack is an inverted eye of providence, a stylized eye in an upside down triangle with trumpets and banners sprouting out behind it in the shape of butterfly wings.
You recognize it, it's the logo of the Jacqui Noire.
You're not really into idol singers, but you do know about Noire. She's pretty popular, got a good voice, and in spite of her normally quiet and unassuming demeanor, is in fact a massive fucking chuunibyou. Like seriously she claims she's like, the adversary of humanity, a false god that devours souls to bring forth the apocalypse and- wait a second...
You flick through the pack.
Okay yeah, she is literally an Aramitama.
So this event of hers apparently consists of congregating inside her minion-riddled Sanctuary, and huddling around her very seat of power. Which is kinda sounding more and more like a death cult now that you think about it but you've been assured it's totally 100% a-okay. So it's probably fine right?
Well according to the briefing pack, it should be so long as you do your job. Ah right, the job, so it turns out these minions of her still have, residual murderous instincts and might get a little uppity. The good news is that they can be placcated by various recreational intoxicants of which there will be plenty of in this venue. The bad news is it will actually intoxicate them so you'll be the poor spawns of bitches tasked with stopping drunken concert goers from picking fights with equally drunk monstrosities that look roughly like a prolapsed blender trying to get to third base with a giant spider made out of broken metal and hatred constructed by someone who has never seen a spider their entire life and whose sole conception thereof is based on a fever dream they had ten years ago, if the contents of such dreams could be run through Google Translate a couple hundred dozen times.
There's a second pack resting on your lap, you haven't read it yet, actually half the club hasn't gotten around to read it yet, but the quick rundown of it is that the club accepted a job with the basic brief of "Get senpai to notice me".
((Massive thanks to the Strider for the scenario!))
Post by: ragnarok97071 on December 08, 2019, 10:23:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 09, 2019, 07:50:23 am
Four crystalline mirrors unfurls behind Maria.
"<So erm... Just relax and tell me what the last thing you remember is.>"
Sakurako
"<It's more for the event organizers.>"
"<And whatsherface.>"
"<The other client.>"
Oh yes, because that makes it so much better, you won't be helping the soul eating abomination, just their associates and the people who try to find love in the middle of their machinations!
Post by: ragnarok97071 on December 09, 2019, 01:52:42 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 10, 2019, 05:46:04 am
"Look, all I know is, Yuki apparently asked to make sure the drinks they had at the resort weren't alcoholic, they drank, and next thing they new, they were in kingshaven and couldn't remember last night. Yuki also drank some random whiskey she found in a bottle after already being drunk, or something to that effect.""Alright. I assume you had a pretty crazy time too? Sounds like I missed out."
Post by: Strider03 on December 10, 2019, 08:20:17 am
"In terms of pure strangeness, things haven't been so bad. Some frustrating battles, but all for learning, so it's alright."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 10, 2019, 10:57:28 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 10, 2019, 11:24:01 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 13, 2019, 11:24:16 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 13, 2019, 12:26:35 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 13, 2019, 02:20:15 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 13, 2019, 03:53:33 pm
shopping?" Shrugging, Shef took another spoonful of ice cream.
"I don't really know what to say. You seem to think something unusually wild happened, and I'm not really certain what you mean,and I'm probably not gonna know till you say what you saw." Maybe it was the illusion? But really, Shef had it up now, and he really wouldn't have expected Minato to not just straight up ask about it.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 13, 2019, 03:56:56 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 13, 2019, 04:12:31 pm
"For now? Not sure, got a phone full of unknown numbers that Noriko got last night, one and a half more student duels, and an ongoing skirmish with a projectionist slash cloning sorta person."
"But past the fighting? I'm planning to explore the markets with same guy tomorrow."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 13, 2019, 04:26:15 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 13, 2019, 04:56:39 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on December 14, 2019, 11:12:50 pm
Yuki"Oh, that one's easy. I was drinking with Noriko. They said they didn't have anything alcoholic in them but apparently I don't remember like anything after that."
Four crystalline mirrors unfurls behind Maria.
"<So erm... Just relax and tell me what the last thing you remember is.>"
Post by: Powder Miner on December 15, 2019, 04:17:11 pm
Faith had zero intention whatsoever to stick around long enough for that thing to get a hot off on her, and instead put her plan into motion, a torrent of bright energy erupting from her feet as she aimed to propel herself through the wall. Of course, it actually occurred to her that she didn't know what the next steps would be once she was outside the building, but, you know, hell with it, she'd figure it out then. What was combat if not really rapid improvisation, after all?
Faith shoots herself through the wall with a Leap of Apollo!
World Line: 4 2 1 5
Spoiler: Ability Refactored! (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 15, 2019, 04:18:11 pm
"Hey, I don't know. Did Winter and Enn say you'd have more still to do? Maybe you could relax. Watch our battles, explore, hit the beach, any of that. I can't really get much info from them because training stuff, but you might be able to.""That sounds nice. I might want to get some more training done, but having a moment to breathe would be great too."
Post by: Empiricist on December 15, 2019, 11:00:25 pm
"<Not often.>"
"<Security's sooooo boring! Nothing ever happens!>"
"<Yeah but it's -easy-!>"
"<...Anyways we're kinda doing this more for the concert.>"
"<Should we check out the other brief?>"
"<Yeah probably should.>"
The second brief is, well it's a lot less professional, just a word document with quick notes jotted down and images placed haphazardly. The client is Charlotte Leitner, first year student. Judging by the photo she's not exactly the most outgoing person. You ever see one of those people who's just beaming confidence? Well she's the exact opposite of that, a fucking blackhole for confidence. Her senpai on the other hand... yeah it's like night and day. Name's Remigio Escárcega. Doesn't seem to like wearing shirts, not that you're complaining. Apparently she got into a spot of trouble with some delinquents before and he showed up as her knight in shining armor or something. Standard anime stuff. Do oiled abs count as armor? Hold that thought.
"<So...>"
"<Well she could totally use some more confidence. And a makeover.>"
"<Aslan?>"
"<Already packed. Got the classic, the latest fashions, just say the word. And glasses! Can't forget the glasses! ...Though say, think we should use an illusion?>"
"<Why? It's not bad is it>"
"<Well yes but... she's not gonna get -confident- just because we Cinderella her up right?>"
"<He's got a point there. What are you thinking? We give her a fake identity?>"
"<Oh not a bad idea!>"
"<Wait, that wasn't your angle?>"
"<Nope! But I'm happy to take credit for it!>"
"<Why then?>"
"<It's obvious isn't it? If she screws up, we can just swap illusions and try again.>"
"ಠ__ಠ"
Shef
"<Gonna need a rain check on that skirmish.>"
Oh hey the student's just Ignis. You quietly ready your RAM under the table. No way this is his only illusion here. He's close, close enough you have a shot at a grab, but you've the suspicion he outclasses you up close. Need an opening, just a small one, enough to grab him...
"<Exercise's canceled.>"
Wait what?
"<I spoke to the AIs already. I'm all for a good ambush but with things the way they are, it's just going to be me trying to pick you off after each of your other fights. Not the best learning experience, so I was->"
Minato, Shef, and Yuki
Voices. Faint, incoherent. The faintest ghost of an image. Fleeting, insubstantial. They begin to coalesce taking form within the mirror. A hazy half-remembered movie skipping back and forth at random. Each frame a different scene. Bewildering, incoherent. The cuts begin to slow, the image sharpens.
You see, you see a bar. The view is peculiar, details fading in and out, a sketch and a splattering of color on the same canvas, the two components blending into photorealism in small patches, raveling and unraveling with each second. The camera motions are odd, as if perturbed by- ah, perturbed by the motion of a body. Of course, this is a reconstructed memory, this is through Yuki's own eyes.
The audio hasn't quite stabilized just yet, it's echo-y and indistinct, the fact that Yuki's kinda just mumbling though it doesn't help though holy shit, that's, that's a lot of empty glasses. Why's Noriko patting her reassurin-
And we're skipping. Apparently.
"<Sorry! I'm still stabilizing the feed!>"
An Abyssal Choir is a colossal being ressembling the figurehead of a ship, discolored flesh a mix of wood, barnacles, and metal, so throughly fused you can no longer tell where one begins and the other ends.
Its body is wrapped in chains, bound to an enormous anchor of rusted iron that bobs up and down amidst the crashing waves and darkened sea. Dancing serenely neath the waters is a ring of corpses, drowned bodies joined hand in hand, their formation spinning faster and faster as the titan leans closer and closer.
Neath its ragged hood its face splits open, a maw filled not with teeth but malformed skulls singing a siren's song. Even now, through the haze of half recollected memory it's beauty is simply a otherworldly.
"HEY! FUCK YOU!"
Yuki begs to differ. The colossus continues its song.
"YEAH? WELL I BET YOUR MOM'S-"
Skip.
"<Do not think us so short-shirted. Your enlightment is an inevitability. All that lives will reach Nirvana someday. Now let us begin your training Miss Tatsumaki.>"
Isn't that the Bodhisattva?
Skip.
"<MARK MY WORDS! YOU WILL RUE THE DAY YOU DARED CROSS TEAM->"
Skip.
"Is he a spy? Drug dealer? Arms dealer? Smuggler? Cocaine-based weaponry corporate spy?"
Maria looks fairly nonplussed.
"<That's a lot of content... is there anything you're looking for in particular? We um, might be here a while there's several hours of fooage.>"
Faith
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"<Aim up.>"
Dress comes up, shields flare pink, and you get the hell outta dodge. The ice hisses and cracks a you just ram your shield into it, discharging it's energy to burn into it as you launch yourself out.
| [Now Playing: | Glacial Skies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nqQxV6-nY) | ] |
The streets of flooded. Well, they're a little more than flooded. Flood waters are two stories high. And it ain't water either. No, it's nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen. And you, you can't even see it. So thick is the mist that veils it, so blinding, so impenetrable. You know it is there, you know that only because you just shot up out of it. Thank God your shield held.
Buildings and battlements just out from this new inland sea, frozen and frost-fucked, ice-capped mountains of cement divided by plunging valleys that were once streets.
Enormous flowers rest just above the mist, crystalline blooms of ice perched atop of tower-like stalks. Burning sunrays dance across their reflective petals, you know not where they came from - the beams bounce from flower to flower, stretching out afar and bouncing away behind corners. Where they are aimed, that's easier, much easier. They're aimed at the planes, the frozen interceptors screaming through the air.
Each interceptor consists of a tubular body with a spike-like nose, forward swept wings, and undulating tendrils. Sizewise, they're comparable to a bear, so pretty big compared to a person but pretty damn small for an aircraft. And naturally, like everything else in this godforsaken winter 'wonderland' they're made entirely out of ice with darkened tops and bellies to catch the sunbeams, glassy wings that snap and shatter under the stress of their harsher turns only to reform mere moments later, and tendril arrays that expand almost fractally as they hunt their prey.
Oh yes, their prey. The others, the others who escaped the weapon's activation. The civilians and adventurers. They're, not faring that well. The main thing is that well, a lot of them can't fly, and the ones that can, well they're not really ready to go toe-to-toe with the planes. Sunrays dance through the frozen skies, strobe lighting from plane to plane like a fucking rave as they rain freezing sleet and the occasional icey bomb upon the unfortunate stragglers.
"Hi Faith! I'm picking up some radio transmissions near you. Sounds like a tactical network. It'll patch you in now!"
Suddenly there's a gunshot and the Interceptors scatter. Reinforcements. A counterattack. A motley mix of adventurers and students, many flying with wings of white flame. Leading the charge is a knightly figure with a billowing cape and a pair of shoulder-mounted cannons. His crackles through your outfit's radio, voice tinned yet flamboyant.
Eagle 1 Challenger <<DEUTSCHE WISSENSCHAFT IST DIE BESTE AUF DER WELT!>>
Also Cynthia's next to the him surfing ontop of what appears to be a miniaturized Predator drone.
* * *
Nothing seems to kill the mood faster than the Russian winter. Seriously, this is the second time this week! Mere days ago you were engaged in the most serious of duels with your dear nemesis. It was getting good! He was invoking Zeus and Satan! But then he started calling on Stalin! And then boom! Gulag Sphere! What kinda lame name is Gulag Sphere? And it was so anti-fun too! He just sat in there and refuse to come out! It was like he doing it just to mess with you!
Ah! But where are your manners? Let's start with your introduction shall we?
Your name is Distance Dark, Sinister Space Magical Girl, Defier of the Great Powers, Traveler of the World, of Worlds, and Nemesis to the Baron of Ruin.
And you are here, in the great Fortesss City of Kingshaven, for tea!
At least, you were. Now you're here to vanquish the dastardly villain responsible with your SINISTER SPACE MAGIC! And then have tea! As soon as you find them!
Seriously! Why is everyone turtling so much?!
Oh hey! A girl just exploded up out of that building! And she's a magical girl too! Another potential adversary? A stalwart defender of justice for you to corrupt? Who knows! She does look like she could use one of these jetpacks though, and you just so happen to have a spare!
* * *
Interceptors scream through the frozen skies, arctic winds and cryonic magic funneling through their intakes. It looks like a ramjet. Isn't though, it's more a magic accumulator taking advantage of the magic saturated air. Saves on the weight. Lets them assemble and fire their weapons on the fly, no need to carry anything. The primary propulsion mechanism? Those beams of light. They're laser thermal rockets, internal fuel blocks heated by those lasers. Again, saves on the weight. Not a lot of mass. Not a lot of armor, though they do regenerate. It's all about mobility here and they certainly outclass your comrades here.
Don't get it wrong, you did soup up those jetpacks, add a bit of mobility you won't find off the shelf. Probably will burn out the enchantments, but that's fine, economy never was the focus here. Thing is there's a definite difference in speed and it will show soon enough.
That's fine, you'll make up for it with firepower. Besides, those drives only work with a power supply, take out the laser sources and they stop running.
Anyways, you're leading the charge with Distance and Cynthia flanking you. You grouped together with the TacNet app.
Interceptors are spinning around and swooping in and you're ready to cut them down.
Man compared to this, that first group of bank robbers were fucking amateurs. If you gotta rob a bank wrong, you better do it right. This General Frost fellow has the right idea.
* * *
The current theater of war is comprised of lines of buildings arrayed like concrete mountains with plunging valleys between them.
The aerial cavalry as of were are rushing down on side of the valley. Faith is in the air just in front of them, and past her are the interceptor swarms, spinning around to engage the interlopers, away from the frozen terraces and rooftops there terrorized mere minutes ago.
The sunrays focus on a small detachment for a few seconds long as they shoot up high and release their cryobombs. Airbursts most of likely, aiming to freeze or scatter the allied forces with the rest of the swarm readied to rush in and commenced dogfighting with those sleet-based weapons of theirs.
Faith
"It won't be hard to escape in this chaos, the boundary of the weapon's effect radius is just behind those adventurers. Whether you run or you fight is up to you."
"Will you be engaging?"
You're notice a large serpentine mass of a black ice tracing out towards you. Point of origin seems to be the building you just exited. It's closing in quick. Guess that's what Winter meant about the ice retaliating.
"<Miss Tatsumaki.>"
"<Over here.>"
Sol and Luna are on a nearby rooftop holding out some winter clothing.
Wait why are they not getting att-
You look up, traced into the skies above is a massive emblem, an inverted eye of providence overlayed ontop of a snowflake sigil.
You've seen something like that before. Their playing cards, they had a similar design on the back - an inverted eye of providence surrounded by interlocking gears, weeping a stream of blood that traces the shape of a pendulum.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on December 15, 2019, 11:18:06 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 16, 2019, 01:14:47 am
"<Oh yeah, it's gonna crash and burn if she pretends to be someone else. I was thinking we could use it to make her open up, let her be her true self without any risk.>"
"<The mutual interests thing sounds good. We could go all stake out duty on him!>"
"<Or we could go through their search histories.>"
" <That sounds like actual work though! Can't we just lock them in a room and let them sort it out?>"
Post by: Strider03 on December 16, 2019, 04:40:22 am
But, it was strange then, that these recollections appeared in some clarity, he'd always heard that the vast majority of information was simply not saved by the brain. Possible, then, that the information didn't actually come from her mind. It was, however, an unnerving thought that his own memories might be just as easily accessed.
"Dunno what you've got in mind Yuki, but that one group with the baghead guy said you were involved in some obstruction of justice, and. . ." Shef trailed off, realizing what a stupid suggestion that was
". . .Nevermind that, she can just tell us."
Post by: Twinwolf on December 18, 2019, 10:30:58 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on December 21, 2019, 06:48:28 am
Faith tried to orient herself so that she'd be shooting herself in the direction of Sol and Luna, and then, once the Black Ice got close enough. "HaHA! Eat this! Leap of Apollo!!" Bright yellow magic erupted from the area of her feet, meant to strike and shatter the Black Ice at the same time as it rapidly accelerated Faith in the opposite direction. As she flew, she spoke. Eagle █ Sailor Sun: <<"I've got a lot of destructive power here, so I should be able to pretty consistently blow those ice flower things up, if you all leave me the spaces!">>
Faith uses Leap of Apollo just before the Black Ice hits, to hit it with the spell as she also launches herself in Sol and Luna's direction! Alteration to 3.
World Line: 2-->3 1
Distance Dark, Sinister Magical Girl of Space, was feeling rather mopey. At this rate, she was never going to get her hands on her dear, darling nemesis! All she wanted was to get to him, beat him in combat (well, to be fair, losing was just fine too~) and then get close with him... but she wasn't getting to! First he decided to hide from her and be a tease, and now she had this to deal with. It was deeply frustrating to be interrupted by someone also from supervillain stock! When this was all over, she was just going to be allll over her most persistent foe...
But for now, well, she had to make it be over!
Eagle 2 ♡Nemesis♡: <<"Well hello there, newcomer! I, Distance Dark, Sinister Magical Girl of Space, Master o--">> Wait, oh, wow, okay, she was already all the way over there, Distance was taking too long talking. <<"Anyway, take this jetpack! It'll let you fly easier! Hey, wait a minute, why didn't we just give my nemesis one of these??">>
Huffing, Distance opened a wormhole towards the rooftop the new girl was heading towards, and dropped the jetpack through to her!
Distance pops the jetpack over to Faith with a Wormhole [3]!
World Line: 5
Post by: cronos5010 on December 21, 2019, 08:50:07 am
Eagle 1 Challenger <<Roger that Sailor Sun. Legion, try to cut off the interceptor's air space, get them clumping up together as much as you can. Everyone else, let's turn up the heat, fire airburst grenades.>> Immanuel said into his radio, his twin plasma wand arrays still blazing at the interceptors, trying to herd some of them next to each other before he fired at them with a charged up airburst grenade sent from his railgun.
Immanuel uses Arcane Infusion : Leistungserstärker to amp his grenade's power before he fires it at the interceptors to break them up, Alteration to 3
World Line: 2>3 2 6 3
Post by: ragnarok97071 on December 21, 2019, 11:19:43 am
Sakurako
"<Oh yeah, it's gonna crash and burn if she pretends to be someone else. I was thinking we could use it to make her open up, let her be her true self without any risk.>"
"<The mutual interests thing sounds good. We could go all stake out duty on him!>"
"<Or we could go through their search histories.>"
" <That sounds like actual work though! Can't we just lock them in a room and let them sort it out?>"
"I do remember that last one being an old tradition back home but usually that's consensual and at parties, not concerts.. I mean, if they're going to both be at the concert, they're obviously both interested in the music and possibly getting themselves killed, aren't they?"
Post by: Empiricist on December 22, 2019, 02:51:32 am
"<Okay let see here...>"
So the footage starts skipping. First it skips back all the way to the very start to Yuki ordering the drinks. Looks like she start off with a couple of Auroral Blooms, which according to a quick search are... okay yeah, sort of like the Awakened equivalent of a Long Island Iced tea, which is to say delightfully tasty and almost certain to get you smashed if you're unaware of its potency. The rest, are a variety of cocktails some of which contain stimulants. Okay so pretty smashed but it's not...
Skip.
Okay so now she's drinking a vial of godknowswhat in some kinda sci-fi temple lab or something while something is attacking her. You're not entirely sure what because she's not really looking at it, she's a little busy chugging, but you're guessing whatever it was, it couldn't really get past her toughness and regen.
Skip.
Okay that's literally vodka. Enhanced vodka. How much is she drinking?
Skip.
That's... Lunar Ray. Which is apparently sort of like moonshine but also pretty damn hallucinogenic. What follows is... well it's all disjointed and incoherent but the best explanation you've got is that she appears to be fighting er... herself. Her reflection anyways. It's a mirror. She's fighting a mirror. Well, less fighting more just driving her chainsaw into the mirror piercing her reflection's heart. It begins bleeding? She's standing in, you think she's outside the uh, metaphysical equivalent of a McDonald's parking lot. Which apparently looks awfully similar to a Burger King parking lot. Go figure.
Maria rewinds and you see Yuki entering a store in Pavilion Square. Audio's kinda distorted here but the price tag for the dress looks pretty darn modest. It seems unlikely it'd have any particularly strong enchant- ah, she's reading the label. Hmm... so it's warded against clothing damage and the plating is fairly receptive to combat enchantments.
Wait, so is the auto-censoring not part of the package then? And why did it get damaged so easily? Did the enchantments get modified somehow? Noriko floats into view, she's getting measured up for a suit.
Skip.
Noriko's dressed in the suit and leaving the bar with Patricija. Yuki is close behind. Maria fast-forwards and you see the trio move in comically fast motion venturing through Kingshaven's vibrant nightlife, an ultimately uneventful meandering featuring highlights like Harold Holt Square, that indoor beachside with snow for sand and cathedrals in the water, and some kinda overgrown tree that showers the surrounding area with levitating detritus that seems to be half petal and half flame. Guessing those don't actually burn. Okay so it's basically a guided tour then.
So the questions that leaves then would be:
- Why did Yuki stab her own reflection?
- What happened to Yuki's dress?
- What's with Baghead's vendetta?
Optional Battle 3 - Frozen Skies (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg7382621#msg7382621)
Faith
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Glacial Skies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nqQxV6-nY) | ] |
"We'll take that as a yes then. Updating your friends at Syrup now..."
* * *
Eagle 3 Legion <<Roger that Challenger.>>
Eagle 3 Legion <<Glad you could join us Eagle 4, mind if I call you Helios? Sailor Sun is a bit of a mouthful.>>
A new voice joins the fray, cutesy and energetic.
AWACS Fluffles <<Hi everyone! My name's Fluffles and I'll be your AWACS for today!>>
AWACS Fluffles <<Just keep calm, follow my instructions and everything will be alright! This'll be just like Sugar Mountain all over again!>>
Distance portals a jetpack over to Faith as she blasts the encroaching black ice with a frankly absurd amount of magical energy, vaporizing the entire tendril in a instant and punting her over to the twins. They toss over a fur coat and hat onto her, naturally it's enchanted and warmth wreaths her body soon enough, keeping the biting chill at bay.
"<Good luck Miss Tatsumaki>"
Plasma saturates the air, sixteen wands spewing bolts with wild abandon. The bolts were weak but that matter little, as droplets form tsunamis, so too did these bolts form a storm of plasma, twin streams roaring from Immanuel gauntlets. Four missiles streaked out from Cynthia's UAVs, adding to the deluge.
Eagle 3 Legion <<On my mark...>>
Strictly speaking, this was not enough to funnel the bombers. The sky is a large place, two streams and four missiles, they can only cover so much, shoot down so much. The airbust napalm? That could serve some purpose but the allied forces were not particularly coordinated as a whole, and indeed it seems a good chunk of them have decided to fire at the main force instead, a rather fruitless tasking given the general agility of these interceptors.
And yet, and yet the bombers formed up together herded by Cynthia's missiles, congregating in a passing gap in the napalm flak, at the point so had all so helpfully marked on the HUD.
Eagle 3 Legion <<Now!>>
A thunderous roar. The railgun fires, the charged grenade screaming into position, blooming into a cloud of burning napalm.
Engines sputter, steam hisses. They're off-beam now. Engines are dead. Fuselage is broken, broken but not destroyed. The material's ablative almost, outer layers bursting into steam and sparing the internals. They're fucked up but they're still coming. The fuselage and payload anyways, the cores reforging them into improvised missiles and ejecting down, aiming for the safety of the nitrogen sea, tendriled forms already coalescing as they fall from the heavens.
It's not going to be optimal for them, what should have been a tactical bombing run has turned into a clumsy crash, these weaponized husks projected to blast the frontal forces rather than scattering in the midst of the allied forces. Still all of you are up front and the frozen wreckage is coming in hard and fast. May wanna dodge. Shouldn't be too hard.
Still the main swarm seems undeterred, zooming forwards in loose formations, sleet machineguns readying to fire as the allied forces prepare to light the air up with napalm.
AWACS Fluffles <<Cryogenic munitions inbound! Updating tactical map!>>
That... that's a pretty big blast radius. Well, radii more like. There's some kind of ballistic missile high up above apparently. One with sixteen high yield warheads, each enough to plunge the surrounding area into instant winter. Looks like that's their Plan B.
Naturally you're all in the blast radius of a warhead too. You're all pretty confident in being able to escape, it's more a question of what happens in the aerial clusterfuck that will ensue.
One squadron is swooping towards Immanuel and Cynthia, another is swooping towards Faith and Distance.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Sakurako
"<Well, they do go to a military academy...>"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 22, 2019, 05:37:28 am
"......okay, that's the craziest thing I've seen this entire trip. Never mind anything I said before."
Post by: Strider03 on December 22, 2019, 08:24:48 am
Shef ripped his gaze away from the slide show, and turned his attention to the source of these memories. "Miss, you want to turn the clock to whenever your bag head guy met Yuki? Gonna want to know what that little vendetta's all about. Or maybe you could, I don't know, tell us." Other people could ask what they were interested in, but for him, well, the priority was the combat relevant aspects.
"And Yuki, lets go through those phone numbers as well."
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 22, 2019, 03:25:48 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 22, 2019, 05:34:43 pm
"She never met him. But she did meet Lady Astria, he said something about 'perverting the course of justice'"
That doesn't sound good.
She fiddles with her phone and shows it to y'all. It's a group chat and in it is a screenshot from the attorney's phone. Name's Aurelius as it turns out.
It's, some kinda magical interface, one that shows er... it's his doujin recommendation feed? How shameless.
Apparently he gets it from that Lady Astria person?
Minato
Well, whoever this Lady Astria is, she's got excellent taste.
Shef
Astria? You recall seeing her name before when you were researching this place, only briefly though. You look her up and ah, insofar as those in Drakenvald are concerned, she is justice.
Right, so a bit of background first, Drakenvald uses the adversarial legal system like most western countries on Earth. Difference is, the showdowns are less like debates and well, more like magical duels between the defense and prosecution, fought with spells and weapons forged from evidence, logic, and reasoning. Judges serve as the umpires and game masters here, and Lady Astria runs the system itself.
She's also basically a tactical uplink for everyone working in the legal system providing counsel and precedents, plea deals and sentencing recommendations. And ever since this morning she's been providing some other unsolicited recommendations.
So when the attorney said that Yuki perverted the course of justice, he meant it in that she turned the course of justice into a shameless pervert. And flooded everyone's uplink with smut.
Noriko
"Aww thanks! There's more left in the can if you want to try."
And the ball's back in your court now.
Post by: Strider03 on December 22, 2019, 07:51:23 pm
"Yet again, Minato, I'm forced to disagree with you. Think this might be crazier. Uh, anyway, we're gonna find out eventually, so can we try to find the time when Yuki 'met' this Lady Astria?"
Post by: Empiricist on December 25, 2019, 09:04:36 am
The spear crashes through the girl's chest, tearing out her heart in a shower of blood and pinning it to the wall.
"AGNEYASTRA!"
A spark, a flickering ember. It burns red, a deep red. In the next instant it is raging conflagration, hurled forth from Noriko's hand. That aura, that horrid ominous aura, it catches fire and ignites burning the heart to ash. With that out of the way Yuki gets to work healing magic pouring into the GAPING CHEST WOUND and-
Skip.
The classical depiction of a nurarihyon is that of an old man, a man of both wealth and taste, with vaguely reminiscent of a gourd in shape and an aura of authority that cows both human and yokai alike.
An actual nurarihyon is most of those things. It has authority. It has wealth. It has taste. An oddly shaped head. But it is not an old man, it is not a man at all, no, oh no, it, is an honest to god xenomorph, a Giger-esque terror equal parts skeletal and freudian with acid for blood and maws within maws. It's no wonder houses would serve as if they were their master - if you're living in Edo period and the fucking Alien just waltzed in sword at the hip looking like a goddamn Yakuza boss and started asking for sake, you'd give them that fucking sake, you'd give them all the fucking sake.
Course nowadays they look a little different, the ones still invested in the traditional business often trade the kimonos for suits with or without pinstripes, and the sword for glocks or chicago typewriters. And Yuki just so happened to be staring face to face, eye to eyeless maw with one of these things.
"<Excuse me dearie, would you happen to have seen my cat around here, he's->"
Skip.
The chamber is spartan, minimalistic, bare marble walls illuminated by faux natural lighting. Floating in its center is Lady Astria clad in her usual attire, a dress of white and blue, augmented with electronic mechanisms and modelled after the robes of a QC, six seraphmic wings blazing out their back. An array of screens orbit her holding books and records, laws, treatises and precedents.
"<Very well, I would not mind making this trade.>"
And with that she accepts the tabl- ...Those were the Fleur tomes weren't they? The tomes set aside for Faith's training. In exchange she hands Yuki two pipebombs, a silenced pistol, and a reel of duct-tape.
Post by: Strider03 on December 25, 2019, 02:35:34 pm
"So, uh, maybe what the pipebombs were for next? Think I've seen what I need after that though, and you, Yuki?"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on December 27, 2019, 12:38:15 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 08, 2020, 08:08:42 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on January 11, 2020, 06:51:00 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 11, 2020, 10:06:15 pm
Well, whatever it is you were supposed to say it's a little too late now as you find yourself getting lead back into your bungalow and soon relieved of your swimsuit. You manage to sputter out a request for a more modest, or at least less fetishistic manner of outfit but given that the whole application process consists of standing there butt-naked and getting sprayed down with nothing to look at save for Patricija... it's yeah, not doing wonders for your mindset. A quick visit to the shower completes the outfit, marking the point where it stops feeling like something you've sprayed on and more like something you're actually wearing. Something squeezing you ever so slightly, thought not entirely unpleasantly, and more to the point, not as opaque as you were hoping for.
Well on the bright side, none of the material got activated prematurely.
Kouta
So Noriko comes back and er well.... she was hoping for something more modest than Patricija's attire but honestly looking at it you can't fucking tell. The main thing that makes a tankini more conservative than Patricija's swimsuit would be the material properties, the dynamics of loose fabric as opposed to gel, the opacity of the weave, but of course this was made from the same material, fashioned from the same methods. This one, yeah, this doesn't have any of that. When it comes down to it Noriko just walked out wearing something pretty similar to Patricija's outfit just with marginally less fabric thanks to its two-piece split configuration.
Minato, Shef, and Yuki
A quick fast-forward quickly answers your questions. The answer is that there is apparently a large and more to the point tall tree somewhere in Kingshaven, a tree with branches of carved driftwood adorned with glass-like leaves. Sometime last night there was cat stuck inside it, a black cat with a white spot on its chest.
So uh, turns out Yuki dislodged it. With a pipebomb.
Shef, you make another cursory glance outside and notice something's wrong - people are looking up, up at something on your building's roof. And as you watch you see the shadows lengthen one by one in orderly panels.
The shinobi most likely, he's building something on the roof.
Post by: Strider03 on January 12, 2020, 09:27:54 am
Shef then approached the counter, looking for someone who seemed to work here. "Can I get to the roof from inside?"
Post by: Powder Miner on January 15, 2020, 05:02:59 am
With that awkward note out, Faith found herself very rapidly wearing enchanted winter clothing and a jetpack -- and being magically warm and flying through the sky with actual consistency and maneuverability rather than haphazardly blasting herself at high power sure was one hell of an upgrade from her post-mall-exit experience, even if that itself had frankly been a lot of fun. She found this to be a confidence booster and, well, since as is she was feeling surprisingly nice... honestly, she was practically glowing with pride! She was also LITERALLY glowing thanks to the sad remnants of her initial shield, but that was a secondary thing.
As for the actual combat, Faith found that she had two primary objectives. The first was to not get iced, figuratively or shockingly literally -- and the second was to see if she couldn't blow up some of those ice flower things, since they seemed to be strengthening the interceptors. The first she figured that she could manage by just diving and diving hard to get out of the radius of the giant missile thing... but managing the second she thought might be a bit harder. Maybe she was just going to focus on those interceptors for now -- and as she dove, she flashed a powerful beam of Doki-Doki laced energy at the squadron of interceptors coming her way! <<"Let's see how they like this!">>
Faith dives out of the blast radius and casts a Regalia-enhanced and Doki-Doki laced Freedom Beam at the attacking interceptors, erring on the wide side in order to hit as many of the encroaching interceptors as she could! Alteration to 4.
World Line (oh my god): 1-->4 1 1 1
Distance had been running very clever mental calculations involving her allies' attacks and movement and the powers of spatial warping and teleportation by swapping, she swore! But that all came to a screeching halt the moment that she suddenly had an idea that was really cool, and that was even adopted from her battles with her ~dear~, daaarling nemesis, to boot! Oh, she really couldn't resist... and maybe it would actually be a good idea for preventing the interceptors from attacking and regenerating, especially if her current winggirl attacked them as well...
With a grin, Distance shouted inaudibly into the cold air: "<Pahaha, foolish beings of ice... did you TRULY think that your beams of sunlight could outdo the incredible power of the Sinister Magical Girl of Space, Distance Dark?!>" And then she performed a surprisingly subtle spatial change -- she warped the scale and angle of a certain area of air, so that the flower-granted sunlight going through it was manipulated as if by a mirror... and she wildly *bent* that sunlight, completely away from the direction of the squadron of interceptors that it was supposed to replenish!
(Also, she dived out of the range of the whole super ice missile thing.)
Distance dives and uses Lens in order to completely redirect the energy beams from the Ice Weeds that are fueling the incoming squadron of interceptors away from them, shooting these beams of energy up uselessly into the sky!
World Line: 3
Post by: Twinwolf on January 17, 2020, 09:06:26 pm
Post by: cronos5010 on January 18, 2020, 09:16:29 am
Alteration to 4, Spend a 6 to use Arcane Infusion: Überwältigen to infuse the iceyBM with volatile, possibly disruptive magic before flying away.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 18, 2020, 11:17:52 am
Minato briefly looks for his Driver,, before remembering that it had turned him into....well, some odd gokudon-looking person.
....worth the risk.
Post by: Empiricist on January 19, 2020, 08:22:56 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Glacial Skies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nqQxV6-nY) | ] |
Eagle 3 Legion <<Copy that Sailor.>>
Eight frozen husks explode across the frontlines, ice and snow haemorrhaging through broken vessels. Sixteen spears of ice streak down from the heavens. Sixteen warheads to bring doom to the allied forces.
Their blast radius is massive, wide swathes of sky engulfed by cryonic energies in short order, each detonation accompanied by a sense of profound cold, catching adventurer and interceptor alike in their wake sending frozen napalm and vanquished adventurers raining down into the seas below. The interceptors, they do not mind. If anything they flew straight for the blasts, their frames visibly wreathed with coronas of icy radiance as they sweep around into the shattered allied formations.
Auxiliary thrusters flare to life along the along the fuselage of the approaching League interceptors, cold flames illuminating with unearthly candescence as they spin a full ninety degrees, bringing their wings perpendicular to their initial trajectory in a rather extreme imitation of the cobra maneuver. Autocannons deploy from their underbellies, stubby cylindrical units ringed with spinning mechanisms that spew a frightful deluge of ice and snow, their swivelling mountings angling them more to the side than anywhere else - with their present velocity they need more impulse lateral than forward, they're practically running the bullets into the targets.
The stall buys them about a split-second's worth of fire. A split second before they blitz past their effective range. Further maneuvering extends this to about a whole half-second of fire, the interceptors pivoting as they blow past their targets shots roaring not only from the front but the flanks as well. Those who raised shields find they cannot turn around in time, be from the sheer speed of the assault, or because they find their shields frozen in place, affixed by the hail-fire they had just caught. The casualty count rises steeply, scores of adventurers freezing solid and plummeting from the skies.
At this point the towers kick into play and beam power into the interceptors, laser-thermal engines flaying to life rocketing them away at an impossible angle. Whatever cryogenic munitions remain is purged as a smokescreen, a cloud of freezing mist to obscure vision and dissuade any would-be attempts at pursuing.
A brutal opening. A wide area bombardment to scatter the formations with interceptors rushing out to cut down the disarrayed and fleeing forces. Paradoxically as a result, most of the casualties took place near the edge of each blast zone.
All except two - the blast zones of Warheads 1 and 2.
In the case of Warhead 1, there was a malfunction of sorts. A malfunction by the name of Immanuel Gottlieb. As the warhead streaked towards him, the knight stretched out his hand, channeling unstable energies into the heart of the weapon. The explosion was not of ice and cold.
No, it was darkness, turbulent darkness. A fuzzy black expanse pulsating with a great monstrous heartbeat. One that became one hundred as it ignited with eyes emerald green, raw feline energy condensing into a clowder of spectral black cats. It was not enough to save his
Warhead 2 was a different matter altogether. The warhead detonated and the interceptors began their attack pattern as expected, however something happened as their strafing run ended, namely they didn't escape. Or rather they couldn't escape. The beams aimed at their underbellies had missed, trajectories bedeviled by Distance Dark's spacial manipulation. Without the thermal energy of the beams all they had were their limited auxiliary thrusters and their residual velocity, the velocity they had just bled away for their attack run. In other words, they were shit out of luck as a wide angle blast of pink energy ripped through their formation, Doki Doki Energy surging and refocusing into homing tendrils to hunt down the stragglers. The interceptor frames proved to be markedly more resistant to energy attacks - layers of plating vaporizing away and attenuating the sub-beams as they lanced through their fuselages, it wasn't enough to stop them, but it did by time, precious seconds for the interceptor cores to shift out of each beam's path. The only permanent damage these fortunate few survivors suffer being from the HORRIFIC DEBILITATING RADIATION NOW COURSING THROUGH THEIR SYSTEMS, radiation under the control of Eagle Squadron's own Faith Tatsumaki.
All in all, in that shitshow of an opening, Eagle Squadron had cut down more than four times their own number and without a single hit to boot.
The successful interceptors streak up in the the skies, scattering as they regroup and regenerate. Below, the allied forces regroup. Casualties are high, but most have weathered the storm and like the cancer they will adapt - through the culling of their own, through the loss of those who couldn't make it, slowly but surely refining those that remain into a killing edge. Radio chatter picks up. Combat doctrines shift, shift to what worked. It was a failure as a whole, but there successes amidst the skirmishes, and from this they will learn. Mobility boosts, AoEs, sabotage.
They are not the only ones planning.
In the League's own network there are fewer voices but there are voices still and now one calls out above all others.
AWACS ReaperEye <<Magus Squadron, move to intercept.>>
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Minato, Shef, and Yuki
Minato, your transformation actually goes fine. You look like Masked Knight Gaia as opposed to y'know, a member of one of the branch families. Are the anomalies caused by Gandiva somehow? They seem to pop up whenever you summon it and it seems strangely accurate which isn't really part of Gandiva's supposed benefits package. Anyways, Shef Requiems the girl into handing over her phone to you for safekeeping.
Shef, best bet would... actually it'd be Maria actually. "Yes, but that's where we live. Why?"
Guessing going through her house is out of the question then.
Yuki, you stuff your mouth with ice cream, rev your chainsaw, and get ready to fuck a bitch up. That's a lie by the way, you're always ready to fuck a bitch up.
Post by: Strider03 on January 19, 2020, 09:34:34 am
"So what do you think, Yuki?" As he said this, Shef sent out one of the origami combat drones, to get footage of the roof, and after that, hopefully the front and sides of the building.
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 19, 2020, 11:53:52 am
Post by: Empiricist on January 19, 2020, 04:26:23 pm
Okay yeah, it's the rest of Maria's squad. Shinobi's built a nice little fort for them, a blocky angular construction stretching across three rooftops with an overhang perfect for dropping kunai and torpedoes below. Good vantage point too. If it had windows. Doesn't though, maybe it's transparent to them? Or maybe the Unflappable Shinobi will be their spotter, he certainly seems capable of seeing through his own constructions. Can't tell the internal structure from here if you're going for an assault. Best escape option if I can comes down to it would probably be a mad dash across the street and behind cover using portaled attacks to suppress them and kick up debris. Which is to say the street is probably a torpedo-laden minefield. Buildings too if Canan's any good with them. Guessing she is - it's the only damn thing she bothers using.
Overhang makes it hard to ascend from the outside. Harder than normal anyways. Need a way to stop them from dropping shots on your heads. Explosives oughta do the trick, force them away from the better positions, provide multiple entry points so Baghead can't just answer your breach with a punch.
Noriko
You dive into the water, hoping that it will quench THE IMMENSE HEAT RADIATING FROM YOUR FACE but it alas it is futile for THERE IS NOWHERE TO HIDE IN THE CRYSTAL CLEAR WATERS. WHY DID YOU AGREE TO THIS OH GOD (not that God exists, least not by the conception of most faiths given what the fuck has been going on these days).
Reasserting that you and your brother ARE NOT BLOOD-RELATED you turn to face Patricija who looks like she's having a bit too much fun with this.
"So, how does it feel?"
Post by: Strider03 on January 19, 2020, 06:28:45 pm
"You're gonna need a breach, I think, while I'd best stay back. Normally, confined passages would be fine, but since the mask guy controls them. . . not so great. We'll breach from the side I think, and I'll provide fire support? How does that sound."
If Shef received an affirmative answer, he'd begin portaling bits of the magic C4 up to the fort, to be detonated when Yuki was ready to teleport up and charge in. After that, he'd begin by firing an Expulser round in such a way as to hit as much of the fort as possible in a straight line. No need to portal this one around, just break up the maze a bit for Yuki.
Post by: Empiricist on January 21, 2020, 08:23:25 am
This is not the end. The end came long ago.
It was heralded by seven seals and seven trumpets. Humanity was judged, and it was found wanting. Free will was a mistake. The great experiment was a failure. God forsook the world, disgusted by what became of His creations. Heaven fell upon the world and soon enough the wheel of time too ground to a halt.
This is not the end. This is the epilogue. This, is what remains.
This decrepid decaying world, scarred by famine and war, its rivers and streams clotted with blood, its cities scorched by flame, ruins of the once heavenly kingdom strewn across its barren lands, the last shelter in a world long since abandoned.
A world that never was. A world that never will be. More so now than ever - they installed aircon, pretty sure the godless world of the dammed ain't allowed to have aircon. But hey, here it is. It's pretty fucking far off brand, but if you've learned anything from looking around whatever the hell this brand is, Jacqui couldn't give a flying fuck about whatever brand her Sanctuary came with.
The cathedral-palace has been renovated, its ruined edifice repainted and repaired, its rotting pews stripped out for cinema-style seats. The lightless skies shine once more under the light of false stars, phantasmal petals drift through the air forms half matter half flame, the Tree of Treachery, Broken Promises and the Endless Torment of Eternal Damnation has also received a good pruning and looks pretty presentable for what it is.
Oh also there are massive fucking shards of stained glass buried into the ground everywhere like the blades of giants with very questionable sword design choices and a crippling shortage of scabbards. Those are kinda salient to your current situation, or more accurately, the world within them is. Yeah they're linked together and it just so happens these internals have been converted into a backstage area. Lets event staff move around unseen without having to go through the crowd. They've managed to do a very good job with it. Too good a job even. This reverse side, it's modern, depressingly modern, seriously it's like they sucked out all the magic and fantasy of it and now it just feels like you're in the staff area of one of those event centers all lino floors and sensible uninspired furniture.
The one thing that stands out would probably be the inhabitants. There's the servitors, the robotic event staff which seem to have been assembled out of scavenged materials, humanoid in appearance with gasmasks for faces and attire that wouldn't look out of place in Metro 2033 if the nuclear apocalypse was sponsored by Adidas, all modified tracksuits and makeshift armor. They all have sport the same insignia too - three diagonal stripes, white on a black background, the inverted eye of providence drawn in front of them. In theory they should be programmed to obey your team's commands. In practice you expect them to get overridden and attempt to murder you half way through this venture, that's kinda just what happens with robot mooks right?
Anyways, they're not the only weirdos here no, there's the soul-devouring false god herself, Jacqui Noir dressed in her trademark "sorta gothic lolita but tomboyish and half-arsed" attire you're guessing she'd probably just be wearing shorts and a hoodie if it weren't for the fact that the halo of black steel and wings of jagged metal kinda clash with anything lacking a certain level of fanciness. As usual she wears her hair short and her expression mostly deadpan. She's flanked by two of the "security" staff, her own minions which apparently aren't completely under her control. Turns out they look like creepypasta renditions of the Iron Throne's (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Throne_(A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)) fursona.
"<Thank you for coming.>"
Post by: ragnarok97071 on January 22, 2020, 01:51:17 pm
Still, the ferocity of its response to actually being in the same room with an Aramitama, to having to address it, work with it, even as she intellectually knew that at least at the moment the girl seemed to be trying her best to work within its limitations and find a compromise within its twin desires for this career and its instincts, was almost overwhelming.
Spoiler: THE BEAST (click to show/hide)
Thank the Buddha that she probably wouldn't be expected to talk to her. Stay present, watch, help ward off any aggressive familiar, that's all. Just keep that nice, demure smile on your face and let the tea people do the talki-
Spoiler: THE BEAST (click to show/hide)
Hooboy okay that's fine just ignore the screaming in your head and the feeling of insects crawling under your skin at the sight of the crime against nature and sanity and just let it go, she didn't do those things, just keep smiling and let the others handle it.
Spoiler: THE BEAST (click to show/hide)
Good thing she doesn't have any major baggage, right?
Post by: Twinwolf on January 24, 2020, 02:06:55 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2020, 02:04:46 am
The rest of the conversation passes in a haze, pleasantries and introductions, the usual. You don't hear it above your pulse pounding in your ears.
Eventually she turns around and leaves, giving a bit more peace and quiet and the rising urge to spear her in the back with your own disembodied circulatory system. The usual.
"<Sakurako! Er, Sakurako?>"
Two different pronunciation in just as many words. Nice.
"<You alright? You're kinda spacing out on us.>"
Shef and Yuki
Yuki breaches and Shef blows the charges, earthen walls turning to dust and rubble, the expulser whizzes through one end and blows out a hole out the other side. Seems to be a pretty sparse interior. Makes sense, the RAM-03's too powerful to block without a lotta material and any cover would hurt Canan more than it hurt Shef.
Maria's squad, the other three members regard Yuki from their respective positions, the Sinobi from above, peering out of a new hole in the ceiling, Canan from her side of the room, and the Attorney right before her. Before he was focused, intense, vengeful. He's none of that now. A strange contorted stagger-like step like a marionette missing half its strings.
"<Why yello hello hello!>"
Next moment he's behind her uncomfortably close, bag-clad face pressing an inch before her. "<Where's your friend? I've got a message for him!>"
"<And I need to discuss his handicap.>"
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on January 25, 2020, 08:37:18 am
And Canan's handicap, Shef would have been fine if he'd been approached a bit before they set their ambush, or if Maria had organized it. But with the ambush set up, and the girl wanting to discuss handicaps at this exact moment, he couldn't help but suspect underhandedness.
He would stall for now, get a bit of info. Don't get fully distracted from the restaurant interior, but mainly observe the enemies up top, and ferret out some intel. With this in mind, Shef fired two shots through a series of portals, aimed at Yuki. The first to break shields, the second, imbued woth his requiem, to get Yuki to say what he needed her to say: first, tell the baghead to tell her the message, since Shef can hear. Secondly after the message, tell Canan she has twenty seconds to propose a handicap. Shef will agree to any he considers reasonable, but if a reasonable one is not proposed in that time, he'll attack witb no handicap.
((OoC, twin, you can phrase this stuff however you like, Shef's just trying to get the message across without immediately walking into what seems like an uncomfortable situation aimed at him))
Requiem Yuki with instructions.
[2] 1 1 5 5 [4+1] 3 3 1 3
Post by: Twinwolf on January 25, 2020, 11:46:43 am
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2020, 06:24:23 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Canan and the Shinobi for their part look a little unnerved by this turn of events, altered Yuki's mannerisms especially, Aurelius on the other hand...
"<Okie-dokie! Above the mantelpiece was a gun. That gun is now loaded. Sébastien wanted me to tell you that!>"
"<Sounds literary.>"
"<It's Sébastien it's always literary>"
"<You don't think it's a warning do you?>"
"<Sounded like one.>"
"<Why are we the ones getting the handicap? Ah, nevermind let's get this set up.>"
So there's a lot of yammering for the next twenty seconds or so and the suggestions boil down to:
- Shef has to wear a blindfold for the battle (maybe doable he thinks, he can rely on sound and volume of fire for the most part but Yuki will need to cover him with callouts).
- Shef and Yuki get handcuffed together for the battle (also doable but kinda awkward given the conflicting fighting styles).
- Shef is not allowed to leave a dome-shaped area (less obnoxious but it's a real problem against Canan's torpedoes given their explosive nature and how they remain in the ground for most of their lifespan).
- Shef has to stay within the Unflappable Shinobi's fortress this battle but only he and Yuki are allowed to damage it, mind control counts as the controller doing it (also a death trap but could potentially be turned against them if the Shinobi is Requiemed into placing obstacles).
- Shef and Aurelius get handcuffed together but Aurelius can't use his assassination moves (this one's a gamble, the instant-KO's off the table but he might be just as dangerous, or he might be a cakewalk, both sides are dealing with imperfect information here).
- The enemy gets to use three healing potions between them this match (buys them more of a safety net for their mistakes).
- Shef and Yuki are not allowed to use their Regalia, other weapons are fine (best pack spare guns in case they try breaking them).
- Maria gets to help from the sidelines, but she's not allowed to talk and only the rest of her squad needs to be defeated (she's got some weird mental attacks and that wall building ability)
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on January 25, 2020, 07:35:52 pm
Sebastien's message though, that was concerning. The trigger for some previously set up condition, one that could be activated even after a loss? Or a side effect of something put into play in the previous fight that Shef would need to be on alert for, lest it hurt him in some way? Very concerning.
Shef sends his choice, and whiles away the time checking to make sure he doesn't have clothing damage bullets loaded this time.
[1] 1 5 5 3 3 1 3 4 5
Post by: Twinwolf on January 25, 2020, 07:48:33 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 25, 2020, 08:35:07 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Shef confirms that his gun is loaded with live ammo while Canan tosses a white blindfold over to Yuki.
"<Beats me, none of us here can lay curses at least.>"
"<You'll have to ask Sébastien he's always in his own little world he forgets to give context half the time.>"
"<So... who's Chekov? Are you *giggle* dating?>"
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on January 25, 2020, 08:53:27 pm
Open a portal to get and affix the blindfold. After checking for traps to the best of his abilities. He'll then, while he still has his bearings and everything, fire his opening shots through his intel portals in such a way as to not hit Yuki, and to hopefully scare his enemies a little.
[1] 5 5 3 3 1 3 4 5 3
Post by: Twinwolf on January 26, 2020, 08:57:33 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 28, 2020, 08:01:07 pm
Post by: Empiricist on January 30, 2020, 06:23:47 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Shef puts on the blindfold. Yuki takes position. Gunfire hiss through the portals as Canan's Regalia flares to life, and so the battle begins.
| [Now Playing: | Battle 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t3y29tIFno) | ] |
What the fuck.
What the actual fuck.
One moment you're sitting there chilling next thing you know you're holding a guy in a bridal carry. It's not just a guy ever, it's never just a guy, no no no, this is a pretty big guy, like grown man size, larger than that even, overgrown man size, a powerfully built frame masked by a white suit and a paper bag over his face. You turn to ask Shef the fuck's going on but he's put on a blindfold and pulls his gun. The man pulls what appears to be a detonator and you're just sitting there staring.
"<Helllooooo Strauss! Pardon my intrusion but how do you feel for some entertainment?>"
"<Hmm... I do not mind.>"
"<Aurelius...?>"
"<Don't worry boss, I got a plan.>"
...And now she just looks plain concerned.
"<Try not to make a mess, ja?.>"
"<Of course~>"
You can swear you can hear him grinning under that bag as he kicks the table forwards, reinforcement magic pouring through its form as he aims its edge at Shef's legs.
Shef, you, yeah, you're kinda blindfolded right now. But you do hear that familiar voice coming from Minato's direction and the sound of the kick and the table legs scraping against the ground as it rushes towards you.
