Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Twinwolf]

Yuki didn't move, for a while. The argument went on and she stood paralyzed as it climaxed. She stared blankly, uncomprehending. "Noriko-I- o-ok..." she said after a bit, quietly.

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.

[Chevaleresse]

Noriko watched Yuki leave, almost wanting to speak but finding herself unable to do so. It was just herself and Shef left alone in the room, for many moments of uncomfortable, tense silence. "Yes, it. . ." Shef, who had somehow been the only person to pause and ask what she wanted. "No. No, it's not at you." Her gaze drooped to the floor as she spoke. "It's at me."

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.

[Strider03]

"Wait." Shef called out. "Just for a sec. You owe me." Whether she knew he was referring to taking over for her mess at the resort, or whether she knew how questionable the legitimacy of that implied debt was.

"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.

[Chevaleresse]

Noriko glanced back at Shef, pausing in the doorway. Her eyes didn't quite meet his, instead falling to somewhere around his feet. "I tried." She shook her head, before her expression hardened again. "It wasn't worth it. Nobody gave a shit. I should have known."

And with that, she left.

[Twinwolf]

Noriko's leaving was probably interrupted. As it turned out, Yuki hadn't left completely; she'd gone out the door and then just kinda... stayed there, which was almost comical given how the weird murder-plushes were around her. She wasn't crying. Not quite, but she was very clearly doing her best not to, which was more than a little weird for a girl who never seemed to take anything seriously.

"I-I know you told me to leave... sorry..." she said quietly - again, she was anything but quiet normally.

[Chevaleresse]

Noriko gritted her teeth. She was about to burst into tears herself, and seeing Yuki in this state wasn't helping. It took many long seconds for her to work out a reply. "Why is it that the only thing anyone listened to was that. . . ?" Her voice was at a volume with the white-haired girl's when she finally spoke. Faith is right. I almost ruined everything. I should have just shut up and taken it. There's one thing in common when this stuff keeps coming up, one thing that ties all these fights together. Faith giving up, that was to be expected. Minato giving up, though? And Yuki?

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."

[Empiricist]

Kouta

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

Kouta: 2

Argyros: 6
Hunter Tactical A: 1

[Now Playing:

Destiny

]

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)

• Skirmisher Module [4]: Effect unknown. Suspected to be the "default" module.
  
• Assault Module [4]: Effect unknown.
  
• Brawler Module [4]: Effect unknown.
  
• Hunter Module [5]: Increases bow attack power and blast radius. Reduces bow rate of fire. Adds stealth capabilities. Reduces movement speed.
  
• Ardent Module [6]: All parameters continually increase at the cost of eroding Kouta's sense of self.
  

Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)

Kouta
Status: Quite hurt, Ardent Module (2 Turns Elapsed), 1x healing potion
World Line: 1 3 6 2 1 4 1 2 6 3
Alterations: 4.0
Resolve: 3

Yuri
Status: Fine, armed with knife and handgun (2 spare magazines), 1x healing potion
Location: Roof

Aria
Status: Somewhat hurt, lower half is in the Abyss
Location: Roof

Argyros
Status: Bleeding
Location: Roof
Details: Being dragged into the Abyss by Aria, retaliating by conjuring and driving a massive spear into her helmet

Hunter Tactical A & Smooth Operator
Status: Fine, apparently completely drunk
Location: The street below
Details: Sprinting up the building towards the roof

Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)

Argyros' attack would have dealt more damage normally, but Kouta has had his Ardent Module active for a full turn at this point.

Shef
The projectors flicker on.
"Uh..."

Yeah, that sounds about right.

[Strider03]

"Please don't read my mind like that." Shef grumbled. "I take it things went down about how Faith said? If I've got the picture, just tell me how the interrogation's going, then I'll head out."

"Oh, I may not be available for jobs tomorrow and maybe the day after. Will let you know."

[Empiricist]

Shef
"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."

[Strider03]

A nod. Well things had occurred in an inordinately lucky manner. Shef hadn't believed that the manipulation of fate upon him affected much save his relationships, but now he'd have to consider if it was involved in missions as well. Highly concerning.

"Good to know. Keep me informed, and I will do the same. Anything else you need or can I head out?"

[Empiricist]

Shef
"You're free to go."

[Chevaleresse]

Kouta

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

[Twinwolf]

"I-I didn't know what to do... I don't..." Yuki said, still quiet but loud enough for Noriko to hear. "I don't want to lose you. I-I'm sorry, I'm really bad at people, but I'm not going to just forget you."

She could count her friends on one hand. She wasn't going to just abandon one.

[Empiricist]

Kouta

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

Kouta: 5

Argyros: 5
Hunter Tactical A: 6

[Now Playing:

Destiny

]

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)

• Skirmisher Module [4]: Effect unknown. Suspected to be the "default" module.
  
• Assault Module [4]: Effect unknown.
  
• Brawler Module [4]: Effect unknown.
  
• Hunter Module [5]: Increases bow attack power and blast radius. Reduces bow rate of fire. Adds stealth capabilities. Reduces movement speed.
  
• Ardent Module [6]: All parameters continually increase at the cost of eroding Kouta's sense of self.
  

Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)

Kouta
Status: Quite hurt, Ardent Module (3 Turns Elapsed), 1x healing potion
World Line: 3 6 2 1 4 1 2 6 3 4
Alterations: 0.5
Resolve: 3

Yuri
Status: Fine, armed with knife, assault rifle, and handgun (2 spare magazines), 1x healing potion
Location: Roof

Aria
Status: Badly hurt, in the abyss
Location: Roof, submerged in the abyss

Argyros
Status: Severe bleeding
Location: Roof
Details: Surfing a wave of molten blood, aiming to catch Kouta and Yuri with a giant blade

Hunter Tactical A & Smooth Operator
Status: Fine, apparently completely drunk
Location: The street below
Details: Doing fuck all

Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)

Claiming what dwells within the storm will cost 1 Resolve and tire out Kouta.

[Chevaleresse]

Kouta

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."