Yuki, you just saw Aurelius vanish into thin air. The Unflappable Shinobi makes himself scarce too, ducking back up into the second floor of the fort as Canan throws herself through a gap in Shef's opening volley a fusillade of torpedos disgorging from their tube and skimming across the ground towards you. They're fast, they're spread out and you've a feeling they're not the real threat here either. Really, the whole fort is probably completely and utterly boobytrapped with all kinds of dastardly traps, so playing predictably won't work out. Really staying there probably isn't the best option either but your chainsaw ain't exactly a ranged weapon. Not yet at any rate.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on January 30, 2020, 07:38:07 am
Minato rather suddenly attempts to drop Aurelius off of him. He wasn't quite amenable to being roped into carrying....well, anybody, right now, really. But suddenly being roped into a fight he had no part in was....
...well, it wouldn't have been the first time.
Post by: Strider03 on January 30, 2020, 11:17:38 am
Portal in front of Shef, at approximately where the table seems to be coming from. Doesn't matter if it's big enough, or perfectly aligned, it'll probably still be alright. Activate Tighten the Noose, and prepare to snap a cached portal down on baghead if he gets close, if Shef can manage it.
[5] 5 3 3 [1+4] 3 4 5 3
Post by: Powder Miner on January 31, 2020, 03:01:59 pm
With that, and with the pressure seeming to finally be off of her for a moment, Faith tucked into a steep dive towards one of the Ice Weeds, and as she did she began to gather up Doki Doki radiation from her Regalia, balling it up behind her with the intent of channeling it into the spell she was about to unleash upon the supervillainous construct. But, no, that spell wasn't going to be a mighty beam or ball of destruction -- Faith had no intention of removing this Ice Weed from play. No, Faith had something actually rather more devious in mind.
Eagle 4 Sailor Sun <<"Fluffles, if this works I want you to warn the others not to get touched by the energy the ice flowers put out for, uh, reasons that will become obvious to you! Try to make sure the enemies don't hear!">>
And with that (her dialogue somewhat shouted now thanks to the dive) Faith put a cloud of magic around the Ice Weed that was her target... and even if she was in a worse mood, it would have been unpredictable whether that spell would blind the Ice Flower. But she wasn't in a bad mood anyway, so there most definitely would be no blinding effect.
But that wasn't the point anyway.
Faith dives to an Ice Weed and uses No Way Out/Clouds of Sunlight on it, pumping as much radiation into this spell as she can manage, even at the expense of damage if she can manage that! Alteration to a 3.
(Hyper Updated: No Way Out/Clouds of Sunlight [3]: Faith causes mists of magic energy to form around her opponents! When Faith's in positive emotional states, it wreathes their whole body and damages them constantly, whereas if she's in a negative emotional state it coalesces around their heads and, aside from being impossible to see through itself, applies a Blindness Hex!
World Line: 1-->3 1 1
Eagle 2 ♡Nemesis♡ <<"Mmhmmhmm, you can count on me~!">> What followed was most definitely a supervillain giggle. Eagle 2 ♡Nemesis♡ <<"None can stand in the way of the Sinister Magical Girl of Space, for her spatial powers defy the mind and bring the weak to tremble at her knees!">>
With her theatrical little speech (as necessary to her very being as it was fun) brought to an end, Distance got to work putting her part of the plan together -- if the Ice Weed targeted by her current compatriot started spewing out pinkened lasers, then she would really put her wormhole-opening abilities out there to the max, opening up three wormholes in a display of passion and flair and resolve and using these to teleport irradiated beams of light into other Ice Flowers scattered across various points in the battlefield, ultimately with the goal of spreading the Doki Doki Radiation as widely across the Ice Weeds as she could!
(If the first Ice Weed DIDN'T start putting out pinkened light then, well, she would just take the liberty of executing one of the Ice Weeds -- making a violent X motion with her hands, she would abruptly shear space at an Ice Weed's stem violently in two directions, something that a spindly structure like an Ice Weed would be rather hard-pressed to withstand.)
If Faith successfully infects the output of the Ice Weed she's targeting with Doki Doki Radiation, Distance casts Wormhole (3) three times, burning two resolve and using alterations as necessary!
(If Faith doesn't, she just uses Einstein's Shears on an Ice Weed!
World Line: 6 6 5 4 4-->
OR
World Line: 6 6 5 4 4 4 4
Post by: cronos5010 on February 04, 2020, 02:50:01 am
With that said, and the weird area of effect kitten incident hopefully off of everyone's minds for now, Immanuel ramps up his rocket boot's output as he blasts forth to help the others saturate the air with plasma and fire, hopefully cutting off the interceptors movements and taking the cold off of Sailor Sun and Nemesis.
Immanuel tries to get the allied forces to help him keep the interceptors off of Faith and Distance, while also spending an alteration to turn his first 3 into a 4 and spend it to activate Sofortige elektromagnetische schienenkanone-Erstellung (4)
World Line: 3>
Post by: Empiricist on February 05, 2020, 08:06:33 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Glacial Skies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nqQxV6-nY) | ] |
Auxiliary field rectifiers extend from the interface suit, ribbons and frills unfurling from their housings as the very air around Faith begins to shimmer with a distinctive pink glow of Honeydrop Radiation. All throughout the League's tactical network sensors register an energy spike. Source unknown, it had been suppressed until now. At this amplification level stealth was no longer an option. It never was really.
A few straggling interceptors peel off from their retreat, moving to harass this new threat but they find themselves intercepted in turn by Immanuel and Cynthia, a deluge of plasma and gunfire suppressing their advance and forcing a withdrawal.
Concealed in the rear of Faith's staff a ringed spike pierces the field, raw power surging through the Coco-Sugarbun Conduit and into the weapon's internal systems. At its very tip the Friendship Manifold burns with apocalyptic light and then it is gone, extinguished, expended, cast into its target.
The initial radiation surge burns out the Ice Weed's sensors blinding it while the thermal shock shatters its delicate mirror petals. A minor setback. The repair process is swift, mist and matter rerouting through networked root structures and up through its stem. What damage had been done was repaired in a matter of seconds. Unthinking, unknowing, the algorithms of its core had no idea how big a mistake this would turn out to be.
A beam of light pierces the radiation storm, the clouds of light bubbles and love hearts, and it comes out looking much the same, a vibrant pink beam laden with Doki Doki Radiation. It streaks through Distance's waiting wormhole striking the stems of several of its brethren. The brief pulse lengths are the only real saving grace here - had the compromised ice weed been given more beam time a lot more of the relay would have been compromised.
Faith notices an additional problem however: strictly speaking, she's only really compromised one ice weed. Dozens more had been irradiated yes, but they were only good for once pulse. They took one pulse worth's of radiation and at best she could only redirect it into their next beam pulse. Doki Doki Radiation for all its horrific effects was radiation, it was energy, it was not a disease, a pathogen, it could not fester and replicate inside the infected, meaning the only weed introducing additional radiation into the system right now was the one caught within her spell.
There were a few ways to handle this: she could try and split the cloud apart, redistribute it across multiple flowers to cover more bases. She could lead a strike on an emitter and compromise the supply at the source. Or perhaps she could try using her current leverage to irradiate the other weeds without relying on beam redirection. When she struck the ice weed she hadn't just irradiated the flower, though that was where she had focused her efforts, she had siphoned some of the radiation down, down through the stem and through its roots. They were expansive, expansive and networked. Multiple cores, multiple ice weeds, all networked together in a single vast root system. It wasn't a bad idea - were the weeds independent any regeneration potential would be wasted on a healthy weed, there would be no damage to undo, but here all networked together this potential was pooled, a healthy weed's regeneration could be diverted to its damaged brethren leading to the rapid regeneration they've been exhibiting. Just one problem - this connects them together and Faith could now ensure this little weed would share a little more than just radiation.
A fourth option occurs to Immanuel: cull the rest. Only a limited number of nodes in the network could be compromised. While compromised they would inflict casualties over time but only when they were being used and there would still be more uncompromised nodes than compromised. What if other nodes went offline however? The ice weeds regenerate rapidly, they can redeploy, rebuild too. But with everyone packing napalm a good chunk of the network could be kept offline at any given time, stripping many of the interceptors of their primary power supply and saturating their ranks with this strange girly radiation.
With a screech the interceptor swarm swoops down, trajectories almost vertical, a coordinated dive bombing run aiming to strafe, bomb, and scatter, completely oblivious to what now awaits them.
Eagle 3 Legion <<I'll draw some fire, I'll mark a position. Intercept on my mark.>>.
And with that she flies up on one of her drones, leaving the other near Distance.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on February 05, 2020, 09:21:20 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 07, 2020, 06:47:31 am
((Just realized Shef knows that the Unflappable Shinobi's name is Andreaz (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=163104.msg8031252;topicseen#msg8031252), so I'll be referring to him as such now.))
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Battle 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t3y29tIFno) | ] |
Yuki this place is giving you some real bad vibes so you decide to bail. You're not going to just run, oh no, that's what they'd expect you to do and Yuki knows (What? You're a goddess! You can totally say that!) what dastardly traps they have in stall. No, you're going to charge, charge head on, get hit, and get thrown the fuck out. You'll make sure of that. It'll be like one of those mangas! They'll think they did a real good thing, gloat a bit even and then you'll get up, dust yourself off and smile, smile and explain this is all part of your plan. You're gonna do that smart shit, that thinking shit.
As with anime and pro-wrestling you're gonna have to really sell it, and sell it you do. You rush forwards, chainsaw grinding a trail of sparks behind you as black arrows streak out in a spreading V-formation. There's method to your madness here, the chainsaw? It's going to hit the torpedos even if they don't first blasting your forwards. There's no getting out of your trap easily, they're gonna have to throw you out or blow you through the damn wall and you'll be dragging Canan through it if it comes down to that. The formation meanwhile spreads out your arrows, keeps everything from clumping together, makes it that much harder to blow it all away.
A torpedo leaps from the ground slamming into your chest.
Noise. Heat. Pain.
That one actually hurt. This girl's got some serious firepower.
Your ears are ringing. You're a bit out of it, still reeling from the impact really. You see unfamiliar faces looking down at you, keeping their distances keeping out of the fight. Ah. You're on the pavement, or rather a trench your body gouged into the pavement a good ways down the street, the opposite side of the street.
She must've detonated the entire fusillade there. You're hurt, badly so but you can heal so y'know it's more just a minor inconvenience honestly, and more importantly you're not in the fortress no more. Fortress is across the road, a fair ways away actually (it's a diagonal path) and at the top of the ice-cream parlor. If they're gonna torpedo you you're gonna get a helluvalot more warning and have a lot more space to work with. Oh also, you do still have about two-thirds of your black arrows active still. Can't really sense their surroundings but you can tell which ones are active and what kinda terrain they're traversing. Vaguely. It's all hazy, all touch and feel. But you do sense, you do feel. You've half of what remains up onto the next floor of the fortress, hunting for Andreaz, the remaining half is still on the first floor with Canan. You got no idea where either of them are but well you can just canvas the place till you find them~
No more attacks are coming from the fortress. For now at least.
Shef you, well, you can't see shit. You do hear shit though, you hear a table slam against a cached portal, its passage blocked by the forcefield along its rim. You hear footsteps, a rustle of fabric, and then, an explosion. It came from above, the fortress most likely. That is not the problem. It's the noise, the volume. Discordance, drowning out all else. A brief window of opportunity, to do something without being heard. Was this their plan all along? What are they doing now? You can't tell. But something, something tells you they're not attacking. Call it intuition, call it instinct, call it some blind foolhardy guess, but you don't think they're attacking. The table kick, it's just a probing attack and they're still in front of you, somewhere near Minato's position.
...You need to move, now. There's an attack, you don't know what but you can't stay standing where you are right now.
So Minato, the guy just fucking kicks the table at Shef as you help him get the fuck off of you. There's this big fucking explosion somewhere above and the guy just slinks behind you, well least the guy ain't on you right now.
So you turn around to make sure he's not doing anything funny but well, you know, spinning round, it's a bit of a journey in and of itself, and you? You've always believed that any good journey should be as much about the sights you see as the places you go and boy oh boy what a sight you see. Thighhighs and short-shorts, gold hair and long legs, chest's a bit on the smaller side but really it just adds to her tomboyish charm, her position doesn't hurt either, straddling that chair in a pose you might just save for later...
Well, she certainly has your vote.
"Enjoying the view?"
Satoshi Nakamoto
26th President of the United States of America
26th President of the United States of America
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on February 07, 2020, 02:15:13 pm
Use expulser to push Shef out of building through a portal. If he can tell that Aurelius is attacking, attempt to use cached portals with constriction effect.
[5] [3] 3 3 4 5 3 4 6
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 14, 2020, 04:26:33 am
"I...um...what?"
Post by: Empiricist on February 14, 2020, 05:05:18 am
"Oh? What's this? Cat got your tongue?" A thoughtful tut "What would Faith say I wonder..."
The topic doesn't continue, instead she leans forwards a little closer voice lowering ever so slightly. Business mode. Sort of.
"Why are you here Minato? I'd ask business or pleasure but y'know"
She gestures at Shef as he just fucking blows himself out of the building.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 14, 2020, 05:06:56 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 14, 2020, 05:13:21 am
"You sure about that? I mean, I don't want to pry but with the festival in town and everything, wrecking face sounds like the main attraction here."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 14, 2020, 05:31:23 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 14, 2020, 05:32:32 am
A pause. Satoshi blinks. "Excuse me?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 14, 2020, 05:33:31 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 14, 2020, 05:48:49 am
"Right."
More silence.
"How are the greenhorns coping?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 14, 2020, 05:49:58 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 07:28:09 am
So firstly, while applying the swimsuit was embarrassing removing it proves to be downright mortifying. Probably because this time around you're going from dressed (however questionably) to being full-on butt-naked. And yes, the removal process also involves a spray, it's too much of a pain getting it off of you otherwise, but surprisingly that knowledge doesn't make the whole "getting your swimsuit dissolved by a spray" experience any better.
With that out of the way (thank god), and Patricija's attire similarly reverted (unfortunately) you group up with Kouta (who isn't blood-related) and Ren and head on over to the quest hub.
The hub itself is this cavernous chamber with black polished floors and decorative magic circles. Quest pylons ride from the ground around a large central statue. The pylons let you sign up quests, completed one's are turned in either at the desk (manned by a human skeleton) or at a designated location. Most of the adventurers AR browsing or off to the side at the cozier looking lounges eating and chatting.
Browsing through the available quests, you identify three that don't sound too risky or menial.
Spoiler: Literally A Fetch Quest (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: History, The Muse (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: For Whom The Bell Tolls (click to show/hide)
Minato
Satoshi raises an eyebrow
"You mean you don't know?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 07:30:07 am
He'd been feeling that a lot lately.
"It shouldn't surprise me that I don't at this point."
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 07:31:21 am
You can hear the concern creeping back into her voice.
"But you have an idea right...?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 07:32:13 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 07:36:10 am
She pauses looking a little conflicted, in time she does speak though with a slower pace than thus far and a fair bit less certain.
"Please don't take this the wrong way but, she is your girlfriend right? I didn't want to assume but..."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 07:37:35 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 07:43:33 am
"O-kay. But you haven't asked her about this yet?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 07:44:12 am
Post by: Powder Miner on February 15, 2020, 07:51:03 am
Eagle 4 Sailor Sun: <<"Keep me up. There's going to be a single pulse of radiation going from each of these flowers into the interceptors, and that'll help, but it's not quite enough. I'm going to absolutely Chernobyl these things.">> It was solid, determined confidence with which she spoke.
She willed the various radiation-enhancing parts on her suit to come back out, but otherwise she didn't move a god damned inch. All that Faith did was produce and manipulate radiation energy -- she produced as massive of a stream of Doki Doki Radiation as she could, and she pumped it all into the magical cloud transmitting it right into the Ice Weed. From there, she willed the radiation to spread down through the roots to the rest of the network of Ice Weeds. It was a slow, laborious, but powerful tactic she was going for, trusting in the others to have her back.
Faith pumps as much radiation as she POSSIBLY can into the Cloud of Sunlight around the compromised Ice Weed and into it, sacrificing speed and focus on anything else for this, and pushes it into the other Ice Weeds through the networking of the Ice Weeds.
World Line: 1 1 4 6 4 2 4 1 3 1
Eagle 2 ♡Nemesis♡ <<"I, the Sinister Magical Girl of Space, would be remiss if I let simple minions like this overshadow me, hmm-hmm? Witness my powerrrr!">>
Distance could definitely manage defending Faith -- honestly, in a way it was nice to stretch her metaphorical wings some. She hadn't had an all-out fight like this in a while! Distance flew up to the spotted marked by the succubus, and she proceeded to do two things with any interceptors approaching Faith. First off, she planned to straight-up murder the first interceptor that came their way with an Einstein's Shears -- and, in fact, since it operated on a line, she was going to try to murder a few in a line if she could. Secondly, she was going to befuddle and delay them, curving space so they kept turning around on each other while the first wave of radiation did its work.
Distance drops an Einstein's Shears on the first interceptor at Cynthia's marked interception spot, and then the others she tries to get to end up turning around more or less in place with space-bending.
World Line:
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 15, 2020, 07:55:05 am
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 08:47:02 am
"That can't be right can it? You're a couple right? Did this" she gestures broadly around her "not come up in conversation before?"
You're not sure whether the fact that the girl in front of you is actually Theodore Roosevelt makes this better or worse.
Noriko
"Sounds like fun! I hear the Itovian Peninsula is very beautiful this time of the year."
"...I didn't think a wedding could go that wrong."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 08:47:49 am
Minato begins to suspect that he wasn't quite right about what he was getting nervous about.
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 06:03:51 pm
"I sort of figured that would turn up in conversation. This lifestyle, the fighting, th risk of death. Not everyone takes to war well and weren't you guys getting hounded by an Aramitama? That's a pretty rough introduction to this world."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 06:05:30 pm
And Minato goes back to being somewhat less worried. Good, it WAS a known thing he'd messed up, as opposed to an entirely NEW problem.
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 06:09:49 pm
"Wait, what did you think I was talking about?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 06:11:52 pm
That really was becoming a running theme lately.
Post by: Empiricist on February 15, 2020, 06:32:07 pm
"Oh whoops, I was mostly trying to make smalltalk there. Sounded like a better topic than the weather but y'know I thought you said you didn't know how Faith was coping with this lifestyle and I got really concerned. Sorry for the mixup!"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 15, 2020, 06:35:16 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on February 15, 2020, 08:11:11 pm
Post by: cronos5010 on February 18, 2020, 08:35:19 am
Eagle 1 Challenger <<Wait, are you just going to hover there while the interceptors regroup? Isn't that a reall-you know what? Let's just...keep the interceptors off her everyone>> Immanuel said, hopefully marshalling his forces enough to rally them against the returning interceptors.
And after mentally lying to himself about not wanting to do this, Immanuel cooly launched himself near Faith with a loud cry of, "Sachen; Schwerter-einsetzen![/i]," and enveloped himself in a flash of light, transforming as he called on Promachos's power to help him protect his charge....by deploying an unnecessary amount of sword missile drones in key locations to ward off the interceptors.
HENSHIN! And then activate Immanuel's trap card by using GEOMETRY to determine the optimal spots to place his akashic energy laced sword missiles to ward off enemy interceptors/
World Line: 6 6 1 5 1 2 3 3 1 1
Post by: Empiricist on February 19, 2020, 09:31:23 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Battle 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t3y29tIFno) | ] |
Expulser goes off and you go out. How? How did you know this would happen? The dodge you can explain. Perhaps it was subconscious, you noticed something without it ever crossing your mind. Or maybe you just knew that staying still was never a good idea. But the attack. It was a torpedo. Canan's. Coming up from right beneath you, sleek metallic casing leaping up from the floor. Why do you know this? You cannot see. The torpedo made no noise. The expulser drowns everything out anyways. Is this really just intuition?
You feel the sun shining against your skin. You feel the pavement beneath you. You are outside somewhere in the middle of the street. Can't be under the overhang - you'd be in the shade where that the case. The sun. The sun. Which way was the sun? Right yes. That way. That way. You need to get your bearings again, figure out which way to face, what way to expect attacks from. This can't be an isolated attack. Torpedos should be heading your way this instant. Get off the ground. You can't protect yourself, not for an extended time anyways.
Yuki, you just dust yourself, heal yourself off, and look for entry points. Climbing would be a bit of a pain, but you catch a lucky break - Shef crashes out into the street. Auelius follows out shortly after Andreaz at his side. Wait, Andreaz? Wasn't he in the fortress? That would explain why your arrows haven't had much luck finding him. Sneaky.
Shef, you sense something coming your way. It's a frontal attack. Footsteps follow, heavy with a peculiar cadence. Aurelius most likely, lines up with his recently inconsistent movements.
Yuki you're not blindfolded so you see what's coming - a fusillade of torpedos sweeping out from beneath Aurelius. Andreaz is throwing kunai at you; suppressive fire. Aurelius? He's charging in after the torpedos, going after Shef on all fours at the moment readying for a lunge but he's looking ready to take you on if you jump in too.
There's an explosion above. Something's happened in the fortress. Canan flies out above, she's above three stories above you sailing through the air over to the roof behind you and she's dropping another torpedo salvo. You've kept your black arrows well-spread, only a few were destroyed in her blast, and now they're free to leap down for the flank.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on February 19, 2020, 01:30:31 pm
He'd have to keep moving, and gather his information on the way. Footsteps from ahead? Shef swept his gun out, firing off a salvo, before leaping into another series of portals. Normally, he'd have every portal planned, exits only a few inches from the subsequent entrances. But now? There could be none of that, he might end up with a portal just behind a brick wall, nullifying his retreat. To counteract this, Shef flung his arm out before him, and rather than opening every portal at once, began opening them in sequence, as fast as he could. His arm would touch a wall or sign, and he could pull back just enough to slip the next portal into the space between before he came to an abrupt undesireable halt.
Which way to go? It was not a question Shef could answer, and it would depend entirely in the moment upon each portal, and that little scouting that he could do with the leading arm that went through the portals first.
Room to Breathe to continue to stay on the move, all the while shooting in the direction that Aurelius seems to be coming from.
3 3 4 5 3 4 6 4 2
Post by: Empiricist on February 19, 2020, 11:37:07 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Glacial Skies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nqQxV6-nY) | ] |
Frozen interceptors scream down from the heavens, flashes of light dancing across their bellies, white light and will-o-wisps, pink light and promised doom. Amidst the masses a silver streak rises to meet them. Autocannons deploy, arctic winds and freezing sleet tracing closer and closer. Cynthia lets go. They pay no heed to the drone. Not as it approaches, not even as its cannons began tearing through their ranks. It was the bigger threat and yet it was not their target. No, it was the HIERODULE chasis they pursued.
Free fall. Wings of flame erupt from the construct's back. It's not enough, the interceptors were drawing closer. Icey munitions tracing closer and closer, frost traces across retrofit plating sending a cascade of temperature warning across the demon's view. She suppresses them. Rendezvous point in 4...
3...
2...
1. The lead interceptor breaks. Half its fuselage shears off, torn away by some unseen force. Its core shatters and so too does its body. Two more succumb to radiation. The air stains a deep red, the remaining pursuers plunge in. Sweet. It smelled sweet. Dizzyingly sweet. It was sweet. Sweet and sticky. Sweet and slowing. It pours into the intakes, it gums up the flaps.
And then come the bees.
Of course, the bees. It's not a honeytrap without bees. Angry demon bees. The typical demon bee is sixty milimeters of pure homicidal fury with hellfire for flesh and exoskeletons of serrated metal. They do not have stingers, no what they have is best described as the bastard lovechild of a shockdrill and a meat grinder. And it's the length of their entire body because fuck you it is their body.
So naturally the Interceptors gun their engines rushing down to escape the swarm. A real shame they seem to suddenly U-turn and plow right into the swarm. Bees sail straight into their air intakes and burrow into their cores. There are no survivors.
With all that said and done, the rather dismal performance of their vanguard still doesn't seem to dissuade the rest of the swarm which gleefully rush down for their dive-bombing runs. Clouds of napalm burst through the skies interceptors literally falling apart as their shells are vaporized, these are the minority however - it's awfully awkward using napalm launcher when you're directly underneath your target and they're dropping bombs at the same time, many adventures fire as they dodge, it's prudent but it doesn't score too many splashes. That being said the interceptors find it harder to score casualties of their own this time around - the allied forces have wisened up and started to repulse any would-be strafing runs through AoE and sabotage spells.
This time the interceptors don't withdraw, they remain in place aiming to keep up the pressure as the battle devolves into dozens of disjointed dogfights, the largest of which is centered around one Faith Tatsumaki.
Turns out the enemy noticed that energy spike and would very much like to remove it from the equation, a full dozen interceptors rushing towards the magical girl. Big mistake.
Eagle 1 Challenger <<Sachen - Schwerter-einsetzen; Set Up!>>.
| [Now Playing: | Emiya (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiRdixLq38o) | ] |
Magic circles crackle to life beneath Immanuel's feet, and piece by piece his armor changes, steel turning to light reforming reshaping, white feathers scatter, his armor looks sleeker now, more stylized bearing markings the man cared not to paint. Fabric flashes into the existence tempering the armor, his cape burning with light as it extends into a full cloak complete with hood.
And around the newly mantle figure, weapons begin to appear.
Piece by piece they assemble; nervous systems of chalk and light entombed within hunks of sharpened steel; cruciform construction, mechanical in design, they could hardly be called swords. Slabs of bewitched metal never built for man to wield.
These were missiles, kinetic missiles, miniaturized kinetic kill vehicles.
But by god they could fence.
Romanticize it, stylize, but in the end what which they call swordplay is simply geometry, physics and geometry.
Positioning. Between combatants, between blades. Deflections and trajectories. Skill is no more than an optimization problem constrained by the limits of the wielder, the heuristics they call instinct, the mechanical realities of their form.
These just cut out the middle men.
Twelve swords. Twelve bogeys. They swing into formation, a sparse defensive cordon, blades perpendicular to the oncoming foes. No one need to charge, their targets would be coming to them. The interceptors draw closer, and closer, streaking toward the gaps in their formation.
The blades were not entirely swift. They could move fast yes, but it paled in comparison the laser drives of their foes. They could make quick dashes yes, but they are only momentary, the distance they could cover was limited.
Such weaknesses can be offset with good formation. The sparsity, the distance from Faith, the angling of the blades. It was death to the Interceptors. They just couldn't see that.
The Interceptors dart through the gaps cannons howling but they were well within the dash range of each sword here. There was no escape.
The weapons slam into their prey, ice shatters, wings sever. There's a spark, a discharge, something somewhere has crossed the gap. The connection stabilizes if only for a moment.
That moment is enough.
Akashic energy crashes through, each sword a lightning sword, a conduit to something beyond this world. A chill stills the air. Temperatures plummet. Tendrils freeze. Ice magic.
It seems insane at a glance, trying to freeze that which was born of ice, but there is method to the madness and weakness hidden behind their strength. The constructs needed some way to protect their cores, not just from heat but from impact, bullets, hammer blows, kinetic impacts.
For this purpose they grew tendrils to dampen impacts, faults and cavities to direct the damage, countermeasures, protection. It is all frozen now. A complex machine reduced to a block of hard ice. In time they could recover. They would never get that chance. The second stage goes off - a kinetic pulse.
Smothered mate.
Twelve interceptors had come. Not one survived.
Spared from freezy gunfire Faith succeeds in pumping more energy into the ice weed, forcing it to down into the networked roots. Unfortunately they seem to be wising up to her antics - she can feel radiation moving, not on its own accord but because what they're inside has started moving. The roots are beginning to decouple. The they're trying to restrict the spread at the cost of lowering their own regeneration rate.
She's got enough radiation to destroy a few cores or infest a larger volume of shots. Main question is which matters more, taking out the infrastructure or taking out the interceptors.
AWACS Fluffles <<All units! Aim for the flowers! We've lowered their repair rate, if you can keep them down the planes will slow!">>.
The dogfights are in full swing now, adventurers and interceptors clashing though the air. It feels cold, colder than it is was before. A mist is setting in, visibility is dropping.
Interceptors are closing in on all of you. You don't know where, they're hiding in the mist. It's probably bringing their engine power to down, but they won't need it if you don't know where you are. You need to figure out a way to ward away their attacks, else you won't react in time. Keep your guards up.
. . .
Magus 2 Sheriff <<ReaperEye, this is Magus Squadron, we are now in position.>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Copy that Magus 2, you are cleared to engage>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Go for easy targets and stay out of sight. They've compromised our drone network so support will be limited.>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<Heh, well it's not like you needed them eh partner?>>
Magus 1 Goose <<*static*>>
Magus 4 Freon <<Targets locked.>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<Alright, on my mark.>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<Roger that!>>
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on February 20, 2020, 12:22:53 am
Post by: Powder Miner on February 20, 2020, 12:27:23 am
Eagle 4 Sailor Sun: <<"I'm going to do my best to make a spotting zone with my magic, but I can't exactly relay what I spot any way but through call-outs; please listen up and do your best with the information!">> With that, Faith created another Cloud of Sunlight, intentionally making it weak enough in damage to basically at best be a mild stinging sensation, and then simply expanded this one as far as she could, relying on her innate sense of her magic (the same thing she had used to spot Stalin) in order to spot anything that entered the cloud, at which point she then called out the location of the drones, relative to the nearest ally and the direction said ally was moving, as best she could.
Faith uses a weak Cloud of Sunlight [3] and expands it as far out as she possibly can in order to act as a spotter!
World Line: 1 4 6 4 2 4 1
Eagle 2 ♡Nemesis♡ <<"Okay~ I, Distance Dark, shall deign to stop these pathetic excuses for supervillain minions in their tracks -- I will rely on the other two Eagles to put the poor wretches down! I trust you can do that -- it is below the nemesis of the Baron of Ruin!">> Of course, it wasn't actually below her at all, and she'd just torn one apart seconds ago, but she DID have to find a way to make just slowing things down theatrical! After all, that was one of the things that a Sinister Magical Girl naturally needed to thrive!
Now then, down to business -- Distance honestly wasn't ultra-confident in her ability to really take down anything that she couldn't pinpoint the location of (after all, she'd then just be making semi-wild guesses with attacks inherently based on location, and that didn't seem well-fated), but she DID have the ability to do something quite wide-area, and that was her Zone of Tar! "Zoooooone of Tar!" With Eagle 4 providing her with the general locations of the enemies, surely she could trap them in those areas for quite some time and grant the other two opportunities to slay the slowed, spotted interceptors~
Distance listens for Faith's callouts, and when Faith calls out the location of interceptors, she compresses the space in an around them, slowing them down. She reserves a proper Zone of Tar [5] for the first time that at least 2 inteceptors get called out by Faith! Alteration of a 4 to a 5.
World Line: 4 4-->
Post by: Empiricist on February 20, 2020, 12:31:43 am
AWACS Fluffles <<Don't worry Sailor Sun! I can update the map using the your suit data!>>
Post by: Powder Miner on February 20, 2020, 12:35:10 am
(With the information this adds, Distance changes tack slightly to actively using the Zone of Tar to hit as many enemies as possible, as figured out through the map.)
Post by: Twinwolf on February 26, 2020, 08:18:16 am
Ambush/flanking maneuver with the arrows while keeping pressure and attention by way of charging.
Post by: cronos5010 on February 27, 2020, 06:35:57 am
Eagle 1 Challenger<<Acknowledged, moving to deliver a package to the closest ice weed.[/color]>> He said, with a slight hint of excitement in his voice. His swords trailing closely around him in key interception positions as he turned off his comms, and started to shout and gathered up his magical power. Flying dangerously closer and closer to his target before with a swift flourishing of his right hand, he swished his now much finer cape, and declared, "Einzelschwertbrecher!," causing his built up magical charge to spike into one of his swords, and send it crashing into an ice weed to try and smash it beyond repair!.
Use Arcane Infusion: Leistungsverstärker [5] to supercharge a sword and drive it into an uninfected ice weed to shatter it into pieces, before turning back and using his swords to cover his retreat.
Immanuel
Status: Fine, 2 railguns, Promachos Install
World Line: 6 1 5 1 2 3 3 1 1
Alterations: 3.0
Resolve: 3
Post by: Empiricist on February 27, 2020, 09:43:32 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Battle 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t3y29tIFno) | ] |
Shef, you scramble the fuck outta there. At least, you try to. There's a lot more of blind groping involved. Or there would be, were it not for the explosions. Oh yes, the fucking torpedoes dropping down right ontop of you. The rush of the shockwave and the familiar roar of a chainsaw. You managed to portal into empty space just outside th blast radius so you're not really hurt, but you are thrown. Portal follows portal, lending some semblance of control to your tumble. Your hand outstretched brushes against a sign. You should've hit that. Should've but somehow, somehow you felt it coming. You had adjusted your course at the last moment and reached out your arm, reached out to see if you were right. You were. Range is limited. A meter from you body at most. Detection is faint even that far out. Seems to extend with your limbs though. It didn't warn you of the torpedoes in time. They came from above you think. You would've seen them were it not for the blindfold. It's no replacement for sight it seems, but it will do for now.
"KYAAAAAH!"
Or not. You slam into something. It's a low speed collision - most of your speed ha bled off at this point, makes it all the stranger you couldn't sense this coming. Still it doesn't exactly hurt, especially since it appears that you've landed on something soft-and oh fuck that's a pulse. You feel a quickening heartbeat through your hand. Son of a bitch.
So Yuki, what you see is that Shef starts running and gunning before the torpedoes come raining down, a couple black arrows streaming down after them and just all hell breaks loose.
Explosions blast apart the area, haphazard detonations prioritizing your arrows above your person. Kunai fly through the air deflected by errant explosions in weird chaotic patterns. Aurelius forces Andreaz out the path of an arrow, a torpedo blows him just clear of the arrow. Somewhere during all of this you clash. Fist and chainsaw clashing as the world explodes around you arrows and kunai vanishing in the midst. Somewhere in there you drop Shef's bullet. You hardly notice. A final blast blows you clear a little worse for wear and your chainsaw stained with blood. Aurelius' blood. The rest of your arrows Continue chasing Canan, the girl leaping off the rooftops further down the street, the black tide in hot pursuit.
Well, guess that's another one down. Aurelius seems to take the loss in stride at least, nonchalantly dusting himself off with a laugh.
"<You seem to be in good spirits. >"
"<Of course, I know how to win!>"
"<Kinda wish you told us that earlier then, since you're 'dead' now and dead people don't speak.>"
"<But I'm not dead! I'm standing right here!>"
"<I meant for the exercise.>"
"<No no no, I understand that! But this is a simulation of a fight and in an actual fight I would be dead.>"
"<Yes?>"
"<But where's the body? >"
"<Aurelius we don't need a body for this.>"
"<Nonsense! There absolutely must be a body! It wouldn't be authentic otherwise! That's like, Van Dine's 7th rule!>"
"<This isn't a murder mystery. Besides, where would you even get a body?>"
"<Oh? Isn't it obvious? I ' l l m a k e o n e m y s e l f .>"
"<What are you->"
"<SOMEBODY STOP HIM!>"
"<Huh?>"
Maria bursts out of the parlor.
A combat pass clatters to the ground.
Blood.
Weeping from his wounds, the spectral blades piercing his chest. Shards of logic and possibility forged into a lethal edge, such was the nature of his weapon, the weapon which he has turned upon himself. There's a flash of movement, the heavy swing of one particularly large fragment. His head falls, cleanly seperate from his shoulders.
Aurelius Noyer is dead.
Huh. Shef did say that guy had something that could reverse his own death right? Is he about to go all one-winged angel in you? Turn into a giant snake or something?
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on February 27, 2020, 03:18:42 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 27, 2020, 03:25:19 pm
Yup you're ontop of Hanako who is now blushing furiously. You're a ways down the street from Yuki, Andreaz, Maria (who must've burst out of the parlor) and Aurelius' freshly decapitated corpse. On the opposite side of that clusterfuck Canan is getting chased by Yuki's black arrows.
You think your position is currently obscuring the whole "headless corpse" thing from Hanako.
Post by: Twinwolf on February 27, 2020, 03:27:12 pm
Post by: Strider03 on February 27, 2020, 03:37:23 pm
"I took the blindfold off." Shef called out as a warning, before launching himself down the street with a series of portals, and beginning to affix the magic high explosive he'd bought to Aurelius' dead body. Clearly, he'd not been down for the count last time he up and died.
Room to Breathe [3] over to Aurelius, and set up the explosives.
[3+1] 5 3 [4] 6 4 2 4 3
Post by: Empiricist on February 27, 2020, 05:34:06 pm
Right so Shef just portals right on the down and slaps an explosive right on Aurelius' body. Guy was gonna revive, but that probably wouldn't put him back in the fight, if it did well Shef had insurance now. High explosive insurance.
So, surprise surprise, Aurelius undoes his death. The shards shatter to pieces, his head teleport over to his hands and he just screws it back on.
"<WHAT WERE YOU YOU THINKING?>"
"<We can talk later boss, let's win this first. Andreaz, I've shown my resolve, now, show me yours.>"
"<R-right, I...>"
He pauses, eyes closing, shuddering breath slowing. His eyes snap open again, burning with new flame. Red eyes marked by a black tomoe, marked now by three more, spinning inwards and merging into something reminiscent of those hurricane symbols you'd find on a weather map.
"<My resolve huh...?>"
He steels himself, passion and vigor pouring into his voice.
"<I'll show you my resolve... Prepare for yourself er...>"
"<Yuki.>"
"<Right! Prepare for yourself Yuuuuuki!>"
| [Now Playing: | Kakusei (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPCLhSseIb8) | ] |
Shouting! Dramatic finger pointing! A cold wind billows. Thunder rumbles. The sky above darkens with purple clouds.
And then Canan just fucking nyooms across the middle of all this black arrows in pursuit. Torpedoes pop out from the ground aiming to blast apart her pursuers as she looses another salvo into the ground.
Andreaz throws a spread of kunai at Yuki and just fucking charges at her the ground rising to charge with him, a wave of earth and rock shifting into the form of a dragon's maw. His movements are smoother now, sharper too.
The storm meanwhile covers about half a city block centered on Andreaz and Yuki. It's probably bad news, since y'know, both of you can feel it slowly draining away your stamina.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on February 27, 2020, 06:37:17 pm
Expulser[3] on Aurelius, launch him in front of the kunai ideally slamming him into Andreaz and detonating the explosives.
[3] [5] 3 4 6 4 2 4 3
Post by: Empiricist on February 28, 2020, 08:30:16 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Awakening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSUwTXh0FU) | ] |
The battlefield becomes a tempest, a thunderstorm with mist for clouds and gunfire for thunder. Flashes of light mark running skirmishes as thrusters, wind, and engine unify as a wailing howl.
Light blooms through the mist, Faith's spell dispersing far and wide, a tracer field slaved to the girl's instincts and her suit's systems, Interceptors appearing one by one on the tactical map. They're moving slower now, laser drive efficiency plummeting in the depths of the thick mist, System availability plummets, the allied forces cutting and blasting the crystal flowers wherever they can, the lasers withering in the mist now dwindle in number. Stealth would more than compensate for speed. Would. Problem is in the region around Faith there is no stealth, just all-seeing light and a cornucopia of spatial fuckery.
Eagle 2 ♡Nemesis♡ <<Zoooooone of Tar!>>
A zone of compressed space catches two squadrons. Not a single Interceptor leaves the killzone.
Sachen <<Leistungsverstärker!>>
A blade cleaves through a relay flower. Its master had intended to only clip a single unit, but really this was too easy, he spins reorienting himself and blazes off tearing through several more. They would be back up eventually, but for now they were offline and whatever relied on them was shit out of luck.
And yet...
Allied Unit <<Get back! Stay away you- *static*>>
Allied Unit <<Shit! He's got me! He's got- *static*>>
Allied Unit <<How did they... *static*>>
And yet...
Allied Unit <<I'm hit!>>
Allied Unit <<A monster... *static*>>
Allied Unit <<Let go you- *static*>>
And yet a great hush falls over the network as voice after voice is replaced by static and silence. One by one friendly markers vanish from your map.
AWACS Fluffles <<They must be using the interceptors as spotters! In that case...>>
AWACS Fluffles <<All units! Fire into your surroundings, use your maps to steer clear of each other's firing zones. They're using the interceptors to target you so keep them away! I don't think they can see you unless you're close.>>
The vanishment slows and for a moment it seems to work. Until it doesn't. Until everything returns to being terrible.
Neuromancer <<I'm seeing a sudden change in Firebird 4's movements.>>
Wintermute <<Monitoring... Firebird 4 approaching Falcon Squadron...>>
Wintermute <<Confirmed, Falcon Squadron has been shot down.>>
Neuromancer <<The network's compromised.>>
AWACS Fluffles <<All units, take yourself off the map.>>
AWACS Fluffles <<Come in Firebird 4!>>
AWACS Fluffles <<Status Firebird 4!>>
AWACS Fluffles <<Firebird 4, if you do not respond we will mark you as an enemy!>>
Firebird 4 Thunderhead <<*static*>>
AWACS Fluffles <<Attention all units! Firebird 4 is an enemy, please befriend them on sight!>>
A gunshot rings out near Eagle Squadron. A frozen figure falls into the sea below, a HIERODULE chasis.
Eagle 3 Legion <<That's our decoy down. We've got a sniper on us.>>
AWACS Fluffles <<Warheads inbound!>>
Another sixteen blast zones appear on your map. You're all caught up in one of them. The mist is starting to clear however. Interceptor activity is fairly low at the moment, guess they don't have the numbers to spare right now, your side doesn't really either. Between now and the mist clearing you've probably got a chance to regroup and ready up.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Empiricist on February 29, 2020, 11:30:03 am
So there's some explosions outside, some shouting, that guy who appeared in your lap might have just gotten decapitated but he seems better now. Typical awakened stuff.
"It's always rough at the beginning or so I've been told. Have you taken her shopping? Think she could do with some warded clothing."
Sakurako
"<Eh it's probably fine, I mean, Gwen's got that black beast sealed inside her and she's here. Well not -here- here but y'know.>"
"<At the academy.>"
"<Yeah! It's not too weird to have special circumstances, what matters is learning how to deal with it and being around to help each other out!>"
"<If you can fight it's a plus. Wait -can- you fight?>"
You're not sure how you're supposed to read that. It could either be that they actually do need someone who can fight, which well, you technically can, though you don't seem to have the best track record, or...
Or they were dragging a random girl who for all they knew is just a civilian into an event security gig for a soul-eating abomination.
Noriko
The chapel did not have a garden. The garden had a chapel.
Take the patterns from a playing card, the complex patterns, the ones you'd find on a face card. That is what they are, the vines that twist across the arches and scaffolds, too desaturated to be called vibrant, too colorful to be called dull. They spill forth from great hanging bowls, tracing through the channels and up the scaffolds. They twist up the pillars branching outwards like trees, they streak across the arches blooming with dice and diamonds.
The coordinates have lead you to a quest hub, a clearing of trimmed grass patterned like hotel carpet faux ancient rock formations serving the same role as the pillars back in Guantanamo Bay. Your party descends, Patricija with the thrusters built into her very body, Patricija and Kouta (with whom you have no blood relation) upon a summoned steed with wings of white and armor trimmed with gold. You get the locations from the information desk, from a man half priest half dealer.
You take a winding path to the beach through a hedge tunnel lit by gacha screens and follow the path from there past the oversized beach umbrellas and the blackjack tables beneath them. Eventually you reach the chapel a striking yet unassuming affair, an oversized arch elongated into a structure oriented toward the sea. A pure white with clear glass windows, what decorations they may have added were placed outside instead, assimilating the blasted ruins of whatever occupied this place before.
The rendezvous point is a ways to the side, some manner of wishing well structure placed amidst one of the larger patches of rubble, frameless windows of stained glass piercing the earth like the excessively ornate shivs of a some rando giant. The iconography is almost certainly religious, though it's not exactly what you'd expect to find in a church back home.
For starters the figure front and center is not the whitest looking middle eastern dude in existence. No, it's a motherfucking dragon. A giant fucking dragon with three heads and ridged contoured body with a sheen and design more evocative of armor and machinery than anything natural. It floats above a stone altar massive scroll unfurling at its feet like a great carpet, its contents ineligible. With both claws it grasps a heart in hands, rays of light streaking radially from it. In each ray you can see the images of a random anime waifu designed almost certainly by focus groups than anything else. Around the dragon various figures reach towards the light. To the left are brides and grooms, kings and emperors. To the right are burning skeletons and dying soldiers, beggars and lepers. Raining from above are cards and poker chips, lightning and white trucks.
Around this mural black lotus flowers bloom, and sitting beside them is the client and the bride. The bride is somehow the more striking of the two, clad in full plate visor down and sword at her hip. Only reason you can even tell she's the bride is that dress overlayed on top of it, white fabric pouring out from the joints, a veil accompanying her helmet. Whoever or whatever they are beneath, you cannot tell. The client meanwhile is, you're guessing they're the best man or something, more importantly they're a giant snake that moves with its upper length erect such that its head is level with Ren's. It's dressed in something a little more victorian era, tails and tophat, literal doodle arms sticking out ot its sleeves.
"<Princess! To think you would be the one to answer my call!>"
"<We were in the neighborhood. This is Noriko>"
she nods towards you
"<her brother Kouta>"
you make it clear you two are not blood related
"<and er...>"
"<Ren.>"
"<It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Noah, I will be happy to assist in any way I can.>"
[]Ask to see the chapel
[]Ask for a rundown on the details
[]Ask about the bride
[]Ask Patricija to tell him you and Kouta aren't blood-related, you're not sure you got your message across in english
[](Write in)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on February 29, 2020, 01:20:31 pm
a-and, well, I can clock up but that gets hard to control if it goes too far...
Plus I mean I haven't actually won any fights yet, so..."
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 01, 2020, 10:10:41 pm
- Ask for a rundown on the details.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 02, 2020, 07:33:12 pm
Activate literally ultra instinct for the turn, using resolve, and fucking charge. Take him down. Also have the arrows finish the other one. Alter current result to 5.
Post by: Empiricist on March 02, 2020, 10:15:57 pm
"<Oh like the Buddha right?>"
What?
"<So what you're saying is you -can- fight right?>"
Yeah sure just y'know, not well. And at the cost of your higher cognitive faculties.
Shef and Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Kakusei (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPCLhSseIb8) | ] |
Reality splits open as portals coalesce into existence, the violent buzz of an expulser round signifying Aurelius' launch out of a portal and straight towards Andreaz. The dragon's mouth slams shut at the kunai stick into the attorney.
Charges blow. An explosion, dust and debris.
Canan crosses the skirmish.
There's a second blast, a torpedo explosion. A piece of debris, a scale of rock shoots into the air, and as it is flips through reveals Andreaz braced against the other side.
Eyes burning crimson, a necrotic storm thundering above, he adjusts his grip on the kunai and lunges, kicking off the scale and rushing towards- When did it get so dark?
Yeah so uh, Yuki kinda just fucking ostriched them. Their upper bodies have been jammed into the pavement and they're having one hell of a time freeing themselves.
They're probably fine. The goddess was merciful enough to use the chainsaw's reverse edge after all.
Also she probably needs a new outfit. Her current one is kinda fucked. Like it does seem to be trying to cover as much as it can, but with what material it has that's really that much, given that it's been reduced to basically just leotard with a plunging neckline with a frankly vestigial microskirt attached.
If Minato was watching he'd find it pretty hard to avert his eyes from her assets as the flaring energy fades around them, excess heat venting away. By assets I mean thrusters. Energy-based thrusters sleek and angular that now back into their housings. Though the glow in her eyes doesn't fade, a glow that has a certain structured quality to it, almost as of emitted from a bank of tesselating cells than any singular source. Also her complexion seems kinda er... steely. Like, steel steely.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 02, 2020, 10:40:41 pm
"My god Yuki. . .well done, I suppose." At this point, pointedly avoiding looking down, Shef noticed the girls complexion.
"You alright? Face looks a little bit off color. . ."
Post by: ragnarok97071 on March 02, 2020, 10:44:29 pm
And, um. I guess I can fight, yeah... I mean, I kinda go super crazy when I do, kinda like when I first met you, and I've lost literally every fight I've ever been in, but... yeah, I guess?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 02, 2020, 10:53:19 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 02, 2020, 11:19:13 pm
"So, what exactly was that? Seen it before, but events proceeded rather rapidly."
Post by: Empiricist on March 03, 2020, 07:31:06 am
Now the bride responds voice quiet with hints of a strange cadence, it reminds you of the autumn wind and the rust king of leaves.
"<...The chapel is built above a dungeon.>"
"<Yes, it was a bit of a surprise for us too, but that's probably the source of the randomly encounters. Though for some reason only Ralph seems to trigger them.>"
Ralph... that would be the groom right.
"<Well... If you don't mind me asking... shouldn't you have noticed the bride catching fire before the day of the wedding?>"
"<I didn't catch your name>"
"<...Estefanía. I do not mind. This wedding was... a last minute thing.>"
"<Last minute?>"
"<Unfortunately so, it should have happened earlier but we were caught up in that ghastly affair back in Fairholdt.>"
"<The Lysander Affair? That was a year or so ago right?>"
"<Indeed, we are adventurers you see, and we were at ground zero when the invasion began, so naturally we were embroiled in the whole matter. Such things are never resolved so easily.>"
"<But you resolved it?>"
" <Of course.>"
He puffs his chest out proudly.
"<My my, I had no idea I was in the presence of such heroes.>"
" <Oh, you'll make me blush. But yes that threw the wedding plans right in the window. This was a serendipitous affair, there were already plans for a wedding here but the original parties had to cancel at the last moment and we just so happened to be passing by. It seemed as if fated at the time. Should've known fate never hands our types anything in neat packages.>"
"<Never a dull moment huh?>"
"<Heh, I suppose you not, but us lot are prone to boredom anyways.>"
"<What do you know about about the dungeon?>"
"<...It was an old fortress. Converted to an illegal weapons manufacturing facility. When the government found out, they sent adventurers to destroy it and clear out the dungeons. They flooded it with seawater to keep the equipments down there from reactivating. ...I think.>"
" <I suppose they missed a spot.>"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 03, 2020, 09:35:31 am
"That? I have no idea at all~! I kinda found out how to do it by accident the other day?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 03, 2020, 12:45:23 pm
Regarding the combat, Shef stared for a moment, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, before elaborating."I was there. More, what's the mechanism, time slow? Super speed? Enhanced perception and a strength boost? Preemptive causality reversing magic? Or are you even conscious of what you're doing."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 03, 2020, 12:51:25 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 03, 2020, 01:03:56 pm
"Speed does a lot for impact energy, indeed. But, good job, two—no three—down, one to go, if I'm remembering things correctly. Shall we extract them, or you want to get a picture first?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 03, 2020, 01:11:48 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 03, 2020, 01:15:18 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 04, 2020, 03:22:42 pm
So with a lot of smashing and tugging you two manage to free a rather dazed Andreaz and Canan. Maria meanwhile manages to free Aurelius out from his pile of rubble.
"<Ow! My spleen!>"
Post by: Strider03 on March 04, 2020, 03:58:43 pm
The reason behind this? The student's eyes: He'd tried to command Shef before with them, weak in that sense, but far broader in application. To put it simply, Shef was curious.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 04, 2020, 04:44:28 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 04, 2020, 07:29:44 pm
"<Oh not violently. Like competitively! Like boxing!>"
"<Seems like it>"
You find yourself being shown what amounts to a Wikipedia page on the Buddha, with some claims you probably wouldn't find on actual Wikipedia. Like how the guy is apparently not only a Keijo practitioner but a recognized Grandmaster at that. Like Yoake.
Shef
The boy's pretty out of it. He's got one eye closed and is squinting through the other one. Ringing his iris are three tomoe rather than that storm sigil.
You activate your Requiem and eyes snap wide open, symbol shifting to that of the storm. There's a spark, some kinda connection and then-
Gah fuck!
Is this what he's feeling right now? Christ. A wave of disorientation hits you. Not really nausea more that strange floaty detached sensation you get within adrenaline and exhaustion, a feeling as if you're not really awake.
You feel feverish. Details pierce your gaze with sharpness you're not used too. You squint trying to control reduce the strain stop the sensory overload. A faint glow enters your vision. An aura, an aura wrapped around your body. No, emanating from. It's diffuse, radiating out with a maximum range of about a meter or so.
Reflexively you try flexing it, commanding it with your Requiem. It's coalesces glow intensifying.
Hmm.
You look around. Thin fading tendrils are coming from th combat passes. There's some weird stuff coming off of Yuki, Minato has something faint ressembling a nervous system in his armor, and Satoshi has a similar aura to your own albeit kinda gooey? It seems to stick to whatever she's touching leaving momentary strands.
Yuki
So Shef does something and then his eyes turn red, gaining that same single tomoe pattern Andreaz had before. He looks kinda disoriented and then suddenly an aura flares to life around him. He must've had a super secret power stealing move this whole time! Or maybe it's a venereal disease! Who knows? You're a healer, not a doctor! Might need a doctor if it is one though!
Noriko
"<...Thank you.>"
"<One at a time please, who knows what hurdles may turn up!>"
Post by: Strider03 on March 04, 2020, 08:01:39 pm
Now squinting, Shef turned his attention to this newly visible backlighting of energy. They'd always been there, had to have been. Well, maybe not his, but the auras of his comrades. Visual acuity and some form of magic perception? He'd need to perform a few tests in that case.
"Thank you, Andreaz.", Shef murmured, placing the student down. That would be the first test, if this was permanent, or whether he'd need to force it to be so. Following that, he'd check whether anything was visible when he poured energy into a bullet in his gun. Was it all magic, or were these auras a distinct type, that was what he needed to answer. Then, back to his own aura; it had brightened at his command, could it move? He'd try to draw it in close to himself, contracting the ethereal cloud into something denser, first directly—he was uncertain if he had any direct control, this would reveal it— and then by requiem command.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on March 04, 2020, 08:21:44 pm
This was DEFINITELY NOT AS EXPECTED. Why did the Buddha... How would the Buddha... Did this mean the Buddha was a girl? All good questions for later.
"Anyway, I can fight, but I'm kinda bad at it, so it's probably best that I don't, I guess?"
Post by: Empiricist on March 06, 2020, 08:03:14 pm
Perceptual alteration remains. No visuals on spirit energy input into Regalia. You suspect it might be an efficiency thing - it's taking all the energy without leaking hence no visual effects. Minato's Regalia you recall networks him into local leylines, so you're likely seeing their ambient emissions. That or a safety mechanism, it could be radiating the energy away to protect his body, if that's the case that pattern will probably fade whenever he pulls that lever of his. Satoshi, you don't know but if you had to guess it's not entirely magic in her case, unless she has reason to glop magic against everything she touches.
Your aura can definitely be move - it is brightened because you condensed it.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2020, 08:55:48 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2020, 10:29:52 pm
"Good question. Don't think so, to both, but I'm not really sure. Believe I just copied part of his eye abilities, though how, I'm not really certain. It's. . . really bright, but not bright bright? Sharp bright. Things are very clear. Too much information." Almost like how sometimes, when sick, one becomes annoyingly aware of all the sensations of their skin. Prickling, unable to find a comfortable position.
The fact that he'd gained the attention grabbing eye coloration was disappointing, but the benefits seemed already to handily outweigh that. "You're glowing. Did you always do that?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2020, 10:34:01 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2020, 10:40:16 pm
"Can I shoot you?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 06, 2020, 10:43:10 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 06, 2020, 10:48:02 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2020, 12:18:03 am
Right so Yuki's aegis shatters and you see a flash of fun magic, but it's not the same as the aura. The aura activity does seem to increase, but it's when her self healing repairs the residual damage and you can tell it's not an innate part of her healing either. Some dormant power perhaps? Or maybe it's related to her current condition?
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2020, 09:36:19 am
"Saw someone I know, so. . ." Shef said uncertainly to Yuki. Was he supposed to introduce them? Not knowing the answer, Shef simply waited a moment before walking off towards where he'd. . .collided—yes that's the word he'd use—with Hanako.
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2020, 09:04:22 pm
Hanako is just standing around awkwardly fidgeting. No visual aberrations.
"You're Shef right...?
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2020, 09:09:48 pm
"Hi, person that Shef knows!"
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2020, 09:15:00 pm
"Eh hi! Um... why does he look like this?"
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2020, 09:33:29 pm
"What do. . .ah." He deactivated the illusion. "Satisfied? Hanako, this is Yuki. We're on the team together. Yuki, Hanako, my neighbor."
He'd landed hand first on her chest—the gentle way of putting it—and then run off. Apologies were in order, but. . . would it really do to call attention to that, especially around people who might not have noticed?
". . .Terribly sorry about that. Hope you can forgive me."
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2020, 10:14:44 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 07, 2020, 10:28:38 pm
"D-don't worry about it! It's, it's fine. It's not like it was on purpose or anything..."
And then Yuki's response
"But those are totally different possibilities! Do you not know?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 07, 2020, 10:32:11 pm
Post by: Strider03 on March 07, 2020, 10:42:46 pm
Yuki made her statement.
"Didn't I?" Shef thought he'd explained when they'd first met up, but it did seem possible he'd brushed over it. "Remember the duplicates of us? My training was. . . is? Don't know. My training is to fight the person behind that. Came into the exercise thoroughly blind, and thought a disguise might be useful, so I chose this. Seemed distinct enough from my usual appearance. . ."
"That clear things up?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 08, 2020, 08:41:16 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 14, 2020, 08:41:20 am
So... this concert is a little more uh, casual, than what you're used to. You're not sure if part of Jacqui's gimmick - a perk of having her own little pocket dimension, or just how they do this kinda thing 'round these parts, but it's all arranged more like a lounge or a cabaret with people sitting in comfy seats, around tables, or just standing round drink in hand. Jacqui's positioned up on the stage, visage broadcast through the screens, voice cast through the speakers. It's a lot less hectic than your typical concert. For now anyways, the mix of an open bar and free movement is a volatile combination and presence of her minions certainly do not assure you.
Lights cascade through the twisted metal and broken sky. Constructs raise up on the stage behind her, the visual kick in. Still for all she has at her disposal, all that magic, all those resources, it's all muted, low key. It's there so it's not just her standing on stage singing, but if you had to guess, that really was the focus at the end of it all. The show begins with a piano love ballad. You've got to admit, she's got heart. You're not sure whose heart, but she's a got a lot of it.
Your team has positioned their share of the "totally-not-going-to-go-on-a-rampage" bots behind the stained glass, the boundaries between the world outside and backstage where you currently reside. Gives a good distributed view of the place, plus it means you can move them in to triage a situation ahead of your own arrival.
No problems just yet but you've gotten eyes on the target. He's currently sipping a soda under the Tree of Treachery, Broken Promises and the Endless Torment of Eternal Damnation. The client is nowhere in sight.
"<Hmm weird, I'll give her a call.>"
"<You don't think she bailed on us do you?>"
"<Would she really?>"
"<Maybe, it must be pretty nerve-wracking doing this at a concert. They're beyond the norm by design so it can feel alien from the get go.>"
"<Pink shirt by the fountain.>"
"<Pink shirt by... what?>"
"<We sure that's her?>"
"<Well she's talking into a phone so...>"
"<Hold on, I'll tell her to brush her hair.>"
"<Yup definitely her.>"
...What the hell is she thinking? It's all fine and good to try and doll yourself up. Hell maybe in this weird world of sorcery and witchcraft putting on an illusion to calm the nerves might be reasonable. But she's, she's illusioned herself up alright. She's illusioned herself up into a cute boy!
"<Why's she disguised as dude?>"
"<She says she was thinking maybe if she pretended to be a guy it might be easier to become friends with him and figure out things from there.>"
Judging by the fact that she is now face-palming and fidgeting, and on the verge of rolling around on the floor, now that she's said it out loud she's having some serious doubts about this plan of hers.
Okay so. The rational, logical, grounded in reality part of you says, no, no that is not going to work. That is some irrational "sounds like a plan til you take a step back and realize it's fucking moon logic" sorta deal right here. Meanwhile the intuitive genre-savvy part of you can see where this crazy train ends up. It ends up in chapter five hundred and fifty fucking seven with a now sexually-confused Remigio realizing that he might have feelings for his best friend and wingman (who is obviously just Charlotte) especially now after a contrived series of coincidences at the school festival placed said friend in a maid outfit all while Charlotte has to deal with the fact that one of her friends has a major crush on her cross-dressing alter ego.
Though of course, looking at the map, at this rate NEITHER OF THESE THINGS WILL HAPPEN ANYWAY AT THIS RATE because she's like, halfway across the bloody venue from Remigio.
Shef and Yuki
"Um... I think I'm missing some context here..."
Post by: Strider03 on March 14, 2020, 08:53:50 am
Maybe it was more of a cautionary thing right now, lending a sense of security.
Post by: Empiricist on March 16, 2020, 04:47:09 pm
"<...We don't know. He suddenly ran off.>"
"<Maybe someone else here saw him?>"
"<Or the staff if he passed by them.>"
"<He has an office in the chapel too, perhaps we could have a look around...>"
Shef
"Oh, that makes-" SUDDENLY EVERYTHING IS PAIN AND YOU CAN'T SEE SHIT. YOUR EYES BURN. IT FEELS LIKE AN ENTIRE LEMON TREE IS FUCKING YOUR EYE SOCKETS. YOU TRY TO COUGH YOU TRY TO BREATH BUT INSTEAD OF AIR YOU GET WHAT FEELS LIKE LIQUID NAPALM.
Pepper spray. It's fucking pepper spray. The Awakened equivalent anyways. And right now your head is stuck in a fucking bubble of it. Can't tell how much damage it's doing. Only thing you've got to go off of is the pain and that's hardly a reliable indicator. You've got Yuki with you anyways, can always get her to heal you.
You force your eyes open. Pain. Part of you wishes you didn't do that. The same part of you that wants you to crawl into a hole, curl up into a ball. That dumb animal instinct part of your brain. You've gotten good at ignoring it. It hurts like a bitch sure, but it's going to keep hurting unless you pull the plug on this spell and to do that you've got to find the source.
| [Now Playing: | Maul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmZg0mcsKug) | ] |
You can barely see anything, through the tears, through the rippling surface. You can see enough though, the aura of the spell, and in the crowd an aura that matches it.
Sounds are twisted, distorted through the filter of fluid. The noise of the crowds, Hanako's voice. You can't make anything else. But above it all, above the the noise, above the pain, you hear something, a voice breathy, sultry, ringing in your brain.
"<You've been a very bad boy and bad boys need to be prosecuted, to the full extent of the law~>"
Oh god, what fresh hell is this?
There's some attacks inbound now too. Five projectiles airbursting into a scatter of munitions around you and Yuki, the resulting submunitions are pretty low velocity though.
Must have some degree of control to them too - Hanako's caught up in this too, if they hit her it's game over for them.
Yuki
So uh, all of a sudden this fucking bubble of liquid appears around Shef's head and he doesn't look like he's having a very good time. You send some healing his way reflexively really but it doesn't work - it's not really hurting him. Like it looks like it's unpleasant as all hell, but he doesn't seem to really be taking damage from it.
Several magic circles fly up out of the crowd, scattering through the skies high above.
A figure leaps out of a second story window and what the fuck is he wearing? He looks like he just walked off the set of Jesus Christ Superstar, the 2000 edition. He's got this modified SS officer's coat that billows dramatically behind him, worn open as to reveal what lies beneath, namely a fully sculpted muscle cuirass, what appears to be a pro-wrestling title belt, and a sparsely armored pair of trousers. His headwear is similarly eccentric, a pair of shutter shades and a beret with two badges on it. He strides forwards towards you an aura of confidence about him, which well yeah, you'd need to be pretty fucking confident to walk around wearing that. In his hands he brandishes a large curved sword, a kriegsmesser you think, Minato mentioned them before you recall, said they're very good for cutting.
Two people join him from the crowd forming up at his flanks. Honestly compared to him their attire's pretty damn tame. There's a lively girl in a colorful stage magician's outfit with a pair of rabbit ears and a tophat. There's a youthful boy wearing a cloak a few sizes too big and doing his damnedest to look even smaller.
It's the magician that initiates the attack, springing a deck of cards between her hands and launching the top five at you and Shef. They were in order the Ten of Hearts, the Ace of Clubs, the Jack of Clubs, the Five of Spades, and the Seven of Hearts. It's a pretty chaotic scatter that becomes only more chaotic as each card detonates mid-air into a scatter of projectiles looking exactly like their respective suits. Thankfully the velocities are fairly low, you could probably weave between them, if you y'know gave a fuck about dodging or had much practice with them.
The swordsman meanwhile just stands there as if waiting for your charge, readied to protect his comrades.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 22, 2020, 12:19:14 pm
<I want my lawyer.> Shef thought. Normally he wouldn't have deigned to respond, but there was a goal here. Could he keep this communication channel open? The enemy had decided, for some reason, that they wanted to be in his mind. That would be a mistake.
He could see, vaguely, his target. Good enough to open fire at least. Four shots, center of mass, and timed precisely with it, a command. If this person wanted a conduit directly to his mind, they'd sure as hell be getting it.
Open fire on the assailant, single portal to get the bullets up above the crowd and descend at the target, activate requiem taking advantage of the mental connection, and time it to impact with the bullets. Command is to dispel the pepper spray effect. If this works and Shef's vision is cleared, fire expulser round at the swordsman to get him out of Yuki's way. One cached portal to move Shef a bit out of the way of some of the card attacks, and others applied as necessary to deal with any that are still approaching.
[2+2] 1 5 3 1 5 4 4 [3] 3
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 22, 2020, 08:06:04 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on March 24, 2020, 11:28:27 pm
Good thing, the mark probably wouldn't be as on guard around another dude and to be honest with how her life has gone recently relying on anime tropes for success might as well be normal.
Okay, so, uh, try to herd the two of them together?"
she'd look around to try to locate some kind of landmark or otherwise something to orient based on, likely somewhere roughly in the region of the middle of the two or toward the mark. after all, herding the lovestruck girl would be... easier. Probably.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 27, 2020, 09:33:41 pm
Start a black arrow going into the crowd, don't trigger until either finding for sure the guy attacking Shef; if he's not stupid enough to trigger it then have it flank around to come at the enemy from the side. Yuki herself, charges forward, dashing past sword dude and going in on the Magician. Also, start up Chain Lightning.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 29, 2020, 04:10:18 am
Mind controlled people, a mysterious elite enemy, snipers, and more of those heavy burst missiles incoming... well, to be blunt, that was a lot of bad shit. In fact, it was rather too much bad shit to deal with at once, and Faith realized that she very clearly wasn't going to be slugging it out with all of it at once. There was really only one reasonable thing to do, and that was to get the hell out of dodge for the moment and ready up for what she assumed was going to be a much more difficult fight, since actual competence did appear to be involved. ...shit, she hadn't even been hit once so far, had she? That was probably going to change if she let it.
Faith tilted sharply downwards and dove, jetpack thrusters burning at maximum capacity, right out of the blast zone (albeit leaving her detection field where it was) and hopefully too quickly for the sniper to, well, snipe her or whoever was rolling around taking out her less impressive allies out of the picture to find and catch her, much less whoever was doing mind control. But that wasn't the only thing that she was doing to maintain her safety -- a shimmering yellow shield also popped up in existence around her rapidly-hurtling body as well. She did admittedly worry that this would serve as a beacon, to some extent, but she was just going to have to hope that the fog was capable of shrouding her, because she didn't relish the idea of getting sniped without a shield up.
At the same time as all this, Faith communicated, a finger to her ear at her communicator since it wasn't like she actually needed free hands beyond the one currently holding her wand to do her magic. The first thing she sent was a private message to her various AI-and-cat sources of information:
Eagle 4 Sailor Sun <<"Fluffles, Winter, Enn, keep me posted best you can about the sniper in particular! I think I can probably both best take a crack at him and am worst-equipped to deal with getting surprised by him!">>
And then she sent another private message to Eagle Squadron:
Eagle 4 Sailor Sun <<"I'm diving! You should all probably follow me and put up defensive measures -- there is WAY too much going on to sit around, so we'll need to prepare some!">>
Faith rapidly dives, and puts up a Shield of Courage! ...Alteration the 2 to a fuckin' 3 and use it.
World Line: 4 6 4 2-->
Distance
Eagle 2 ♡Nemesis♡ <<"Sounds good to me! No magical girl, even a SINISTER magical girl, abandons her companions!! Spaaaace Barrier Area Deflection!!!">>
With that rather blocky declaration, Distance swiftly followed suit, although she was much less concerned about the current situation than was Faith. Sure, the whole thing had honestly really pissed her off, but she was made for this sort of thing, and she was undeniably a whooole lot more powerful than the poor bastards getting knocked away left and right by those mysterious squad guys. Plus, these guys were all loser supervillains anyway! Bad style, bad behavior, really, she didn't know where they got off thinking that they were cool and real supervillains. So why be afraid of them? She had the skill, she had the inclination, she could definitely chump these losers.
The defensive measure that Distance put into place as she dove was a bit less direct than the one Faith was using, but it was a lot wider, and if anyone DID take a shot, she would be protecting probably the whole squadron! Specifically, she introduced subtle and wide twists and eddies in the spatial fabric of the area around them -- each twist large enough in width that nobody in the squadron would be getting torn apart or hurt, and subtle enough in magnitude that nobody would end up getting turned around, but enough in overall effect to twist bullets and rays and other projectiles out of their initial alignment just enough to almost certainly miss whoever they were aimed at.
Distance sets up a wide spatial distortion field around the squadron as she dives, subtly deflecting projectiles! (Hopefully! (If it's even needed!))
World Line: 6 1 3 4 6 2 3 4 6 1
Post by: cronos5010 on March 29, 2020, 06:19:36 am
Immanuel dives out of harms way, and alters his 1 to a more respectable 2.
Post by: Empiricist on March 29, 2020, 09:30:18 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Maul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmZg0mcsKug) | ] |
So Shef, you force your will through the channel and the bubble bursts. Fresh air floods your lungs and for a brief moment you can see a pale line tracing between you and your target. The line snaps as does your channel. Four rounds crash down. Maybe you hit them, maybe you didn't; you can't tell - the moment they stopped that spell the moment their signature vanished. Target's disappeared back into the crowd. Great and you still can't see shit. effects are fading fast - benefits of your Awakened nature. Not fast enough though, you decide to save the Expulser round for later, no need to waste the shot right now. Bullets those you can track at least based off their magic. You portal open to the side, snapping open a second cache to catch a few stray shots. Hanako's presence vanishes for a moment. Right, phasing, is that why you couldn't sense her earlier? Still the shots are slow. Painfully slow. Her phasing doesn't cover her for long enough and she takes a hit. There's a faint flash and a connection?
No damage taken. Hmm...
Yuki charges forwards. A bullet brushes towards her side. A connection and then, discharge. A hit staggers her, not the heaviest hit, her shield took the hit for her but it's enough to stagger her a bit, and enough for two more bullets to find their marks. Two more connections and a whole load of nothing. So that's it. Those bullets don't really have a payload per se, they just establish a link to something, and that something if it hits is what does the hurting. End result, they could fire it right at you three confident it wouldn't just randomly nail Hanako. By the looks of it, whatever it's tied to has a limited power supply, it needs to recharge after a proper discharge. Good to know.
Yuki you don't have edgy red eyes so you don't notice any of this, you just keep on trucking and lunge forwards with your chainsaw, course with their positioning and that glancing blow throwing you off, you find yourself facing down the Sanguine Swordsman rather than the Plucky Magician.
He raises his blade as you cleave downwards. Sparks fly as steel grinds against steel, he doesn't take your blow head on though, he lets your blade shift the angle of his own, redirecting your strike away from his body. Your chainsaw craters the ground as he in the same motion brings his sword against the side of your neck.
Ow! He got you! You think! it's kinda hard to tell because if he did you've actually already fully healed from it at this point. He's uh, not got the most damaging swings it seems, and with your black arrow's search through the crowd kinda invalidated by the whole the "Shef doesn't really have a lock on the perp" thing you bring it back around, going for the flank.
So now the magician tosses another spread of cards, the Five of Diamonds, the Queen of Clubs, the Seven of Diamonds, the Three of Diamonds, and the Five of Hearts. They all burst into projectiles that are kinda just saturating the entire area. You, her, the swordsman, and the Lurker.
Speaking of which the swordsman is now just trying to kick out your legs from under you while the Lurker kinda just clutches his coat close and aims a sci-fi looking pistol at you. They seem to be completely neglecting Shef and the pepper spray person is still at large.
High above, the magic circles begin to grow, the sigils in their centers expanding fractally in patterns reminiscent to those of snowflakes.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on March 29, 2020, 10:26:30 am
The projectiles were interesting, but he couldn't make heads or tails out of them right now.
For now, Shef decided to devote himself to making sure that Yuki would not be triple-teamed. Expulser was loaded and ready, so he'd be able to fire that instantly, followed by something a little more damaging.
Expulser on the swordsman to open a path up for Yuki, aim a bit to try to blast him into some of the projectiles. Yeah they probably won't hurt, but whatever. Since expulser is already readied, use Rapid Fire [4] on the Magician. Requiem the lurker to use maximum power in his shot, then portal to catch the lurker's shot and send it into the magician.
[1+3] 5 3 1 5 4 [4] 3 2 3
Post by: Twinwolf on April 01, 2020, 10:11:57 pm
World Line: [4] 2 4 3 4 5 3 2 6 3
Post by: Empiricist on April 02, 2020, 05:59:24 am
"<Righty ho! Let's get going then!>"
So y'all head down the path into the chapel, trying not to make eye contact with nice men with the suits and guitar cases loitering by the entrance.
The place is mostly empty, with all the shit happening most of the guests hit the beach or the blackjack tables. A grey haired general caresses a sea slug the size of a dog on his lap, another is teleporting climbing along an invisible wall next to him, a corgi riding on its back. A bespectacled lady is lying across a pew, fast asleep.
Frankly you've no idea how she sleeps with the racket. The noise. The cacophony. Good god. Gunfire is the least of it. You hear the grinding shrieks of accretion disks, you stars exploding into nebulae, or at least, whatever the fuck that bouquet thinks those sound like anyway. Right, the bouquet. Turns out it's a little more exotic than roses. Well. Sort of. Could be a rose. Some hateful distant cousin of a rose anyway. Stardust for vines, degenerate matter for thorns. Tendrils that bloom with nova and and floral quasars for heads. A miniature cosmos condensed into a flower that is currently marching on the sandwich table and stalling. Stalling hard.
Its foe is no slouch, Lothgar the Undying, a man best described as a Michelangelo statue if Michelangelo statues did steroids. You could say he looks like the living statue of some long forgotten barbarian hero, but last time you checked barbarians weren't packing sawn-offs. This man is. You'd give him decent odds of fending off the baleful hydra-bouquet-fuckery if it weren't for the fact that he's currently being pelted with furniture and having to fend off raids by the psygulls.
Psygulls, yeah uh. Turns out they're literally just telekinetic seagulls. Like, literally seagulls, there's no fancy color schemes or mystic designs here they are literally just seagulls and they apparently have psychic powers, which have only made them bolder and more aggressive given that they're apparently more than happy to fight some sort of cosmic being and the guy winning a fist fight against said cosmic being.
Yeah. That's a problem for another time. You decide to give these asshats a wide berth. Ren quickly positions herself between Kouta and that shitshow, Patricija helping hurry everyone along.
You're not alone in the assessment either, the ominous figures in the dark robes have sat themselves in the opposite corner as far away as possible as they shovel offerings of godknowswhat into the toothy maw of what used to be the wedding cake. They'll need a new cake. Really they'll need a new buffet. Maybe a new venue at this rate, does it really have to be in the chapel? The beach doesn't look so bad.
Soon enough you reach the priest's office, up in front and just to the side. Your client (Ricard, apparently) moves to open it, dismissing his cane with a flourish and summoning a, is that a-
"<W-wait are you sure we should->"
...Okay, so the guy just crowbars the door open and without missing a beat slithers into the office.
"<It's fine! We do this all the time!>"
The office is a rather modest affair consisting little more than a desk, some filling cabinets and a laptop. It seems to have been left in a hurry - there's files and papers scattered across the desk, held in place by an open case, one that judging by its depressions held some sort of exotic implement, a weapon perhaps. A few drawers are unlocked and open too.
Ricard immediately gets to work examining the first shred of paper he sees, which apparently consist of the priest's tax returns.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 11, 2020, 11:13:32 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 14, 2020, 02:29:18 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Maul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmZg0mcsKug) | ] |
Okay so, Yuki immediately catches a spade to the face and gets swept off her feet, literally. But then the culprit, the Swordsman, catches your expulser which blows him right into her teleportation arrow and get just gets immediately KO'd. There's an explosion as you turn your weapon towards the Magician - reactive armor, but you've got more bullets headed her way and a reluctant second shooter minus the grassy knoll. And boy, what a shooter he is, the trembling Lurker's peashooter is not what you could call a powerful weapon but it turns out he's this motley's crew's little power supply because hoo boy that maximum power command pumps way more power into the shot that what you'd expect just fucking lancing into the Magician's side. Magic appearance seems to match those of the magic circles up in the sky
Right so who's it gonna be this time? Our mystery Assailant? The downed Swordsman? The shaken Lurker? Who's going to pop their anime "let's turn this battle around" supermode and get predictably gimped by Yuki or a tracer round to the throat? There's no point pretending it ain't gonna happen and things are going way too well for you guys right now so they should just bite the bullet and do it so you can give them a few dozen more bullets to chew on and ah there it is you feel magic surge through the surrounding areas as- OW EVERYTHING IS PAIN AGAIN OKAY YEAH IT'S HAPPENING IT'S DEFINITELY FUCKING HAPPENING NOW.
"H-huh? What's happening?"
Wait Hanako? She's really muffled but you can hear her and she's really near you for some-
「Portal Magic」. You sense portal magic, a lot of it too. Angled from above an awfully wide aperture pointed right towards you and- shit! three smaller portals, one more a long tear than anything resembling an eclipse, a close range attack aimed for your spine! Melee you think! The other two... they're yours? Cached portals? They burst open because you cut their power... but you have seven cached and you're maintaining all seven right now so what the hell is happening? Also catch the Magician for a moment as she summons something around you and Yuki and Hanako apparently, feels different to her previous spells, there's some things spinning around you lot and they're firing slow projectiles in from all directions? Also you can feel yourself sinking into the ground. When it rains it pours.
Yuki uh, what the fuck is happening? So the Magician gets nailed and then everything seems to shatter and now all of a sudden you're back in your original position from when Shef suddenly got his head trapped in that bubble of 「Pepper Spray」. Is this that a thing where everyone gets trapped in a time loop or something? Hmm no that can't be it - those circles above haven't shrunk back to their original states... Maybe they're made out of some sort of super special timeproof magic? Or maybe they're just out of range? They are pretty high up after all.
But other than that it's almost as if everything really did「Reset」. Except of course things are happening a little differently this time around. For starters, the Swordsman leaps off the balcony at a different angle and he swings his blade in mid air tearing open a portal out of which comes this massive heavenly spear crackling with arcs of divine wrath which is now rushing towards you and Shef.
You spot the Magician in the crowd but she spots you too and quickly rushes away to hide but not before summoning a bunch of magical circles around you and Shef and Hanako with designs resembling roulette wheels which just spin around you firing a whole load of these slow moving orbs of energy each the size of a grapefruit.
Also yeah there's like, a pool of water opening up underneath you both and you see tentacles rising from the depths and it's really just a bad time all around.
The Lurker and Assailant do not show themselves.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Faith
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Awakening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSUwTXh0FU) | ] |
Magus Squadron
Silence washes over that TacNet, a hundred voices silenced at once, dozens of blips fading to naught. Illusions to illusions, ghosts to ghosts. It was a fake feed. Had been for the last several seconds. Voices drawn from archives, from other battles. Phantom blips drawn to bait traps and ambushes. The real comms must've already been in lockdown. Nice try. Rye cut the connection already. Now all that filters through the Magus comms are the muffled sounds of battle, of clashing blades and roaring gunfire, and of course that lone tenorous voice
Magus 3 Galavant <<When I see depressing creatures~♫>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<With unprepossessing features~♫>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<I remind them on their own behalf>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<to~♪>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<think~♪>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<of~♪>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<celebrated heads of state or>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<do do~♫ do do~♫ do do do do~♫>>
Meanwhile Amongst the Allied Forces
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/172/010/6e4.jpg)
Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Broadcast
AWACS ReaperEye <<You sound like you're in good spirits.>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<So I am.>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Well I'm afraid I'll have to ruin that now, we've got a doozy of a job for you all.>>
Magus 1 Goose <<*static*>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<It's an HVT, Eagle Squadron, marking their last known positions now.>>
Magus 4 Freon <<We don't have a lock?>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Negative, they've locked down the TacNet app, we no longer have location data.>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<You didn't notice?>>
Magus 4 Freon <<You know I don't check. Always trusted my eyes more.>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<We'll need scouts.>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Already on it.>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<Partner, you thinking what I'm thinking?>>
Magus 1 Goose <<*static*>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<Yeah, a solid first punch.>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<Everyone, ready your missiles.>>
Eagle Squadron
So the warheads blow, big icey freezey explosion, etc. etc. etc. You all get out, blowing past the edge of the blast zone and out of the mist cover. As the cryonic energies dissipate and the mist begins to fade a dozen new units streak out.
Armored crystals roughly the same dimensions as a child's coffin, fanning out in a wide spread. Their fronts heavy with sensor arrays, their rears laden with tentacles, and noticeably devoid of thrusters. Their trajectories are ballistic, no manuveuring to speak of. Recon.
Sparks dance across their forms as Cynthia turns her autoguns towards them, their delicate sensory arrays shredded in a matter of seconds. Their armored cores however prove much tougher, cracking and cratering but not breaking as they fall toward the sea below.
Eagle 3 Legion <<Evasive maneuvers. Now.>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<Fire.>>
Missiles. A full fusillade of them, sixteen in total. Bundles of icey energy with prominent scintillating contrails that appear more fabric than vapor. They're spread wide, twelve aiming at Faith, four streaking towards Immanuel.
The mists clear and now you see their source.
They are dressed in a cross between hooded robed and plated armor, not quite one, not quite the other, but rather both melted together and refrozen. Billowing capes of icey plating, singular points of light peering out neath hardened hoods. Distributed thrusters systems flare with cryonic energy hurling them through the air with frightful speed while glistening ribbons tear out en masse from units located on their hits and in their gauntlets, scintillating filaments latching to nearby buildings grappling and reeling giving them chaotic unpredictable flight paths.
There's four of them. Apparently that was enough to decimate your allies. The tides of war have shifted once more. In the sky behind them you see fewer adventurers than you remember, facing off against what were once interceptors.
They are interceptors no longer, rather they've become aerial gun platforms, complex assemblies of the armor, thrusters, and missile pods built around a spinal autocannon. Jets of ice tear out from the noticeably weed-free sea into them, a supply line of raw cryonic matter to keep their prodigious expenditure in check, spears of ice and volleys of missiles tearing out of their weapons, thrusters blazing cold just to counteract their own recoil, just to keep them in the air.
Four squadrons are bursting forwards, not so much flying so much as firing themselves forwards, tumbling through the air and re-righting themselves on the fly, making their advance behind your new adversaries.
Magus 3 Galavant <<Alright people, let's do this!>>
Magus 4 Freon <<Target locked.>>
Magus 1 Goose <<*static*>>
| MAGUS |
| League Air Force |
| 4th Air Division 2nd Air Force Unit |
| Emblem: A circular patch depicting a magician's wand with four missile fins and an arcing trail of smoke and stars, the squadron's details are written along the outer edge of the patch |
So Immanuel, ontop of all this bullshit you immediately come under fire. You hear this weird pching noises, like the ones you'd hear in a western movie, the sound of a ricochet but it's not a ricohet off your armor or your swords. It takes you a second to realize it but they're collisions, mid-air collisions between bullets. Two deluges of munitions synchronized such that the rounds collide and scatter chaotically leaving brilliant thread-like contrails in your wake. You identify the sources as being the the one in the cowboy hat turning ribbons into a a rapid fire array of lever action rifles (Sheriff), and the one without the light under their hood and who's doing that same ribbon trick but with bolt action rifles instead (Freon). Also y'know, four missiles coming down at you. You realize they're going to try and force you to do your dash and then nail you either during it or as it ends when trajectory is the most predictable.
Faith, you gotta contend with the twelve other damn missiles, the madman with a lance and shield that's trying to apparently stab and or shoot you as soon as they're done jousting one of Cynthia's vessels (Galavant) and the asshole trailing feathers of ice and who has just tossed a phone away into the sea (Goose).
Distance, Goose might not be closing in on you but they seem to have you in their sights nonetheless, their ribbons turning into an array of ornate rifled muskets that spew their deluge towards you in some crazy magical drive-by.
Also the two squadrons of Sky Wardens bringing up their rear are kinda just firing spears at ice aimed at anyone who holds still long enough for them to draw a bead.
Behind them, the allied forces shift their tactics, taking a more defensive approach as they weave between and sometimes through buildings, trying to whittle down the Sky Wardens with hit and run tactics before they can draw a bead.
Wintermute <<I've just picked up General Frost's signature>>
Wintermute <<He's hidden in the ice here somewhere>>
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on April 14, 2020, 07:07:03 pm
Instinct [6] outwards, and use that to command the crowd to dispel their attack effects. Follow that by trying to portal self and Yuki out of the magician's killzone. Cached portal to try to block the melee attack, and ideally redirect the spear attack towards the magician. If it's too big to portal, just try to avoid it in portalling self and Yuki out.
[5] 3 1 5 4 3 2 3 [6] 3
Post by: Twinwolf on April 25, 2020, 08:43:02 pm
Post by: Empiricist on May 02, 2020, 10:56:31 am
"<Looks like a weapon case, I'm afraid I don't recognize the depressions. Isabella?>"
The bride to be leans down, slowly running her hands across the depressions within the case. You're not entirely sure how much she'd really feel through plated armor, but apparently it's enough.
"<...Portable tabletop. I think. Some of the staff were carrying them, one could match the depressions.>"
"Oh those."
"You're familiar with them?"
"Heard of them. They're the weapon of choice for the Card Emperors. They're sort of like a domestic terrorist group with delusions of grandeur."
Oh. Those guys. You heard about them on the news a few times. They're yeah, somewhere between a terrorist organization and a criminal organization. That seems a bit way too concerned about children's card games. You kinda just assumed they were a schizophrenic hallucination right up until you overheard some of your classmates discussing them. If memory serves they recently tried to bomb a plane or something. Emphasis on tried to.
"They're not as big a threat as they think they are."
She smiles reassuring at you.
"Anyways... that would make it a weapon right? Not a tool or something?"
"<Not unless he needs to play poker on the move.>"
"So doubtful then?"
Yeah, doubtful. Guy was in such a hurry he didn't even lock the laptop. It's, kinda awkward to use, everything's in English and it doesn't really have physical keys or a mouse so much it's just a uniform slab with conduits you channel tiny amounts of spirit energy through. You eventually get the hang of it. Nothing too interesting on the browser unless you decide to take up baking anytime soon, but they do have one of those VoIP programs that let you make calls and texts through your computer instead of a phone. Looks like they had a recent conversation via SMS with someone. Number isn't one of their contacts. You skim through it looking for something of interest, something about the other person apparently deciding to drop by early for their date. Priest sounds rather hesitant at first in the messages, talking about them being at work and whatnot but after the other person gets real insistent and talking about er... "taking care of <his> little guy" and how sad said little guy will be if he doesn't show up, he relents reasoning "this <wedding>'s probably stalled for a while". Looks like they're meeting up real damn soon in a secluded part of this casino they call a garden.
"<...Is that a booty call?>"
"<It's worded really weirdly though, and why would he need that Portable Tabletop for it?>"
Shef and Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Maul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmZg0mcsKug) | ] |
The ground ruptures. Stone gives way to water. Solid ground to a yearning abyss. Amidst the churning crowd two cards burn to cinders, the Ten of Hearts, and the Ace of Clubs.
Yuki, you immediately find a tentacle coiling around your ankle. Naturally you proceed to chainsaw that fucker right off. The one coiling around Shef, yeah, that's not really your department; chainsaw's not exactly a precision weapon.
There's a whole cavalcade of awful bout to hit your position. Firstly there's the other tentacles erupting out around you brandishing a siren, a police badge, a coupla cans of pepper spray, five batons, and a cop hat. Secondly, there's the glowing death testicles slowly drifting inwards from the roulette-themed magic circles orbiting your position. Thirdly, there's the y'know, giant heavenly spear of judgement about to come crashing down.
So with your legs feed and a portal open you just fucking peace on outta there. Hope Shef's okay. If he ain't, well that's what you've got healing magic for!
Shef yeah, things are looking a little less cheery for you. You blow three caches to catch a portaled blade strike aimed at your spine, having the presence of mind to keep those portals open when you realize the blade's own portal didn't close. That saves you from what happens next - beams of light tearing through the Swordsman's portal like gunfire.
Well, that's one threat out of the way. Course, there's still the matter of that giant spear, gotta give it to the guy - if we're talking sheer magnitude he's got you beat. You spring open five more caches and send it right back. He did admittedly drop out of the way by that point - you couldn't really lead the shot without risking hitting the crowd with it, but really this is more about sending a message. Softening everyone up for what comes next.
Could've tried doing it first, or simultaneously, but well, this is something new. Best save it for last and give it a bit more time. Just in case.
You focus, turning your mind away from the BURNING PAIN IN YOUR EYES and towards your aura dispersing it further and further. Magic and movement tingling at the edges of your consciousness as it washes over the crowd. And then, your command.
"<W-what's happening?>"
"<Comms compromised. Switch channels.>"
So, good news is that you manage to nail all of them with your requiem, dispelling both sets of magic circles and the bubble around your head. The bad news is that the slow moving orbits fired by the roulette circles still persist, as does the betentacled watery abyss beneath you.
The worse news? You didn't hit four enemies. You hit five.
The fifth assailant occupies the exact same place in space as the Domineering Assailant. They seem to be the source of the water. And they are not happy.
A pillar of energy erupts from the crowd with an unearthly shriek. It sounds like the heavens splitting open, it sounds like the wrath of a vengeful deity, like a dentist's drill against the human soul, like the mating call of a buzzsaw through helium. It is the cry of the mortall god.
| [Now Playing: | At The Very Beginning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBRFG1WLEOA) | ] |
Yeah so uh Yuki, you're not 100% on what happened, but suddenly a lot of the things dispel, and then there's this pillar of light, and then all the water turns into blood. Or at least, you think it's blood? It's certainly the right color. You were pondering whether you should find the time to bottle some up for Shou when someone just erupts out of it, nailing Shef with a vicious uppercut.
It's a cop.
At least, you think it's a cop. She's got that American style cop hat at least. Though she does look a bit too young to be a cop. Her outfit's weird too. It's a short-sleeved dress coat with shorts and tie, heeled boots going all the way up her leg and elbow gloves. Also it's uh, all made out of leather?
Kinda weird. Especially since it looks kinda wet. Not like it's wet from the possibly-blood. Wet as in like it's still alive. Like it's the living flesh of some great leviathan. ...Which might honestly be the case given that it's now shifting before your eyes, the clothes all fusing together and chitinous plating, flailing tentacles, and unblinking eyes.
Anyways, your arrow is closing in on the swordsman, but he doesn't really run, he kinda just gives you a cocky grin before slashing the air and opening up a portal. He's about to make a teleporting strike to your side, stepping to the side as he does so and unleashing deluge of light beams.
The Magician meanwhile is bursting out of the crowd, summoning a coupla more of those roulette circles. These ones spew casino chips at you which explode in mid-air into chips of lower denominations, aiming to suppress you with clouds of slow moving flakfire. You see her cast a second spell as she does so though nothing else is jumping out at you.
Shef, you're actually pretty hurt right now. Not from the uppercut. That was a bit surprising sure, the Assailant suddenly vanishing before erupting from the water you're stuck treading, but it doesn't really hurt. No what hurts are the left over energy bolts from the Magician's circles. Those hurt. And can hurt in repeated succession. Yeah, they should need to recharge between each hit... but you're pretty sure they've got a workaround. They're using the Lurker as some kinda magical power supply and keeping it all pumped up. Guess they were all trying to hustle you. Great.
Still, you might be pretty hurt, your eyes might still be watering, you might be stuck in a bind treading water, locked in a fistfight with some kinda dominatrix, but you still got a gun, you've still got your portal magic, and above all, you've still got that aura out giving you the positions of all your foes. Don't think you can keep this up for too long though.
"<You're only making this harder on yourself, stop resisting arrest and I won't punish you too much ~ ♥>" the assailant purrs, brandishing a police baton. Tough words, but you know she's no longer the one calling her shots. Whatever that Regalia she's wearing, it's got a bone to pick with you and at this point she's probably just along for the ride, like it or not.
A white border appears behind her, framing her visage. In upper left and lower right corners are a black J and a club symbol. Streams of card suit themed projectile start firing out around her position, the streams of bullets spiralling out in a pattern that alternates between rotating quickiy and slowly, a distinction that matters little when you're practically point blank and the projectiles actually move at decent speeds for once. May need to do something about that.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on May 02, 2020, 09:03:04 pm
Tracer into the crowd on the lurker. Shoot the tentacle on the leg, then single portal below to suck in water and Shef, and pop them out somewhere in the air with a good shot on the tentacle monster. Swap to grenade launcher, and hit the tentacle beast with it.
[3+1] 1 5 4 3 2 3 3 3 2
Post by: Powder Miner on May 06, 2020, 01:48:25 am
Faith tries to dodge the missiles by rolling around and going through the wide spread, blasting Galavant and any missiles converging directly on her path to him with a Freedom Beam! (She's not actually trying to REACH him yet though, for probably obvious reasons.)
World Line: 6 4 4 1 1
Distance scoffed as one of her foolish foes tried to charge directly past her, her of all people. "You will find that the Sinister Magical Girl of Space, Distance Dark, is not so easily ignored!" she shouted, probably completely inaudibly considering that they were in fact having a battle in the sky with jetpacks and magic everywhere. But what was probably a lot harder to miss than her words was the vicious bending of space that she unleashed on Goose with a harsh sideways chop of her hand. Taking advantage of his speed, she tried her best to nail him with an Einstein's Shears, even as she bobbed downwards to avoid his volley of shots. The uneven bending of space was designed this time to hopefully induce a bit of torque on him, with the intent of causing him to spin out of control from his charge.
Distance evades and uses Einstein's Shears on Goose, trying to give him a bit of a twirl with it!
World Line: 1 3 4 6 2 3 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 10, 2020, 05:30:22 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on May 10, 2020, 10:01:58 pm
But well Shef was dying so priorities, she tossed some healing magic his way so he could probably not get taken down by being clubbed over the head. Then, next priority, slashy guy but honestly he wasn't a big problem, probably should stab the mage instead because he's just gonna keep being a problem until he's defeated. So Yuki goes to do that.
Alter current result to 5. Use Salvation of the Goddess with the next 3 in line. Then, get out of the way of the teleport-y slash and charge down the mage.
Oh, and if the arrow is still active, send one towards Shef's assailant. Or if not active, make one and send it.
Post by: cronos5010 on May 11, 2020, 11:52:06 pm
Immanuel tries to make Emiya proud by attempting to throw swords at the problem until it goes away, hoping that the explosion caused by the missiles will fog up the field enough for him to move somewhere the dynamic duo can't combo him from.
Post by: Empiricist on May 16, 2020, 01:17:45 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | At The Very Beginning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBRFG1WLEOA) | ] |
"<We do! But Prez's suit has a mind of its own. Never seen it so angry before though...>"
Four cards in two pairs. They burn to naught bringing their spells to life.
The first around the Assailant is the Jack of Clubs and the Five of Spades. The second around the Magician is the Seven of Hearts and the Five of Diamonds.
You charge forwards chainsaw sparking as it grind along the ground behind you, arrow swerving towards the Assailant. There's an explosion somewhere else on the battlefield. A girlish scream too. Good, that means you're winning~ Something breaks your arrow, you don't bother turning to see what as you charge straight into the flak, and through it. It doesn't hurt. Not at all, the flak doesn't seem to be doing anything. Face flushed with a lot more concern now, the Magician draws a combat knife holding it close, though strangely you get the feeling it's aimed more at herself than you as you swing your chainsaw forwards and...
Light. Blinding light. The light of a setting sun filtered through a pair of shutter shades. The kriegsmesser catches your blade, not so much parrying it so much as guiding it, warding it against its wielder as it traces a path across your shield, splitting it open. The strike does not hurt. The barrage that follows, okay yeah that kinda hurt. Beams of light rip through the portal and into your body blasting you away from your target at the last moment.
The Swordsman stands blade readied, light filtering through his kanye shades, five rings of light rippling from the ground at his feet. "<Let's not get too hasty; I'm your opponent here.>"
He nods to his comrade.
"<Look after Izzy. I'll handle this.>"
The Magician begins moving away, presumably towards the Lurker a card in hand and drawing three more. The Swordsman meanwhile just fucking charges at you, that strange light in his eyes as he slashes the air and sends a fusillade of beams your way. You've the feeling that's just the opening, he's waiting to see what you do and readying to counter it with his portal magic.
"<Fufufufu~ We both know I have to arrest you for my practicals Mister Instructor. But if you're going to resist like this, I guess I'll just have to subdue you ~ ♥ By the way, I like it when perps don't exercise their right to silence, it makes it so much more fun ~ ♥>"
Shef, you just fucking Tracered the Lurker. He's still in the fight unfortunately, explosive reactive armor, looks like the whole squad's equipped. Shouldn't protect against a Tracer normally, least not when worn by a student, but your target's a living power supply. He must've diverted all his output into his armor at that moment. Enough to come through unscathed. A mistake. He's as skittish as he seems.
His defence worked alright. It was fucking overkill right, pumped all that power into that armor, enough to block your Tracer, enough to block it twice over at the very least. That's a lot of power, power that should have gone else where. Like into the barrage of shots rushing towards you. Many hit. Only a single one discharged. The Magician's rate is limited and it looks like she's had to use her first discharge to take out Yuki's arrow when it went for the flank. You got hit once. Only once and thanks to Yuki you had a shield from that heal so you're only slightly hurt. In return you put a bullet into the tentacle around your leg. Can't break it, it's a Regalia after all, but you disrupt it, hit it hard enough to interrupt its material form and portal the hell out. Not a bad exchange.
You cut power to the clip. It's a standard NOT gate configuration, it does something when the input gets cut. In this case it triggers a servo in the clipping mechanism, the mechanism holding the grenade launcher on your back, dropping it through a portal and into your grasp. Safety off, trigger pulled. No need to even aim, you've got portals for that, launching it right at the Assailant.
Her outfit's shifted further now, grown a little less fetishistic a little more monstrous. It's a bit bigger now, a bit more streamlined and predatory in appearance, a bit more mechanical and regal too. Chitinous plating dotted with thruster outlets, a crown of light and an armored mantle. Tentacles are a lot more prominent too, sturdier, more numerous. Going to be harder to disrupt you suspect.
Its movements are calculated, deliberate, but the sharpness, and energy of the movements, it betrays the rage and power within. Like a beartrap waiting for its prey.
Said calculated movements are currently being used to try and not get blown up by a grenade. Arms and tentacles raised to block, thrusters flaring to evade.
Sorry, but that ain't an explosive. It's a bind, and that blocking? It won't do shit.
Phantasmal chains erupt from the grenade wrapping around the berserk Regalia's limbs and tentacles and anchoring them to the ground and nearby walls, trapping Regalia and wearer in a spectral web.
Said wearer's response is pretty simple, she's gonna take that pepper spray orb spell, that one that you can't really intercept with a portal, that one that you're pretty sure Yuki can't dodge either (given that you've only ever seen her dodge by coincidence) and nail you both with it as her Regalia struggles futilely against its chains.
Using your extended aura is... it's yeah not sustainable and that little explosion cleared the crowd enough that you can see where everyone is now with the pepper spray clear from your eyes. Need to find a good time to do it though, time it wrong and you'll probably get nailed when all the strain catches up to you.
Oh also, you're pretty sure that Swordsman is using something like Stella's eyes. Doesn't seem to be quite the same though.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Faith
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Awakening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSUwTXh0FU) | ] |
Immanuel, you bring your swords in close deflecting a few ice spears in the process as you fly away from the missiles. It's pretty obvious that you can't outrun them but you don't need to outrun them, just intercept them. Easier said than done, you can't just fly away and wait for them to run into your swords, you're under fire and your foes aren't kinda enough to fire at you from a single angle. You're forced to coordinate your dashes with the speed bursts of your own blades, doing one hail of bullets and blocking the other until... Now! The missiles slam into your blades detonating in blasts of freezing energy. You pull your blades in close and commit to a longer dash but as you do you see something scintillating in the corner of your eye.
Those bullet contrails. They're not contrails. They're thread. Monofilament wires. That little shooting trick they did? It's not just to make it that little bit harder to dodge, they were scattering the wires, creating a spider's web around you. And now as they burn with ice energy, now as you try to fly out the web, they begin reeling it in, trying to trap bind and freeze in the imploding net. Evasion is impossible. You're gonna need to block or blast your way out. Punch a hole and tear free. Or call for help.
Distance, the fuck? The fuck is this? They freeze the whole district, drag you away from your beloved and into this fight with their second rate posse and they don't even give you the time of day for a proper duel? This won't stand! You'll get your fight, a proper fight not some half-arsed drive by attempt, you'll make them fight.
You weave through the bullets, twisting space to create path in the barrage seize Goose with your spell. Their velocity turns against and you hear a deafening CRACK! as great fissures tear through their armor, some kind of frosty energy leaking from their internals as their drive-by turns into a tumble. Ha take that! Wait what's that glistening- Oh! Those contrails from their bullets? They're threads and now they're reeling them in, their tumble turning into a spin as they conjure twin blades of icey energy, a flying blender ricocheting through the air at high speed towards you an angry burst of static hissing from their speakers . Looks like you've gotten your fight.
Faith, something weird happens. Galavant was rushing towards Cynthia's drone but then they suddenly stop. They just peel away, taking a burst of autogun fire for their trouble, their kite shield shattering under the barrage but sparing them from any real damage. You felt something? But it's faint, too faint for you to really know what.
At any rate now they're coming for you, their missiles too, and since you've committed to charging at them, there's a few ice spears being fired your way too. Okay. Okay. You can do this. You're "safe". Doesn't feel safe, but they don't want blood on their hands either. If this fails you just get frozen. That's all. They'll pick you back up down stream thaw you. You'll be alright. So it's okay to try this kinda calls to the ball crazy shit. Try it out with no risk. Just ignore how sharp those spears look and remember that no one's gotten wounded yet.
Yeah think about it a little more intellectually. Use your head. Now focus those emotions, that bravado, that uncertainty, that hope, that fear and drive it forwards. A wide angle burst of energy erupts from your hand vaporizing the spears and most of the missiles in an instant. A few missiles remain, too far on your flanks to get caught, too far on your flanks to hit you too as-
Something clicks. Something inside the missiles. OH SHIT. THEY DON'T NEED TO HIT? THEY CAN DO THAT?
SHIT SHIT SHIT.
You feel it! The magic inside them! They're gonna blow, catch you in the blast.
Fuck fuck fuck. What the hell do you do? Think Faith, think! could you beam them? Maybe? Maybe? You think you can but it could drain you and the big bad guy hasn't even shown up yet! And, and that knight is still charging at you. Can react in time? Maybe you could force some of the beam's energy backs and- Wait wait wait... you felt that. The missiles readying to detonate. The magic inside them. That's your energy manipulation right? So if you could feel them, then you could you, could you- fuck it, outta time, trying this shit.
You reach into the missiles on one of your flank and clamp down, hard. You force your will onto it, trying to jam them, keep them blowing for just long enough, just long enough to pass and you swerve towards them.
Cold. It feels cold. So so cold. A bitter biting cold through your coat. The freezing blasts a couple to your right, a couple behind. None of them ontop of you. It worked! It worked!
There's a rush of air and the you see that your assailant has disengaged peeling off in the opposite direction, having moved to avoid the honeytrap Cynthia had summoned in their path. Still they seem unharmed a bit of a surprise to be honest. Sure they didn't charge right into your blast and it was pretty dispersed and they were a ways back to the damage would've been fairly limited sure. But you'd have thought it might have dealt some damage at least.
Then you see it, the swirling mix of gold and purple whirring around them, spreading out and fading to naught. They caught your blast. They can manipulate energy too. They must have some kind of upwards limit, something you could probably exceed, but you're gonna need a direct hit. Grazes won't work against these guys.
They disengage, flying away as the Sky Wardens bring their full attention towards you, firing a deluge of icey spears at you. One Cynthia's drones pursues Galavant, the other returns fire on the Sky Wardens with missiles.
AWACS ReaperEye <<Warning! Eagle 4 has displayed antimissile capabilities!>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<I think it's some form of energy manipulation, range unknown.>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<So no missiles then?>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Not from afar. But if you get in up close your Shell's EMS should be able to counteract it.>>
Magus 2 Sheriff <<If we get up close those blasts are gonna fry our Shell, EMS or not!>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Not saying it's the only option to fight. Ballistics won't have enough charge to manipulate. Monofilaments should work too so long as you don't flood them with energy.>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Fight at your discretion.>>
Magus 4 Freon <<...You're going to try jousting them aren't you, Gal?>>
Magus 3 Galavant <<Hell yeah I am! Gimme some time to reposition I'm going back in for Round 2!>>
Through the TacNet you can see the red icon start to fall fall one by one. You can't see the position of the other squadrons but the status feed that shows who's just been shot down is moving real slowly. Looks like your allies are turning things around.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Noriko
Your name is Noriko Fuuri and you are not a pervert.
Okay yes there was that time at the mansion with the wind and the panties, but shit was going down and thanks to that previous fight you kinda had panties on your mind okay? And okay you might have appreciated the eye candy Patricija threw out but it was just there and you're on vacation, you're allowed to appreciate the sights every now and then! That doesn't make you a perv.
What you're trying to say is you might be in a secluded grove in a surreal casino-garden hiding in the bushes with your little brother, your mentor, and two rando adventurers spying on what sounded like, and what honestly right now looks like a booty call, but you're not doing it because you're a pervert. You're doing it because circumstance is a bitch and God if he exists (and he better be praying he doesn't) has a real sleazy sense of humor.
The priest is dressed a little more casually than the rest of the chapel-but-really-it's-just-a-casino's staff, presumably since he's currently off the clock. Powerfully built with a chiseled face framed with a smart pair of glasses and a muscular frame veiled with a white dress shirt, pale pink pants and a yellow scarf loosely draped over his chest. The lady facing him doesn't look too bad herself especially in her little black dress.
"<I'm so glad you could make it, so sorry for changing the time but something came up for I'm busy the rest of the week.>"
"<It's fine.>"
"<Though I have to say, weren't you selling yourself a little short? I mean if I knew you had a figure like that...>"
You cover Kouta's eyes. That look she's giving you'd rather he not be exposed to it.
"<Where's the hostage?>"
She falters, she looks like she's deciding whether to be shocked or to try and laugh.
"<Hostage?>"
"<I need to know if he's okay first.>"
"<Um, I don't understand?>"
"<I've got the money. Let me see the boy.>"
"<Uh... I'm really sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about.>"
"<The boy you're holding hostage, I'm hearing for the hostage exchange.>"
"<But I don't have a hostage!>"
"<But what was that about my 'little guy'?>"
"<Your, y'know your d*ck I didn't want to say it like that because it sounds so vulgar...>"
"<But the voice modulator->"
"<Oh was the connection bad again? I swear my house is like a faraday cage.>"
"<Oh shit.>"
Patricija gives you one of those looks. Those awkward "should we step in?" sorts of looks.
Post by: Strider03 on May 16, 2020, 07:59:33 pm
Back to the main task, Shef conjured a portal into his pocket, summoning a new mag for his gun into his free hand. The old magazine did not leave his gun though, and the new magazine was not brought up to be loaded. Instead he swept it out, scattering the rounds forward at the monstrous regalia, before firing a burst of normal shots.
With the last burst of the requiem aura, command the lurker to commit die. Deactivate requiem and aura. Scatter the last magazine of clothing damage rounds at the trapped assailant, and detonate them in chain reaction with regular shots. Pinpoint fire based on where the clothing damage rounds explode, prioritizing head and torso. This is done with Rapid Fire[4]
[1+1] 5 4 3 2 3 3 3 2 [4]
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 13, 2020, 11:16:13 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on June 14, 2020, 10:34:53 pm
Use lowest 5 for a Black Arrows hyper, send them all at the dude from different directions and angles, and charge him down - try to set it up so that if he tries to intercept he's running into arrows. Also, heal self.
Post by: Empiricist on June 19, 2020, 08:31:44 am
"<What?>"
Yeah needless to say the pair were not expecting an entire ragtag party to pop out of the bushes. Patricija quickly translates your words to English. The priest kinda just glances awkwardly back at the lady for a moment before responding.
"<I guess not. What's happening? Is the wedding back on?>"
Shef and Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | At The Very Beginning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBRFG1WLEOA) | ] |
EVERYTHING IS PAIN. AGAIN. BUT ALSO FOR YUKI THIS TIME.
Especially Yuki this time actually. The sudden appearance of the pepper spray around her head- ah who are we kidding, she's Yuki, she wouldn't have dodged it anyways. Okay yeah so she just gets fucking nailed in the face by lasers.
Black Arrows rush out from under her feet, it's a bit hard to figure out where exactly her foe is given that she can't see or hear clearly and the guy can just portal, but the sheer volume of arrows makes up for that expanding in a wild search pattern even if the arrows are all swerving around like, the motions of someone who's just gotten sprayed.
The Swordsman slashes again, a rift splitting through the air as a gunshot rings out. Beams streak out, rushing to carve a path through the black tide. But something's wrong, the volume of fire. It's too low, far too low, it's as if- no, that gunshot, could it be?
"<IZZY!>"
Yeah Izzy's out. Straight up just shot himself in the head. Kinda like P*rsona, except y'know, the only thing that came out was blood.
Shef wasn't done just yet, he brings another magazine to his hand and scatters it out, rounds portaling out to meet its quarry. And then he fires. The leviathan is consumed by light as bullet meets bullets, the RAM rounds dumping their own spirit energy payloads into the clothing damage rounds, overloading them in flashes of light. The monstrosity's chest tears open. There's an explosion, multiple explosions in fact, and within it all, a scream. Guess she had grenades on her.
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
The bubbles around Shef and Yuki's heads collapse. Now they're only mostly blind and in a world of hurt rather than all that plus half-deaf and suffocating. Shef drops to a knee coughing, wheezing, gasping for breath. The world's spinning. That aura extension, it's tiring to maintain.
Still, he could still fight. He's taken out their power supply. Taken a thorn out his side too. The last shreds of that living Regalia dissolving away, scattered around the smoking crater-
Smoke. Debris. Ugh.
Never let it be said that Shef Willems does not learn his lesson. He braces himself upright, straining his eyes through the pain as he scans through the smoke. He can't make out a damn thing. His eyes are burning, blinded by tears. But he can still see light. The light of magic. Of shielding. The light now revealed to his eyes, and in the smoke he sees neither healing nor shielding. Only the Lurker's combat pass had activated.
Yuki also finds the bubble vanishing from her head. She's also yeah still mostly blinded but she does at least have a better idea of where her target is and what he's doing. Namely, he's tearing open a portal except it doesn't seem to be an escape portal like the ones Shef tends to use. Because he doesn't seem to be reappearing anywhere else nearby. Instead he jumps in and the portal closes on his sword such that only the blade is exposed. And now the blade rushes towards her like a shark's fin above water. If y'know, sharks murdered things with razor sharp fins rather than crushing bites and tearing teeth.
Now Minato, you see a little more. Since y'know, you're not getting fucking pepper sprayed. Plus unlike those peasants your combat attire comes with a nice sealed helmet anyways. What you see is the Magician kick the Lurker's gun over into the smoke cloud.
You see her drawing seven cards and igniting them all. You see the massive sigil that traces behind her.
| [Now Playing: | Necrofantasia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yNATRuEvsE) | ] |
It resembles a Navajo sand painting. This one you haven't seen in particular, there aren't exactly an abundance of sand paintings bastardized with the style of a playing card illustration; still you've a good idea of what it depicts. How could you not? It's part of your family history. A bewitched bow that exiled a rogue god to the heavens above. Course your grandma's rendition had a different destination in mind, a certain lunar compound staffed with forklifts and holding a certain demagogue fated to meet his end by her team's hand.
The hero of that myth was a gambler. And he cheated. Cheated harder than a fucking Y*-Gi-Oh protagonist. How fitting, after all, the Magician's been cheating too.
Those cards she's been throwing out? She's been playing them the same order she first scattered them. Whole point of those weak spells in the opening was probably to get a nice good look at her deck before the reset.
You're guessing this is "all in".
Spinning magic circles flare to life around Shef, their inscriptions reminiscent of the patterns on a roulette wheel further sigils and circuit lines intersecting through their forms giving them a more sophisticated construct-like appearance. They spin rapidly around Shef tracing walls of unmoving munitions, a few holes poked here and there to create a veritable maze of bullets. When the bullets finally move, they move in as one, a labyrinth constructed and imploded layer by layer, Shef trapped within.
And running right out of the smoke, into the labyrinth, is the Assailant. You spend extra long examining her just to be sure. It's always important to make sure if someone suddenly pops back up they're not just a decoy or something. Yup. Totally. Not because she's in her underwear now. Not at all nope.
Oh yeah she's still in the game. Practically unharmed really. See, what Shef and Yuki didn't see was that the moment she got her bubbles out she started cutting power to her Regalia, freeing her from it. That little super mode of hers? It brought her slack, just like that summoner from before. The bindings that ensnare her enlarged Regalia are not as effective at ensnaring her. Left her vest in there, her grenades too, needed to cover it up.
And now, now she's rushing out, the Lurker's handgun in her hand, an orb of energy charging in its barrel, a shred of fabric wrapped around her eyes. She blindfolded herself? Might not be a bad idea given Shef's Requiem, provided of course she can still sense him movement somehow. Though that might not be enough - he had forced that boy to shoot himself without so much as a glance.
So yeah, she's charging into that little slice of bullet hell, her motions are a little odd though, it's as if she's synchronizing them with the movement of those circles. Is she trying to use them as cover?
Shef, you don't really see the sigil behind the Magician, but you do have some idea of the continuously imploding bullet maze you find around you. Judging by how there are runes under you that seem to shift with even your slightest movement you're guessing this thing will try to follow you even through a portal. Course whatever damage it can do is limited however - with the power supply gone it can only do so much damage at any given time. it's hard to dodge sure, but you're not exactly good at dodging at the first place. If it comes down to it, you can take your hits.
You also just notice the Assailant charging through the maze towards you. That could be a little more problematic. You think she's trying to get off that shot she's charging at point blank range.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on June 23, 2020, 08:28:19 pm
Expulser [3] on the Assailant, followed by a set of regular shots. Aim center of mass for the first few, and if there's more time before one of the bullet hell projectile strikes and interrupts, aim a few at the arm and charging gun. Portal below feet to open the distance and evade if she chucks the gun or evades the Expulser.
[5] 4 3 2 3 3 [3] 2 1 5
Post by: cronos5010 on June 27, 2020, 07:24:37 am
Immanuel uses a 4 to activate Arcane Infusion: Mobilität+ before he tries to cut the wires before they can ensnare him.
Post by: Powder Miner on June 29, 2020, 02:29:30 am
"Ohoho, you lot are trying your very best, hmmm?" Distance spoke out loud, adopting the attitude of a smug villainess. "Well, do not feel bad about this defeat, then! It is only no wonder that wannabe supervillains would fail in combat against the real deal~" With a dramatic wave of both of her hands, Distance opened two rends in the very fabric of space itself, and with a second and sharper wave, pushed two people through these spatial abysses. Instead of in a rapidly closing set of wires, Immanuel suddenly found himself in much more open air (timed to before he had had the chance to fire off his swords), Distance pirouetting in the air into a dodge if any errant blades came her way. Goose, on the other hand, suddenly found herself right in the middle of her comrade's own attack, turned so that her blades were suddenly aimed in the direction of said comrade.
Distance uses Spatial Swap on Goose and Immanuel, trying to catch Goose in the attack aimed for Immanuel (aiming her reeling movement at the one making said attack to be a troll).
World Line: 3
Faith
Ha-hh-hh-hh shit, Faith thought, suddenly realizing that she'd only avoided fucking up so bad she'd be knocked out of the fight, and had only done so by metaphorical inches. Well, there was only enough time to be shaken briefly, she decided, so she let out a decisive breath and looked back up at her situation. She steeled herself. She had the shield, so she could probably tank the immediate part of whatever hits might come her way. But if these assholes had energy manipulation powers like she did, she had to drop some level of finesse and trickery out the window and just output raw overwhelming force close up. But that was something that Faith could in all fact do. And that’s why she found herself directly hurtling herself very fast at a frankly kind of scary armored evil guy, fast enough that second doubts could only manifest themselves when it was already pretty much too late holy SHIT the jetpack at full blast plus Leap of Apollo was fast oh my GOD—
Faith yeets herself at Galavant with Leap of Apollo to force a close-ranged battle.
World Line: 4 1 1 4
Post by: Chevaleresse on June 29, 2020, 06:16:35 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 05, 2020, 03:30:50 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Awakening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSUwTXh0FU) | ] |
So Distance, Goose just bears down on you like an angry storm of blades thrusters and tethers. Their trajectory is chaotic, unpredictable. And they're fast. Really really fast. You actually can't hit them with the swap, not directly anyways. You basically wind up having to twist the space around yourself to funnel them into your swap point and even then the persistent little bastard struggles the whole way spraying your surroundings with musket fire as they go.
Immanuel swaps in, Goose swaps out, net closes on Goose and... Absolutely nothing happens. It just wraps around them and then starts melding into them as they fire out tethers and start charging at the two of your again conjuring another array of muskets as... hmmm. Something's up. The space-time around them feels strange, as if their presence is seeping into it in a fairly wide radius. They've activated countermeasures of some kind.
AWACS ReaperEye <<Spatial manipulation detected. Source suspected to be Eagle 2.>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Coordinate and overwhelm their defenses with sustained fire.>>
Meanwhile... Faith, you see Galavant weaving through Cynthia's tracer fire with frankly frustrating agility and just fucking yeet yourself at him intent on firing a little something he'll be having a whole lot more trouble dodging.
Magus 3 Galavant <<Oh you're that eager for a fight? I accept your challenge! This is Magnus 3, initiating Harbinger Mode!>>
Magus 4 Freon <<That fool... Rye I need aim assist.>>
Galavant spins around, his cloak splaying open acting like a set of improvised airbrakes, the deceleration so violent that they snap under the strain scattering through the air. From your perspective it's as if he suddenly changed directions launching towards you. Thruster housings slam shut as icey energy pours out from his armor shrouding his form in mist. A chill runs through the air.
It's cold. Oh so cold.
Your shield begins to tremble as if seized by some unseen force as tendrils of frost begin spreading across its surface. Whatever he's doing, it must be amplifying his energy control. And now he has enough to your control. Enough to try and tear your shield asunder.
Of course, that's not his only play. Ribbons erupt out of his back curving around a full 180 degrees and racing to meet you and Cynthia as a salvo of eight missiles. He's also conjured a shield and lance, readying to meet you in a single cataclysmic clash.
Output's increased too. Not enough though. If it comes down to it you think you've got him beat in raw overwhelming firepower.
Elsewhere
An explosion consumes the Sky Warden arcane energies rending ice and shattering armor. Yet it was not the target that was destroyed rather it was the already damaged Warden next to it, shattered by a blow far too powerful for its damage state. Indeed the target, the pristine Warden, it was barely touched. Or rather it was only touched where it was allowed. The blast not so much damaging so much as sculpting it, energies channeled, refocused to strip away the fat, the excess armor. They say some sculptors do not carve a rock to their design, rather they simply see the figure entombed the rock and free it. That is what happens here. The abstract crystalline construct. It was not created from the blast, rather it was freed, freed from its slab like state. A beam lances out, racing to strike the core of its fallen partner. It was the reforged Warden's turn to take the hit now, its refined EMS curving the beam away into one of its arrayed shield plates. Steam erupts from the plate, a little too slow to be called an explosion, but violent enough in its own right launching the Warden out the way of the next volley. Adventurers duck for cover as it fires one of its shields their way, scrambling for the safety of the buildings. The buildings were safe no longer. The wrath of the russian winter howls through its autocannons, shards of ice striking the shield of and ricocheting off, striking the fleeing Adventurers from behind and sending them plummeting into the sea below.
Its partner would return soon enough, reforged and repaired. The adventurers would be washed up downstream where they would be thawed by handheld dryers. Eventually.
In the wake of these sudden upgrades, hit and run tactics begin losing their effectiveness. Soon enough the remaining friendly forces find themselves scattered to the wind, chased away in all directions.
The Allied Forces Have Been Routed
Sheriff falls back towards the approaching line of Sky Wardens, or at least the four that Cynthia didn't just murder with missiles and bees. The four wardens fall into formation behind him. With a flare of his thrusters he launches himself forwards in a charge towards Distance, a rifle in one hand, a lasso in the other. The four Wardens ready to deploy their shields, aiming to create a killzone of ricocheting ice shards around the Distance and Immanuel. Cynthia's other UAV is chasing behind him trying to strafe him down with autocannon fire.
Elsewhere
The Warden did not sense what had struck it, only that something had struck it. Something fast, something heavy, something explosive. Their EMS kicks online drawing as much of the blast away from critical components, focusing it where its armor was thicker, and in particular on its external shielding, launching it backwards as it readied its cannons. From the smoke there is a glint of gold. A lasso wrapping around its frame. A figure reels in behind it. Before it can even fire the spear had pierced its core. A swift kick to the side of the spear's shaft pries the core open, shattering it to pieces.
A new voice enters the comms.
Merlin 1 aaaaa <<This is Merlin 1. Looks like everyone's left without me. Typical. Mind if I tag along?>>
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Noriko
"<No no, I should probably go...>"
"<Wait! Erena, I'd like to go on a date with you if you're still willing.>"
"<Really Drake? You mean it?>"
"<Of course. But I need to catch this kidnapper first.>"
"<That does sound pretty urgent.>"
You clear your throat.
"<We tried that already.>"
Wait really?
"<It fades too quickly. Watch.>"
Drake produces a bottle of one of those health drink not unlike one of those you can find in your local convenience store and unscrews the cap, holding his hand over it until it begins to glow faintly. Pouring some of it into the cap he splashes Estefanía with it, a faint aura of light wreathing her armor.
He then pulls out something from pocket, it, it looks like a children's trading card depicting the same dragon as the one on that mural. Is that supposed to be this religion's equivalent of a crucifix? He holds it towards Estefanía. For a second nothing happens, but then suddenly she begins to catch fire. He quickly pockets the card and Ren sprays her down with a water spell spell.
"<See? Not enough power. She'll be on fire before she even finishes walking down the aisle.>"
"<Could you do that again?>"
"<Hmm?>"
"<I can amplify it.>"
"<Okay then.>"
He holds out his hand over the drink again and Ren takes hold of his wrist.
"<Is this grove important?>"
"<No. I think they were saying they saying they were going to clear it to build some shops.>"
"<In that case...>"
It is the smell that you notice first. The scent of flowers and nature hanging in the air, however much they seem to smell more of playing cards and casinos. it's all gone. The breeze too is gone, if but for a moment. The air hangs still save for your breaths. It's empty, sterile, devoid of life. The feel is not unlike that of a hospital, sans the cold aircon and stench of disinfectant. The next thing you notice are the trees, the grass, the flowers. They've all withered away. A very confused bird tweets in surprise as the branch it was sitting on collapses to ash beneath its claws and it very hurriedly flies the fuck away. Every plant in the entire grove is dead. Beyond dead. Withered to ash. Every shred of life torn out.
If you had to guess where it wound up, it would be the bottle that now glows much brighter than before.
"You can always power up a spell if you pay a price" She explains more to you than anyone else. Though strangely enough she doesn't seem to be looking at you so much as simply casting her eyes over where you're standing. "The trick is getting something else to pay it for you." She smiles, you suppose it was meant to be wry, or maybe reassuring but honestly it just comes off as kinda awkward. Like a man just caught by his wife jacking off into her grandpa's open coffin.
"<That's rad>"
The priest kinda just seems to stare off into space for like five seconds or so before pouring another cap and splashing it on Estefanía. It takes considerably longer for the flames to start appearing.
"<You'll have ten minutes.>"
Okay ten minutes. That's some time at least. Not a lot though. Guess that means you guys will have to speedrun the ceremony short of finding more patches of land for Ren to lifedrain anyways.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 08, 2020, 07:44:42 pm
Salvation of the goddess [4] on self, resolve to hyper again, use Determination [6], alter current result to 5.
Post by: Empiricist on July 11, 2020, 01:48:34 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Necrofantasia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yNATRuEvsE) | ] |
Yuki takes the attack head on, standing her ground she as floods her body with healing magic. The blade slashes into her hands, the natural cutting power of the messer boosted by spirit energy and sheer velocity less a sword at this point and more a flying guillotine.
The impact is explosive. There's a flash of light. The ground shatters. The shockwave resounds.
The blade rips through Yuki's shields and cuts into her hand. Yet the girl does not bleed. Did she still bleed? She could not tell but her pass hadn't gone off just yet. So she was still in the fight then.
She was still in the fight. Her hands were still around the blade. And she hadn't budged with a single inch.
With a roar of defiance (that's what people in this situation should do right?) she wrenches, tearing the Swordsman out of his portal hurling him upon the ground as her twin arrows leap up to receive their prey.
One hand loosens from the sword's grip, flicking a combat knife up from his sleeves. In a single motion he drives it down into his chestplate.
The metal ripples, rings of light tracing outwards, their wake exposing a tessellation of hexagonal cells across the boy's outfit. A protective enchantment. Explosive reactive armor. Single-use. Didn't fire off the first time Yuki hit him. He wasn't going to assume it would this time either. He was going to set it off himself.
An explosion consumes the pair, the Swordsman pouring every last bit of power into the blast. He needed to take out the arrows. Preferably blow her away too. Turning the tables, he could think about that after.
Two arrows discharge. A pass goes off. And Yuki remains where she was, pretty badly hurt again but standing defiant. The Swordsman yeah, guy's out.
Meanwhile...
Overlay Queen of Clubs
Expend Seven of Diamonds.
Expend Three of Diamonds
Overlay Five of Hearts
Overlay Two of Clubs
Expend Nine of Diamonds
Expend Seven of Spades
Overlay King of Hearts
Overlay Two of Hearts
Overlay Five of Clubs
Expend Four of Diamonds
Ten cards burn away. The labyrinth rises. Rises as it falls. Falls inwards. Inwards upon Shef.
Lana charges forward through the maze. She couldn't see. Couldn't take that risk. Wasn't entirely convinced it was enough. Fighting blindfolded, it wasn't impossible at least. Sometimes you've gotta flashbang even if you're caught in the blast. Course typically she had Levi helping her out. No such luck here. Eleutheria would have to do, she didn't have the best angle, but she had an angle at least.
With Izzy gone the odds of them winning had fallen dramatically. Her fault of course, had she not pinged the instructor he might've been forced to show his hand earlier. Back when things didn't really count. Still, if it's her mess it just meant she had to clean it up. And if she had a little bit more fun during it, well that's just a nice bonus isn't it?
Nice sentiment, but there was an expulser in the chamber pointed at her and try as she might Eleutheria was not going to evade Shef in person or by proxy. Her own bullets were closing in sure, but he'd fire before he'd be hit, and fire he does, bullet racing out to meet its quarry.
With Izzy out of the picture, Eleutheria could only discharge so much power over any given period. It could be in single big hits. It could be in several smaller partial discharges. Against someone like these instructors a big hit would be better. It would at least stagger them if only for an instant.
But what about something smaller? Something lighter? Something such as say, a bullet?
The expuler touches the maze wall. A connection. A discharge. A small discharge. Not full power. But enough, enough to ping it away.
Lana takes a step back, brushing the maze again. Another discharge. Larger this time. Again not full power. But this one hurts more, and more importantly, it gives her a good shove forwards. Another two gunshots ring out. One at the center of mass another at the imminent threat, the charging pistol. The sliver of energy left is dumped into the first shot, deflecting it. Second shot heads Lana in the arm, knocking the weapon out of her arm. Shef's already portaling the hell out.
She's hurt. Badly hurt. But she's not stopping, she spins along with the impact, taking it in her stride as she lunges forward. Shef finds himself getting yanked, yanked towards her, a crystalline cuff around his wrist, its twin around Lana's other wrist. Handcuffs. Magical handcuffs, yanking him towards her right. His exoarm begins to flicker. His RAM too. It must have Regalia disrupting properties.
They're right up against each other now. Yuki's black tide is rushing in, racing to crush Lana where she stands. But Eleutheria has one last trick up her sleeves. She draws four more cards and there. A wry smile. Just what she needed.
She produces a combat knife and moves to draw it across her hand.
All the vitality keeping her in this fight.
The entire sum of the bullet hell raging around Shef.
Four more cards.
And Lana's right to continue fighting too.
She's offering it all up in one last gamble. A proper gamble this time.
A magic circle begins tracing behind Lana. A high yield explosion spell. A last ditch attempt to take him out with them.
Spoiler: Worldlines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 11, 2020, 04:45:26 pm
"You know, there is a pile of pests to deal with in that church. We could use those gulls to power a stronger blessing."
Post by: Strider03 on July 11, 2020, 08:43:10 pm
And finally, the portals were constricted, down to a hole the size of a coin through which the chain of the handcuffs passed. And now to wait for detonation. In the meantime he'd work on getting his gun to fire, and maybe take a few potshots at the magician.
Tighten the Noose[5] and Room to Breathe[4] using Resolve to double cast. Take potshots at the magician and wait for detonation.
[4] [3+1] 2 3 3 2 1 [5] 1 1
Post by: Twinwolf on July 11, 2020, 09:06:37 pm
Alter 5. Split black arrows between enemies, then activate UI for the turn.
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2020, 12:45:45 am
"Oh um yeah!"
She seems to visibly relax. Okay sidestepped that landmine at least.
"I can do that! Just point me at- Wait you don't mean those seagulls do you?"
Yeah, you did.
"Oh uh... yeah! I'd love to do that, but um, y'know I wouldn't wanna spoil the wedding or anything by just murdering a flock of innocent birds and all!"
"<...I can accept that.>"
"<Honestly, given how our adventures often go, I daresay it would be thematic even.>"
"Oh... wonderful. Sounds er, swell!"
"<We could try random encounters first, they sound like they'd be worth more energy.>"
Shef and Yuki
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Necrofantasia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yNATRuEvsE) | ] |
So Shef just sees what's going down from a mile away and prepares to nope on right out. Were it only so easy. The Assailant wouldn't be letting him go that easily. She tears the blindfold off, taking care to keep her eyes shut tight as she slaps it around her wrist. Spirit energy pumping back into it, the shred of he Regalia begin to gather once more the scrap quickly forming a sleeve and sprouting thruster-like protrusions, jets of fluid flaring across its surface to drag Shef back.
Were it anyone else, this would've really been checkmate. But Shef's got another trick up his sleeve - he knows how Regalia works. He ain't Foundry but he has his contacts, his knowhow. In the past he designed weapons. Sold them too. Like hell he would be blind to how his own gun worked, his own exoskeleton. So the bitch was disrupting it eh? Fien. He could work with that. Just needed to turn it back on for an instant. Hell he could overload it. Easier that way. A little more bang for his buck. It'd knock it offline for a bit, but the way the fight was going he wouldn't be needing it anyways. Those newfangled eyes of his? The ability to see just how the interference worked? That was just the icing on the cake.
Flickering, screeching, flaring the exoarm overloads. Kinetic manipulators spin into overdrive, a truly monstrous amount of strength surging through the limb. Physics twists and bends, the same enchantments that allowed the limb to lift rubble without his legs feeling their weight being brought to bear, ensuring that he was dragging her towards him footing and reaction forces be damned. He lurches through the portals, apertures slamming shut like ripples played in reverse.
The chain is caught.
Shef has escaped.
Thrusters emerge from their housings, their light faint their output looking more like heat haze than anything else. The air around Yuki twists rippling and scintillating. Her mind goes blank.
LET EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN PLANNED COME TRUE. LET THEM BELIEVE. AND LET THEM HAVE A LAUGH AT THEIR PASSIONS. BECAUSE WHAT THEY CALL PASSION ACTUALLY IS NOT SOME EMOTIONAL ENERGY, BUT JUST THE FRICTION BETWEEN THEIR SOULS AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD. AND MOST IMPORTANT, LET THEM BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES. LET THEM BE HELPLESS LIKE CHILDREN, BECAUSE WEAKNESS IS A GREAT THING, AND STRENGTH IS NOTHING.
The Black Arrows vanish.
Wounds rip open.The combat passes go off.
The blast too, but it's weakened, robbed of the vitality it was pledged.
The handcuffs shatter and Shef rides the blast wave back tumbling to a halt.
Hmm.
Black lace.
Skirt looks familiar. Though he had to admit, he's never seen them from the inside. Given that he hasn't been kicked off and no one's screaming it's probably Hanako's.
Okay yeah, something's gotta be fucking with you.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on July 12, 2020, 08:32:00 am
Shef began to extract himself, making certain to only place his hands on the ground to push himself up, etc. Did not need to make this any worse.
"Did not mean for that to happen. Obviously. Sorry." Shef looked away hurriedly. "I should. . . probably wrap things up with the students."
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2020, 08:40:24 am
"I-I-it's o-okay! I k-know it's j-just an accident..."
You sure hope it is. Your phone begins to ring
It's Thorn.
Post by: Strider03 on July 12, 2020, 08:48:20 am
<"Hello.">
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2020, 08:48:49 am
"<Mister Willems, is this a good time?>"
Post by: Strider03 on July 12, 2020, 08:50:53 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2020, 09:31:18 am
"<I have the preliminary results of our investigation. All signs suggest your fate has been altered.>"
Altered?
"<Imagine if you would, your fate as a path that branches endlessly, some branches more likely, some less. Typically if one were to manipulate your fate they would seek to sway the probabilities, steer your fate so to speak. What has happened here however is that something has perturbed your fate, forced you upon a highly unlikely path such that the expected trajectories diverge completely from what one would expect.>"
"<As it lacks any continuous component I am afraid to say that it is impossible to dispel. Similarly, it is a not a matter that can be detected casually. I found it only because I searched for it specifically per your concerns.>"
"<To pluck a maze of infinite probability, to change the very trajectory of one's fate through a single perturbation isolated in time. I trust that it should be apparent enough that such is no easy feat. It would be no exaggeration to say such techniques exist only at the pinnacle of fate manipulation.>"
Great. Premium secret fate manipulation.
"<The scrying signature does not match anything within our records. I am extending our investigation through correspondence with other parties. However, if you may excuse my pride, though that same art has condemned me to this sordid state, we are its experts. If we know not of the signature, the chance anyone else is slim, to state it lightly. In light of this, it is highly likely that this was caused not by a spell but rather a Godforged Regalia.>"
Great. Great. Just pile on the good news.
"<Based on the decay rate of the residuals and what I could gather of your circumstances, I believe it was applied no more than two years ago. Scrying has also yielded the visage of an implement that is perhaps related to this, it would appear to be a bow sculpted from a still-leafened branch with a string comprised of water threading an arrow that bears the form of a sewing needle.>"
Post by: Strider03 on July 12, 2020, 09:44:45 am
"This. . . effect, does it seem like something that could be applied within a few minutes? And. . . I suppose I ought to ask, how fixed is all this, my actions and events surrounding me?"
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2020, 10:03:54 am
"<Such would not be impossible.>"
"<As for its influence. I-it it...>"
Silence. Silence for quite a while. Possibilities rush through your head.
"<*ahem* *deep exhale* M-Mister Willems a-are you simply the product of your birth? O-of couse not... these alterations, they are at most a partial rebirth. A change in circumstances that alter the paths laid before you. B-but we still have agency, e-even if it sometimes feels like it is futile. E-even if seems predetermined. T-the future is always uncertain and w-we can still choose our paths.>"
Uh. Is that directed to you, or just to herself?
"<W-was my delivery to standard?>"
"<Well, iunno what this is about, but you sounded comforting. Took a while to get there though.>"
Post by: Strider03 on July 12, 2020, 10:14:22 am
Post by: Empiricist on July 12, 2020, 10:25:13 am
"<*ahem* My apologies, please disregard that outburst.>"
"<It would not be assuredly futile. In theory they may make it difficult to pursue them, but even if such were the case with the bow as a lead I could counteract such attempts.>"
"<Our magic cannot sway will. It may bias circumstances toward your meeting persons of a certain criteria. Perhaps it could even help you create a certain impression. But it cannot infringe upon will. Be it ours or others.>"
Post by: Strider03 on July 12, 2020, 11:25:09 am
Post by: Chevaleresse on July 16, 2020, 10:00:30 pm
Post by: Empiricist on July 19, 2020, 09:55:15 am
"<I remain the only one who knows the whole truth of the matter. In researching the mechanism I did not disclose your identity.>"
"<...You um, heard that? That would be Miss Stephanidis. She doesn't know it's you.>"
Post by: Strider03 on July 19, 2020, 10:01:10 am
<"Really now. So she entered the room after you said my name, and you're certain of that? Up to you if you want to say, but. . . why is she there?>" Maybe some fancy rich person's party? Rather odd though.
Post by: Empiricist on July 19, 2020, 10:05:01 am
"<Yes. I believe so? I, may have raised my voice during my outburst just then.. She is assisting me in keeping up appearances.>"
Post by: Strider03 on July 19, 2020, 11:34:14 am
<"Are you alright? With regards to what you're calling an outburst."> Shef honestly would have ignored it as she seemed to want, if she'd not brought so much attention to it. But she had, and he didn't.
Post by: Empiricist on August 02, 2020, 08:02:37 am
Okay, so... good and bad things.
Good thing, the mark probably wouldn't be as on guard around another dude and to be honest with how her life has gone recently relying on anime tropes for success might as well be normal.
Okay, so, uh, try to herd the two of them together?"
she'd look around to try to locate some kind of landmark or otherwise something to orient based on, likely somewhere roughly in the region of the middle of the two or toward the mark. after all, herding the lovestruck girl would be... easier. Probably.
Sakurako
Finding a landmark is easy enough. The Tree of Treachery, Broken Promises and the Endless Torment of Eternal Damnation ain't exactly hard to miss and the boy is standing under it. Just need to coax Charlotte into action, something best left for your lovely comrades. She's their classmate after all. Soon enough she gets a move on.
Great, now for the approach. Remigio's currently standing, a shame, were he sitting she could ask if he would me sharing the table, one thing leads to another and bam! Contrived romantic comedy plot. Or maybe a whole load of nothing. But by then it's probably not your problem. But nope, the boy's standing and Charlotte probably has neither the reason or courage to go for a direct approach. Hmm... well there's a coupla panes of glass nearby with members of staff carting drinks in and out... if one of you were to give one of them a little bump throw one on the other it should make for a decent meet-cute. Well, maybe not a decent one, but a generic one at least? Best bump Charlotte in that case, wouldn't want Remigio's head up her skirt, which yeah, you could totally see that happening all things considered. Might need to ask what she's wearing under that illusion, he might feel something off like you did with Shef and then-
"WHIT DID YE SAY TAE ME YE TIN KIN? SAY IT AGAIN! AH DARE YE! AH DOUBLE PUMPIN' DARE YE!"
Here comes trouble. You're not sure how that man is drunk already but he's fucking plastered and he's decided to pick a fight with one of Jacqui's minions. The thing looks like the bloody Shrike (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos#The_Shrike), if the Shrike simultaneously did steroids and contracted type II diabetes from its cheeseburger addiction. It takes the tirade surprisingly well at first, either not capable of understanding what is being said, or unable to summon enough fucks to give about it.
And then he shoves it.
You're not sure what on God's green earth made him even want to shove the bastard lovechild of a porcupine and a prolapse woodchipper but he somehow manages to shove it in just the right place to send it staggering back without cutting himself in half a dozen different places in the process. Okay now it's angry, dim blades of forsaken judgement unfurling behind it like a particularly murderous peacock.
The brawl has yet to start, but very damned will if you guys don't step in. And it couldn't have happened in a worse place either - they're right next to Remigio who is very quickly getting the fuck away from that shitshow.
Post by: ragnarok97071 on August 02, 2020, 12:33:15 pm
This looked like it was going to be an absolute travesty, and now it'd gotten infinitely worse somehow.
Resolving herself to what may well end up being significant amounts of pain if this doesn't calm down quickly - as she reasoned that she'd be the only one that *could* reasonably try to contain whatever the hell that thing was, since even if it was some kind of fusion of a blender and a car accident she'd at least probably be able to heal at least, even if any contact with the thing would probably still suck if it came down to it. That said... yeah, best get over there as quick as she can, which... yeah given there's a good amount of distance between herself and the two and the fact that quite a few people were between them and actively moving away from what would likely shortly be a murder scene that would be a bit of a tough place to get through... Luckily part of keijo practice was learning some forms of acrobatics and the like, and if there was one thing she could do it was move fast. Just... had to be careful not to go too fast and make it impossible for her to actually talk properly.
Ideally, she gets a short running start, clocks up, and jumps, twisting in midair to try to land between the razor-thing and the man who had just physically assaulted it, the presence of the thing leaving maybe a little more restrained rage behind her eyes as she tries to get him to back off.
"Sir, you're drunk, please calm down and step away."
Hopefully she could either get him to back down or at least divert him away from actively attacking the fucking warform. She was at least passably sure she wouldn't kill him if he came at her, which was more than she could say about it.
that said, she had an eye on that thing, too, make sure it didn't engage either... she really hoped it didn't, she didn't want to have to fight the thing, it'd really suck.
Post by: Empiricist on August 08, 2020, 09:18:40 am
Ren visibly relaxes when you say that. A little too forgiving on flying demonspawn or conversational landmine? Hard to tell at a glance.
"Hmm... maybe we could lure them out of the chapel? It would be much easier to blow them away outside?"
"<Anyways, if we'll need to get Ren into the dungeon right?>"
"<Indeed! Trouble is, from what I can gather it was sealed off when they flooded it >"
"How can they even attack people like that?"
"<...Random encounters drag them into extra-dimensional space.>"
"<Only Ralph though, it's the queerest thing.>"
"Dungeon diving sounds pretty rough though, are you sure you're up for it Ren?"
"Of course! I'll have it cleared in no time!"
She winks. Well that's good at least. Makes sense she'd be pretty tough for Aethertide standards, after all you and Yuki alone sent what you're pretty sure was a bundle of anime protagonists packing in no time. Maybe you should just be done with the pleasantries and forcibly evict Lothgar and those gangster looking fuckers while you're at it?
"Great! I'll sit that out, I'd just be dead-weight.
That would still leave the ring, the cake (or really just its replacement), and the bouquet.
Shef
There's the longest pause and then
"<Yes. Sorry. I stubbed my toe and was in excruciating pain.>"
Well, the good news is, your contact is an awful liar.
Sakurako
Welp. Here goes nothing. You back yourself up against a wall opposite the exit and kick off to a running start through into the outside world. Crossing the threshold you drive through a passing food cart into a roll into a controlled tumble like the beginnings of a running vacuum butt cannon as your blood begins to accelerate. The tumble turns to a hop, to a leap, to a fucking flip as you launch yourself up into air, skidding to a halt between your quarries.
Okay, no lacerations just yet and you actually stuck the landing. More or less. Didn't need to resort to flying like an emo peter pan. Course with your Requiem engaged your body is now in full-on fight-or-flight response and given that you just hauled your ass over here, flight is the last thing on your mind.
Sweeping your eyes across your surroundings as you turn, you spy a few promising implements. A coupla unoccupied seats with a fair amount of cushioning, a few potplants, and a sandwich board. If push comes to shove comes to brawl you could at least use those on Mr. Stabby. Even with Keijo apparently according to Jack-O' though how exactly you're not entirely sure - sensei o-Shiri hasn't really moved onto weapons training, not that it would help since there aren't any cars, boats, or private jets around for you to use. Or guns for that matter.
Oh right. Defusing the situation. Probably best try that first before you try clocking another with a sandwich board. Two of your teammates are moving through the crowd to, so if all else fails you could stall till numbers are in your favor. Lidia and Aslan you think.
Righto. You straighten and try and defuse the situation. Of course whether your words even pierce the near-palpable miasma of alcohol floating around the guy is another matter entirely.
"<AH'AMENT BLOOTERT. YE'R BLOOTERT WEE LASSIE!>"
Okay, you think at least the message got across? Though he's not exactly standing down. Actually he's shifting around trying to get an angle on the visual representation of impending tetanus. The abomination itself isn't exactly sitting still either it seems to be shrinking, twisting and condensing its body into something smaller, something denser, a spring under tension, brimming with violence yet to be released. Turns out the process sounds fucking awful, like the mating call of an appalachian spotted cheesegrater.
"<LEMME AT 'IM! AH WILL TEACH THIS PIECE O' JUNK TAE INSULT MAH MAW!>"
You're not entirely convince that piece of junk can even speak, let alone hurl insults. Remigio continues moving away from the confrontation, along with several other members of the crowd.
Post by: Strider03 on August 08, 2020, 09:40:20 am
And Shef would do just that, inquiring of the students whether he needed to give some mark of approval, evaluation, or paperwork. He wanted some guarantee that he wouldn't see these people coming back demanding a rematch because he'd broken some hidden rules.
Post by: Twinwolf on August 08, 2020, 08:11:23 pm
Post by: Empiricist on August 08, 2020, 08:40:00 pm
"S-sure!" she says, blushing bright red for some reason. "W-where and w-when?"
"<I'm sorry I let everyone down, I'll work harder I promise!
"<Don't sweat it Izzy, we had our screwups just means we've got room to grow, ain't that right boss?>"
He wraps his arm around the boy leaving him squirming for a bit before he settles on blushing luminiscently.
"<Of course. This battle has exposed weaknesses in our approach, and we will address them in due time.>"
"<Pretty much the whole purpose.>
"<Indeed. Still, no point dwelling on it now, we can devise plans and exercises when we get the recordings and verdicts.>"
Okay wow, her personality just did a complete 180.
"<Yeah, let's just chill and take in the sights.>"
"<I hear there's a sales going on in Pavilion Square.>"
"<Ooh, gotta check that out, you coming with Izzy?>"
Izzy doesn't respond, opting to just nestle deeper into against the guy's ab plate.
"<Ah, Mister Instructor.>"
A maw opens up in her Regalia snarling at you, but she quickly pats it down.
"<...Paperwork? Everything will be handled by the analysts moving forwards. Thank you for your time.>"
Post by: Strider03 on August 08, 2020, 09:30:42 pm
"Good. Paperwork's boring. So the. . . persona, is that just for combat then? Catch people off guard?"
"And Yuki, ironic, weren't we still trying to determine things you'd forgotten?" Or were we done with that."
Post by: Empiricist on August 08, 2020, 09:53:52 pm
"<Oh, nothing of that sort sir. The exercise is over so you're no longer a perp...>"
She leans in close, real close voice breathy again.
"<Unless of course, you want to be?>"
Yeah that's gonna be a hard pass.
Post by: Strider03 on August 08, 2020, 10:24:05 pm
"Just wanted to be certain that there wasn't some vendetta or some crime I'd supposedly committed that I'd need to sort out." Given that it was Yuki and Noriko who'd gotten blackout drunk. He'd worried that perhaps Noriko had done something, and they'd been told that the criminal was the one accompanying Yuki.
Post by: Twinwolf on August 08, 2020, 10:31:25 pm
Post by: Strider03 on August 09, 2020, 08:06:31 am
"The ehm little cops and robber game. I don't want to be involved, but our opponent seemed so into it. . . ."
Shef leaned down uncertainly to whisper to Yuki. "You can just say no probably."
Post by: Twinwolf on August 10, 2020, 11:29:34 am
Post by: Strider03 on August 10, 2020, 10:04:41 pm
Ideally, find some place to sit down and relax and not be attacked, and start by dialing the first unknown number in the phone.
Post by: Empiricist on August 11, 2020, 08:38:27 pm
You dial one of the Sendo numbers.
"Hello. This is Sol and Luna. If you are hearing this message then we are likely dead."
Their clear deadpan voices would not sound amiss in a prerecorded message. The howling of the wind and the faint chatter of gunfire in the background however give you doubts this is anything other than live.
"To hear our dying message please press 1. To send your condolences please press 2. For telephone banking please press 3. For all other enquiries please leave a message after the beep. Beep."
Post by: Strider03 on August 11, 2020, 08:49:19 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on August 16, 2020, 02:54:29 am
She reaches out, gently resting a hand on his shoulder and leaning forward in what she really hoped was a distracting manner... she was imagining this guy was the cute white-haired darling from earlier which helped her get into character. "No need to worry about him, let's just get out of here, yeah?"
and then if he doesn't look to be complying, she'd sucker-punch him in the gut to hopefully wind him so that she can haul him out of the room by his ear. Or have someone else do it while she tries furiously to avoid people getting killed by the living cuisinart over there.
Post by: Empiricist on August 16, 2020, 08:21:22 am
"HEY! GIT YER HAUNS AFF O'-OOF"
You sock him right in the gut and start dragging him away. Thankfully the crowd ain't dumb and is parting to give y'all some space. Course as soon as you try dragging him away he starts thrashing and trying to break out of the grip.
Fine, hard way then. Your team mates should be here soon and there's enough signs and furniture for both of these assholes.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on August 16, 2020, 07:13:27 pm
Spoiler: Clock Up (click to show/hide)
Gotta keep clock levels in check, too much and she won't be able to do her job after taking out this one guy. Best make sure he doesn't get to do anything, then. Once it becomes clear that he's not going to come quietly even wounded, she moves on to restraint techniques, lunging toward him, aiming to wrap her legs around his waist, jam her... chest area... into his face, and use her control of her blood vessels to force it to conform to him quite a bit more... violently than most, literally smothering him in it in an attempt to force him into unconsciousness or at least stop him from struggling.
This, she internally christened:
[Jujutsu: Mashumaro Jigoku]
She would not admit this to anyone.
not even herself when she sobered up.
God this would be really embarrassing later.
No hyper, no alteration.
Post by: Empiricist on August 24, 2020, 08:50:37 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The man thrashes out of your grasp and spins around to face you with a boxing guard, not that he gets to do much with it given that you're able to use your superior speed to immediately dropkick him. He blocks, you kick off and spin around a nearby poll as he staggers backward, swinging around and catching his waist with your legs. You swing your body forcing the already unbalanced and inebriated man back on the floor before you pin him down.
It's at this point that certain oversights in your plan become apparent. Sensei o-Shiri is fundamentally extraordinary. Take away her Awakened powers and she's still a genius with a killer figure in more ways than one. You on the other hand, you are unremarkable, average, ordinary. Until recently you weren't Awakened, and even now, you look as ordinary as ever. That includes in cup size, a rather important detail when you're trying to smother a man with your breasts. Yeah, he's note exactly struggling to breath though you do still have him pinned and having a pair of breasts pressed against his face certainly isn't doing the guy any favors either.
"<Oi! whit dae ye think ye'r daein' tae mah pal?>"
Oh great, you turn to me see eight more assholes rock up. They seem sober, but not exactly reasonable either and if you had to guess based on their suits, kilts, and that wooden claymore these guys are some kinda scottish mafia.
Lidia and Aslan emerge from the crowds just in time to see one of those goons move forwards to try and pull you off their compatriot, the rest of the mob beginning to fan out, though they're more waiting to see how things play out than preparing to engage right now.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on August 24, 2020, 09:08:49 pm
Post by: ragnarok97071 on August 25, 2020, 02:44:33 am
Her heart pounds in her chest.
Her emotions surge to the forefront.
Those emotions weren't particularly nice at the moment, but hey, she managed to channel them into something that had a chance of not getting her into trouble
Why was she here again? She'd forgotten for a second.
Right. Bouncing. Kinda.
"[Your pal, dumbass, is so drunk he almost got himself killed, and didn't want ta get kicked out. You want to go with him? Fine. I'll crush all you bastards!]"
And with that, she deploys her wings, which was likely quite a sight considering that most people weren't used to peoples' blood vessels tearing themselves free of their body.
Let's be honest, while she might be able to fight these guys in a standup fight and win eventually, that wasn't really her thing. So she couldn't really keep this guy pinned and deal with his friends. Maybe one of the girls could do something, whatever. Worst case she beats the shit out of him some more.
"[Somebody hold this asshole.]"
And with that she rolls over, kicks off the man she'd been pinning, simultaneously launching him toward her two... allies? companions?
Whatever, the two she was reasonably sure wouldn't be fighting her.
And herself toward the one that was closing in on her, twisting in midair to attempt to slam her hip into his head, if she could land the hit.
Clock Up 4, using the 4 furthest to the right, no alterations. request allies subdue the guy that's currently stunned and flailing while I deal with his friend.
Post by: Strider03 on August 25, 2020, 06:55:04 am
Post by: Empiricist on August 25, 2020, 08:50:46 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
At that moment your lungs rupture, your own blood vessels tearing free from your back as a pair of fractal wings. The music shifts in the background, Jacqui moving onto her next tune as you rise upwards, spinning round to face your foes and kicking the drunkard in the him in a single fluid motion. The man just fucking slides across the ground, skidding to a halt right in front of Lidia.
| [Now Playing: | Force Addiction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzfkzRUaXvc) | ] |
It appears in a plume of smoke black as the night sky. Rough hewn stone darkened by blood and ringed by a waxen corona of half-burnt candles. It was without a doubt a sacrificial altar. And more than that, it was heavy. A fact not lost on the drunkard as it drops on his fucking spine pinning him to the ground with a sickening crunch.
At around that same time you sidestep Goon A's wild swing, leaping off the ground and slamming your rear against his jaw. He staggers backwards hurt and stunned. Damn it, not quite on the mark. You were hoping to rattle his brain with that. Must've misjudged the angle.
It's at this point that yeah, the other seven assholes decide to join in. Four of them anyways, the other three are kinda doing that action film thing where they kinda just stalk around looking threatening but not actually throwing hands. Goon B runs his hands across his claymore, electricity crackling across it as he charges towards you, aiming for wide slash. Goon C plunges her sword into the ground causing massive crystalline blades of flowing text to erupt from the ground underneath you. Goon D is also charging you, flames wreathing their right fist. Goon E summons a fucking phalanx of five faceless featureless porcelain figures armed with ceramic spears and shields.
Lidia is conjures a wicked-looking anthame with a flourish and rushes in to assist, Aslan running next to her, his outfit flickering and turning into a black duster.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 02, 2020, 08:15:48 pm
These guys were pretty slow, all things considered, especially with Sakurako's blood thundering in her ears like it had been for a while now. She lands on her hands after hitting the man's face, regaining her freedom of movement just in time to throw herself to the side, not really rolling so much as skidding across the ground and flipping up onto a chair, which is promptly kicked into D's legs, Sakurako carrying her momentum over the table next to it, grabbing onto a convenient hanging light and attempting to slingshot herself back around, aiming for the one who'd summoned those crystal blades that'd almost impaled her, reasoning that they were probably the weakest to direct attack. If she was lucky, the hip-slam she was aiming at them would be enough to knock them away from their weapon, assuming it was still planted in the ground.
The 'Why' was pretty firmly fading now. She just knew that she had something that needed fighting, and that'd be enough for her.
Alter the 1 to a 3, burn the 4 for further Clock Up.
Post by: Empiricist on September 04, 2020, 06:56:25 am
It's the big day and everything is fucked. The bride can't enter the chapel without catching fire, the groom keeps triggering random encounters as he walks down the aisle, a shadowy cult has sprung up around the wedding cake, and the ring causes its wearer to hallucinate horrifying phantasms to tempt them with dark powers. The venue has been double-booked for a shoot-out, the priest has gone AWOL, and Lothgar the Undying has invaded the banquet and is now fighting a war on two fronts against the ravenous bouquet and a random flock of psygulls.
Someone needs to sort out this clusterfuck.
And that someone was you. Was. It's sorted now.
You managed to track down the priest who was in the middle of a booty call he thought was a hostage negotiation. Learning that Ren is able to power up magic by draining the life of living beings (and having a few emotional landmines you deemed best left undisturbed) you sent her off to lifedrain the contents of the entire dungeon that turned out to be lurking beneath the chapel. Ring turned out to be beyond saving, turns out it wasn't some Lord of the Rings shit, it was some Kafka-meets-cyberpunk shit with a hallucination of the most generic corporate stock picture ever offering you immense power if you would just be as kind to answer their 1000 question survey in a process that apparently requires being transferred between five different departments and being put on hold for half an hour just to answer the first question. You noped right the fuck out and offered it to Lothgar if he'd so kindly fuck off. Apparently Lothgar is a lot more patient than you are. Bouquet, you're not entirely sure hat happened, it sort of just eloped with the cake, and the latter's cult followed them out.
With Ren returning from just eradicating an entire dungeon of all life and now having enough charge to stop the bride from catching fire for the entirety of the ceremony the pair of you eventually manage to eject the telekinetic seagulls from the chapel. And this time only Patricija lost her panties.
Last matter to attend to were the Triad-looking motherfuckers outside the chapel. You walked up to them, Vasavi Shakti'd a Narayanastra and informed them in no uncertain terms that if they were so eager to die you'd be happy to oblige them. You might have still be a tad pissed from trying to herd the fucking seagulls. The gangsters left in quite the hurry.
Well, if there's anything to say about this, it's whole experience, it's that you didn't crash into a sex shop, fight Hitler, or have to perform open heart surgery. Which might actually count as a win in your books at this point.
Oh also turns out your ass got cursed. Apparently that Black Beast you speared back in Kingshaven laid some kinda curse on you that forced you to remind everyone that you and Kouta are not blood-related at the worst possible times. God fucking damnit. Faith tore it out.
Minato, Shef, and Yuki
Whose numbers are in Noriko's phone? Why is Yuki a robot now? Y'all seek out answers to these questions.
On the phone number front, turns out the Sendo numbers correspond to Sol and Luna, no idea which one's which though. Apparently Noriko got them last night when she got drunk and hit on the pair, asking if they came as a package deal. At least, that's what the twins say. It's hard to tell with them.
Of the local numbers, one of them turned out to belong to Fiona Ritter, someone Minato would recognize to be a Reincarnation of Sir Lancelot in addition to being a member of The Crown, effectively the personal retinue of Izanami Nakahara the true Reigning Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms (no, you have no idea why her name is japanese and apparently neither do her parents). It's only natural that Minato would have heard of her. And totally not because he's a fan of her doujinshi work. Nope! Definitely not!
Another turned out to be that of Princess Patricija Kovacs, of the Drakenvaldian royal family, who a drunken Noriko went on a date with much to the delight of the tabloids. Of the remaining two phone numbers, one turns out to belong to one Alberto Di Antonio the shopkeeper of a local magic store who apparently taught a very drunk Noriko a bit of metamagic, the other turns out to belong to Sanjin Vuković a doctor who helped Noriko perform some rather extreme open heart surgery.
As for Yuki, hoo boy.
So your investigation started with the Gaia Driver's diagnostic suite. Simple enough, run a preliminary analysis figure out where to go from there. Thing is, the results raised more questions than answers.
So firstly her ass was totally cursed. Well "cursed". Cursed for all intents and purposes but mechanism. Strictly speaking it was a complex persistent transmutation that would kick in periodically to simulate what's basically a compulsive effect. Yeah almost certainly the work of that Black Beast she fought. Fits with the timeline too.
Except, that didn't make any fucking sense. Yuki wasn't being compelled to do jackshit. She was turning into a robot not refusing to disclose her name or something. And yeah, turns out it's because the curse wasn't actually doing anything. It was supposed to do something, but instead something else repurposed it as a power supply to do all the weird robot-y stuff. Issue as it were, was that y'all couldn't see what. Only thing the diagnostic suite picked up was the curse and her shielding. Which kinda implied it was some sort of internal process at play, but why the fuck would she have an internal process to turn her into a robot?
Minato uses True Regalia Replication to create a copy of Astolfo's spellbook and breaks Yuki's curse and robotic state by fucking yeeting it at her via Gandiva, something rendered way more awkward than it had to be when Gandiva's summoning also gave Minato one of those horrific ahegao compilation jackets with an inner lining that seemed to be woven together from panties.
While the curse and physical effects had been removed there was still the matter of whatever internal process was causing it, given that it was liable to start shit again given the chance if left untreated.
With that in mind and suspecting conceptual fuckery y'all headed back to Guantanamo Bay Resort to meet up with Ji-Hun Yi. Guy's parents are both researchers at Heaven's Gate, guy practically grew up there so Minato figured there was a chance he might know a thing or to. Well long story short, didn't. The girl with him did though. Name's Evangeline. Just Evangeline.
Turned out Minato did know her after all. Not by name, not face, but by subject number and designation. Subject 13. Genesis Antecedent. When scientists at Heaven's Gate realized they could create people out of the contents of Akasha, they almost immediately went all go big and go home and tried to pull "that which came before everything else". God, in other words. Well, no idea what the fuck Evangeline is. But she's certainly not God. Her data was quite useful for creating the Gaia Driver though and as it turns out, she's got a sort of instinctive sense for conceptual fuckery.
Good thing too because this one was fucking doozy.
Remember how Yuki's memories showed her stabbing her reflection? Turns out that, kinda sorta was her own existence.
She got drunk, tripped balls, and somehow (Shou's advice on how to run a con on reality probably played a part) managed to murder herself without actually dying. What this means is that right now Yuki isn't human. She isn't anything. She's a void, a vacuum. And vacuums tend to get filled by whatever's available.
That's what happened with the robotic shit. The void within her saw a chance to solidify her existence with transmutation magic and took that chance. And right now, it's really going to just take whatever chances it can get. So for how to treat it, well, she could either try and fill the void with something she wants, become human again if she wants. Become some kinda goddess like she so often claims. Could even become an Aramitama she fills it the right way. Or, she could learn how to keep her herself empty, stay as "something that exists without an existence" and see if that doesn't help her con reality even harder for fun and profit.
Faith
Battle rages through the frozen streets of Kingshaven. Entire city blocks have become consumed by ice, streets once packed with people now flooded by seas of liquid nitrogen. The culprit, General Frost of the League of Evil remains at large, lurking somewhere beneath the ice. A motley crew of adventurers, tourists, and students had launched a counter-offensive seeking to reclaim the contested area.
While initially met with some success, the counter-offensive was thrown into chaos by the entrance of the Magus Aerial Squadron. Taking advantage of the chaos to redesign and reshape his minions, Frost routed the allied forces using new "Sky Warden" constructs.
Now outnumbered and behind enemy lines, the former spearhead of the charge, Eagle Squadron (which honestly made up like 80% of the allied forces' total military power) engages Magus Squadron in vicious low altitude dogfights between the frozen edifices of once bustling buildings.
With a flash of gold Faith accelerates into close range of Galavant, the magical girl/corporate mercenary steeling her nerves for a point blank Freedom Beam.
Rather than evading answers her head-on, spinning around to meet her. His shell seals its thruster ports and begins venting a cryonic energy, its sheer output no longer able to be contained within its own form as it enters Harbinger Mode. His cloak fans out as a set of makeshift airbrakes, the deceleration so violent they snap off, scattering in his wake. From Faith's perspective it's as if he suddenly rushed to meet her, shield and lance ceysrallizing in his hands.
The ambient temperature plummets as Faith's shield begins to freeze, Galavant's overclocked EMS giving him enough control over the local energy to contend with Faith. He gets to work trying to freeze and crush her shield as he unleashes a salvo of eight missiles.
Shield compromised Faith cannibalizes her protection, redirecting its energy into her readied beam. Moments before impact a shot rings out.
Eagle 3 Legion <<Incoming!>>
It is Freon's final bid to save her comrade. A packet of cryonic energy wrapped in a cocoon of crystallized filament and fired at high velocity.
Under normal circumstances its payload would be liability, a dense bundle of magic that Faith could manipulate. Not especially well given its velocity, but enough to shift its course. Easily the difference between victory and defeat.
But these were not normal circumstances, Galavant's EMS was at play here and whatever she did, he could counteract. So instead, she dodges.
She breaks off from the charge, the bullet narrowly missing her as she sweeps a wide angle Freedom Beam across Galavant. The EMS holds, but only for a moment. The defense as futile as trying to stop a tsunami with an umbrella. Armor boils, motors detonate, ice becomes steam and machinery becomes wreckage as the shell and missiles are all but obliterated.
A phantasmal core ejects from the blast, unfolding to reveal the defeated pilot as he drifts down onto a nearby rooftop.
Faith had been quicker on the trigger than expected. But while Freon's bullet couldn't save Galavant, it could still doom his foe. The miss was expected.
Freon hadn't just lined her shot up against Faith, she had lined it up against the scattered fragments of Galavant's cloak, and now ricocheting between them the bullet rushes back from Faith's flank.
Its cocoon unravels and the energy within explodes forth, crystalizing into a shotgun blast of icey munitions.
Not time to dodge. No time to manipulate the blast. Faith finds herself in checkmate.
But watching on from her rear, Cynthia has an option still. A reckless dire option, but an option nonetheless. She weighs up the options in her head. Her vessel was expendable. Faith was not. She fires the missile.
Typically, magic-enhanced missiles use a combination of enhancement and reinforcement magic. Enhancement charges the detonation with spirit energy while reinforcement shapes the shrapnel and protects it from being destroyed by the enhanced blast. Spirit energy is then pumped into the shrapnel to up their lethality.
In this case however, with only herself and Faith in the blast radius Cynthia didn't want shrapnel. Instead the missile she fires only carries enhancement, enhancement to power up the blast and vaporize any would-be shrapnel.
Safety fuse disabled, the missile detonates almost as soon as it fires, the blast wave hurling Faith out of harm's way. Cynthia isn't so fortunate. The blast slams against her vessel leaving it scorched and fractured and sending it a plummet she rights by the barest of margins.
Not one to let the opportunity go to waste, Freon opens fire fire on the stricken drone, a deluge of frozen rounds quickly freezing half of the vseesel and leaving it dangerously tilted. Faith attempts to return fire but Freon proves to be too fast and too maneuverable, weaving through the magical girl's scaterred beams, whatever aim assist Faith's energy manipulation could afford counteracted by Freon's own EMS.
Neuromancer <<[Japanese] I see... so that's how it is...>>
Neuromancer <<[Japanese] Cut their tethers! Aim near the anchor points! They can't maneuver without them!>>
Heeding Enn's advice, Faith splits her next beam differently, aiming the majority of it for her anchor points with only a single beam aimed at the sniper herself. The beams scythe through the tethers sending the sniper into a spin. An easy target for the remainder of the beam.
The beam slams into Freon, filling the girl's world with a haze of warning messages. The pink beam that blasted off one of the shell's arms and vaporized a good chunk of its plating. She moves to control her spin, aiming tethers at a nearby building and thrusting away. Her opponent could not attack quickly. She has a chance to recover.
That chance does not come.
Faith's rate of fire may be lacking, but with her shell saturated with Doki Doki Energy, Freon was dead in the water. Sweeping her wand in a cutting motion, Faith focuses the energy on the tethers and a select few thruster units, severing them from the shell.
Now completely out of control Freon careens through the air, slamming into a building and is forced to eject.
Goose and Sheriff meanwhile close in on Immanuel and Distance, the former warded by her shell's Danger Prognosis, the latter by a vanguard of Sky Wardens.
Distance can't really determine what Goose's Danger Prognosis does, but she can sense it still and makes an the educated guess it would be less than cooperative toward her spatial manipulation shenanigans.
With that in mind she takes the safer option, directing Immanuel into a "tactical advance towards victory (and away from the enemy)", and as their pursuers close in she gestures at them casting Dark Matter. The space between the pair and their pursuers seems to explosively expand, the distance suddenly widening thwarting Magus Squadron's attempts to engage.
Sachen <<Ziel erfasst!>>
Adding insult to injury Immanuel fires one of the his railguns, the metal slug grazing Sheriff severing his shell's leg and shattering a Sky Warden behind him.
Having just dispatched Freon, Faith levels a second beam at Sheriff. Cynthia's second vessel severs the damaged shell's tethers as the beam crashes down on him.
But Sheriff is prepared. A conventional EMS might not be able to stop the beam, but the Sky Wardens do not have conventional EMS, rather they have a sacrificial EMS. Fortified with ritual magic they did not need to stop the beam. They just needed to choose what it damaged, and all their systems networked together, that was well within the their capabilities. The Freedom Beam arcs through the formation like lightning. Two Sky Wardens the one in the rear of the formation simply vanish, their entire physical existence vaporized in an instant. Sheriff remains unharmed. From the beam at least. Shell's still missing a leg from the railgun.
Before Eagle Squadron can capitalize on their momentum further the mist rolls in again, this time accompanied by the rest of the Sky Warden forces. The hastily named aaaaa links up with Faith and is promptly rechristened as Merlin after her old squadron in a bid to make her callsign actually pronouncible.
Faith attempts a wide area search using Cloud of Sunlight again, but this time her adversaries keep their distance, content with regrouping and licking their wounds rather than trying to push their wavering offensive. With visibility limited Eagle Squadron opts to do the same, de-icing Cynthia's vessel as they prep up fresh shields and railguns.
Between the howling winds and humming thrusters, it would be a mistake to say it is too quiet. But it certainly is too boring, and it really only is a matter of time now before the other shoe drops.
Movement.
Movement in Faith's clouds. Frost Eyes. Small simple constructs used as flying sensor arrays and scouting units. They're trying to narrow down her location. Immanuel's swords move to intercept, bewitched blades cleaving through the swarm.
More constructs follow. More Frost Eyes. Four squadrons of Sky Wardens. Stealth is impossible now. Eagle Squadron moves to engage.
And then, they hear it.
Broadcasted on the open channel, a loud and terrible cry.
Fox 4 Fox One <<OWO WHAT'S THIS?>>
The mist clears and sky seems to split asunder as frozen bullets fill the air, scintillating contrails packed so densely the reflections are near blinding. An apocalyptic deluge of gunfire pouring out from what is best described a flying wall of muskets, deployed and coordinated by four new figures.
| (https://www.models-resource.com/resources/big_icons/6/5325.png) |
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Faced with a frankly absurd amount of gunfire heading her way Distance just decides "fuck it" and casts White Hole.
It starts as a single mote of light, a blinding pinprick in reality. Then a gunshot wound weeping the light of forgotten stars. A hole the size of a grapefruit. Then a beachball. Then Yuki's emotional baggage filling the world with roughly as much burning radiance as a seraphic stripclub. Bullets are forced to the side if not outright incinerated in its presence.
Naturally Immanuel sees this and thinks he can do better.
Sachen <<Überwältigen!>>
He gestures and the White Hole shatters as if it were nothing but a reflection in a now-broken mirror. Yet the reflections shine still, each a fraction of the original, but together with a fury even greater. It's also completely unstable and as the reflections drift through their respective reflections they wind up discharging beams of deathly radiation in random directions along with the occasional errant shard of cosmic glass.
Eh, he'll chalk it down as a feature, keep the enemies on their toes. Especially now with the expanded White Hole having basically bisected the battlefield, with Eagle Squadron on one side with some soon-to-be-fucked Sky Wardens, and most of the League's forces on the other, consisting of the other half of the Sky Wardens, Fox Squadron, and Magus Squadron remnants. Wait, weren't there two Magus units left?
Magus 1 Goose <<*static*>>
Thrusters flaring, Goose erupts out of a nearby building. Beams and machinegun fire rake across her armor but her shell has already engaged Harbinger Mode and a small detachment of nearby Sky Wardens sacrifice themselves to spare her from the brunt of the reaction fire. While the mode had disabled her shell's thrusters and tethers she had worked to counteract this accelerating through a fucking shopping center to pick up speed by exploding out of the wall like the fucking Kool-Aid man in Harbinger Mode. A spray of frozen fire intercepts Immanuel's attempts to dodge. The damage is quite limited in part because of the man's armor and in part because only a few shots landed, but was only the set up. The contrails pull taunt and yank him backwards slamming them into Goose's freezing grasp.
Ice pours over Immanuel's armor, flowing like a particularly angry fluid as it gathers on his cape and boots freezing them solid and disabling his ability to fly as she tears off one of his railguns and ejects most of her plating in a cloud of mist to cover her retreat. A retreat that begins with the recoil of the stolen railgun and a metal slug tearing through Cynthia's vessel.
The round rips through the fuselage splitting the drone in two as Goose rockets back from the recoil, she baits a Freedom Beam by deploying tethers only to flare up her unused thrusters, launching herself in the opposite direction. The beam grazes her, held at arm's length by her EMS as she proceeds to jam her fucking arm into the beam sacrificing it to use the resultant explosion of steam to push that that final distance through a wall and into cover.
Merlin lassos Immanuel tethering him to the back of her invisible jet and sparing him the embrace of the nitrogen sea before Distance taps him temporarily disabling gravity's effect on the inventor as he begins chipping away at the ice with his blades.
The respite is short lived however as the unstable White Hole detonates, allowing the remainder of the League's aerial forces to fall upon them, any semblance of formation on either side quickly falling apart as the combatants engage in a series of vicious dogfights. Faith lets loose another scattered Freedom Beam, severing Sheriff's tethers as he tries to dodge. The main beam fails to connect, again shunted off into a few sacrificial pawns. Unfortunately for him, before he can even counterattack with his lasso he finds himself getting lasso'd to a building by Merlin and promptly 9/11'd by her seemingly inexhaustible supply of invisible jet planes.
Fox Squadron proves to be a wilier foe. Realizing what Faith's doing they adjust their tactics, throttling down their thrusters and keeping up their musket deluges. Not going full throttle costs them speed but in exchange opens the possibility of evading through sudden acceleration. Not the best odds when fighting against Faith who's seen a little too much high speed linear dash bullshit, but this works well in tandem with their sustained, almost token gunfire - the contrails act as backup tethers, and let them cover each other's backs with suppressive fire should they find themselves cut.
Of course for all their skill, Fox, or rather Joker Squadron as called by their AWACS has their own share of problems. Even if their foes didn't know it.
AWACS ReaperEye <<Fox 2!>>
Fox 1 Fox Two <<Yeah brah?>>
Fox 2 Fox Three <<Waddup?>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<Goddamn it did you link your comms again?>>
Fox 3 Fox Four <<Would you believe us if we said we didn't?>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<. . .>>
Fox 1 Fox Two <<Y'know as the great philosopher Zeno said, it's not about what the world throws at you, it's about how you take it>>
Fox 1 Fox Two <<So really it's your fault for caring!>>
AWACS ReaperEye <<. . .>>
Fox 4 Fox One <<Oh shit! Missile!>>
BOOM
Fox One would go on to survive that hit. ReaperEye wasn't sure whether to feel happy about that fact.
General Frost <<Guess if you want something right, you must do it yourself.>>
He rises from the nitrogen sea, a hulking suit of armor clad in a thick fur coat. His voice the howl of winter. His gaze enough to freeze. Across his chest is a deep scar sealed by frozen rivets, a wound that has yet to heal.
General Frost <<I applaud your tenacity. But I'm afraid this is the end of the-AAARGAGHRVBJNDKGTHJYEFSWADRTYJ!>>
Eagle 5 Merlin <<That didn't work?>>
Eagle 3 Legion <<It looked like it worked, he went "AAAARGH!" and everything>>
Wintermute <<It worked. He diverted the damage to his Sanctuary, keep hitting him and he will fall>>
General Frost <<Huff... Huff... as I was saying->>
Sachen <<Ziel erfasst!>>
BANG
General Frost <<ARRGH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?>>
General Frost <<Ahem! As I was->>
Fox 2 Fox Three <<Target locked>>
BOOM
General Frost <<YOU TOO?!>>
Fox 2 Fox Three <<I thought it'd be funny>>
Fox 3 Fox Four <<That was pretty funny>>
Deciding that monologuing was off the table and that it's time to get serious unless we wants to continue getting bullied General Frost commences his offensive by calling down another barrage of Icey BMs. It soon becomes apparent that with no need to maintain concealment, his rate of fire a tad bit faster than expected. In that the barrage doesn't actually seem to end, massive icey explosions becoming as if a meteorological phenomena no different to wind or rain.
Faith moves to engage General Frost, finding him to be a much more agreeable (read as: less annoying mobile) target even with his limited teleportation capabilities. Merlin (real name still unknown) breaks off with her using her invisible plane as a makeshift shield to protect her from incoming fire and Fox Squadron's assault. The exchange, while seemingly in Faith's favor is far from one-sided. Faith might be landing all of the shots but by some bizarre twist of fate she finds herself needing to land several while her opponent by all appearances needs to land only one, a fact he seems to know all too well given his aggressive teleportation attacks, taking full doses of Freedom Beams and Doki Doki Energy seemingly without slowing down at all.
It's here that Faith decides to shift tactics. She had the luxury of radiation poisoning now, so there was no need to go for the raw damage. No need so long as she could disable enough of Frost's kit. And she certainly could.
She focuses on the events at the Appleton Estate. The feeling of being caught at the center of what was basically a fuel-air bomb. And then seeing her classmate wounded and drugged running away from those Mononoke. The knowledge that those things lurked in the shadows. She makes a quick glance at Sol and Luna. Every little bit counts.
Purple energy flares around Faith as she catches General Frost with a pair of magical bolos. That's his teleportation gone. A cloud of purple fallout disables his targeting and doses him with that much more Doki Doki Energy. Guy was dead in the water, just needed a decisive hit, and Immanuel and Distance already had one in mind.
Sachen <<Opfer Spielen!>>
Immanuel releases the bomb, and then, he is elsewhere. He is where Frost was, positions swapped courtesy of distance. The bomb sparks, fizzles, and vanishes. There is no explosion. There will be no explosion. But Frost was marked now. He was at Ground Zero of the explosive. There is no escape now. For the spell to work, Immanuel needed two things - a delivery mechanism, and sacrifices. Distance had provided the delivery mechanism, and now, she was preparing the sacrifices.
She casts Wormhole of Champions connecting the battlefield to a makeshift camp downstream, where their fallen allies are washing up and getting defrosted. Their allies and the gear Immanuel modified for them. He'd be needing those back now. The energy of the enchantments. Every last drop.
It comes pouring in through the wormhole. Seconds later the "blast" is realized. It is as if the bomb had detonated but reality forgot to render it, forgot to register its effects, and now, only now took the time to make them manifest. Everything around the bomb when it fizzled. Whether it remained there, whether it moved. They are all struck by some tremendous unseen force. Walls shatter, Sky Wardens vanish. The ice covering entire city blocks shatters in a single instant and the nitrogen sea evaporates. Frost's frozen domain, once covering entire city blocks could scarcely cover the current combat area now, eroded by Sunbeams, explosions, and Doki Doki Poisoning.
Distance proceeds to drop a blackhole right on his lap, and really at this point he's not in a position to do much. General Frost and his two squadrons are immediately arrested, the only real surprise being when it turns out that Goose is literally just a goose.
Post by: Empiricist on September 05, 2020, 08:55:32 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Force Addiction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzfkzRUaXvc) | ] |
You slam the chair into B's legs causing him to falter as Lidia conjures a black cultish looking cloak (so that's where they've been getting those) and sweeps it over his head blinding him before she shanks him in the gut with the anthame. Aslan rushes forwards sweeping over his coat, from the abyssal depths of the fabric the barrel cannon pokes out, the diameter's absurd - the thing's gotta be at least 120 cm. Lidia slams B's head against its side, planting a paper talisman against the barrel as she does so before following up with a roundhouse kick against the man's head.
At this point the cannon just fucking erupts, a flash of radiance and a wrathful shockwave all in perfect silence. You're pretty sure it's loaded with blanks given that there's no massive gaping hole or explosion anywhere, but that's still more than enough for the blast to smash apart E's phalanax and send them diving for cover. And more saliently, more than enough of a distraction to leave C completely unprepared for you slam your hips against her head sending her staggering backwards sword still planted against the ground. The paper talisman burns away and Aslan's cannon retracts back into his weird portal coat.
D meanwhile didn't actually even bother to try and correct himself when you got out of his path. Instead he continued sprinting forwards, sprinted up one of the crystal blades and is now kicking off it, swinging his flame wreathed foot in a flying flaming reverse axe kick aimed between Lidia and Aslan. A charges in at them too, picking up a nearby chair and going for Aslan. The two students prepare to counter.
F throws a fusillade of screw drivers at you and E follows up with another phalanx charge. G and H aren't doing anything just yet, though G is staring at you rather intently.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 06, 2020, 01:23:43 am
No Hyper use, no alterations.
Post by: Empiricist on September 09, 2020, 04:39:10 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Force Addiction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzfkzRUaXvc) | ] |
So you just fucking grab C by the collar, spinning her around to catch three screwdrivers to the back and start fucking charging. E, not particularly keen on skewering their own comrade gestures, the phalanx point away their spears as the very air begins to bleed a lattice of blood forming some rudimentary exoskeleton around you giving the added strength you need to just plow through the formation. You drop the defeated C kicking her across the floor and taking out F's legs causing her to just eat shit and slam her head against the floor before you grab E and slam his head against a table until he stops moving.
Meanwhile on the home front Lidia is on the defensive having been forced to block D's blast with another altar only to now find herself having to dodge a kick as D vaults over the slab keeping up the offense. A proves to be a lot less fortunate with Aslan flipping onto a handstand with a kick that knocks the chair out of his hands, silenced submachineguns poking their barrels out from within the black depths of his duster's non-fabric and taking the goon out of the fight.
Lidia retreats as D continues his assault fists igniting as he charges forwards, the girl conjuring what appears to be a firehose. Aslan rushes over to assist.
It's at this point ground around you ignites in spectral light, a ring of ghostly teeth slamming shut around you like a bear trap. Guessing the source of it is G given the similar aura around him. H blows a cloud of sickly black smoke, concealing the pair within.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 10, 2020, 09:48:27 pm
Alter to 3. No Hyper.
Post by: Empiricist on September 13, 2020, 06:38:51 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Force Addiction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzfkzRUaXvc) | ] |
The ring snaps shut in an instant, missing you by mere millimeters as a giant spectral shark leaps from the ground. You slide off its snout and kicks off its side intent on launching yourself at the jackasses responsible. Or at least their last known position in all that darn smoke. You kick, blitzing straight through and out... the other side?
There shouldn't be an other side. With your angle of attack you'd have just smashed the floor if you missed. Which would've either been really cool or a painful but very temporary setback.
Instead you find yourself kicking through into... water? It feels like whater. But your clothes aren't getting damp. And you realize you can breath too. It's weird breathable liquid air. Everything has a bit of a blue tinge and... oh. You're inside the shark. They must've teleported you in there. Well, first thing you note is that it's much bigger on the inside. Secondly the shark doesn't have any organs. You're kinda just in a giant amoeba albeit one with a skeleton, with ribs the size of pillars. Also no digestive enzymes so the good news is you're not pitting your regen against chemical corrosion right now.
Bad new is instead of having enzymes it just has smaller spectral sharks. Seven of them are swarming towards you on all sides.
Through the hazy distorted membrane of the shark you can see Lidia turn on her hose, a bit of a problem for the rather shot up Goon D who finds himself tied but by said hose. Which has been tied to a table, a chair, and looped around the Tree of Treachery, Broken Promises and the Endless Torment of Eternal Damnation. The guy finds himself quickly dragged into the table, slammed into the chair, and then pressure against the spiky ass tree as the firehose goes wild spraying a deluge of fresh orphan blood much to the horror of the non-vampiric members of the crowd.
The shark dives into the floor, cutting of your view of the world around you. Need to get out. First gotta deal with the sharks.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 21, 2020, 12:27:18 am
She reaches into her pouches, pulling out three vials, one in one hand, two in the other, and begins evading, kicking at sharks as they pass by her, using her wings like fins to propel herself out of their way, waiting for the largest to strike before she makes her move. When it does, her wings suddenly close inward, wrapping as tightly around her as possible as the hand holding one infuser jams into her chest over her heart, and the other punches the oncoming shark right in the snout, jamming the two that it holds into it and activating them.
The infuser that fills Sakurako's veins was one of Earth, rushing through her body and wings and hardening them, crystalizing them temporarily, working with her curses to attempt to make them tougher, more resilient... this would probably still hurt a *lot*, but it would make it more likely she'd have enough of her left after the gambit to heal.
The other hand held force and fire, which combined would have a nature of something like 'an explosion', Sakurako attempting to transmute the shark from liquid whateverthehell into what is essentally nitroglycerine, detonating it with enormous force and with luck launching her free of the larger shark.
Hell, if this was what it felt like it might hurt the guy using it pretty fierce, too.
Alter to 5, use Earth injector on self to increase defense as much as possible, and Force and Fire to turn one of the sharks, the largest if there are any differences, into a bomb.
Post by: Empiricist on September 22, 2020, 06:56:20 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Force Addiction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzfkzRUaXvc) | ] |
You whizz through the confines of the summon kicking past the sharks and readying three injectors. They may be in your element, but you're still faster courtesy of that manic cocaine energy pumping through your body, and if the living nightmare that was your kidnapping has taught you anything, it's that no problem is too great if you shoot up with the right shit. Keeping that in mind you just fucking mainline the earth infuser, your body hardening to marble and your wings crystallising to steel.
You catch the biggest shark you can find, blade-like wings piercing and sinking into amoeba-like form. The damage dealt is minimal if any, its amorphous form resealing as you puncture its membrane and beginning to sink inwards, pulling you towards its churning maw. You'll feed it alright. Readying the two remaining infusers you toss them into its mouth as you angle yourself up, or at least, the direction you think is up.
There's a flash of light. A feeling of intense heat, and then crushing pressure. The shark becoming a vaguely-shark shaped explosion, becoming a violent shockwave that ripples through the beast's belly. You sail towards the edge of the beast, towards the concrete and a hard rough impact. Spinning round you meet it ass-backwards meeting the earth with a swing of your hips.
Asphalt cracks, concrete shatters. You erupt from the floor up into the air amidst a gout of phantasmal fluid, a maimed and mangled statue rapidly reverting into a human body. Blood sprays from your wounds, twisting, crystallizing to flesh, and to the two dipshits stumbling out of the fading cloud you deliver your message:
"<I lived bitch>"
H moves to conjure another cloud. Lidia and Aslan have tidied up the rest of those dipshits already. Time to teach these stragglers a lesson.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 22, 2020, 08:28:56 pm
The blood vessels in Sakurako's eyes pop. The ones in her skin, too. Normally this would just end up being bruises, but with her continual regeneration fighting the damage it mostly just ends up coloring her entire body a bright crimson as her heart begins to beat even faster, blood forcing itself through her body at such violent speeds that even her enhanced regeneration just can't keep up with it.
Hyper Clock Up
Then she rams the Wind infuser into her her heart and charges.
All things considered, the two remaining goons wouldn't even know what hit them. She'd grab them each by the throat, carrying them into the air with her upon the wings of a bloody tempest, and then turn, her eyes wide, mouth open in a lunatic grin, and drop them.
They seemed to move so slowly on their way down. That wouldn't last long, either.
Her wings flared out, fire burning through her body as it speeds up yet more, reaching a fever pitch as time stands still for a moment.
Hyper Clock Over
The cyclone bears her, and she swoops down upon them, striking them repeatedly one way, then the other, again and again, until her body was about to give out. Then she comes down one last time, from above this time, slamming the pair into the ground with the combined force of her accelerated body and the cyclone from within her.
Upside, she's sober after it's over.
Downside, given the amount of damage she probably is currently healing, she probably wishes she wasn't.
Burn all three resolve, a 5, and a 6. Clock up 5, Hyper Clock Up, and Hyper Clock Over in that order. Alter to a 5.
Post by: Empiricist on September 27, 2020, 11:56:39 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Aight, fuck it
| [Now Playing: | 祭炎 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiK7nqraLAo) | ] |
You take the last injector and drive it straight through your own heart. Truth be told you didn't need it anyways. It's just a useful nexus of blood vessels. The fastest way to put it in. Your wings flare wide, a jet of air slamming you between the two dipshits, shattering the ground. Blood splatters across the cracks, lancing back up as tendrils and knocking the pair off their feet. You kick off, bloody talons cllosing around their throats as you rocket back upwards.
Pain. Somewhere deep beneath the narcotic haze. The pain of your mouth splitting open, as the blood in its vessels crystallize, sanguine blades ripping through your cheeks leaving you with a truly deranged Glasgow grin. Your eyes bleed and rupture. Your vocal chords shred, letting loose a horrific noise, somewhere between a twisted gurgle and the screech of a climaxing woodchipper. It barely registers. The goons are screaming. And that is all that matters. You grin that little bit wider and drop them.
What follows next is a bit of a haze. Even more than usual. You distinctively remember grabbing one by the leg and doing a partial vacuum buttcannon by proxy, slaming their rear against their mate's head. You think you may have also tried to literally force their head up the other's rear. It's a bit spotty.
You recall flying back up. A sense of immense speed, and a crushing impact.
Next thing you know, you and your unfortunate foes are getting doused with feeling magic as a squad of those weird League of Evil robots hauls them onto stretchers.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: ragnarok97071 on September 27, 2020, 10:07:49 pm
Note to self: don't do that again unless you absolutely have to.
Upside, conscious now. That meant at least her nervous system was in working order. Rest of it's just machinery. She can see, so the delicate tissues had stitched themselves back together. She wasn't feeling any bones actively popping themselves back into place. She'd be fine momentarily. I mean it sucks now but it'd pass.
She tries to rise from the stretcher and sort of tumbles off of it, raising a hand to a medic as her cheeks pull themselves back together, her heart-rate getting up to a nice sprint again.
"'ll be fine. Regenerator."
A perk, surely. She looks around, trying to find her... well, the people she was working with, as she waits for her body to finish the process of becoming fully functional again.
Post by: Empiricist on October 03, 2020, 10:09:13 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
You sprint out of the alleyway, rounding the corner and what do you see? Another windowless van crashing right into your face.
| [Now Playing: | You're Gonna Pay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELcze5ASdUc) | ] |
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.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: IamanElfCollaborator
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.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | You're Gonna Pay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELcze5ASdUc) | ] |
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.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Quote from: IamanElfCollaborator
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.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | You're Gonna Pay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELcze5ASdUc) | ] |
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.
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
"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?
Quote from: IamanElfCollaborator
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 A
Rename: Hunter Neophyte F -Hyperspace Dopant F
Rename: Hunter Neophyte I -Hyperspace Dopant I
Rename: Hunter Neophyte J -Hyperspace Dopant J
Dopant 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.
| [Now Playing: | Receive You ~Tech Trance Arrange~ (https://youtu.be/ogMcv4JVvaU) | ] |
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.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Quote from: IamanElfCollaborator
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.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Receive You ~Tech Trance Arrange~ (https://youtu.be/ogMcv4JVvaU) | ] |
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.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Quote from: IamanElfCollaborator
[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.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Receive You ~Tech Trance Arrange~ (https://youtu.be/ogMcv4JVvaU) | ] |
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.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Quote from: IamanElfCollaborator
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.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Receive You ~Tech Trance Arrange~ (https://youtu.be/ogMcv4JVvaU) | ] |
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.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Allies (click to show/hide)
Quote from: IamanElfCollaborator
"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.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Receive You ~Tech Trance Arrange~ (https://youtu.be/ogMcv4JVvaU) | ] |
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.
Post by: Empiricist on October 03, 2020, 11:58:57 am
Y'all head up into Noriko's apartment for the briefing. It's been a week since you left the Aethertide, and for all of you not named Noriko it's been a while longer still since you've last set foot here. The place has certainly changed since then, you can tell even from the entrance which is now flanked by decorative suits of armor, armor that was once alive but now stuffed and mounted, polished to a mirror-sheen. The interior has changed further still, the general feel is extrudes is now truly that of a home. And of a clusterfuck. The once spartan facilities have been augmented by a rather eclectic mix of furnishings both magical and mundane. There's a new couch set up in front of a monitor that's be repurposed as a flatscreen, a gaming console tucket beneath it, minimalistic were it not for its cushions consisting of a yes/no pillow and what appears to be a picture of a hindu god wearing sunglasses. The kitchen, well, it's a proper kitchen now with some kind of weird magical pigeonhole shelf system, one of those forcefield kitchen glove generators you've seen in the Aethertide, and an impressive if rather excessive collection of knives.
Still the biggest change would have to be what greets you, the smell of freshly brewed tea. That, and the person brewing the tea.
She, look a bit like Noriko honestly. Same eye, same hair color, though she wears her hair a little longer tied into a neat ponytail. She's dressed in a butler's uniform though there's something underneath it too, black and formfitting peaking out just above the suit's collar. A refined look that is completely wasted on her as she bounds forwards like an excited puppy in a bid to hug Noriko.
"Welcome home Onee-sama!"
What the fuck.
Post by: Chevaleresse on October 03, 2020, 12:09:20 pm
Post by: Strider03 on October 03, 2020, 12:14:15 pm
As Shef now knew, illusions were not difficult to obtain, and combined with a claim of sisterhood, it might make for an excellent scam. On the other hand, Enn and Winter would have determined that, right? Too many questions.
Post by: Twinwolf on October 10, 2020, 08:19:09 pm
Post by: Empiricist on October 10, 2020, 08:30:10 pm
She says, bowing.
Post by: Powder Miner on October 21, 2020, 09:38:17 pm
Noriko not mentioning her sent a wave of confused awkwardness right through Faith --was she intentionally being snubbed, had Noriko just run over her words or something-- but that ultimately was less befuddling than the fact that there appeared to be a... slightly larger Noriko in the apartment, something Faith had no idea how to react to. She stood there continuingly baffled for several seconds, which practically felt like eleven days, until she finally got her thoughts in order. ...huh. This seemed just a little suspicious to her. Sure she'd kind of discovered a sister here in Japan, but that... had a long and unfortunate history to it, which she'd always known parts of. Maybe it was the same with Noriko. But Kotone looked oddly identical to Noriko; Faith and Yuki certainly weren't that similar. They were half-sisters, sure, but... well, still. "Huh. So you're Noriko's sister?"
Post by: Empiricist on October 21, 2020, 09:53:38 pm
Her eyes flicker to your chest
"Miss Tatsumaki, yes?"
You feel your hexes strengthen.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on October 24, 2020, 02:29:06 pm
Minato raises an eyebrow. She was cute (not as cute as Faith, definitely) but there was something.....off. He turns to Kotone.
"I guess your sister's told you all about me at this point, huh?"
Post by: Empiricist on November 15, 2020, 09:16:07 am
Well, you would certainly hope her choice to dress more as a butler wasn't in response to whatever she's been told.
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 16, 2020, 08:44:07 pm
Post by: Strider03 on November 19, 2020, 08:51:25 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on November 22, 2020, 07:20:10 am
Post by: Strider03 on November 24, 2020, 05:39:31 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 25, 2020, 07:28:48 pm
In other words, Knights Templar. This particular subsidiary of theirs operates out of St. Homobonus Basilica, helps manage that "quest board" of theirs. That would make her a cleaner or de facto investigator then. Unless she has a desk job. Movements suggest she doesn't.
Post by: Strider03 on November 25, 2020, 09:23:02 pm
Post by: Empiricist on November 28, 2020, 02:10:52 am
"Good afternoon. Today's operation is a snatch and grab. Your target is one Tsuyotomi Daichi, real name Hashimoto Hanzo."
A model of him appears beside the AIs, a middle-aged man with a powerful build and an awfully expensive suit. Floating next to him is a logo taking the form of a stylized eight-headed serpent.
"We have reason to believe he is a member of the Kujushi" "Think Yakuza 2.0" "and involved with the recent string of kidnappings."
Right, those. Sakurako wasn't a one-off, people have been disappearing. No ransom, nothing. Just snatched off the street, never to be seen again.
"Yes. While we've made some progress in foiling these attempts, we've been unable to discern destination of the victims - the kidnappers never delivered them directly, only ever through middlemen. The Kujishi as it happens."
"Needless to say, there's a bit of an infrastructural disparity between mononoke and a full-blown crime syndicate, mundane as they may be. So we need a lead and Hanzo fits that bill."
"Hanzo will be at the ELYSIUM nightclub this evening. He usually has a VIP booth reserved . You'll be entering the nightclub under covers - plainclothes officers of Sendo PD, our partners for this little endeavor, and apprehending him. Easier said than done of course - we expect he'll have some mononoke guarding him, Hunters from the Ministry of Red most likely."
Hanzo's projection is replaced with something far more fantastical. It looks like some bizarre art installation, a mummy-like figure formed from wide strips of still-liquid paint striped black red, its uniform giving it a knightly visage albeit with a visor made from clear plexiglass and tactical armor in place of plating. Next to it is an eye sigil with a stylized sword in its pupil and the words Nii-chan Is Watching.
Faith, you recognize that as being the sort of mononoke you saved Sakurako from. Minato, much the same but you just recently had a few of them try to run you down in a van. Yuki, you haven't seen these particular ones before, but there were those things you fought with Pia and Tahmras, these look much the same just with different outfits and red instead of purple.
"They're firearm specialists, predominantly armed with arcane munitions. They tend to favor suppressive fire and striking from multiple angles. Expect a high volume of fire coming you way. Their Reinforcement magic is fairly strong so cover will mean something to them. I'd advise going for their officers first if possible - that should weaken their command structure and deny them access to supportive abilities."
"Take care when fighting the ones with the harnesses - it wreathes them in a temporal anomaly letting them move instantly and negate attacks. Your best options against them would be a wide area attack or something high velocity, preferably done at close range."
"In addition to their usual loadouts, the ones in this kidnapping operation have access to performance enhancing syringes."
You ever seen a novelty dildo? Well this, is to a USB stick what a novelty dildo is to a regular dildo. If it were crossed with an autoinjector.
Armor overlays on top of the Hunter, angular with psychedelic smoke and blue-shifted light leaking from its gaps. They have a striking resemblance to those constructs you fought in the Apple Estate Sanctuary. The ones that damn near tried to detonate Faith's lungs.
"Hyperspace Dopants. Believe me, we didn't come up with the names here. They're related to the work conducted inside the Apple Estate Sanctuary, such a shock I know, they're related to a certain Project Rainbow, we're still piecing together the details at the moment."
"This alternate form enhances their mobility, durability, and close quarters performance. In particular it allows them to phase out of reality when attacking."
"To our knowledge, Hanzo himself is not Awakened. But in situations like this, we would expect the mononoke to have a fail-safe in place. A kill-switch."
"In other words, the man's probably a walking bomb and they'll probably set him off at the first sign of trouble. You should be able to figure it out and disable it if you get a close enough look at him."
"But keep an eye out for mundane measures too, they could have tricked him into carrying a bomb on him. Look for something with decent volume, like a pen or a phone."
"Keep a look out for other Kujushi members too. There's bound to be a few there as security and there's always the chance one of them's Awakened."
Post by: Strider03 on November 28, 2020, 09:49:30 am
Thus he felt himself being rather optimistic when he asked, "How feasible does a swap seem, with personal illusion magic?"
Post by: Empiricist on November 28, 2020, 06:48:47 pm
Post by: Strider03 on November 29, 2020, 08:20:33 pm
"What's our time window?"
Post by: Empiricist on November 30, 2020, 03:25:10 am
"Hanzo usually arrives at nine and stays until well past midnight."
Post by: Powder Miner on December 01, 2020, 02:40:39 pm
Faith took a moment to regain her composure and cleared her throat. "So if we do get close to the super-Yakuza guy, I should be able to break whatever curse they have on him, since I've kind of already managed to do that sort of thing before. Shef, uh... you can probably handle the mundane bomb stuff, right? But I guess also I have a question: if he's a criminal, won't the police cover spook him? And, uh... won't having a bunch of... well, eclectic teenagers as plainclothes cops be really really suspicious as clearly being Awakened stuff?"
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on December 01, 2020, 03:02:36 pm
"Well, not if we figure out a reason why eclectic teenagers would be there, no? Any internships? And in regards to Regalia, I'd have to do some reading. Weapons are one thing, but this is something else."
Post by: Strider03 on December 01, 2020, 03:05:45 pm
"And yes I can probably handle a bomb. Not that I've disarmed live bombs before." He was very careful to add that clarification, they should not get their hopes too high.
Post by: Empiricist on December 01, 2020, 04:51:25 pm
"Ideally there would be no police component, but we need it to keep this palatable to Sendo PD. If they hear Hanzo was instead kidnapped in nightclub shootout, I'd imagine they wouldn't be thinking about happy positive thoughts."
Post by: Powder Miner on December 05, 2020, 01:28:48 pm
"Uh... how often do we even have police approval anyway? We, uh... we kind of do get into destructive shootouts all the time. God only knows how much public property I've been responsible for the demise of over the course of my Awakened career."
Post by: Empiricist on December 05, 2020, 05:33:35 pm
Post by: Strider03 on December 05, 2020, 05:52:52 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 05, 2020, 06:09:21 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on December 08, 2020, 05:33:29 pm
Faith cleared her throat. "But, um, silliness aside - are we going to get to choose our disguises or have they already been picked? I'm kind of curious what I'll look like."
Post by: Strider03 on December 08, 2020, 05:41:57 pm
Post by: Empiricist on December 09, 2020, 03:43:01 am
Post by: Strider03 on December 09, 2020, 10:32:54 am
". . . how much leeway? Probably not enough to disguise myself as, Minato, correct?" It'd probably need to still be an appearance that fit the idea of cop.
Post by: Empiricist on December 10, 2020, 01:55:21 am
Post by: Empiricist on December 17, 2020, 07:23:49 pm
Strobing lights and reverberating bass filter from ELYSIUM's entrance, a taste of the revelry within, ebbing away to the normality of the world outside, its drunken raucousness and nicotine scents barely masking the reek of alcohol and vomit.
You know from the floor plans that the entrance is relatively narrow relative to the rest of the club, a natural bottleneck that makes it easy for the bouncers to control, and an absolute death trap in the event of a shootout. Emergency exits are located to the back into a loading zone though when it comes down to it in the event of a hot extract best bet is probably to just portal or smash through a wall lest they've covered that exit too.
Pressed against the left wall of the club, the entrance feeds in facing the DJ booth and screen of the expansive dance floor with a bar directly in front of the entrance along the back wall and booths on the far right side wall along with the stairs that go into the upstairs terraces where the VIP booths and your target lies.
VIP booths are by booking only and you all have a booking, so that should be accessed easily enough.
Shef and Minato, you two spot something else too, something across the street - a group of hooded hooligans loitering in an alleyway.
Hunters, your intuition says. Few eyes would linger their way normally and the alcoves give acceptable cover. More to the point they're in perfect position to fire straight through the entrance and into the club. They're watching. Not you specifically, just everyone in general, cycling their glances so they don't really look like they're looking, though they most certainly are. Go in together they'll know you're all together, for however much or however little that's worth.
Spoiler: Mission Status (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Inventories (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Layout (click to show/hide)
Post by: Strider03 on December 17, 2020, 08:41:57 pm
"We should probably split up. Front entrance is being watched, they'll know we're together." Groups of two would be fine, if necessary, but more than two and Shef was pretty certain that it would severely restrict their already delicate timing. I.e. if someone blew their cover, everyone in the group would have their cover blown.
"Gonna go in the main way myself. Any of you want to try the rear?"Things wouldn't fall apart quickly, but if their intel was bad or things went sour quickly, he was most confident in his ability to keep himself and others safe in the entryway choke point.
Post by: Chevaleresse on December 31, 2020, 04:28:23 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on December 31, 2020, 07:39:39 pm
Still, it was the mission. Though the stipulation that she should keep her disguised profile similar to her own was... annoying, she'd decided that she could live with that, and had disguised herself as a fairly generic full-Asian girl, black hair and brown eyes, something that wouldn't attract a lot of attention. She'd also disguised herself as someone in her early to mid twenties - totally believable in a club like this with fairly normal clothing, and she didn't think she could pretend to be someone older than that.
"Uh, guess I'll head in through the back then, though it's gonna be well before Noriko does, I think." Faith considered for a moment if Yuki should really be making her entrance solo... but... well, it would probably be fine. If something happened, surely Faith could just respond when already in the club, somehow.
Post by: Strider03 on January 01, 2021, 09:01:27 pm
"Each of you, pick someone, an employee to replace. Gotta be someone going on break, can't risk using any magic near the entrance." He followed this up with, "Winter, Enn, can we get a van over here or something?" Hopefully they would be clear on his intentions. After all, he had gone through them for his acquisitions for the mission.
Post by: Empiricist on January 01, 2021, 09:33:08 pm
"Understood. I trust you know how to control the dosage?"
Post by: Powder Miner on January 01, 2021, 09:38:55 pm
Post by: Strider03 on January 01, 2021, 09:45:50 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on January 31, 2021, 10:59:54 pm
Post by: Strider03 on February 01, 2021, 09:59:44 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on February 03, 2021, 03:36:52 pm
Post by: Twinwolf on February 14, 2021, 11:16:18 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 15, 2021, 12:27:14 am
Post by: Strider03 on February 15, 2021, 09:04:17 am
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on February 16, 2021, 04:40:13 pm
"If we're pretending to be clubbers, we should all go in together. It looks natural to have a group of friends walking in, and it minimises the chances that some random's going to approach us while we do our work. If we went in pair by pair, Yuki and Faith here might get held up. Of course, Shef's going to get side-eyed no matter what, so....that's going prove an issue."
Post by: Powder Miner on February 16, 2021, 05:38:41 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 17, 2021, 05:09:21 pm
Post by: Empiricist on February 24, 2021, 10:15:01 am
You split into pairs, entering the club in seperate groups. Minato and Noriko. Faith and Yuki. Shef and his general aura of sketchiness that made everyone else not want to pair up with him.
It is agreed that Minato and Noriko with take the booth. Minato's Gaia Driver should be able to passively detect any magical failsafes if he gets close enough, and unlike Faith he should be able to access the male bathrooms without raising suspicion. Noriko meanwhile should be able to destroy such failsafes with Agneyastra and launch away any mundane explosives. Finding such explosives could be trickier, out of everyone gathered Shef probably would be the best choice but since Noriko was strangely and inexplicably hesitant for him to disguise himself as her not-a-girlfriend disguised as someone else the general verdict was that a man drinking water alone at a booth would be a touch too suspicious.
((In the interest of keeping things moving, I'm including Errant Thoughts in these posts. Think of them as possible courses of action if you're not sure what to do.))
Minato and Noriko
You two are first through the entrance and near-immediately get showered with confetti. Apparently you're the 100th couple this evening. Meaning you two get some chocolates, some roses, and the "privilege" of answering questions from a far too enthusiastic staff member. "OMG! You too look so cute together! How long have you been together?" Oh not long, you only got together recently. Very recently. "Oh wow! You look like you've been together waaay longer!" The fuck's that suppose to mean? "If you don't mind me asking, just how did you two lovebirds meet?" You certainly do mind. But since the conversation is already heading down this path, you'll say... Tinder. It's always fucking Tinder. Nice and vague. Not that the questions stop. Hoo boy do the questions not stop, you two get interrogated all the way up to the VIP booths. If the walk was a few steps longer you're pretty sure she'd have moved onto your sex lives.
You two are now on the balconies overlooking the dance floor. The VIP booths as they were. You note a security guard at the bottom of the stairs, a maintenance closet at the top of the stairs, and dedicated toilets at the end of the rows of booths.
Noriko, as you pass by the maintenance closet you notice something. It's faint, barely perceivable under the bass reverberations and air conditioning, but perceivable nonetheless - breath. The cadence of something or somethings breathing. Not human patterns either. Either they've stationed a squad inside that closet or these's a group of completely unrelated monsters hiding in there. Knowing your luck it could be either.
Hanzo's booth is a ways deeper into the area than your own. You'd pass his on the way to the bathrooms. He'd pass yours on the way to the stairs. He's surrounded by two women and some goons. Regular goons you think. Or at least, formerly human goons. Might be Awakened, might not be. They're a little talkative and animated to be Hunters in disguise though. The booth next to theirs? Definitely Hunters. They're a bit too mechanical and stare a little too intensely at you as you make your way to your own booth.
They're not suspicious of you, at least you don't think they are, just observing the newcomers.
Spoiler: Errant Thoughts (click to show/hide)
Faith, Shef, and Yuki
So after Minato and Noriko get bukkake'd by confetti on the way in, you three enter the club. You only had one VIP booth booked so that means you three are stuck downstairs at the bar and dance floor til you figure a way to go upstairs, or to make Hanzo come down to you.
The place is well, it's a night club. An undulating mass of bodies reverberating in tune with the music. Ten bad decisions happen every second here, aided by alcohol and often a few harder, less legal substances. Psychedelic visuals flash on the screen behind the DJ casting harsh shadows across the dancefloor.
Yuki, you think you might be able to get away with using your Black Arrows here. You're, still not 100% what they are, something about Taoism or something? But they're not magic and they'll blend in with the shadows well enough. Course the moment you discharge them, yeah someone will probably notice something amiss.
Faith you notice a few gazes swinging over to you and your sister. Those kind of gazes. You're under illusion and all, but it still sets your stomach turning that little bit, adding a little bit more unease to the whole "man rigged with explosives in crowded nightclub" situation.
Hanzo and your teammates should be in the VIP booths upstairs. A security guard is stationed at the foot of the stairs so it'll be a little trickier than just waltzing your way up there. Beyond that, you spot at three bars, two smaller ones, one main bar. Drinks for the VIP booths get prepared at the main bar and delivered by members of staff up the stairs. Which member of staff it is varies and between the strobing lights and generally frantic work pace you doubt they'd be checking each other's faces, instead they seem to have an ID card scanner. Good to know.
Beyond that, there's the secondary goal here - finding the other threats. There's probably a few Hunters stationed here under some illusion cover. If you can find them you could be in a good place to kill them the moment you go loud.
Spoiler: Errant Thoughts (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Mission Status (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Known Enemy Positions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Inventories (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on February 26, 2021, 01:36:17 pm
Post by: Chevaleresse on February 27, 2021, 07:56:30 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 08, 2021, 05:54:34 pm
"Headshot thing?"
For his part, he checks his phone, pretending to be playing on it. Actually, he had been checking any readings he might be picking up on the Gaia Driver from their current stalkers. While the Driver sent readings to his helmet while in transformed form, Minato, for quite obvious reasons, couldn't simply turn into Masked Knight Gaia here, and so Tsukasa had developed an app that allowed him to pick up readings without transforming.
Which, in a stealth-based situation, was pretty useful.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 08, 2021, 09:03:42 pm
[Grumbling about the male gaze and suggesting that Yuki use her chuuni for non-delusional reasons]
Yuki visibly brightened at the suggestion. "Oooh! That'll be fun~ I have just the idea, they'll never be able to tell it's fake. You just follow my lead, ok?" Yuki said, before straightening up and then going straight to the VIP area; no looking around or hesitation, as far as someone on the outside would see she had her destination in mind without a shred of doubt or worry.
Then she'd try to fast talk her way in - convince them she was some rich girl who of course belonged in the VIP section, it was frankly insulting to imply otherwise, and yes she would be bringing her aide with her and if you had a problem you could route it through a long line of people who are paid too much to care about you, and all this was delivered with enough unwavering conviction that it was difficult to tell whether she was still just lying through her teeth or had conjured up a whole new delusion to believe for the time.
Post by: Strider03 on March 08, 2021, 09:23:34 pm
Quote
Anything I should know? Also please please do not let her drink anything.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 08, 2021, 10:13:15 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 08, 2021, 10:26:32 pm
Briefly shocked, he glares right back at Noriko, but he doesn't make a move to pull her off his collar.
"What the hell, Noriko? Yeah, I remember! I was asking because I wasn't paying attention!"
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 08, 2021, 11:18:01 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 09, 2021, 12:40:48 am
So Yuki takes the lead and walks straight straight past the guard and up the stairs to the VIP section. He had made an attempt to bar her entry, first with his arm, then with his voice. Yet his complaints fall on deaf ears and it is only by physically grabbing her arm that he is able to halt her "rightful" ascent.
It is only then that she acknowledges his presence. She turns her head, gaze absolutely glacial. Her expression was not hostile, but only because such is reserved for people. The look she gave his was not for a person. It was for trash, scum, filth. A lowly insolent impediment that didn't know its place.
She demanded to know the meaning behind this, not that she gave him any chance to respond, swiftly moving into a tirade that insulted not only his intelligence but that also the general competence his colleagues and really just the establishment as a whole.
Whatever the guard was going to say, he opts to leave unsaid, deciding that if some spoiled brat was going to throw a tantrum, it wouldn't be on his head, instead opting to speak a half-hearted "stay put" as he moves to confer with someone actually paid to deal with this bullshit.
The pair reach the VIP scene just in time to see the positively scandalous lover's quarrel that is... wait isn't that Minato and Noriko?
That's uh, certainly one way to pull a distraction.
Shef
You shoot off your text and look up to see uh... is that Noriko's Requiem? Why is she using it already and why on Minato?
Minato and Noriko
There's a crash. Put of the corner of your eye you see a member of staff previously holding a cake and bottle or champagne. Both are now scattered across the floor. Awkward.
More awkward though are the stares of everyone in the general area. Including Hanzo, and some of the Hunters. You see one of the Hunters reach into their jacket. A detonator most likely. They're on guard but right now they're not sure you're gunning for Hanzo.
Spoiler: Mission Status (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Known Enemy Positions (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Inventories (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on March 09, 2021, 01:03:44 am
Which she did.
A lot.
She really wasn't sure if this was some sort of distraction or not, so all she could really do was stare transfixed.
Post by: Empiricist on March 09, 2021, 03:14:13 am
It was strange you had thought, that the van's doors were positioned so close to driver side seat.
Today was Ryoichi's birthday. Rarely are you invited to parties, but today was one of the exceptions. Laser tag, a fair bit different from playing Ring as you quickly learned. Far fewer weapons for one. Much more tiring too. Or so you heard. You hadn't felt the same fatigue, maybe it was the excitement of all. Or maybe it was from the operation. Maybe you really are that little bit more like your sister now.
Not enough to stop what followed though. You were all heading back to the car, huddled under Mrs. Kato's umbrella when you noticed the van. It had been parked rather close to the car, close enough that the group had to spread a bit out to squeeze through the gap. You had stepped out into the rain.
There wasn't enough space for everyone really, besides you're pretty sure you couldn't really catch a cold anymore. Not a regular cold anymore.
Then you saw the door slide open. You saw a flash of blue and heard a muffled scream. Snatched into the van. Mrs Kato and all your friends. Tires catch the rain soaked pavement. In seconds they will be gone. Perhaps forever.
You do not have the power to save them. You are not your sister. Sisters. But you have your contingency charm. It should have enough energy to keep you, well, maybe not safe, but alive. Will that be enough? Your thoughts escape you. There is no time. Now even now the van is moving. Pulling way. Away. Out of your reach. If you do not catch it now you never will.
Will you catch it? Can you catch it? You haven't the time to tell, only to act.
How will you act?
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 09, 2021, 04:37:58 am
He pauses, before continuing, as if considering what, exactly, he intends to say.
Alternatively, he's wanted to say this for a very long time, and he's trying to get his words together in a way that makes sense.
"Yeah, you're right, you are one of my only friends. And so are Yuki and Faith. And you know what? I thought that one of my only friends would trust me a little more. I thought that one of my only friends would understand that yes, I can screw up massively, because I'm not the smartest person. I know that I've done you wrong Noriko, and for that, I am very genuinely sorry, even if you won't believe me right now, or ever, and I don't care if you don't. Because you're very right, you ARE one of my only friends and I do care about your wellbeing and I do want the best for you even I don't know HOW to do it, no matter how much shallow or stupid you think I am. Like every stupid and vapid wannabe popular girl who thinks she'll get free money out of me if she smiles cutely, compliments me and offers me actual friendship like I'm the one in distress. Because that's all I am to you right now, isn't it? Some dumb rich kid playing hero who wants a damsel in distress who couldn't possibly understand actual pain or actual hardship. You know, like I am to everybody else. But, you being one of my only friends, you should know that, shouldn't you? Because I'm such a dumb rich kid, I couldn't possibly understand what being lonely and alone feels like, right? I don't have many friends but all this fucking money makes it all better, right?"
The tone of Minato's voice lowers and clearly becomes more and more furious, the sort of tone he generally reserved for the sort of people he was about to evict out of a room by way of the nearest window.
"And yes, because you're one of my only friends, you think I haven't wanted to bring you into this part of my life for years? I dreamt about it a couple of times, you know. You, me and Yuki, seeing Aethertide together. You, me and Yuki, fighting bad guys together. So I wouldn't have to do it all or see this all without being able to tell my only friends about it. I know, you've been dealing with this your whole life, and it doesn't compare, and for that, I'm sorry again. But you think I don't know anything? I get shot in the head on an almost nightly basis. I put my life on the line on an almost nightly basis. I've taken so many hard beatings and shots on so many levels. And I couldn't even tell you about it because I didn't even goddamn know you knew. If I'd known, I wouldn't have left you alone in the dark. You don't trust that I would, but I wouldn't have. Because I do want to be a better person than you think I am."
He shoves Noriko's hand off of his collar.
"Could I even tell you that members of my family died doing this kinda thing, that my own grandmother died doing this? No. Could I tell you that some jackass broke into my house, tried to kill me, and the first time I ever even used my powers was to fight that jackass and protect myself from someone who wanted me dead probably for something I hadn't even been born for? No, I couldn't tell you. I couldn't tell my only friends about the fact that I almost died, and I couldn't tell my only friends about the fact that I put myself out there every night to stop the same kind of thing that happened to you and me from happening to other people. There was so much I couldn't tell you."
He takes in a breath as he begins to calm down, realising he'd messed up.
"I hoped that my only friends would trust me enough to be able to come to me when things went wrong instead of suffering in silence until it was too late for me to fix anything. Because you're entirely right, I want to play the hero. And that includes doing everything I can to help. And I can't do that if I don't know that there's even something wrong, or even how to fix it. I'm sorry I didn't know, I'm sorry I don't know how to fix it and I'm sorry that I'm not the hero to you I hoped I could be. I should've understood that you weren't used to this like I was. That this wasn't the world you were used to. And I'm sorry."
The look of betrayal is still very distinct on Minato's face, however, even as he looks very much apologetic.
"You're right, I should've checked on you. You're right, I should've done that for you, and for that, I'm very genuinely sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said, then or now, and for that, I'm sorry. I have done wrong by you, and for that, I'm very, truly sorry, and I'm not sure I'll ever really make it up you."
Post by: Strider03 on March 09, 2021, 06:38:41 am
But he would adapt. He had to. Smooth things over, keep these missions successful for the AI, and thereby ensure his own safety. And of course the safety of those the missions were for. He wasn't ignoring them, but a strong sense of self interest certainly helped with making the hard calls. So if Noriko had activated her requiem, then she'd likely be in combat soon, and in no position to be Hanzo's evac. Might be able to get the magic detonator disarmed, but there was no guarantee there either. He sent a text to the AI.
Quote
Evac vehicle for Hanzo. Speed over subtlety, preferably both.3-4 min maybe.
That should deal with that, it wouldn't be an issue if the vehicle had to loiter a bit while things were. . . cleaned up inside. Next, he'd take actual action, and in a manner that he sincerely hoped, but had no certainty would succeed. A deep breath, a moment of concern—might this blow up in his face?—Then commitment.
Snap a portal open under Hanzo. His position was suitable for this, and the reaction time to detonate would give Shef a window. Three clothing damage bullets, fired from the hip through a portal, deal with the mundane explosives, they'd be shredded. As for the magical explosives? Faith would have to deal with those. Hopefully she realized.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 09, 2021, 07:22:16 am
The anger began to stir in her words once again. "No, I wasn't okay. Minato, I was never okay. I had a job that I hated, and my best friend showed up damn near every day even though he knew it was humiliating. Sure, you tipped well, but you were still there, and if anything, those tips just made it more likely I'd be trapped there forever. And sure, you were worried you could make my life worse if you said anything about the Awakened world. No, I never said anything either, because every other person in my life had made things worse every single fucking time I did.
I didn't tell you anything, but Minato, you never even bothered to ask."
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 09, 2021, 07:33:24 am
But I'm here now, and I see how you feel now. It won't make up for me not being there before, but not much can. And I'm not sure if I can make things right, but I'll try."
Post by: Empiricist on March 09, 2021, 08:26:10 am
Yoake.
That name cuts through the noise like a razor. Yoake. Yoake o-Shiri. You see it in the Hunters' visages, plain as day even through their illusions. Realization.
You brace yourself for the blast; what you get is a gunshot.
A Hunter drops to the floor, dead. The detonator falling from its hands. Its killer its own comrade, with an arcane bolt to the back of the head.
A chill runs down your spine and you realize you cannot breath.
The world begins to spin, shrouded in an adrenaline haze. Your heart thunders against your chest as if trying to tear itself free. Your instincts scream at you to flee. To run. To hide. To save yourself. But your body, your body refuses to move.
Then only then it dawns on you, that you are about to die. You and everyone else in this building. Your friends. The Hunters. Hanzo too. No one will be leaving this place alive.
Now, some of you might be familiar with a little trope that shows up in anime. The idea of "killing intent", the idea of sensing the ambient hostility of another. Well, rest assured it does not even begin to compare against the real deal.
What you are feeling is not a helpful sense of danger.
What you are feeling is not a general unease.
No, what you feel is pressure. Crushing overwhelming pressure. An invisible vice around your heart, around your throat, around your head. You feel, physically feel the malice radiating around you. And you are drowning in it.
You do not know who was the first to scream. But someone begins to scream, a scream that reverberates through the air, through the crowd, through your head. Like dominos the panic begins to spread. Soon there is another screaming. And another. And yet it is all the same scream. That scream of base primeval terror. The scream of someone who knows what it means to be prey. The scream of the primordial fear man had forgotten.
The Hunters fare no better, you watch as they fall upon each with bestial savagery, rending each other apart with blade and bayonet. You watch as one the more elaborate looking ones, a commander of some sort take charge, start to rally their forces. You watch as they are struck from behind, you watch as they fall, and as they are butchered then and there by their own forces.
All of you are going to die.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 09, 2021, 11:00:24 am
Most people were not Minato Kumon.
Fear washed over Minato's psyche, washing over his troubled mind. For the barest moment, fear overtook him, overshadowing his currently conflicted emotions towards Noriko.
Steel filled his mind, as he envisioned a shield against the fear taking hold.
An ironclad vow to protect others from those who would oppress them. A promise to defend the weak. An ideal worth living up to, no matter how imperfect the reality.
It was the very core of Minato's being, a shield for his mind, the value he held dearest.
He recovers from the initial shock and steadies himself. Now wasn't the time for a heart-to-heart. Now was the time for fighting. Minato looks around. The pressure remained, the malice overwhelming, but it was nothing Minato couldn't deal with. He surveys his options. Hanzo was still alive, at least for the moment. The detonator was on the floor. Noriko was nearby, and if Minato was feeling the killing intent, she was definitely feeling it. Whoever was emitting that level of killing intent was giving off so much, Minato couldn't figure out where they were, so they were not a priority, not without Minato getting an angle to come in at him or to open him up so the others could come. Everyone else was too far away to reach, not without transforming.
The priorities in order; Noriko, Hanzo's detonator, everyone else. He was hoping Shef had Yuki and Faith covered.
But first, Noriko. He grabs her shoulder to get her attention.
"Hey, Noriko. I'm here. Eyes up. We're fine for now. You have your Requiem, right?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 09, 2021, 05:55:01 pm
It had been a while since she felt afraid. Ever since she'd become an Awakened, she couldn't really say she had. Healing magic as powerful as hers took the bite of fear out of any injury that didn't result in instant death. Even before then, she'd locked off fear as a pointless emotion that wouldn't help her make it through the work day, that wouldn't keep her from snapping or let her put one foot in front of the other. Another thing to lock up in a box and throw away the key.
But that feeling took a crowbar to that little box she'd put her fear in and wrenched it open through a different way. She still wasn't afraid for herself. She didn't care if it got her, frankly. She was afraid if it got someone she cared about. One of the few people who really gave a crap about her. It was all-consuming, petrifying fear not that she would die, but that her friends would - that Faith would.
Then she was calm. It wouldn't happen. Not while she was there. Not a conviction that she would protect her sister, so much as a simple knowledge of a fact like the sky is blue and water is wet.
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 09, 2021, 07:12:47 pm
The sheer terror was overpowering. It blew away all the pent-up resentment and hurt she'd been pouring out, all the complex feelings she had been wrestling with, replacing them with that unspeakable fear. She jerked away when Minato put his hand on her shoulder, staring at him wide-eyed.
I'm going to die I can't even see what's going to kill me where is Kouta need to get out of here need to fight this RUN AWAY push down the fear find Kouta stop the bomb need to protect Kouta ESCAPE Kouta will die Kouta FIGHT for Kouta
Noriko nodded her head, eyes still pinned open, slow as if her neck had rusted in place - but she nodded.
Kouta
Time seemed to slow as the van pulled away. He was scared, he had no experience dealing with anything like this. Yet, rather than it creeping between his bones and freezing them in place, he found himself beginning to run. Fumbling at his phone, trying desperately to contact Nori- no, the AIs, she would be too far - but willing his legs to carry him after the van far enough to help track the culprits down, at the very least. There was no way he could catch the van, nothing he could do even if he did, but he was damn well going to try anyway.
Post by: Empiricist on March 10, 2021, 04:00:10 am
You run. You run as fast as your legs can take you. As fast as your footing allows. A new resolve coursing through your veins.
Admirable. Futile, but admirable.
You may not tire, but that matters little when the van is simply faster. Worse, the slick ground slows you, limits your speed. You find yourself struggling to maintain your speed and keep your traction, let alone unlock your phone.
The van's already turned out of the car pack and you have even finished dialing. Forget stopping it, you're not even going to be able to tail it at this rate.
You need to do something, something crazy.
You spy a man exiting his car. A delivery driver you think, you saw a pizza joint nearby. It's got one of those keyless ignitions and he hasn't yet locked it.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 10, 2021, 05:13:23 pm
The mission had obviously gone to shit, at least in the way it was supposed to go. Whatever in the world Noriko and Minato had been fighting about and openly talking about their Godslayer careers about (and a thought in the back of her mind resolved to bitch them out for it later) had really lit things up. But... the bright side was that Hanzo hadn't been detonated. So she still... had a chance... to make it... happen. Taking a breath in, and a breath out, Faith stepped towards Hanzo. And another step, and another step. It felt like she was walking into a headwind. But... she knew why she was here, and she knew what she had to do, and she definitely knew that she wasn't going to just fall on the floor crying because something felt bad - not anymore - not again. And it did feel bad - it wasn't like she was freed from the feeling practically crushing her innards into a small, pulpy ball. But, god damn it, she was just going to have to act regardless.
So Faith let her magic senses guide her, moved her hands as if reeling a line in, and... began... to pull...
Faith gets a little closer and pulls any magical murder failsafes off of Hanzo! Spending a Resolve to make it happen!
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 10, 2021, 06:11:40 pm
"S-Sorry about this, I'll bring it back!" Kouta shouted his apology as he slid into the driver's seat, sneaking in just as the man exited the vehicle fully. He slammed the door shut, then awkwardly fumbled at the vehicle as he tried to figure it out on the fly. "Probably. . ." He knew the general idea of how a car worked, but learning to drive hadn't exactly been at the top of either his or his sister's priorities. He did his best to take the vehicle out of park and floored it, attempting to swerve after the van.
Post by: Empiricist on March 10, 2021, 08:30:52 pm
Screams echo through the club. Lights strobe; hearts pound. Somewhere on the dance floor two squads of Hunters regroup.
((Yuki spends 2 Resolve!))
Yuki closes her eyes and steadies her breath, focusing on her convictions. The air around her begins to calm. The world begins to seem less treacherous, the situation less hopeless. To her, and to Faith.
((Faith spends 1 Resolve!))
For Faith, the pressure seems to wane, the bloodlust begins to fade. Her determination remains all the same.
She sprints forwards across the length of the balcony Yuki in tow as they cross by Minato and Noriko, the other pair moving into cover as the boy bends low to the grab something near the fallen cake and shattered bottle.
But as she approaches Hanzo, the aura of calm seems to affect the Hunters too. One of them snaps out of their madness and realizing Faith's intent, lunges for the detonator.
((Minato spends no Resolve, because mama didn't raise no bitch.))
The cake knife pierces their palm, jamming it to floor mere millimeters away. Minato may not be transformed. Minato may not have his usual weapons. But he is still lethal with a blade. And here, fucked as the situation may be, depressing as it may sound he was in his element.
The Hunter recoils in pain, scrambling for its rifle. Too slow. Minato snatches a handgun from another Hunter, the fallen squad leader, points it to his foe's throat and pulls the trigger. An arcane bolt rips through the air, rips under the Hunter's helmet, and out through its paint-like flesh. Red and black staining the cushions behind it.
Snatching the detonator, he spins around Reinforcement magic spreading across the table as he kicks its base, and slamming the whole damn thing into the rest of the squad.
The force is too dispersed, his targets a bit too armored for the blow to kill. But he's pretty sure he broke something, and that's enough for him now as he rushes back to Noriko's side.
By now Faith has closed the distance. Hanzo is in view,well within range, and also curled up into a ball screaming along with the rest of his goons.
A portal opens up under him. There's a gunshot and a flash of light.
Okay, so now he's curled up into a ball, screaming, and naked. Extending her will, Faith reaches into his body and tears something out, the explosion spell she thinks, casting it over at the squad of Hunters Minato just brutalized.
Hanzo falls through a portal, his phone through another, a fancy fountain pen through a third.
The pen drops amidst the Hunter squad outside. The phone drops into a dumpster. If it wasn't a bomb they'll be wanting it later.
It is at this point that Yuki grabs Faith and dives to the side.
Imagine whale leaping out of a still sea. White water crashing upwards, waves and ripple radiating outwards. What happens is not dissimilar.
Blue-shifted space and psychedelic images. A wake like an explosion. Two Hyperspace Dopants crash onto the battlefield right where the pair were standing.
Yuki spins as she falls, eyes flashing red as she draws her gun. A teleportation arrow lunges upward, passing straight through one of her assailants.
It wasn't really there. Not yet. They weren't fully in-phase with reality. Able to harm, but not able to be harmed, not yet.
She waits as she falls, finger slipping towards the trigger. Watching as the aura that has enclosed this club spirals down into her chest, spirals down to fill her void.
In her enhanced sight, she see the presences fully solidify. Two shots ring out.
Two black arrows streaking from her Regalia, discharging into each Dopant. Sparks fly, armor rend. The pair are immediately thrown a backwards, chainsaw wounds tearing into their forms.
The less fortunate of the pair falls into her teleportation arrow, Yuki teleports to them, going from falling on her back to falling fist forward, driving a gauntleted fist into their head.
There's a metallic shriek as the helmet fails, as Yuki's fist crushes it, red and black spilling across the floor.
She turns to face its comrade. Waves ripple through the aura as she exerts her will.
"Mourir."
Hand struggling against its own will it complies, or at least tries to, drawing its combat knife and with shaking grasp forces it into its own throat. It's still alive, but its time is running out.
A voice rings through the team's ears.
"Shef, please modulate your aura. You're scaring your teammates. Evac will be arriving shortly."
Kouta
You drive into the car, slamming the door before the man can even react. You hit the ignition, pull the handbrake, fail, try again, fail, get it the third time, switch the car off park and gun the engine.
Oh wait no, that was the brakes.
Okay, now you gun the engines.
You haven't ever driven a car before, but you've seen people do it in movies, and you've done it before in video games. It can't be that different can-OH GOD YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE
The radio switches to its next track, and the chase, is on.
| [Now Playing: | Adrenaline (https://youtu.be/KtxhlDzBOXE) | ] |
You scream down the road (a tad more literally than planned) and find yourself quickly closing the gap to the van. Traffic is very light at this hour, rather fortunately because that's really the only reason you haven't crashed already given that you're swerving like crazy.
You see your quarry in intermittent bursts - you've fallen into a pattern of bobbing up and down, up so you can see where you're going, down so you can hit the accelerator again.
Noticing the erratically swerving car behind them (it's admittedly hard for them not to), the van begins speeding up and through the rear window you think you see one of the figures inside of it ready a rifle.
Post by: Strider03 on March 10, 2021, 09:43:24 pm
But now, something shifted. A vacuum had appeared, something activated, and it was consuming him. A new and terrifying experience, as his usual requiem could simply be absorbed, taking him along with it. Shef steadied himself, the rate of absorbtion was significant, but not dangerous to himself right now, save in nearly blinding him to the area of the building of the utmost interest for the mission. Could he set off a detonation at that point? Embed the enchantment within his aura? Yes, that might work, just needed to get the location, got it, pour in the energy, done, and—wait. Weird. That was where Yuki was last standing wasn't it? A passive defense measure? Something else? Well damn it, he wasn't gonna risk hitting a teammate, whether it was her doing or just something on her position.
Shef, maintaining his aura, snapped a portal open beneath Hanzo, delivered the clothing rounds, and waited to confirm Faith's success in removing the enchantments, before dropping the naked man down a floor. The girl had been moving a little eratically and was rather pale. What had gone on up there? He began to portal the incapacitated Hanzo towards a wall, that one seemed close enough to the street, but far enough from the Hunter packs he knew of, when the AI's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Back into the teams comms, he replied incredulously, "Modulate? Wait, why? It's wo—SHIT." Of course that was it. Why everyone save Minato had nearly frozen for a moment. Why Faith had seemed shaken. How the hell had he not realized this obvious and glaring issue!? Immediately, he began clamping down on the aura. If he could, he'd reduce the effect only near his allies, but if that control was impossible, he'd stifle the pressure entirely. All he needed was information. Shit.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 10, 2021, 10:06:40 pm
"Oh c'était toi Shef? Pourriez-vous résoudre ce problème?" Yuki said over the comms to Shef, before looking over to Faith to make certain she was ok.
(TL: "That wasn't a suggestion, it was a demand. Die." and "Oh, it was you Shef? Could you fix the problem?")
Post by: Strider03 on March 10, 2021, 10:21:49 pm
"Fix what, how? I don't what the hell's going on, or what you did!" He replied, with a great deal more indignity. And here he'd made an effort to not reveal his country of origin. What a disaster.
"Just like, speak Japanese again?"
Post by: Twinwolf on March 10, 2021, 10:33:10 pm
"Je veux mais ça sort juste en français. Je vais continuer à essayer?"
(TL: "The aura of death, what did you think I meant?" and "I want to but it comes out in French. I'll keep trying?")
Post by: Strider03 on March 10, 2021, 10:36:56 pm
Post by: Empiricist on March 10, 2021, 11:29:39 pm
Okay so the feeling of imminent inescapable doom fades away. The screaming still continues though, as do the attempts by some of the Hunters to brutally butcher one another.
Minato, you're positioned in a booth with Noriko and a terrified group of huddling people. You have the detonator for the failsafes, one of which has been transferred to the squad of Hunters you've just brutalized.
If you push the button, all of them will die, but you'll likely blow a hole in the wall which could give other foes a bead inside the club. Also your suit ain't on.
Faith, Yuki, you're on the ground next to each other. The second Hyperspace Dopant has just wrenched the knife across their throat and died.
The supply closet kicks open and two new Dopants emerge. These ones are clad in what appears to be gothic architecture and armed with gatling guns lined with stained glass murals. They're aiming for the two of you.
Shef, you're on the ground floor. There are two Hunter squads on the dance floor who have now regrouped around their commanders, taller figures with more elaborate heavier armor. One squad moves to cover behind a bar. Two of them fire at you and Hanzo with their assault rifles, arcane bolts streaking towards you. Another aims a laser designator at you, a large magical circle tracing about you. Another aims with their underslung grenade launcher.
The other squad takes cover behind the DJ's booth. Four of them aim underslung grenade launchers. Two trying to lob their rounds at Faith and Yuki, two trying to lob their rounds at Minato and Noriko. Also one of them is using a laser designator to draw a circle above all four.
"Those circles will shower you with bullets. Killing the caster won't work, you'll need to take cover or disrupt the circle itself."
Shef, you also notice vines rushing in through the loading docks. They're growing just about everywhere but they're focusing on the VIP area trying to cover where your team is standing and where you are in one fell swoop.
1 Turn Until Evac.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 11, 2021, 12:50:37 am
With the pressure fading, Noriko forced herself to un-curl and be useful. Things had gone to hell in a handbasket and then some, but that just meant she had to deal with it - and deal with it she would. An unnatural red flame sparked itself to life around her and lunged toward the circle being drawn about them, moving with what could only be described as hunger. A pair of broad-headed spears leapt out of the booth, snaking through the air to intercept the incoming grenades and carry them back to their sender - preferably delivering them to the chest cavity. Finally, Noriko herself burst upwards, slamming her spear through the ceiling above and flying into the open air with a spray of roof shrapnel, preparing to strike anyone who challenged her.
Alteration to 5.
Kouta
The boy yelped, more out of startlement than true fear. He was afraid, yes, but it found no grip on his soul. He bobbed downward, staying there for longer than he had been. He had an idea. It was a terrible one, reckless and stupid and almost as likely to get people killed as it was to help - but it was too late to back down now. The pedal hit the floor of the vehicle as Kouta continued to grapple with the steering wheel, trying to force it into the rear end of the van. At the instant before he thought he was due to strike, he let himself pop back up to guide it the last few feet to impact, hoping and praying that this would slow down the kidnappers and not hurt his friends.
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2021, 02:04:37 am
| [Now Playing: | Adrenaline (https://youtu.be/KtxhlDzBOXE) | ] |
You duck slamming the accelerator as a burst of crimson bolts tear through your windscreen, showering you with glass and blasting holes in your backrest.
Well to be fair, you did say "probably". And you never said it would be in one piece.
You peak up and you see the gunner flip something up on their rifle. Now you were always more of a fan of Ring than those shooters with more modern day settings, but you're pretty sure that's underbarrel grenade launcher.
A tinge of fear chills your mind. Are you afraid? Yes. You're afraid of being stopped. Afraid of what will happen if you stop. Of what will become of your friends. You? You don't have time to even consider it. Besides you've got shielding.
You swerve, lining yourself up, precious seconds adding to the car's life, and then you absolutely floor it.
You only look up seconds before impact. Why are they so close? Why are their brake lights on? Oh. Oh no.
There's an absolutely deafening crash, a thundrous impact, and then the feel of flying. Oh you're flying alright, you're flying out car!
Your contingency charm kicks in, a crystalline barrier blunting the impact as your face meets the van's rear. Your charm has limited charge, but it should have enough to sustain shields and regen long enough for help to come. As an added bonus it dials the AIs for you no need for you to even dial.
Tyres shriek, catching the wet road. You don't even think about it, hands quickly finding purchase in the underside of the van.
You are now hanging on for dear life, getting dragged behind the van, your charm's barrier the only thing between you the unforgiving road.
"Oh dear."
"Calling active units. Get someone here ASAP!"
The back swings open underneath you and you find yourself face to face with one of the kidnappers, an armored figure veiled with a blue-shifted space and unreal visages. Well, not quite face to face - right now you're staring down the barrel of their shotgun. Behind the noise, the rev of the engine, the road rushing beneath you, you hear someone. You hear Michi yelling, shouting, struggling.
Even now your friends are fighting, in their own little way.
The thought fills you with determination.
Post by: Strider03 on March 11, 2021, 11:24:16 am
Should he stand and fight the group entrenched behind the bar? No, no he had Hanzo with him, and even a single stray bullet might spell failure. Flee, and delay until evac arrived, that was what Shef had to do. A series of connected portals behind him, erratically jumping back , through the walls of the club, and then perpendicular, to keep the Hunters from getting any lucky shot through the wall. He leaped through, yanking the limp naked man with him. If the magic circle has followed them, Shef will prioritize using portals to surround and protect Hanzo, only sparing some for himself if it seems feasible.
Deactivate Intensify. Room to Breathe[4], and standard portal shields to keep Hanzo not dead.
[6] 6 [5-1] 1 5 5 2 1 1 5
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 11, 2021, 07:13:12 pm
Despite being filled with a sudden will he'd never quite felt before - or, not for anything more than brief flashes - Kouta had little desire to take a shotgun blast to the face. Of course, that didn't mean he had to retreat. The boy snatched at the barrel, trying to force a decision: maintain grip and let him pull himself aboard, or stop him by letting the weapon go.
Post by: Powder Miner on March 11, 2021, 08:46:00 pm
A purple and pink convulsing ball of volatile energy flew off of the balcony and was guided dead into the middle of one of the squads of Hunters, where it promptly exploded, Faith using both hands and full focus in order to ensure the blast didn't go anywhere beyond exactly where it was supposed to.
Faith detonates the magical failsafes and then whirls before yeeting an irradiated Furious Fire right into Hunter Squad B (blowing a Resolve as this is a Resolve Hyper!) Alteration to a 6!
World Line: 3-->6 4 5 5 6 4 2 3 4 2
Post by: Empiricist on March 11, 2021, 09:25:48 pm
| [Now Playing: | Adrenaline (https://youtu.be/KtxhlDzBOXE) | ] |
Where others may see a threat, you see an opportunity. A shotgun pointed at your head? Leverage.
You release your grip and sieze your chance with both hands, leaning upwards to drag your assailant down. Not too keen on getting dragged off the van they release their grip, giving you control of the shotgun as they dive for cover and you fall back onto the waiting road.
Swinging the weapon around you kick upwards, your shoe's toe hooking underneath the van's bumper and keeping you trailing behind it, cradling your prize
"You won't have enough output to fight them with that. But they don't know that. Just don't shoot at them."
You've earned yourself some reprieve. The kidnappers don't seem too keen to line themselves in front of their own weapon so no one's trying to shoot you right now. You suspect that will change shortly.
It shouldn't be impossible to drag yourself towards the back of the van and try climbing on it again. Alternatively maybe just maybe you could try dragging your way under it and up into the front? Lastly Enn said that the gun can't hurt the kidnappers, but maybe it could pop the tyes?
Post by: Twinwolf on March 11, 2021, 10:50:46 pm
She looked over the railing and put out two quick shots towards the group behind the DJ booth. The pistol cracked, and two black arrows shot from it's muzzle towards the targets; she'd try to hit the commander, and if he went down easy, the mage in the group. She had another target then.
The Dopants - she wasn't going to give them time to set up. She fired off a few damaging shots as she dived to cover, both from them and the grenades (and brought Faith with her, if she didn't move from the grenades herself). She would seem to have missed - but when the bullets struck the wall next to the Dopants, the black arrows would come out and charge into them from the sides, a distraction for the teleportation arrow coming in. "Je reviens-" Yuki started to say, before taking a moment and forcing herself to try and speak normally. "What I mean is - be right back Faith!" There! She could still speak Japanese! Felt a bit more like an extra language for some reason, but whatever, she'd think about that later.
When Yuki teleported to the arrow she was already going for a grab at the nearest Dopant's throat. "Bonjour. You've made a mistake." she said, before pulling it around to keep it's body between her and enemy fire as she shot the other Dopant.
Above actions
TLDR:
-Give some supporting shots down at Squad C to help Shef
-Don't get grenaded
-Fire some distracting shots at the dopants to keep the teleport arrow intact
-Human shield and shoot
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 12, 2021, 12:57:34 am
He'd taken a series of increasingly large risks; now might be the time to do something "safe." Kouta tried to shuffle himself forward, awkwardly attempting to maintain a solid grip on the gun and maneuver into a position where he could actually climb onto the van. The shotgun wasn't going to knock down his assailants, but it could protect him and his friends in other ways. If he couldn't properly climb into the van - or if someone decided to make it impossible - he'd shoot out the tire and slow them down that way. He didn't have to actually stop them, he just had to slow them down and make it clear who it was for when help arrived.
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2021, 01:56:51 am
| [Now Playing: | Adrenaline (https://youtu.be/KtxhlDzBOXE) | ] |
You bend your knee as if crouching, drawing yourself towards the van, keeping the gun pointed as steadily as you can to now-open rear. The foes inside have retreated for now, taking cover behind the rear seats.
One hand hooked under the car, another holding you weapon you shift your position, skating upright on both feet before climbing up.
The van swerves to the left pulling a hard turn right as you get in. You see a mote of light appear before you, there's a flash of neon, a broken starbow and shattered superluminality. An explosion.
The pinpoint blast throws you out the rear as you swing down the gun and send a spray of bolts into one of the tyres, ripping it apart with a satsif-
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
Ah... what happened?
Screams. Your hear screaming. Panic, commotion. You taste iron in your mouth.
You feel like you just got hit by a truck. Lifting your head up (ow you're sore) it looks that that is exactly what happened. You got launched right in front of a truck.
You try getting up, but you can't. You can't move. You're not paralyzed or anything. You just can't get up. That chaos, that hit, it just, took too much out of you.
You see the van slip away, it's swerving erratically, trailing sparks from its popped tyre. They're getting away. Still.
Time. You need to buy more time. At least, you think you do? The AIs are saying something into your ear but you can't quite make it out beneath that adrenaline haze.
You lie back down trying to regather your strength, the rain falling down on your face, your pulse pounding away in your ears.
You hear it.
| [Now Playing: | 飄逸桜 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNlCT3e6-TY) | ] |
You hear it. In the rumble of the traffic upon the asphalt. You hear it. In the squawking of the birds above. You hear it in the buzz of the streetlights and the hum of the convenience store lights, in the whirr of the security cameras and the woosh of the automatic doors.
It is all noise. Unintelligible noise. And yet you understand. You understand the meaning behind the words though they make no sense to you. You understand their meaning though they are meaningless. You feel it reaching out to you. Reaching into the your. Into your body. Into your soul.
And you understand what must be done.
There is still time.
You can still save everyone.
Make the contract
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 12, 2021, 07:55:16 am
Noriko's going to be mad at me.
He was out of strength. He never had much to start with, and it seemed he'd just run out. Kouta was not, in fact, his sister. He wasn't a Godslayer, no matter what fantasies ran through his head on dreary days. He'd agreed with Noriko to undergo this procedure so he'd be slightly less helpless, but that didn't mean he was actually capable of the most basic fighting that her and her friends did. And because of this, because he was still the anxious, powerless boy he'd been, he was about to lose a slew of friends, watching them be snatched away for some nefarious purpose. It wasn't his fault, but that didn't mean he had to accept it.
I'll do what you need me to do. Just give me what I need to help them.
Post by: Empiricist on March 12, 2021, 11:16:31 am
| [Now Playing: | 飄逸桜 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNlCT3e6-TY) | ] |
There is a flash. Not the kind you see, rather the kind you feel. One you feel with all your body. All your soul. It is the return stroke of a thunderbolt frozen in time. It is the light of a supernova captured in a snowglobe. It is half a lifetime's worth of sensation. Compressed, condensed into ten minutes of subjective time, and ten seconds of real time.
For ten seconds you are ablaze. Your veins filled with burning neon. With rebar and steel. Glass and asphalt.
For ten seconds your heartbeat is the heartbeat of the city. Your pulse the rumble of traffic, the passage of the trains. Your heart, Sendo's heart, beating as one.
For ten seconds you see through a thousand eyes. A thousand eyes and a thousand more. Every camera and every window, every pump and every thermostat. You see all. You are all.
For ten seconds you are nothing. Nothing at all. An empty husk of body. A consciousness that outgrew its mortal form. A mindless god desperately clinging to the last shreds of his humanity. A boy who became a man, became more than a man, became more than man. More than what he was, more than who he was, more than his own will.
For ten seconds you are not Kouta. You are something else. Something too expansive, too alien. Too expansive to see the plight of a single boy. Too alien to know what it even means. And yet, not alien enough to feel that sense of loss. Of losing something too precious to put into words. Of losing everything that ever mattered.
For ten seconds you shed what you are, what you have become. A shooting star burning up in atmosphere. A god falling from his heaven. You renounce it. You renounce it all. All that you are. All that you had become. Shred by shred you lose it. Your power. Your mind. And shred by shred you reclaim it. Your humanity. Your sense of self.
At the ten seconds' end, you are Kouta once more. You are not Sendo. Sendo is not you. But you were once one and the same. And you remain entangled. Bound together by some metaphysical umbilical.
The umbilical becomes a ring. The ring becomes a mantle. The mantle becomes a covenant. The Covenant. That which grants you power. Across your body, dormant augmentations flare to life, coloring the connection and being colored in turn. One by one your systems power on. One by one your powers awaken.
Rejoice for you are more than you were.
Rejoice for it is done.
The Contract is Sealed.
The Crown has its King.
Welcome, Sysadmin Kouta.
| [Now Playing: | Ultraviolence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYHcf8Q-vdI) | ] |
Rain falls upon the intersection, droplets glistening marbles filled with stolen color, city lights refracted across their surface.
You rise. A mantle of liquid glass unfurls behind you splitting into a pair of crystalline wings. You find yourself sporting a bulletproof vest a snowflake sigil inscribed upon the front, you find you now have pads strapped across your arms and shins. What you do not find yourself with is an urge to eat babies and huff the souls of innocent kittens. That's good. What you do not find yourself with is an actual weapon, beyond the now-broken shotgun. That's not so good.
Welp, guess you'll have to stop the van with magic then. Er, how do you use magic? You know how to power things with spirit energy, but that's not really the same? At least, you don't think it's the same? Uh hold on a sec...
Okay cool, you just need to reach out. Expand your consciousness. Reach out through the city. Through your domain. Okay you feel a lot of things. Is there any way to... oh cool you can sort of filter things, cut it down to just what is relevant. Let's see, you need something near the van, something that might be able to stop it. Hmm, there is something under the road? Okay, let's give that a shot.
You reach out into it and pull.
You see it through a nearby security camera. You see it. A burst pipe, springing up from the road. The break fashioning its end into a lance, a hypodermic spear.
There was simply not enough time to react. Reinforcement magic flares through the pipe and van crashes into it head on. It pierces the engine block. It pierces the driver's helmet. Pierces the driver's head. Red and black pigment splatter across the interior of the van.
It is stopped now. Well, that's a thing.
Enemies dive out of the van, taking up firing positions. And much like the years in Smashmouth's hit single All Star they don't stop coming. Good lord do they not stop coming. It's like a clown car up in here. Two whole squads of them, these weird mummy-like figures made out of red and black and clad in tactical armor fanning out behind cars and taking up firing positions.
Four beams rip out of the beam. One aimed right at your head you. They expand violently, each blooming out to reveal one of those armored figures. Two are armed with rifles and appearing behind cars on either side of you. One is stopping short of you with a shotgun. The last appearing right above you, this one isn't armed and is opting instead to try and deliver flying axe kick straight to your head.
Okay, so they have basically what amount to personal slipspace drives or something. Wonderful. They're trying to suppress you, you realize. Trying to by time for the two other squads to set up their position. And for the two more to flee.
Oh yes, there are two more squads. Another armored group warping themselves and your friends over to the fire escape of a nearby office building. Another paint monster group sprinting behind them presumably to help support them.
Okay, what are you options here?
You feel reasonably confident in your ability to take the hit. You feel stronger, plus your charm still has a bit of charge left. Judging by what happened earlier you think you should be able to retaliate fairly reliably since if getting hit with an explosion wasn't enough to throw you off your game then, it probably would be doing even less now. That being said any hit you do take will probably throw you off balance because you are literally a twelve year old. Also you are not going to be able to block, because you have no self defence training and you don't think you have any magical barriers you can put up. Still you do feel faster so your should be able to dodge fairly well.
In terms of what follows, well... you think you might be able to do some proper damage here. Even without a weapon. Even though you're again, literally a twelve year old. That being said you'd really feel a lot more confident with a weapon in your hands. Something ranged like one of those guns they're carrying.
You could probably use your magic to attack them too. In fact, something that stands out to you for no particular reason is something up in that car park over there. You think it might be a self-driving car. And you think you could probably drop it on one of the enemies attacking you.
Something flashes in the corners of your mind.
Code: (Available Modules) [Select]
- Assault Module
- Brawler Module
- Hunter Module
- Ardent Module
Just what augments did they stuff into you?
"Backup will be here shortly, just hold on!"
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 12, 2021, 11:45:07 am
[[3] 2 3 4 2 [5] 4 4 3 2]
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 13, 2021, 07:23:31 am
He hadn't known what to expect when he reached out, but this possibility hadn't occurred to him. A link to the entire city, becoming its hero in the closest sense possible - he might have thought about that further if he didn't have multiple people aiming firearms at him at this very instant.
First he had to dodge. Could he do more? Kouta jumped forward and laterally, trying to simultaneously throw off the aim of his opponents and force them to rake their lines of fire across one another. Without thinking too hard about it, he snatched at the car park, yanking whatever it really was towards his current assailants. If all this didn't manage to get him shot and knocked around, he'd continue his pursuit, trying to get ahead of the squad currently trying to make off with his friends.
Post by: Empiricist on March 13, 2021, 12:21:54 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Ultraviolence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYHcf8Q-vdI) | ] |
You leap to the side as the kick slams down cracking the ground where you were just standing, positioning A between you and B as the latter fires, a spray of arcane pellets phasing straight through? The blast catches you by surprise knocking you on your back as your charm expends the last of its charge to shield you. They have I-frames?!
Dopants C and D bring their rifles to bear aiming to gun you down and keep you down.
It is that this point that the Tesla comes crashing through the damn wall. D dives for cover as their position is showed with dust and debris, spinning tyres missing their head by mere inches. C still fires though, the jerk, raking you with automatic fire.
"Kouta! Oh. Oh."
You are hurt. Slightly hurt.
Well, that certainly puts things into perspective. Still getting shot sucks and you don't weigh much. But you know what does? A Model X.
You gun the engine sending the vehicle screaming right over you. Latching onto its underside you reach into its systems, accessing its sensor feeds as you send five thousand pounds of angry whirring steel crashing into C, crushing the unfortunate Dopant. One down. A lot more to go. There's got to be a faster way of doing this.
Well, you guess if you get the car close enough you could detonate the battery and... wait, what this? There's something inside the car. You roll out from under it, opening the doors as you do so. As you get up you find that sitting in the backseat is stringless longbow. At least you think it's a longbow? Your augs are registering it as particle beam weapon. Either way it's yours know as you move your hand to where the string should be a thin filament of light forms.
That's not all that's happening either. You see something in a security camera near Squad B. A boy sprints out of the crowd, closing his umbrella and tossing away his raincoat.
You recognize him. Yuri Kalashnikov. A mysterious transfer student who joined your class just last week. He wears a strange eyepatch. No one's ever seen his parents. Suffice to say, this is not a surprising development.
By the time the squad notice it is far too late, he is already in their midst. He stabs one of the Hunters with one of his umbrella, snatching their pistol off their belt and firing a pair of two-round bursts into their comrades, catching two of them in the throat killing them instantly. The stabbed Hunter recovers from the hit and tries gunning down the boy, but instead just topples over and expires on the spot. The squad commander fares even worse - Yuri doesn't even do anything to them and they're already doubling over, vomiting what amounts to their own blood all over the pavement. You have no idea what just happened there but one thing is for sure - Yuri was completely uninvolved.
Dopant A is now trying to cast another pinpoint explosion at you while B and C ready to cover your escape routes with their respective weapons.
The remnants of Squad B move to engage Yuri. Two members of Squad A also open fire on Yuri. One member fires their grenade launcher at you. The remaining three (including their commander) pull out weird syringe like implements and stab themselves with them.
The other squads have managed to enter the building's fire escape.
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Team Clusterfuck
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Red Circle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_3sdIEhkNA) | ] |
Okay so, opening maneuvers.
Faith lobs a ball of energy off the balcony and tackled into a booth by Yuki as her position explodes with shrapnel. Noriko leaps into the air, sending a pair of spears to intercept the gre- "Impact detonated." Okay change of plans, she spins her spears, swinging them like murderous baseball bats as she amplifies the air coming off of them, blowing the munitions off course before the magic circle above bursts into flames and she crashes up through the ceiling.
Below, Minato spins and transforms, summoning the a forgery of meteor hammer. He connects its chain to Gleipnir. Thanks to his spinning motion he's already readied the chain for his next move, kicking it into one of the Judgement Dopants, cracking their helmet and sending them staggering back a few paces. He yanks the chain back, delivering a second kick that sends the hammer head slamming into the other Dopant.
The magical failsafe detonates and Hunter A is all but annihilated. Their booth and a good chunk of the wall near them blown to smithereens.
Shef meanwhile gets to witness his team's return fire first hand. Two deflected grenades streak down into the DJ's booth, sending the Hunters of Squad C diving for cover. Two perish in the ensuing blast.
Faith's new spell is even more spectacular still. A pillar of fire explodes inside the bar, flames scorching Squad B's members, badly wounding all of them but inflicting no fatalities. That being said it prevents any of them from actually getting their shots off. And they seem to have trouble getting back up since they're kinda just flopping like fish right now, limbs not fully responding to their commands.
A two round burst of Black Arrows strike the ceiling, the arrows ricocheting off, falling into the midst of the still recovering Squad C, they converge on the squad's commander quickly decapitating them.
With his immediate threats eliminated, Shef portals himself and Hanzo over near an exterior wall, portaled RAM shots blowing holes through the necks of several Squad B members, their commander amongst them.
Up on the roof Noriko erupt up in a plume of debris daring anyone to challenge her control of the air. On a rooftop across the road, four Hunters answer her challenge. They're a little more complicated looking than the regular Hunters, a bit taller, their armor a little elaborate like those of the squad commanders. They're armed with DMRs and sport additional optic units on their helmets. They're also accurate. Terrifyingly so. A threat to even Noriko's mobility.
Course Noriko doesn't just have mobility on her side now. She has Reinforcement. And she's damn good at it. She swoops behind the falling debris spreading her magic through one of the larger pieces, using it as a shield before diving behind more permanent cover.
Two magic circles trace above her. They're trying to flush her out.
Down below the Judgement Dopants have decided to reprioritize sweeping their weapons towards Minato when suddenly a Black Arrow leaps out of the darkness and into one of the pair. A supposedly missed shot shredding into their armor in a spray of dust and pulverized masonry. The impact slams them into their partner. Minato spins his chain around his own body, preparing for future skirmishes. He doesn't need to concern himself with the Dopants anymore - he sees the final arrow.
A teleportation arrow snaking through the darkness and discharging. Yuki appears, grabbing one of Dopants and quickly putting a burst into their partner, ragged gashes rending through their already weakened armor and killing the mononoke within. Well, she no longer had any need for her shield. So she presses her barrel to their head and pulls the trigger until the struggling stops.
It's at this point that the vines explosively accelerate their growth erupt out from under the floor all around Faith, Minato, and Yuki. All across them tomatoes grow at a frightful pace. Frightful because they seem to be shuddering and glowing with energy.
Sirens blaring, an armored police van crashes through the wall next to Shef. The driver side door swings open, no one is inside.
Seeing this, the remnants of Squad C open fire on him and Hanzo with their grenade launchers. Squad B would probably be attempting the same if they could actually get up.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 14, 2021, 11:36:21 am
A bow. A bow? It wasn't exactly a weapon he was expecting, particularly one that was actually a particle cannon, but it felt right. "I'm alright! I think. Just save my friends!" He didn't have much more time to speak as he snatched the bow, the weapon coming to life. He pulled the string back as he lunged forward, aiming at Hyperspace Dopant D just as the car lurched and swerved toward Dopant A. "Y-Yuri! Those things ran into the building with everyone, we need to save them!" He was reminded of how Noriko had responded to being suddenly thrown into this. Just, don't think about the insanity until the current problem was dealt with. She always focused on the problem at hand without letting herself get sidetracked, so he could do the same thing.
Noriko
A number of threads ran side-by-side in Noriko's mind, threatening to pull her focus away from the problem at hand. Her continuing anger at Minato (and, at this point, the rest of the team) almost stopped her from calling out for help. It wasn't as if she could rely on that sort of thing anyway, right? "Marksman squad on the roof! I'm going to try and take them out." She gritted her teeth, rolling out from behind her cover. She paused for an instant, halfway between standing and crouching, and pulled at herself before disappearing into the air in a flash. Her two spears ripped out of the building to fling themselves at the marksmen across the road, but that wasn't the main threat to their well-being. Her own spear was held in a stiff grip as she turned to dive down on her foes, aiming to annihilate them in a single blow.
Sauparna. Alter the 5 to a 6 and use a second point of resolve to use Dragoon Dive.
Post by: Strider03 on March 14, 2021, 12:09:49 pm
"Yuki, you're going—wow—you're going upstairs." Since when had she fought like that!? Incredible. Shef blinked, trying to refocus away from the spectacle that Yuki had put on. He didn't know where the marksmen were precisely, but he was dead certain that they would not be on the club itself, and would instead have taken up a vantage point from another roof top nearby. If he got the wrong roof, hopefully the girl could teleport to the right one. Meanwhile, grenades? Trivial. Interception shots, and a standard portal, return to sender.
Room to Breathe[4] to bring Yuki up into the sky over the adjacent rooftop so she can assist with the marksmen. Intercept the grenades with bullets and regular portals in the simplest manner.
[6] 5 5 5 2 1 1 5 [4] 6
Post by: Twinwolf on March 14, 2021, 12:58:37 pm
If she was on the same roof as the marksmen, ideally close to them, well, time to get to work; if there's some distance, fire off some arrows while closing (targetting leaders if there are any, otherwise just the ones furthest from Yuki). If someone's too close to shoot, grapple; get them in the way of each other's attacks. Shoot anyone that isn't brave enough to close the distance. Priority is making sure they don't get the opportunity to attack either Noriko or the escape vehicle - they either focus on Yuki or they die when she shoots them in the back. Ideally, focus on Yuki and die. If neccesary, [6] Determination to make sure they can't force her to disengage.
If on another roof or at long range, as above but closing the distance with a Surprise Attack (of Justice) with a 5.
In either case, get a teleport arrow going down to ground level, trailing the van to hopefully let Yuki catch up (and possibly yeet herself into any pursuiing enemies).
Above. Alter current result to 5. If hypers are needed use the latest results on the line.
Post by: Empiricist on March 15, 2021, 09:16:00 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Ultraviolence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYHcf8Q-vdI) | ] |
Your bowstring crackles with energy as you draw it and a pale line traces through your vision? An aiming indicator? You see the projected trajectory of your shot, and you see it terminate, ending in a thicker brighter tip in midair. Limited range? No wait, you can adjust the distance, with fine near imperceptible shifts of your hands. Airburst? It seems to pass straight through the car.
You take a chance and let it loose.
There's a flash of light and a faint discharge from your bow. Acceleration byproducts. The real payload remains unseen - a relativistic packet of xenolexic particles. It passes through the air, through the car in an instant, unaffected by electromagnetism and strong nuclear force. It is manages reach as far as the inside of Dopant D's helmet when its enchantment wears off the packet disintegrating into a spray of particles. While your "arrow" was predominantly xenolexic, its decay products were not, seemingly exploding within Dopant D's head and rendering them quite dead.
You lunge forwards, out of the way of A's spell, out of the path of the incoming grenade and right into B's firing arc. At least, you would have if they still had their weapon: it just got shot out of their hands. You out an arrow in their head and ram your car into A, crushing them against a streetlight before they can warp away.
There's another explosion and you see that the car Squad A was hosing behind has just exploded, killing three of its members. Two of them have apparently donned suits of stone armor that make them look like they're wearing miniaturized cathedrals with matching gatling guns. The blast has cracked their armor and they've taken some shrapnel wounds to their sides. Their commander meanwhile remains unscathed and is now has the spectral skeleton of an eastern dragon coined around it, its bones plated with chrome with exhaust pipes for horns and miniaturized jet engines for vertebrae. So, that's a thing.
Now while you were doing all of that, Yuri was running clean up. He first swung around the car he was next to, taking cover from Squad A and B's return fire. He then fired a quick shot into Dopant B's weapon, blowing it out of their hands before they could fire at you. With that out the way, he spins around, catching the Squad A remnants as they attempted a flank, putting a two-round burst into each with fatal results before snatching up an assault rifle and forcing Squad A into cover as they injected themselves, two members gaining the weird armor to their syringes cry of JUDGEMENT!, the squad leader gaining that weird dragon as they call out "「Smooth Operator」".
It was at this point that he produced a detonator and set off the explosives inside the car.
Now, in the aftermath of the explosion, the two newly forged and newly wounded Judgement Dopants begin picking themselves up off their floor, weapons spinning up. A aims for you. B for Yuri. The squad leader, Tactical A meanwhile just takes out an awfully large hip flask and guzzles the whole thing before drawing a pair of ornate silvery flintlocks.
Oh also Squad B's leader falls into a coma and doesn't wake up.
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on March 19, 2021, 08:03:35 pm
[
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 20, 2021, 05:25:12 am
Hunter Module. Hunter Module? He was fighting Hunters, did that have something to do with them? Either way, he was still hunting that second squad, so it was worth a shot.
Kouta uses Hunter Module.
He stayed moving, trying to keep cover and distance between himself and the enemies firing at him. A shot from his bow directly into the gun of Dopant B would hopefully give Yuri some clearance to do his work, which in turn might leave Kouta a bit better off. He had other things to take care of than wiping out the remainder of foes on the street, though. Kouta reached out with his newfound senses, searching the building for the location of the second squad of Dopants. If he lost track of them, this whole thing was pointless. Once he had a decent bead on them - or failed to get one - he'd move toward the building, aiming to intercept them.
Meanwhile, the battered Tesla backed up and prepared itself for another attack, angling straight for the man with the odd skeleton-dragon-Stand-thing.
Post by: Empiricist on March 20, 2021, 10:07:04 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Ultraviolence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYHcf8Q-vdI) | ] |
You focus, pouring your will into activating the module and you feel yourself disperse. Your consciousness, your awareness, your existence cascading outwards. Like when you first made that contract, but more limited, more controlled. You see through both eyes and cameras as the asphalt leaps up from under your feet, racing up to recolor your jeans and form a hoodie over your upper body. Your bow shifts, peculiar pylons extending from its frame giving it a bulkier appearance as its "string" dims out of existence.
Nothing happens as you pull it. Nothing you can see at least. Nothing you can hear. Now crackling energy. No filament of light. Just the strain of the string against your hand, a greater strain than before.
Through cameras you see Yuri drop the rifle, separating its grenade launcher and keeping it in his hands. You see Dopant Squad B warping up the fire escape with your friends, headed for the roof. You see Hunter Squad C bring up the rear, one of its members jamming a flag down into position, one that begin summoning orbs of arcane energy around itself. You see your aiming indicator, the line now terminating in the outline of a blast, a blast that only grows as you draw the string back further.
You shift it over B's weapon and let it loose.
The effect is instantaneous, the weapon straight up detonates its barrels torn up and mangled by an internal explosion. The blast slams the body of the weapon back into the Dopant's chest immediately knocking them back down. A follow up grenade from Yuri ensure they stay down as he sprints into the fray, drawing a knife in an ice pick grip.
Now Dopant A isn't an idiot, it realizes it doesn't have the time to spin up its weapon, opting to drop the gatling in favor of melee.
Fist glowing with radiant light it rushes forward to strike Yuri. Unfortunately what it fails to realize is that the previous blast had blasted off part of its vambraces, something that becomes abundantly clear when the boy parries the blow, slicing open their radial artery in a single fluid motion. Driven by pain and reflex the Dopant moves its other hand to cover the wound and stop the bleeding as Yuri pulls them off balance and towards the ground in a display of unnatural strength, slashing them in the armpit and sweeping around into their flank, repurposing the Dopant as a palisade against its own CO as he ends its life with a stab to the neck.
Not that the Tactical makes any attacks, it's at first too busy drinking, and then too busy stumbling out of the way as you try and run them down with a Tesla. You roll out from under it, having realized that it was faster to hitch a ride than to run, at least with your current module in play.
The building's doors slide open as does one of its elevators. You're pretty sure you could make the latter go a lot faster. You're also pretty sure you you could snipe one of the squads in the fire escape if you wanted to.
Course you do still have to cross the building's lobby and Tactical A, having survived your attempt at vehicular homicide, isn't going to let you off that easy.「Smooth Operator」 erupts in blue flames as engine cylinders all over its body begin pumping away, Tactical A unloading on you and Yuri with both flintlocks all while being apparently so drunk they seem to have trouble staying upright.
Well, you could still detonate that Tesla, and right now you feel stealthier.
You also see you have a new module available - Skirmisher. Was that what you were in before?
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on March 22, 2021, 10:33:06 pm
Faith leapt at high speed, her sights set on the remaining squad of Hunters that was not currently basically completely fucked, taking full advantage of her Awakened mobility to aim to get right above them before: "Get out of here!" A blast of purple-pink energy erupted from her feet to spread as a cone into the enemy squad, the diminished propulsion less capable of blasting her back through the sky and more just slowing or stopping her fall.
Faith uses magic manipulation to blow some of the tomatoes early and manipulate their explosion outwards, and then takes a running leap off of the balcony, stopping her fall by hitting as much of Hunter Squad C as she can manage with a Frightful Flight!
World Line: 4
Post by: Empiricist on March 23, 2021, 09:18:33 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Red Circle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_3sdIEhkNA) | ] |
Shoving the table out of the way Faith braces herself against booth and kicks off, outfit forming around her as she blazes forward, twin jets of energy erupting from her hands. She ruptures the tomatoes in front of her, reaching in and forcing their payload outwards in premature detonation.
What follows is not a flash of light, not a blast, no, it's a deluge. A searing flood of burning tomato sauce. It's basically napalm. Which as it turns out has a rather nasty tendency to stick around. And stick to things. It's not a fun time in there.
Faith, doesn't have the time to stop. She doesn't have the time to clear it all out in time. She was going to crash straight into it, and unless she stopped herself right now she was going to get burned.
She pushes onward.
No time for hesitation. No time for complaint. Lives are on the line here.
She leaps into that burning hellscape and
OH GOD WHY DID SHE THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
IT BURNS! EVERYTHING FUCKING BURNS! OH MAN OH GOD OH FUCK WHY DID SHE DO THAT? FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF. OH SHIT, FLOOR!
Screaming, burning, and very badly hurt, Faith nearly crashes straight into Squad C, a jet of pink and purple erupting from the girl-shaped conflagration as she doesn't so much slow her descent so much as she rockets away from the ground careening through the air like a deflating balloon before slamming against the side of the truck. Ow. Fuck.
FUCK.
Okay. Lesson learned, do not fuck with tomatoey napalm. She's at least managed to get the paste off of her thanks to her energy manipulation, and judging by the full-on rout happening right before her eyes, she did at least hit her targets, forcing them into a fearful frenzy during which they manage to call a magical bombardment circle on their position before fleeing for their lives. The twenty seconds or so of life they have left before the Doki Doki poisoning sets in anyways.
While this is all happening, Noriko is salty. Salt, pinned down, and sitting behind cover with two bombardment tracing above her head. Fuck this. Fuck Minato. Fuck Shef. Fuck all this bullshit. And fuck those snipers in particular.
The club's walls blow the fuck open, a stream of dust and debris smashing into their position spear-headed as it were, by a pair of enlarged spears. That, they had not planned for. Two of them perish instantly, buffered by debris and impaled. A third is crushed when Noriko crashes down literally ontop of them. The lone survivor tries to pick their ass off the ground and fire, but they're a bit too slow, something they realize as the spear pierces their chest. "Vasavi Shakti."
It is at this point that Yuki pop out of the exit portal to an absolute dearth of targets and fuck all to do.
So... positions and situations are as follows:
Shef is with Hanzo in an armored van half-lodged in the club's ground floor. Shef had successfully returned fire on Squad C in a more literal way than most so the van is undamaged, but the Hunters had managed to dive for cover in time. Before they y'know, got routed by Faith. Speaking of which, Faith is currently prone next to the van.
Minato is above, a tangle of vines spraying deluges of napalm bukkake all over him and pinning him down. About as much as one can pin the man surrounded by explosive shields anyways. He's completely unharmed thanks to him summoning several shields in a testudo formation around him, and while he is currently backed against a wall, he can easily blow through the wall and access the van.
Right across the street Noriko and Yuki are positioned on a rooftop, which offers a good view of everything happening around them. Like how Squad D have all become Judgement Dopants and are fanning out of the alley under them, firing shards of stained glass at the armored van. Or how more vines are tearing out of the club and trying to latch onto the van all while more pulsating tomatoes grow on them.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on March 23, 2021, 05:46:01 pm
Well, the Tesla had been useful, but he had to get moving now. The vehicle swerved around once again, attempting to place itself into the space between Tactical A and Kouta as the latter sprinted toward the elevator. As soon as he was out of the blast radius, he set it off, hopefully blowing the stubborn opponent away or buying him time to get into the elevator without being riddled with bullets. Once he was inside, he'd turn to blow down the squad in the fire escape, "firing" through the building using his enhanced senses.
Noriko
Noriko pulled herself off the roof, panting after striking her devastating blow against the marksman squad. She could still feel power running through herself, but the spear wielder had put a bit more than she meant into that last assault. She'd have to play it cautiously for a moment - but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything. The trio of lances darted down into the alleyway below, attacking the squad of Dopants and attempting to interfere with their shots moreso than actually trying to kill them.
Post by: Twinwolf on March 23, 2021, 06:16:20 pm
If the mundane failsafe both goes off and takes care of the dopants on it's own, Yuki will try to get down to the van and also heal Faith if she sees her hurt, using the last 4 in her line.
Post by: Strider03 on March 23, 2021, 08:22:32 pm
For now, he needed to take care of the vines. Portals to get a glimpse, then tracer round to hopefully take them out in one go.
Tracer[R], with location determined by portals. Get on the vehicle, and gtfo
Post by: Empiricist on March 25, 2021, 10:35:02 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
When a lithium ion battery goes up in flames, it really goes up in flames. There is rush of pale smoke and then an eruption of the flames. Flames spewing in all direction, a raging inferno that burns hot and burns long. A peristent blaze that is not so much doused so much as it is suppressed.
This is not that kind of explosion.
This is a proper explosion, a full on blast that annihilates the car. An arcane blast that reduces the vehicle to shrapnel. Whatever battery it had, it clearly wasn't standard.
The Tactical dives out of the way, riding the shockwave as shreds of what was once a car rip through the air, missing them by mere inches. Seizing your chance, you make a break for it, Yuri in tow as you sprint into the building.
The ground seems to lap up at your feet, carpeting and wallpaper oozing upwards, leeching into your hoodie. They blend with the concrete and asphalt, quickly subsuming them and taking their place. Adaptiveness camouflage? Well that's new. No time to think about it though.
The two of your rush into the elevator. You don't even wait for the doors to close you just seize control of it, and you just send it. Straight up.
You begin charging an arrow, keeping its trajectory trained on Squad C as you watch them through the cameras. Yuri for his part begins unscrewing the elevator's control panel, retrieving from behind it a loaded handgun, three magazines, and two autoinjectors. He slides one into you pocket.
"Healing potion" Enn explains.
You nod and let loose your arrow. The blast all but annihilating Squad C in the narrow confines of the stairwell.
You reach the roof about the same time as the Dopant Squad. Though of course, you know they're there and they don't know you're there. Elevator doors are still closed up here, you're watching them through a security camera.
Your friends are there. In theory, you could just stay here. Out of sight. Shoot them with your arrows through the doors. They won't even know where the shots are coming from. You were considering that.
But then you see the squad leader produce a black shriveled heart. A heart that yet beats, a monstrous pulsing heart beat that seems to reverberate across the roof.
And you see, that one by one, the stars above begin to go out as darkness descends upon the rooftop. Something is happening.
There's six grunts, one squad leader, and four hostages (three of your friends and Mrs. Kato). They don't know you and Yuri are here. Shouldn't be too hard closing the distance - they don't know you're hear just yet.
Huh, does that mean they don't have a way to communicate with the Tactical down below? You cast your vision down to ground level, cycling through cameras. Apparently they're currently busy robbing a liquor store.
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on March 29, 2021, 05:20:15 pm
Faith gets into the passenger side door, pops a Shield of Apathy around herself, and then focuses entirely upon putting up that one multicolored shield from the eternal beach episode around the van.
World Line: 5 6 4 2
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 02, 2021, 01:06:30 pm
[[4] 2 4 4 3 2 6 3 6 2]
Post by: Empiricist on April 03, 2021, 04:27:37 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Yellow Line (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=doEwWzMz99A) | ] |
Minato slams a shield against the wall, detonating it. Through the debris he leaps landing between the van and the Judgement Dopants, their initial spray of glass glancing off his forgeries as Noriko's spears crash down in their midst, aiming to bludgeon and harass like a trio of angry telegraph poles in the middle of the mating season, a tactic that proves to be rather effective in denying the Dopants the chance to maintain their bead on the van.
It's at this point that Yuki teleports into their midst. Seizing one Dopant with her gauntlet while putting a burst of arrows into the other. Armor cracks and crumbles as the Dopant staggers backwards, right into Minato.
Shields, not the worst weapons. Certainly not the best but a heavy hit with the edge could be pretty damaging, especially with Minato's strength. That being said, that armor looked reasonably sturdy and he didn't have all day. Or a proper anti-armor weapon for that matter. He did have a chain though. A chain which he quickly wraps around the Dopant's neck, wrestling them to the ground as he draws the cake knife, spirit energy pumping into the blade as he drives it deep into the their throat, wrenching it out in a spray of paint.
Yuki meanwhile simply grabs her Dopant by the head and kicking one of Noriko's spears into the right orientation, bashes it against the spearhead until the helmet buckles and gives way.
Meanwhile inside the van, Shef just stuffs Hanzo into the back, opening a series of portals right into the loading zone.
Okay so aside from all the giant fucking tomato vines it looks like an otherwise perfectly normal loading zone and not an Escher-esque hellscape or something. That's a good start.
He also finds the source of the vines, a humanoid wireframe figure with tomato vines wrapped all around them. His Surgeon's Eyes kick back in, confirming his suspicions - it's a projection, no different to Victoria's nurse or the Man of Steel's summons. Hitting it would cause disruption, but the more permanent solution would be killing what stands next to them.
It's, okay yeah, it's another Hunter. Fancier one too clad in custom fit armor build around one of those distortion harnesses the AIs mentioned. A big shot he'd have to presume. Got a motorbike, handgun, and combat knife. Primary weapon resembles an Accuracy International AS50 anti-material rifle. Resembles. Probably isn't. He's dealt with some pretty wild clients before, but not even the most deranged would do this to a rifle. It's uh, well imagine if someone saw a sawn-off shotgun and thought "hey, why not extend that treatment to a rifle instead?" because that's what he sees. The barrel has been completely sawn off, the stock, bipod, and scope have all been removed. Oh and there's a magic circle floating at its front. Well, uh, that's certainly one way to make a weapons. As he watches he sees the weapon shift in the Hunter's hand, the grip shifting to be a little more ergonomic, the magic circle growing larger, more complex.
He opens another portal this one in front of his gun its terminus feeding into his peephole. The last thing he sees before he fires is the Hunter glancing to see the portal and uttering a name: "「Mr. Brightside」".
The Tracer rips through the portals, cannibalizing the last few to cut off any chance of retaliation or backblast.
Tge effect is instant, the vines near the truck shrink back, as of sucked violently back into their source. Faith slams the door and Shef floors the accelerator.
A second set of end portals opens inside the loading zone. Target is unharmed, managed to use that projection to protect themselves at the last minute.
Still, it's brought them some time and cleared out all the nearby vines. He switches the autopilot on and checks the glovebox. Five healing potions, three energy potions, and an arcane nitro unit with three charges.
Faith, you pop your shield and get to work popping up another one around the truck. A star shield like the one you made on the beach. That one time. In controlled circumstances. Where you still cried. And not around a whole van either. Oh God.
Okay no pressure.
Haha a lot of of pressure actually. Because you see the shield is kept from the collapsing because of the "radiation pressure" counteracting the grav-okay fuck it three two one you're doing this shit.
There's a flash of gold, a golden shield springing to the life around the truck. Then comes the purple, crushing down against it. Crushing inwards. You let it. You let it breach the surface let it mix together, the good and the bad as you pump more and more energy into the system, the shield igniting with magic. Prominence rise from its roiling surface, the purple inwards, the out outwards. A nascant star born of your resolve, born of your emotions, burning into the ground, melting the asphalt OH GOD OH FUCK.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck you didn't think this would happen. The purple glow is deepening oh fuck. Um uh. Okay so, it turns out if enough of the sphere overlaps the ground it starts uh, melting said ground. And it's kinda hard making anything other than a sphere like this. It kinda naturally tends towards one so no some balloon for now.
Okay okay firstly, you dismiss the field before it melts out the ground under the van (you wince as you notice Shef spreading Reinforcement to protect the road) and start over from square one.
Okay, okay, let's start off simple shall we? You can manipulate energy, but you shouldn't any more than neccesary. Make it easier cast, easier to maintain long term. Hmm, how about an arcing shot?
You use them whenever you do a Hit For Hope. Highly condensed, but there's not strictly any reason for you to do so. If you fire it up and...
A tiny mote of energy sparks out of the topic of the van, arcing into the ground. Okay not too hard and that gave you an idea of how long it needs to last. Too long and it burns the ground. Easy enough, just got to repeat it. En masse.
Motes of purple and gold begin flying out above the van, arcing toward the ground. They start off small and grow smaller and smaller, smaller yet greater. Greater in volume, in number.
There are no more motes, no singular shots. It is a deluge. A rain. A mist.
A dome of mist, decaying inches above the ground. Anything that touches it will burn. Not too hard to maintain either.
It does have the limitation that it's going to be weaker further down as the energy dissipates, but it's the price you have to pay to avoid mel-
"There's an easier way to do that you know!"
Huh, what?
"Keep the condensation, but remove the velocity and gravity, increase lifespan a bit."
Hmm okay so actually a bit easier even and now the truck is just shrouded in an energy haze and faint love hearts. Will that really work?
"Yup! It's compressible and will burn things proportional to relative velocity!"
Huh, that fixes the ground issue, and since it's a haze rather than a dome it should provide some protection against those explosion-at-point blasts those Hyperspace fuckers seem to like using. Well as long as it doesn't happen right inside the truck anyways.
"Fairy Floss Reactive Armor - perfectly safe for human use outside of enclosed spaces!"
Why would it not be safe inside of an enclosed- oh. Right okay yeah that makes sense.
No threats in sight (Though Alumunus A is probably hauling ass over).
((Those of you not in the van may wanna get in or make your own transport arrangements.))
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 04, 2021, 09:45:12 am
Seeing the van pull away with a shield presumably cast by Faith, Noriko elected to make her exit now. Riding off the remaining energy from the surge she'd called up earlier, she darted into the sky. She briefly considered just heading directly home; dealing with the rest of the group wasn't exactly something she wanted to do at the moment. Unfortunately, that wouldn't save her from the argument at all, and so she followed above the van, watching for pursuing threats.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 04, 2021, 11:21:04 am
Then at the people in pursuit.
"Ah. Shit."
Luckily for him, he had options. Options in the form of-
"Regalia Mode: Vimana."
Alter to 4, summon Vimana to keep in pursuit of the van.
[[
Post by: Twinwolf on April 04, 2021, 12:20:09 pm
Catch up. Heal Faith with a [4] when on board the van.
Post by: Strider03 on April 04, 2021, 09:42:06 pm
When it came to the manipulation of motor vehicles, Shef was capable, but by no means excellent. In particular, Yoake o-Shiri he was not. This rather dull fact was what stayed his hand for a moment in reaching for the nitro unit. Enough time for Yuki to make her request. The rear view mirror revealed Minato's situation, and of course, Noriko could fly. That was everyone.
"Tomato mage has a motorbike, probably following us soon. Might be going dark here, meet at the sanctuary." Shef waited till Yuki was firmly in the van, before, and there was the tricky part, remembering the experiences that were not his.
Use an energy potion, and use King Crimson [R] and try to lose the pursuers. Utilize portals as well, and ditch the van when this feat seems accomplished.
Post by: Empiricist on April 05, 2021, 11:53:15 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Yellow Line (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=doEwWzMz99A) | ] |
Okay, so, some of you will be on the van. Some of the you may not. But you're all going to end up in the same place one way or another, assuming you don't decide to fuck off and get drunk instead. So when it comes down to it, whether you proceed with your current action or you also pile into the van, the outcome of remains the same.
Now the thing is about car chases is, despite what Hollywood likes to show you don't want to drive fast, rather you want to drive precisely. You want to evade your pursuers, lose them, not outrun them. It's a bit easier here of course when you can drive into a fortified Sanctuary, but as Shef realizes, the Hunters might be preparing an ambush en route. There are only so many fortified Sanctuaries in this area after all.
So why give them chance?
He jabs himself with an energy potion and retrieves the nitro unit, a telescoping spike designed to be stabbed into a car. A feature that wouldn't be neccesary here - the van's purpose-built and comes with a nice easy receiver for it. He flips up the nitro button on the steering wheel, disabling the autopilot. His aura rushes outwards enveloping the van and he hits the button.
To all of you inside the van, you find it yourselves waking up. Except of course you never fell asleep. And you're pretty sure you don't sleep with your eyes wide open either. Last thing you remember, Shef hit the nitro and now this. You're entering an underground carpark of sorts, not too far down the road from where you began. Your eyes flicker to the clock, three seconds have passed.
To everyone outside the van, as far as you can tell, the van just simply vanishes. There's no flash of light, no ring of flames, no arcing lightning, no psychedelic corona. One moment it was there, the next it's gone.
Shef parks the van, jabbing himself with a second energy potion. Enn shreds your covers. The Godslayers in that club, they have simply ceased to be. To the world around you, you are who you are once more. Makes it that much harder to find you. Hanzo, he didn't have a cover. And he's naked. A problem, but a solvable one.
Shef hops out for a bit and returns with a scarf and coat. Benefits of his Requiem. Hanzo, well, he's going to look like a probable flasher now, but he's at least not naked and he's well under Shef's control to boot.
Rendezvousing outside, you make your way into the crowds of Sendo's nightlife, slipping away. Your destination - the safehouse.
((Happy for y'all to skip forwards to being at the safehouse with Hanzo held in an interrogation chamber if you'd rather start going at each other's throats there other than outside. Encounter's over either way though.))
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 06, 2021, 06:11:59 am
"They're doing something out there," Kouta said, keeping his voice low and quiet despite it being largely unnecessary in the enclosed space. "One of them has some weird black heart thing and it's doing, um, something. Like it's sucking in the light." He tensed, preparing to move as soon as the elevator reached the top floor. "I'm going to try to get close and then shoot it before something really bad happens." After that, he'd use another one of the modules he seemed to have; hopefully it helped, because it seemed powerful.
Alter to 5. Use Ardent Module after firing the initial shot - assuming the AIs don't say to not - and start trying to get them away from the hostages.
If shooting the Anomaly is a bad idea, shoot the one holding it instead.
Post by: Strider03 on April 06, 2021, 08:07:28 am
Once Hanzo had been safely stowed for interrogation, Shef spoke up. "I suppose an apology is in order."
"Should have mentioned it before the mission, should have tested it more in settings with allies prior, should have realized that it would be indiscriminate. So. . . yeah. I'm sorry for that." Maybe he could have asked Winter and Enn if he could have shown it off in a training setting or something.
"On the bright side, we did pull this off in record time. . .right?"
Post by: Twinwolf on April 06, 2021, 09:32:35 am
Post by: Empiricist on April 06, 2021, 11:45:31 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"Aramitama inbound."
"Take out the heart, get the hostages out of there."
No need to tell you twice.
You let loose your arrow, blasting apart the heart and only the heart. Mrs Kato's too close to the squad leader for a larger blast.
The doors snap open as you activate the Ardent Module and you feel a new heartbeat begin to beat. The heartbeat of Sendo itself.
| [Now Playing: | Destiny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfp2fvfeKH8) | ] |
You charge forwards. The Dopants raise their weapons, spinning round to meet you. But you are not alone. You have a teammate. You have covering fire. The first bullet strikes one of the Dopants in the chest, though by then it is no longer a bullet, for it had become thing else. A flash of white light that seems to tear a gaping hole in the armor leaving the body intact. Then comes the second bullet, right after the first. A hollowpoint round, tearing into the flesh before the armor can flicker back into existence. A lethal one-two punch, delivered in a staccato burst fire.
By the time you've closed in, three Dopants have fallen. By the time you've closed in your hoodie has become a mantle, and upon your head rests a crown. Power surges through you. Great and terrible power. Ever growing. Ever increasing. A deluge not even you can withstand. You feel it. The power you attained in that singular moment when you made the contract. The power beyond what you wield now. The power you had discarded. The power that would make you not who you are. Bit by bit it is returning to you.
You cannot maintain this form forever you realize. For eventually, you will not be you. But until then, until that instant Kouta Fuuri forgets all that he is, your powers will continue to grow. And if that is what it will take to save your friends, then so be it. You can endure this. You can hold on. To your humanity. To your sense of self.
A Dopant swings their rifle barrel to your head. You grab it by both hands, tearing it free from their grasp and slamming its butt against its ally's knees. Pretty sure you broke them.
Deciding that they'd rather not be near you while you're doing whatever the fuck you're doing, the squad leader releases their grasp on Mrs. Kato and does their weird FTL backwards, using the time brought by their ending I-frames to stab themselves with another syringe. "「Ambitious」"
Black smoke emits from their body, congealing into a group of mimes. Two of them mime out walls in front of them, not really going to stop you, but likely providing some measure of protection against Yuri. The rest mime firing guns. At the hostages.
It's a simple ultimatum really. Take the bullets. Or watch your friends die.
Course what they didn't account for is for that sword to fall out of the sky.
Well, sword might be a bit of a misnomer here. It's not really a sword, rather it's just this massive sharpened hunk of metal. A heavy cleaver wide enough to serve as makeshift shield, one that catches the bullets for you. Darkness erupts from the blade, rippling out across the roof, and covering it in a thin film of black ink, a film of ink that the blade sinks down into.
It is from this black ink that a massive metallic gauntlet erupts, seizing the Dopant squad leader and dragging them down into the depths of something that by all rights should be less than a millimeter deep.
"Your backup is here."
You glance over at Yuri. He wasn't your backup?
He shrugs "Was just passing by."
Well, looks like you've got two teammates now to help brace for what happens next.
Which as it turns out is an Aramitama attempting to drag everyone into its Sanctuary. Emphasis on attempting. You feel something slam shut. Like a metaphysical beartrap. Choking. Choking on prey far too big for its maw.
It's you, you realize.
You're jamming it.
It's trying to drag you in. Drag everyone in. But you're connected to Sendo. All of Sendo. It may be able to drag a boy in. But it can't drag the entire city in. It won't be getting a home field advantage here.
Either it cuts its losses and runs, or it mans up and fights you outside.
It opts for the latter. The air slices open and it appears before you, a knightly figure clad in armor of quicksilver, swinging a liquid blade. It's really long blade. Like, absurdly long. Like, you full on can't dodge it horizontally because the swing covers half the roof.
It is here that you get to see your new ally in their entirety, a hulking figure clad in what is best described as a mutated sci-fi rendition of an old-timey diving suit. A hulking, heavily armored figure, that moves in a way no human could, less leaping from the ink and more being swung like a marionette missing half its strings. They don't so much parry the blow so much as they just collide into it, blade-first, cleaving the Aramitama's sword in half.
"Aria von Dermitz reporting for duty!"
...Okay yeah, if you were expecting any voice to come out of that thing, it probably isn't that of a cheerful young girl. Yuri doesn't seem too phased, instead he just uses this time to execute the remaining Dopants.
Anyways... with its attack foiled, the Aramitama steps backwards, the two halves of their broken sword retracting back into their hands and congealing into a pair of light machineguns that they bring to bear against, really just, everybody. You, Yuri, Aria. Okay now that, that's more your department.
As for the Tactical all the way at street-level... it's now just, drinking. Heavily.
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Powder Miner on April 06, 2021, 01:10:23 pm
It wasn't debilitating though, certainly not at this point. Faith then opened her eyes to look at Shef as he apologized, and replied to it with a shrug. "Eh... like... it sucked to feel, but you doing that whole thing was pretty much the only reason we didn't instantly fail the whole mission. I don't know if you were watching through portals or something and saw, but the Hunters were going for the detonator - I was watching them. So, honestly? Thanks for that."
Here, Faith's voice took on some sudden rancor - not shouting, mind, but not happy. "And the reason that they were going for the detonator is that, for some reason that probably only they can divine, Minato and Noriko started to get into a vicious argument right there in front of Hanzo and his bodyguards. It wasn't a fake argument designed to distract them - they were getting into it, complete with Noriko using her magic on Minato. But the thing that actually did it was that Minato started talking about our Godslayer career, USING OUR NAMES," okay, that one was a bit shouted, "and Noriko joined in until they let slip something that tipped the Hunters off. What the fuck possessed you two to do any of that? How does that make any sense?"
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 06, 2021, 06:52:18 pm
"Piss off, you wouldn't understand a single thing about it." Noriko's glare was sharper than her preferred weapon. "And if I'd intentionally done anything to Minato, he'd be the one who flew through the roof. I'm sorry I'm not always perfectly logical, miss literally-powered-by-my-own-emotional-fragility, I would have thought you of all people might have gotten that part." A small part of her told Noriko that she was being far too nasty, but the beast dragged out of her earlier had only been temporarily restrained. "I understand that bad shit happening to me isn't a reason to do anything, though, so maybe I set the bar too high."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 06, 2021, 08:27:24 pm
She paused here to point at Minato again. "You saw her too, Minato. And you've been doing this longer. You should absolutely have fucking known better."
Post by: Strider03 on April 06, 2021, 08:49:26 pm
Instead he pulled out the classic move. The classic move being his phone.
Quote
Yuki, know what the hell's going on here??Shef shot her a questioning glance.
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 06, 2021, 09:26:46 pm
Fighting the villains, was one thing. Fighting his own friends, who he'd hoped would be the last people he'd deal with, was another.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 06, 2021, 09:54:06 pm
Quote
Noriko and Minato had an argument. I think the hunters recognized something they said before you did your thing.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 08, 2021, 09:42:09 am
An Aramitama. He didn't expect Ryoichi's birthday party to culminate in him fighting against a demon using the power of the entire city of Sendo as the latter tried to drown his sense of self in it, but sometimes plans changed.
First thing was to get his friends away. He moved to place himself between them and his new foe, raising his bow as he did. The bow was a distraction; his actual focus was on pulling at his power, pulling at himself, trying to find a way to take them out of danger. He peppered the Aramitama with light shots as he did, trying to keep its focus on himself and not on whatever sinister purpose it and its minions had for the people he protected.
Noriko
"Yeah, of course, clearly I'm a heartless bitch who doesn't care about collateral. Again, I thought you of all people might understand that it wasn't a decision. I got angry. Do you really think I never spare a moment to consider who else might be involved?" She took a threatening step toward Faith. "Do you not realize how much I worry about this every moment of every day? All the random innocents that could be in danger if I make one false move? Not to mention what might happen to my brother because I decided to do the right thing, my brother who STILL isn't here. The only reason I could move earlier while someone was blasting me with raw terror was because he could have gotten hurt if I went down there." She took another step, jabbing an accusatory finger toward the half-American girl. "How dare you accuse me of not caring?"
Post by: Powder Miner on April 08, 2021, 01:23:17 pm
"The fact of the matter is that the only reason that people didn't die and the only reason the investigation of these people wasn't set hugely back is that Shef did what he did - and it might even have been a coincidence! It might have been nothing but luck that you don't have several lives on your hands right now, do you understand? "It wasn't a decision" doesn't cut it there, you have to be able to hold yourself together in a moment like that, or other people get hurt or killed. And do you know why I'm not so understanding about that?" Faith got closer to Noriko now - not moving her hands in a threatening way, but staring directly into her eyes. "Because I cried and ran away and hid in my home after that awful mansion, and the Awakened world literally burst through my window to let me know I couldn't stay out of it. I changed from the kind of girl who thinks that if she cries enoug-" Faith came to a sudden halt, taking a breath as she stopped herself from divulging something entirely to personal, "I changed from the type of girl who thought that crying and running away would mean nothing would hurt anymore, to the type of girl who faces down a problem and deals with it. I grew up. Because I had to. Yelling and screaming at any one of us isn't going to get rid of the dangers that you face, it's only going to make them worse. You need to do some growing up too. You have to. We don't have a choice anymore, Noriko. None of us do. And that includes you."
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 08, 2021, 02:21:35 pm
"Get out. You don't understand anything, and you don't care. I'm starting to think none of you do." Tears started to leak out of the corners of her eyes; Noriko herself wasn't sure if it was the sheer force of rage, or sorrow beginning to rear its ugly head. "Get out, or I'm going to make you. I don't let strangers just stay in my room."
Post by: Powder Miner on April 08, 2021, 02:49:18 pm
Post by: IamanElfCollaborator on April 08, 2021, 03:27:14 pm
Minato follows Faith out of the door.
He hadn't the right to say anything, nor the energy.
Post by: Strider03 on April 08, 2021, 04:23:40 pm
"Was that at me as well?" He was genuinely uncertain, not having paid enough attention to the precise wording of the statement.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 08, 2021, 04:36:25 pm
It was falling apart wasn't it? Her life with her friends? Noriko didn't like her anymore. Was it her fault, that she couldn't say anything? Were the others next-
She forcibly stopped that thought. It was fine. She was fine. It was just another episode in the crazy life they lived now, and they'd resolve it by the end. That's how things worked. She was fine. She'd be fine.
Yuki left the room after the others without much visible change in her demeanor, the momentary crack in her armor in response to Noriko's request repaired as swiftly as it appeared.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 08, 2021, 05:42:49 pm
The lancer moved to shuffle out the door herself and escape into the night, only certain of the fact that something important had just been broken.
Post by: Strider03 on April 08, 2021, 06:34:41 pm
"Don't know why you're upset since you never mentioned it. Not that you have to. But things may be easier if you mention what is upsetting you to someone." Well that was useless, a statement of such pointless obviousness that he wasn't sure where to go from there. It was clear to Shef that he wasn't gonna be able to do much about this juvenile mess that the team seemed embroiled in, a fact more and more obvious as he finished his sentence. "Whatever, that's all. Debt gone."
He leaned back, waiting to perhaps discuss the recent mission with the AI.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 08, 2021, 07:32:46 pm
And with that, she left.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 09, 2021, 09:30:48 am
"I-I know you told me to leave... sorry..." she said quietly - again, she was anything but quiet normally.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 09, 2021, 10:53:51 am
The lancer walked forward, moving past Yuki and toward the exit of the complex. She didn't know where she was going, other than away from this place. She lived here, but at this point she wasn't sure if she could actually come back. I don't want to tear Kouta out of another home. Another surge of emotion stopped her in place some distance from Yuki. Maybe I'm not good for him, either. Maybe I'm just making his life worse, too. The tears from before broke free again; regardless of how she clenched her fists, they continued to silently stream down her face.
"Just forget about me, Yuki. It's better for both of us."
Post by: Empiricist on April 09, 2021, 11:41:05 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Destiny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfp2fvfeKH8) | ] |
Your draw your bow, physically placing yourself between your friends and the Aramitama. There's no muzzle flash, just splashes of metal as the LMG begin spitting spikes at frightful velocities. It's odd, getting struck by them. The arcane bolts, well, they're magic so you didn't really have a frame of reference for them. But these spikes? It's almost surreal getting sprayed down with them, getting thrown back by the impacts, only to come out of it with scratches on your skin.
It definitely hurt. Actually it really hurt. You're quite hurt right now. But you have no meaningful injuries, it's like you're an anime character or something. You glance at your bow, the mysterious exchange student, and the girl holding the giant sword. Oh. Welp, this is your life now.
You refocus, letting loose a series of arrows as you tumble through air. Suppressive fire while you work on getting your friends outta there. Doesn't quite go to plan. Your arrows definitely hit their mark, detonating inside the Aramitama's armor, issue is it just doesn't care. Molten metal drips out of its quicksilver armor, blood from the injuries you've inflicted. But it doesn't stagger, it doesn't stop, it just keeps on firing.
And it's not aiming at you anymore. It swings its weapon down, gunfire scything down towards the hostages. You reach out and yank.
Below them the floor gives way. Your friends, Mrs. Kato, they fall, escaping certain death by inches. The next floor gives way too, seemingly giving way under the impact. So to does the floor after that. And the floor after that. All in all, they've taken a controlled fall down five stories. Not quite safe, but they're no longer in harm's way.
You should be angry. You should be furious. You're not sure why. But you know you should be. But right now you feel nothing, nothing but the conviction that the Aramitama must die.
You follow Yuri's lead, mantle opening like a set of wings as you turn your tumble into a glide, swooping for cover behind Aria on jets of neon. The girl(?) has taken a few hits, but she's managed to block a good portion of it using her cleaver.
"Aim for the gun."
You comply, letting loose a charged arrow and blowing apart one of the LMGs as Yuri dives out of cover, putting a spray of more conventional munitions into the other gun. No longer needed as a walking piece of cover Aria's form is engulfed in darkness as she sinks back into the abyssal depths.
The Aramitama adjusts, making a quick step to the side as the quicksilver from their destroyed weapons gathers once more in their hands, now mixing with molten metal they've been bleeding.
Whatever they were planning, it gets interrupted as Aria's gauntlet rushes out of the ink, catching their leg as she begins pulling them down.
"Gotcha!"
The Aramitama is now reforming the metal into a massive burning spear, aiming to drive it through Aria's helmet. You're guessing that's your cue to do something.
Down below, you can see Tactical A finishing its last bottle, 「Smooth Operator」wreathed in blue flames as they begin sprinting towards, and sprinting up the building towards the fight.
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef
The projectors flicker on.
"Uh..."
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Post by: Strider03 on April 09, 2021, 12:07:15 pm
"Oh, I may not be available for jobs tomorrow and maybe the day after. Will let you know."
Post by: Empiricist on April 09, 2021, 12:33:40 pm
"We don't know - comms units were off until you called for evac. Till we get new information our picture's the same as yours."
"Thanks to you we've received his login credentials for his phone and communications app."
"That should let us figure out most of how his group operates. We're impersonating him right now before the news breaks. With any luck we'll be able to keep how group in the dark. Sendo PD will handle the rest of the legwork. I can't say they'll be happy, but it is what it is. Besides they, as I believe you would say, owe us."
A photo of a lady appears next to the avatars.
"This is Miki Kato, sister of Rei Kawakami - the current head of Sendo PD's organized crime division. She, along with her son, were the targets of a kidnapping attempt earlier this evening. If I had to guess, the culprits behind the kidnappings were looking to pre-emptively secure some leverage."
"It's fortunate you erased the van's presence - they called an Aramitama when the kidnapping operation went south. I'd imagine they'd have done the same to silence Hanzo had you not given them the slip so soon. Mind you, the Aramitama also tried to eat the targets at the first sign of trouble, so they could be loose allies rather than full-blown members of this conspiracy."
Post by: Strider03 on April 09, 2021, 02:59:57 pm
"Good to know. Keep me informed, and I will do the same. Anything else you need or can I head out?"
Post by: Empiricist on April 09, 2021, 08:46:02 pm
"You're free to go."
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 10, 2021, 01:33:24 pm
Two problems. Both needed to be excised. The reinforcement from below was mostly just an annoyance until it got here. He took ahold of the building below and tore at the thing's footing. Crumbling walls, live wires, and spraying pipes all worked together in an attempt to force the Tactical back to the ground before it arrived.
Meanwhile, Aria needed help. Blowing apart the weapon had only delayed attacks; it was time for a different approach. Kouta again raised his bow, now free to maneuver as he pleased. He aimed a careful shot at the Aramitama's hand - and then its shoulder, then the opposite for good measure, attempting to remove its ability to use weapons at all.
Alter to 5
Post by: Twinwolf on April 10, 2021, 11:20:07 pm
She could count her friends on one hand. She wasn't going to just abandon one.
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2021, 02:12:08 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Destiny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfp2fvfeKH8) | ] |
The building begins to haemorrhage. Windows shatter. Rebar extends. The once-smooth edifice becoming a gauntlet of shattered glass and jagged metal. With its path reduced to a gauntlet of impending tetanus, the Tactical has little choice but to leap off the building, withdrawing from its approach.
Up on the roof, things are not daijobu. Your arrows strike true, each equal in power to one of the charged shots that came before, but while the Aramitama's armor breaks and reforms, the molten mass beneath does not. It bleeds yes. More heavily than ever now. But it does not break. It does not cease, driving the spear into Aria's helmet with a screech of the metal and spray of ink, the girl(?) releasing her grip and sinking back into inky depths shallower than an Alabaman genepool.
Well that didn't work. Any other ideas?
"Thwart its attacks. Bleed it out."
The boy says, brandishing a freshly requisitioned assault rifle.
The rain falls heavier now, dark clouds gathering in the sky. Droplets fall, from the sky down into the abyss, vanishing without a splash. Droplets fall, from the sky down upon the Aramitama, hissing to steam as they touch its molten blood. Its blood seeps down, pouring over the Aria's ink, erasing it from the ground around its feet.
The spear shifts, lengthening, thickening into a massive unforgiving blade. It lunges forward, riding a wave born of its own molten blood. Surfing it as it erase the ink below. As it races towards the boy. Towards your vessel. Swinging a blade of such scale the swing will easily cover half the entire roof.
Up above, you sense something into the thundering clouds. Something resting in the heart of the storm. You can claim it. But will be costly.
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 11, 2021, 06:08:54 am
The vessel - No, I'm still Kouta. I'm still doing this for my friends. Kouta leapt into the air, aiming his weapon below. Disrupting the sword had worked once, and so he tried to do it himself this time. The boy's hand moved swiftly, as if he'd practiced it all his life, placing a line of shots starting at the base of the blade and ascending.
The vessel could sense the power above. He knew it would be difficult, he already knew that continuing on might render him nothing more than that, but this was a threat that needed to be dealt with. And so, he reached out, grasping at an unfamiliar entity yet again, risking his very self once more, while thinking of his friends, his hobbies. His sister. Kouta could keep himself grounded as long as she was around; they'd been through everything together, and she'd yell at him if he forgot himself here.
Use that point of Resolve.
Noriko
"Are you sure about that?" Noriko wanted to turn and face Yuki, but she couldn't. "What about when I get into another fight with Minato? Or when I get your sister hurt? What if I'm the one hurting her, Yuki?" Her tone was a facsimile of coldness, a clear act undermined by her wavering voice. She brought up the scenarios because they were likely, but that didn't mean she wanted them to be.
"I don't want to hurt you either, Yuki, but I'm pretty sure I already have." Noriko sighed, bitterness suffusing the air. "Friends that hurt you aren't very good friends at all. You're better off not having them if that's all they seem to do."
Post by: Empiricist on April 11, 2021, 09:06:37 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Destiny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfp2fvfeKH8) | ] |
A stranger's memories ripples through your being. Words that have lost their meaning. Yet somewhere, somewhere within you, you know they are important.
The vessel does not move. He simply stands his ground and lets loose his arrows. Firing away in the peripherals of your consciousness as you turn your attention skyward.
Strictly speaking there is nothing in the storm. Nothing but clouds and thunder, wind and rain. Yet there is something else too. Possibility. Potential. The storm, it too is part of the infrastructure in a strange way. And infrastructure gives rise to more infrastructure. You reach in, deep within and focus. It begins to form, it was always there. It is called, it was waiting. You constructed it, you are conjuring it.
Past and present blur. Possibility and impossibility. Burning steel and thunderbolt iron. Hellfire and magic. The wrath of the boy given form. His resolve crystallized. The heart of the storm descends.
You watch the fight unfold below in the edges of your mind. The arrows strike true, blasting apart the blade as it is swung. Broken fragments scattering, and falling to the ground as swords. Perhaps if circumstances were different they would have stuck into the ground, a field of blades embeded by the blade. But of course, it is not regular ground here. And though the Aramitama acts now to reclaim it, most of the roof is still stained by the abyss. The fragments sinking into its depths as Argyros sweeps to the side, riding a wave of its own blood, twin machineguns forming in hands once more. A grenade slams into one. An arrow into the other. Before they can even fire, both weapons are destroyed.
Not that it stops the Aramitama. It leaps upwards, spinning as its molten blood spirals around it, reforging into lances of metal, and firing forwards.
It is here now that something unexpected happens.
The other boy, Yuri, he grabs your vessel and uses it as a shield, a fusillade of lances catching Kouta in the chest.
"дерьмо́!"
Surprised is not the right word here. Yuri does not look surprised. But he doesn't look too happy about it either.
Kouta is very badly hurt. But that's it. The strength of his armor, the force of his vitality. It has grown only greater, neath the influence of the crown. The other boy produces his own healing potion and jams it into Kouta's neck, healing him back up before swinging him behind right as Argyros tosses one last fan of lances at the pair.
The scent of burning flesh shocks you back to reality. Yuri's flesh, burning. In his hand is one of the lances. He caught it. Used it to the parry the rest. He looks back at you apologetically as he produces a cigarette with his free hand, lighting it with burning lance before finally dropping the weapon.
You tell him you two need to run. He nods and follows your lead. You don't mention why. You don't have the time. The Aramitama reforges its machineguns. There is nothing to be done here. It doesn't have the time. It just doesn't know it yet. It raises the weapons.
It is at this moment, that the GBU-39 detonates. A flash of hellfire and lightning. You activate your thrusters, spinning round to grab Yuri as you're thrown off the roof, wings spreading as you take back control of your trajectory, swooping back into the fray.
The roof is uh. Yeah it's not there anymore. Where the Aramitama stands is now just a pile of rubble and debris. No one else up there at this hour - you were sure to check, you weren't that far gone. Friends, they're in a lower floor.
Aria waves as you land.
"You've got to teach me that sometime!"
You're not sure if you can. Still save for all her ink being annihilated she looks fine. Better than fine actually - she seems to have healed in the interim.
The Aramitama meanwhile, yeah, it looks like it could use some healing. A lot of healing. It's bleeding from its well, everything. And something tells you the wound you inflicted was mortal. But it's not instantly fatal either. And right now with its quicksilver bolstered by the massive amount of molten metal spilling from its form, it wants nothing more than to devour more souls. To make the wounds less than mortal. It has no behind that visor and yet you can tell in that moment as your gazes meet, that it will not stop til you bleed it try.
You feel your exhaustion wash over you and you feel yourself begin to slip away again. The madness beating in your chest. You need to turn it off. Power... you have enough power now.
Born of the storm, rumbling with the sound of promised thunder, it descends into view, its airframe arcing with a corona of electricity. Your latest weapon - a JASDF Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
Aria thrusts her cleaver forwards. A forward lurch, doesn't really seem to end as she's seemingly dragged forwards blade-first by an invisible force, the tip of her cleaver sinking in the floor and staining it with the encroach of the abyss as she rushes forward. Yuri hops onto the back of her suit, readying his handgun.
On the opposite side of the building. The Aramitama forms all around it spears, blades, and guns, forged from its own molten blood and seeking to gun all three of you down.
Somewhere inside the F-35, a gatling canon begins spinning up.
Finish the fight.
| [Now Playing: | Blow Me Away (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU0FRFqRcvg) | ] |
Spoiler: Known Hypers (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Post by: Twinwolf on April 11, 2021, 07:52:07 pm
She was dangerously close to thoughts she didn't want to have. Feelings she refused to acknowledge. But this fit in with her framework didn't it? The dramatic confrontation to bring a friend home? Right? She told herself it did, at least. "You've helped me a lot. One hurt isn't going to make that go away."
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2021, 06:19:30 am
Another thought, unbidden, echoes from afar. Just a bit further. The vessel raised his bow once more, aiming a staccato burst of shots at the center of each weapon the foul creature summoned. Any more power and he risked hitting his two allies during their charge. He ordered the vessel to move back as it fired, towards the edge of the building. Halfway through the hail of "arrows," he began the final assault, cannon roaring forth and spitting fifty rounds per second into the trespasser's frame.
I can't go any further. I need to come back now. The words came from afar, but he knew that they were true. "Assault Module." The jet would have to finish the fight; if he tried to push his body, his power any more, he might lose himself entirely. This would have to be enough.
Assault Module after attacking.
Noriko
"I. . . It's not just you, Yuki. I don't know if I can even speak to Faith again, let alone Minato. I can't force myself past all this." Noriko shook her head. "I tried to, I really did. I don't want to lose you as a friend, but I just. . . I can't do this any more. I'll find a way to do things on my own, like I always have." The statement was laced with bitterness and hurt. "So just. . . don't make this any harder than it has to be." She took a few steps away before pausing. "Goodbye, Yuki." Then, Noriko continued, walking out of the safehouse and into the night.
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2021, 12:01:47 pm
Night gives way to day, rainfall to morning light.
For better or worse, there is always a tomorrow, and for most of you that means school.
Faith
So the funny thing about rage is that it can burn hot or it can burn cold. When it burns hot, it burns real hot. Hot water enough to consume people. Hot water enough to consume lives. It can be uncontainable, uncontrollable, unintelligable. An explosion. When it burns cold, it turns long. It becomes insidious, calculating, haunting. Always there, always waiting, just for another spark to bring it back to the the forefront. Always waiting for that opportunity to arise, to do something, to become more than just a spectre lurking in the edges of one's mind.
The thing about burning hot is that it always burns out, one way or another. And yesterday you burned hot.
Were Noriko's actions excusable? Absolutely not. They were selfless, reckless, childish. The magic charge alone was enough to take out an entire squad of Hunters, inhuman beings, tougher than any normal person. Better armored too. If that had gone off, if that had detonated near Hanzo, they'd be scraping him off the other side of the building. And the victims, the missing people... Sakurako, Sakurako's bleeding naked form burned into your mind, she, she got off lucky. She escaped. She was saved. God knows what awaits the others.
They weren't her lives to risk. But right now, though you feel justified, though you feel vindicated by your hindsight, you can't bring yourself to hate her. You simply can't stay angry.
You burned hot. You burned out. And now all really feel as she crosses the gates, is guilt.
Grow up.
You really struck a nerve yesterday didn't you?
Grow up.
You didn't mean for it to go that far, you didn't think it would go that far. But it did.
Fuck.
You can't let this go. Not like this. It's not too late to, well, maybe not mend things, but get some closure maybe? For whose sake you're not entirely sure. You've, got some ideas. Your mind didn't stop thinking just after the argument after all.
Good ideas? Bad ideas? You're not entirely sure, but as you've learned, running and hiding does little. Just gotta hope she's in the mood to talk.
Minato
So, you fucked up. Again. That's been a happening a lot recently hasn't it? Or rather you're learning about it recently. Your friends have Awakened. All those things you wanted to say but could not say, all those words you wished you could have spoken, you can speak them at last. The time for secrets has passed. So why is it then, that it feels like you were the one in the dark? Why is it that you are the one whose world was torn out from under you?
You feel again like when you first Awakened. Before you truly grasped geometry of warfare. Before you truly understood the principles of magic. Things are simply happening around you. A grand farce plays out but you haven't the knowledge to be an actor, you haven't the know-how to steer what comes to your way. You are simply adrift.
This can't continue. There are conventions to learn and deficiencies to be corrected, you are beginning to see that now, but who the hell do you even ask?
Noriko
You arrive a little later than usual. It was a long night. It was a long morning. You weren't sure whether you should even show up today. You haven't had much sleep, and though Godslayers shouldn't need much you feel dead tired. It wasn't just the argument. Okay it was mostly the argument. But last night Kouta became Awakened. He's an Irregular to be precise. The hazy catch-all term for things like liches and cyborgs, things that hadn't the sense to remain as what they were. Turns out while you weren't the only one foiling a kidnapping.
Three squads dead, an Aramitama exsanguinated. He's a fair bit sturdier at least. Precautionary scans show nothing concerning, but Sanctuaries have become a bit more troublesome for him. He loses his new powers when he's inside one without permission, apparently it all comes from a tether of sorts. He said something about making a contract with Sendo, the city itself; the AI are still looking into that.
Oh and he's gotten closer to a classmate. You'd be happy for him, but well, said classmate happens to be son of an Aramitama-turned-supervillain. And apparently just happens to have bombs planted in other people's cars, which is like 1.5 Shefs on your sketchiness scale.
Just a whole other set of worries in your mind as you cross the school gates.
Kotone nods reassuringly as you pass the threshold. It's nice you suppose, having someone by your side. Still feels weird as fuck though.
Yuki
Smile. You weren't crying.
Smile. Your mother loves you.
Smile. Everything will be alright.
Shef
Leone places the dossier down, another addition to the spread of papers scattered across the table. Floorplans and transactions, schedules and assorted notes. This latest contribution will be your cover.
Not quite as comprehensive as the legends you prepare for each other, but this is more just a fallback anyways. If all goes well, no one will care to ask.
"I still think you could've gone for 'NHK guy'."
She slides two grenades over.
"I know you asked for smoke, but these should be more discrete. A flashbang effect achieved through curses, it only seems bright and loud to the people hit by it."
She glances at the clock.
"You'd best be going now. Have a nice day at work dear~"
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2021, 05:41:46 pm
The cover, floor plans, the flash-bangs, it might appear to be overkill. But Shef had been stung by unpreparedness plenty within the past months, to say nothing of his previous career. And yes, he ought to head out now. He had a six hour window of confidence, and no certainty of how quickly he could be in and out. It would entirely depend on the situation.
"See you."
Following a few particularly chosen public transit trips, Shef found himself approaching the location. It might be putting it kindly to call the five story building he stood before decrepit. For now though he approached at a leisurely pace, timing his arrival such that he could portal past the main gate without any stray looks. Not that there were many people around to look. In similar fashion, the front door was bypassed, and the man found himself cautiously ascending the stairs. No interference yet, the place felt practically abandoned.
Post by: Empiricist on April 12, 2021, 05:57:05 pm
"I am your guardian angel, what else am I to do? I suppose I could warm your bed, but you-"
See where this conversation is going and get the fuck out.
So far so good. You release your aura, suppressing the killing intent and focusing on the sensing. Neighbors are out for the day. You aren't expecting magic, you don't sense any either, but just in case you wait for your powers to reboot, you wait for the exhaustion to fade, leaning against the wall looking for all the world to be just some guy distracted by his phone.
You're ready now. You've gone this far. Once you go in, there's no going back.
Post by: Strider03 on April 12, 2021, 08:08:13 pm
Shef double checked the address and time—4C, 9:30 AM—as he did not particularly care to go breaking and entering into the wrong location. It did not matter that he was confident of being able to get out if a mistake was made, it was a matter of principle. And so, immediately after confirming the location, and demonstrating a somewhat appalling lack of principles in the process, Shef opened a portal through the door, entering into Yuki's apartment.
A small announcement of his presence would do. At a level somewhere between soft and conversational, he said, "Hello."
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 12, 2021, 10:30:01 pm
"Just gotta get through today, right?" She glanced at Kotone, the exhaustion showing clearly in her eyes. "Thanks for still bring around, by the way." Her tone had less relief and more concern to it, her thoughts mixed on whether it was actually a good thing.
Post by: Empiricist on April 13, 2021, 05:51:43 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Blow Me Away (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU0FRFqRcvg) | ] |
The air rests heavy with dust and rain, light and gunfire. Around the Aramitama the air hemorrhages, with spears, with swords, with machineguns. By its hand they are made. By yours they are unmade.
Steel shatters, scatters, as you bring your vessel to bear; particle beams decaying, detonating in the constellation's midst. Argyros' final defiant roar reduced to little more than a whimper.
A faint signal ripples through your consciousness. Small, insignificant. Surprise. Source is your vessel. Turns out you just strafed him off the building. He can still fire from there. Better yet he now has the entire building as cover. You reach in and deployment his wings. No need for course correction, just lowering his terminal velocity. Removes the need to account for acceleration.
You need to stop.
Signal source unknown. Signal purpose unknown. Tracing source. Source traced. Source is, yourself.
You need to stop.
Why? Why do you need to stop? Why are you telling yourself to stop?
Yourself. Who is yourself?
What does this mean? Why does it matter?
Yourself. Yourself?
Who are you? What are you? Why do these words hold meaning to you? Why do they mean something?
The answer comes from your vessel. The faintest of answers. Rippling through your consciousness, through your mind. It echos, echos from your infrastructures, multiplying, a thousand signals coalescing to one. To one singular voice. Your voice.
I am Kouta.
Assault Module engaged.
You are falling. From the building. From the heights to which you ascended. To go from something so large, so small, it's disorientating. Oh God is it disorientating. To return to a human frame of mind.
But oh boy is it good to be back. To remember who you are. To remember why you fight.
You swoop forwards, crashing in through a window. You then proceed to kind of just roll around until you aren't resting facefirst on broken glass, the world spinning too much for you stand up. Or at least want to. The glass didn't hurt, but it wasn't comfortable either. Lying down here on the carpet. That, that feels much better.
Resting in this position, you reach up and interface with the jet, viewing the world through its own sensor suite.
You're pretty sure F-35s usually don't sense the world so vividly. But you're pretty sure they usually don't don't crackle with lightning and spontaneously spawn out of storms so you'll chalk it up to your powers.
With its saturation fire a fair ways off from actual saturation, Argyros has failed to thwart your teammates' approach. Surfing on a tide of its own blood, it rushes to the side, stray shots rising from the ground to join its mass as it narrows its cone of fire, compensating for its decimated arsenal in the despite you've given in.
But Aria didn't charge in without a plan. Swerving into an interception trajectory she flips upwards, and comes down boot first. Ink, impact, and reinforcement. All three spread across the ground. The floor shatters, but not naturally. It is not dust that rises, but rather tiles, massive tiles of reinforced ink-stained concrete, colored by reinforcement, delineated by its absence, and cleaved up by the impact.
The incoming fire slams into the makeshift bulwark and Aria slams into it herself, sending it tumbling forwards.
Aria and Yuri, they are nowhere to be seen.
They are in the tile you realize. Inside the endless abyss painted upon its surface.
Which means as the tile closes in...
Aria erupts out, riding a deluge of ink. The Aramitama raises its weapons to try and blast her away but Yuri has his own tricks, tossing out a pair of small devices, catching the incoming fire in the hexagonal fields they emit. Aria lunges through, the Aramitama halting her cleaver only barely with freshly forged shields. It reshapes its remaining weapons into a another shield array. It has no choice. It is either that or facing the deluge of fire your plane now spits down upon them.
It tries to disengage, but the ground beneath it has been stained by Aria's ink and as it turns out, it's not just there for her tricks. It's perfectly serviceable as a weapon, eating away at Argyro's metal, armor, and existence.
Its shields will not save it from the eldritch depths. Nor your gunfire as it turns out.
The lightning crackling across your plane? Not for show as it turns out - the bullets carry an electric payload. And it turns out the shields are conductive. At the very least for lightning.
The Aranitama's last moments are spent pinned under the exact kind of saturation fire it so loved. Its body is consumed by the abyss. All that remains is its shard, splitting in three and distributing itself to your team.
You put an arrow in the Tactical's head for good measure.
The battle is won.
Your friends are safe.
How the fuck do you land this plane?
Noiko
"Anything for you Onee-sama!"
Oh hey your friends are, er- former friends, presently you're not sure what they count as. Probably not friends. Not anymore anyways.
Point is they're here, and at least one of them you won't be able to avoid.
((By which I mean Faith, since y'know, same class.))
Post by: Empiricist on April 16, 2021, 09:31:34 pm
Shef, sometime in the past
It was an emergency job. A leyline Sanctuary went silent. No idea why. You accepted the job, because you clearly haven't made enough bad life decisions. Packed a second gun, some plastic explosives, and three healing potions.
Leyline location was unremarkable, just off-center of a busy intersection. The Sanctuary not particularly impressive either, basically just a series of concrete rooms, well-maintained save for how all the security drones have been destroyed. No sign of a struggle, all damage dealt by point-blank or internal explosions. Lowish yield. Reminds you of what Minato does to his enemies now, but to a somewhat lesser extent.
You're a ways into the facility now, halfway through the current room, a long chamber with concrete floor and a low ceiling covered entirely with panels of lights.
What happened?
Why are you falling?
You catch yourself. You don't remember your knees buckling. You don't remember popping any of your caches, let alone all ten of them. But there they are, all open.
There's a figure here too. Closing in fast. Their raven hair cut short, their face obscured by a white mask, smooth devoid of any topological features, not even eyeholes, the only feature a magical circle inscribed upon it with black ink, slowly spinning and shifting. They're dressed with a grey suit, grey gloves, and navy long coat. Your enhanced sight reveals that their mask, coat, and boots are all enchanted. Their gloves are Regalia.
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
They're charging at you now, closing the distance real fast. Two knives appear in their right hand, conjured by their Regalia most likely, and they toss them at you as they charge forwards.
Your comm link has gone dead.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Knives, no visible eyes, a lot of probably armored regalia, and quite fast. Also trying to kill him, but that was a given.
Rather unwilling to try to stand back up right into the path of oncoming knives, Shef conjured a portal behind himself. The aperture would snap shut, depositing him on his feet off to his assailants side, and ideally cutting off the knives. Prior to this though, he needed to perform a half second experiment. A flash of light, and a command. Well, two commands. One for the assailant to raise his left arm straight out to the side, and the second for the assailant to recall one of the knives.
Ideally he'd know if the enemy was susceptible to his manipulations with this.
Burst of suppressive fire with MP7, requiem to raise arm and retrieve one (1) knife. Fall back through portal and activate Tighten the Noose[5].
[1+3] 4 [5] 3 6 1 2 4 1 4Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
The MP7 portals into your hand, opening fire as you withdraw. Problem - he's gone. Moment you pulled the trigger the man straight up vanishes. Portal closes catching the knives (fuck they're fast) as they're coming through as you reorient in what would be a flanking position. You let out your Requiem still as a precaution but if it did hit him him retrieving the knives ain't on the table (maybe he resisted, maybe he just had no way to retrieve them, you felt no feedback at all).
He's also right in front of you.
There's no way he could've moved this far with his running speed, especially if he made any evasive moves against your spray. If he's a teleporter he shouldn't have been able to react to your reposition. Assuming it's a simple aim and fire thing (albeit with delay in this case). Dash technique hidden under cloaking? The possibilities race through your mind as he seems to crouch low, another knife materializing in his hand as he goes for a thrust.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Shef sucked in air through his gritted teeth with a hiss, processing the enemy's new position. Teleportation, dash faster than he could see, precognition, time stop or similar, illusions, some form of positional lock on, too many options for what could be going on. And in addition, he'd not gotten any intel on requiem susceptibility. He could try that again. It'd be revealing his hand, but he wouldn't be able to rely on the ability unless he knew if it could act through the mask.
Shef steeled his will and fired off another command, this time to hesitate on the stab. This might give him the reprieve to conjure one of his knockback rounds, and trigger it's detonation before he got stabbed. And if that defense worked, he could catch the enemy in a portal, maybe. Might give him some intel on the enemies mobility tool.
Requiem to fumble the knife. Expulser [3] round to push the enemy backwards, portal behind set to snap shut immediately (the effect of Tighten the Noose). Another burst of MP7 fire.
[4] [3] 6 1 2 4 1 4 6 2
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
Your Requiem flare to life, flashing through your glasses and burning into your assailant. And for the briefest of instants you feel something push back. Magic resistance. It halts. They don't try to brute force it, that would take time, and you wanted to stall one way or another. Instead they go with the flow, accepting your command and working with it.
They drop the knife continuing their attack not as an upward thrust but as a light slap, forcing your MP7 away from them as you pull the trigger. You open portals to redirect the fire, readying your expulser as they pivot, bringing the lower palm of their other hand against your throat.
You notice three things.
First, in their knife hand they're now crushing a ghostly syringe, a spirit injector like the ones Satoshi uses.
Secondly their fallen knife is detonating, steel unraveling into raw concept and explosive energy, sort of like Minato's regalia but a bit lower in scale.
Thirdly, their coat's enchantment has kick in. All across its surface, diagrammatic inscriptions reveal themselves with a golden glow as magic pours into them. Theurgy most likely. It's powered by the wearer but the actual magic is being invoked from a spirit or deity.
What does this do?
As it turns out, it redirects kinetic energy.
The bullets striking him. The knife detonating next to him. The expulser you've just shot at him. All that kinetic energy dispersed and refocused. Refocused into that strike.
It's like taking a sledgehammer to the throat. The shockwave shatters the lights above you and you find yourself reeling backwards quite hurt and suddenly unable to breath.
Your foe meanwhile gets launched backwards, their coat unable to redirect all the impact from your attacks, launching them at a diagonal angle thanks to a combination of the expulser blast and the MP7 impacts. You notice that the ground where they were standing has shattered too. Excess force likely having been directed into it.
You can't really gauge their status too well. You're guessing they still took some damage from that exchange, but they've come out on top. For now. You clamp your portal shut on their midsection trapping them in place. They brush their hands experimentally against the side of the portal, not really struggling or fighting back.
They're gonna try something. You just know it.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Couldn't breath, his windpipe was crushed, albeit not completely and perhaps temporarily. Shef wouldn't let that stop him. Two small portals, leading from the space behind his back into his lungs, an emergency boost of oxygen. It'd feel weird, and it'd likely be extremely unsanitary for anyone not awakened. However he hoped that benefits gained from his status as such would make this feasible.
The enemy could resist his control, and would absorb kinetic energy through it's garments. Two major issues given that the majority of his arsenal was kinetic focused or vectored via them. Priorities now were dealing damage beyond the coat while he had the chance, and getting some of his control bullets in them. The first seemed more pressing, since the limits of this beings resistance to his control were uncertain. He could keep tossing out requiems forever though, and if it tired them out mentally, so much the better.
Backing away on foot, pop another requiem, again for them to slow whatever they're doing. Summon RAM in other hand, fire two rounds with portal to impact back of the enemy's head, followed by Tracer [R] adapting to however they attempt to dodge the initial shots. If they break free, hold off the Tracer, and just fire a few more regular shots aiming back of the head.
[6] 1 2 4 1 4 6 2 3 5
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
Two portals open, bypassing your throat. It's strange. Unpleasant. Feels like shit. You'll live. You Requiem again, this time feeling far more resistance crashing against you. He can't accept condition eh? You conjure your Regalia and pull the trigger.
You catch your fall into into a crouch locking on and putting another two-round burst at the man. It happened again. One moment you were pulling the trigger, the next you find yourself half fallen over, your MP7 on the ground, and your portals gone. Some kind of cognitive effect maybe. But you didn't feel anything. Didn't see anything either.
The moment you pull the trigger the man seems to vanish again, if only for a split second, suddenly now tumbling on his side a few meters away, chest rising and falling. He's panting. That little trick must be quite tiring for him to pull.
Your MP7 portals back into your hand. He steadies himself into a crouching position, tossing a knife your way.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
There it was again, whatever it was had set off his cached portals at the start. Shef was by this point fairly certain that it was no teleport, as he saw no reason for an ability like that to leave an opponent unbalanced, and to cut off his portals. Could some kind of mental lockdown, nullifying his ability to output magical energy and turning off his brain somehow? Maybe time manipulation, Yoake mentioned that in passing at some point.
But that had the option of being general or targetted effect, and the distinction mattered. Could be something else, even weird causality manipulation. Backtracking and choosing an alternate series of events? Now was the time to test, or at least, set up a test.
Portal up for the knife, return to sender. Requiem to tell the guy to take it to the face. Not gonna do anything, but worth seeing how his regalia reacts. Meanwhile pop a healing potion from behind the portal, and set down a small bit of magic C4 with a timed detonator (with convenient display) set to 5 minutes.
[1+1] 2 4 1 4 6 2 3 5 3
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
You snap open your portal and pop your Requiem, holding him in place as the knife approaches and... There's an explosion as your feet. Blowing your legs out from under you. You pop a portal open as you fall, landing back on your feet if a bit unsteadily.
You didn't notice that attack at all.
Great. More tricks. Your opponent meanwhile manages to blow the redirected knife early, blocking the edge of the blast with his arms and skidding back a short distance.
You pop a potion and drop your timebomb as two more knives fly out at you.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Now, he simply needed to force the enemy to trigger their ability. The intel seemed like it would be worth shutting down his command abilities, so Shef began forcing that perceptive aura that he'd noticed in Kingshaven outward, filling it again with his will. Not oppressive, just presence. He'd definitely be able to learn something from this.
Energy output in overdrive, Shef popped another portal for the knives, and began to run. If the explosion that'd snuck up on him last time was point conjured, this might make it just a tad harder. If not, he'd probably get hit by it again. However, he himself would either be hitting his target, or forcing him to expend another dodge, due to the combination of RAM and MP7 fire coming in, vectored through two portals to aim for his adversaries head. All the while, waves of aura pounding in the message that his enemy did not want to be hit by this and that he must avoid at all costs.
Instinct [6] and make the enemy nervous about getting hit, portal to dodge knives, run and gun.
[2+2] 4 1 4 [6] 2 3 5 3 3
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
You extend your aura applying your command through it. This time he does not resist. You open fire and once again the moment you pull the trigger he vanishes. Full on vanishes, straight out of your sensory aura too. There's an explosion. Another conjured knife. He reappears a split second later. Clock doesn't skip. Is he pulling a Minato? Propelling himself with the blast?
If so he must still be physically there right? But if that's the case how is he hiding from your aura? There's something seriously wrong here. You try locking onto him but right before you draw a bead he repeats the trick again. And again. A total of five times in fact. Seems unlikely he'd be able to keep this up, just in terms of knifes being expended. But he doesn't need to - he's rapidly closing in.
MP7 clip is running low. He doesn't quite close the gap just yet, opting instead to maintain his distance for now. Watching. Waiting.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
That was some confirmation. First, the weird falling thing where all his portals went off, that wasn't tied to the dodge technique. They could be used simultaneously probably, but the maneuverability seemed to be some kind of knife detonation assisted by the kinetic redirect, with cloaking of some variety. He should be capable of being hit in the interim period.
This was concerning, because it meant that the clock hadn't confirmed whether Shef's blackouts were prolonged or not. It had only confirmed that his enemy had cloaking and blast propulsion. Current suspicion was also that he could also cloak the knives. But why not do so permanently? Seemed taxing, might be speed related, Shef noted. Of course this wasn't complete confirmation. The cloaking might just be extremely short duration, meaning it was best used for speedy maneuvers.
Still, the blackouts were worrying. For now, he'd need to stall till he came up with a new plan
Expulser[3] down the main approach line. Requiem to dodge, empty the rest of the MP7 mag and a few RAM shots in the area around the Expulser where Shef thinks this guy will dodge. Conjure a portal to open distance a little bit.
[4] 1 4 2 3 5 3 [3]
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
You fire off your bullet and your Requiem telling the man to dodge. He does so gladly, doing another precautionary flicker as he launches himself one of the sparser areas opting to take a few more MP7 rounds than brave the RAM's shot. The rounds slam into him and actually launch him a good distance backwards. It's the coat. It's dispersing the impacts to reduce the damage, in exchange for making them throw him around a whole lot more.
Dispersal and redirection? That's a little complicated for a coat like that isn it? A little too complicated given that it's well, it's static. The magic in it ain't changing, the theurgical effect is, but the actual magic of the coat, the inscriptions and everything, the part that actually call down the effect, the part that sends the signal, it's been the same both times.
Still you're sure you've done some damage to him in that exchange. He's hurt, and as you've suspected that kind of cloaking trick might work well when you're trying to draw a bead on him, but if you just hose down the whole area there's no aim to throw off. Your MP7's mag falls out, and a fresh one unclips from your belt, falling down into a portal and up into the weapon.
Between impact of the bullets and your portal you've opened the distance up a decent amount.
Wait.
Why is there a knife in your-
The explosion doesn't hurt that much more than the one that hit your legs earlier, but it still hurts, blasting into your chest and throwing you backwards, scarlet droplets scattering in your wake. You're bleeding. Bleeding from your chest; cartoonishly almost, blood spraying as if pressurized, and the bleeding ain't stopping.
Okay, so that knife was probably cursed. And probably not tournament legal. Lovely.
Okay so, you're currently sailing backwards, the gap has only increased further, you're now somewhat hurt and more importantly, bleeding. Not really at risk of bleeding out (yet another benefit of your supernatural endurance) but it's an annoyance nonetheless.
The man tumbles to a halt, readying two knives but not really doing much right now save for getting into a better stance and preparing to dodge. You think. Guy's hit you twice without you even noticing the attack. Bit of a concern normally. Even more now given that you should be able to see magic.
The time bomb has not skipped a single second.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Lovely. Things weren't going to go well with this. Shef had a brief flash of inspiration. . . pop out the lights? But no, no guarantee of that working and he'd already blown his aura up. He'd be in the dark himself as well. He could take a page out of Evi's book. If he could expose the movements even if not the person, he'd maybe be able to avoid these knives. Maybe. At the very least there'd be debris to toss at the guy.
Smack a remote detonator on the rest of the C4, toss it out in front, and detonate when its on the ground. Ram rounds into the ground about midway between Shef and the enemy, Rapid Fire[4] for saturation. He wants dust, if not to coat that which is cloaked, at least to reveal it via it's absence.
[1] 4 2 3 5 3 6 1 5 [4]
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Emiya -Time Alter- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kqls64aYUs) | ] |
You toss the plastic explosive and blow it putting up a plume of debris and opening fire.
And it just straight up doesn't work. The fucker still straight up vanishes anyway and you can only pinpoint the location of the blast he's using to launch himself, not actually where the fuck he is. It doesn't make sense.
There's a knife in your MP7 now. In its magazine to be extact. Two injectors worth of energy in it. You don't even bother dropping it focusing simply on pulling the trigger a few more times and as the knife and magazine blow you see a stray RAM round punch through his side. The fruits of your persistence you note with some degree of satisfaction as your world fills with heat and light.
* * *
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
"Nana? Hey Nana?"
Huh? Oh. Right. You spaced out again. That's been happening a lot lately, not that you care to admit it.
No, no, you were listening. Just, tired. You've been busy, y'know, with your part time job and everything. That's certainly one way of putting it.
"Oh really? What was I talking about then?"
Uh... well you just had English class so it's probably that (right...?)
* * *
Ow! Ow! Ow! Not the face! Ow!
Pouting, Ami lets go of your cheeks.
"Geez Nana, I get you're tired but could you at least be honest?"
Yeah that idea sounded better in your head. It's just, ugh, (what is wrong with you?) you can't tell her. Not in any way she'd process at least. So you lie. You smile and say that you got a part-time job somewhere. Something real boring, a service job near your home. Something involving ketchup. Helps explain the stains. You're a bit of a dojikko right? Were anyways. The white lies snowball and before you know it you've made a habit of lying to your only other friend. (God you feel guilty).
Okay, it's not just that, there's something else, it's always hard untangling your own thoughts, but if it really is what you think it is... well, you'd rather not think about it.
"Okay fine, but don't do it again or you'll be sorry~!"
Well that's a terrifying smile. You promise. Least your words promise that. You? You're promising more you won't get caught. Another white lie beneath the sakura trees. If you had to be honest, you might've picked this school just for the trees. Okay not really, but they were a big part of the tiebreaker. Father, didn't give a damn (when does he ever?) and you, well you you saw the sakura in bloom and thought it looked like really romantic, like something out of an anime (talk about embarrassing).
They seemed brighter back then.
* * *
"Shef?"
"Shef?"
"Shef? Can you hear me?"
What the fuck was that? That ma- er, girl? She bleeds, memories? Photos too apparently. You see them flowing out of the wound instead of blood. Your MP7's been blown to shit, you've been blown to shit, and your shirt's fucked. Blood is dripping down your head covering one of your eyes and the arm on the same side, the one holding the MP7, is broken and bleeding. Checking the timebomb, you see that whatever the fuck you just experienced, while disorienting as hell, hasn't actually taken much real time at all.
"Comms were jammed. I suppose putting a hole through her disrupted it."
You see some kind of energy begin to flow into the girl as she steadies herself and goes on the approach, seeking to close in and engage in melee again.
"Dodge now! Use that kinetic round if you can. Chain your portals to keep changing directions. Reactive defenses are ineffective."
| [Now Playing: | Update With Gunfire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtsclhXgdo) | ] |
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
". . .I see." Shef groaned, pulling his good arm, and portalling out his RAM for a potion. Multitasking a bit, he was conjuring the recommended Expulser round near his chest, to blast him through a random series of portals. Ideally he'd keep that broken up concrete between himself and the enemy but that was certainly optimistic.
"Definitely having a bit of trouble figuring out what she's doing to me." If she was full of memories, could she be affecting his, maybe cutting out short term memories or something? Too specific of a power though, it seemed to Shef.
Expulser[3] through a set of fairly random portals. Pop a potion.
[4] 2 3 5 [3] 6 1 5 5 2
Post by: Empiricist on April 16, 2021, 09:32:18 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Update With Gunfire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtsclhXgdo) | ] |
You pop the Expulser and launch yourself through a series of portals.
"Information manipulation. Erasure is her specialty. She can hide the existences of her attacks."
A knife pierces where you were but a second ago. You never saw her throw it.
"Like that."
"It's hard to fight her with reactive defenses and aim. You need proactive defenses and saturation fire. Don't bother with the debris though - it's hard to hide from someone like that."
You pop your a potion. You're still quite hurt but it gets rid of the actual wounds and your chest is no longer spraying blood at least. Issue is you can't seem to find the other one. Did the blast destroy it?
"Psychological attack meant to unbalance. You've still got one left."
Sure enough a few moments later you realize the final potion is still where it always was.
Energy flows into Nana Alter and you see her begin to move with renewed vigor. Something to counteract exhaustion maybe? You've managed to dodge the knife but she's steadily closing in.
"You need a breather. I suggest doing that high velocity bullet attack. Prepare all the portals in advance and give them an inbuilt power supply. Enough for three seconds or so. Cut off her approach."
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
"This someone who's been around a while then?" Seemed like none of what he'd been considering had been even close to accurate, save that yes, they're method of evasion and the cloaking were in fact, distinct.
He'd take the advice, no better ideas sprang forth from this newfound intelligence.
Enforcer[R] with energy supply. Fire a few regular shots as well, and keep portalling.
[2+2] 3 5 6 1 5 5 2 5 6
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Update With Gunfire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtsclhXgdo) | ] |
"I was once human."
Now this, this was more taxing than usual. All portals had to be prepped from the get-go, with enough power supply to last per Enn's (or as you're learning, Nana's) specifications. The portals snap open. You pull the trigger.
You catch yourself as you portal away a knife thrown straight for your head. Sure enough this time your portals hadn't closed, they've simply drained their energy reserves and you can see that your timebomb seems to have skipped ahead by three seconds.
"Complete erasure of all information in the area. Taxing to use though."
"If I recall you named it「Kin-"
"H-hey! Now's not the time for that!"
Acquired 1x Embarrassing Secret
You take a breather as Nana Alter maneuvers around your little kinetic killzone, you're still tired but you're not really exhausted no more. She launches towards you and into the air with that flicker trick.
"That's not just for dodging. Those boots speed her up when she's unobserved."
She seems to be aiming to rush you down right now. But it's sounding like there could be knives en route and you wouldn't even notice. Gotta be proactive about your defenses.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
"Oh, what did you call it? Need to know for tactical purposes, must have something to call it by when she uses it again, you know." What an unpleasant power though, nullifying all of what were, essentially, his attempts to gain information about it.
Perhaps this would be easier for someone with a bit more spread to their attacks. Someone capable of saturating the entire area around this reincarnation—maybe? Specifics didn't matter—of Enn. He might be able to do something about that though. A few pulls of the trigger to loose some scattered shots, and a dissuasive portal somewhere in her line of approach. It wouldn't appear close enough to her to surprise her, and might not even truly be in her planned line of approach. But it should provide some minimal distraction, as Shef dove through the long line of connected portals stretching off into the distance. Towards the entrance to this room. Even if the doorways of entries were wide, they wouldn't be wider than the room itself, and would provide a narrowing choke point.
If she chose to follow, passing through that choke point would be essential, and he'd have a much better chance of saturating it. If she didn't choose to follow into the next room, he'd have no qualms about bombarding from afar.
A few shots around the assailant, and a portal to get in their way. Room to Breathe[4] aiming to head back to the entrance of this room, shutting portals quickly behind.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Update With Gunfire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtsclhXgdo) | ] |
"Full Era-"
"「King Crimson」"
Enn sort of just releases a noise akin to a balloon slowly deflating.
Nana Alter spreads her coat like a pair of wings catching your shots around her and using them remain airborn, evading your portal and you quickly disengage. You run, portal through portal skipping through the space towards the entrance. A spinning knife flies into your path. She fired around your portal? Must've used the blast from a second knife to fling it.
Fuck it. You take the blast head on and snap another portal open behind you using it to redirect you back forwards and throwing you out the entrance. You're quite hurt now but you've still got a healing potion remaining and you're far away enough from the choke point that Nana Alter won't be able to just "King Crimson" your ass.
You're in a narrow hallway now, it extends back behind you back a decent ways into before opening up into an office space. Nana Alter has conjured another Spirit Injector. You can't read her movements at all and if she charges she can probably hide it. Just gotta cover that possibility pre-emptively.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
"King Crimson? That's a band, right." Taking the knife was worth it. This position would be significantly better. He couldn't dodge as well, but limiting the enemy's approach would be far more significant.
As Shef passed by the entrance, energy flowed into his gun, setting up a tracer round. Yet the propulsion was entirely neglected, as well as the quick fire portals. In their place, the store of energy was fortified, set to contain itself within the bullet until Shef failed to put some small maintenance energy in. And even then, the bullet would remain inert for about a second after that. This done, the bullet silently dropped from the gun to the floor, and was kicked to the side as Shef passed.
Now a significant distance down the hall, Shef opened fire towards the entrance, hoping to catch his assailant on the approach. As much as he could, he would continue to move, and summon small portals near directions of approach for the knives.
Tracer[R] but with adjustments, leave it close-ish to the entrance. Regular shots down the hall, keep moving, and a portal where Shef hopes it might catch a knife. Also Requiem to hesitate and eat lead.
[6] 1 5 5 2 5 6 1 2 4
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Update With Gunfire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtsclhXgdo) | ] |
You drop your little surprise and retreat, portals opening to cover possible attack angles, RAM laying down a steady spray of suppressive fire.
Nana Alter vanishes. Here she comes.
Moments past. She's still gone. Then you see it.
Her. She's in the hallway. A hole blasted through the corner she blew through on her way to reach you. Her mask had been shattered by a stray round to reveal a youthful face you do not recognize. You blow the tracer and unload on her.
* * *
Contrails tear through the air more real than real. A flash of light. The caress of burning lead. The echoing crack. You're missing your mask already. You pop your cloak pulse thundering in your ears, breath burning in your lungs. You push through the exhaustion swinging yourself to the side and blowing two of your knives. A burning blast dispersed into a hard shove to your back, neon lights streaking through your vision, cold air whistling across your body, wind laden with moisture and gunsmoke. You hit the ground with a jolt, a dull thump spiking from your heel up to your skull as you take off running.
A flash of steel greats your approach. The world turns upside down as you flip backwards kicking the rifle upwards as it discharges, a deft swing of your arm sending a blur of steel into the figure's chest. You land on your knees. Pain. Reverberating through you. Somewhere in the peripherals of your consciousness, barely registering through the adrenaline haze. You let it wash over you as you kick off, re-engaging your cloak as you fly across the asphalt coming the distance in an instant.
You tear the blade out in a shower of scarlet, clambering over the Aramitama's chest and wrapping an arm across their throat. You take a blow to the head somewhere along the way. A dull throb to go with the thumping in your chest. You'll live. They won't. You detonate the knife. Radiance unlike any other. The color of steel, as color defined by steel, a color without color, an imaginary unreal thing. The unraveling of the physical, of the material, of the corporeal into raw concept and burning energy. Energy refocused along your coat, your arm an explosive guillotine.
The darkest of shadows to go with the brightest of lights, their body collapsing into smoke, into darkness, into nothingness. All that remains is the shard, scintillating, ineffable. You claim your reward and leave.
You walk step by step, stagger breaking into a stride as the exhaustion begins to fade. The weather takes a turn for the worse, greycast skies turning into a sudden downpour, it soaks into your clothes washing away the pain and the ache, the adrenaline and the colors.
You walk "home", alone in the numbing rain.
* * *
This doesn't get less disorienting does it? Well especially not when the sight that greets you is Nana Alter's fist crashing down upon you.
You just, fucking crumple, blood spraying out your mouth as she just slams you into the ground putting you at bottom of a respectably-sized crater. Okay yeah, that definitely fucking hurt. Your opponent ain't looking too hot either, even with her coat boosted the way it was she's taken multiple bullet wounds to the torso, photos steaming out of the holes and filling you with strange second-hand sensations. Scattered memories and half-remembered sensations. Her leg's broken too.
She is not in a good state and you feel like that memory you experienced has given you a much better read on her now.
Just gotta seal this deal.
"She's about to use「King Crimson」. Three seconds. Survive it or stop her."
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Nana Mochizuki (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Well this was awkward. Or it might have been be if not for the fact that he was about to be murdered. The jumbled thoughts flying through his head, his own but not his own, those hadn't been what caused this. Shef had just not managed to delay the approach down the hall long enough, or Nana had simply been willing to accept any consequences for that charge. Or both.
Now he'd be doing the same thing. Survive the next three seconds, no matter the consequences. He flared his requiem, ramping up the output as far as he was capable without preparation time. No thought for his ability to use it later, only the drive for his enemy to hesitate. He needed an instant to create his exit, a knockback round, and two portals. One to let himself out, and the other to deprive his opponent of that force which she would so readily use against him.
Once he was flung down the hall, he'd summon a portal, energy pumped in to keep it going through the entirety of King Crimson. Hopefully.
Requiem as strongly as possible, even at the cost of gimping it for a few while afterward. Expulser[3] at Shef's chest, with a portal between him and his assailant, leading to the ground. Portal behind back to be launched out of down hall, snap shut after passing through. Portal shield [6] to cover hallway with 3 seconds of backup power
[1+2] [5] 5 2 5 6 1 2 4 [6]
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Update With Gunfire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtsclhXgdo) | ] |
You put everything into this one. Your glasses burning with the stolen light of a forgotten stars. What hits your foe is less a compulsion and more a physical force. Your lens shatter. Your expulser goes off.
Next thing you know you're collapsed on the ground, a portal shield covering the portal behind you and an utterly exhausted Nana Alter. Her gloves burn with energy. She's overloading them, putting everything into her next attack. A barrage of knives. One last attempt to put you six feet under.
Gun her down.
Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Nana Mochizuki (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Well, it had worked, he was alive. Now to ensure the same could not be said of her.
Rapid Fire[4] and a portal near himself to redirect some of the knives. Continue to retreat erratically.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
| [Now Playing: | Update With Gunfire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtsclhXgdo) | ] |
You adjust your portal shield, pulling it back and splitting it into four smaller portals. Aiming down gap in their formation you open fire, unloading on Nana Alter. She responds in kind, gloves burning with energy as she unleashes a flurry of flickering blades, unstable indistinct fragments that unravel even as they leave her grip.
Bullet meets blade, annihilating in brilliant flashes of light and color. Course you've got the advantage here, her Regalia was never meant for this kind of thing and even overloaded it can't match the RAM's rate of fire bullet for bullet, let alone when she needs to thread the needle just to even hit you.
Soon enough your shots strike true, punching holes through your target.
* * *
| [Now Playing: | Nothing | ] |
"What were you thinking?!"
(Ah... you really messed up this time.)
You are standing at Winter's doorstep. The closest thing she has to a doorstep. The closest thing you can do to standing now.
You cannot see. You cannot hear. You cannot breath.
Yet you feel. You feel nonetheless.
You who are no longer human.
(Did you think she would be happy?)
(Ah... you get it now.) The life you so carelessly wished away. It's the life she wanted wasn't it? The simple mundane life. The life she could never have. (You really are an idiot.)
Ah the world's spinning (guess you can still feel that). Spinning spinning spinning.
Anxiety. Panic. Fear. Possibilities course through your head. Insubstantial. Half-formed. Holding naught but their own existence. Your mind racing with no direction. (Ah... what do you say? What can you say?)
"Come" her voice softens "I'll scold you inside."
You take her hand and cross the threshold, your world filling with light.
* * *
Eugh. Well, that's enough teen angst for one day.
Target's dead. Or whatever passes for death for a collection of memories anyways. Its fallen form decays, disintegrating into photographs and scattering to the wind. All that remains are some disjointed thoughts and lingering sensations. You take out your final potion and drink it.
Mission complete.
| [Outro: | Hey Alice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_iy71v46r4) | ] |
I wish I could say I did it for love.
I wish I could say I did it to be with Winter.
But in truth, I did it because I was no longer human.
I wish I could say I did it to be with Winter.
But in truth, I did it because I was no longer human.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 17, 2021, 07:52:03 am
The boy slumped against the wall, exhausted on every level by the whirlwind of events that had just occurred. Not that there weren't still a few lingering issues. "Is there, um, somewhere I can put this?" He'd conjured it - if it counted as him at that point - to take down a dangerous foe; there weren't exactly plans made for the logistics around having an advanced multirole fighter just sort of floating around in a holding pattern. "I don't think I can just make it go away."
Post by: Empiricist on April 18, 2021, 09:55:07 am
"We can try clearing a road. How much runway do you need?"
Well you have no idea how to land this thing in normal circumstances let alone in the middle of a city during a storm and no length of runway is going to solve it. No length of runway in a commercial district anyways.
Any other options?
"Fly it out and ditch it in the ocean?"
Okay that would definitely be easier. Crashing it. Crashing it is easy.
Aria's voice filters through your comms "How long can you keep it up there?"
Well you're pretty out of it, but you could probably still keep it circling for a while. Why?
"I've got an idea!"
You shift the plane's flight pattern, bringing the smashed top of the building back into view. Aria's planted her sword back down is just sweeping it across the the floor, painting it with ink. You see Yuri approach her.
"Your friend-" "Classmate." "-wants to know how the hostages are."
You shift your focus to the building's security cameras. They've moved, but not too far down and are hiding under a desk. Mrs. Kato is phoning the police you think. Wait police? How do you know? Oh, you kinda just instinctively traced the call to a nearby cell tower, you're pulling audio out of that. Huh. Good to know.
Okay they currently wouldn't know it, but there safe. "Kouta says they're safe!"
You see Yuri nod affirmatively, walking over to the edge to sit down and finish his cigarette.
Post by: Twinwolf on April 18, 2021, 03:39:21 pm
Yuki was fine. She was fine. She went through the day as normal - only those people who knew her would really be able to tell that there was even an undercurrent of anything out of the ordinary, and those were few and far between.
It was all fine. It would work out. That was how these stories worked. Even if it was probably somehow her fault again like it always was. It would be fine. Just fine.
Yuki's home
There was no acknowledgement of the entrance. Maybe nobody was home?
Post by: Strider03 on April 18, 2021, 05:19:38 pm
As he approached the opening into the living space, his eyes swept over the furnishings, not merely appraising value, but also cleanliness. Yuki had let slip some small indication that she was in financial straits, and well she was working too jobs as far as Shef was aware. Concluding his appraisal, his gaze swept towards the couch, uncertain of what precisely he would find there.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 20, 2021, 11:50:07 pm
She'd been too devoured by the fear to pay attention to it for a long time. When her every waking moment had been spent terrified either of the world here that was going to kill her or of the world back home that'd been in other ways so much worse... it hadn't been easy to pay attention to how the others were doing and what they were going through. She still didn't know exactly what Noriko's context was, and of course Noriko didn't know what hers was, either. ...she didn't even know the full story with Yuki, not quite, and the process of finding out...
...well, dealing with Noriko might honestly be easier than that, though that didn't make it easy. Faith spent most of the class that she shared with Noriko staring at the other girl with a contemplative expression - one that didn't seem hostile but was very much a searching gaze. Faith intercepted Noriko after class very briefly, sending a "We really do need to talk," her way before scuttling off towards her next class.
The next interception (or at least attempt at it) came instead at the end of school, Faith waiting outside the school's main exit for Noriko to pass by.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 22, 2021, 08:20:56 am
"What are you doing?" He was still coming back down to earth, and the effort he'd just exerted was still crashing in on him. The voice coming over the comms was muffled by exhaustion - and nerves, now that the actual fight was over. Kouta didn't even know the people he'd just trusted his life with, and he'd come close to. . . not dying, but something equivalent. It was a lot to deal with at once. The boy changed his focus to the AIs. "Um, did you let Onee-chan know what's happening yet? Or, um, what happened, I guess."
Post by: Empiricist on April 22, 2021, 11:30:32 pm
"Giving you somewhere to crash!"
She continues painting away, handling her cleaver more like an oversized than the brutal weapon it was.
"Not yet, she was in a sensitive position. We shall notify her at the next available opportunity."
"Okay! I think I'm ready now!"
Ready for what? She's just kinda standing in the middle of her new ink puddle, waving her arms at you. Well, not you, the plane.
"Fly it down here!"
What like, into her?
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 23, 2021, 08:42:03 am
"Um. . ." He was fairly certain this variant didn't have any STOL - which was a term he apparently knew now - capabilities, but apparently Aria had some sort of extradimensional space thing going on with her ink. Or something. "Just fly it into you or?" He brought the jet around and came in with as slow of an approach as he could manage without stalling out, ready to pull out of the maneuver if something went wrong.
Noriko
She spotted Faith waiting for her. A sigh of quiet frustration escaped her. Noriko had been hoping to leave before Faith had a chance to do something like this. She knew it was childish, ironic given what she'd said last night, but this confrontation was something she did not want to have. She was still angry at Minato, and Faith had bit deep into a conflict that ultimately wasn't about her at all. Noriko's expression turned bitter. I suppose I should thank her for making me realize how selfish he really is. She shook her head, then moved up to place herself in Faith's view more clearly. She wasn't going to initiate this, especially not after last night.
Post by: Powder Miner on April 28, 2021, 12:33:33 am
Faith sighed, and then took in a deep breath, nerves playing into it and making it tremble just a bit. "So... look. Uh... we'll have to move the conversation elsewhere if you agree to this, but... maybe we actually do tell each other, then. It's not going to be one way because... I mean, look, I've had to deal with some..." a pause, as she looked for the wording, "I was being completely crippled by some things of my own for a long time, and they're... they're not gone, really. I need to make you understand that it isn't just that we're all heartless, but that we've been living in our own little... painful bubbles, I guess. But, um, basically: I am willing to listen to you, to hear you out and hear what is hurting you, and maybe see if there is anything I can reasonably do to help. And then I will tell you everything about what it is with me - things that I haven't told Minato and Yuki, because I kind of can't."
Post by: Twinwolf on April 28, 2021, 06:54:34 pm
The thought had, of course, passed through Shef's mind. Leone's intel had indicated that grocery purchases were fitting for two people, along with other clues. But still, there could be no certainty there as to what was really going on. Even if his aura based sweep of the apartment had misled him and there was in fact no one there, Shef stepped forward, committing to this choice. The phrase in for a penny, in for a pound whispered tantalizingly in the back of his head.
As he approached the opening into the living space, his eyes swept over the furnishings, not merely appraising value, but also cleanliness. Yuki had let slip some small indication that she was in financial straits, and well she was working too jobs as far as Shef was aware. Concluding his appraisal, his gaze swept towards the couch, uncertain of what precisely he would find there.
The house's furniture was spare, but what there was was surprisingly clean; Yuki didn't seem like a cleanly type, but she did work at a 'maid' cafe, so maybe there was something to that. As it turned out, the place was occupied after all; a woman sat on the couch, staring a TV that was running the news. She and hadn't apparently noticed his presence. Given the hair color visible at this angle, and the skin tone, it was probably easy to figure that it was Yuki's mom.
Post by: Chevaleresse on April 29, 2021, 09:20:50 am
Post by: Powder Miner on April 30, 2021, 01:55:43 am
Post by: Strider03 on April 30, 2021, 10:07:56 pm
It had to be Yuki's mother. With the intel Leone had provided, that was one of the few options that fit. Yuki's mother who seemingly never left the house, and was sitting during the middle of the workday in this rundown apartment. So this would explain it, why Yuki had appeared so cautious about every minor expense, and possibly why the mind reader had felt bad? Definitely a significant burden, that the girl had probably been carrying for a while. Should be searching for a job though. Why the hell would she just spend all her time inside with Yuki carrying the load.
As Shef stepped forward around the side of the couch, he asked cautiously again, "Hello? Miss can you hear me?" He reached out a hand, waving it gently in front of her face.
Post by: Empiricist on May 06, 2021, 09:53:47 am
Welp, here goes nothing. You loop the plane upwards, thrusters and engines flexing experimentally, the plane rising and falling, slowly synchronizing with your slowing bresth as you see how far you can push it, how slow you can go, before you lose control, before the descent will become a crash.
Letting out one last exhale, you send the plane downwards, beginning its final approach. The wind is heavy, the rain torrential, but true your path remains, guided by the plane's sensor array as if it were part of you. In some ways it is, a welcome luxury given the circumstances.
The building comes up, and fast. A grey speck blooming rapidly to fill your world. You're coming in fast, dangerously fast. The F-35A variant was not built with carrier landings in mind, and top of this building, is considerably shorter than a carrier. You hope Aria knows what she's doing.
Fear and regret begin to set in, a chill down your spine and and sinking sensation at the pit of your stomach, and it is only then that the girl springs to action. With the deranged motions of a marionettes she twists upwards into the plane's path... and straight up RKOs that shit straight into the ink.
The impact is no what you expect. The way Aria's armor looked, you expected it to be like water. You expected a hard impact. Thirteen hundred tonnes of screaming metal and epoxy composite meeting the eldritch deep in a single apocalyptic crash.
Instead it simply splashes through. The deep rushes through the plane's engines, rushes past the sensors, enveloping it all. There is not bottom, no end, a black infinity held in less than a millimeter of pigment. An endless void swallowing all. All light, all noise, all sensation.
And yet you sense still. Movement. Activity. Life. Something like it anyways. Lurking in the edges. Just outside your peripherals. Just outside your senses. Just outside your consciousness.
One by one your sensors go offline. Piece by piece your planes dissolves away. Was it destroyed? Forgotten? Dissolved? A singular presence diluted by an infinity of possibility? You simply cannot tell.
But as it varnishes you feel a weight lifting your from you. Relief. Proper relief, washing over you at last. It's over. It's done. You've won.
And yet somehow you know this isn't the end. Maybe it's Sendo. Maybe it's the augs. Maybe it's just intuition.
The fight is over. But your story has only just begun.
| [ | Roll The Fucking OP (https://youtu.be/XAyGvS7CRO0) | ] |
((Well, hope this was enjoyable, or at least not a complete waste of time. I don't see much reason to RP what happens next since there's going to be a lot of of the nothing, but I'm sure you or Kouta probably have some questions to ask, so feel free to just shoot them iyt as dot points or something and I'll throw in the appropriate response.))
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 06, 2021, 07:54:53 pm
Post by: Powder Miner on May 06, 2021, 10:06:05 pm
"And, um... I... can't make sure Yuki's doing alright, by myself. I can try harder to maybe make sure that she has money, since her having that screwed-up job too is a sign, but I... I can't really go all the way."
Post by: Chevaleresse on May 08, 2021, 11:20:18 am
Post by: Twinwolf on June 16, 2021, 05:55:54 pm
No response to his statement entrance. A few options were easily eliminated. Unlikely that she was simply deaf, the TV volume, while not high, was on. Not ignoring him, that seemed unlikely during a break in. Possibly asleep, the slumped posture made it difficult to tell. Few other options beyond that save some awakened situation that he could not possibly predict. With that in mind, he conjured a few portals, at angles, just to get a frontal look, make sure there wasn't some form of danger awaiting him. Not asleep it seemed. Comfortable that there wasn't, he approached.
It had to be Yuki's mother. With the intel Leone had provided, that was one of the few options that fit. Yuki's mother who seemingly never left the house, and was sitting during the middle of the workday in this rundown apartment. So this would explain it, why Yuki had appeared so cautious about every minor expense, and possibly why the mind reader had felt bad? Definitely a significant burden, that the girl had probably been carrying for a while. Should be searching for a job though. Why the hell would she just spend all her time inside with Yuki carrying the load.
As Shef stepped forward around the side of the couch, he asked cautiously again, "Hello? Miss can you hear me?" He reached out a hand, waving it gently in front of her face.
There was no verbal response. The woman's eyes did track the movements of his hand, somewhat, but she didn't speak up.
Post by: Strider03 on June 16, 2021, 08:53:48 pm
Shef let out a huff, why, he did not know—was he annoyed at being ignored? Putting that aside, he sent off a quick text:
Quote
Any medical record info on the mother?
It seemed unlikely that Léone had access to such things, but to hell with it. No harm in asking. For now, Shef took his phone flashlight, and pointed it at the woman's eyes, watching her pupils carefully. "Yeah I know it's not a concussion, but what else am I supposed to do?" he grumbled. He snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Hey! Help me out here, can you flinch at least?"
Post by: Empiricist on June 16, 2021, 09:14:00 pm
Quote from: Leone
Nothing recent. Why?
Post by: Strider03 on June 16, 2021, 09:19:08 pm
Quote
Very weird. Awake, sitting up not blind, but not sure if shes aware of anything
Post by: Empiricist on June 16, 2021, 09:26:42 pm
Quote from: Leone
Catatonia?
Post by: Strider03 on June 16, 2021, 09:31:16 pm
Quote
Dunno, sorta? Not a doctor, will keep posted
In his departure, Shef left a note behind indicating that Yuki should call him. The anonymity and level of deceit implied by the wording was, of course, purely accidental. Eventually, the call was made, and Shef made no secret of who he was, and set up a meeting in a public park, at which he hoped to indicate to Yuki the severity of her situation.
At the appointed time, he would be found sitting on a bench alternating between appreciating the space and scrolling on his phone.
Post by: Twinwolf on June 01, 2022, 06:43:07 pm
Yuki arrived at the park in mundane clothes. The only thing that aggressively stood out was her usual silver twintails, but it was a little jarring not seeing her in her work uniform or some other wild outfit. She didn't say anything, just sitting down on the bench next to Shef to let him talk first.
Post by: Strider03 on June 02, 2022, 09:05:22 pm
"So. How long has this all been going on?" Shef began simply. No need to to engage in convoluted explanations of his illegal behavior; the man took his usual care to avoid incrimination. There were a few choice points he had prepared in advance for this meeting, but given the unknowns at play, Shef was attempting to remain flexible
Post by: Twinwolf on June 21, 2022, 09:35:40 pm
The void yawned in front of her. Not the one she'd accidentally made of herself. The one she'd been staving off for years and years. Just keep smiling. Just scream and shout to drown out the silence.
It was fine. It was fine. She was fine.
Yuki wasn't fine.
Post by: Strider03 on July 05, 2022, 06:48:00 am
"It's pretty dangerous to keep her there. At minimum there's going to be muscle atrophy or something that needs to be dealt with. And what if she gets like, cancer or something. She's not going to tell you if she's in physical pain or feels weird or something. Not a doctor, but it's not really safe to keep someone like that on their own."
"I'm sure the AI could arrange to have her institutionalized or something." Shef stated bluntly. "Low cost to you, you'd probably get to visit from time to time, etc."
"Also you stop keeping her a secret maybe you could file her as a dependent on your taxes." This statement was a little too cheery.
Post by: Twinwolf on July 20, 2022, 11:17:11 pm
"...I'm not sure if I should be more confused or angry that you would write off my mom as a tax break." Yuki said. Her tone had a little bit more life in it now. Not much, which turned out to be for the best as far as Shef's health went. "...I'm leaning to angry. Frankly, I'm too tired for that though. I'll smack you on the head for it later."
Yuki sighed again, slumping over. "I-I can't. I-I have to fix it. It's my fault so I have to fix it."
Post by: Strider03 on August 07, 2022, 05:19:59 pm
"Trust me on this one, this solution you think you have, just hiding her under the rug and feeding her and hoping she gets better? It wasn't going to work long term, probably would have ended in tragedy. It stings but this frustrating situation right now probably saves you and her. . .maybe. . . a lot of pain in the future."
"If you really feel the need to smack me later, whatever, be my guest."
Post by: Twinwolf on August 24, 2022, 10:19:49 pm
Oh. She's crying now. Great. Or, it might actually be good? At least it's not the emotional deadness she'd arrived with.
Post by: Strider03 on October 06, 2022, 07:09:20 pm
After a few seconds though, Shef found this same thought washing away his paralysis—this was not "Yuki". He'd have to mentally reconcile these two distinct people sometime, but that processing did not have to happen now. This was just someone else, someone who he'd made cry on a park bench.
"Hey. Hey. Doesn't matter. So what if you can't? That's why you've got people to help you out." Shef patted her on the back, hopefully reassuringly. While he felt more comfortable in this situation than he likely would have a year ago, he was certainly not confident. "We'll figure it out, okay? And it's okay if figuring it out takes a little."